85: Chapter 85 The Giant Crater in the Clouds (Part 2)

One thousand tons of gold, just like that, gone. And the Gold Search and Refining System was slacking off.

He was losing it. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

[Calm down, calm down... This system just has some code aging issues. It's nothing serious.]

"Code can age? Who are you trying to fool?" Li Xin's face darkened with frustration—suffocating, endless frustration.

[Hehe~ It just can't upgrade for the time being. It's still usable. So what if it's a bit laggy? If you keep running your mouth, see if I don't go on strike.]

Li Xin was almost laughed out of anger. This damn system was acting like a hooligan. Fine, fine, he couldn't afford to mess with it. It was like having a perfectly good 5G connection that suddenly dropped to 1G; who wouldn't be annoyed?

Li Xin rubbed his temples.

"Fine. Can you at least guarantee it'll be fixed?"

[System: ...]

He opened his mouth, really wanting to let out a huge shout, his chest heaving up and down.

[Ding... Host's emotional fluctuations detected. To alleviate the host's anxiety, the system has generated a smart sub-avatar to answer daily questions.]

[Sub-avatar named: AI System.]

[Note: The sub-avatar is generated from residual code during repairs. Response speed may be unstable, and answers may occasionally lag or be irrelevant. Please bear with it, Host.]

"Hey, what do you mean 'irrelevant'? Explain yourself."

[...]

"Damn it... playing dead, huh?" Li Xin stared at the words "irrelevant," his mouth twitching.

A tiny Little Yellow Man appeared on the system panel and blinked.

[Hel...lo, Zhuzi.] A line of text popped up next to the Little Yellow Man, moving sluggishly, popping out one character at a time, [I... am... AI System.]

"Call me Master, not Zhuzi. This isn't a traditional courtyard house." Li Xin rolled his eyes.

[Ok...ay, Zhuzi]

It took a few seconds to see the next line.

[System... is... repair...ing itself. Don't... rush.]

"This response speed is so fucking annoying," Li Xin asked in his heart.

[So...rry! A... bit... laggy.]

Li Xin constantly consoled himself, taking a deep breath. Having something was better than having nothing.

Li Xin closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the Little Yellow Man was blinking, looking quite innocent.

"So, what is my detection range now?"

[It... is... still... 28... kilometers.]

"How much is needed for the next upgrade?"

[Don't... know. But... this... upgrade... has... already... been... paid... for. Once... fixed... it... will... upgrade... directly.]

Li Xin was silent for a few seconds. It meant that once it was fixed, it would upgrade directly to Level 15, increasing the detection range to 38 kilometers. But until then, he could only continue using the Level 14 functions.

It was okay, he just didn't know how long he had to wait.

"Is there any other compensation?"

The Little Yellow Man flickered a few times, as if rummaging through boxes and cabinets.

[There... is... a... card.]

[Compensation Item: transfer experience card × 1. Already stored in the system space.]

"How do I use this experience card?"

[AI System: Triggered in special situations. One-time consumable.]

"What are the trigger conditions?"

[AI System: Do... don't... know.]

Li Xin looked at the card's description and frowned. "Triggered in special situations, but I have no idea how to actually use it. This is a damn useless card. Sigh... I'll just have to keep it for now; maybe it'll be useful later."

"Fine," he said in his heart. "You fix yourself properly. Call me when you're done."

"O...kay. Zhuzi."

The AI System icon flickered and retreated into the corner of the system panel, becoming still.

Li Xin stood up and brushed the dust off his pant legs.

Just then, the sound of an engine came from afar.

He turned his head abruptly. A white pickup truck was driving up from the dirt road, its roof flashing with yellow lights.

A mining area patrol vehicle.

Li Xin hung his camera around his neck and pretended to be nonchalant.

The pickup stopped in front of him. Two people got out, both wearing uniforms and sunglasses. One was tall and thin, the other short and fat. The short, fat one had a pistol tucked into his waist.

"What are you doing here?" the tall, thin one asked in Indonesian.

"I'm here for a hike," Li Xin said with a smile.

"Hiking?" The tall, thin one walked over and looked him up and down.

Then he glanced toward the north. "Do you know what place that is over there?"

"I don't know. Just mountains, right?"

"Mining area," the tall, thin one said. "Grasberg mining area. Outsiders aren't allowed in."

"I didn't go in. I'm just here."

The tall, thin one stared at him for a few seconds, then turned to say a few words to the short, fat one. They were speaking the local dialect, which Li Xin couldn't hear very clearly, but he caught a few words—"Chinese," "tourist," "possible."

The short, fat one nodded and walked over to Li Xin.

"Your passport."

Li Xin took his passport out of his waist bag and handed it over. The short, fat one flipped through it and then took a picture of it with his phone.

"What are you doing in Papua?"

"Tourism. I like hiking and taking photos of mountains."

The short, fat one looked around. "There are no hiking trails here. How did you get here?"

"I took a car from Timika and then walked here."

The short, fat one was silent for a few seconds, then returned the passport to him.

"You can go. Don't go north again. That's a restricted area; if you go in, you'll be arrested."

"Okay. Thank you."

Li Xin took the passport and turned to walk down.

"Wait a minute," the short, fat one called out.

He stopped and turned around.

"Your camera. Let me see it."

Li Xin handed over the camera. The short, fat one flipped through the album—one photo after another, all scenery. Distant mountains, nearby weeds, clouds overhead. When he got to the end, he stopped and pointed to one of them.

"What is this?"

Li Xin took a look. The photo showed a rock on the hillside, and next to the rock was a black shadow—it was the photo he had taken in Sumbawa, the one of the Scar-faced man.

His heart tightened, but he kept his expression neutral. "A rock."

The short, fat one stared at the photo for a few seconds, then returned the camera to him.

"Go."

Li Xin nodded and turned to walk down.

His legs felt a bit weak. He didn't walk fast, just steady and slow, like a real hiker. The pickup truck behind him didn't move; he could feel the two men's gazes fixed on his back.

After walking about two hundred meters, he heard the sound of an engine behind him. The pickup turned around and drove down the mountain.

He stopped and glanced back. The pickup had already disappeared at the end of the dirt road.

He took a deep breath and continued walking down.

When he reached the fork in the road, he stopped and leaned against a tree by the side of the road, gasping for air. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to jump out of his throat.

He looked down at his hands. They were still shaking.

He slumped to the ground, took out some water from his bag, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp. He sat there for a while to calm his nervous state before standing up and continuing down.

He walked to the side of the road and hailed a minivan heading back to Timika.

It was afternoon by the time he got back to the hotel, and he opened the system panel.

[Gold Search and Refining System 2.0 (Emergency Repair in Progress)]

[Host: Li Xin]

[Level: 14 (Upgrading)]

[Detection Range: 27,990 meters]

[Current Cumulative Refined Gold: 677.5057 tons]

[Gold Required for Next Upgrade: ...]

[Smart Sub-avatar: AI System (Little Yellow Man appearance)]

[transfer experience card × 1 (Triggered in special situations)]

Li Xin couldn't help but sigh, a faint, lingering worry on his brow: "Sigh... I hope the system fixes itself quickly. I don't know how long I'll have to wait. A few days? A few months? Even longer? I hope it doesn't actually crash."

"Boss, things are ready in Dubai. Mr. Hassan says we can ship at any time." A message came from Chen Hu.

"Good."

This trip to Indonesia could be called a massive success. Aside from the unexpected issue with the upgrade, everything else went well; he had obtained countless treasures and 677 tons of gold.

Things in Indonesia had come to an end. It was time to sell off the treasures he had obtained.

He booked a flight to Jakarta for the next morning, then a connecting flight to Dubai.

Lying in bed, he thought incessantly about how the Transfer Card could only be triggered in special situations.

What counted as a special situation? He didn't know, and the AI System was clueless as well.

However, he felt that this card wouldn't be that simple; it might bring an unexpected surprise at some critical moment.

He turned over and pulled the quilt over his head.

He soon fell asleep.