Twin Cities: Who says scientists can't be conquerors?

Chapter 70 System Upgrade

"Aaaaaah—!"

"Aaron, come protect me right now!!"

"Why are there still some here? Ahhh—!"

Jess ran and screamed loudly.

Before Jess could react after Aaron said "Please," he heard a deep, sharp whistling sound.

Then he witnessed a scene he would never forget:

A gigantic monster, twice the size of the Cheng Ying mech, roared as it charged toward him, its body wreathed in blazing dark red flames!

Without a second thought, Jess instinctively started running.

He ran and shouted all the way.

He glimpsed the monster that Aaron called "Flame Demon" appear, and behind the monster, a ripple of light and shadow appeared, revealing a path paved with gold and gems.

It seems to be the result of Aaron's "luring away the fire demon".

Like the monster, that path followed the same pattern as the invisible wall before. Before actively revealing itself, Jess had no idea that such a terrifying thing existed beside him.

It had countless chains around its neck and limbs, like a domesticated guard dog.

The ancient Shuriman symbols gleaming with gold on those chains greatly reduced its agility and speed, so much so that even though the monster chased Jayce all the way and Jayce cried out for help the whole way, the monster never actually managed to touch Jayce.

Gradually, Jess also realized this.

He was overjoyed and was about to call out to Aaron, telling him that he had successfully lured the tomb guards away and to pick him up so they could see the so-called glorious artifact.

Just then, before Jess could catch his breath, things took another turn—

Besides the frightening but poorly agile Balrog, some kind of mechanism seemed to have been activated in the yellow sand of the Kalikhan tomb due to the Balrog's actions:

Countless short soldiers, only 1.2 or 1.3 meters tall, emerged!

They are all made of stone and have flames burning on their bodies. Although they seem to only move in a straight line, they are incredibly fast.

There were several of these little monsters that were just a hair's breadth away from setting Jess's hair on fire!

Then, the screams began again...

"They are the fire spirits of old Kalikan, the offspring of that Balrog."

Gana, disguised as a little bluebird, nestled close to Aaron's ear and offered him a very considerate explanation.

"Note that 'Flame Spirits' is a proper noun, specifically referring to the creation of a large number of low-intelligence, guardian spirits by using exorcism magic to tame a fire demon and then using the fire demon as a spellcasting material."

"However, apart from Master Kalikan, no one else has been able to cast this kind of magic since then, so it's called 'Old Kalikan's Flame Sprite'."

So that's how it is.

After hearing Janna's explanation, Aaron couldn't help but feel a strange emotion welling up inside him:

When that Balrog descendant came to seek revenge on Kalikhan, he turned him into a watchdog, or more accurately, a "tomb guardian."

Not only that, Kalikan also used the tomb guardian beasts as spellcasting materials, creating a horde of offspring that would work for him indefinitely...

Is Master Kalikan playing a little too much?

"Oh right, Gu."

Janna didn't notice that Aaron's opinion of Kalikan had subtly changed. After explaining the above, she briefly mentioned Jayce, who was currently on the run:

"Don't worry about your friend Gu. He looks disheveled, but he's actually fine."

"Huh? Why?"

Aaron blinked again, puzzled.

"Haven't you noticed that those fire spirits don't dare to approach you? Don't you know why?"

"I don't know."

"Hmm, that's strange."

The little bluebird was also puzzled.

She hopped onto Aaron's right hand, shaking her head, and gently pecked the back of his hand.

"Stretch out your hand."

"look!"

The little bluebird stared at the necklace that had appeared in Aaron's palm without him even knowing what it was, its tone quite puzzled:

"Didn't you have the Demon-Defeating Runestone?"

"As long as you give the runestone to your friend, the Balrog and the Flame Spirit will immediately run away from his 'goo'."

……

"Heh...heh..."

Jess's eyes were glazed over, and he collapsed in the cockpit.

He was finally brought back by Aaron.

Those terrifying fire demons and flame monsters finally let him go and are now waiting behind them, watching Aaron pilot his mech into the treasure vault.

"How was it? Did I successfully lure those monsters away? Ha!"

Jess, panting heavily, proudly patted his chest.

He still thought he had done a great job completing the task, completely unaware that Aaron was now trying to avoid his gaze.

"Ahem, thank you so much."

Aaron awkwardly acknowledged Jess's contribution, and then tilted his head further to show Jess only the back of his head.

Before Aaron even noticed, the black box secretly slipped a sample of the new order—the "Demon-Defeating Runestone," the ultimate nemesis of all magic—into Aaron's hands.

If Master Kalikan's exorcism technique could make the fire demons and flame spirits behave as tomb guardians, then...

Then the Demon-Defeating Stone in Aaron's hand can go even further, making them so afraid that they dare not approach—otherwise, why didn't anyone disturb Aaron just now, allowing Janna and Aaron to chat for so long?

In other words, Jayce didn't actually need to be chased by such a group of monsters.

All they had to do was sit in the cockpit with Aaron, and they could use the Demon-Defeating Runestone to make the monsters blocking the treasure vault's entrance clear a path...

"Let's not talk about that anymore, let's go and see the legendary glorious artifact."

Aaron quickly ended the conversation and piloted his mech into the ocean of jewels and gold.

As the guardian of Zaun, Janna has been silently watching over Aaron ever since he was reawakened.

Whether it was rescuing Aaron when the seawater flooded into the "Sinking Hook" or taking him to the Kalikan Tomb, which was hidden by disguise magic, both were acts of "repaying kindness" that Janna made no attempt to conceal.

Now that Aaron has finally entered the treasure area at the heart of the tomb, Janna is clearly excited, even though there's a silly Piltover guy next to him.

She guided Aaron's perspective, continuously explaining to him the treasures they saw:

"Look there, goo."

"That huge stone tablet is called the 'Oath of Kalikan.' It records information about the 'Sun of Flames,' and it's the magnificent sacred artifact that controlled those fire demons just now."

"But it's not suitable for you. You can give it away to the right person."

"And another thing, that flowerpot over there is also a magnificent sacred artifact."

"it……"

The little bluebird kept chirping in Aaron's ear.

She told Aaron that some of the magnificent artifacts here were used for battle, some for blessings and production, and others for certain special rituals...

In short, it's incredibly diverse and encompasses almost everything!

"Aaron, are these the glorious artifacts you spoke of?"

"There are so many! I can't possibly see them all. Could you please slow down?"

Without Janna's explanation, Jess felt like he didn't have enough eyes to see everything, and he simply couldn't memorize all the treasures he could see.

Having experienced the Balrog incident, Jayce now has "sunk costs."

He became even more concerned about Aaron's claim that "there is a magnificent artifact here that suits him," and couldn't wait to find it.

"How can I sense that thing you're talking about?"

"Or will it actively draw my attention to it?"

"Do I need to go outside to retrieve it later? Will there be any danger... Aaron?"

"Aaron, why aren't you saying anything?"

Jess bombarded Aaron with questions, his eagerness palpable.

But when he turned his gaze away from the overflowing treasures, he found that Aaron, who hadn't responded to him, seemed to be stunned by something.

"Don't scare me!"

After a moment of hesitation, Aaron told Jess about the Balrog and let Jess experience a "game" of being chased by the Balrog.

Seeing Aaron stunned again, Jess felt his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys tremble!

"No, no, it has nothing to do with you."

Upon hearing Jess raise his voice, Aaron seemed to snap out of a daze and quickly shook his head, dispelling Jess's concerns.

He was stunned not because he was talking to Janna, nor because he was planning to "prank" Jayce again.

Rather, it's because...

The entries for "Kalikan Tomb" and "Glorious Relics" have been entered into the database. The black box is currently undergoing a system update... Update complete!

[This update includes the addition of a data-driven entity concept, referencing the "Glorious Artifact"]

The black box's notification tone was calm, but Aaron couldn't calm down at all.

He opened the cockpit door directly and landed firmly on the ground of the treasure vault.

Then he glanced at the treasures around him, and immediately pointed to the handsome white trench coat on the clothes rack not far away:

"Here, that is the most suitable glorious artifact for you."

"You can keep it and play with it; I'm going to look around elsewhere."

After saying this, Aaron walked deeper into the treasure vault without looking back.

He didn't need the black box to give him any hints; he immediately understood what the so-called "data-driven entity concept" meant.

Because when his gaze swept over the trench coat on the hanger, the upgraded system's black box simultaneously and quickly popped up the corresponding information panel:

[Glorious Artifact: Vazuan Style Combat Jacket - Explorer (Nearby Compatible Player: Jayce Talisman)]

【Materials used: Amphibious sea monster tile】

Armor: 20

[Magic Resistance: 20]

[Explorer's Will: After performing three attacks, attack power and movement speed will be briefly increased, and this effect can be stacked continuously.]

"Yes, yes, that's it!"

"Why did this feature take so long to appear?!"

Aaron excitedly muttered to himself.

Walking through an ocean of countless magnificent artifacts and jewels, he would pick up one treasure after another to examine it, then put it down and look at the next one.

Even Gana couldn't understand where Aaron's current excitement came from.

Because only Aaron knew that he had already firmly grasped the greatest reward from his trip to the Kalikhan tomb—

Now he can see the item attributes!