Chapter 168 A Profound Treasure?

Of course, Hao Ren and the others didn't really intend to join the Holy See coalition as mercenaries, nor did they intend to honestly follow these people to carry out some inexplicable mission. They just needed an identity to openly pass through the Obsidian Plain defense line. Once inside, they naturally wouldn't have to stay put.

The Obsidian Plain was vast, and the Holy See coalition's size was never just a simple "army." Such a massive force stationed on the plain, along with all kinds of supplies, services, and support units, had practically built the area into a fast-growing city-state. Across nearly a million square kilometers of land were countless military camps and settlements, connected by roads. If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they probably wouldn't have believed that the Obsidian Plain battlefield would develop into such a state within a year after the war. This large-scale troop deployment and the intricate distribution of camps also provided convenience for Hao Ren and his team: it was exceptionally easy to move around.

The commanders of the Holy See coalition weren't gods either. Even with a large group of professional administrators transferred from their homelands, they couldn't manage such a large area as strictly as a military camp. Within the Obsidian Plain defense line, there were many regulatory gaps. The identification, communication, and prohibitions between the armies were fine, but there were obvious delays and perfunctory behaviors. Hao Ren and his team tried walking around the camp and found that many places, although guarded by soldiers, were surprisingly easy to pass through.

"This place is full of loopholes," Hao Ren said in the evening after taking Lily for a walk around the area. Returning, he began to lament the many flaws beneath the Holy See coalition's massive scale. "As long as you have a human face, no one really questions you no matter where you go."

Vivian sat in the middle of the room, responsible for acting as an air conditioner. Hearing this, her face showed no surprise: "With such a huge operation, how could it be strict everywhere? Besides, we're still on the periphery. I estimate that there are even murders and robberies every day in the remote corners of the coalition's base, and the upper-level officers may not even know about it. They can maintain such a large operation without falling apart, that's already a miracle."

"It wasn't like this a year ago," Lanina snorted. "A year ago, the Holy See coalition was the strongest army I had ever seen—though I don't want to admit it, that army made even demons tremble. Only a year has passed, and they've become so lax. As expected, it's just a coalition forced together by the situation. Without long-term ambitions, it's hard to maintain after the war is over."

"The coalition will eventually disband, but the alliance of the races will remain," Izhaks said at this moment, thinking of the world as a whole. "I've done a good thing, too."

Hao Ren looked at Vivian: "Did you find out anything?"

Vivian had released a group of bats earlier, specifically looking for places that seemed like officers' residences to eavesdrop. Combined with information gathered from various parts of the camp, she had finally gained something: "The coalition is indeed looking for a treasure—the source of the Mad Lord's power. It seems there is concrete intelligence indicating that the Mad Lord's power and wisdom came from an ancient artifact, and this artifact is buried in the Obsidian Plain area. The coalition has been digging for this artifact for the past year. Also, Ceratos's legion is blocking the outside of the plain, seemingly wanting to fish in troubled waters and snatch the artifact. However, the Holy See coalition is powerful, and Ceratos's legion has been unable to break through."

Hao Ren immediately looked at Izhaks: "Do you know anything about this?"

Izhaks looked even more confused than the others: "...How would I know if I have some ancient artifact? My power comes from exercising for four hours every day, and my wisdom comes from reading books and newspapers..."

"Damn it, this matter can't be a rumor, can it..." Hao Ren rubbed his forehead. "Could it be that someone deliberately spread rumors after Izhaks 'died'..."

"Can a rumor make tens of millions of troops dig and fill mountains in a demonic space for nearly a year?" Nangong Wuyue, who was lying on the bed pretending to be dead, raised her head and glanced at Hao Ren. "And Ceratos is also here for this rumor—can't so many people be fools?"

Hao Ren slapped the siren's head down: "Continue spitting your tongue, you're already withered, why are you joining in the fun?"

Nangong Wuyue continued to stick out her tongue and pretend to be dead, but after lying down for a while, she suddenly raised her head again: "Right! Water! Don't you have several swimming pools of water stored in your dimensional space? Hurry up and get some out for me to cool off..."

Hao Ren took out a large basin with a diameter of one meter from his dimensional space, filled with water. The siren girl was revived at the sight of this, plunged her head in, and didn't move again, looking as if she had committed suicide by drowning in a basin...

"Old Wang, don't lose heart yet," Hao Ren saw that Izhaks's expression was not right and patted the latter's arm. "This 'treasure' rumor is really too strange..."

"Don't comfort me, I'm not a child," Izhaks grinned, not knowing whether to cry or laugh. "It's okay, I made all kinds of preparations before coming. In fact, I knew from the beginning that Lanina was just trying to encourage me by deliberately making the situation sound so good, but in reality, I didn't have much hope. I came here mainly to see my 'afterlife.' I left too hastily back then, leaving many regrets. This time, seeing it here... is also considered fulfilling a wish. And to be honest, I'm also very curious about what the Holy See coalition is looking for—Nangong girl is right, so many people can't all be fools. They must have obtained some concrete evidence to be messing around for so long. After I left back then... something must have happened here."

"The key question is where they got this information from," Hao Ren frowned, looking at Vivian. "Who was the first to say that the Mad Lord had an ancient artifact?"

"There's also a clue about this," Vivian nodded. "Didn't the person we rescued earlier say they found the Mad Lord's 'last words'? It's said to be a crystal, recording the last scene before the Mad Lord disappeared. That crystal is in the coalition's headquarters."

The matter was developing in a strange direction. After Izhaks left this world, not only did a strange "artifact" rumor appear, but he even left behind a serious-looking crystal. It seemed that the key should be in that crystal.

"We have to find a way to take a look," Hao Ren stroked his chin. "Can we sneak into the place where the crystal is stored?"

"It's very difficult," Vivian shook her head. "The vicinity of the coalition's headquarters is not comparable to the small camp we're staying in. There are guards every ten steps and sentries every five steps. Even bats can't fly in. Unidentified flying objects with a diameter of more than two centimeters are shot down on the spot. But I did overhear that the crystal is currently placed on the desk of General Gregory of the Human Race. He is one of the coalition's seven commanders, and the crystal is kept in rotation by the seven of them. Next month, it should be transferred to the elven general."

"What are they doing?" Hao Ren felt very novel. "They're passing around a crystal?"

"It's probably to decipher the crystal's secrets," Lanina grinned. "I can guess what those guys are thinking. If there really is such a treasure that can make someone the king of the world, then no race in the world would let anyone else have it. This can be seen from the current loose situation of the coalition. They already have some internal strife even before the thing is dug up. But the higher-ups of the coalition must maintain the appearance of fairness and unity, so the best way is to keep the crystal in rotation—whoever comprehends the treasure's secrets during their custody can naturally take the biggest share, at least that's the agreement on the surface."

Hao Ren thought for a moment: "Is there a map or something? A map of the vicinity of the coalition's core camp."

"Yes, I've prepared it already," Vivian waved her hand, summoning a cloud of blood mist. The blood mist quickly took shape in the air, turning into an exceptionally exquisite aerial model that even resembled a holographic projection. "Bats have ultrasonic detection functions. Hundreds of bats shouted at the camp's direction, and even if they couldn't fly in, they could figure out the structure inside—this is their highest command post."

Hao Ren looked at Vivian's technique in amazement: "You're a human-shaped radar..."

The group huddled together to study the map for a while and found that the coalition's headquarters was located near the former Demon King's Castle, and the place where the Demon King's Castle was located had become a giant pit, so the headquarters was built on the edge of a cliff. Looking at such a map and recalling the past behaviors of his old opponents, Izhaks slowly had an idea: "I have an idea. We can create some chaos... but we'd better observe for a few days first to understand their routines."