Chapter 305: Looting
BZZT~
Just then, the wristband vibrated again as a series of notifications popped up.
Long Ming glanced down at it.
"Notification: The Kavatry world will officially open in 72 hours. Please prepare!"
"Notification: The Kavatry world is a Level 2 civilization instance, limited to 1,000 participants."
"Notification: If the Kavatry Castle Secret Vault’s Black Calamity Flower is lost, or if more than 50% of the castle’s treasures are lost, the mission will automatically be judged a failure."
"Notification: Upon successful completion of your mission, a dedicated extraction point will open."
...
Long Ming was startled when he saw these notifications.
’Thankfully, this is only a Level 2 civilization instance, and it’s for 1,000 people. If it were a major instance for 10,000, I’d be dead for sure.’
’But a 1,000-person instance won’t be a walk in the park either. If I run into a major guild, I’m still dead. After all, two fists are no match for four hands.’
With this in mind, Long Ming rose from the throne and walked toward the main hall’s entrance, intending to check out the castle and his surroundings.
But before he had taken more than a few steps, his nerves tingled. He instinctively sensed danger and reflexively looked up at the ceiling.
A terrifying figure was dropping down.
Long Ming leaped back swiftly to dodge.
THUD~
A King-rank Crypt Fiend Spider—Momei—appeared. It stood six meters tall and twelve meters long, with eight spider legs, a pair of sharp spider-blades, and a humanoid face with twelve spider-eyes. Its entire body was covered in twisted black patterns.
Momei’s crimson eyes locked onto Long Ming, and it raised its spider-blades, about to attack.
Just then, Long Ming drew his blood-colored blade, and a dark-red, blood-scented aura erupted from his body.
Momei instantly let out a terrified screech and instinctively retreated, its hostility vanishing completely.
Long Ming was also stunned.
BZZT!
A notification immediately popped up on his wristband.
"Notification: Fear Domination successful. You have gained command authority over the King-rank Crypt Fiend Spider, Momei. You can issue basic kill orders."
Long Ming was surprised by the notification. ’I can actually control the monsters here?’
’Then again, it seems normal. It looks like I’m the final boss of this instance now.’
Thinking of this, Long Ming raised his wristband, opened the map, and checked the location of the secret vault.
He discovered that the secret vault was right inside the wall behind the throne.
Long Ming then said to Momei,
"Guard this place. Kill anyone who comes near."
Momei let out a fearful screech and crawled back up to the ceiling.
Long Ming turned and walked behind the throne, reaching out to turn a round orb on it.
CLICK!
The entire metal wall split open.
Long Ming walked straight into the secret vault.
Inside the vault were rows of metal shelves holding sealed archive bags, as well as some valuable art carvings, jeweled ornaments, and other items.
Long Ming raised his wristband to scan a picture frame on one of the shelves.
Gray Dusk.
Grade: Purple
Long Ming glanced at the info. ’The grade doesn’t seem very high.’
He didn’t pay it much mind, however, and continued deeper inside.
The secret vault was very spacious, but it didn’t contain many items.
Soon, Long Ming reached the very back.
A circular metal platform came into view.
On the platform grew a plant with blooming black flowers.
Long Ming raised his wristband and scanned it.
Black Calamity Mother Plant
Grade: Orange
Effect: Unknown
Looking at the notification, Long Ming muttered to himself,
"This instance seems a bit stingy. The best thing it produces is only Orange-grade."
"Wait, if those invaders manage to kill me, wouldn’t the Red Demon mecha armor I’m wearing drop? Doesn’t that make *me* the best treasure?"
A strange expression appeared on Long Ming’s face at this thought.
’Forget it. I have three days. I’ll start by gathering everything valuable in this world. This is a Level 2 civilization instance, so anything produced here will definitely be worth more than stuff from a Level 1 civilization when I recycle it.’
Long Ming immediately turned and left the secret vault.
When he walked out of the main hall and into an outer corridor, he came face-to-face with numerous smaller Crypt Fiend Spiders.
Upon seeing Long Ming, the Crypt Fiend Spiders all recoiled in terror.
The smile on Long Ming’s face grew even wider.
He raised his wristband and scanned everything along the way, from the paintings on the corridor walls to the decorative light fixtures.
The Weeping Maiden
Grade: Blue
...
Long Ming marked everything that was shown to have value.
He planned to finish looting the castle first.
Soon, Long Ming found his way to the entrance of a huge storeroom, where a large number of Crypt Fiend Spiders were gathered.
The spiders were crawling all over each other in a dense mass, a sight that would make one’s skin crawl.
However, when Long Ming walked over,
the Crypt Fiend Spiders scattered like startled birds, clearing a path for him.
Long Ming walked to the storeroom entrance, pushed open the ajar door, and a weapons armory came into view.
Rows of weapon racks were lined with Blast Guns, trigger-activated spherical grenades, SCW Explosive Bullets...
"I’ve struck it rich!"
Long Ming exclaimed excitedly after a brief inspection.
But he didn’t touch any of it yet, instead turning to leave.
「A moment later.」
Long Ming reached an outer platform of the castle, and his view opened up dramatically.
A silent royal city lay before him.
The entire city was situated on a wide plain, with the castle at its center, surrounded by towering walls.
Outside the walls was a wide moat, spanned by a massive stone bridge that led directly to the castle gate.
Long Ming carefully observed the city’s architecture.
Buildings of vastly different styles met his eyes.
Some structures were made of concrete, while others were built from steel, stone, and earth.
Overall, the buildings closer to the castle were more advanced, while those on the outskirts were more dilapidated.
A smile appeared on Long Ming’s face.
’I’ll loot everything of value in this city before anyone else gets here. It’s not like I have to worry about monsters attacking me, anyway.’
Thinking this, he didn’t hesitate and jumped straight down from the castle’s outer platform.
THUD~
Long Ming ran toward the gate.
...
「Two days later.」
Inside the castle’s secret vault.
Long Ming had a bundle wrapped in a bedsheet slung over his back and was carrying a large woven bag in each hand.
Then, he emptied the contents.
CLATTER.
A heap of miscellaneous items poured out: gemstone rings, Kafan fur coats, classified data drives, black titanium ingots, and more.
Long Ming looked up with satisfaction at the entire secret vault, which was now filled with piles of loot.
He had moved everything he could scavenge over, not even sparing some of the smaller Blue-grade items.
’But unfortunately, this world is so poor. Forget comparing it to the royal city of the Aniska Empire; it can’t even hold a candle to its four major economic cities.’
’In those economic cities, many items in the display windows of any random commercial street are Red-grade.’
’In this entire city, there were only five Red-grade items, only one Orange-grade, and I didn’t see a single Gold-grade one.’
’But the sheer quantity makes up for the lack of quality.’
In a cheerful mood, Long Ming raised his wristband to check the time. There were still 24 hours and 12 minutes until the instance opened.
He stretched and prepared to get to work.