Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 325 - 51 The Mysterious Manor
Chapter 325: Chapter 51: The Mysterious Manor
Chapter 325: Chapter 51: The Mysterious Manor
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The silver Dodge Tomahawk stirred up countless fierce birds, those strangely shaped flying creatures spread their scale-covered wings and charged towards the blue electrical spray at the tail of the motorcycle, only to be slowly left behind in the distance…
A radiated worm, lurking underneath the soil, felt the trembling of the ground, and burst forth just as the tires were about to rush over it!
Two dark brown blade-like claws crossed over, black soil particles flew about, the worm’s mouthparts flared out, looking around in confusion. But all that was left of the silver motorcycle was a fading afterimage.
Li Yan glanced at the azure map projection below, twisted his arm to steer the Dodge Tomahawk into the red cave ahead, and emerged from the dark natural tunnel to face a towering cliff. With an acceleration, the vehicle leapt over dozens of meters in height and crashed down with a thunderous impact, compressing the Dodge Tomahawk a few centimeters before it quickly rebounded and smoothly continued forward.
“Stable landing, no parts damaged.”
“Maximum safe speed under current terrain conditions: 260 Km/h.”
“Time remaining to reach destination: 1 hour, 18 minutes.”
“Fuel consumption: 19%, electrical consumption: 10%.”
“Encountering unavoidable obstacle ahead!”
Lines of text flipped up and down beside the motorcycle’s dashboard projection, with the last line flashing a glaring red light, exclamation point included.
Ahead of Li Yan was a gorge, and in front of him, a group of wild refugees with rotting faces. Hungry and fixated on the speeding hunk of metal from afar, their bloodshot eyes and dark gun barrels revealed a strong desire to attack.
Several felled poplar trees and a tractor blocked the path of the Dodge Tomahawk. Li Yan’s motorcycle was travelling at a speed of 260 kilometers per hour; if he collided, bone fractures and muscle tears would be inevitable.
Bang! Bang!
The leader was a muscular man with a crudely made cast iron mask. He fired a few shots into the sky and roared at the approaching Li Yan, “Come on, you little rabbit.”
He stood in front of a poplar trunk that could be embraced by one person, sure that Li Yan would stop.
Li Yan acted as if he didn’t see it, the red color in the blue projection quickly disappeared, and a line of text popped out.
“Obstacle can be cleared.”
The two compound eyes of the Tactical Spider on the front of the bike instantly retracted into black holes, and two rows of flames sliced the horizon from the body of the Dodge Tomahawk. The scorching metal stream cut the shouting refugees, along with the tractor and poplar trunk, in half!
Accompanied by mournful wails, the Dodge Tomahawk skimmed past half the body of a refugee, yet the vehicle itself did not waver at all, like a silver flood crushing over the debris, raising clouds of black smoke and flesh.
Li Yan didn’t look back. In a few breaths, the heavily hit group of refugees vanished on the horizon. He whistled, feeling immensely exhilarated.
On the way to the estate mentioned by Afafu, he invariably had to cross several hazardous areas.
These places, facing the depletion of mineral veins and water sources, were infested with extremely fierce beasts and birds, offering little to gain. Companies and organizations willing to communicate wouldn’t establish supply bases or shelters here due to the rugged terrain and manifold hidden dangers. Even for the recognized explorer class, the “Wandering Deity,” which Li Yan was most familiar with, there was the possibility of dying in this vast wilderness.
These troubles might not stop Li Yan’s advance, but they would certainly waste a lot of his time. Now, however, they all became the victims of his experiments with the Dodge Tomahawk’s capabilities.
Even so, the performance that the Dodge Tomahawk was currently demonstrating was less than a third of what Li Yan had designed at the beginning; there were still many features that lacked an opportunity to be used on the spot.
Not to mention, just the functional description of the legendary accessory “All-Function Tactical Spider” alone was nearly a hundred thousand words long in the manual!
This included a tactical computer, remote control weapon terminal, map navigation recording, data engine retrieval, fire support, six internal slots, seamless injection of liquid medication, tactical automatic repair, and the ability to detach from the Dodge Tomahawk body to act as a shield or blade when necessary…
The Dodge Tomahawk, upgraded to legendary quality, can be said to be the most valuable piece of equipment Li Yan currently possesses, even surpassing the Gold-engraved Tiger Head Spear by a large margin.
Suddenly, a cluster of black buildings came into Li Yan’s sight. From a distance, it was an abandoned estate, alongside scattered armed watchtowers and crumbling walls. The occasional bones of wild beasts or humans seen along the way became increasingly dense as Li Yan progressed.
“`
“I hope I can find some clues here…”
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Combining what Afafu said, Li Yan concluded that Yu Shu wanted him to attend the gathering of scientists at Shuishu Park, which must be where her hidden wealth lay.
However, Afafu made it clear that Shuishu Park had not hosted the event for years, and naturally, Li Yan had no way of attending. If he couldn’t find more useful information in this manor, Li Yan would have no choice but to try his luck at the Big Ben Research Institute’s territory, which would mean a long journey away from zone B.
“The token from Yu Shu sent me to zone B for a reason; I should not come back empty-handed this time.”
Li Yan thought to himself.
About ten minutes later, Li Yan, using the motorcycle’s momentum, smashed through the rotten iron gate and burst into the desolate manor. The new life detection instrument fitted in his pupil showed only traces of insects and rodents.
The central part of the manor had a distinct central axis with symmetrical buildings on either side, which didn’t quite resemble the architectural style of Tibet’s manors but was more akin to northern buildings within Shanhaiguan.
Once the Dodge Tomahawk came to a natural stop, Li Yan removed the Tactical Spider from the motorcycle, wore it as a mechanical arm guard on his arm, and then retracted the motorcycle into his personal mark.
He removed a copper coin from around his neck, and with black water twisting into a human silhouette, the Black Rider Ghost took position and silently surveyed the surroundings.
“It was too crowded earlier to let you out; how did it feel inside?”
Since discovering that the Black Rider Ghost had gained higher intelligence, Li Yan communicated much more frequently with it. He wasn’t particularly afraid that the Black Rider Ghost’s intelligence would lead it to turn against him. Having controlled tens of thousands of pirates, he naturally wouldn’t have any unwarranted suspicions towards one Black Rider Ghost.
However, the cost and approach to dealing with people and machines were always different.
“Outside, I cannot rest; only inside the six coins can I sleep.”
The red light in the Black Rider Ghost’s eyes flickered as he lowered his head to add, “My lord.”
Bai Laotou, perched on its shoulder, stretched lazily, corroborating the Black Rider Ghost’s words.
“You go left, I’ll go right. Put safety first if you find anything.”
Li Yan could sense the Black Rider Ghost’s emotions within a certain range, so he didn’t need to be notified.
Having said that, Li Yan released flocks of Sudu birds, ordering them to spread out from both himself and the Black Rider Ghost as centers. He didn’t allow them to fly too far; although these little gadgets were quite unobtrusive, they were highly practical. Li Yan had ninety-eight left and didn’t want to lose any more.
The manor was vast, rivaling even Kuang Zhuoma’s headquarters. There were flower beds everywhere, with most of the vegetation dead. Exposed drainage pipes, hollowed-out corners of walls, and mottled surfaces all clearly showed that it had been a long time since anyone had lived here. In fact, Li Yan soon found traces of everyday items—a notebook in a drawer, a bookmark on a table, all covered with a thick layer of dust.
The people here had left suddenly.
Li Yan lingered around the perimeter for a while before heading directly to the core area. Along the way, he was stopped by a door operated by hydraulic machinery; surprisingly, the control panel next to it still had its power light on.
Li Yan extended the Tactical Spider arm guard on his left hand, its metal appendages digging into the control panel with ferocity.
“G8 Tungsten Steel Alloy Base Door”
“Manufacturer: Pompeii Armaments.”
“Manufacturing Date: Winter 21st Year.”
“Hacking Duration: 3 hours 15 minutes.”
Li Yan sighed and retracted the spider arm guard, then pulled out the “Crazy Shocker,” took two steps back, and aimed at the door.
Boom!!!
