Translator: AnubisTL
Bang!
The instant the flashlight flickered on, the pitch-black cavern was pierced by its first ray of light.
A woman, bound and struggling on the ground, trembled with terror. "Brother, don't be rash! Let's talk this over. My family has money—name your price, anything you want!"
"Kidnapping?" Scar Dog casually pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and slowly lowered the crimson tip to the woman's bare shoulder. He pressed it down with a nonchalant smirk. "Madam, you jest. We never kidnap."
Sizzle!
The moment the glowing ember touched her exposed skin, a sound like hot oil sizzling in a pan erupted, accompanied by wisps of black smoke.
"Ahhh!!!"
Driven to near hysteria by the searing pain and overwhelming fear, the woman screamed uncontrollably, her body thrashing wildly.
It was then that she noticed the words floating above Scar Dog's head: Human Player Scar Dog.
Her eyes filled with despair, and she redoubled her efforts to break free.
"Quiet, everyone."
Chen Jiang stepped forward and kicked the woman forcefully in the head, silencing her. He then scanned the group of captives. "I only want some information. I have no ill intentions toward any of you."
"I will now interrogate each of you individually."
"The questions will be the same for everyone. I expect honest answers from each of you."
"If I discover that any of you are lying, you will be punished accordingly."
"To demonstrate the consequences of deception, I will select one 'lucky' individual to show you how we define punishment."
He casually grabbed the woman from the ground and tossed her to Scar Dog.
Scar Dog pulled a dagger from his chest, cradled the woman in his arms, and clumsily began to follow the torture techniques he had learned from memory, step by step.
It was his first time, and his movements were awkward.
Fortunately, the human race had no shortage of historical records detailing methods of torture.
Half an hour later, Scar Dog disgustedly shoved the woman's corpse—now unrecognizable and long since lifeless—aside.
The remaining six people huddled together in terror, their eyes squeezed shut in despair, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
One woman had already fainted.
"Very well," Chen Jiang said.
After reviving the unconscious woman with cold water from the pool, Chen Jiang clapped his hands lightly and said softly, "Now that you all understand the consequences of deceiving us, let's begin properly."
"A friendly reminder."
"Those who successfully answer all our questions will receive a survival reward: we will return you safely to your homes."
"But those who deceive us will suffer the same fate as she did."
Without further delay, Chen Jiang and his team separated the prisoners and began interrogating them individually.
Two hours later, Chen Jiang sat on a wooden crate, nodding thoughtfully. The interrogations were complete. From the testimonies of the remaining six, he had gleaned a rough understanding of the item manufacturing process and the energy block production process.
He raised the hand cannon, aimed it at the forehead of the kneeling man before him, and calmly pulled the trigger.
Bang.
The man, his face etched with despair, collapsed into a pool of blood.
"Here."
Chen Jiang tossed the hand cannon to Li Hao, saying calmly, "Go finish off the rest."
Li Hao caught the weapon, momentarily stunned. Then his eyes lit up, and he instinctively straightened his posture, his voice tinged with excitement as he replied, "Yes, sir!"
Clutching the hand cannon, he dashed into the darkness, flashlight in hand, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.
"Brother Jiang," Scar Dog said, frowning deeply after Li Hao had left. "According to what they said earlier, the key to creating one-star items is the mold."
"If we find the mold for this one-star item, we can mass-produce them using a production line."
"Moreover, the assembly process must be carried out by mechanical race players themselves. If alien race players interfere, the items will become ordinary objects, lacking the unique properties of true items."
"The molds for these one-star items are purchased by the leaders of each city using merit points from the Mechanical Race Technology Tree."
"The mechanical race has a sealed Technology Tree containing icons for items of various tiers. The mechanical race headquarters spends vast amounts of merit points to illuminate these icons, and then city leaders spend their own merit points to purchase the illuminated item templates."
"Therefore, the item can be mass-produced on the production line."
"The mechanical race's headquarters can then collect a large number of merit points from various mechanical race cities and use them to unlock higher-level icons on the Technology Tree."
"Sounds quite complicated."
Chen Jiang shook his head and said softly, "It's not too complicated. It's just the mechanical race's operational model, which is far superior to the human race's current system."
"Of course, this doesn't concern us much right now."
"Now that we have the specific information,"
"The next step is simple."
"We'll raid the factory, seize the mold for the one-star item, and start mass-producing one-star items using the production line."
At that moment—
Li Hao returned, carrying his hand cannon. He stood solemnly before Chen Jiang, gripping the barrel and aiming the muzzle at himself as he handed the weapon to Chen Jiang with one hand.
"Brother Jiang, it's all taken care of."
"Mm."
Chen Jiang nodded slightly, glanced at the hand cannon in Li Hao's hand, and said casually, "Keep it. You'll need it."
Li Hao paused briefly, but didn't refuse. He simply tucked the hand cannon back into his chest pocket and nodded. "Thank you, Brother Jiang."
Though their methods of obtaining information were somewhat despicable and distressing, no one was moved by it.
In war, pity arises because soldiers are forced to fight battles they don't want to fight.
But in a racial war, even the kindest heart harbors no compassion for the alien race.
Faced with the choice between one's own death and the death of an alien, people invariably choose the latter without hesitation.
"Let's go," Chen Jiang said, brushing the dirt off his pants. He prepared to leave the cavern and head to the city above, where they would seize the one-star item mold from the factory.
With Li Hao and Scar Dog's abilities, the group could move through the city almost as if it were deserted.
Just as they were about to set out, a global announcement suddenly rang out:
[Global Announcement!]
[Congratulations to Mechanical Race Player Feng Jiutian for creating the three-star item—Ten Thousand Races Altar—using the heads of 96 alien race players!]
[The event Blood Sacrifice of the Ten Thousand Races has been triggered!]
[Time remaining for the event: 3 hours!]
(End of the Chapter)
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