Chapter 346: The Vault
Long Ming was stunned and immediately raised his Light Beam Rifle to block.
CRACK~
Long Ming was sent flying, landing in the reception hall outside.
He stood up with a grim expression and looked down at his Light Beam Rifle—it was completely destroyed.
Just then, Kaluot strode slowly out of the office.
Long Ming tossed aside the ruined Light Beam Rifle and drew his Metal Blade.
"Commendable courage!"
With those words, Kaluot shot forward, leaped into the air, and spun elegantly as it brought its sword down in a powerful slash.
Long Ming raised his blade to parry.
CLANG!
Sparks flew in all directions!
The immense Power forced Long Ming’s body down sharply.
Long Ming’s expression darkened as he unleashed a burst of Power, knocking Kaluot away.
Kaluot landed gracefully.
Long Ming stomped his foot and charged toward Kaluot.
Kaluot’s crimson electronic eyes locked onto Long Ming, rapidly analyzing and predicting his next move.
Long Ming unleashed a vicious slash.
Kaluot sidestepped the attack and landed a fierce kick on Long Ming’s torso.
THUD~
Long Ming was sent flying, crashing into the wall behind him.
He stared at Kaluot in utter disbelief. ’How is this thing so strong?’
Kaluot charged viciously at Long Ming, swinging its Light Saber down hard.
Long Ming hastily dodged to the right.
SLICE!
The metal wall was cut through as if it were tofu.
Long Ming’s eye twitched.
Kaluot then spun, its Light Saber a blur as it slashed horizontally at Long Ming.
Long Ming raised his blade to block.
CLANG!
Energy particles scattered everywhere.
Overpowered, Long Ming was forced back step by step, a look of sheer disbelief on his face.
’I can’t believe a robot’s combat skills are even better than a human’s.’
Seeing that it couldn’t defeat Long Ming, Kaluot’s red electronic eyes suddenly flashed brightly.
Long Ming’s heart lurched as instinct screamed that something was wrong.
But it was too late!
BZZT!
Two laser beams shot out from Kaluot’s electronic eyes.
BOOM~
Long Ming was hit and sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground!
FZZT~
"Warning, chest armor has sustained 20% damage!"
A red alert popped up.
Long Ming had no time to read the alert, immediately executing a desperate roll to evade.
Kaluot leaped forward, plunging its Light Saber into the spot where he’d just been.
Long Ming quickly scrambled to his feet.
Just then, Kaluot charged straight for Long Ming.
Long Ming’s pupils contracted. He decisively aimed his Shoulder Cannon and fired at point-blank range.
With no time to dodge, Kaluot took the hit head-on.
BOOM~
It was sent flying, smashing heavily onto the ground with a scorched-black patch on its chest.
Despite this, Kaluot climbed back to its feet.
Long Ming charged forward and brought his blade down on Kaluot.
Kaluot raised its Light Saber to block!
CLANG!
The two weapons clashed.
Long Ming poured on the Power, overwhelming Kaluot, then landed a heavy kick on its body.
THUMP~
Kaluot was sent flying straight into the wall.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Long Ming hurled his Metal Blade.
THUNK!
The Metal Blade instantly pierced through Kaluot’s chest.
BZZT~
Electric sparks sputtered from Kaluot’s chest.
It struggled to raise its left hand, grabbing the blade in an attempt to pull it out.
"Hah!"
Long Ming charged forward and kicked the hilt of the blade.
CRUNCH!
The entire blade ran through Kaluot’s torso, protruding from its back.
"No..."
Kaluot’s electronic eyes flashed wildly in defiance as it swung its Light Saber toward Long Ming.
Long Ming instantly grabbed the hilt with both hands, wrenching the weapon free and sweeping it across Kaluot’s head.
SLICE!
Kaluot’s head tumbled to the floor, its red electronic eyes slowly dimming.
He pulled his Metal Blade free and looked down at Kaluot’s remains, letting out a sigh of relief. ’That was way too close.’
He deactivated the Light Saber and stowed it, then began to inspect Kaluot’s body, eventually finding a metal card in one of its pockets.
Slightly surprised, Long Ming looked at the card before putting it away.
Next, he raised his wrist device and scanned Kaluot’s remains into his secure storage.
’This kind of advanced robot can fetch a good price, even if it’s damaged.’
With that done, Long Ming headed for the office.
Upon entering the office, he went to the desk, pulled open the drawers, and started rummaging through them.
After searching for a while, he had only found two purple-grade file folders.
Somewhat surprised, Long Ming turned to search the cabinet on his right, but he didn’t find anything of particular value there either.
Long Ming immediately sensed that something was amiss. He examined the cabinet more closely and discovered a hidden switch on its inner wall, which he pressed firmly.
CLICK!
The cabinet instantly split down the middle and slid apart.
A huge metal vault door appeared before him, fitted with a special keypad and a mechanical lock.
Long Ming’s eyes lit up. He immediately took out the metal card and swiped it.
"Authorization recognized."
"Please enter the six-digit password!"
A series of prompts appeared.
Long Ming froze when he saw the prompt. ’I can’t believe it needs a password, too.’
He stared at the mechanical buttons on the keypad, his expression shifting. Then, he gathered some dust from the surface of the desk and gently blew it over the keypad.
Long Ming immediately noticed that six of the buttons were cleaner than the others.
For a moment, Long Ming felt troubled. A six-digit password had a million possible combinations.
This type of vault lock would probably only allow three attempts at most.
Long Ming’s heart sank. This vault door was like one on a bank; bombs probably wouldn’t even scratch it. The only way through would be to slowly cut it open.
He turned to look at the items displayed around the office, deciding to search for clues.
Long Ming quickly sifted through the stored file folders, books, and other items.
The seconds ticked by.
Soon, Long Ming found an autobiography on a bookshelf.
Inside the book, a set of numbers caught his eye.
460, 7, 12...
This string of numbers formed a date: the anniversary of Kamoto Mechanical City’s independence. Most importantly, it used the six digits he had identified on the keypad.
After a moment’s hesitation, Long Ming tried entering the numbers.
Password incorrect!
Seeing the error message, Long Ming felt a headache coming on. ’Where did I go wrong?’
Just as he was racking his brain, his eyes fell on the word "autobiography" on the cover, and he had a flash of inspiration.
’People who write autobiographies are usually pretty narcissistic and full of themselves.’
He immediately looked for the author’s birthday and found it was 02/17.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he tried entering 460217.
"Password correct!"
CLICK~
The entire vault door unlocked and opened automatically.
Long Ming pushed open the heavy vault door and stepped inside.
Rows of metal shelves came into view.
On the left side of the shelves were stacks of file folders, while the right side held various pieces of jewelry, treasures, and metal boxes.
Long Ming casually pulled out a file folder and scanned it with his wrist device.
CWC Sensor Device Technical Blueprints.
Grade: Red