"The real treasure... is the inheritance of civilization." The bronze armor on Guardian Zou's chest seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force, leaving a hideous crack, revealing that the beating object inside was not a heart of flesh and blood, but a complex mechanical core, flashing a cold blue light.
"It requires... the twin contract holders to sacrifice 50% of their life energy."
This sudden change stunned everyone present.
Civilization inheritance rights?
Sacrifice your life?
Why does this sound like a cult sacrifice?
Didn’t you just say it was gold, silver, treasures, magical weapons?
The style of painting changed too quickly!
Mou Xuan narrowed his eyes, and the blue-gray lines that crystallized and spread to his right arm looked like dormant poisonous snakes, indicating that some dangerous power was accumulating.
He looked at Chen Yao deeply, took out a crystal clear crystal core fragment from his pocket, and gently pressed it into her warm palm.
"Use your energy to disguise yourself as me." His voice was low and firm, carrying an unquestionable command.
Almost at the same time, something strange happened!
“Give me control...!” The leader of the treasure hunters, Mu, let out a beast-like roar. His arm suddenly deformed, and the metallic blade flashed with cold light, and suddenly pierced through the chest of the Yin merchant.
The Shang merchant stared wide-eyed, and never understood what was happening until his death. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, but no sound came out.
“Sizzle, sizzle—”
The bronze puppet group of Zou Guardian began to self-destruct, and the dazzling energy light bloomed like a blooming flower of death, blooming wildly in the dim underground space.
A violent energy tide swept over, and the patterns on Shen Yao's protective suit began to spread, quickly climbing up her neck, flashing an eerie red light.
"He is tampering with the sacrifice procedure!" Chen Yao's voice trembled slightly, but he remained calm.
At the critical moment, Mou Xuan moved.
His time ability broke out in full force, and in a very short time of 0.1 seconds, he accomplished four things: cutting off the control source of the puppet, using his crystallized arm to block the plasma knife stabbed by Treasure Hunter Mu, protecting Chen Yao behind him, and... discovering the coordinates of the traitor hidden in the console.
"Dang!" With a loud noise, the chainsaw axe of combat team member Wu was stuck in the gap of the mechanized spine of treasure hunter Mu!
He roared and tried with all his might to pull out the axe, but it didn't move at all.
"You..." Treasure Hunter Mu looked down at the chainsaw axe stuck in his spine in disbelief, his mechanized eyeballs flashing with anger.
Mou Xuan's eyes were cold, and a cruel arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He slowly raised his crystallized arm and pointed to a flashing red dot on the console, "So... you are here." Archaeologist Pei staggered as if struck by lightning, pointed at the distorted symbols on the mural, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "No! This is a civilization reincarnation trap! We have all been deceived! This is not a civilization inheritance at all, this is... civilization harvesting!"
Well, archaeologists have also started to work.
Those murals that originally looked like some kind of sacred ritual now seemed to have become death warrants in the eyes of archaeologist Pei.
He pointed at a repetitive pattern on the mural, drooling with excitement: "Look here! This is a closed loop! A closed loop from the birth to the destruction of a civilization! The so-called successors are just chosen sacrifices to be used as nutrients to restart the next civilization!"
The mechanical core on Guardian Zou's chest flashed with scarlet light, as if a dormant beast had opened its eyes.
"The sacrifice... must be completed." Its voice became extremely cold, without a trace of emotion, like an instruction set by a program.
The atmosphere in the air froze instantly, and it was so depressing that it made people breathless.
"Oh my god! Is this old guy trying to use force?" Combat team member Wu clenched the chain saw axe in his hand nervously, and his palms were sweating.
At this tense moment, Chen Yao suddenly made a move that no one expected.
She broke free from Mou Xuan's protection and walked towards the core of the treasure step by step with an almost fanatical expression on her face.
"Chen Yao! What are you doing?!" Mou Xuan's pupils suddenly shrank, and he wanted to stop it, but it was too late.
Chen Yao did not look back. Her voice was firm and calm, as if she was telling a decision she had made long ago: "Mou Xuan, believe me. This system... needs to be restarted. Use my energy."
As she spoke, she resolutely stretched out her hand and touched the crystal core that was emitting a faint glow.
At that moment, the entire space seemed to stand still.
Time seemed to have been paused.
Immediately afterwards, a powerful energy wave spread out in all directions with Chen Yao as the center.
Her body began to tremble, and countless tiny lines appeared on the surface of her skin, flashing like electric current.
The lines became brighter and denser, eventually converging into a complex pattern, like some ancient spell.
“Buzz——”
A low humming sound was heard, and the core of the treasure began to vibrate violently, like a bomb about to explode.
"Oh no! She is trying to restart the system forcibly!" Mu Xuan's face changed drastically. He could feel that the energy in Chen Yao's body was dissipating at a terrifying speed.
"Stop her!" An archaeologist shouted frantically, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying.
However, it was too late.
At this moment, the alliance's transport vehicle finally broke through the blockade of the energy storm and rushed out of the ruins like a wild horse.
"Boss! We're evacuating!" The excited voice of team member Wu came from the communication channel.
Mou Xuan did not respond. His eyes were fixed on Chen Yao, and his worry had reached its peak.
Suddenly, he felt the apocalyptic treasure in his arms tremble slightly, and then a holographic projection was projected out from the treasure and suspended in the air.
It was a complex map that marked the locations of various forces in the alliance and the resource allocation data they possessed.
"This is..." Mou Xuan widened his eyes, his heart full of doubts.
However, before he could figure out what was going on, new changes occurred on Chen Yao's side.
I saw mechanical patterns on her neck that were the same as those on Guardian Zou, flashing with strange light.
At the same time, the Yin merchants, who should have been blown to pieces, mysteriously disappeared.
Only one encrypted coordinate is left...
"It seems that things are far from as simple as we imagined." Mou Xuan looked at the lines on Chen Yao's neck with deep eyes, as if thinking about something.
He vaguely felt that there was a huge conspiracy behind this.
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