278: Chapter 279 The Forging Relics of the Golden Age

"We learned centuries ago that an unexplored Golden Age forging relic is hidden at those coordinates.

If you are lucky, you might find lost STC data there. This should be enough to show our sincerity in cooperation."

Dumpling was already overjoyed, but he still tried his best to maintain a poker face on the surface.

He reached out and picked up the data pad, weighing it in his hand:

"Very well, we accept this compensation plan. As for contacting our leader, I will pass on your exact words."

The two stood up crisply and prepared to leave.

Jack Li sat in his wheelchair and nodded slightly:

"My legs are inconvenient, so I won't be seeing you two out. Lan, please see our guests off for me."

Melissa Lan stood up and guided the two out of the conference room.

As the heavy wooden door closed again.

The conference room was once again left with only the family leader and Jack Li.

After seeing the guests off, Melissa Lan quickly returned.

She sat back down at the round table, her brows furrowed, and looked at the old man at the head of the table with some worry:

"Mr. Jack, that relic's coordinates have already been corrupted by a Warp rift and are fraught with danger; there's no harm in letting them explore it. But..."

She paused, her tone becoming somewhat anxious:

"But that knight mecha! Are we really just giving it to them for nothing? What if they dismantle it, reverse-engineer the mecha's weaknesses, or master our core technology and pose a threat to us?"

A confident smile appeared on Jack Li's withered face.

He raised his hand to stop Melissa Lan's worries:

"No need to worry, Lan. After they get the knight mecha, they will surely be impatient to try dismantling and copying it.

But the reason I dare to give it away is because of the most core technology inside our mecha—the Throne Consciousness Link!"

The old man's eyes flashed with confidence,

"This type of neural link technology, originating from the Golden Age, cannot be replicated by any faction in this barbaric and fallen 42nd millennium, except for us descendants!"

"As long as they cannot replicate the neural link system, that knight mecha in their hands will forever be just a pile of immobile scrap metal!"

"When the time comes, if they want to make the knight mecha move, they will have to come back and beg us, buying core components from us at a high price. In this way, the initiative will always be in our hands!"

However.

This wise old man had calculated everything.

But he failed to account for one most fatal thing.

He had no idea that the alliance possessed the World Forger, that miracle of creation.

At this time.

Outside Lieyang City.

This farcical siege, which had all thunder but no rain, ended with a dramatic result that the players completely did not expect.

When the players on the surface positions saw those knight mechas start to retreat back into the city in an orderly fashion, everyone was stunned.

Soon, the broadcast notification from Dog Brother and Dumpling reached everyone's interface.

After learning the ins and outs of the matter.

The public channel instantly exploded, with players expressing that this plot direction was simply too damn ridiculous!

"I've already taken off my pants, and this is what you show me? We're not fighting anymore?!" Combat-class players protested wildly in the channel.

But fortunately, the main force of this expedition was mostly life-class players. Faced with this bloodless result, those players who liked farming and trading actually felt it was a good deal!

"Holy crap! With almost no ammunition cost, we got a large trade transit station for free, plus a knight mecha? This wave is simply earning big!"

With the joy of this successful freebie, the group of Baby Bus players happily put away their weapons, boarded the shuttle, and returned to the Baby Bus in outer space.

In the independent conference room on the bridge.

The guild's high-level members sat in a circle and began to discuss the next countermeasures.

After listening to Dog Brother's account of the historical origins in the conference room, Penny touched her chin, lost in thought:

"In other words, these NPCs made such a big fuss and put on such a show, from start to finish, just to conduct a stress test on us? To see our choices when facing a desperate situation?"

Dai Dai Tape analyzed:

"I think they are purely looking for a backer."

"According to that old man, they are descendants of the Pan-Pacific, and they have a blood feud with the current Empire, so they are certainly unwilling to lick the boots of the Terra High Lord. But they are likely trapped here and can't get out, so they probably have their eyes on our alliance's military power and want to cooperate with the alliance to restore their nation!"

"Oh! Who cares what they want to do, it doesn't matter!"

Luluchiu waved her hand, looking indifferent,

"Leave these brain-burning political games and nation-restoration plots for our leader to worry about. We are players, and what we should care about most right now is how to maximize the gains from this!"

"Luluchiu's words are rough but make sense."

Dumpling nodded in agreement,

"In business, you have to focus on actual profits; all those other sentiments are empty."

Dumpling stretched out three fingers and began to review:

"First, they didn't say they would take back the storage base we established on the Melissa Family's surface. Therefore, the subsequent monopoly trade routes with these three families are mostly secured. This is the first long-term profit."

"Second, it's that knight mecha we got for free. Penny, how is this model?"

Penny rubbed her hands excitedly:

"In the Knight Family's organization, it counts as the most solid and comprehensive all-rounder! It can fight in melee and at range, and its armor is very thick!"

Dumpling chuckled:

"Done! We'll drag this thing back to the Shelter! Throw it to the World Forger to scan, and then copy it in batches!"

"These old NPC bastards probably want to use this knight mecha to bait us, letting us research it, and then choke us on the core components!"

Upon hearing this, everyone revealed the same wicked smiles.

Subsequently, Dumpling took out the ancient data pad that Jack Li had given him from his backpack and placed it on the table.

"Finally, there is the coordinate for this so-called Golden Age relic."

"I just had the AI check it, and the location of these coordinates is very close to the Demons Throat."

"That place has been severely polluted by Chaos energy, and I estimate it's full of mutated monsters and Chaos Daemons poisoned by the Warp, which feels very dangerous. For us life-class players who specialize in farming and trading, going there to explore would basically be feeding the monsters."

Dog Brother nodded: "So what do you mean?"

"I think."

"We should sell the coordinates of this un-raided dungeon to those animals from the Brotherhood of Steel! Aren't they currently expanding and exploring to the south?"

When everyone heard this, their eyes instantly lit up!

"That's right! In a godforsaken place near the Demons Throat, there's no way to farm or trade. Selling the coordinates to those fanatical combat players, letting them fight the Chaos Daemons to the death, while we sell ammunition from behind—this wave is hitting two birds with one stone!"

Everyone unanimously approved this business plan.

Dealing with Chaos Daemons, such a thankless job, is indeed most reliably left to the Brotherhood of Steel.

The meeting ended quickly, and everyone made their division of labor.

To stabilize the trade routes just opened.

Dumpling, Luluchiu, and a few other core life-class players decided to stay at the surface warehouse to conduct initial market price observations and finish up the infrastructure.

While Dog Brother, Penny, and other players prepared to set off back to the Spark Alliance's home planet, they needed to go to the base camp to purchase a large amount of industrial supplies, and incidentally send the knight mecha back for replication.

... A few days later.

The Melissa Family's home planet, which is also the Lake Goddess's territory.

On the vast plains.

The surface storage base rented by the Baby Bus Guild had basically been completed with the cooperation of local aboriginal construction workers.

As an employer who values the spirit of contract, Dumpling not only paid those serf workers a large quantity of goods as wages on time.

Today, he even set up a few simple long tables with sheet metal on the open square outside the huge metal warehouse, preparing to cook himself to treat these indigenous construction workers who had been working continuously for over ten days.

Near dusk, the setting sun was like blood.

At this time on the square.

Dumpling was shirtless, wearing an apron, and busy working in full swing in front of an iron pot with a few other life-class players.

The firewood in the makeshift stove crackled.

Boiling water churned in the large iron pot, and steaming white mist filled the air, emitting an enticing aroma of noodles.

Dumpling picked up a large basin of freshly wrapped Dumplings and poured them into the boiling water with a splash.

Then, he skillfully added a large ladle of cold water to suppress the boiling foam.

After doing this, he sat down on the side and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a towel.

And beside him.

Luluchiu was holding a stainless steel basin larger than her face.

The basin was filled with a large lump of noodles that had just been scooped out of another pot and mixed with various sauces.

Luluchiu picked up a large chopstick-full of noodles without any image, slurped them in like a storm, and made a slurping sound in her mouth.

"Mmm—!"

Luluchiu chewed the chewy noodles while giving a thumbs up vaguely,

"Dumpling, your skill in mixing noodles has improved! The aroma of this chili oil is amazing!"

Dumpling rolled his eyes and said unhappily:

"Of course! I added a new type of spice just cultivated by the guild farm. Eat less, damn it! Don't eat it all up; there are dozens of pounds of noodles, and I still have to leave them to distribute to those working NPC laborers!"

Luluchiu nodded indifferently, but her mouth didn't stop at all, and she was still burying her head in the work.

Before long.

Luluchiu had finished half a basin of noodles.

She burped contentedly, placed the basin on the table beside her, and wiped her chili-oil-stained lips with a paper towel.