Translator: AnubisTL
Afterward, Chen Jiang stopped dawdling and stood up to walk aside.
With less than 21 hours remaining until the event's conclusion, the exchange price for a single step tracker was 1,000 blood sacrifice points. To redeem all 500 step trackers, they would need a staggering 500,000 blood sacrifice points—equivalent to eliminating 500,000 alien race players.
Frankly, this was an incredibly daunting task.
Unlike the cities on Blue Star, mechanical race cities often housed millions, even tens of millions of inhabitants. The mechanical race city they had just destroyed had yielded less than 200,000 blood sacrifice points. This meant they would need to destroy at least two more cities of similar scale to accumulate the required 500,000 points.
Adding to their predicament was the inability to scout the map.
Unlike their previous strategy of using the two-star item "Heaven's Eye" to scout ahead from their armored vehicle—a method that minimized losses but consumed considerable time—they now had to clear each small settlement one by one to locate a mechanical race city with a substantial population.
After all, apart from mechanical race cities, it was virtually impossible for other alien races to gather settlements exceeding 200,000 inhabitants in the current environment.
Of course, the insect race was an exception.
But driving the armored vehicle and constantly mapping the area would consume a great deal of time.
With less than 21 hours remaining until the event's end, they simply didn't have enough time.
Moreover, his bulk purchase of over 100 step trackers had drawn considerable attention, otherwise the stock wouldn't have dwindled to just 501 units by now.
Thus, they had to resort to the second method:
Utilizing Scar Dog's energy drive and Li Hao's map manifestation to quickly initiate group battles.
They could afford to expend energy blocks.
But whether Li Hao's mental power could withstand the strain remained uncertain.
Soon, a phantom gate materialized before them.
Chen Jiang and his companions immediately stepped through.
Emerging from the phantom gate, they didn't linger but instead traversed four or five more phantom gates in quick succession.
Finally stopping, Chen Jiang turned to Li Hao.
Li Hao closed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head. "No, there are only a dozen elf race players nearby."
"Elf race players?"
Chen Jiang raised an eyebrow. "Mark this location. We'll return tomorrow."
"Understood."
He had long wanted to capture a batch of elf slaves.
Chen Jiang was intrigued by the elf race's racial innate ability, which allowed them to grow stronger through top-ups. He wanted to see just how powerful they could become.
But today, time was clearly limited.
They needed to act swiftly and decisively.
Thus, as another phantom gate formed from white mist opened, Chen Jiang and his group vanished from their location once more.
This method of map exploration had a significant drawback.
Because it was a linear exploration, not a fan-shaped one, they couldn't guarantee covering every area. But given their time constraints and the limits of Li Hao's mental power, it was unavoidable.
Chen Jiang had thoroughly searched both the human race merit points shop and the Altar Shop earlier.
He found no items that could enhance or replenish mental power.
After using nearly a hundred phantom gates in succession, they found themselves standing on a grassy plain.
This was no longer the arid wasteland of yellow sand. Instead, they stood on a vast prairie covered in thick, tender green grass. In the distance, they could faintly see glimpses of forests, mountain peaks, and other scenic features.
"Tsk, what a difference fate makes," Scar Dog remarked, gazing at the scene before him. "If we had landed here instead, our survival prospects would be far better."
"There must be ample freshwater resources here, and this grass looks incredibly succulent and nutritious."
Chen Jiang casually glanced around, his brow furrowing slightly as he turned to Li Hao. "How are you holding up? Can you keep going?"
"To be honest," Li Hao replied, his face tense as he shook his head, "I'm starting to feel drained."
After nearly a hundred consecutive map manifestations, his mental power was almost completely depleted, like a novelist who had just churned out twenty thousand characters in a day, utterly exhausted and longing to collapse into bed.
"Then let's rest for a while."
"Understood."
Chen Jiang scanned the surroundings again, sighing inwardly.
We've done our best.
There's nothing more we can do.
After nearly a hundred activations of the phantom gate and hundreds of map manifestations by Li Hao, they hadn't found a single mechanical race city, or even a sizable alien race player gathering point.
They had, however, discovered numerous two-star item treasure chests hidden in secluded corners, scattered items strewn across the ground, and a handful of isolated alien race players.
But not a single alien race player gathering point.
The largest one they found contained fewer than two hundred players.
They didn't even bother approaching it. Two hundred players meant only two hundred blood sacrifice points.
For their needs, it was like a drop in the bucket—utterly meaningless.
The only slightly larger gathering point belonged to the human race, with nearly three hundred people.
It was likely the gathering point for the human squad preparing to self-destruct.
But beyond that, they found nothing else.
"My dream of the Perpetual Motion Machine series is about to shatter," Scar Dog sighed, his voice tinged with disappointment. Realizing they might not find a mechanical race city today, he fell silent.
Without a large supply of energy blocks, he could still create his Perpetual Motion Machine series, but he'd only be able to make a few, and they'd be semi-perpetual.
They wouldn't be able to operate continuously, only for limited periods, which would significantly diminish their effectiveness.
"Should we try again?" Li Hao asked, his face slightly pale. "I can still perform three more engravings."
"No," Chen Jiang replied after a moment of silence, shaking his head. "Even if we find a mechanical race city with three more engravings, we won't be able to bomb it. To bomb a mechanical city..."
"We must map the entire city's terrain and architecture."
"Otherwise, my turret won't be able to pass through Scar Dog's phantom gate and appear at the exact location I want to bombard."
"Your mental power is already exhausted. Let's call it a day for now and try again next time."
"There will always be more opportunities to find more energy blocks."
But just then—
"Run! Run!"
A frantic, urgent shout suddenly erupted near their ears.
Chen Jiang and the others froze for a moment, turning their heads toward the source of the voice.
They saw a man who looked like a beggar riding atop a green, jelly-like creature, speeding toward them at an impressive pace. A large swarm of similar green jellies followed closely behind.
Wait...
Why is there a jelly-like creature being used as transportation?
"That man is a human player," Li Hao immediately assessed, then hesitated, adding, "But I can't identify those green jellies around him. They're not showing up on the map."
(End of the Chapter)
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