Toad Key

The Hebana quickly brought over a box.

There are many scratches on it, and the edges of the leather are a bit frayed, clearly indicating that it has traveled to many places with Ximina.

Yise opened it and found that it mainly contained personal clothing and personal items.

The most special thing was that pen, with its strange design and ancient patterns.

As Yise reached for the pen, the moment his fingertips touched the pen, the power of the magical artifact within him was hooked, creating a very slight ripple.

This phenomenon only occurs when handling Saint Rank items!

Yise suppressed the strange look in his eyes and kept his voice steady.

"This magic pen is quite nice; I'll have my brother compensate you with a few gold coins."

The Hebana immediately bowed its head in gratitude.

Yise carried the suitcase upstairs, knocked on Su Ming's door as he passed by, and then went to Ximina's room.

"What's wrong?" Su Ming asked as he followed in.

Yise picked up the magic pen and unleashed its power. The girl's hair moved slightly without wind, and the patterns on the pen's handle lit up one by one. The tightly interlocking shell made a soft crackling sound before disintegrating into individual components that floated above her palm.

With Yise's control, the components quickly reassembled, and in an instant, they transformed into a key that shimmered with a mysterious light.

Ximina looked very surprised.

"I know these are relics from the Cangxiao Dynasty."

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the key handle was engraved with Toad pattern, its eyes bulging and its back covered with tiny warts.

"I never expected its true form to be the ' Toad Key,' one of the Cangxiao Six Holy Keys!"

Ximina exclaimed in amazement.

Before Su Ming and Yise could ask any questions, Ximina explained the concept of the "Six Holy Keys" to everyone.

"These were the tokens representing the six highest-ranking officials in the Cangxiao Dynasty's royal court back then."

"Is it like a job badge?" Su Ming retorted.

Ximina didn't understand the concept of a work badge, but she didn't ask further.

She continued, "The key itself is also a Saint Rank item with different functions."

She picked up the "Toad Key," stroking its delicate patterns with undisguised delight in her eyes.

"I'm obsessed with the history and stories of the Cangxiao Dynasty, so I've been collecting related items."

"The patterns on this magic pen match those of the Cangxiao Kingdom perfectly."

"I begged my father, and he spent a fortune of fifty thousand gold coins to buy it."

Ximina smiled.

"At the time, everyone said I had been scammed, and I was heartbroken, but little did I know I had gotten a great deal!"

"That businessman will probably cry his eyes out if he finds out," Su Ming added.

"Certainly!"

A smile doesn't appear out of thin air; it simply comes from elsewhere.

****

Yise took off the "Raven Key" hanging around his neck, then took out the "Zuyi's Blessing" and restored it to its original key shape with a spring pattern engraved on the handle. "Then, shouldn't this be called the ' Holy Spring Key '?"

Ximina nodded.

"This position is held by the Grand Physician of the Cangxiao Dynasty, who is in charge of medical care and people's livelihood."

The "Holy Spring Key" was obtained by Su Ming and his group from Yexiya, a Saint Rank half-werewolf.

I just didn't expect there to be this other side to the story.

The keys were laid out on the bed sheet.

"Not bad, three keys now." Yise pointed to the "Toad Key." "Do you know its function?"

Ximina shook her head.

"I only use it to write."

"I brought this pen with me because it doesn't need ink; it's for convenience during the trip."

Yise sighed softly, then began to fiddle with it.

"Then the only way to find it is through research." He watched as Yise disassembled the "Toad Key," studying the engraved patterns and ancient runes on it.

"Why do you know how to operate this?" Ximina asked.

Yise explained.

My combat role is that of a Curious Object Envoy.

She reached up and brushed a strand of white hair from her forehead.

"These strange and wonderful pieces of knowledge are also stored in my hair."

Ximina, on the other hand, is quite knowledgeable.

"You are a member of the Tassel Clan?"

Yise was slightly surprised; indeed, not many people knew this.

"Mm." She nodded.

"My mother is Memory-Weaving Priest of the Tassel Tribe; her hair holds the memories passed down through generations of the Tassel Clan."

"However, this tradition will be continuously lost." (This text appears to be a fragment from a website, possibly a news article or advertisement. A direct translation wouldn't be meaningful without further context.)

Her tone was full of regret.

"Otherwise, there should have been detailed information about these keys originally."

Ximina smiled.

"The transmission of knowledge and culture is a core matter in any civilization."

She picked up the "Raven Key" and examined it closely; the black patterns spread along the key handle like feathers.

"So beautiful," Ximina exclaimed.

"This key was also left to me by my mother," Yise explained.

****

Ximina's curiosity was completely piqued.

Ignoring her weakness, she began working with Yise to try and figure out the connection between the keys and the true power of the "Toad Key".

Ximina leaned against the pillows, learning to use her phone to contact back-end personnel and search for information. Yise, on the other hand, kept trying to input various rune combinations.

Until Su Ming warned him.

He righteously kicked Yise out of the ward and forced Ximina to rest.

At noon, the staff meal provided by the Raccoon Dog Dream Theater was Corn.

The siblings soaked dried Corn Yuye in advance, boiled them until they were half-cooked, then drained them until they were partially dry. They then ground them into a paste, added yeast to ferment the paste, and then shaped it into flatbreads and steamed them over high heat.

Yuye rolled up her sleeves, directing the helpers to move firewood while instructing Yugan to keep an eye on the fire.

They started preparing it in the morning, and by noon they had made several trays of steamed buns.

Steam billowed out, carrying the aroma of Corn and the sour smell of fermentation. The steamed buns were stacked in bamboo trays, looking substantial and heavy in the hand.

At the Earth Support Base, an observer on duty curiously took notes.

"Does this cooking method make the Corn taste better?"

"Very likely," another agreed. "Why don't we give it a try to our cafeteria?"

An elderly expert standing nearby looked at the two as if they were idiots. "For a normal Corn roll, the ratio of flour to water is about 1:1."

"The orcs' method is simply to make six pounds of steamed buns from one pound of Corn!"

The observer was very puzzled.

"Isn't that just doing everything possible to mix water into the ingredients?"

What's the point?

The old expert answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"This way, the orcs can eat their fill while also saving on ingredients."

"... Isn't this just like drinking more water?" The observers were even more confused.

One pound of flour, mixed with five pounds of water?

Eating too much could lead to malnutrition.

The elderly expert, his hair streaked with gray, sighed.

His gaze fell on the baskets of Corn on the screen, his expression turning somewhat somber. "It's just a way to deceive your stomach when you have no other choice."

"And guess how I know this?"

The two young people were somewhat taken aback.

"Could it be... that we ourselves did that?"

"Yes," the senior expert confirmed.

"This, like the 'double-steaming method,' was one of the 'grain increase methods' of that era."

"Back then, it was a legitimate scientific research project."

He gave the two of them a very displeased look.

"What's so unbelievable about that?"

"We've only been eating our fill for a short time now, do you think the history of scarcity never existed?"

On the big screen, the orcs in the Raccoon Dog Dream Theater showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever with the severely watered-down "increased-volume steamed buns".

Everyone was very grateful for Su Ming's decision to allow everyone to eat as much Corn and pickled vegetables as they wanted. Considering the protein source, Su Ming also had some soybeans cooked, half a small dish for each person.

This good fortune made all the orcs eat with joy on their faces.

The experienced expert told the two young people:

"Actually, they eat better than we did back then."

Everyone was taken aback upon hearing this.

"And what do you think?"

The veteran expert continued.

"We've gone from looking like orcs to now criticizing them from behind screens and keyboards."

How long did it take?

Soft applause rang out; it came from Jin Rongjia.

He walked into the hall, went to the center, and his eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Gentlemen, this is the responsibility of all of us." "Such a thing must never happen again!"

"No matter who the enemy is!"

****

In the evening, Su Ming took some Yuye and bought some vegetables, eggs, chicken, and fish at the market to make meals for Ximina.

After the orcs left after get off work, the children on the wall were also driven away.

Ximina was able to enter the courtyard and shuffled around in circles.

The twilight light slanted into the courtyard, casting long shadows of the stage scenery. Because of the employees' constant footsteps, the ground was firm and compacted, and there was no living grass left in the courtyard.

Ximina walked slowly for a few laps, her forehead covered in sweat, then she persevered and continued.

Just in case, she still wore a pair of furry fake earmuffs to conceal her human identity, which were shrouded in a hazy glow by the twilight.

"Ximina, haste makes waste," Su Ming called out. "Let's rest for a bit before we try again."

Ximina sat down as instructed.

Su Ming took a bamboo cup, poured in cooled lukewarm water, and added a little salt. Then, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and he summoned some glucose from Earth and put it in.

The water was gently stirred, and the salt and glucose quickly dissolved, leaving only a slight turbidity.

"I'm sorry, I've slowed down the progress." Ximina took the bamboo cup.

"Looking like this, it'll probably be several days before I can go diving with you."

That's a cave dive, at least two hundred meters deep.

Even those with extraordinary abilities must be on high alert.

"You should rest and recuperate for a week," Su Ming said. "Then we'll assess your physical condition and make a decision."

Ximina shook her head very slightly; she couldn't twist her neck violently yet.

"I understand the seriousness of the situation."

Ximina said to Su Ming seriously.

"Please plan it out in one week; I will work hard on my rehabilitation."

Her fingers were still a little white, but her eyes shone with a stubborn light. Su Ming began to seriously understand that the woman in front of him, Ximina, was a travel writer, scholar, and adventurer who completed a historical work through on-site research.

"Understood," Su Ming nodded in response.

****

The Y-20 took off again that evening.

The massive transport planes hurtled toward Cloud Fang City along their familiar flight path.

The navigation lights flashed, their brightness brazen and arrogant, as if afraid the orc lookouts on the ground wouldn't see them.

Abidaqi woke up on his own when the plane was within tens of kilometers of him.

These past few days, the daily check-in activity for the Y-20 has been like an alarm clock; he can't sleep when it's time.

Abidaqi came outside, and the night watchmen quickly reported the situation to him.

According to calculations, today's gold-refining aircraft flew higher than before, reaching 14,000 meters.

This is actually the aircraft's absolute service ceiling. Even with guidance from the chief flight engineer on the technology side, the crew would still have a very difficult time operating it.

The fuselage trembled slightly in the thin air, the engines whirred, and the crew had to exert all their strength for every attitude adjustment. On the ground, Abidaqi sighed. "So, they've come up with something new again today?"

Su Ming was also awake.

A small air search radar with a power of 500W was added to the roof, and Su Ming temporarily turned it on.

Soon, a bright spot was captured nearby.

He picked up the radio and greeted the crew.

Good evening, Chubby Girl.

"Radar has identified the location; distance 32 kilometers."

"Good evening, Cloud Fang Tower," the crew responded.

Su Ming couldn't help but smile upon hearing this.

He must be the first person in history to direct the bombing of his own control tower.

"Report intercepted, course intercepted," Su Ming said.

"ILS frequency 108.5MHz, identification code confirmed." The crew quickly set it up. Soon they connected with the localizer set up by Su Ming and corrected the aircraft's minor deviation in heading.

"The course has been intercepted," the crew reported.

Su Ming glanced at the weather station's readings.

"Surface wind direction 140, wind speed 7 knots, air pressure 1035, temperature 25°C, dew point 18°C."

"Chubby Girl, you've received it!"

The relevant data was entered into the fire control computer, which quickly calculated the lead time for the bomb's release: 11.8 kilometers.

At the predetermined altitude and distance, the Y-20 opened its tail compartment, dropped its bombs, and then quickly turned and left.

"This is Chubby Girl, starting our return journey. Goodnight!"

"See you tomorrow!" Su Ming hung up the radio.

****

In the night sky, ten aerial bombs accelerated down from an altitude of 10,000 meters, and in just a few dozen seconds, they crashed into the dark red, slowly rotating Burning Cloud defensive layer above the palace.

The explosion occurred immediately, and the azimuth fins on the bomb's surface, used to correct its trajectory, were blown off. However, the bomb itself was not severely damaged, let alone detonated.

After triggering a series of Magic Power counterattacks, the bomb's nose was blown off and its body was riddled with craters, but it still managed to pass through the area defended by the Burning Cloud.

"Damn it, this time it's solid shot!" Abidaqi quickly made the judgment.

This time, the Y-20 deliberately flew very high and then dropped ten lumps of iron.

Specializes in dealing with flashy and overly ornate things!

Abidaqi raised his staff, and the magic circle on the ground was guided, causing a red beam of intercepting magic to rise rapidly.

Boom boom boom!

A series of explosions occurred in the air, but the bombs then landed, raising large amounts of smoke and dust on the ground.

A solid aerial bomb struck the roof of a building outside the mining area with a dull thud.

The heavy projectile pierced through the roof, floors, and foundation, nailing the entire building through the middle.

After that, the shockwave rose up from underground, spraying out Crushed Stone, wooden beams, and dust.

A bolt struck the core of the track. Large sections of rail bent and tore apart from the sleepers. Mine cars were jolted into the air, overturned, and broke apart.

Smoke and dust filled the air, quickly obscuring the scene.