Heroes' Prison

Chapter 390 - 380 Energy Factory

He frowned and said, "Along the way here, we haven’t seen any locked doors, and now we’ve reached the end. There’s no place to use these ten keys!"

The Overlord thought for a moment and then said, "Let’s do this, let’s have our five hundred people spread out and thoroughly search this Treasure Spot again to see if there are any hidden mechanisms. We have quite a few people who are skilled in mechanisms."

"Hmm, that’s the only way to find it. There’s no other choice," agreed Huang Yi with a nod.

His Treasure-sniffing Ability also told him that there was nowhere left in this treasure chamber to hide anything, all of the treasures had already been unearthed by them. If there really was a secret chamber or passageway, what could possibly be stored inside?

Gradually, the players responsible for collecting the treasures had gathered them all up, and the luminous glow of the treasures in the Stone Chamber suddenly dissipated, no longer presenting the colorful scene as before.

"Next, everyone split up and search around to see if there are any secret doors or passages where these ten keys could be used," announced the Overlord, raising the ten keys in his hand to the crowd.

"Ten keys?" Just then, Ghost Cloud’s Words seemed to suddenly remember something, "This number seems familiar. It has appeared before. In the Stone Chamber where we obtained the Thunder Left Hand, there were ten pillars. Could these ten keys be related to those ten pillars?"

Upon reflecting on this, everyone felt that this conjecture made sense.

"Then let’s hurry over and take a look," said Huang Yi, immediately leading everyone to retrace their steps.

Soon, the group had returned to the previous Stone Chamber and found those ten pillars.

At this time, the ten pillars were still the same as before, displaying no change regardless of the comings and goings of the people.

The crowd dispersed and began searching carefully.

Many hands make light work, and soon, one of the team members made a discovery, shouting, "Look at the base of the pillars, there seems to be keyholes!"

Everyone looked down and indeed made a discovery, at the base of each pillar there was a keyhole, matching perfectly with their ten keys!

"Quick, open it and see!" the Overlord, trying to contain his excitement, immediately distributed the keys for everyone to insert into the keyholes.

"Boom!" As the last key was inserted into the last stone pillar, the entire Stone Chamber suddenly began to shake violently! It felt as if an earthquake was occurring, and they were about to sink deep into the ground.

Large amounts of dust fell from the ceiling, shrouding the atmosphere, and everyone stood still, borne by the floor as they sank into the darkness below.

Everyone’s heart was filled with anticipation, wondering where they would end up next.

Finally, light started to appear before them, and the scene around them became clearer and clearer: they had sunk into a larger underground chamber!

In that underground chamber, there stood rows upon rows of complicated machinery. These machines were exquisitely designed, their exteriors flickering with streaks of electricity, emitting both mechanical and magical auras, as if they were some kind of scientific instrument mixed with magical apparatus.

Such machines filled the entire chamber, connected one by one extending to the very end, appearing to be some kind of bizarre factory.

"Ah! We’ve struck it rich! We’ve struck it rich!" Suddenly, a player’s scream of uncontainable delight burst forth from the crowd.

"What happened?" The others turned their heads to look at the screamer, their expressions puzzled.

This Adventure Group housed all sorts of talents, skilled in various abilities. Clearly, the player who had just spoken had discovered a purpose for this Stone Chamber.

The player who had screamed calmed down after glancing at Overlord and then at Huang Yi, and said, "Here’s the thing, my name is Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén, and besides being a member of the Adventure Group, I am also a Life Class Player in the logistics department. I once had a rare opportunity and learned a rare life skill, which is creating Energy Stones! Crafting Energy Stones can be done on a personal scale or in a factory setting. Personal crafting requires a high-voltage electric field environment, which I haven’t been able to find despite a long search, nor could I find the necessary instruments and equipment. But this Stone Chamber is a more powerful Energy Factory, capable of mass-producing Energy Stones!"

"Crafting Energy Stones?" Everyone gasped. The value of Energy Stones goes without saying; the top-level skills essentially require Energy Values to release, and yet the output of Energy Stones has been very scarce, making them extremely rare strategic materials.

Even Huang Yi currently has only one Energy Stone in his storage ring, which he obtained by setting a world record for clearing the 80th floor of the Tower of Pantheons not long ago, and he’s been reluctant to use it ever since.

In the past, he had many Energy Stones, acquiring a batch at the Golden Holy Dragon’s Treasure Spot, and another batch after killing the Black Wolf. But since then, he hadn’t been able to acquire any more. Previously, he used the Eye of Time every day to check the success rates of his War Soul, gradually depleting all of his Energy Stones.

Now, Energy Stones are the strategic materials he is most in need of. Not just him—everyone in the world is short of them, and no amount of Energy Stones seems to be enough!

Several months ago, an American player named Fire Dragon created the world’s first Energy Stone, causing a sensation. At that time, Huang Yi wanted to learn the method to create Energy Stones but had not obtained the manufacturing technique ever since. What he hadn’t expected was that someone in his team now possessed such capability.

Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén looked at the factory before him, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "The first person in the world to create an Energy Stone was the famous American Life Class Player, Fire Dragon. But his was a personal craft, like a small workshop, while what we have in front of us is a factory! The scale of the two is vastly different. To my knowledge, this should be the first Energy Factory in the world."

"Then, what do you reckon the output of Energy Stones could be, given the scale of this factory?" Huang Yi immediately asked.

Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén looked around the Stone Chamber, made some calculations, and said, "There are exactly one hundred machines here. If there are sufficient raw materials, it’s possible to make one hundred C-level Energy Stones per day, each adding three thousand Energy Value points. If we make lower-level Energy Stones, the output could be even greater."

"One hundred C-level Energy Stones... that’s an output of three hundred thousand Energy Value points per day. That’s a significant amount," Huang Yi nodded, then continued, "What would be the approximate cost of raw materials needed to craft one Energy Stone?"

Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén shook his head and said, "From what I understand about the craftsmanship, one C-level Energy Stone requires over ten different raw materials, including Mica Stone, Thunder Stone, Gold Scales Powder, Ice Blue Water, among others. Some of these materials are extremely rare on our continent, usually with no particular use, so they’re not commonly bought or sold, and they’re not available in auction houses. They would need to be sought after in faraway places. Of course, other countries’ continents might sell them, but we can’t buy them for now. Only the Sun Guild can engage in Transoceanic Trade, and they have a monopoly on this market, so they can charge astronomical prices. Therefore, it’s very difficult for me to estimate the value of the raw materials."

"The Sun Guild, huh?" Huang Yi nodded and a sly smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, saying, "Let’s start by collecting all the raw materials needed to make Energy Stones that we can find within the continent. As long as the price is not too outrageous, we can afford it. If we really can’t get our hands on such materials, we then put out a message for a partnership to craft Energy Stones. The deal would be a fifty-fifty split—they provide raw materials for a hundred Energy Stones, and after we craft them, we keep fifty and give them fifty. I’m sure many people would be interested."

Overlord nodded as well, saying, "Right, after players undergo their First Transformation, they need Energy Stones to use their Class Ultimate Moves. This item is increasingly in short supply. We control the only Energy Factory available right now, so they can only cooperate with us."

At this point, Huang Yi turned to Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén and instructed, "From now on, you’ll be in charge of this factory. I’ll have Knight, the person in charge of logistics, send some people to help you out. If you have any issues, report them directly to Knight. You’ll need to put in extra effort, as this factory is vital, another significant industry for our Guild after Earth Dragon Valley."

"Thank you, big brother," Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén said joyfully. He had practically ascended to heaven in one step, becoming one of the Guild’s high-ranking members. There were many benefits to being a senior Guild member, such as allocations of equipment. For example, the recently discovered Legendary Equipment "Thunder King’s Electric Shield" was directly given to Ghost Cloud’s Words by Huang Yi, and the Legendary Longsword found later was taken back and allocated to the Dungeon Group Leader Knight. Others could only receive Contribution Points to exchange for other items in the Guild Warehouse.

Huang Yi patted Huī Dāo Zhǎn Hóng Chén on the shoulder, then turned and looked expectantly at the factory.

This treasure within Leizes’s vault was the greatest of them all—the Thunder Left Hand and this factory. This factory was an enterprise that could be discussed in the same breath as Earth Dragon Valley.

Earth Dragon Valley was a gold mine, continuously providing funds for the Hero Guild, but the potential of this factory might even exceed that of Earth Dragon Valley. After all, the Mounts in Earth Dragon Valley were only Fourth Rank, and once the mainstream Level of the players moved past this stage, no one would go there for Mounts any longer, and Earth Dragon Valley would lose its value. Energy Stones, on the other hand, would never be phased out, allowing the factory to continuously operate.

Thus, this treasure-hunting journey had come to a successful conclusion!

Next, Huang Yi would have to face the Bloodthirster, the Heavenly Domain Half-Beastman Man Tian, all by himself.

"Alright, everyone, I’ll be leaving for a few days. Once I’ve evaded the pursuit of that Half-Beastman from the Celestial Realm, I’ll return," Huang Yi said to the whole Team at that moment.

At this, the group that had been excited a moment ago suddenly became somber, looking at Huang Yi with concern.

——————————————————————————(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we invite you to come to Starting Point (qidian.com) to cast your Recommendation Ticket and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)