Mysterious Crystal

Holy moly, inside here are… grenades!

Zhao Dongchuan’s heart skipped a beat. These grenades, each looking like a small cantaloupe, wouldn't they spontaneously explode after being stored for so long?

Suddenly thinking of this, he couldn't help but take a step back.

Hmm, it should be fine. If I don't trigger it, it won't explode. Zhao Dongchuan immediately realized he was overthinking.

He felt a little ashamed, disgracing all those who transmigrated through the heavens!

...

After thinking for 0.01 seconds, Zhao Dongchuan put these small cantaloupes into his space.

Time is still in the space, so there's no possibility of an explosion!

Subsequently, Zhao Dongchuan opened the other wooden crates one by one.

With the grenades as a prelude, he wasn't so surprised to find pistols, machine guns, and other things later. However, these items were placed very haphazardly, clearly transferred in a hurry.

Besides these weapons, he also found a small, simple man-portable cannon, equipped with a dozen shells...

He didn't know how to use this thing, so he had no intention of taking it.

His space was limited, so these could only be left here for now.

After checking this area, Zhao Dongchuan continued to move forward.

He walked about a few dozen more steps, reaching the end, where a fork in the road appeared...

There were passages on both the left and right sides.

He didn't hesitate, casually chose the right passage, and at the same time, transformed the teleportation bracelet from his space into a red string and wore it around his neck. This was to prevent any accidents, allowing him to teleport away at any time.

The right passage was very short. After a few steps, he reached a small room, which also contained many wooden crates piled up.

However, these crates were stacked more neatly.

He casually walked over and opened one of the crates.

The contents inside were quite surprising to him; it was actually a ceramic vase...

The colorful vase was quite beautiful. Zhao Dongchuan picked it up and examined it closely, noticing a painting of an old man sitting in a small cart pulled by a tiger.

Around him were many trees, flowers, and other intricate patterns.

Although he didn't understand these things, anything that the Japanese had carefully packed in crates and hidden here must be a treasure.

This really is a treasure trove!!

Zhao Dongchuan's heart filled with joy! Looking at the other crates, if they were all like this, he could just lie flat for the rest of his life...

However, this thought was just a fleeting one. One or two pieces would be fine, but so many, he couldn't explain their origin.

He still needed matching financial resources. Once he became a billionaire, no one would question him. With money, anything could be bought.

Thinking of this, he slightly suppressed his excitement and continued to open the other crates.

The crates contained porcelain, scroll paintings, seals, and jade artifacts, all rather disorganized.

The value of these items was simply immeasurable!

He had previously asked Huang Laosan to collect some antiques and jade, never expecting to acquire them so effortlessly.

He selected a few small items and put them into his space. Zhao Dongchuan left the rest untouched, still in their place.

He had already decided that no matter what was in the room of the other passage, this place would become his safe house.

He would set up spatial coordinates here, then fill all the soil back at the entrance, and then hide this area with dead branches, leaves, and dry grass.

In the future, if he needed anything, he could directly teleport in using the teleportation bracelet.

Thinking of this, he felt a surge of excitement.

This was a treasure trove!

Moreover, in the future, any particularly important treasures could be stored here. This place was truly too hidden.

Composing himself, Zhao Dongchuan continued to observe. After finding no abnormalities here, he retreated.

He went to the left passage.

Similarly, after a few steps, he arrived at a small room.

However, the items in this small room were quite messy, not neatly arranged.

Just a few steps into the room, he noticed an open crate with a crystal-like object resting quietly inside.

The crystal wasn't large, wrapped in a cloth of unknown material.

He just didn't know why it was inexplicably open.

Zhao Dongchuan walked over and quietly observed the crystal.

The crystal was greenish-blue, feeling like a piece of jade, yet also like a stone, with a faint glow flowing within.

After watching for a while, Zhao Dongchuan wanted to pick it up.

So, he gently covered it with both hands, but before he could pick it up further...

A long-lost system prompt appeared in his mind.

"Ding, a high-frequency alien energy detected!"

"Ding, the high-frequency alien energy detected is unstable and highly destructive!"

Zhao Dongchuan's whole body trembled, feeling an indescribable aura emanating from his fingertips where they touched the crystal. This aura was incredibly violent, continuously invading his body from within the crystal, rushing wildly through him.

An intense, sharp pain began to spread throughout his body.

He wanted to shake off the crystal but found his entire body stiff and unable to move.

"Ding, host has triggered the dangerous intervention mechanism!"

"Ding, safety mode activated!"

"Ding, safety mode activated, energy absorption in progress... 20%... 30%... 50%... 60%... 80%... 90%...!"

Zhao Dongchuan could only vaguely hear the continuous dinging prompts in his mind.

But he was now too weak to distinguish them; the pain had engulfed him.

At this moment, his mind was hazy... he finally couldn't hold on and collapsed to the ground.

.........

After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Dongchuan slowly opened his eyes... the cement ceiling came into view.

He shook his head, trying to quickly regain consciousness.

After a while, feeling no abnormalities in his body and having recovered some strength, he slowly got up and checked the time.

It was now four in the afternoon.

He had entered around eleven o'clock, meaning he had been unconscious for at least three hours.

"Damn it, what the hell is going on? How could something like this happen?"

"Isn't the 'ordinary world' supposed to be theNovice Village (newbie village)... how could there be such a bizarre thing?"

Zhao Dongchuan grumbled incoherently.

After cursing for a while, venting his inneremotional breakdown (collapsing emotions), he slowly calmed down.

"What is this thing?" Zhao Dongchuan looked at the crystal, which had turned into powder in the box, and asked a question from his soul!

Suddenly, he remembered the skeleton of the Japanese officer he encountered in the passage he came through.

At the time, when he saw it, he had carefully observed it. There were no bullet holes on the bones, nor any signs of injury.

Zhao Dongchuan was very curious then about how this person had died.

Now, that question was answered.

He was ninety-nine percent sure that the Japanese man's death was related to this crystal.

That Japanese man must have come into contact with this crystal, but there should have been another way to somewhat mitigate the risk, by not directly touching it.

But he must have been affected as well, only managing to hold on for a while before collapsing in the passage.

Zhao Dongchuan didn't understand, nor did he want to understand. What he cared about now were the system prompts, and he quickly checked them...