Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 252 - 172: Treasure Hunting Expert

Chapter 252: Chapter 172: Treasure Hunting Expert

Duan Mingyuan still preferred dealing with straightforward people like Earth Wolf Twelve, who didn’t beat around the bush. This sincerity was particularly valuable in an era full of enigmatic individuals, and conflicts were usually settled right on the spot.

Earth Wolf Twelve would shoot you in the head in a duel, fair and square, instead of stabbing you in the back when you weren’t looking.

"But speaking of which, those little thieves were really good at hiding. They practically dug up the whole desert of the Oasis and still didn’t find a trace of the great treasure."

As Earth Wolf Twelve spoke, he juggled an empty bottle in his hand like an acrobat, so skillfully that Duan Mingyuan couldn’t help but suspect he had worked in a circus before.

"What do you think the great treasure actually is?"

"Don’t know."

"Yeah, who knows. The Chamber of Commerce has always been sending people to search for the treasure, but in reality, they also don’t know what they’re looking for."

Earth Wolf Twelve found the whole thing somewhat ironic when he thought about it.

Inciting pirates to invade other planets, causing chaos everywhere, all for an elusive treasure.

"Only the ruler and her confidants know what the national treasure that was stolen actually is. But so many years have passed, and she hasn’t revealed even the slightest bit of information. Plus, the planet’s surface environment has been destroyed, so maybe only someone incredibly lucky will be able to find the treasure... What’s wrong?"

Earth Wolf Twelve noticed Duan Mingyuan’s unusual expression.

In the midst of their conversation, Duan Mingyuan’s phone coincidentally rang.

There was no one here luckier than a fox.

"Mr. Mingyuan, I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?"

Jiuyue on the other end seemed too out of breath to text; she asked between gasps.

"The bad news."

A few seconds later, Jiuyue sent another voice message, and apart from her panting, there were sounds of drones and gunfire in the background.

The bad feeling had, after all, come true.

——"Ling Long and I are being chased by robots."

"And the good news?"

"I found the great treasure. Hurry and come to our rescue, my tail is almost on fire!"

"Damn, for real?"

Earth Wolf Twelve suddenly perked up, the remnants of his drunkenness vanishing without a trace. "She really found the great treasure?"

Why was he so skeptical?

The nobles of the Mechanical Throne and the people of the Oasis had looked for something for decades and failed to find it, yet it had been found by a visitor who had been on Mechanical Star for less than a day?

Who in the world could be that lucky?

"Where are you?"

Right after the message was sent, Jiuyue sent a location. It was outside the Gear Hotel, and she and Ling Long had broken the hotel’s rules, venturing outside on their own.

And so, that morning, the Gear Hotel had two more rule-breakers, including the hotel’s head of security.

Though they were mentally prepared, when they arrived at the location, they were still stunned by the sheer scale of the scene—drones patrolling the sky, the battle robots armed to the teeth searching each room one by one, robotic hounds led by robots, missile launchers mounted on the dogs’ backs, and the fountain in the city center that seemed to be their handiwork had been blown to bits.

The over three-meter-tall tank robots entered the alert state, and the whole street was under martial law.

Jiuyue and Ling Long really had stirred up a hornet’s nest of robots.

Duan Mingyuan and Earth Wolf Twelve, who should not have been there, immediately became the targets of attack, with all kinds of bullets and shells greeting them, proving through action that this mechanized troop wasn’t the property of the Chamber of Commerce, but the private armed forces of the nobles of Mechanical Star.

In the last great purge, it wasn’t only civilians who were driven out of the city, but the Royal Family’s army and servants as well.

The nobles of the Mechanical Planet now only trusted robots that followed pre-set programs loyally.

However, it didn’t take long for Earth Wolf Twelve to respond with even more ferocious firepower; the bullets fired from his revolver packed as much punch as a cruise missile, and he didn’t care in the slightest about collateral damage to nearby houses and other public facilities.

The battle lasted less than 10 seconds, and Duan Mingyuan didn’t even find a chance to make a move before Earth Wolf Twelve took down the entire mechanized troop. After the last shot blew the upper half of a tank robot’s body away, Earth Wolf Twelve struck a pose, twirling his revolver around his index finger before blowing away the wisps of blue smoke rising from the gun barrel.

Only after the mechanized troops were wiped out did Jiuyue poke her head out from the greenery.

She had leaves stuck in her hair and her tail was frizzled.

In her hand was a smartphone—with it, she had covertly recorded the entire process of Earth Wolf Twelve annihilating the mechanized troops.

For her, taking out the mechanical troops that were in pursuit wasn’t difficult, but since these robots were the patrol team of the city, there wasn’t much difference between them and the police on Blue Star. Under Duan Mingyuan’s influence, she had become a law-abiding young lady and didn’t dare to attack law enforcement officers.

Moreover, these drones and battle robots looked quite expensive at a glance; if she accidentally damaged them, she wouldn’t be able to afford the compensation.

Now, she had enough evidence.

——The robots were all wrecked by that Interstellar Cowboy. If the nobles of the Mechanical Throne sought to hold someone accountable, they wouldn’t turn to them for compensation.

After all, the Shanqi Commerce Association had plenty of money; a mere mechanized troop shouldn’t pose any difficulty for them.

She jogged over to Duan Mingyuan, handing over the result of her and Ling Long’s treasure hunt—a small black cane that was cool to the touch, seemingly flowing with some kind of unknown energy.

"This cane is strange. I had barely picked it up when the robots started chasing me."

"I guess it was you who activated the tracking device above,"

Earth Wolf Twelve analyzed, "The next wave of battle robots will be arriving soon, let’s head back to the hotel first."

The Gear Hotel was the property of the Chamber of Commerce, and according to the treaty between Mechanical Star and the Chamber, battle robots were not allowed to enter the hotel premises, which should buy them some time.

Before the next wave of pursuers arrived, the treasure hunting team returned to the safe zone.

Once seated, Jiuyue took the initiative to recount her and Ling Long’s not-so-thrilling treasure-hunting experience—in reality, she had simply relied on the location provided by Ling Long’s photos and then broke a hole in the wall with her eyes closed, guided by feeling, and found the staff concealed within.

This was Ruihu’s innate talent.

They didn’t need to strive, fight, or exert effort; luck would directly help them achieve results.

When Earth Wolf Twelve asked about the whereabouts of 4423, Jiuyue began to recount the Chamber’s security personnel’s unfortunate first day.

At first, he had eaten spoiled food and had to urgently change roles to become a Jet Fighter.

When he emerged with an ashen face, removed his Exoskeleton Armor, and rushed into the toilet, he found that all the paper in the stalls had been used up.

Even worse was that someone hung a "Cleaning in progress, do not enter" sign at the entrance to the restroom.

In the end, the last time they saw 4423 was almost an hour ago.

"First of all, the food at the venue is specially supplied by the Chamber, and it is not possible for it to be spoiled,"

Earth Wolf Twelve pointed out the flaw in the story.

Food safety is a major concern; if the councillors were collectively to suffer food poisoning, it could escalate into a serious diplomatic incident.

"I think that’s not the point,"

Jiuyue said, "What happened has happened, and even if someone is held accountable, it won’t alleviate Mr. 4423’s pain. I think we should first figure out what exactly this great treasure is for."

Before she could understand the specific use of the staff, the robots tracked them down.

In the words of Mechanical Star people, the stolen secret treasure harbored a mystery powerful enough to change the planet, yet even Ling Long, a member of the Mechanical Bloodline, didn’t know how to use it.

If the staff had not been dug out of a wall but found beside the road, Jiuyue wouldn’t have bothered to carry such an insignificant thing at all; she couldn’t see how a mere staff could change a whole planet.

"How did you just use it?"

Duan Mingyuan asked.

It was apparent that Jiuyue had triggered some mechanism in the staff that activated the tracking device inside, leading to the battle robots discovering her and Ling Long.

"It looked like a magical girl’s transformation staff, so I tried it out,"

As she spoke, Jiuyue picked up the staff and twirled it around herself, not forgetting to strike a cute pose, and said, "Transform—!"

Without a doubt, the transformation failed once again, and the staff gave her no response.

"I had Ling Long try it as well, but she failed too."

Upon hearing this, Ling Long’s face turned red, and she nearly buried her face in her knees.

Jiuyue was a big liar.

She tricked Ling Long into thinking she had to strike a cute pose for it to work.

If others had seen the scene at the time and it got spread to the class group, she would never have the face to return to school again.

"Could it be some sort of remote control for a device?"

Earth Wolf Twelve took the staff and began to manipulate it like a remote control, pointing it at Duan Mingyuan, Jiuyue, Ling Long, and the bionic waitstaff behind the counter. When he directed the staff toward the hotel’s entrance, a group of uninvited guests appeared.

Battle robots completely surrounded the outside of the hotel.

The young man who entered the hotel held his head high, his body donned in strange, ornate garments.

He had a pair of distinctive red eyes and looked down on Duan Mingyuan and the others with a condescending gaze, finally resting on the staff in Earth Wolf Twelve’s hand, and said with an undeniable tone, "You have taken something that belongs to this planet, return it immediately, or I will use force against you."

"Are you threatening us?"

Jiuyue slammed the table and rose to her feet.

"I am merely stating facts."

"Do you know who we are?"

Jiuyue emphasized, demanding as she spoke.

"Hmm?"

"Although we are all insignificant nobodies, the gentleman wearing the cowboy hat happens to be an Interstellar Cowboy, a former Long Branch Guard, a commander of the rangers of Hot Sand Star, and currently in charge of the security team appointed to Mechanical Star by the Shanqi Commerce Association. Do you really want to be at odds with the renowned Earth Wolf Twelve?"

Jiuyue came to Earth Wolf Twelve’s side and introduced him with great emphasis.

"The Mechanical Star’s Royal Court has a prior agreement with the Chamber, the Chamber shall not interfere with the internal affairs of the Royal Court."

The young man showed no sign of backing down, his gloved right hand grasping the hilt of the Sting Sword at his waist, "In my view, you are currently interfering with the internal affairs of the Royal Court."