Mu Xiaoyu stared blankly at the monstrous figure that had suddenly appeared behind Yang Zicang.
–Ah——–
She clamped her eyes shut, clutching her ears as she screamed, then crouched down with her back to the young man, too terrified to move.
[We devoured the book.]
A torrent of information surged into Yang Zicang’s mind almost instantaneously, like someone had written pages of content but crammed all of it into his memory within a single heartbeat.
[It had a note: this ability originates from… the hybrid mutation of Devouring Thought, the Stone Monument of Mechanism, and the Obscure Light Bloodline.]
Bloodline!
From the information contained within that tome, Yang Zicang picked up those two words; he could sense that this was a gift from the author to him personally.
The ability of this book–did it truly stem from bloodline?
He felt as though he grasped something, yet remained somewhat bewildered.
For now, he knew too little, but regarding the matter Ju Yin Chase had entrusted to him, it had become entirely clear.
Now, as he looked around, many things made sense. For instance, that stream floating with countless phantom images and scenes was called—the River of Oblivion.
This method of communication proved far more efficient than listening via Syn-Link. However, he could tell his mental energy had been significantly drained, as if he had been intensely reading for several dozens of minutes, leaving him slightly fatigued.
Yang Zicang picked up the translucent slip from the ground.
[Order Form for Silver White Hubville: I am qualified to supply goods: Shin Engine.]
This one is the actual order letter.
He felt the information that surfaced in his mind at the recollection, and the consequences if that core information were to leak—it would make him an enemy of some terrifying force.
Yang Zicang understood that this was an unavoidable communication measure Ju Yin ChaseFutown had to adopt to avoid being deemed as leaking secrets.
–Still sleepy?–
–Yeah.– The girl nodded, recovering from her fright.
She truly hadn’t rested enough yet, but after the scare, she felt much better.
–You, you have that thing inside you.–
–Scared? Can’t help it. That’s why I’m strong—lose it, and I’m nothing.–
–I, I’m not scared.–
Yang Zicang looked at her and smiled.
He knew that even the train had chosen to submit to him out of fear of psychic attacks.
Finding a relatively thick, bare black tree trunk, Yang Zicang spread half the blanket on the ground, let Mu Xiaoyu lie down on it, and covered her with the other half.
–Won’t there be danger?– Mu Xiaoyu grabbed the edge of the blanket with both hands, looking at him timidly.
–No, not with me here.–
Feeling the newfound information in his heart, reputation… Shin Engine.
Yang Zicang let out a long sigh internally. That person had just assigned him such a task.
–Mm.–
Mu Xiaoyu seemed distracted by something, as she asked:
–Where is this place? I’m so scared.–
–This is… the Shibin Wastes.–
He looked at the girl; in the time it took to speak those words, she had already fallen asleep. She was too exhausted.
……
Yang Zicang got up and walked toward the tree over twenty meters away, the one with skeletal remains at its base.
Using a small rock, he rummaged through the area beside the skeleton and found a rough, grayish-black little crystal. It looked like a lump of glass that had melted and recrystallized.
Holding it up to the sky and peering into it, he could faintly make out two folded lines within the blurry stone.
[I’ve discovered the –Lost Moxel-** the Town Chief mentioned.**]
[According to the guidance received, if one wishes to manufacture a Shin Engine satisfactory to the Town Chief, at least a Quad of Lost Moxels is needed as the core.]
Pinching the Lost Moxel with its two lines, Yang Zicang searched his mind for the engine it corresponded to.
[As far as I know, a folded-line Shin Engine can produce common clay engines, low-strength firebrick engines, terracotta tile engines, common wood engines, pulp paper engines…]
With this folded-line pattern, it couldn’t even make a metal axe.
In alignment with the Moxel, Yang Zicang clearly and methodically recalled the corresponding Shin Engines recorded in the book. However, the book certainly couldn’t record every single daily necessity; it only listed the most common types.
After all, that wasn’t its ultimate purpose.
Pondering this, Yang Zicang contacted Morris.
At this moment, Morris was having morning tea in the reception room of Ju Yin Chase. It seemed that the town chief was also taking this opportunity to get acquainted with this person who could suddenly produce directly usable skill books.
As Yang Zicang’s friend, Morris felt that his identity had already undergone a great change, and he had become much more confident.
{Brother ZiCang, how’s it going over there?}
–Other than being barren like a graveyard, the scenery here still has its unique charm. Feel free to come see the views anytime in the future.–
{Haha, no thanks. But with you in such a cheerful mood, I guess I don’t need to worry.}
After chatting a bit, Yang Zicang gazed at the desolate surroundings and said:
–Do you know where the daily necessities here—food, clothes, and the like—come from?–
{Of course. It’s something called the Shin Engine. Only shop owners can use it. They say it employs magic crystals and commercial energy from stores to manufacture various items from Earth or other realms, covering food and clothing.}
–Good. It seems the information about the existence of the engine isn’t all that classified.–
Yang Zicang terminated the connection.
He held the Lost Moxel in his hand and walked toward a spot where several –black-water streams– converged.
Within those currents flashed incessant phantoms: images of various environments and people at work.
–With this water, we already have the two main components needed to build a Shin Engine, but many other things are still missing—at least the tools to build it are completely unavailable.–
A few hours later, a seven-person team carrying minerals and branches walked by in the distance.
–Hey, look over there, looks like someone new just showed up.–
Someone who appeared to be the team leader was alerted and looked in Yang Zicang’s direction—his eyes lit up.
–It’s a woman!–
Clattering footsteps echoed as a crew of people, hardly better off than beggars, came rushing over.
–Hey, kid, who’s this little chick to you?–
–Captain, by the rules, shouldn’t we first ask which level of the collision zone he came from?–
The two people before them were still decently dressed—definitely not someone who had been lingering here long.
Yang Zicang frowned at them, saying, –Keep your voice down—my friend is resting.–
–Haha, looks like this kid hasn’t figured out what’s going on yet.–
The captain let out a mocking laugh, his gaze shifting to the cloth bag beside Yang Zicang, which contained pastries, snacks, and clean bottled water.
–Whoa, some rare good stuff.–
He stepped forward, reaching out a hand while bending down, –In a place like this, you’d better accept your fate. From now on—–
Bang
The captain felt the world spin upside down in an instant; the next moment, his entire body shuddered as dirt flew everywhere, and he tumbled, rolling a long distance away.
Everyone stared blankly as their captain was thrown dozens of meters away in a single move.
–Ah, goddammit, my Chronos!–
Yang Zicang stood up, his fists flickering with a crimson-golden phantom flame.
–Why is his Chronos red?–
–No idea. I thought five hundred years was silvery-white, and over a thousand was pale gold. Does red mean five thousand?–
The crowd murmured among themselves, watching Yang Zicang step by step toward the captain, who had wisely shut his mouth.
Realizing he had picked on the wrong person, the captain scrambled to his feet, sped off into the distance, abandoning his party.
After walking a few steps, Yang Zicang turned back to look at the remaining six bewildered individuals. Lugging their gear, they looked like confused students.
–How did you all end up here?–
One person raised a hand above their head:
–I accidentally fell into a different overlapping scene. Since it didn’t match what my teammates had stabilized, they abandoned me, and eventually, I ended up here.–
–Me too. I was in a New Moon-class overlap zone where two teams were fighting over the spot. The scene they stabilized was a highland; ours was a beach. We’d already stabilized three scene areas when—who knew—in the fourth scene, there was a beached mutant whale. No matter how we poked it, it wouldn’t die. So damn frustrating.–
The experiences of the remaining few were similar. After the scenes shifted and vanished into the interleaving zone, despite surviving, they could no longer return to the stabilized alien space.
–Excuse me, did you come in from an A-grade interleaving zone?–
They cautiously looked towards Yang Zicang.
–That guy was just the captain assigned by our Peng Zone. We have nothing to do with him.–
After this person drove away the captain, he didn’t seem intent on attacking them. Someone with such a high Chronos level here could be the best candidate to protect everyone.
Yang Zicang nodded. –I stowed away into that town and got kicked out by them.–
–Stowed away? Did I hear that right?– In disbelief, they exchanged glances.
–Do you have a work shed?– Yang Zicang looked at the gear they carried—according to the manual’s notes, these should be materials for building a Shin Engine.
–You even know about work sheds? You haven’t been here long.–
–Only work sheds can make Shin Engines, right? Do you have any of that stuff?–
After a discussion, one of them stepped forward and said:
–The work shed isn’t here, but if you want it, how much are you willing to pay?–
–What do you want? Resources or Chronos? I can do both.–
–This…–
The six of them were suddenly at a loss.
–We only have one handicraft shed. If you want it, how about three hundred Cycles of Chronos? That’s fifty Cycles per person for the six of us.–
–That’s a bit steep.–
Afraid that Yang Zicang would refuse, another member of the group quickly chimed in, –We can throw in two decent engine blueprints. We traded precious materials for them. They can produce over a hundred extra batches of goods.–
–Deal.–
Hearing that Yang Zicang actually agreed outright this time without even bargaining, the six of them were taken aback.
In this place, even one extra day of Chronos, let alone a full year, is immensely valuable. They had asked for three hundred Cycles just to give Yang Zicang room to haggle.
One of them tugged at the tattered sleeve of the person negotiating for the group, signaling him to quickly accept. A sucker like this would be hard to find once today is over.
–It’s a bit far. Do you want to come along?–
Yang Zicang glanced at the girl who was as unshakeable as a thunderstorm and chuckled, –I’ll just wait for you here.–
–Then wait for us, and don’t go wandering off.–
By the time they returned, the sky had already darkened.
But for this place, it merely looked dimmer, like at dusk when night hasn’t quite yet set in.
By now, Mu Xiaoyu had also woken up, leaning against Yang Zicang and gazing at the surrounding scenery.
–This is the handicraft shed. It’s a bit small, but it’s more than adequate for use.–
The two lowered a large umbrella-like object from their shoulders.
Yang Zicang watched as they unfolded it, forming a conical cloth canopy slightly larger than a camping tent—this was the most basic type of manual crafting shed, an essential item for forging the Shin Engine.
–Also, these blueprints are a free gift. With them, you can save plenty of effort experimenting with recipes. This one can produce a wool-carpet Shin Engine, and this other blueprint makes a kerosene lamp.–
The man, looking somewhat awkward, handed the two items to Yang Zicang.
The kerosene lamp was fine, but a wool carpet…
Yang Zicang took the two folded sheets of stiff, leaf-like paper. He spread one open and placed it into the manual crafting shed, where a murky glow began to emanate.
Vague silhouettes flickered within, weaving a carpet in spectral visions.
The page lit up with the names of the required materials.
Main material: 1 triangular piece of Lost Moxel, containing a forgotten river weaving phantom fabric in five hundred milliliters.
Common materials: 10–15 kilograms of grass stalks, vines, or fabric; 1–2 kilograms of various ores or 1 liter of pigment; 3 standard magic crystals.
With these materials, an –Imitation-Wool Carpet Shin Engine– can be crafted.
Alternative materials: 10–20 kilograms of wool; 1–2 liters of fabric dye; 5 standard magic crystals.
From the above materials, one can craft the –Cashmere Carpet Shin Engine.–
–Cashmere too?–
The chances of finding cashmere in this godforsaken place are only slightly higher than the possibility of seeing God.
As if reading Yang Zicang’s mind, one of the six said:
–There’s a Shin Engine for cashmere too. I remember the squad leader once said someone made that thing—just regular plants and mana crystals can produce cashmere.–
–Alright, let’s go with that.–
Yang Zicang unfolded another blueprint, which detailed the material for the –Muxwood,– only requiring a saw-tooth angle bit.
–Help me make a Shin Engine for a kerosene lamp; I need to get familiar with the process.–
This blueprint was of decent quality because a saw-tooth angle bit was originally incapable of crafting such a complex item, and it also contained the potential for an additional sixty-five outputs.
Seeing Yang Zicang pull out a low-grade –Muxwood– as the main material, they nodded:
–Of course we can, but once the blueprint is used, it disappears. Brother Yang, you can memorize the materials listed on it, so you won’t always have to rely on blueprints next time.–
Five of the six each picked up a small bucket, running to the dark streams scattered around to find the working phantoms needed for making glass.
It was time-consuming, but luck was with them—within less than an hour, someone came running back with a bucket, face beaming with joy.
–Ah, scenes of glassmaking are quite rare. Although this one is iron smelting, it’s actually similar in nature, and failing is out of the question anyway.–
–Even if it fails, these materials aren’t worth much,– someone remarked.
Yang Zicang glanced at the apparition on the water’s surface inside the barrel, a busy figure shoveling coal into a furnace to melt iron, and nodded in acknowledgment.
After all, this was just an experiment, meant to familiarize himself with the production process.
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