Alchemy Pipelines, Fire Apricot No. 3, and Friends Turned Enemies
Braised beef brisket with tomatoes and potatoes, spicy chicken, pan-fried chicken cutlet, scrambled eggs with cucumber, stir-fried beef tenderloin with broccoli, and blanched bok choy.
A large table of dishes, even more lavish than anyone had imagined, was laid out, allowing the members of "Order" to enjoy a hearty meal upon their arrival in the Barren Realm.
Although this mission was carried out very urgently, after all, the "God Creation Project" was almost the most important and crucial task of the current "Order" work. At the same time, just as "Good Night" guessed, "Professor" really needed more evidence and examples of "Secretary" being an undercover agent to suppress the possible backlash and turmoil that might erupt within the organization.
However, once they actually arrived in the Barren Realm... Lin Yu and his group actually had plenty of time.
After all, time does not flow synchronously between the two realms.
The time spent in the Ten Realms, when converted to the Real World, would probably only take a short while.
Although the Law governing the time relationship between the Ten Realms and the Real World are complex, they are not as simple as the speed of flow.
But this setting always reminds Lin Yu of the multi-layered dream concept in "Inception"—the deeper the dream, the longer it lasts.
Therefore, even if things are extremely critical in reality, there may still be plenty of time in a dream.
The same applies to "Death game".
Therefore...
Right now in the Barren Realm, the "Order" team on this mission still has time to rest: have a hot dinner, then take a nap, and wait for the convoy called by "Xiao Nian" to come and pick them up to enter the City That Never Sleeps.
After Yin Lan finished drinking and everyone else had eaten their fill, they all returned to their rooms.
Lin Yu did the same, arriving at the single room Xiao Nian had reserved for him and lying down on the bed.
Time passed slowly, and Lin Yu silently enveloped the entire room with the lowest intensity of his Mental Power, observing their movements while ensuring that he would not alert any members of "Order".
Soon...
One by one, the members of "Order" fell into a deep sleep.
After everyone had fallen asleep, Lin Yu quietly got out of bed.
He certainly wouldn't waste the single room that Captain "Good Night" had specially secured for him.
Even without "Good Night's" actions, Lin Yu would have been determined to do something himself tonight.
He has so much to do this time.
At least...
We need to send "Stiller" out tonight.
After reaching the edge of the room and opening the window, Lin Yu nimbly climbed out.
Although the first-floor living room offers a direct view of the Great Wilderness, this house is not built directly on Great Wilderness barren Wasteland, but rather within a large outpost of the Universal Trade Association.
Therefore, just a few meters away from this house is a wall with Security Level.
The reason it doesn't obstruct the view is simply because the foundation of the house itself was raised and specially designed.
This is why the members of "Order" slept so soundly—after all, the house where "Xiao Nian" lived had a high Security Level, and their safety was guaranteed while they slept there.
However, it would be too difficult for this level of protection to stop Lin Yu.
By simply activating the [Gray Spirit Eye] to Spirit Body Transformation, Lin Yu could easily pass through the outer wall of this stronghold.
Upon arriving at the vast Wasteland, feeling the rough, dry, and slightly fishy evening wind in the air, Lin Yu could also make a judgment.
"As expected... this large stronghold isn't far from the 'Alchemy Mining District'..."
Lin Yu pondered this, also sensing the turbulent flow in the air.
As Lin Yu walked towards the area rich in Alchemy Energy, he indeed saw the silhouette of a Mining District appear on the distant horizon.
However, Lin Yu's target was not those Mining District.
Upon seeing the Mining District, Lin Yu unsurprisingly found a manhole cover on the desolate ground beneath his feet, almost buried by sand and even less noticeable in the darkness.
The manhole cover bears the logo of the Universal Chamber of Commerce and some simple markings.
After glancing at the markings, Lin Yu took out the [Cyber Ghost's Electronic Coffin] and fiddled with it for a bit. Then he opened the manhole cover, revealing a vertical shaft leading downwards. At the end of the shaft, a pipe with a faint glow could be seen.
Without a doubt, this is a maintenance shaft for the dense network of "Alchemy Pipelines" beneath the Great Wilderness.
Through this shaft, one can descend into the "Alchemy Pipelines".
This is Lin Yu's "route into the city" - although the procedures for entering and City That Never Sleeps the city at night are more complicated, he had already learned about this way of entering and leaving the city through the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot -City That Never Sleeps!
Of course... this Alchemy Pipelines is intricate and prone to bursts of Alchemy Energy, so even if others knew about it, it would be very difficult for them to actually enter the city through here.
For ordinary people... even seasoned mercenaries or most "Player," the safety of going through the underground Alchemy Pipelines may not be as safe as directly breaking through the checkpoint at the entrance of the City That Never Sleeps.
Even for Lin Yu, it would probably take a considerable amount of time to reach the interior of the City That Never Sleeps via the underground Alchemy Pipelines.
But thankfully...
Lin Yu didn't intend to walk there himself.
He slowly climbed down the ladder of the shaft and arrived at the bottom of the Alchemy Pipelines, where he stood and waited.
About ten minutes later, a dense, rapid, rustling sound came from the pipes in the distance.
"Tap tap tap tap tap."
A round, Shadow with a bushy tail came rapidly toward Lin Yu in an almost rolling motion.
"Long time no see! Supervisor Arthur! Hello!"
Captain Raccoon stopped in front of Lin Yu, stood on his hind legs, raised his front paws to his forehead like a human, and made a salute.
Lin Yu looked at Captain Raccoon and greeted him with a smile.
"Long time no see, Your Excellency Captain."
He had memorized the manhole cover's number so he could send a message to Nightless Sky Fire Apricot to report his coordinates.
"You came so quickly."
Lin Yu looked at Captain Raccoon and said.
Captain Raccoon nodded. "It just so happens that Your Excellency Fire Apricot and I are both in the Great Wilderness —she's negotiating a year-long smuggling deal for Alchemical Materials with the Great Wilderness People, under the guise of the 'Fairy Queen'."
"Thanks to your introduction last time, she now has a connection with the esteemed Your Excellency Huo Ming, and her share of the smuggling business is much larger than before."
Lin Yu waved his hand with a smile, "They're like family... I wouldn't call this helping to connect them; at most, I just made them realize that the two of them could work together!"
Captain Raccoon nodded. "That's true, but Your Excellency Fire Apricot still often praises your achievements... Anyway, please wait a moment, Your Excellency Fire Apricot will be here shortly."
"She can come over after she finishes her business..."
Before Lin Yu could finish speaking, a rumbling sound came from the distance of the Alchemy Pipelines.
The sound grew louder and louder, and then...
Another Shadow, much larger and Shadow than the Captain, rapidly approached from the distance of the pipe!
"Buzz--!"
Before Lin Yu could react, the Shadow was already almost in front of him.
However, just before the Shadow collided with Lin Yu...
Its speed suddenly decreased sharply, sparks flew as it scraped against the surrounding pipe walls, and finally came to a steady stop in front of Lin Yu.
That was a...
Alchemical Machines Raccoon that looks like a remote-controlled toy.
However, compared to a normal Raccoon, this Alchemical Machines Raccoon was enormous, even when lying down—it almost filled the entire Alchemy Pipelines.
Although the workmanship was very rough, Lin Yu could see upon close inspection that many components had exposed pipes, and the welding and splicing marks on many metal outer plates were also very obvious. However, the surging Alchemy Energy contained within was no less than that of the main battle tanks currently in service in the Great Wilderness of the Three Great Corporations.
The mechanical Raccoon's eyes glowed red, and its mouth and nose spewed out large amounts of alchemical steam with a "whoosh" sound.
Then...
The mechanical Raccoon's head rotated and opened, revealing a Raccoon inside its body illuminated by red light.
And sitting in the cockpit...
Of course, it's the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot!
"Clang! Clang! Arthur, Arthur, my dear friend, you're back again!"
Nightless Sky Fire Apricot jumped out from inside the mechanical Raccoon, dressed in a blue City That Never Sleeps uniform, wearing a windproof helmet and goggles.
She lifted the lenses of her goggles and scrutinized Lin Yu with one dark eye and one red eye.
"Wow, you've lost a lot of weight—both your weight and body fat percentage have dropped. Have you been having a poor appetite lately?"
"But the energy level has increased quite a bit... It's actually 'extremely dangerous'? Haha, you're something else, Arthur!"
Lin Yu gently shook his head. "No loss of appetite, but your strength... has indeed improved."
"You got Prosthetic Eye?"
"Of course, of course, I cracked a version of the latest 'Fanatic's Holy Eye' from the Divine Power Group and upgraded it," said Nightless Sky Fire Apricot proudly. "In the two months you were gone, my technical skills have improved by leaps and bounds—I even built Fire Apricot No. 3."
As she spoke, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot patted the mechanical Raccoon behind her.
"You really came to the right place by asking me to smuggle you into the city from outside— the Fire Apricot No. 3 is super fast, circling the City That Never Sleeps in as little as 96 minutes!"
"Transporting you into the Inner City from your F3-D pipeline will take less than an hour!"
Lin Yu was somewhat surprised when he heard what Nightless Sky Fire Apricot said, "Wow... that's amazing!"
"Of course, of course—but this ride won't be free," said Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, narrowing her eyes mischievously. "You'll have to pay."
Lin Yu looked at the Nightless Sky Fire Apricot and asked curiously, "What's the reward?"
"Of course, anything new and fun is welcome!" Nightless Sky Fire Apricot spread her arms wide. "Anything? Anything? Anything?"
Before Lin Yu could answer, Nightless Sky Fire Apricot withdrew her hand again, then said with a grin.
"If you don't have one, that's fine too... at least give me an explanation..."
Looking at Nightless Sky Fire Apricot's smiling face, Lin Yu sensed something was wrong.
What explanation?
"Of course it's to explain why my mom suddenly told me I'm the next 'Chosen of Wisdom'!" said Nightless Sky Fire Apricot, suddenly leaping up. Three Metal Grappling Claw flew out from beneath her sleeves, pinning down Lin Yu's wrist and right foot. The Captain beside Lin Yu his left foot. "Arthur! You bastard—I treated you as a friend, and you're pushing me into a fire pit!"