202: Chapter 202 First Round Extraction

1:00 AM sharp.

Li Xin sat in the chair in his study, the lights off. The curtains were drawn, leaving only a sliver of a gap, through which a faint, dim light from the streetlamp outside filtered in, casting a thin layer upon the desk.

The system panel lit up in his consciousness.

[Gold window open. Divine domain suppression has dropped to the lowest interval of the day. Current Extraction efficiency: 25 tons/hour.]

He leaned back against the chair, eyes closed.

"Begin."

[First round of 12-hour continuous Extraction initiated. Target: Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Chamber B, third underground level. Current progress: 0%.]

There was nothing. No vibration, no sound, no light. Something like the System shouldn't have any movement to begin with.

But he could feel it. He couldn't quite say if it was his body or his consciousness, but he just knew the things below were moving. It was like someone a kilometer away was draining a pool of water at an extremely slow speed; the ripples on the water's surface reached him as only a trace, but they definitely existed.

[Progress: 2%.]

He opened his eyes and glanced out the window. It was pitch black; he couldn't see anything. The tower top of the distant Padmanabhaswamy Temple still had lights on, orange-red and very conspicuous in the night.

Liu Mo was downstairs, sitting on the living room sofa. His headphones hung around his neck, and the walkie-talkie on the table was switched on. He glanced at the backyard surveillance footage from time to time, then looked down at his phone again. He wasn't sleepy, but there was nothing to do. The boss had said he had things to take care of tonight and told him to just guard the outside, no need to go upstairs.

"Brother Liu, the perimeter is normal," Qiang Zi's voice came through the headset, kept very low. "No cars at the intersection, no one outside the wall."

"Got it," Liu Mo replied, his voice also not loud. "Keep watching."

[Progress: 5%.]

Li Xin stood up, walked to the window, and pulled the curtains open a bit more. The night breeze poured in through the gap, carrying humidity. It sounded like someone was singing in the distance; it was unclear, hazy, as if drifting over from very far away.

He stood there for a moment, then sat back down.

For the first two hours of the Extraction, there was no movement. The numbers on the system panel climbed at a steady rate, 25 tons per hour—neither fast nor slow, steady enough to make one sleepy. Li Xin drank some water halfway through, then sat back down, staring at the pitch-black sky outside the window.

[Progress: 10%.]

2:40 AM.

A sudden wind picked up in the yard. It wasn't strong, but it came without reason; one moment it was stifling, the next it was rustling and blowing, the palm leaves flapping with a crisp sound. Li Xin sat in the chair, feeling the window frame tremble—very slightly, as if something were surging up from underground, pushing the air outward.

The wind lasted for over ten seconds, then stopped.

[Progress: 12%. Continuous Extraction in progress. Slight stress fluctuation detected in the divine domain; current rate unaffected.]

Li Xin didn't move, his hands resting on his knees. He thought that the wind just now probably came from the Padmanabhaswamy Temple; a piece was missing from below, and the things above were not happy about it.

A slight creaking sound came from the third-floor bedroom window, the kind caused by wood expanding and contracting with heat; nothing strange about that. But immediately after, from the distance—likely the direction of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple—came a very low, deep, muffled thud, as if something were turning over underground. The sound was very faint, almost drowned out by the chirping of insects; even if an ordinary person were awake, they might not have noticed it.

Liu Mo looked up at the ceiling.

"Boss?" He called out into the headset.

There was no response from upstairs.

"It's nothing, I misheard just now," Li Xin's voice came through the headset, very calm. "Go back to what you were doing."

[Progress: 18%.]

3:10 AM.

In a residential building on the outskirts of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, someone who had been sleeping woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. He tossed and turned, feeling a tightness in his chest, as if something were weighing on his heart.

He sat up and looked out the window; it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything. But he felt something was wrong; there was an indescribable smell in the air, like the incense burned in temples, yet a bit different.

He lay back down, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Finally, he simply put on his clothes and went out. When he reached the entrance, he found seven or eight people already standing by the roadside, all looking in the direction of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. No one spoke; they just stood there, unnaturally quiet.

After a few minutes, a few more came. Someone brought prayer beads from home and began to chant in a low voice. Others followed suit, their voices not loud, but gathered together, a low humming sound that traveled far into the night.

[Progress: 25%. External faith energy convergence detected; divine domain barrier slightly reinforced. Current Extraction efficiency fluctuating; expected to temporarily drop to 23 tons/hour.]

The System popped up a line of text in his consciousness. Li Xin saw it but didn't make a sound. He picked up the cup on the table and took a sip of water; it had already gone cold and tasted a bit astringent.

"AI System, automatically maintain minimum loss; extract as much as possible."

[Received. Adapting to the fluctuating environment.]

[Progress: 27%. Current speed: 23 tons/hour.]

He couldn't hear the chanting outside, but the System indicated that faith energy was increasing. Dozens of people were kneeling on the outskirts of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, amounting to a concentration a hundred times higher than usual. The piety of these people was all absorbed and converted by the divine domain to suppress him.

Li Xin didn't feel any pressure. Faith energy was something that affected ordinary people, but for the System, it just meant a bit more effort. The rate had dropped by two tons, which was nothing; he could make it back later.

Around 4:00 AM, the temperature across the city dropped by two degrees for no apparent reason. The weather forecast hadn't predicted it, but many people in their sleep unconsciously wrapped themselves tighter in their quilts. After dawn, someone posted online asking if anyone else felt particularly cold last night; dozens of comments followed, all saying yes, and that they thought their air conditioning had broken.

[Progress: 35%.]

4:30 AM. Inside the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, in a small side chamber where old Magical Artifacts were stored, a bronze bell on the innermost shelf suddenly rang. It was very short, just one sound, as if someone had bumped into it.

The old priest on night watch heard it and walked over to take a look. There was no one around, the doors and windows were closed, and the bronze bell wasn't swaying noticeably. He reached out and touched the bell body; it was cool, perfectly normal.

He stood there for a while, didn't hear any more sounds, and turned to leave.

[Progress: 40%.]

5:10 AM. It wasn't dawn yet, but the east was beginning to turn white, gray and hazy, like a layer of thin ink diluted by water.

Li Xin sat in the chair; he hadn't slept all night, but he wasn't sleepy either. The System was running; he didn't need to do anything, didn't need to use his brain, he just needed to stay in this position.

[Progress: 45%. Total gold extracted: approximately 112 tons.]

He opened his phone and took a look; there were no messages. Luo Maifa had sent a voice message in the group chat in the middle of the night, but he didn't click to listen to it, probably just rambling nonsense while drunk again. Qiang Zi had sent a photo of a newly planted tree at the company entrance, accompanied by a line of text: "Planted today, let's see how tall it grows next year."

He flipped the phone over, face down on the table, and didn't reply.

5:40 AM. The chanting around the Padmanabhaswamy Temple had grown louder without anyone noticing, from the whispers of a few scattered individuals to a neat chorus of dozens of people. The villagers who came spontaneously grew in number; before dawn, over a hundred had gathered, laying out mats and kneeling on the stone path on the outskirts of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, heads bowed, counting their prayer beads one by one.

The security guard on duty came out to take a look, didn't stop them, and didn't dare to.

[Progress: 52%. Current speed: 22 tons/hour.]

Li Xin closed his eyes. He could feel a faint pressure on a mental level—not heavy, but constant, like someone constantly chanting in your ear. Occasionally, he would hear a sound from across the void, and it would disappear in less than half a minute, but that feeling of "being watched" wouldn't dissipate.

He stood up and took two steps, then sat back down in the chair and changed positions.

6:00 AM, dawn had broken. Sunlight leaked in through the gap in the curtains, casting a long, thin band of light on the floor. Li Xin got up, pulled open the curtains, and looked out. The distant Padmanabhaswamy Temple was very quiet in the morning light; the gilding on the tower top reflected the sun, and it was impossible to tell what was different from yesterday.

But he knew that nearly one-third was already missing from below.

[Progress: 62%. Total gold extracted: approximately 155 tons.]

Liu Mo came upstairs and knocked on the door, asking through it, "Boss, should I bring breakfast up?"

"No need, I'll go down to eat."

Li Xin washed his face and went downstairs. Ravi had already set breakfast on the table: fried eggs, toast, and a cup of black tea. He sat down and ate slowly. Halfway through, Ravi walked in carrying fruit.

"Mr. Li, did you sleep well last night?"

"It was alright," Li Xin picked up a piece of papaya. "Any movement outside?"

Ravi thought for a moment. "I heard that some people went to keep vigil at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple last night, saying they sensed a warning from the gods. Many more went early this morning; there are quite a few people surrounding it outside now."

"What kind of warning?"

Ravi shook his head. "I'm not sure. The old folks all say it's the Snake God giving a warning, that something is restless below, and they're telling everyone to chant more and pray for blessings."

"Below?"

"That's right, over at Chamber B." Ravi lowered his voice. "Last night, some guards said they heard strange noises, the sound of snakes crawling from the cracks in the stones. Everyone is saying the Snake God has moved."

Li Xin didn't respond and lowered his head to finish the rest of his meal.

Returning to the study, the System was still running.

[Progress: 75%. Total gold extracted: approximately 187 tons.]

Over the next few hours, the Extraction speed remained stable at around 22 tons. The divine domain barrier remained, the faith energy hadn't dissipated, but it couldn't suppress the System. The chanting outside waxed and waned, the temperature remained two degrees lower than normal, and the sunlight couldn't shine into that window of the study, as if something were blocking the light.

At 12:30 PM, the System popped up a line of text.

[Progress: 92%. Total gold extracted: approximately 230 tons.]

Li Xin leaned against the back of the chair, feet resting on the edge of the desk, staring at the ceiling. He had no thoughts in his mind, just waiting, waiting for the progress to finish.

2:40 PM. Suddenly, a strong wind picked up outside, the curtains were whipped up and rustled loudly. Immediately following was a muffled drone, coming up from underground—not the kind that could be heard with the ears, but something felt in the bones. The entire courtyard shook along with it, very lightly, but it could be felt.

Li Xin sat up straight.

[Progress: 98%. Deep stress reaction detected in the divine domain. Current energy fluctuations are violent, barrier strength is climbing, but it is already powerless to stop the Extraction process.]

[Magical Artifacts within the divine domain are continuously resonating. Observed physical manifestations: bronze bells ringing, incense burning spontaneously, the ground slightly expanding and rebounding.]

[Target emotional characteristics: restless, uneasy, powerless.]

Li Xin didn't speak. He stood up and walked to the window, seeing the tower top of the distant Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

Those gilded decorations reflected light in the sun, but today seemed a bit different; those points of light were dancing, as if seeping out from the inside.

The wind blew again, stronger than before, and the palm trees in the yard were bent over.

[Progress: 99%.]

He stared out the window without blinking.

[Ding... First round of 12-hour continuous Extraction complete.]

[Chamber B first round settlement: Total Extraction volume 300 tons of pure divine treasure. Gold content 99.7%. Remaining volume: 2550 tons.]

[Cumulative gold: 7702.7057 tons.]

[System forced cooling initiated. Countdown: 11:59:59. Extraction function prohibited during the cooling period; detection function remains unaffected.]

[The energy structure of the divine domain has shown a vacancy for the first time. Current status: slightly unstable, outer barrier intact, internal structure has developed irreversible defects. It is expected that every subsequent round of Extraction will trigger stronger backlash.]

Li Xin closed the panel and let out a long breath.

The room was very quiet, and the wind outside had stopped. He walked to the window and looked at the distant Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The lights on the tower top hadn't turned on yet; the gray-white stone glowed with warm colors in the afternoon light, looking exactly the same as yesterday.

But he knew that a piece was already empty below. Something that had stood for hundreds of years was now one-ninth gone, and no one would notice.

Voices of Ravi and Liu Mo talking came from downstairs; he could vaguely make out a few words, probably chatting about what to have for dinner.

Li Xin stood by the window for a while, then turned and went downstairs.