Chapter 52: Gains from the First Round of Exploration

Chapter 52: Chapter 52: Gains from the First Round of Exploration

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As Gu Su’s mind reeled, replaying the shocking scene of the vines devouring the Peregrine Falcon, the Skeleton Warriors tasked with moving the items had already returned. They steadily placed the packed boxes and cabinets before him.

The boxes and cabinets were arranged neatly on the ground, completely still. It was clear they had been handled with extreme care, as if the skeletons feared damaging the contents.

Gu Su tore his gaze from the skyscraper and bent down. He began opening the cardboard boxes and peeling metal cabinets one by one. His fingertips brushed over the contents, his expression focused and serious as he carefully examined the items salvaged from the Laboratory.

After all, he had braved unknown dangers for this haul. Even if he had some expectations, he didn’t want to miss a single valuable item.

But after a thorough inspection, Gu Su couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

Most of the materials and documents inside the boxes and cabinets had been damaged by long-term storage and environmental decay. They were either oxidized and degraded or the writing on them was too faded to read. They had long since lost their original purpose and could only be discarded as junk.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a total loss. A few items displayed information when he picked them up.

This meant the game recognized them as items, proving they weren’t complete junk at least.

[You have obtained the item, Damaged Culture Vessel (Gray): A homemade culture vessel made from a pressure cooker. However, its seal is now compromised, rendering it unusable.]

[You have obtained the item, Incomplete Experiment Log (Gray): A document recording a detailed experimental process. However, due to being stored for too long, much of the text is illegible. Only partial information can be deciphered.]

[You have obtained the item, Ineffective Potion (Gray): A potion that has been sitting for an unknown amount of time. It might have been useful once, but it’s completely useless now.]

[You have obtained the item...]

[You have obtained the item, Plant Inducer (White): A special potion that is still usable. It can be applied to plant seeds or seedlings to randomly induce an aberrant transformation, causing the plant to mutate.]

[You have obtained the item, Deceitful Seed Devoid of Life Force (Green): A Deceitful Seed of unknown origin. Having lost all its Life Force, it can no longer take root and sprout, but the seed’s interior still contains a portion of its deceitful power.]

[...]

After examining everything, Gu Su sorted the items into categories.

The worthless junk that yielded no information went into one pile; they wouldn’t need to be handled with care when moved later.

The items that had Attributes were put in another pile. These were the more important ones.

Of these, the most important were the Plant Inducer and the Deceitful Seed.

Gu Su never expected to find such valuable items hidden among a pile of seemingly useless junk.

The moment he pulled them out, these two items made him think of the Fluorescent Vines enveloping the skyscraper.

The Plant Inducer was very likely the real reason the Fluorescent Vines on the skyscraper had become so strange and aggressive.

The incomplete experiment logs probably contained the formula for this Plant Inducer, but unfortunately, most of the writing was too faded to be deciphered completely.

As for the Deceitful Seed, it was likely the origin of the whole experiment.

But with no one left and no information to go on, Gu Su had no idea how the original researchers had obtained the Deceitful Seed.

As for the other items, Gu Su didn’t give them much thought. After all, he was no Druid or scientist. Even with the experiment log in hand, the formulas and methods described within were all Greek to him; he couldn’t understand a word of it.

It seemed the only thing to do with the incomplete experiment log was to wait until he logged out of the game and sell it on the black market.

However, Gu Su quickly adjusted his attitude.

The pre-made Plant Inducer and the Deceitful Seed were a significant haul in themselves, and he had a strong feeling they would prove very useful.

He instinctively thought of his Deceitful Tree. It was just one step away from being fully repaired, and these two plant-related items might be exactly what he needed to finish the job.

His mind made up, Gu Su carefully placed every item back into the cardboard boxes and metal cabinets. He closed the lids and doors, then used some vines to secure them.

Once that was done, his gaze returned to the nearby skyscraper, which still emanated a strange aura.

Gu Su raised his hand and gestured. The White Crow—which had just lured the Peregrine Falcon and had been resting on a nearby branch—immediately took flight. It dove down and landed steadily on his shoulder, its head bobbing slightly as if awaiting orders.

Gu Su pointed to the windows on the skyscraper that had glowed with that strange fluorescent light when the Peregrine Falcon was attacked. "Go check what’s inside those windows. Be thorough; don’t miss a single detail."

The White Crow seemed to understand his command. Without hesitation, it nuzzled Gu Su’s fingertip before taking flight. It flew swiftly toward the skyscraper in the direction Gu Su had pointed, nimbly weaving through the tangled vines. It soon reached one of the windows that had glowed and began its detailed reconnaissance.

Meanwhile, Gu Su turned to the Ordinary Skeleton Warriors who had delivered the boxes. He jutted his chin at them and gave a decisive order, "You lot, come here. Take this over to the skyscraper and dump everything out on the soil at its base."

The Skeleton Warriors moved at once, quickly pushing a shopping cart toward the skyscraper.

Gu Su couldn’t get close himself, but he wanted to see if the ground around the skyscraper could be converted.

If it couldn’t, Gu Su would have to consider having someone dig up the soil beneath the vines to get at the bones buried there.

While these bones might not be comparable to an Exotic Beast Skeleton, he was sure that an accumulation of who-knows-how-many years wouldn’t be for nothing.

At the same time, the Elite Skeleton Warriors still inside the skyscraper received a message from Gu Su, delivered by another White Crow.

They immediately adjusted their tactical formation and prepared to conduct a comprehensive sweep of the building’s interior, just as instructed.

Their primary targets were the rooms behind the windows that had glowed with the strange fluorescent light—the very ones Gu Su had pointed out.

After all, even if the White Crow spotted something valuable, it couldn’t carry the items out on its own.

Gu Su himself couldn’t get any closer, which meant only the Skeleton Warriors could go in and search.

Rather than sending up the Skeleton Warriors who were busy cutting vines below, it was far more efficient to use the Elite Skeleton Warriors already inside the building.

At the very least, they wouldn’t have to climb all the way up from the ground again. They just had to change direction.