Apocalypse Descent: Farming with My Harem

Chapter 83 - 78: The Treasure Vaultʼs Door is Slowly Opening...

Cao Xing nodded, “Yes, the coordinates show the location is around here.”

Everyone listened and glanced around.

However, there seemed to be no gate to the treasure vault, only large boulders that had slid down from the hillside.

After examining the area, they didn’t find any relevant clues.

Cao Xing fell into deep thought.

Because the system would not make mistakes, according to the coordinates on the key, it should be around here.

But they hadn’t found it.

This suggested that the Goblin Treasury was likely a hidden area.

Thus, Cao Xing ordered, “Search the area to see if there’s any hidden passage or something.”

Andrew and Assam, among others, received the order and began to search around.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work, and soon they searched every corner of the area.

Moments later, Sarah made the first discovery.

She stopped at the foot of the mountain, in front of a pile of collapsed rubble.

“I sensed a faint magical fluctuation here.”

Hearing this, Cao Xing’s eyes lit up; he maneuvered the track robot over to Sarah’s side.

Perhaps because Cao Xing was not of a high level, he hadn’t sensed any magical fluctuations there.

But Sarah wouldn’t lie.

So, he called over the shovel loader robot and commanded, “Clear away this rubble for me.”

The shovel loader robot obeyed immediately.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The energy core began to run at full power.

The large shovel loaded the rubble and transported it to the side.

One by one, the boulders were removed, gradually revealing a scene behind the pile.

Cao Xing vaguely saw a corner of a gray door.

When the rubble was completely cleared,

Cao Xing saw a gray limestone door about five meters high and three meters wide.

[Goblin Treasury Door]

[Armor: 500]

[Durability Value: 100000/100000]

[Attached Effect 1: Intermediate Damage Reduction (Reduces magical damage and physical damage received by 20%)]

[Attached Effect 2: Chain Explosion, if forced open, will cause a collapse of the treasury passage.]

…

“Wow, 100,000 points of durability, 500 armor, this door is really tough!”

With Cao Xing’s current subordinates’ strength,

apart from Sarah and Da Bai, the others’ attacks couldn’t even inflict much damage.

To break down this door alone would take a long time.

Moreover, due to the second effect, the door couldn’t be forced open with brute force.

Forcing it open would cause the passage inside to collapse.

But fortunately, Cao Xing had come prepared.

He took out the [Goblin Treasury Key] from his backpack and approached the treasury door.

The system prompt appeared as expected.

[Would you like to use the Goblin Treasury Key to open the treasury door?]

“Yes.”

In the next moment, the key in Cao Xing’s hand disappeared.

Creak! Creak!

A sound of the key turning echoed in Cao Xing’s ears.

A few seconds later, everyone felt a vibration beneath their feet.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Cao Xing watched as the treasury door gradually rose.

Revealing a faintly visible dark passage behind the door.

As the shaking continued.

A system prompt appeared.

[The treasury door is slowly opening…]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground kept shaking.

About thirty seconds later, the door was fully raised.

[You have discovered a hidden area: Goblin Clan Underground Palace]

(Map Introduction: A group of goblins that once lived here worshipped the Ancient God, offering many treasures in sacrifice to their divine. Until one day, their sacrifices brought an unknown calamity upon them. The goblins chose to seal the palace entrance to contain the calamity.)

After reading the map introduction, Cao Xing was stunned.

“So, it’s not a treasury but an underground palace?”

[Note: The Goblin Palace is a high-level area; it is recommended that at least four survivors with Second Order strength team up to explore.]

Upon hearing this system prompt, Cao Xing frowned.

Requiring a team of at least four second-order survivors meant that the monsters inside could be of a very high level.

“Counting the robots and Da Bai, I have as many as ten Second Order creatures under my command.”

“And they all have my buffs, making their actual combat strength much stronger than average Second Order creatures.”

“By this calculation, my war power should be stronger than a team of four Second Order survivors.”

Thinking of this, Cao Xing’s eyes lit up.

By his calculations, his war power should be able to challenge this area.

Cao Xing made up his mind, which was to go in!

However, before entering, he could still boost his strength once more.

So, he took out the scroll.

[Do you want to use the Char Tribe Shaman Recruitment Scroll?]

“Yes.”

The moment Cao Xing confirmed, a choking smoke appeared before him.

This smoke seemed to emerge from the Big Melting Furnace, carrying a scorching temperature.

At the same time, amidst the rolling smoke, a humanoid creature nearly two meters tall with a robust physique loomed.

Strong magical fluctuations emanated from this humanoid creature.

When the smoke dissipated.

A creature with the head of a black panther, wearing a robe printed with bellflowers, and with a long tail manifested.

“War never ends, steel, blood, flames…”

“These are the main themes of war, turning everything to ashes.”

“We embrace peace, yet war leaves us homeless.”

“This Lord, Char Tribe Shaman Priest: Blot Sulfur Stone, reports to you.”

This was the Char Clan, which Cao Xing had seen once before.

He dismounted from the track robot’s back, approached the tall Char, and said solemnly, “Welcome, Blot, let’s build a territory full of peace together.”

This time, Cao Xing didn’t misspeak.

Hearing the word ‘peace,’ the eyes of the Char lit up immediately.

“Honorable Lord, do you also advocate peace?”

Cao Xing shook his head and said, “Blot, no one likes war, not even the powerful knights.”

The Char Shaman asked excitedly, “Then, esteemed Lord, I want to know, can the future development of the territory lean towards technological research or agricultural cultivation?”

He spoke sincerely, but this made Cao Xing fall into thought.

This shaman’s meaning was for him to settle down and farm in the future, without frequent combat.

But clearly, this shaman’s idea was naive.

In this world teeming with demon creatures and constant danger, combat was inevitable.

Cao Xing shook his head and said, “Blot, you’re wrong. The premise of having peace is to have the power to crush your enemies.”

“If you don’t have the strength to defend your territory, you will eventually be trampled by the invaders’ hooves.”

“Perhaps past wars made you lose your home, your family, and everything, even causing you to despise power.”

“But you must know, power itself is not scary. The scary thing is its master.”

Upon hearing the last sentence, Blot Sulfur Stone’s feline eyes widened suddenly.

“Power itself is not scary… the scary thing is its master…”

“Power itself is not scary…”

He kept muttering, seemingly having an epiphany.

Blot Sulfur Stone exclaimed excitedly, “You’re right, Lord!”

“If I had the strength of a Sixth Tier hero or even a Legendary Level strongman back then, I could have challenged the entire Bloody Army and stopped all the tragedies from happening!”

“I want to possess greater power, enough to shake the entire Char Empire!”

“Thank you for your guidance, wise Lord!”

[Your territory member: Blot Sulfur Stone has been moved by your words, loyalty has increased, current loyalty: 71]

Cao Xing was taken aback, observing the warlike spirit in the Char’s eyes with a curious gaze.

He touched his chin and mused, “Why does it feel like I turned this Peace Defender into a war fanatic?”

Shaking his head, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Cao Xing.

Then, he checked the shaman’s attribute.

[Black Smoke Shaman: Blot Sulfur Stone]

[Race: Char]

[Level: Level 15 2731/50000 (Second Order Boss Level Creature)]

[Life Value: 6720/6720]

[Attack Power: 537~551]

[Armor: 131~142]

[Attribute: Power 217, Agility 204, Spirit 253, Constitution 237]

[Skill: Black Smoke Totem (Place a Black Smoke Totem, casting a thick smoke every 10 seconds, putting enemies in the area into a brief blindness status, totem duration 30 seconds, cooling time 90 seconds.)

Resonance Totem (Place a Resonance Totem, increasing all allies’ critical strike rate and hit rate by 20%, totem duration 100 seconds, cooling time 200 seconds)

Smoke Impact (Condense a cloud of smoke, dealing 144% damage to a single enemy; if used on an ally, restore Spirit*1.5 in Life Value, cooling time 60 seconds)

Black Smoke Storm (stir up a violent black smoke storm, enemies within the storm receive 88% attack damage per second and a reduction of 50 agility points, storm duration 10 seconds, cooling time 300 seconds)]

[Talent: Natural Selection]

[Satiety: 68]

[Loyalty: 71]

…

“So strong!”

Cao Xing sincerely praised, “Sure enough, he’s a Boss Level shaman!”

However, unfortunately, the shaman’s four skills were inclined towards damage or totem skills, lacking any continuous buff skills.

As for the two totem skills.

The first [Black Smoke Totem] clearly did not belong to the beneficial effect, and this thing shouldn’t receive the [Eternal Power] buff.

The second [Resonance Totem], although a beneficial effect, was a domain-type skill, only effective within the totem range.

So Cao Xing wasn’t sure if it could become a permanent state.

However, thinking again, even if it didn’t receive the buff, it was still quite good, given the attributes of the Black Smoke Shaman.

Moreover, he now officially had four Boss Level creatures, which could be said to be a significant boost in strength.

Then, he routinely cast the [Ice Armor Skill], [Ice Healing Skill], [Frost Magic Shield] on Blot Sulfur Stone.

And had Liu Muxue enhance him with two statuses as well.

Blot, like other territory members, expressed gratitude to Cao Xing and increased his loyalty by 6 points.

Immediately, his loyalty reached 77 points.

“Thank you, great Lord, and beautiful Lord’s Wife.”

“Your power is as great as the divine.”

Cao Xing nodded and checked the time.

[Time Until Nightfall: 5 hours 32 minutes…]

[Current Temperature: -52℃]

There were still 5 hours until nightfall—enough time for him to explore this Goblin Treasury and return to the territory.

Therefore, Cao Xing ordered, “Then, let’s go in!”

…