Chapter 175: Dark Black Puppets

Even though they were pressed for time, Su Chen didn’t forget to look for bookshelves.

Two air tentacles surrounded him wherever he walked. They looked like two long tails, but they grabbed every book that Su Chen passed by and put them into his Origin Ring as if they had eyes. Even the scraps of paper on the ground didn’t go unnoticed.

Su Chen’s insatiable thirst for knowledge rendered everyone else speechless.

However, they weren’t much better themselves.

Precious herbs, rare metals, Ancient Arcana Techniques, Origin Tools, mannequins – if they could be taken, they were taken regardless of whether they were useful or not.

Ji Ruoyu plundered as he yelled, “We’re rich! We’re rich!”

Even though he knew that these resources wouldn’t belong to him, he felt extremely excited just by thinking about the contribution points he would earn by bringing all of these resources back.

Just as they were busy looting the place, Ji Ruoyu suddenly pointed in a direction and said, “Look!”

In front of them was another large garden, many times larger than the private one they had stumbled across earlier. Large quantities of precious herbs were growing there. In addition, these herbs were of much higher quality than even the private garden. Su Chen even found a few legendary-tier herbs growing there.

These were herbs of the same rarity as a Corpse Spirit Flower, yet they grew abundantly within the garden.

However, there were already people within the garden.

He Yuandong, Qi Weiyan, the Shen twins, and a bunch of other students were there. There were also seven or eight Ferocious Race youths. Both sides were currently locked in an intense battle.

When Ji Ruoyu saw the situation, he said anxiously, “Great, we’ve finally found Eldest Brother He and the others. Let’s go and help them!”

He began running in their direction.

Su Chen, however, said, “We aren’t going.”

“What?” Everyone was stunned.

Su Chen replied, “Time is short. Right now, our main priority isn’t to fight but to take out everything that is of value within this complex! Otherwise, if we miss this opportunity, there’s no point even if we kill all of the Ferocious Race youths.”

“But Eldest Brother He and the others……”

“Leader He isn’t going to lose,” Su Chen replied. “Open your eyes and look closely. Right now, we’re the ones with the advantage. At this stage of the battle, half of the Ferocious Race youths are either injured or dead. They’re already weaker than us in terms of strength.”

During the battle below the research lab, the humans had taken quite a few Ferocious Race youth scalps, including two powerful Temple Warriors. The only price they had paid was Feng Yigu.

Under these circumstances, He Yuandong and the others were confident that they could defeat their enemies even without Su Chen’s aid.

“But……” Even so, everyone was still a bit hesitant.

Su Chen’s words weren’t wrong, but they felt uncomfortable about leaving their comrades in battle while running off on their own to harvest some rewards.

In the end, it was Pi Yuanhong who spoke up, saying, “Su Chen’s absolutely right. At this moment, our most pressing mission is to take everything within the ruins with us. Since Old He and the others have the advantage, we’ll leave the garden to them. We will handle the research lab at the center of this complex.”

Since Old Pi had said as much, there wasn’t much to dispute. They followed Su Chen and left.

They followed the map as they ran, eventually arriving at a large open room. From what was drawn on the map, the central research lab was just on the other side of this large room.

Just as they were about to cross the room, however, two dark black puppets appeared in front of them.

Compared to the iron puppet, these dark black puppets were clearly much more powerful. Razor-sharp blades protruded from their arms, and a row of sharp spikes protruded from their backs. They didn’t look like puppets; rather, they looked like some kind of demonic lifeform.

Considering the circumstances, there was no point in wasting words.

Su Chen, Yue Longsha, Duan Jiangshan, and Yu Mengnan charged forwards together, ganging up on the puppets. Ji Ruoyu was left behind to protect Pi Yuanhong.

Bang! Bang! Bang! A series of Erupting Firehawks slammed into one of the dark black puppets.

Su Chen’s cast of Erupting Firehawks was his trademark Origin Skill. Its power and might had even left a strong impression on the Ferocious Race youths, but against these dark black puppets, all it caused was an explosion of flames. The dark black puppet swayed slightly before continuing to charge at Su Chen. When it had closed in, it suddenly leapt forward, raising its massive arm and stabbing it in Su Chen’s direction, causing a brilliant burst of energy to surge at Su Chen.

When faced with such a powerful attack, Su Chen didn’t dare to resist it forcefully. He dodged it with his Snaking Mist Steps as he simultaneously unleashed a flurry of Origin Energy bullets.

However, the bullets seemed completely ineffective against the puppet. Meanwhile, Yue Longsha had tossed out a Moonlight Stone. A streak of moonlight slammed into the puppet, but it seemed to be ineffective as well.

With two loud bangs, Su Chen and the puppet traded blows twice. Su Chen was forced back, but he was able to unleash a Wind Blade and two Thunder Blades as he slid backwards.

The ethereal blades sliced across the puppet’s body, leaving behind two faint incisions.

Su Chen’s eyes glimmered. “Be careful. These things have an extremely high resistance to Origin Energy. Use close-quarters combat skills to deal with them!”

Ancient Arcana Techniques relied on Origin Energy, not on a person’s innate physique. During the Arcana Kingdom’s rule, these puppets would have been the arch-nemesis of every Arcana Master. Unfortunately, after thirty thousand years, the times had changed. Even someone like Su Chen, who studied Ancient Arcana Techniques in great detail, wouldn’t neglect the cultivation of his physical body. After all, that was how one’s lifeforce and vitality increased.

Duan Jiangshan laughed, “That’s what I’m the most skilled in!”

A Mountain-Shattering Blade stabbed through the air imposingly.

Duan Jiangshan’s Mountain-Shattering Blade was truly a battle formation skill, and it was one of the most powerful physical skills any of the students could unleash. The blade slashed downwards forcefully, chopping down onto the dark black puppet and leaving behind a deep cut.

Indeed, its physical defenses were quite average.

Duan Jiangshan’s lips peeled back into a feral smile. “That’s all there is to it…… Mountain-Shattering Eight Blades, First Stance – Mountain Shaking Jab!”

Duan Jiangshan stabbed forward. The simple, direct strike carried with it a shocking momentum.

The dark black puppet met the blow with its arm blade, but it was unable to defend. The blade stabbed forth with incredible force, piercing through its head. It continued downwards through the rest of its body, splitting the puppet open.

“Success!” Duan Jiangshan let out a laugh of delight.

He turned around to glance at Su Chen, only to find that Su Chen’s Armor-Piercing Awl had entered the puppet’s chest.

“Psh!” Duan Jiangshan curled his lip, thinking to himself that he was still faster.

But when he thought about the fact that Su Chen didn’t specialize in close-quarters combat, knew how to use Ancient Arcana Techniques, and could concoct medicine, he really didn’t have much to be proud of. He was a bit frustrated that the puppets weren’t stronger. If they were stronger, he would have been able to show off more stances of his Mountain-Shattering Eight Blades.

This idea had just surfaced in his head when he suddenly saw that the two puppets on the ground were slowly crawling to their feet, the wounds on their bodies gradually disappearing.

Most shockingly, this healing process looked strangely similar to how a human being might heal from their wounds.

“This…… What’s going on?” Duan Jiangshan was stunned.

He watched the puppet that he had personally cut open slowly stick itself back together and then continue advancing as if nothing had happened.

Su Chen frowned. “These aren’t normal puppets.”

“Rubbish, of course they’re not normal puppets!” Duan Jiangshan yelled. “Have you ever seen puppets that can reassemble themselves after being chopped in half?”

Su Chen shook his head. “I’m not talking about that…… that’s not reassembly.”

“What?” Duan Jiangshan was stunned.

“It’s a fusing process!” Su Chen said. “A fusing on the biological level.”