Another Rare Treasure: The Starry Sky Mirror, and an Ambush

Yu Yuan was a little surprised.

"What's wrong? Is it dangerous?"

"Yes. An armed faction controls the area around the Olais Hotel. They've occupied Johnk Zoo, and the hotel is nearby. If you go there, they'll spot you easily."

Yu Yuan knew Marsil must be talking about the thugs from the Aurora Animal Assistance Society.

Still, it had taken him so much effort to learn which hotel Brother Biao's room card belonged to.

If he got the chance, he would explore the place.

It took Marsil several minutes to carry all four large bags of supplies back to her room. Finally, she looked toward Yu Yuan.

"If I make progress, how do I contact you?"

"You don't need to. I'll come by from time to time. If your research turns up anything, draw a circle on the outer wall. I'll contact you when I see it."

"All right! Got it!"

Marsil closed the door.

Only after five minutes had passed did Yu Yuan dart out from behind the corner where he had been hiding. In a few quick strides, he reached the long object, snatched it up, and vanished into the darkness.

An exotic tune and a mechanical voice rang clearly in his ears.

[Fate Card—Rock Tier Luxury Card successfully removed. Fate Points +1]

[Convertible item detected. Convert it? Cost: 1 Fate Point]

Of course. Convert it immediately.

[Fate Points -1. Rare Treasure acquired: Starry Sky Mirror]

Yu Yuan could hear himself taking a deep breath.

Another Rare Treasure!!!

He was beside himself with excitement. If the timing had been better, he would already have examined it.

He hurried back to the slightly open sewer manhole, climbed down, and locked the cover shut.

Only then did he turn on his flashlight and look at the long object in his hands. It was a bag shaped like a tripod case.

It was about a meter long, with quite a bit inside.

He laid the bag on the ground and unzipped it.

Inside was a wooden astronomical telescope with a distinctly medieval look, along with its own tripod.

[Starry Sky Mirror]

Quality: Rare Treasure

Owner: Yu Yuan

Rare Treasure Building: Starry Sky Observatory

Yu Yuan stared at the description, so bare-bones it could hardly have been simpler.

They were both Rare Treasures, but the Starry Sky Mirror seemed nowhere near as good as Miemie.

Suppressing his disappointment, he tapped the Rare Treasure building to see its details. The surprise on his face gave way to delight.

Rare Treasure Building: [Starry Sky Observatory]

Function: Obtain one extremely precious Celestial Phenomenon every seven days. When built, it can remove one [Luxury Card] of no higher than Bronze Quality.

Construction requirements: 50,000 Survival Points; Vacant Room ×1.

"It can remove a [Luxury Card]? Even one up to Bronze Quality?"

Yu Yuan was genuinely thrilled.

He had gone to enormous trouble today to secure supplies worth fifty thousand Survival Points, and that had only removed one Rock Quality [Luxury Card].

Now, for the same fifty thousand Survival Points, he had a chance to remove a Bronze Quality [Luxury Card]. How could he not be happy?

Yu Yuan had long suspected that Fate Cards came in higher grades.

So that part did not surprise him.

"Looks like the real hurdle to building this Rare Treasure building isn't the Survival Points. It's that Vacant Room!" Yu Yuan understood where the difficulty lay.

But he was in no hurry.

He had no [Luxury Card] on hand, so he still had time to uncover more rules behind Fate Cards and find the so-called Vacant Room.

Either way, with the threat of the [Luxury Card] gone, Yu Yuan felt considerably lighter.

He unequipped Miemie, loaded the two remaining bundles onto Miemie's back, then climbed on himself. They raced toward the Hideout.

Despite carrying both bundles and Yu Yuan, Miemie kept a light step.

The man and the sheep soon left the sewer passage beneath Canchino Avenue and turned into the passage leading to 15th Block.

15th Block lay directly south of 11th Block and directly east of District 13.

This sewer route was the fastest way back to District 13. Once they entered 15th Block, they only had to turn west at the next corner to reach it.

Yu Yuan had taken this route many times before.

But as soon as they left 11th Block and entered 15th Block, Yu Yuan frowned.

"What's that smell?"

Since the typhoon had made landfall a few days earlier and brought torrential rain, the sewers had smelled damp and muggy.

But it was only rainwater, so the smell had not been particularly foul.

Now, though, a faint, nauseating stench hung in the air. That caught Yu Yuan's attention.

He had not smelled it when he passed through yesterday.

And he had not come this way on his trip to 9th Block today. The smell must have appeared sometime after he left last night.

Yu Yuan's heart sank. The stench was very much like rotting flesh.

"Damn it! Don't tell me I've actually run into that thing!"

The Giant Rat was the only possibility he could think of. He raised his FN FAL Assault Rifle and watched his surroundings.

He gave Miemie's sides a light squeeze with his legs, and Miemie picked up the pace.

I need to get out of here fast. I hope it's just my imagination.

The sewer junction lay just ahead. Once they turned right, they would soon enter District 13.

Miemie sensed the tension too. While moving faster, Miemie readied for a fight.

As they hurried on, the smell of rot grew stronger. Yu Yuan's nerves tightened. He pushed the enhanced hearing granted by his [Street Rat] title to its limit, determined not to miss a single unusual sound.

Gulp...

Yu Yuan swallowed. He could feel sweat coating his palms, but he did not dare take his finger off the trigger.

Squeak—

Just then, a clear rat squeal came from ahead on the left.

Bang!

A bullet flew toward the sound.

Only after pulling the trigger did Yu Yuan see that it had come from a fist-sized black rat. The gunshot had clearly startled the creature. It tumbled into the drainage channel, soaking its fur and matting it together. It was an unpleasant sight.

"So it's just a little rat..."

Yu Yuan breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He knew he had been too tense.

But he could hardly help it. He had always had a strong aversion to snakes and rats—stronger than most people's.

He would not even touch a pet rat, which looked far too much like any other rat.

He quickly steadied his breathing and went back on guard.

Amid the tension, Miemie rounded the corner. The Virtual Map showed District 13 just ahead.

The stench of rot was fading too.

As the smell weakened, Yu Yuan gradually relaxed.

Phew...

Yu Yuan let out a long breath.

Maybe an animal carcass drifted here from somewhere, he thought.

But at that moment, a terrifying tingle shot from the crown of his head through his whole body. Yu Yuan had the sudden feeling that a predator had fixed its gaze on him.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, screaming a warning: Death!

The danger was above and behind him...

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