Doomsday Spiritual Artifact Master

Chapter 36 – Bloody Ferrara (8)
◎What’s the cheapest price?◎

 

“I thank you for your honeyed words~ your sweet words…”

Song Ke wore a deeply resentful expression, and once again, she pressed the replay button.

“I thank you for your honeyed words~”

“That’s enough,” Zhuang Qingyan couldn’t bear it any longer and reached out to press the terminal’s off button. “You’ve listened to it over a dozen times.”

Song Ke sighed.

Listening to it a dozen times still didn’t help. Why couldn’t she figure it out?

Blame herself, blame her complete lack of musical appreciation cells; she couldn’t recognize the voice that had been singing in her ear before.

How could she not be familiar with it? This song, “Thank You for Loving Me,” had been playing on a loop throughout the journey to Ferrara. The entire train compartment had calloused ears from hearing it so many times, and she almost had the lyrics memorized!

But… but Lin Youyou, wasn’t she Ferrara’s top sweet songstress?

When she shouted “I’m not a saint!” with both hands around her chest, she was incredibly fierce, with absolutely no sweetness involved!

Song Ke sighed once again.

No wonder Lin Youyou would hide in the shadows and refuse to reveal her identity, causing her idol image to crumble. This was a major taboo for idols; how disappointed her fans must be! She wondered how the conservative Maeda Jiu would react if he saw Lin Youyou’s domineering side, what expression would he make? Suddenly, she was a bit curious… Wait, no, no!

Song Ke shook her head to clear away these jumbled thoughts. The current issue was why, if Lin Youyou didn’t want to reveal her identity, did she specifically tell Song Ke her name before leaving?

The heart of the beautiful sister was like a needle in the sea, completely inscrutable.

Song Ke sighed for the third time.

“Stop thinking about it. Since she dared to tell you, she must be confident that you won’t reveal it. Let’s go back to Ferrara and complete the mission first,” Zhuang Qingyan admired her troubled expression and casually commented.

“Okay!” Song Ke patted her face, agreeing. She decided not to dwell on things she couldn’t understand for now. If the other party said there would be a chance to meet again, she would ask her when they met.

They reattached the two detached carriages back to the main body and harvested some zombies nearby to fill the entire transport vehicle. Song Ke and her companions returned to the cockpit, and the artificial intelligence automatically initiated the return program. The vehicle changed its direction and sped towards Ferrara.

After another 10 hours of a long journey, they safely returned to the commission center.

The transport vehicle stopped at the entrance to the high-altitude track, and the horn on the control panel sounded “honk honk,” reminding them to disembark.

Song Ke glanced back, observing the pure black metal body of the vehicle, which looked like a well-fed beast, quietly lurking in the darkness. Roughly estimating based on a capacity of 200 per carriage, this vehicle had at least 1200 zombies on board. What could be the purpose of transporting so many monsters into Ferrara City?

“Where is it going?” Song Ke turned to Zhuang Qingyan, who knew everything, and asked with confusion.

“For now, it’s unclear. The final route has been encrypted, and we don’t have permission to view it.”

Zombies, supplies, and the Throne Race Competition… Song Ke attempted to connect these clues, but her mind remained hazy.

She furrowed her brow and proposed a bold idea, “Can we follow it?”

Before Zhuang Qingyan could respond, the horn sounded twice again, and a message appeared on the screen, “Warning! You have exceeded the time limit. Please leave the cockpit immediately, or the emergency plan will be activated.”

“Warning! You have exceeded the time limit…”

Zhuang Qingyan turned off the incessantly beeping alarm system, but the cockpit continued to flicker with lights, making it hard for them to keep their eyes open.

“It seems not possible.”

The transport vehicle could travel on the high-altitude track within Ferrara City, and its speed was significantly faster than when they were wandering around in Luli Port. If they got off now, Song Ke was certain that it would disappear in the blink of an eye, and they wouldn’t be able to catch up.

Zhuang Qingyan narrowed his eyes for a moment and suddenly thought of something. “Your artifact, can you track it if it’s not nearby?”

“Within five kilometers, I can,” Song Ke nodded.

As long as she injected a bit of her spiritual energy during the transformation, she could sense the presence of the artifact within a certain range.

Zhuang Qingyan smiled, “Then it’s easy. Let’s install a tracker on it.”

“You mean…”

Leaving the artifact intentionally inside the cockpit? This way, even if the transport vehicle disappeared from their sight, Song Ke could still roughly sense its location with her spiritual power if they chased after it with all their might.

The artificial intelligence in the vehicle had no independent consciousness, so they openly discussed their plan without worrying about it eavesdropping.

After their discussion, Song Ke even placed a swallowtail dart under her seat in front of the artificial intelligence.

The artifact was composed of supernatural elements, not electronic devices, so the poor artificial intelligence remained completely unaware, continuing to beep insistently, urging them to leave.

After the three of them got off, the transport vehicle switched to high-orbit mode and accelerated with a “whoosh,” instantly disappearing into the colorful night sky.

“No rush for now. Let’s go complete the mission first,” Zhuang Qingyan suggested.

…

Song Ke entered the commission hall and found an empty self-service terminal. She scanned her captain’s awakener ID, and the backend confirmed that Team V587 had successfully completed the B-level mission, earning them 2000 Alliance coins!

B-level mission (Code VB00046): Clearing zombies on the first floor of the municipal hall in Luli Port (Completion Confirmed)
Points earned: 200
Alliance coins earned: 2000
Friendly reminder: Your team has entered the overall ranking list for C72 District. Do you want to make it public? (Yes/No)

Song Ke dismissively closed the friendly reminder and looked at Xu Xing happily. “Xiaoxing, here’s your money back!”

She had money now! A total of 2000 Alliance coins!

Xu Xing shook his head. “Sister, you can keep it for now. What if we need it later? We can settle it all at once in the future.”

“Oh, alright,” Song Ke thought it was a good idea to keep some money on hand. “You go back and rest. We’re going after the vehicle.”

Xu Xing didn’t respond immediately. He scuffed his foot on the floor, showing reluctance to leave. A few days ago, he was just eating, drinking, and sleeping in the hotel, which wasn’t too bad. However, during this time with Song Ke, even though the process was a bit heart-pounding, it was much happier than being alone. Xu Weiguo was dead and he had no close relatives left. He and Song Ke didn’t know each other in District F, their relationship was almost like that of strangers, but he couldn’t explain why, he felt like sticking with her.

“Sister, can you take me with you? I won’t be a nuisance,” Xu Xing suddenly hugged Song Ke’s arm, pleading in a childish tone.

Xu Xing was indeed quite sensible, and his courage had grown significantly since the last time they went to the food factory. Except for a brief loss of control when using his ice ability at the beginning, he had become accustomed to the influence of Zhuang Qingyan, if not intimidated by it, and he obediently did what he was asked.

Xu Xing gently shook Song Ke’s arm, his dewy eyes resembling grapes soaked in water.

“Sister, pretty please, I’ll be very well-behaved.”

Behind them, Zhuang Qingyan made a quiet clicking sound with his tongue, his brows furrowing in disdain.

This little white lotus was blooming again.

As expected, Song Ke completely surrendered to his soft and persuasive tactics. “Alright, alright.”

“Take a left here.”

Song Ke used her spiritual power to track the swallowtail dart, and the three of them changed direction once again. They had initially thought that the transport vehicle would take a more remote route and eventually stop in the wilderness. However, the reality was quite the opposite.

It drove all the way to the central city area, dragging six carriages filled with zombies, passing through the neon-lit Ferris wheel and the mist-shrouded skyscrapers. Finally, it stopped at the back of a magnificent theater. The marble floor tiles slowly sank, and a massive hole appeared, just enough for it to pass through. The transport vehicle slid down slowly, entering the depths below.

They entered… a theater?

Song Ke took two steps back and looked up at the building in front of her. The gray brick walls were both vintage and retro, while the exquisite reliefs were gorgeous and extravagant. The strong contrast made it hard to look away. This was Ferrara’s most famous art sanctuary—the Sycara Theater.

Countless drones hovered in the sky, dancing around the venue. Thousands of cameras flashed in the dark night. The broadcasts of every concert held here could fetch a sky-high price.

Just standing at the entrance, they could hear the deafening cheers and shouts from inside.

Song Ke stepped forward to enter, but a mechanical gate stopped her. An electronic eye scanned her face and displayed a “Recognition Failed” prompt.

A staff member in a tailcoat approached, took off his hat, and elegantly greeted them. “Good evening, my dear ladies and gentlemen. Are you here to watch tonight’s preliminary round?”

“What round?” Song Ke asked.

“The Throne Race Competition, Round 162 Preliminaries. Do you have any preferred contestants or teams that you support? I can distribute support gifts for you.”

“No, we don’t.”

Throne Race Competition? Song Ke looked at the man behind her, and whether it was the popular favorite contestants projected on the walls or the posters scattered on the ground, they all indicated that a fierce competition was taking place inside.

“No favorite contestants? Are you here to experience the atmosphere in person then? That’s indeed a wise choice!”

“Even though the terminal is quite realistic, it can’t compare to the experience of being here in person. Although the ticket prices are higher, you can see that we have more than ten thousand tracking projection devices. Every detail is crystal clear.”

“I guarantee that tonight, you won’t regret it.”

The man’s tone fluctuated, and his smile remained at the same angle, making it quite eerie.

“Song Ke, it’s an artificial intelligence,” Zhuang Qingyan suddenly said.

Song Ke looked back at the staff member, who seemed immune to the words “artificial intelligence” and maintained an impeccable smile.

Since they were already here, it didn’t seem right not to go inside.

“How much are the tickets?” Song Ke asked nervously.

The staff member replied, “We have the most luxurious and immersive Hoverball tickets, allowing you to get up close to the center of the arena. Today’s special price is only 2888 coins. We also have VIP box seats for 1888 coins, offering excellent views of the entire arena. Which one would you like?”

“What’s the… cheapest price,” Song Ke pursed her lips and tightly held her terminal.

The staff member’s smile disappeared, and his exaggerated tone turned into a lifeless straight line. “Standing platform tickets, 800 coins per person.”

Song Ke was about to speak when he added, “Sorry, no discounts.”

“…”

800 coins per person, which meant 2400 for the three of them.

Song Ke, who had just received 2000 coins, said, “…”

She was so broke, really.