137: Chapter 137 Corona-class Treasure Chest

The fortress sailed steadily through the high altitude.

"Knock, knock, knock."

The metal door of the temporary dormitory was gently knocked upon.

Zhang Ming pushed a food cart inside, his face wearing his signature smile: "Time to eat, time to eat! Muzi managed to get a batch of fresh Scaled-Skin Fragrant Pigs. Dr. Shen specifically instructed us to brew a premium bone soup; it's the best thing for growing bones and muscle. Everyone, eat while it's hot!"

"Thank you, Brother Zhang!"

Sheila hurriedly went up to meet him, skillfully helping Zhang Ming distribute bowls of rich, fragrant bone soup and soft, glutinous Spirit Wheat bread to her compatriots on their respective beds.

Ivy also carefully helped several disabled compatriots sit up, personally feeding them the soup.

Watching her clanspeople gulp down this rare delicacy, their faces gradually regaining some color, the nerves Ivy had kept taut for two days finally relaxed slightly.

...

After the sumptuous dinner, Zhou An wiped his hands and summoned everyone to the conference room on the second floor.

A holographic sand table lit up in the center of the conference table, with a striking green route pointing directly to the airspace four thousand kilometers away.

"Based on our current speed and wind direction, we will be able to reach the coordinates in about twelve hours, which is tomorrow morning."

Zhou An leaned back against the leather chair at the head of the table and turned his gaze to Ivy, who was sitting to the side: "Ivy, pay attention to your follow-up handover work. Contact your guild members in advance through your emergency channel. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and accidental fire, [Cloud Top Fortress] will not get too close. When the time comes, have their guild send a retrieval ship to pick up the people."

"Understood! I will contact them tonight and guarantee that nothing will go wrong."

Ivy nodded solemnly.

After arranging the route, Zhou An turned his gaze to Sheila, who was sitting at the end, and assessed her current psionic fluctuations.

"Luo Ning, how is the progress on Sheila's side?"

"Sheila's blueprints have all been collected, and now her individual mecha core has firmly reached the threshold of LV4. However..."

Luo Ning changed the subject, helplessly spreading her hands: "The mecha has kept up, but her own physical strength is still stuck at Tier 3. An individual soldier needs more than just a strong vehicle; they also need the ability to break into the enemy's cockpit and kill the enemy leader."

Zhou An frowned slightly; this was indeed a weak point in the bucket effect. Since she had signed a Subordinate Contract and become his full-time combatant, he had to maximize all her attributes.

He turned to look at Zhang Ming and Shen Xingyue.

"Old Zhang, Xingyue, this girl's physical enhancement is left to you two."

"Old Zhang, you are responsible for high-energy dietary supplements. Xingyue, you are responsible for preparing the enhancement potions. You can use any resources in the fortress, regardless of the cost. I only have one requirement: at the fastest speed possible, forcefully push her physical strength to Tier 5!"

"Got it! Don't worry, Boss, I guarantee I'll feed her until she's plump and healthy."

Zhang Ming patted his chest in assurance.

"Understood."

Shen Xingyue also adjusted her glasses and nodded in agreement.

After the meeting, everyone went about their business. Zhou An returned to the central hall on the top floor alone.

He sat down on the wide sofa, and with a thought, four [Sun-Corona Grade Treasure Chests] emitting dazzling golden light like the sun appeared out of thin air on the coffee table.

"Sun-Corona Grade... This thing probably isn't common in the entire region."

Zhou An rubbed his chin, not in a hurry to open them all.

According to the system rules he had summarized over such a long time, when an individual opens a high-tier treasure chest, the system has a very high probability of generating items that fit the opener's talents and their most urgent current needs.

"Opening one myself is enough. I'll leave the remaining three Sun-Corona Grade treasure chests for Muzi, Shen Xingyue, and Luo Ning to open; that way, the benefits will be maximized."

Zhou An made the allocation in his mind.

Subsequently, he locked his gaze on the only remaining Sun-Corona Grade treasure chest in front of him.

What he lacked most right now were the LV6 upgrade blueprints for the fortress, as well as equipment to further strengthen his own melee assassination capabilities.

"Open."

Zhou An did not hesitate at all and directly lifted the lid of the treasure chest.

Boom!

A golden beam of light, almost tangible, shot straight up to the hall's ceiling:

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for opening a Sun-Corona Grade treasure chest!]

[Obtained: Cloud Top Fortress LV6 Core Upgrade Blueprint!]

[Obtained: Sun-Corona Grade ranger armor!]

[Obtained: Sun-Corona Grade star-extinguishing blade!]

Looking at the list of items on the light screen, even Zhou An, who was used to big scenes, couldn't help but hold his breath for half a second.

"It really opened!"

Zhou An raised his hand and tucked away the LV6 blueprint emitting a dark golden light; the blueprints for the fortress promotion were now all collected.

The other two blueprints were also top-tier strategic facilities, enough to take the fortress's defense and survival capabilities to the next level.

But what really made Zhou An's eyes burn with excitement were the last two pieces of individual equipment flickering with terrifying fluctuations.

In mid-air, a set of form-fitting armor, matte black throughout with obscure runes flowing on its surface, floated silently.

It didn't look bloated like those heavy mechas; instead, it was as thin and light as a second layer of skin—it was precisely the [ranger armor].

This set of armor perfectly filled the gap in Zhou An's individual combat capability after leaving his combat vehicle.

And next to the armor floated a long, slender Tang dao with a blade as black as ink—the [star-extinguishing blade].

Zhou An reached out, and the moment he gripped the hilt, a feeling of heft came to him.

The blade was extremely restrained, not reflecting even a sliver of light, yet it gave one the feeling that it could cut through everything.

"Good blade..."

Zhou An casually performed a flourish with the blade, feeling that the handling was quite good.

His current combat style was to use teleportation to directly close in and perform a decapitation strike.

Now, with teleportation to close the distance combined with this Sun-Corona Grade [star-extinguishing blade]... it was almost foreseeable that on future high-tier battlefields, this combination would become the ultimate, inescapable nightmare for all hostile commanders.

Zhou An played with the newly acquired armor and blade for a while, then called Luo Ning, Li Muzi, and Shen Xingyue all to the hall.

Looking at the three [Sun-Corona Grade Treasure Chests] still emitting dazzling halos on the coffee table, everyone's breathing involuntarily became heavy. These were top-tier treasure chests that surpassed Diamond and Moon-Glitter Grades!

Zhou An pointed to the three treasure chests: "Alright, one for each of you, open them."

"I'll go first, I'll go first!"

Luo Ning had long been unable to hold back; she was the first to pounce and lift the lid of one of the Sun-Corona Grade treasure chests.

Boom!

Golden light exploded, and the system prompt sounded. Just as Zhou An expected, Luo Ning successfully opened an LV6 upgrade blueprint.

Besides the blueprint, there was also a [Sun-Corona Grade Mechanical Workbench].

But what really made Luo Ning jump up in excitement was the last item to float out: an exquisite silver metal cube.

[Obtained Wonder: Miniature Weaponry (Sun-Corona Grade)]

[Details: Contains a 500-square-meter static space, usable only for storing various weapons, ammunition, and exoskeleton armor. After binding, the host can summon and equip any weapon in the arsenal anytime, anywhere, achieving seamless firepower switching.]

"Holy crap! A spatial wonder!"

Luo Ning held the small cube, so excited she was practically going crazy.

"This is practically tailor-made for me! In the future, when I go out to fight, I'll carry a 500-square-meter arsenal with me. If I don't like the look of someone, I'll just pull out a cannon and wash the ground with fire! This is too awesome!"

Zhou An watched her ecstatic appearance and shook his head with a smile.

"My turn."

Muzi stepped forward and opened the second Sun-Corona Grade treasure chest full of anticipation.

After the golden light dissipated, in addition to the same LV6 upgrade blueprint, a giant egg with a surface covered in verdant ancient psionic runes slowly descended into Muzi's arms.

[Obtained: Egg of the Myriad Spirit Beast]

[Bloodline Grade: Sun-Corona Grade]

[Innate Skill 1: Myriad Things Respiration: Naturally attuned to natural psionic energy, significantly increasing the growth rate of all crops and spiritual plants within the territory.]

[Innate Skill 2: Life Transition: Nourished by its aura, it can effectively promote beneficial mutations and upgrades in ordinary animals and plants.]

[Current Status: Awaiting incubation.]

"Oh my god! It's a farming divine pet!"

Muzi held the warm giant egg, stars literally popping into her eyes.

Although this [Myriad Spirit Beast] had no combat capability, its two innate skills were extremely overpowered.

As long as it was hatched, the logistics ecological park of Cloud Top Fortress would definitely become a cornucopia capable of continuously producing high-tier and even mutated ingredients!

Finally, Shen Xingyue stepped forward and opened the last treasure chest.

After the golden light flickered, two items floated in mid-air.

The first item was without suspense: the LV6 vehicle upgrade blueprint exclusive to Shen Xingyue.

And the second item was a model light orb emitting a mysterious faint glow.

[Obtained: Sun-Corona Grade Medical Studio Module]

[Details: Can be directly assembled inside the host's vehicle or fortress to form an independent studio.]

[Special Effect 1: Medicinal Efficacy Amplification: All recovery and enhancement potions produced in the studio have their base efficacy increased by an additional 50%.]

[Special Effect 2: Inspiration Breakthrough: Significantly increases the success probability of researching new high-tier drugs and can assist in analyzing unknown gene sequences.]

Looking at the clear panel provided by the system, a rare flash of fanaticism crossed Shen Xingyue's cold, clear eyes as she stored the light orb into her system space.

"With this studio module, my cell remodeling agent and genetic enhancement fluid will be able to usher in a qualitative leap."

Shen Xingyue nodded in satisfaction, "The success rate of the potion plan for Sheila's breakthrough to Tier 5 physical body will also be significantly improved."

Three Sun-Corona blind boxes yielded three top-tier strategic supplies that perfectly fit the team's weaknesses. Zhou An was in a great mood.

"There are still two [Moon-Glitter Grade] treasure chests here."

Zhou An flipped his wrist and pushed the blind boxes remaining from the previous synthesis in front of Sheila.

"Sheila, you open them. What you lack most right now is high-tier individual combat equipment."

Looking at the high-tier treasure chests in front of her emitting light like bright moonlight, Sheila widened her eyes in astonishment, even feeling a bit at a loss.

This was her first time seeing such high-level treasure chests up close.

When she was in the White Feather Guild, all supplies above Silver Grade had to be unconditionally handed over to the guild's upper management; the best she had ever opened herself was a Gold treasure chest.

Although she had been opening Silver and Gold treasure chests until her hands went soft while following Luo Ning to upgrade the vehicle over the past two days, she still couldn't help but nervously swallow her saliva when facing this Moon-Glitter Grade treasure chest.

"Open them, your luck has always been good."

Zhou An encouraged her calmly.

Sheila took a deep breath, extended her hands, and pressed them onto the treasure chest's latch.

Hum!

A brilliant cyan light instantly illuminated the hall, and the rich wind-attribute psionic energy even stirred up a miniature whirlwind indoors. After the light dissipated, two items emitting powerful fluctuations floated in front of Sheila.

[Obtained: 'Storm Core' Miniature Booster Module (Moon-Glitter Grade)]

[Details: An extremely rare individual mobility enhancement item that can be implanted into armor or the body.]

[Effect: Extreme Overload: After activation, it instantly draws wind-attribute psionic energy to provide the host with up to 300% extreme burst speed, lasting for ten seconds. Cooldown: Three hours.]

[Obtained: Sky-Splitting Spear (Moon-Glitter Grade)]

[Details: An individual divine weapon forged using wind-type crystals.]

[Characteristic 1: Wind Domain Control: Passively enhances the host's wind-attribute control by 50% and automatically generates high-frequency wind blades when wielded.]

[Characteristic 2: Unobstructed: The spear tip carries an extremely strong armor-piercing airflow, which, combined with the user's talent, can tear through energy force fields of the same level or even one level higher.]

Looking at these two top-tier pieces of equipment that could be called individual divine weapons, Sheila's breathing stopped. 300% burst speed, plus this highly destructive spear, combined with her own [Wind Gods Sting] talent, she was confident that she could instantly kill any unprepared Tier 5 commander on the battlefield!

However, in the next second, Sheila made a move that everyone did not expect.

She knelt on both knees extremely respectfully, holding the two cyan-glowing top-tier pieces of equipment with both hands above her head, and handed them to Zhou An: "These two pieces of equipment are too valuable. I am just your combat specialist; I don't deserve to possess such good resources. Please take them."

In her subconscious, she, having signed a Subordinate Contract, believed that everything she obtained should rightfully belong to Zhou An.

Zhou An looked at her cautious appearance, frowned slightly, and did not reach out to take them; instead, he leaned back with some disdain: "What do I want a spear for? To use as a barbecue skewer?"

He pointed to Luo Ning, who was to the side: "These two things fit your individual combat route perfectly. Take them to Luo Ning and have her embed the module when she assembles your armor."

"But..."

Sheila still wanted to speak, feeling she was unworthy of receiving them.

"Alright, Sister Sheila, just take them."

Muzi, who was to the side, smiled gently, stepped forward to pull Sheila up, and persuaded her softly.

"Our Cloud Top squad doesn't have so many messy rules. Since you are now a combat specialist here, this is the 'employee benefit' and 'year-end bonus' the boss is giving you. The stronger you are, the safer the boss is, right?"

"Sister Muzi..." Sheila looked at the expressions of the group, who were accustomed to and even took it for granted, and her eyes moistened again. She gripped the spear and module in her hands tightly and nodded vigorously."

"Alright, since the equipment has all been distributed, the meeting is adjourned."

Zhou An stood up and clapped his hands: "Everyone, hurry up and go digest the modules and blueprints you opened."

Everyone promptly accepted the order, excitedly took their rewards, left the hall, and headed to their respective laboratories.