Chapter 155: Taking the Stones -3

Black Dragon Mountain Settlement.
Beside the divine stone, shaped like a withered brown-yellow tree trunk, piles of bonfires blazed fiercely, illuminating the surroundings as bright as day. A vast crowd stood wielding torches and blades, awaiting the arrival of the one who would take the divine stones.
“Big Party A, huh? Collecting so many Divine Stones—I say it’s better if they all stay with us here.”
Riding atop a ferocious beast, this person stood with a vigorous posture, a long whip gripped tightly in hand, their gaze revealing an unyielding dominance.
Suddenly, a sharp sound of wind-breaking shattered the stillness, rushing in from afar, swirling in like a raging storm.
Following that, a few small clumps of light appeared on the horizon.
“The legendary reporters?”
“Where they show up, there’s bound to be a celebrity. It must be Big Party A arriving!”
Everyone tightened their grips on their weapons.
{Give us the Divine Stones—they’re needed for a great cause.}
Though the person hadn’t appeared yet, the model’s glow was already visible; everyone in the Black Dragon Mountain area’s silver-white models received this message.
[Black Dragon King invested 1R in me.]
“Jiazi Association, get the hell out here and hand over your Divine Stones. Otherwise, any of your folks we spot from now on, we’ll wipe them all out.”
Having accepted the day’s investment from the Shed Leader, Zuo Feifan cursed within the model:
{You’re pretty cocky, huh.}
“So the Jiazi Association are full of scoundrels like that? Heh, I’m right here. Come, let’s see who the Divine Stones really belong to.”
With a thunderous crash, a violent gale burst forth near that stone.
Everyone fell into chaos instantly, as if abandoned by the world, feeling utterly ill at ease all over.
“Mere parlor tricks.”
The bear-like, mighty Black Dragon King spread out his triangular model inward, shouting within his mind:
[Brothers, invest in me for the first echelon. Be careful to give me time orders slowly—don’t let it exceed.]
[Li Xiang invests 300N in me.]
[Wang Hemeng invests 175N in me.]
[Zhao Song invests 200N in me.]
[Shanliheng invests 200N in me.]
[Wang Hemeng makes an additional investment of 200N in me.]
Dense specks of light converged from the threads into the ring on his chest.
With more than twenty people each investing a couple hundred into the stall owner, this round of financing was concluded in less than two seconds.
Buzz! Behind him, a riot of colorful rays fanned out like a peacock’s tail; the light flickered, and over twenty feathered patterns shot into everyone’s bodies, causing ethereal monsters to sprout from them, each monster’s head resembling a peacock feather.
The White Shadow Thought-Dragon burst forth with a roar.
dozens of feathered monsters also swept in, their bizarrely elongated arms stirring the air, all bathed in a golden radiance.
The small orb of light spun downward.
[I cancelled out 900N.]
[Lots of opponents; their temporal rates are all at five or six hundred. I cancelled out 6700N.]
[I cancelled out 11,000N!]
No sooner had the White Shadow Thought-Dragon charged into the crowd than countless hands ground its red glow down to gold, forcing it to retreat immediately.
In Hinge Town, the onlookers carefully scrutinized the Black Dragon King’s ability as they watched this scene.
This man was a deep well; now was the perfect time to gauge his true power.
Mi Tianlu remarked, “So it turns out this guy can split into twenty over telekinetic doppelgangers. I wonder if that’s his limit.”
“Envy… If only he’d join our team.”
The onlookers in the room silently admired.
Within the greenhouse district.
“Hmph, what do you think? Don’t think you’re the only one in the world with psychokinetic abilities.”
“Seems you built this entire shed area on your own. Though it doesn’t have the best reputation around here, it still provides a place for a thousand people to survive. I don’t want to take your life—hand over the godstone. We’re busy.”
“How utterly nonsensical. You can’t even get close to me, so what are you yapping about over there?”
The Black Dragon King had barely finished speaking.
A longspear with dark, subtle patterns descended from the sky, grazing the tip of his nose.
(I neutralized 5000N.)
The next second, a crimson illusory flame ignited on the spear.
Thud! The beast beneath him collapsed dead without even letting out a moan of agony.
The crowd gasped in astonishment, staring at the fallen Black Dragon King.
“Shed Master!”
“Boss, are you okay?”
“Cough… I’m fine.”
Several people rushed over to help him up; everyone had been terrified moments ago.
The Black Dragon King tried to snatch the spear in front of him, but it whistled as it rapidly retracted toward the ground beneath them all…
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Look above.” Yang Zicang called out.
“What?!”
Amid the glow of firelight, the Black Dragon King looked up. A small black hole hovered overhead, from which the spear, shimmering with a crimson luminance was slowly emerging—like a deadly gaze, firmly aimed at him.
It had been underground just a moment ago!
“You should know how many chronocycles we earned back at the Crimson-Level Confluence by selling incense pellets. Hand over the godstone. Or else, I wouldn’t mind another battle, one worth several hundred thousand chronocycles,” declared Yang Shino.
“You—!”
King Black Dragon was enraged, yet the weight of death pressed down on him tangibly.
He had long heard that this unprecedented cargo team—never before mentioned by anyone—had made a staggering haul of 200,000 to 300,000 temporal sequences this time by exploiting the A-class Chaotic Frequency Zone.
This had already become a legendary case study discussed by the heads of various shed districts who had received word.
Most had even turned its operational methods into a “benchmark analysis post,” studying it internally; he himself had discussed it with a few sub-chiefs just two days ago.
If it weren’t for the treasures being stolen by Time Shifter inside, someone would have been tempted to try getting a share of the spoils—contacts had already been made with him.
“A battle costing hundreds of thousands of sequences… forget it. Step aside. Let them take it.”
“Boss!”
“Without it, how many blueprints will we waste?”
Boom! The spear instantly pierced through the side of a figure trying to dissuade him, blood spraying from blown gushes that mangled the ear. The man wet himself in fear.
The crowd shuffled back several paces, forming a gap.
“Thanks.”
The ghostlike train glided forward, stopping beside the cylindrical stone.
“Heh! Everyone’s having a little bonfire, huh?”
Luo Bin jumped off with a grin, earning glares from all.
“Get serious. Enemies could be here any minute.”
“Oh.” Luo Bin quickly spat on his hand, rubbed them together, and hefted his pickaxe to swing.
“Enemies?”
Black Dragon King stepped closer, his face darkening as he looked at the few people. Using this as an excuse, he shifted his focus, also giving himself an out, “What enemy?”
“Mm, it should be a very strong enemy.”
“Then why did you come looking for the Divine Stone?”
“Perhaps you’ll find out later.”
As the train disappeared, the resentment within Black Dragon King’s chest surged up again. Thinking for a moment, a silver-white model of light shot out from his chest.
“Lao Zhao, the Divine Stone has been stolen.”
{What, even you failed? Is his Nen ability really that bizarre?}
“That giant centipede is pretty formidable, but Yang Zicang also has a spear that can appear at will. I almost got ambushed and killed by it.”
A pity that his Nen ability couldn’t change his body, otherwise why would he fear such a threat. He sighed:
“Be careful. At this pace, before two more tent districts have passed, he’ll reach you. And it seems this Divine Stone has a major use; it’s like that Sixtieth Interval is trying to borrow its power to take on someone.”
On the other side, the person was silent for a moment.
{Now I understand. So the Divine Stone has such a secret. The legend says there are divine bones inside—maybe it’s true.}
“It’s a pity we don’t know how to use it.”
……
In the darkness, as all the great tent districts connected through models were discussing the night, a bit of gossip began to spread.
Starting somewhere around a hundred li near Silver Hub Town, tent districts containing Divine Stones were being robbed one after another; this had been going on for hours.
“Ask that tent district over there, someone’s stealing something?”
Inside Greenland Gorge Tent District.
A few of them were worried and asked everyone to inquire around, because their shed area had such a divine stone.
“You don’t mean they’re actually robbing the divine stone?”
Although the divine stone was small, it occasionally communicated with the deputy shed master, helping them craft quite a few Lost Mind Engines and barter for many supplies.
“Without the divine stone, how many Lost Mind models and materials would we have to waste?”
“Yeah, these people are truly despicable, taking advantage of the chaos to fish in troubled waters.”
More and more people gathered around the campfire, and one man shouted, “I found out—it’s the big client’s cargo team. They’re running around stealing divine stones.”
“Where are they now?”
“It’s said they just left a small shed area, and there are rumors that the divine stone has mysterious powers, curing all ailments, so that’s why the big clients are stealing them.”
Inside Granny He’s shed area.
“What, the divine stone can even enhance virility!”
A burly man with thick eyebrows suddenly stood up from the table, making the candle on the wooden table wobble.
The people around him nodded suspiciously.
“I heard soaking it in water makes wounds heal quickly. How about we try asking the Bright Shed master about it?”
“Could there be some mysterious treasure inside?”
“By the way, is it really safe to drink the water with it soaked in? I’ll go scrape some powder to test it out—if someone steals it, there won’t be any left to scrape.”
In the medium-sized shed area next to them, there was a divine stone. Previously, it was just known to help people craft Lost Mind Engines better. Although some speculated it might have other uses, no one knew how to explore them.
But now, it seemed someone had discovered its effects and was snatching them up.
Just as they were about to head out, a sudden curved line shot toward them.
{I’m Light Canopy Master, our Divine Stone has been snatched! Please invest in me, everyone.}
{What, A-Jiazi’s here so fast? Wasn’t he miles away just ten minutes ago?}
{Light Canopy Master, say something, are there other people going for it too?}
Even that burly, thick-browed man couldn’t hold back, and he invested time into asking:
“Is the Big A-team goods convoy actually made up of multiple units moving together?”
Through mental sensing, Canopy Master Light and his group were locked in a scuffle with a dozen or so people. The enemies weren’t as strong as legend made them out to be, just a bit tougher than ordinary folks.
“Doesn’t seem like Big A-team?”
“Looks like folks from the neighboring canopy area—damn, they’re taking advantage of the chaos to grab the rocks too?”
{Get the Divine Stone back now!}
{You don’t deserve a treasure like this! Don’t you know the Divine Stone can be used to build weapons for a war against another realm!}
The raiders shouted as they fought and yanked.
CLANG CLANG CLANCK, the sounds of battle rang out.
In Grandma He’s canopy area, that big man’s heart blazed with rage: “We’re going to help out Old Li—no one’s taking that Divine Stone!”
“Let’s move!”
“Grab your gear!”
{Charge! Canopy Master Li, we’re coming to back you up!}
Yang Zicang and his crew were once again dragged into a brawl in the canopy area. This time, he didn’t even dare to let Luo Bin or the others out of the vehicle. As time grew tighter and tighter, the people in front became impossible to reason with, so he had no choice but to strike ruthlessly. His White Shadow Thought-Dragon put two opponents out of commission, and under the blazing hatred of everyone in the canopy area, he ripped that massive boulder right out of the ground.
“The eleventh one.”
The little reporters in the sky had thinned out somewhat, but there were still two or three left.
The small glowing orbs spiraled down gently, their pretty little skirts twirling in circles.
{Naughty Yang, the fame is erupting everywhere.}
“Everywhere?”
Yang Zicang was taken aback. “What happened?”