Chapter 407: A Decent Haul
Yanagi naturally noticed the glaring anomaly. A glowing, floating treasure chest materializing out of thin air was a trope ripped straight from the pages of a fantasy manga or a retro arcade game, not something one typically encountered in the grim reality of a Hollow. Her brow furrowed behind her glasses. For a moment, the usually articulate Section 6 operative found herself at a loss for words, unsure of how to explain this blatantly supernatural phenomenon to the young, wide-eyed Soukaku. Deciding it was best not to jump to conclusions, Yanagi swallowed her rising doubts for the time being.
Hearing Soukaku's bewildered questions, Wise's voice chimed in through the comms at the perfect moment. His tone carried its usual calm gentleness, though laced with a faint, wry helplessness. "That... is actually a bit complicated to explain. It involves some rather 'special rules' regarding how our group operates."
He paused, likely adjusting his headset back in the proxy network. "Once we safely evacuate this Hollow and get back to solid ground, if everyone is still interested, I'll carve out some time to explain the details. How does that sound?"
Belle, standing nearby with her hands on her hips, nodded vigorously to back up her brother. She expertly pivoted the conversation, steering everyone's focus back to the shiny, immediate reward. "Yeah, exactly! Overthinking it right now isn't going to get us anywhere! The main event here is this loot box! Who knows, maybe it's packed with top-tier gear that can help us out, or some ultra-rare materials we can sell for a fortune! Come on, let's crack it open!"
Her energetic, chaotic enthusiasm instantly shattered the heavy, lingering tension of the recent battlefield.
Her suggestion met zero resistance. After enduring such a grueling series of high-stakes skirmishes, the promise of a tangible reward was far too tempting to ignore. Whether driven by a mercenary desire for the fruits of victory or simple, burning curiosity regarding these otherworldly spoils of war, the glowing golden chest exerted a magnetic pull on the group. The team naturally gravitated toward the center of the clearing, forming a loose, expectant circle around the prize.
Unsurprisingly, Soukaku's curiosity won out first. Glancing around and seeing no one stepping up to stop her, the oni girl couldn't resist. She extended a single, hesitant finger, aiming to lightly poke the radiant surface of the golden box.
Instead of tapping against solid metal, her finger phased right through the lid without a single ounce of resistance. She blinked. Her fingertip registered absolutely nothing—no heat, no cold, no texture. The supposedly heavy golden chest merely rippled like a glitching holographic projection where she touched it, before instantly snapping back to its pristine, glowing state.
"Eh?!" Soukaku yelped, yanking her hand back to her chest like a startled cat.
Yanagi reacted in a flash. She stepped forward smoothly, placing her body half-between the mysterious object and the young operative. A sharp, calculating vigilance flared behind her glasses. She scanned the chest for traps, but upon confirming the box remained entirely inert, her tense shoulders relaxed slightly. She turned her attention to Dan Heng and March 7th, offering a polite, apologetic nod. "Please excuse her. Soukaku can be a bit overly eager when faced with new things. I hope you don't take offense."
"No worries, no worries at all!" Paimon reassured, waving her tiny hands dismissively as she bobbed in the air beside Lumine. "Honestly, we're all dying to see what kind of awesome loot dropped!"
The floating fairy then crossed her arms, tilting her head as she looked between the two Astral Express crew members, bringing up a highly practical point. "But, speaking of which... the Bringer guy was ultimately taken down by Stelle's baseball bat. Since she's not right here to claim the honors, which one of you should do the unboxing? Dan Heng or March?"
The subtext was obvious to anyone familiar with the unspoken rules of multiversal chat groups: when it came to a ritual entirely dependent on the whims of luck, you needed a designated puller.
Dan Heng didn't say a word. He merely shifted his calm, stoic gaze toward the pink-haired archer standing beside him. The silent communication in his teal eyes was loud and clear—March, you're up.
"Ah? Me? You want me to open it?" March 7th pointed a gloved finger at her own face, her eyes widening in surprise. A spark of eager excitement quickly ignited in her expression, but it was almost immediately smothered by a dark cloud of gacha-induced anxiety. What if her luck was terrible today?
She glanced nervously at Dan Heng's unwavering stare, then over to Lumine and Paimon's encouraging nods. Finally, as if stepping up to the executioner's block, she squeezed her hands into tight fists.
"Alright! Fine! If I have to do it, I'll do it!" she declared, puffing out her cheeks. "But let me make one thing perfectly clear!" She thrust an index finger into the air, her expression deadpan and intensely serious.
"Even if... even if my luck absolutely tanks right now, and I pull a bunch of weird junk or totally worthless trash, you guys absolutely, absolutely cannot laugh at me! I mean it! Especially you, Paimon!"
Paimon proudly puffed out her chest and patted it with a tiny hand, offering a rock-solid guarantee. "Don't you worry about a thing, March! We definitely won't laugh at you! At most... at most, we'll just be a little surprised!"
March 7th shot the floating fairy a scathing 'I'd believe you if I were born yesterday' glare. Despite the banter, the playful exchange successfully washed away the last lingering traces of the battlefield's grim aura.
Armed with her companions' highly questionable promises, March took a deep, steadying breath. She marched right up to the floating golden chest.
Instead of opening it immediately, she pressed her palms tightly together, squeezed her eyes shut, and began frantically muttering a rapid-fire prayer. "Please, please, please... Pom-Pom, bless my pulls! Xiao Yue, bless me! Mimi, bless me! And... and to all the insanely lucky companions I've ever met across the stars, lend me your energy!"
This incredibly solemn, borderline superstitious ritual caused highly complicated expressions to surface on the faces of the local Hollow operatives. Miyabi and Yanagi exchanged a brief, bewildered glance. The goofy, eccentric conduct of this pink-haired girl created a jarring contrast with the devastating, absolute zero ice powers she had wielded with such lethal precision just minutes prior.
Having channeled all the multiversal luck she could muster, March snapped her eyes open. She extended both hands and carefully pressed her palms against the seemingly illusory surface of the golden lid.
Click.
The lid emitted a soft, satisfying mechanical chime before automatically folding backward. Instantly, a gentle, radiant glow spilled out from the interior. It wasn't blindingly harsh; rather, the light washed over the group with a warm, deeply comforting sensation.
Nestled securely in the center of the chest were three identical vials of liquid, lined up side-by-side. They were sealed tightly within heavy-duty, transparent crystal tubes. The substance inside was a vibrant, crystal-clear emerald green. Faint, luminescent particles drifted lazily through the fluid, pulsing like liquid starlight. Just staring at the vials instilled a deep sense of biological stability and mental peace.
A crisp holographic interface materialized directly above the items, displaying their system details:
[Advanced Aether Corrosion Block/Reversal Agent]
Description: A highly potent medical serum capable of efficiently halting the Aether corrosion process. It possesses the powerful ability to reverse advanced stages of corrosion, actively restoring the human form of individuals exhibiting severe Etherealization characteristics—such as crystalline proliferation or extreme limb mutation—provided the subject still retains their fundamental self-will.
A collective intake of breath echoed around the circle. This was, without a shadow of a doubt, a holy grail of strategic medical supplies. In a world constantly besieged by Hollow disasters, a cure that could pull someone back from the brink of becoming an Ethereal monster was a miracle. Its market value on the streets of New Eridu would be utterly immeasurable.
Placed in a separate, isolated groove next to the miracle cures sat a single vial of dark, viscous red liquid. It radiated a heavy, suffocatingly ominous aura. The holographic label hovering above it was brief and dripping with danger:
[Monster Serum · Prototype]
Description: Intravenous injection will irreversibly trigger the 'Sacrificial Ghost Transformation' sequence. This drastically enhances the subject's Aether adaptability, energy absorption efficiency, and raw physical strength. Side Effects: Emotional states will be violently amplified and destabilized, resulting in an extremely high probability of descending into permanent madness and total loss of bodily control.
Resting beside the chemical vials was a jagged, fist-sized core. Beneath its crystalline surface, a slurry of dark red fluid and sickly pale light pulsed rhythmically, beating like a living, corrupted organ. It bled the most intense, malevolent pressure out of everything in the box.
[Heart of the Feral Ghost]
Description: This was the primary objective behind the pursuit of the Bringer. Under highly specific conditions, the entity's original 'Heart of the Skeletal Remains' forcibly evolved into this superior form. Its Aetheric density and overall value assessment astronomically eclipse that of a standard skeletal core.
The system interface even thoughtfully appended an estimated exchange rate at the bottom of the description: 20,000,000 Gear Coins. A genuinely staggering, life-changing sum of money.
Yet, despite the presence of literal miracle cures, a dangerous bioweapon, and a multi-million-coin boss drop, the most peculiar item in the chest was also the most unassuming.
Lying quietly at the very bottom of the velvet-lined box was a single, solitary bullet.
It was forged entirely from a matte, dark copper metal, its profile just slightly longer and thicker than standard high-caliber ammunition. The brass casing was completely covered in bizarre, complex engravings. The patterns flowed with an eerie, organic naturalness, the lines etched so microscopically fine that they were nearly invisible to the naked eye.
There was no holographic label hovering above it. No helpful system description. Nothing.
But the moment anyone's gaze locked onto that dark copper shell, a primal, instinctive sensation clawed its way up their spine. It was a deeply conflicting cocktail of icy, paralyzing chills and a strange, thrumming excitement that quietly took root in the depths of their hearts.
While the local operatives might have been awestruck by the life-saving Aether agents and the priceless boss core, the multiversal travelers reacted differently. The eyes of every single Chat Group member were immediately, magnetically drawn to that seemingly ordinary piece of ammunition, temporarily forgetting the practical cures and the astronomically expensive loot sitting right beside it.
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