This Text Adventure Game is definitely poisonous
Chapter 573 - 321: Pilgrimage Fire Basin_1

Chapter 573: Chapter 321: Pilgrimage Fire Basin_1

Mu You raised his hand and looked at the storage ring he wore, from which he took out a peach stone-shaped crystal.

Heart of the Forest Spirit, this almost overflowing Forest Spirit Core. The black magical power it stored was so dense and intense that it was positively berserk.

Yet simultaneously, it was extremely steady. Regardless of how much energy it stored, it was all kept within a fist-sized crystal stone, like a battery. It could release energy steadily, unlike the geyser fountain, a wonder of the wild nature, whose sporadic and inconsistent energy output could cause devices to explode.

Given these characteristics, wouldn’t the Forest Spirit Core be a suitable fit?

[You have taken out the Heart of the Forest Spirit, handing it to the old goblin, and asking if it would suffice.]

[At first, the decrepit old goblin didn’t pay much attention to your words and accept the Heart of the Forest Spirit subconsciously.]

[Only a few seconds later, the goblin was pleasantly surprised. It could feel the brimming energy from within the crystal core!]

["Impossible! How can such a powerful energy exist?" The old goblin was stunned as it faced the crystal core in hand. The overwhelming energy inside it was deep and vast like an ocean. The goblin couldn’t comprehend how such a tremendous amount of energy was concentrated and steadily stored in such a tiny piece of crystal.]

[Numerous doubts surged into the goblin’s mind, but above all, it felt exhilarated: "I’ve found it, the energy source I’ve pursued all my life! With this crystal core, I can complete my invention!"]

[The goblin clutched the crystal core, laughing uncontrollably. That familiar fanaticism and ambition returned to its face. However, before its laughter subsided, the crystal core floated up and flew back into your hand.]

[You took back the Heart of the Forest Spirit and corrected the old goblin’s misconception: the crystal core did not belong to him, but to you.]

[The old goblin immediately rushed at you, eagerly asking what it would take for you to sell it the crystal core. It was willing to pay any price. You chose...]

[You did not agree to the goblin’s request to purchase the core. Instead, you asked for the reward promised earlier: the blueprint for the energy conversion device.]

[After hesitating for a few seconds, the old goblin kept its promise and handed you the blueprint. But it also reminded you that a blueprint alone was far from enough. Without its expertise, others would find it very difficult to reproduce the device just from the blueprint...]

This old goblin seemed rather shrewd. It probably saw that Mu You would also need its assistance and was preparing to lay down some conditions.

[After some deliberation, you and the old goblin reached a preliminary agreement.]

[The goblin agreed to work for you for a while. All alchemical products created during this period would belong to you, but you also needed to help it find the needed materials, assist it in completing its invention and — once the device was in operation — publically declare to the world that the goblin was the original inventor!]

In short, the old goblin had no interest in the practical benefits of the invention. It sought validation for its research and craved recognition and a place in history!

Mu You had no issues with this - he enjoyed working with talents who sought recognition over rewards.

[You agreed to the old goblin, Eugene’s, request for cooperation.]

[However, Eugene then told you that the only conversion device had been destroyed. To create a new device, you would need to collect three things: golden gearwheel, ancient power furnace, and 100 robot coils.]

[The golden gearwheel and the ancient power furnace could only be found in the goblins’ main gathering place, the Clockwork City. Even there, they were considered secret treasure-grade items and not easy to come by. The robot coils, however, were relatively easy to obtain -- all was needed was to disassemble a large number of alchemy robots.]

Indeed, creating such a powerful thing wasn’t easy; the materials needed, like the golden gearwheel and ancient power furnace, were evidently valuable just from their names.

To obtain these things, the most straightforward method would be to cooperate with the goblins.

However, this was impossible. If the goblins knew Eugene’s invention worked, they would surely lock down their research and not share the benefits with outsiders. Also, he was about to infiltrate the goblins’ headquarters, so cooperation was unlikely.

In that case, he must personally ’retrieve’ these two items from the Clockwork City. Whether through stealing or looting, he still had to find some way to get his hands on them.

As for the coils, it was simple. The Dark Temple was filled with alchemy robots. All he had to do was to go there and destroy a bunch of them.

Having agreed upon the terms with the old goblin, Mu You placed down the teleportation array and left the ant den with the goblin and Shadow Wolf.

At this point, Lin Xue and the others had also found the exit to the temple. Lin Xue also temporarily left the den to pick up Mu You through the teleportation array to the exit they had discovered.

[You arrived at a cliff deep within the ant den, immediately hearing the sounds of mining from behind the stone wall.]

[You peered through the cracks in the stone wall, which connected to the interior of the Dark Temple. A large number of goblin engineers were operating various mining robots, excavating amethyst stones, the unique product of this place, everywhere.]

[Following the paths marked by the goblins, you saw tracks of mine carts that extended along the roads within the temple. Stones collected would be loaded onto these carts and transported away quickly...]