Chapter 378: Chapter 378: Great Harvest (300 Monthly Tickets)
Li Yao used the puppet to slowly push open the immense door. Although it was only a tiny opening, it was already wide enough for them to pass through.

Li Yao, without hesitation, walked straight to a small control room positioned on the other side of the door. “Small” in comparison to Titans, but for Li Yao, it was more like a great hall.

“Just as I expected, it’s merely the dungeon’s periphery, barely anything worthwhile here.” Li Yao frowned slightly, scanning the room and finding no items of import.

What’s more, the machinery and control panel were embedded in the stone wall, making any attempts at destruction impossible.

“But that can’t be right. Why would they use the twin doors for a place that’s not of utmost importance?”

Li Yao received some information, the text of which he already understood, but now the System has confirmed its veracity, albeit not significant in the grand scheme of things.

“You guys spread out and try to find any hidden doors or passages. This place can’t be this simple. I’ll take care of extracting the chips here.”

As he finished speaking, Li Yao began to section off a part of the wall. Much of the other stuff was unnecessary and couldn’t be taken anyway, but the chip was a must-have.

Even though it was merely a Twin Door’s chip, it would still contain some valuable data. Yet, a specialized tool would be needed to decode the information.

In this respect, the dwarfs had more experience while the goblins didn’t particularly value the chip. In actuality, what goblins valued most was money, with engineering merely a means to make a living or earn money.

The goblins once retrieved a strange crystal that could stimulate their intelligence. However, as the crystal’s energy consumed, their wisdom began to degrade. Therefore, most of their engineering skills were inherited from their ancestor, with many more techniques now lost.

Li Yao’s statement that they need to find hidden doors was actually addressed to Ephemeral Bloom. In reality, the true Mechanism Masters are the thieves, while hunters fall a little short.

“So there really is a secret door.” With chip in hand, Ephemeral Bloom discovered a hidden door leading down to an underground staircase.

Li Yao steered his puppet down the stairs. What he saw made him break into a grin.

There were numerous materials inside. Although these materials might seem worthless to Miller and the others, to Li Yao, they represented a small fortune.

However, players could only carry a limited amount in their backpack.

Since Li Yao had both the Mechanical Space and the Death God 4000, he faced no such issues. Li Yao started by packing up some of the metal, causing the envy of the few players that had followed him, even though they kept their hands off the items that could be collected.

The muzzle of the much-feared Death God 4000 was trained on them. Although Li Yao didn’t say anything, they were all smart enough not to show their annoyance out of fear.

Although he hadn’t recounted precisely, Li Yao estimated that these valuable engineering materials alone were worth a few hundred gold coins. It could be described as unexpected windfall.

Eventually, Li Yao arrived at a workshop, and he even dismantled the workbench there. It was too good for a mechanical gnome to pass up. The value of the workbench and the corresponding instruments was beyond estimation in gold coins.

Finally, Li Yao had emptied out all useful items from this area.

“Alright, apart from the box beneath my foot, you can take anything else. See if there’s anything you fancy.” As he spoke, Li Yao started to draw out his engineering keys to unlock the box.

The other players almost burst into tears on hearing this. What nonsense was Li Yao uttering? All that was left was a pile of scrap metal. It was not just about the price; they couldn’t even carry that much weight. If Li Yao had really wanted to be considerate, he could have just given each of them a piece of mithril.

“Let me handle it. I don’t need anything else. I just want to practice my lock-picking skills.” Ephemeral Bloom suggested, after seeing Li Yao break a few engineering keys.

“The task of opening boxes will be relegated to you in the future. You have good luck. Opportunities to practice opening high-grade boxes are not common.” Li Yao wore an expression that screamed ‘you’ve hit jackpot’.

Ephemeral Bloom rolled her eyes, having run out of retorts, and quietly focused on picking the lock. The lock was advanced, and Ephemeral Bloom spent a while before she finally managed to pry it open.

“I wouldn’t even bother if it was not for the skill proficiency.”

As Ephemeral Bloom finished her sentence, all eyes were focused on the box, which was opened with a click. Suddenly, dazzling rays of light shimmered forth, illuminating the room.

The box was full of gemstones and gold coins of various colors. The players, never having seen such a spectacle before, were practically drooling.

With a wave of his hand, Li Yao gathered the gold coins into his money bag, even though there were merely three hundred of them.

All that remained in the box were a couple of dozen gems and a blueprint.

Li Yao examined them, and to his delight, found out that the blueprint was that of a Twin Door. He quickly pocketed it, knowing that it would greatly bolster the security of his guild’s warehouse.

Subsequently, under the murderous gaze of the other players, he claimed the gemstones and then fished out the smallest and least valuable ones, hurling one at each player.

“I’m someone who believes in fairness, that you should be rewarded for your efforts. So, each of you gets a gemstone, for your efforts if not your achievements. Ephemeral Bloom here helped me unlock the box and found this location, so she gets an extra gemstone.”

The others quickly stashed away their gemstones, fearing that Li Yao might change his mind. Although these gemstones were considered of low value by Li Yao, they were currently high-end gemstones that could sell for several dozen gold coins. This was quite the windfall for them.

At the same time, they all shot envious glances at Ephemeral Bloom. After all, the gemstone was worth several gold coins, and she got one just for unlocking a box.

After these events, they had a clearer understanding of their status. Without the NPC, they would receive nothing. Therefore, they could only expect to ride on NPCs’ coattails.

They had a careful thought about it, and concluded that their earnings were decent. Any gains made during the quest were extra profits. Their goal now was to keep Li Yao happy so that he might share more loot with them in the future quests; this way, they could make a small fortune.

Thus, they decided to become even more obsequious to Li Yao.

“Master, I bought some apple wine. I haven’t drunk it yet. Are you thirsty? Would you like a bottle?” Guangming Hua handed a bottle of opened apple wine to Li Yao with a smile.

“Master, are you hungry? I’m now at an intermediate level in cooking. My barbecue is unrivaled.” War Horizon chimed in, not wanting to be left behind.

“What cunning people… trying to keep us from banding together!” Ephemeral Bloom muttered with an upturned lip. But the lure of an extra gemstone was too great. Even though she realized Li Yao’s intention, she couldn’t resist the temptation of the gemstone.

“No need, let’s continue on our journey. I suspect that there will be monsters blocking our path next. It’s your turn to shine.” Barely managing to contain his laughter, Li Yao weighed in. He found it hilarious and satisfying that he could direct these accomplished players with just a small sum of money.

Of course, if these players knew that he was also a player and had acquired a thousand gold-worth items, only to distribute two or three gold coins to each of them, they would probably engage him in a never-ending battle.

“Rest assured, Master! We will take care of the monsters. You should conserve your energy and prepare to unlock the next level. Leave all the fighting and killing to us!” War Horizon firmly declared, with an air of righteousness. However, the truth was, if an NPC were involved in killing monsters, the chance of item drops would be significantly reduced.

“Well then, let’s move on.” Li Yao said earnestly, trying to suppress his laughter. The way he conducted himself resembled a high and untouchable figure from the ancient times…