Chapter 305: Sacred Artifact — Golden Finger
These daily activity maps often recorded the recent routes taken by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps and might also contain valuable intelligence about future travel plans.
After the mysterious figure opened it, they took a look but found it was less detailed than the intelligence description of the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
This activity map was purchased by the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps on the Two Eyes Island, and the previous route was not recorded within it.
The Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps were not true arms smugglers; their destination is the capital city of the Ice Sculpture Kingdom.
The next steps would depend on how the situation developed.
The mysterious man was not satisfied and examined the activity map more carefully.
He hoped that the map contained more hidden information which was usually concealed.
In fact, such nautical charts were not uncommon.
This was especially for those used by pirates. The surface layer contained information, while the hidden layers held more genuine and secret intelligence.
In the end, after studying the map, the mysterious figure was left with only disappointment. He was certain that it was just an ordinary nautical chart.
In the drawer of the dragonman youngster's desk, the mysterious figure stumbled upon a pile of invitation letters.
He glanced at the invitation letters and took note of all the parties involved in sending them.
“There are no secret compartments or treasure chests here,” the mysterious man said disappointedly, instinctively looking down at his feet. “It seems that today's cargo is hidden in the lower hold.”
One of the main purposes of the mysterious man's journey was to steal the gold level equipment that the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps had just purchased.
After finding nothing in the captain's cabin, the mysterious figure left immediately.
He came to a ship ladder and was about to descend it.
At that moment, a patrol of mercenaries happened to be ascending the ladder.
The mysterious figure quickly stepped aside.
Although he was in an invisible state, he could still bump into them physically. He was not like a ghost or a spirit that could ignore physical laws and pass through objects.
“There's really a lot of people patrolling here.”
“Their patrol routes are very strict,” the mysterious person thought to himself.
While stepping aside, the mysterious person took out the tomato clock from his pocket again.
He opened it and quietly noted how much time was left.
Very soon, the patrol team walked away.
They were completely unaware of the mysterious person right next to them.
The mysterious person climbed the ship's ladder and smoothly reached the second deck.
Following the same actions and procedures as before, he quickly checked the ship's cabins on both sides along the way.
His movements did not make a sound.
The tomato clock perfectly concealed his presence.
As time passed, the mysterious figure still hadn't found his target, and he couldn't help but feel anxious.
A patrol team passed by him again.
The leader, Lan Zao, suddenly stopped in his tracks and cast a puzzled glance toward the mysterious figure's location.
The mercenary behind him stopped and asked, “Lord Lan Zao, what's wrong?”
Lan Zao shook his head and laughed, “Nothing.”
He had just felt something was off, but after looking closely, he confirmed there was nothing.
“It was probably just an illusion,” Lan Zao thought to himself.
The mysterious man remained motionless.
He stared intently at Lan Zao's back until he disappeared around the corner of the corridor, then finally averted his gaze.
The mysterious man's eyes flickered with icy intent to kill.
He recalled the scene from earlier.
Since boarding the Love Triangle, this was the first time he had faced the danger of being discovered.
“I haven't found the treasure storage cabin yet, and my nerves are getting frayed, causing my movements to become more noticeable.”
“Did that mercenary detect me through the fluctuations in the air?”
The mysterious figure had a physical presence, so even slight movements caused the air to flow differently.
At that moment, he almost attacked!
Lan Zao was merely a bronze level individual, and the mercenaries behind him were all ordinary people.
With the mysterious figure's gold level strength, he could eliminate them all within two seconds.
Throughout the process, he could do so without making a single sound.
Furthermore, within the next 10 seconds, the mysterious figure could swiftly dispose of their bodies, leaving no trace at the scene.
However, the mysterious figure suppressed his killing intent and ultimately did not act.
“Such a tightly organized patrol route, with so many patrol teams, it's almost like a military camp.”
“There must be a connection between them, a secret code for transmitting emergency information.”
"If any patrol team delays even slightly, the entire patrol system will detect it. Killing them would be easy, but if this team goes missing, it will trigger the entire system's alarm!"
It was precisely because of this consideration that the mysterious figure did not act.
“Half the time has already been consumed.” The mysterious figure opened the tomato clock again, furrowing his brows.
There wasn't much time left.
The mysterious figure decided to use his battle skill to search for the gold equipment.
After the battle skill was unleashed, there was no effect.
This battle qi was specifically designed for investigation. Within a certain range centered on the mysterious figure, detection of any extraordinary aura could be captured by the battle skill and fed back into the mysterious figure's mind.
Gold level equipment naturally had a gold level aura.
However, those who collected such equipment would typically store them in treasure chests.
As a result, the auras were completely blocked and concealed.
The mysterious person's search attempt failed, but it did not surprise him.
“In this situation, I can only consume a potion,” the mysterious person sighed deeply.
Then, with a constipated expression on his face, he pulled out a vial from his robe.
He removed the stopper, tilted his head back, and poured the entire contents of the vial into his mouth, then swallowed it in one gulp.
The next moment, a look of pain appeared on his face.
He opened his mouth wide, stuck out his tongue, and leaned against the wall, vomiting repeatedly.
His tongue turned an eerie purple in an instant from the potion.
As he vomited, the mysterious man shed copious amounts of snot and tears.
But no matter how loud he screamed, his cries were drowned out by the tomato clock.
Furthermore, the snot and tears he shed were carefully collected by himself, lest they become a weakness in his infiltration.
After about half a minute, the mysterious figure finally regained his composure.
He twitched his nostrils and immediately detected a peculiar scent.
Following the scent, he descended another deck to the lower level of the Love Triangle.
“This must be the place,” he said, precisely locating the cargo hold containing the gold equipment.
The mysterious figure extended both hands, spreading his ten fingers, with all fingertips gently pressed against the surface of the hatch.
Golden-colored battle qi ripples spread outward from the contact point.
Soon, the mysterious figure detected numerous traps behind the door.
His expression grew serious and focused.
This was because he sensed numerous magic traps and intricate mechanisms inside.
These mechanisms and magic traps were intertwined, forming a series of tight security barriers.
If the mysterious figure made even the slightest mistake, it would trigger the traps and catch him off guard.
More critically, it would activate the alarm, alerting the Dragon Lion Mercenary Corps.
Disarming these traps and mechanisms was not difficult for the mysterious figure.
The survivors did not have advanced equipment in this regard.
In addition, Zi Di, who had set up these magic traps, was greatly limited by her magician level.
But for the mysterious figure, he could not afford to waste precious time dismantling these traps and mechanisms.
The buff granted by the tomato clock has a time limit.
The mysterious figure then pulled out a sacred artifact from his robe.
This artifact was quite unique, resembling a goblin's finger. The tip of the finger had a long, sharp nail.
The finger was as golden as if cast in gold, radiating a brilliant golden glow, and felt heavy in the hand.
This was the sacred artifact—Golden Finger!
The mysterious man gently touched the surface of the hatch with the Golden Finger.
The moment he activated it, a burst of golden light flashed briefly.
The commotion was still suppressed by the tomato clock.
In an instant, all the magic traps and mechanisms around the hatch were perfectly disarmed without triggering a single alarm.
The mysterious figure glanced at the Golden Finger, which surface had grown dim, and carefully placed it back into his robe.
He pushed open the hatch, slipped inside, and then gently closed it behind him.
The entire process took less than a second.
The ship's cabin was empty.
The mysterious figure paused for a moment.
Just then, another patrol team arrived nearby.
The mysterious figure heard the footsteps of the patrol members.
The footsteps grew closer, seemingly heading straight for this cabin.
He realized something was wrong.
He had just disabled all the magic traps and mechanisms, so there was no way he could rebuild them in an instant.
This was a huge flaw!
Even if the patrol team couldn't detect his presence, they would certainly notice that the magic traps and mechanisms had been disabled.
Realizing this, the mysterious figure narrowed his eyes slightly and drew his dagger.