Chapter 157: Making Another Deal with Humans

Not to mention the Xia Kingdom, even the most advanced defense systems of Merigen would fail.

Because when the Dragon King flew through the air, he could alter his trajectory at will. The weapons currently possessed by humanity were utterly incapable of maintaining a precise lock for any sustained period.

Therefore, after deliberation, the expert panel unanimously agreed that they should continue to cultivate friendly ties and further strengthen bilateral relations.

They should also endeavor to fulfill any reasonable requests made by the other party.

"Captain Dong, I have a video here that I believe you humans will find quite fascinating. I am sending it to you first; let's talk after you have watched it."

With that, Lu Chen terminated the communication and transmitted the recorded footage.

Fully half an hour later, the communicator rang once more.

Dong Mingjun's figure materialized on the screen.

It was evident that an unmistakable, lingering excitement still animated his features.

"Your Excellency the Dragon King, is this what you discovered within the misty realm?"

"Indeed. While exploring the misty realm over the past few days, I chanced upon a massive ancient city. Among its structures was a spiritual energy bolt-thrower, inscribed with runic magic arrays and powered by spirit stones. I took the liberty of testing it, and its destructive power is quite astonishing. I wonder if your Crisis Management Panel might find it of interest?"

"Interested? Of course we are interested! May I ask what price Your Excellency the Dragon King intends to set for this spirit energy cannon in spirit stones?" Dong Mingjun eagerly inquired.

Having just viewed the video, the entire conference room had erupted into a boiling uproar.

The expert panel immediately set about evaluating the weapon depicted in the footage.

The conclusion was unequivocal: the video bore no traces of fabrication. The weapon's aesthetic style closely resembled alien artifacts excavated by humanity from other different-dimensional spaces, suggesting it was entirely authentic.

Although the Dragon King possessed high intelligence, he was ultimately a fierce beast and lacked the capability to manufacture weapons of such a distinctive style.

Furthermore, they evaluated the blast zone generated by the spirit energy cannon. Preliminary calculations estimated its explosive yield to be equivalent to one hundred tons of TNT.

Most people might not grasp what one hundred tons of TNT actually signified.

To put it more intuitively, it was roughly equivalent to the simultaneous detonation of two million hand grenades.

More importantly, this spirit energy cannon demonstrated an entirely novel method of utilizing spirit stones to humanity.

As a brand-new energy source, spirit stones had appeared in the Blue Star world for merely half a year, and human research and application remained exceedingly superficial.

Even knowing that immense energy was contained within them, humanity had no idea how to fully harness it.

Current methods were crude in the extreme, limited to consumption or the crafting of various utensils and spatial storage items.

This efficiency was abysmally low, resulting in tremendous waste.

It was not as though humanity had never considered runic magic arrays; within some of Blue Star's ancient martial arts traditions, records of similar arrays did exist.

However, whenever they attempted to integrate spirit stones into these ancient arrays, they discovered they simply did not function.

The expert panel ultimately concluded that either their method of application was incorrect, or those arrays were fundamentally incompatible with spirit stones as a new energy source.

Consequently, upon viewing the video recorded by the Dragon King, the members of the expert panel could only be described as ecstatic.

This was the first time they had laid eyes on a pristine magic array runic structure that had suffered zero damage.

And it was immediately operational.

The assistance this would provide to their subsequent research into alien civilizations was simply immeasurable.

Its value even surpassed the sword cultivation techniques left behind by the alien cultivator Zhang Sanfeng; it was utterly beyond quantification in monetary terms.

Some experts even deduced that if they could thoroughly unravel the mysteries concealed within the runic magic array, it would trigger a brand-new energy revolution on Blue Star.

The future realization of public transport such as spirit stone-powered vehicles and flying craft was no longer confined to mere imagination.

Even more profoundly, human civilization might take a monumental leap forward. This was precisely one of the reasons why the expert panel so readily consented to the transaction.

"Thirty thousand spirit stones, and I will lead you to retrieve it immediately," Lu Chen stated his terms concisely and decisively.

"Your Excellency the Dragon King, that is rather steep. Might we lower it somewhat...?" Dong Mingjun tentatively bargained.

"This is the price. If you are unwilling, I shall approach other human nations."

Lu Chen felt that his asking price was not particularly high.

He was confident that if other nations were to learn of it, fetching forty thousand spirit stones was entirely within the realm of possibility.

However, Lu Chen's trust in the humans of other countries was limited, and he had no desire to court trouble.

"Very well, we agree. Furthermore, we are willing to offer an additional five thousand as remuneration, provided that Your Excellency the Dragon King escorts our personnel safely in and out of the misty realm."

Dong Mingjun and his colleagues were all too familiar with the perilous nature of the misty jungle.

When they had previously transported the bronze flying boat, they had encountered a subterranean reptilian monster.

Before they even had time to make out its true appearance, over a dozen soldiers had lost their lives. Moreover, there were various bizarre, plant-like life forms that struck without warning, capable of claiming lives in the blink of an eye if one lowered their guard even slightly.

Because of this, after hauling away the bronze vessel, the Crisis Management Panel had refrained from venturing deeper into the misty realm to explore.

Never had they imagined that such monumental opportunities remained concealed within.

In truth, similar circumstances prevailed across the other different-dimensional spaces; constrained by the strength of the Crisis Management Panel, current human exploration remained entirely skin-deep.

"However, Your Excellency the Dragon King must grant us some time to prepare. Thirty thousand spirit stones is, after all, no small sum."

"No problem. I shall be staying in the Hot Spring Valley in the near future and await your convenience at any time," Lu Chen agreed without hesitation.

He had no fear that Dong Mingjun and the others would renege on the deal and secretly slip into the misty realm to hunt for the spirit energy bolt-thrower on their own.

Though that location was a mere thousand-odd miles from the rift exit, countless mountain ranges lay between them. More importantly, the entire different-dimensional space was shrouded in dense fog, rendering many of humanity's modern exploratory instruments useless.

Searching purely by manpower—even if hundreds or thousands of people were to enter—would be like raindrops falling into the sea, completely insignificant without a guide.

Therefore, without his assistance, finding that massive city without precise coordinates was virtually impossible.

Once lost, it was essentially a death sentence.

And finally, the space teemed with countless bizarre, plant-like life forms. Even Lu Chen's level of cultivation had nearly fallen victim to them, let alone ordinary humans.

To rashly plunge into the depths was to invite a death of utterly unknown origin.

"Squeak, hiss..." Seeing Lu Chen conclude the call, Jin Dian trotted up close and chirped joyfully.

Well now, how interesting?!

Upon hearing the creature's intent, a flicker of surprise emerged within Lu Chen's beastly pupils.

So the rain had cleared, the skies had brightened, and the little guy felt it had grown wings... yearning for a hearty, unfettered battle?

Indeed, this was precisely what Jin Dian was trying to convey.

A few days prior, after ingesting a spirit stone, the little fellow's strength had once again advanced by leaps and bounds. By now, its height exceeded five meters, and it weighed over seven tons, its limbs thick and brimming with explosive power.

Consequently, it had become somewhat overconfident and was preparing to challenge its superior.

That being the case, Lu Chen did not mind imparting an indelible memory to the little fellow, letting it understand why the flowers were so red.

"Roar..."

With a furious bellow, Jin Dian's physique underwent a drastic transformation.

Beneath its thick hide, countless bulging veins rippled rapidly like slithering serpents. Its bones and tendons emitted a sound like a string of firecrackers bursting into life. Massive swells of muscle expanded, causing its body to balloon as if being pumped with air.

In the blink of an eye, its height doubled, reaching a staggering ten meters.

Its two beastly pupils blazed like vehicular headlights, radiating a ferocious crimson glow. A pair of tusks protruded from its maw, and an aura of supreme ferocity and savagery rolled outward like a tidal wave.

The posture of a beast king was fully revealed!