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Chapter 234 Exploring the Secret Vault
"Wait a minute... can demons fly?" Chen Xuan suddenly thought of this question. The only demon he had ever dealt with was Gustav, at least Gustav could transform into a swarm of flying insects and fly around.

“Most of them…don’t,” Elori replied breathlessly. “Demons have different abilities, but the only thing they have in common is that they are all keen on…consuming souls.”

So it seems that Gustav is a special case?

"Hurry up and go in, I think she's about to collapse," Lin Qing urged anxiously.

The three then slowly approached the ventilation openings—the outermost layer of these air exchange devices was wire mesh, and inside, rotating fans could be seen. A set of cameras was also partially embedded in the wall of the opening above the air duct, presumably to check for birds nesting there.

Lin Qing easily cut through the barbed wire with her molecular thread, stepped into the passage first, and smashed the camera above her head in the process.

By the time Chen Xuan and Elori had also crawled inside, she had already disassembled the fan.

To prevent everyone from getting lost, Chen Xuan also removed his invisibility effect at this moment.

Each ventilation pipe was about a meter in diameter, large enough for an adult to crawl through. Lin Qing led the way, Chen Xuan brought up the middle, and Elori brought up the rear—it has to be said that this perspective easily made him think of other things, so to avoid awkwardness, he deliberately made small talk along the way.

For example, why make the ventilation ducts so large when it's supposed to be a classified building? Couldn't they have shrunk them down to just large enough for rats to pass through, and increased their numbers tenfold?

Then Lin Qing mocked him.

“If the pipe diameter is reduced, even a household’s fresh air system can’t keep up with the air exchange, let alone a completely enclosed building like this?” she said dismissively. “The strongest defense is always dynamic defense. It’s obviously a pipe dream to completely prevent all external intrusions at the design stage.”

"What is dynamic defense?" Elori asked curiously.

"The ancients kept dogs. With the development of technology, it's simply about keeping stronger and more advanced dogs, such as nano-reconnaissance robots that are almost invisible to the naked eye. They can appear in any corner of the base and are extremely sensitive to temperature, vibration, and sound waves. Even I would have a hard time penetrating such defenses."

Lin Qing's tone held a hint of smugness as she said this, "It's a pity there's no way we can have those advanced gadgets here. As long as I don't want to be discovered, I definitely won't be!"

"Tch, weren't you discovered when you infiltrated the Louvre before?" Chen Xuan scoffed. Although it was more than a hundred years later, the person who discovered you came from a century ago.

“That’s great,” Elori said with relief. “I heard that one reason the Angel Alliance doesn’t station too many guards in the Temple Vault is because it is protected by powerful artifacts… Ah.”

After she finished speaking, she bumped into Chen Xuan.

The two people in front stopped and turned around in unison, asking, "Where did you hear that from?"

“Uh…” Elori rubbed her face, “Of course, it’s from other seniors. I found that since warning the higher-ups is useless, it’s good to get a few more colleagues who are willing to believe me.”

As it turned out, she didn't manage to recruit a single person.

“One of them, named Rael, laughed at me for being a worrier. He said that other vaults could be breached, but the Temple Vault was the only one that couldn’t. I knew nothing about the details of the vault, which is why I issued such a ridiculous warning.” Elori grew angrier the more she thought about it. “I really don’t know what’s in the Temple Vault, but I know what the future holds! Shouldn’t they be the ones who are truly ridiculous? They thought their place was impregnable, but it was destroyed by demons in one fell swoop.”

Chen Xuan and Lin Qing exchanged a glance. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

“Because this is just one of many excuses among the many mocking remarks,” Elori insisted. “If the defenses of the artifacts were truly so omnipotent, how could demons have possibly conquered this place? Didn’t we sneak in silently as well? Besides, I’ve investigated Rael; he’s not a high-ranking angel and theoretically has no right to enter the temple’s treasury.”

In other words, this is probably just a rumor circulating within the Angel Alliance.

It seems that it really has no reference value.

"Forget it, we're already here, so whatever it's protected by, we have to see it for ourselves, right?" Lin Qing turned around and continued forward.

Chen Xuan reached out and touched the barcode scanner in his pocket.

As long as the recall capability remains intact, he isn't too worried about danger. This life-saving measure of being able to return to the store at any time is arguably his biggest trump card, allowing him to venture anywhere.

After climbing a section of fully enclosed space about a hundred meters long, a fork in the road appeared ahead. Lin Qing chose the left-hand pipe based on the temperature and humidity of the air. According to her, the air temperature was higher and drier there, which was more suitable for the storage room. Places where people frequently spend time would have a higher moisture content due to respiration.

Her judgment was clearly correct.

This time, they hadn't walked for more than two minutes when they saw the first downward-opening air duct. Through the louvers, Chen Xuan could vaguely make out that there was a large hall below, about four meters above the ground, and the surrounding area was quite open.

He scanned the area with his Heavenly Cloud Technique and sensed only five very faint points of light in the distance. Judging from the intensity of the spiritual energy, these points of light belonged to ordinary people, and there were several layers of walls separating them.

However, Lin Qing did not go down immediately. Instead, she carefully removed the louvers when she found the second ventilation vent near the corner of the wall.

"Wait for me here."

After giving her instructions, she activated her optical invisibility skin and jumped silently. She was undoubtedly the heaviest of the three, but landing from such a height without making a sound was truly professional.

Ten minutes later, Chen Xuan heard the other person's voice through his earpiece, "Come down, the room has been cleaned."

After he jumped down, he discovered that there were indeed cameras installed on the surrounding walls, but the lenses were all pointed at the ground.

"Won't the guards get suspicious?" "Don't worry, I didn't turn it off. I hacked into the closed-circuit system and made it keep running the time while the footage remained still. They wouldn't notice anything unusual just by watching the surveillance footage." Lin Qing put away the data cable on her wrist. "I also found two sets of sound alarm systems, which I also turned off. The security measures here are only worth a five out of ten."

"Wow, that's amazing! I didn't expect to get into the treasure vault so easily." Elori patted her chest, glad she had entrusted the right person. "I was prepared to fight the guards with swords drawn."

"No big deal," Lin Qing scoffed. "But this is only temporary. If the people in the monitoring room are smart enough, they'll notice in two or three hours. Oh, and I also cracked the network; we can connect to satellite signals from here."

This is undoubtedly good news.

With internet access, one can access inventory and freely change abilities. Even if guards arrive, it's nothing more than a matter of a single decree for Chen Xuan.

“Two hours is enough. You can’t build a large-scale building in these deep mountains.” Chen Xuan looked around. “Speaking of which, is this a treasure trove or a museum?”

If it's a secret treasure vault, then its decor is far too lavish, not at all like a place where security is the primary consideration.

For example, there are large wooden floors underfoot, and the walls are covered with wallpaper. The crystal chandelier and the plaster ceiling with intricate carvings make this place feel more like a spacious mansion than a secret room.

The most similar feature to a museum is the twenty or so glass pillars standing in the lobby, which further waste the already precious space.

For a fleeting moment, Chen Xuan had a feeling of déjà vu.

After all, that's how the original skins in the Ability Shop are displayed.

The difference is that before he could put anything of real value inside, the exterior had already been transformed into a fruit shop, and each of the glass pillars here houses exhibits.

“This is my first time here too.” Elori looked around nervously. “To be honest, it’s a little different from what I expected.”

Chen Xuan arrived at a "booth".

Inside was a magnificent crown, its golden frame edged with red cloth and its brim inlaid with many gemstones.

There is also a nameplate below.

"Chief's Crown"

Discovered in 1967, London, England.

Stability: 99

Note: All metal components could not be identified, and there are no corresponding historical records.

Is this what they call a rare object?
Chen Xuan examined it from all sides but couldn't see anything special about it—perhaps as an artifact, it was indeed quite exquisite and made of solid materials, but it was far from being something that needed to be secretly hidden away and kept away from anyone.

But since the Angel Alliance did this, they must have their own reasons.

Chen Xuan visited several more booths.

The items inside are mostly the same, such as a ring or a quill pen, but there are also some strange and unusual items, such as a circuit board.

He really didn't understand what was so interesting about collecting this thing.

Lin Qing happened to see this as well.

“Unidentified circuit…discovered in 2021…isn’t this just an ordinary oscillating circuit?” she muttered. “The manufacturing process is also outdated; it wouldn’t be considered advanced even in 2021.”

"Who knows? Maybe that's just the nature of rare items—they seem ordinary, but they hold hidden wonders within." Chen Xuan shrugged. "It's impossible that the entire Angel Alliance is clueless about their value, right?"

“That’s right,” Lin Qing agreed. “If I could hold it in my hand and turn it on, I could analyze its details.”

After saying that, she immediately showed the molecular lines.

Chen Xuan was startled. "You're going to cut the glass? Won't that trigger the alarm?"

“I’ve checked them. These display cases are made of tempered bulletproof glass, which can at most protect against bullets.”

Lin Qing made a sweeping motion with both hands, and a complete circle immediately appeared on the glass pillar. Then, with a flick of her palm, the cut glass silently fell into her hand, the whole process clean and efficient. Chen Xuan even suspected that if the glass circle were glued back on afterward, a careless person wouldn't notice anything amiss.

Just as she was about to reach into the cabinet to take the circuit board and test it, an unfamiliar voice suddenly entered their ears.

I advise you not to do that.

(End of this chapter)