Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 258 - 178: Countdown

Chapter 258: Chapter 178: Countdown

The great craftsman of Mechanical Star was quite the eccentric.

That was the diplomatic way to put it.

In the hearts of the few who knew of him, the great craftsman they had never met had essentially become a legend.

The black cane was a recording device that contained a rap song self-composed by the great craftsman. Ling Long, perhaps guided by fate, did not shut off the relic, allowing the group to listen to the entire song.

With a voice like a quacking duck, unclear diction, and little sense of rhythm, the great craftsman didn’t seem to possess exceptional talent in the realm of rap.

As the first ruler of Mechanical Star, the great craftsman attempted to inspire future generations through rap, hoping they would embrace love and hope.

There was only one reason for this—long before that time, the great craftsman had foreseen the future of Mechanical Star and realized that the excessive exploitation of planetary energy and boundless modifications would eventually bring disaster. But the great craftsman was filled with hope, believing that later generations would produce craftsmen even better than himself to solve the crises of Mechanical Star.

And now, this heavy responsibility had landed on Ling Long’s shoulders.

The great craftsman had high hopes for the person who could break the mechanical seal, indicating her exceptional innate talent for mastering mechanical energy.

Duan Mingyuan couldn’t help but wonder if the queen’s sister had uncovered the secret of the inheritance first and had been mentally stimulated, and he was also worried that the sister, who had placed great hopes on the heirloom, would become despondent upon learning the truth, which led to her saying those words on the execution platform.

The solemn and sorrowful atmosphere inside the great hall was successfully dissolved by the rap song.

Jiuyue was the first to laugh out loud.

Every time she thought of Mechanical Star, Shanqi Commerce Association, and those Cosmic Pirates fighting bloody battles over a rap recording device, she couldn’t help but laugh, pitying that the great craftsman had been dead for centuries; otherwise, they would have had much in common.

Ling Long, deflated, slumped to the ground.

Thinking that all her efforts had been for such a ridiculous thing left her feeling empty.

There was also the metal puppet’s mention of research into imbuing puppets with life—she was actually just a doll stolen from the Royal Court of Mechanical Star by her "parents" and given Ling Long’s imprint, living as a shadow of others.

"Isn’t this a good thing?"

Jiuyue said to her, "It proves you have nothing to do with them, and your life from now on is wholly your own—Ling Long, please always remember that Yunhai Academy is your forever home."

Jiuyue’s crescent-shaped eyes and the dispirited Ling Long, in contrast with the metal puppet, created a sharp dichotomy.

Ever since the rap song filled the great hall, the puppet no longer spoke, hanging its head as if dead.

Only Duan Mingyuan was taking things seriously.

The original craftsman of Mechanical Star might have been a character, but that didn’t mean the crisis of Mechanical Star was averted. On the contrary, the rap cut off the last path for the people of Mechanical Star.

The great treasure was false.

No one could stop the "Cocoon" transformation, and in the end, the people of Mechanical Star were waiting for either the Flesh Curse or some other mode of extinction.

Duan Mingyuan still remembered the numbers mentioned by the metal puppet, "39 years and four months, how much time has passed since then?"

"39 years, 3 months, 26 days."

There were only four days left until the prophesied day of destruction, which coincided perfectly with the start of the conference.

This indicated that Shanqi Commerce Association had ill intentions from the start.

Mechanical Star was to be destroyed by the plague of the "Flesh Curse," with everyone on the planet involuntarily undergoing mechanical transformations until they completely became another species.

After learning about the various turmoils of Mechanical Star, Duan Mingyuan’s understanding of the metal puppet also changed.

Initially, he thought the puppet was controlled by a Puppet Master lurking in the shadows because there was no essence of a living creature inside its body, but now it seemed the metal puppet was the head of the Imperial Guards himself, his current state likely the result of the Flesh Curse, or perhaps he was a creation of Ling Long or the queen.

Duan Mingyuan asked, "Is the Flesh Curse still spreading?"

"It has never stopped."

The metal puppet looked up at the completely desiccated queen in the Blood Pool, implying it was you who accelerated the "Cocoon" process.

He wouldn’t be deceived by Jiuyue; he knew from the moment he entered the great hall that the queen was dead.

Thus, the "Cocoon," previously suppressed by her remaining strength, now bared its fangs.

"This is just the beginning."

The group followed the gaze of the metal puppet and realized that the liquid in the Blood Pool had solidified into a bright red crystal without them noticing.

With the queen’s body as the center, it seemed like all matter was quietly undergoing a transformation.

Duan Mingyuan saw something else.

Within those solidified red crystals, it seemed a life form flashed by, disappearing from the great hall in the blink of an eye, leaving behind indifferent eyes that had briefly met his.

"The Flesh Curse will influence not only flesh and blood; everything on this planet will undergo ’Cocoon’ transformation."

The metal puppet shut its eyes, and this time it truly felt the process of "Cocoon" transformation.

The surge of energy felt so familiar and easily soaked into its body.

In the eyes of the universe, what kind of story would be worthy of the title "Great Demon King"?

Destroying a conference?

Interfering with the internal affairs of other planets?

Or perhaps... to assassinate the Queen.

No, none of these stories compare to his initiating the "Cocoon" process of a planet, causing all the inhabitants of the planet to perish during the cocooning process.

Whether or not this was part of the Shanqi Commerce Association’s plan, the "Great Demon Lord" and his followers had personally unleashed this Pandora’s box.

The great hall was disturbed by a series of commotion.

The sound of flight devices taking off disrupted the afternoon stillness, playing a disordered symphony in the Royal Court.

This coup was not about electing a new ruler, but about breaking the shackles the Queen had placed within the court.

Mechanical Star was beyond saving—if it weren’t for the Queen’s ban, they would have already left this dying planet.

A planet undergoing "Cocoon," there was nothing worth reminiscing.

"You have four days to leave Mechanical Star. Go before your airships are ’cocooned’ as well,"

the Metal Puppet reminded, having completed its final mission.

Next, it would plummet alongside the crumbling Royal Court.

..........

Meanwhile, at Gear Hotel.

After Duan Mingyuan and the others left, Earth Wolf Twelve did not report the discovery of the great treasure to the Chamber of Commerce. He just wanted to take a quiet nap, but before his bed could warm up, he was woken by one phone call after another. Soon, he rushed to the lounge where the council members discussed matters.

They had just received complaints.

Numerous complaints.

At first, there were complaints about the restaurant in Gear Hotel; someone found nails in the food served there.

Earth Wolf Twelve’s immediate thought was that it was impossible.

Gear Hotel was an asset of the Shanqi Commerce Association; every dish during the summit was specially provided by the Chamber, with ingredients, seasonings, and chefs all undergoing strict review. This concerned the reputation of the Chamber, and it was impossible for the council members attending the summit to encounter such an issue.

He suspected it was a deliberate pickiness, but after rushing over, he found that there were not a few complaints about problems with the restaurant, food being tampered with, and attempts to harm the council members. Moreover, one elderly council member had lost a front tooth biting into a lamb chop—an extremely serious accident by the standards of the summit.

Earth Wolf Twelve immediately started a sleepy investigation into the restaurant’s food storage and soon realized it was not a matter of the council members causing trouble intentionally; a large amount of dangerous items had sneaked into the food storage.

No nails, but rice grains made of metal, mixed with other grains, and easy to overlook without careful inspection.

There were also metal lamb chops, so hard that even Earth Wolf Twelve’s steel teeth couldn’t bite through them.

Chicken legs, steaks, vegetables...

Almost every area of the food storage had these metal items disguised as regular ingredients.

Earth Wolf Twelve immediately called the head chef over, pressed his head against a stool, and pointed a revolver at the back of his head, demanding to know whether he was a spy sent by another organization.

The head chef, however, wailed, insisting that they checked the ingredients every night, and he was certain they were normal the previous evening.

He then provided Earth Wolf Twelve with proof of the inspections and the source of every food item. Each had undergone several rounds of inspection, complied with regulations, and had been confirmed safe before being airfreighted to Gear Hotel.

Furthermore, even assuming someone slacked off during the ingredient checks, these world-class chefs, no matter how foolish, couldn’t possibly cook metal items in their pots without knowing.

The restaurant adopted a buffet style, with each dish freshly cooked at the counter, all to avoid such mistakes as much as possible.

"Are you trying to tell me that the council member switched the lamb chop with metal after picking up his food and then accidentally knocked out his own front tooth?"

Earth Wolf Twelve demanded.

"Yes... oh, no, I mean there’s something strange about this batch of food."

The head chef answered timidly, in truth, he had also dismissed the possibility of mischief by the council members—the metal food items had appeared in the restaurant’s food storage area, strictly controlled by the hotel staff, making it impossible for outsiders to get in.

As the two stared at each other, another security officer hastened over.

"For fuck’s sake, you better not tell me there’s another complaint,"

Earth Wolf Twelve cursed.

The security member didn’t speak, only nodding his head innocently.

"Tell them I’m already handling the restaurant issue."

"It’s not the restaurant."

"Then what is it?"

This wasn’t the first time Earth Wolf Twelve had been in charge of security for a large conference, but the continuous major and minor issues at the Mechanical Star summit prevented him from living it up at night with booze and women and catching up on sleep during the day as he used to do.

"It’s the council member’s pet dog..."

The security officer hesitated.

"What about the pet dog, the pet dog?"

"Turned into a statue."