Chapter 129
Su Jing had just returned to Spirit Herb Valley with the robot when she raised her hand and tapped the communicator—
The countdown timer for the dungeon clearly displayed bright red numbers: "[Remaining Time: 24 hours 03 minutes]". The excitement of exceeding the required affinity with 12 monsters had subsided into caution.
She knew that the final stage of the dungeon was the most prone to accidents, especially since other players might take risks to steal resources in order to compete for rankings. Her storage space was full of spiritual herbs and three active green deer eggs, which were seen as "easy targets" by others, so she had to take full precautions.
"Use the growth solution first to ensure the safety of the medicinal herb."
Instead of setting up defenses first, Su Jing immersed her consciousness into the space—in the medicinal plant cultivation area, more than a dozen seedlings of thousand-year-old spiritual herbs stood quietly in constant temperature cultivation boxes, their pale golden leaves gleaming faintly.
She took out the growth-accelerating liquid, a gift from the wisteria spirit, from her pocket. The crystal-like liquid shimmered with a pale green light in her palm. Following the system prompts, she diluted it with 10 ml of purified water in a transparent container, then used a micro-sprayer to evenly spray it onto the roots of each seedling.
"Spray only 2 ml per plant, too much will damage the roots." She carefully controlled the dosage, watching the liquid being quickly absorbed by the spiritual soil. The seedling's leaves instantly brightened a bit. The system prompted, "[The activity of the Thousand-Year Spirit Herb seedling has increased to 99%, the maturity period has been shortened by 50%, and the current cultivation cycle is 45 days]." Only then did she feel at ease and exit the space.
Next was the monster egg incubation area—three pale green deer eggs lay on a temperature-controlled platform covered with spiritual soil, their shells enveloped in a pale blue energy membrane.
The temperature sensor reads "36.5℃, humidity 52%", which is more suitable than the previously set parameters.
Su Jing used her mind to finely adjust the heating wire power of the constant temperature platform, stabilizing the temperature at 36℃. She then sprinkled a layer of fine spirit herb powder around the egg. "I checked before, and spirit herb powder can enhance the activity of the egg."
After doing all this, she exited the space, turned to face the five robots waiting for instructions, and her eyes became serious: "The focus now is on defense; we can't afford any mistakes."
Su Jing pointed to the open space in the center of the Spirit Herb Valley and began to deploy: "Number 1 and Number 2, you are responsible for the outer ring defense. Deploy the manganese crystal shields, adjust the shield angle to 45 degrees, and form a ring defense line with a diameter of 10 meters. Connect the gaps in the shields with metal mesh to prevent small ferocious beasts from crawling in."
Vibration sensors are installed on the inside of the shield, which will immediately trigger an audible and visual alarm if anything hits it. Robots No. 1 and No. 2 received the command and immediately moved to the designated position. The silver-gray manganese crystal shield unfolded with a "clang". The 5-centimeter-thick shield gleamed coldly, and the metal mesh popped out from the bottom of the shield and inserted deeply into the decaying leaf layer to form a seamless outer ring.
"Number 3 and Number 4, you are responsible for scanning and vigilance. Expand the scanning radius to 15 meters and focus on monitoring the northeast and northwest directions (the areas where the ferocious beasts and other mission participants may have appeared). Update the data every 10 seconds. If you find any red-named ferocious beasts or strange human energy fluctuations, report them immediately and lock onto the target."
The laser gun switched to 'deterrence mode,' first firing a low-energy beam as a warning; if ineffective, it would escalate the attack. Robot No. 3's scanning beam instantly lit up, a pale red spot moving rapidly across the ground, while the display screen flashed continuously: "Scanning range 15 meters, energy fluctuation identification in progress."
Number 4 pointed the laser gun towards the northwest, and a pale red preheating light condensed at the muzzle, but it was not fully activated, maintaining a deterrent state.
"Number 5, you will guard the space transfer point and be responsible for emergency transfers. Once the defense perimeter is breached, immediately transfer the spiritual herbs and monster eggs in the space to the temporary storage area. At the same time, use a portable shield to protect the transfer point and prevent anyone from getting close."
Robot No. 5 immediately moved to the transmission point at the valley entrance (the location of the space light membrane that was frequently used before), unfolded a portable shield about half the height of a person, and the display screen popped up "Emergency transfer procedure activated, response time ≤ 1 second".
With the defensive perimeter set up, Su Jing walked around the circular defensive line and gently tapped the shield of Robot No. 1 with her fingertips—the shield made a dull "thump-thump" sound without shaking at all.
The scan data for No. 3 was checked again, and it showed that "there are no abnormal energy fluctuations in the current range";
She breathed a sigh of relief when the emergency procedures for number 5 were tested and found to be normal. At this moment, Little Jin in her arms suddenly nuzzled her chin, its short golden fur drooping and its black eyes full of exhaustion—from searching for spirit herbs to finding monster eggs, and then helping the wisteria demon clear away pests, Little Jin had hardly rested, and its little paws were still covered with some spirit herb juice.
"Are you tired? Go rest in the space for a while." Su Jing bent down and gently placed Xiao Jin next to the transmission point, silently reciting "store" in her mind.
The pale blue light membrane instantly enveloped Xiao Jin. It did not resist at all, but instead comfortably squinted its eyes and disappeared into the light membrane.
Su Jing immediately focused her consciousness into the space—Xiao Jin had landed next to the monster egg breeding area. Instead of running around, it found a corner covered with dry grass, curled up into a ball, and rested its little head next to the energy membrane of the green deer egg. Soon it made a soft "squeaking" sound (like a human snoring).
Several young chickens in the space curiously approached, but were driven away by Xiao Jin's unconsciously waving tail, creating a particularly heartwarming scene. Su Jing couldn't help but smile, taking a small handful of spirit herb seeds from the space's "supplementary food area" and placing them on the hay next to Xiao Jin as a treat after it woke up.
Exiting the space, Su Jing sat on the rock in the center of the defensive circle, took out the laser gun to check—the energy bar was still full, and the spare energy blocks were neatly arranged in the side pocket;
The scabbard of the Golden Crystal Dagger was attached to the inside of the backpack, within easy reach;
I left 50 healing pills and 50 qi-gathering pills in the first-aid compartment of my backpack so I could use them in case of danger.
She opened the global channel, which was still filled with complaints from mission participants from various countries: Jack was still cursing, "I can't get any favor from the monsters, someone must be cheating," while Emily said, "We've encountered another ferocious beast, and four of us have already been killed." Su Jing glanced at it and then turned it off; these noises would only interfere with her judgment.
Just then, the display screen of Robot No. 3 suddenly lit up with a yellow warning: "[Detected energy fluctuations of 10 people 800 meters to the northwest, rapidly approaching Lingcao Valley. Energy intensity: low-level ability users (mainly fire and earth types), no friendly indicator]".
Su Jing tensed up instantly and gripped the laser gun tightly—it was obvious that such a large team was most likely after the supplies in Lingcao Valley, and the northwest direction was precisely the area where American mission personnel often operated.
She immediately gave the following orders to the robots: "Number 3, keep locking onto the target location and update movement speed; Numbers 1 and 2, increase shield energy to 100%; Number 5, put the emergency transfer procedure into standby mode."
The atmosphere within the defensive perimeter instantly became tense. Pale red scanning lights danced rapidly on the ground, and the faint sound of hurried footsteps could be heard in the distance. A potential conflict was quietly approaching.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com