Chapter 217

Just then, Huben suddenly felt as if he had kicked something, something that looked rather heavy. But it wasn't too heavy, and although he kicked it away, it actually made his toes hurt a little.

"Damn it," Huben cursed inwardly.

What is this? I finally have something good happen, and then I have to be unlucky?

Is this the legendary law of conservation of luck?

Do good things always happen together with bad things?

Huben was a little annoyed.

But I was also somewhat curious about the thing I had kicked away.

You'd say that on this sidewalk, unless it's a raised paving stone, there's nothing you could kick and hurt your foot. But if you're talking about paving stones, then it doesn't seem like they would make that clinking, rolling sound.

What is it?

Huben became curious.

Since you're curious, you should take a look.

Huben stepped forward and saw that it was a box.

A strange box.

It doesn't look like a gift box or anything like that. Upon closer inspection, it's hard to tell where the lid is and where the main body is. You can't even tell which way is up, down, left, or right.

Huben Ben picked up the box and weighed it in his hand.

Hmm, a very strange box.

As a veteran blacksmith who has worked for many years, I have a certain understanding of the weight and feel of various materials.

This box is neither gold nor jade, nor is it a chemical product like plastic. It doesn't even look like some kind of wood. It's truly a material unknown to him.

Huben, however, became curious.

Is this a box? Or a cube?

Is it solid or is there something inside?

Shake it around, and it feels like there's something inside, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Huben planned to take him back to see.

As for whether this item was lost accidentally or was unclaimed, Huben didn't intend to care. What if the owner came looking for it?

Then just give it back to him.

At least until now, it was his.

He was genuinely curious.

The next day.

Huben Ben spent the whole night rummaging around but couldn't open the box, but he was pretty sure it was a box. And it probably contained something inside.

This made Huben even more curious.

I plan to continue.

Just then, Huben suddenly received a phone call.

That foreign girl.

It seems they planned to take away the armor she ordered this morning.

Huben took out the foreign woman's armor and placed it on the workbench. Then he went to find his maintenance tools to give the foreign woman's tools a little maintenance.

So that people won't find fault with this thing.

Huben went to get his maintenance tools.

What he didn't notice was that at that moment, a small crack appeared in the box, and a strange gas seeped out from the box and adhered to the armor.

Then it quickly disappeared again.

Huben wouldn't notice these things.

Perhaps he wouldn't even notice where he is.

Unless Honkai officially erupts, Honkai is extremely secretive and almost impossible for ordinary people to detect. Otherwise, Honkai would no longer be a secret or mysterious event as discussed by ordinary people.

The Saber has finally arrived.

This was her first time visiting Huben's Studio.

A studio that was much more chaotic than I had imagined.

Saber thought it was a relatively modern place, decorated in a Chinese style.

But when she actually arrived, she was disappointed.

While it does incorporate many Chinese-style decorative elements, this place feels more like an upgraded version of a run-down factory. And even calling it a run-down factory is a stretch; it doesn't really resemble one at all.

It's more like a farmhouse courtyard, plus a waste recycling center, along with some punk-style workshops and Chinese elements.

In short, the combination of all these elements makes it particularly difficult to describe.

Saber was a little disappointed with the strange environment here.

Disappointed but saying nothing.

Anyway, what's important to her isn't coming here to see the environment.

She came for the armor.

Huben hadn't expected the Saber to arrive so quickly, so he had to hastily finish the maintenance work. Although it wasn't perfect, it was already acceptable.

Huben was very happy, or at least appeared to be happy, as he led Saber to retrieve his armor.

Walk through the long corridor to the maintenance workshop.

Are you a member of the "digging party"?

Before Huben could speak, he was met with a question from the Saber that seemed completely nonsensical to him.

"The Digging Party?" Huben his head and said, "The Digging Party is still a rare thing in the country. I'm not a Digging Party member."

What is the "Digging Party"?

Huben certainly knew about excavating war relics. This was a civilian activity, though it also had some official backing. And it wasn't very common in China.

Of course not, it was not the Huben.

"Then where did you get this from?" Saber asked, pointing to the box that Huben had placed on the workbench.

"I found it," Huben said. "I found it yesterday."

'Found it?'

Saber was unwilling to believe Huben's nonsense.

What is this?

That's exactly what she's looking for!

Saber truly felt what it meant to "search high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly"—he actually found the core he was looking for right here.

And this core, you might say, was found by Huben.

The Saber didn't believe it.

But after looking at it for a while, I realized that this Huben really didn't seem to be lying.

"I want this," said the Saber.

"Ah... this?" Huben looked a little embarrassed and said, "I found this, and I was just about to hand it over to the police."

Although I don't know what it is, all I want to do now is hand this box over to the government.

How could I let a foreigner like you take it?

"Ten thousand dollars," said Saber. "I'll buy it."

Anyway, it doesn't cost her any money, so the Saber doesn't care at all. Besides, this Huben is someone we need to investigate; we should give him some money to appease him first.

To avoid any trouble if this guy runs away.

Huben was stunned for a moment.

Is this thing really worth that much?

Huben really didn't know about this price.

But if this thing is really that valuable, is it a national treasure?

Then we should be even more determined to hand it over to the state.

Although Huben really wanted to say that.

Unfortunately, ten thousand cuts were simply too much.

How could his Huben not be tempted?

"Your armor is also quite well made." Seeing that Huben Saber said, "If you are willing to sell this box to me, I can add five thousand dollars to your armor."

"Oh my, what are you talking about? How much is this broken box worth?"

Then Huben took out his QR code and asked, "Do you intend to pay in cash or by bank transfer?"

"I know it's a bit complicated for you foreigners to use WeChat," Huben said understandingly. "I still prefer to accept cash."

"Okay, transfer the money," said Saber. "But before that, I'd like to ask a question."

Have you tried opening this box?

"Is it open yet?"

"I need to check this first; only something intact is worth that much money."

"What if there is any damage?"

"Mr. Huben," said the Saber with a half-smile, "This."

"We're about to talk about things beyond price."

Chapter 248 The Core of the Box

As the saying goes, "You can search high and low without finding it, but then it comes to you effortlessly."

That's roughly what it means.

Li Pu never expected that, after being in Changkong City for so long, he would find the core so quickly.

The speed of this progress was so fast that Li Pu felt it was unbelievable.

Quick!

That's too fast!

That's really fast.

Li Pu felt that the matter was over so quickly.

The core has been recovered.

But a new problem arises: what to do with this box?

Because this box essentially seals away the Herrscher of Erosion, which is highly contagious, two different suggestions have emerged regarding its fate.

One option is to reseal it, and the other is to destroy it completely.

The person who resealed it felt that if they were to destroy it, they would first have to break the existing, already unstable seal.

This could lead to the complete failure of the seal, allowing the sealed Herrscher to escape and cause even greater destruction.

Those who support destruction argue that if destruction is not complete...

So this box will always be a menace, even if it doesn't affect their generation. But sooner or later it will affect the next generation, for the sake of our descendants' future.

It must be destroyed as soon as possible.