Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 123 - 34 Clues in Mountain City_2

Chapter 123: Chapter 34 Clues in Mountain City_2

"My value is not limited to my identity."

"I have a piece of information, and I can guarantee, it is information everyone wants."

"I will trade this information for my life."

"Speak."

Chen Jian appeared as calm as ever.

"I can speak, but not in front of Bai Xu."

"You guys should get rid of him first."

Hearing his request, Chen Jian gave a glance to Huang Yu, who then immediately had Bai Xu escorted out.

Once the room was confirmed to be left with only the real "decision-makers," Ji Xing spoke:

"I heard you have a collaboration with the Ring Chamber of Commerce, but you surely don’t know what they intend to do."

"And I happen to know."

"...We know as well."

Chen Jian shrugged helplessly and said:

"They want to restart the ring. Although we don’t know exactly what this goal means, it’s not really a secret, right?"

"No."

Ji Xing shook her head and answered:

"It is a secret."

"The ring is not some ethereal concept, not a religious ’intention.’ It’s an apparatus that actually exists in reality."

"Of course, I don’t know the specific use of that apparatus, but I know it’s located at their headquarters, in Guangshen."

"And that’s not the main point I’m bringing up."

Before Chen Jian could interrupt, Ji Xing continued to say:

"Restarting the ring is the Ring Merchants’ lifelong pursuit, but to achieve this goal, they need to do many things."

"And the most important of these is to unlock the treasure in the Mountain City."

"I guess they must have also told you about this goal — in fact, organizations that have had deep cooperation with them in the past have all heard them mention this goal, and many people have pursued this goal because of their reward."

"The Holy Blood Temple is one of them, and I am one of them as well."

"But unlike others, I have gone further than they have."

"I have clues."

"Clues on how to unlock the treasure in Mountain City."

When Ji Xing finished speaking, Chen Jian’s eyes immediately changed.

Mountain City, again with Mountain City!

So what exactly is there?

The legendary pre-catastrophe city that, unaffected by the passage of time, has stood firm and maintained its original appearance over the centuries...

What exactly happened there?

For three hundred years, one force after another has presumably tried to uncover the truth, yet to this day, it remains shrouded in mystery.

And now, Ji Xing claims she has the clues to enter Mountain City and unlock the treasure?

Chen Jian looked at her with some suspicion.

Ji Xing seemed to have anticipated his reaction and, instead of panicking, spoke with a sense of relief:

"I have no other options left; I can only cooperate with you."

"Everyone here has heard the legend of Mountain City, but everyone has a different judgment of Mountain City."

"The Ring Chamber of Commerce believes there is the secret to restarting the ring, the Mechanical God Sect believes it’s the abode of the Holy Trinity, and the Holy Blood Temple believes it could be the source of the Holy Blood and also the monsters."

"But for a normal person like me... it seems more like a new world."

"A new world that we cannot enter."

"Perhaps there are still people living there, living a life completely different from those on the wasteland."

"Compared to the wasteland, perhaps it truly is... paradise."

"I want to see it for myself. Even if it ultimately turns out to be different from the legend, I still have to see it."

"But to go there, my strength alone is not enough."

"The reason I wanted to become a guard was to quickly accumulate resources, build my own team, and then pursue the clues when the time is right and open the path."

"But unfortunately, this matter is really not as easy as I imagined."

"I can only seek help..."

"Why not seek the Holy Blood Temple?"

Chen Jian questioned:

"You were part of the Holy Blood Temple, you’re obviously more familiar with them. Cooperating with us doesn’t seem as preferable as..."

"Do you think I’m the only one who discovered the clues?"

Ji Xing interrupted Chen Jian and then said:

"I only survived the struggle for the clues, that’s all."

"From then on, the Holy Blood Temple was no longer home to me."

"So you’re a traitor?"

Zeng Yi interjected.

"There are traitors in the Holy Blood Temple? Are you kidding?"

Ji Xing looked mockingly at Zeng Yi and then said:

"You are a Holy Blood yourself, don’t you know? It’s already a fragmented and disintegrating organization."

"We are not traitors; we are merely... exiled in another way."

"...I can’t refute that."

Zeng Yi nodded at Chen Jian and then said:

"That’s indeed the current state of the Holy Blood Temple."

"Understood."

Chen Jian replied casually, and after a brief moment of silence, he turned to Ji Xing and said:

"Let’s get straight to the point then."

"What’s your clue?"

"You must first promise to ensure my safety, and you must promise not to cooperate with Bai Xu."

"We hadn’t planned on cooperating with him anyway."

Chen Jian replied without hesitation.

Ji Xing suddenly felt she was being played, but having said so much, it seemed too late to take it back.

So, she spoke:

"The clue is in Jinling."

"Somewhere in Jinling, there is a secret that can unlock the treasure in the Mountain City."

"No, to be accurate, it’s not just in Jinling."

"There are multiple ways to enter the Mountain City. I just happen to know that there is such a clue hidden in the ruins of Jinling City."

"How do you know?"

Chen Jian did not let the keyword "Jinling" distract him and calmly continued to ask.

"As I said, the Holy Blood Temple once pursued the treasure of Mountain City."

"Our team reached the edge of Mountain City, but before taking another step, we suffered heavy losses."

"While we were resting there, we encountered a Level 1 Monster, and our 36-person team was almost completely wiped out."

"After barely escaping, we found traces of human life in an underground ruin."

"Those people had died in the ruins, but from their recorded notes, we confirmed they had also tried to enter Mountain City."

"They mentioned many place names."

"Jinling, Guangshen, Chuansha, Chang’an, Yongzhou, Xingyang... and some place names we don’t understand."

"Most of these place names are not current areas of human activity, only Jinling is the most suitable target."

"That’s why I chose Jinling. So, does this convince you?"

Chen Jian neither nodded nor shook his head.

He just continued to ask:

"You had a 36-person team, and in the end, only you survived? How did they die?"

"Mutual slaughter."

Ji Xing answered without hiding anything:

"Only six people survived the attack by the Level 1 Monster, and coincidentally, everyone felt that the clue’s value had exceeded the reward offered by the Holy Blood Temple..."

"Logical error."

Chen Jian interrupted Ji Xing, questioning:

"I don’t believe that among these six, there was no one loyal to the Holy Blood Temple."

"The loyal ones died in the confrontation with the Level 1 Monster. You haven’t seen that terrifying creature... How loyal can the survivors be?"

Yet another unverifiable response.

Chen Jian nodded slowly and looked at Shen Yue and his group on the side.

The four-member team left the interrogation room, held a brief discussion, and finally reached a unanimous conclusion.

Then, Chen Jian returned to the interrogation room and ordered Huang Yu to unbind Ji Xing.

As she exercised her somewhat numb limbs, she teased:

"You guys are more cautious than I imagined... or maybe you are just scared?"

"Watch your mouth."

Chen Jian calmly warned:

"It might bring you a lot of trouble."

Ji Xing shrugged indifferently and said:

"We’re just a coalition of interests, does it matter what I say? If you want to find a way to unlock the treasure of Mountain City, you must come to Jinling with me."

"I haven’t told you the location of the clue yet, so you wouldn’t dare kill me, right?"

"Not necessarily."

Chen Jian replied ambiguously.

Ji Xing suddenly felt a chill down her spine and realized she truly couldn’t act recklessly in front of these killers.

Therefore, she coughed and decisively changed the subject.

"What about that Huadu person? What do you plan to do with him?"

"We don’t plan to deal with him."

Chen Jian shook his head and answered:

"He’s already dead."

"Died at Wushan Lake, in the monster riot."

"His body has already been torn to pieces by the monsters, what else is there to deal with?"