Chapter 686: Optimization
Under the extraordinary power that had long been prearranged, the massive mountain body towering over the wilderness began to officially collapse at this moment. Amid the continuous tremors and roars, cracks erupted on the mountain’s surface, and within the mountain, large rocks fell from the cavern as the roof shook precariously beneath countless blossoming fissures.
Ultimately, with a tremendous sound, the entire cave collapsed. Enormous boulders replaced the falling rocks with a thunderous crash, and amidst the successive booming sounds and vibrations, the cave inside the mountain was utterly buried, its originally vast space completely filled with heavy stones, entombing everything that once existed within.
After triggering the magical array mechanism that caused the entire cave to collapse, Federico immediately activated his ability, traversing through the debris as it fell. Under the operation of the mechanized intelligence device, he coldly executed his mission without a trace of emotion, expelling disturbances, searching for the thief, and recovering the crystal.
Faced with the nearly completely filled mountain hollow, Federico utilized his ability to connect himself with the entire mountain. With the amplification set in advance, he could sense both the mountain and the underground conditions of the surrounding earth.
Under this perception, the mountain and the ground felt like parts of Federico himself. He could clearly understand the situation within the mountain and the underground, a perception akin to a person sensing anomalies within their own body—one that conventional methods of “shadow” could not defend against.
Once this perception was activated, Federico immediately grasped everything inside the mountain. In his perception, numerous corpses of his former servants from the castle lay buried within, but none of these corpses belonged to his target; the thief seemed to have survived the massive collapse.
After failing to find the corpse of the thief, Federico intensified his perception to search for her trail and soon discovered three ethereal targets moving within the mountain, attempting to traverse the solid stone in different directions as they tried to escape to the outside.
Upon perceiving these three ethereal targets, Federico immediately deduced that they were the thief and her accomplices. They must have used some method to etherealize themselves during the mountain’s collapse, allowing them to traverse the material world and attempt to flee. Recognizing this, Federico locked onto the ethereal form that resembled the thief the most and pursued her, determined to fulfill his directive and reclaim the crystal.
When the mountain collapsed, Doro immediately used the illusion scale incense lantern she had borrowed from Little Fox not long ago. Through the link of spiritual threads, she etherealized herself, Adele, and Neve, avoiding the fate of being buried alive. They then began to move towards the mountain’s exterior from different directions, utilizing their ethereal ability to traverse materials. Influenced by the directive she had given, Federico ignored Doro and Adele and kept pursuing Neve.
Although dream realm beings and spirits share the property of traversing materials like stone demons, they do not have the extensive sensing capabilities underground that stone demons possess. Additionally, the speed difference in moving through materials is significant. Soon, Federico chased down the fleeing thief inside the mountain!
As a Gold Stone Demon, Federico possessed a tremendous advantage in that environment. While he couldn’t freely unleash elemental powers during the material traversal, other extraordinary professionals found it even more inconvenient to use their abilities. The Gold Stone Demon had the speed and agility of an “extraordinary being” of shadow, along with the powerful perception of an “extraordinary being” of lamp, while other extraordinary beings who moved and etherealized in the rock not only moved slowly but also were completely blind in the pitch-darkness.
The stone demon’s capacity to traverse materials did not involve etherealization but a unique materialization, allowing him to easily shatter any ethereal form through spiritual attachment, while ethereal forms could not harm him.
After continuously moving at high speed, Federico caught up to the escaping thief. He raised his warhammer high and brought it down hard towards the ethereal thief. In the eyes of the mechanized Federico, the ethereal thief should have been completely unaware and shattered. However, the actual situation greatly exceeded his expectations.
To his surprise, the thief in the debris began to dodge! With an extreme evasion, the ethereal thief avoided the ambush originating from the rocks, escaping the fate of being crushed.
If Federico had not mechanized his consciousness, he would have been astonished at how the ethereal thief had sensed his presence within the earth and stones. As an ethereal being, she could not conventionally use extraordinary items and abilities; how could she perceive his stealthy existence?
If Federico were in his normal state, he would ponder this question. But in his mechanized state, he paid no mind; after a missed attack, he continued to execute his assault coldly, swinging the warhammer repeatedly toward the ethereal thief, yet each of his moves appeared to be foreseen by her; she evaded every strike.
Thus, Federico and Thief K, the master and the thief, began their cat-and-mouse game deep within the thick layers of rock and earth. They continued their relentless chase, alternating between attack and evasion, gradually drawing nearer to the mountain’s surface, inching their way out.
Faced with a thief who seemingly saw through all his positions and actions, mechanized Federico began to adjust his attack methods continuously, dynamically formulating offensive strategies based on the evolving battlefield conditions.
For instance, in his programmed attacks, mechanized Federico interspersed various tactics to surprise the thief. He changed attack angles and positions repeatedly, seeking a blind spot in her formidable perception. He attempted to calculate her behavior patterns based on her movements to find an opportunity to strike her down.
After multiple failed attacks and continual exposure of his position, mechanized Federico concluded that the thief possessed an ability that could ignore his shadowed stealth, indicating that his permanent concealment mechanism was ineffective against her, leading him to dismantle it. He redirected the spiritual energy and resources once used for concealment into enhancing his offensive capabilities.
In summary, with Federico’s constant learning and adjustments through mechanization, his attacks on the thief became increasingly precise and fierce, making her increasingly difficult to evade even as she could see through his movements. The moments of escape for the thief grew riskier, and eventually, one part of her dream realm body brushed against danger. If this continued, the thief would be struck down with a fatal blow from Federico before long.
However, by this time, their positions had come close to the edge of the mountain’s interior, soon to break free. Although Federico’s advantage within the mountain became greater, it was clear that neither side could determine a victor inside the mountain. Yet mechanized Federico was completely unruffled—once outside the mountain, he could unleash his elemental powers to their fullest. As long as he maintained a firm lock on the thief, she would inevitably be obliterated under the relentless elemental bombardment.
Finally, after ongoing entanglement, both of them burst out of the thick mountain body into the external world. Upon re-emerging, they found themselves not in the dark wilderness under a night sky, but bathed in the dawn light of the eastern horizon, at the break of day.
In this world now illuminated by morning light, the fleeing thief re-materialized from her ethereal dream form into her physical body, while Federico expanded his wings, initiating a powerful elemental charge from his eyes, mouth, and wings.
Just as Federico prepared to unleash his full power, he sensed an equally powerful elemental force gathering in front of him, and the type of elemental energy felt strangely unfamiliar to him.
Raising his head, Federico turned to face where this strange elemental energy emanated. What he saw was a mysterious figure, clad in a long cloak, hovering in mid-air, illuminated by the morning light of the eastern dawn.
The figure’s hand stretched forward, pointing directly at him, with a golden geometric metal object hovering at the tip of their finger. Surrounding the figure, a powerful and peculiar pool of elemental energy coiled around in a circular formation.
With the morning light shining from behind, a gentle breeze flowing through the air, Doro raised one hand, holding the decoy golden base suspended before her eyes. A powerful magnetic field had already been established in front of her. Her eyes, veiled beneath the hood, gazed at the immense Gold Stone Demon before her while her mind was filled with recollections.
…
Not long before, in the suite of a hotel in Farlow’s Froz, where Doro usually stayed.
After confirming that her target was the Dark Gold Society’s Red Tier, Doro began to spend time gathering information and seeking countermeasures, with the primary source of her information coming from a familiar face in the Artisan Guild.
“The Gold Stone Demon—this is the form the stone demon takes after reaching Red Tier. It sounds quite formidable… with monster-level defensive capabilities… super strong utilization of multiple elements… the ability to conceal matter… and transform mundane wealth directly into combat power…
“Both defense and endurance are first-rate for Red Tier, and the attack isn’t far behind, with acceptable mobility… the ability is practical too, with a strong adaptability on the battlefield, quite outstanding overall…”
Sitting on the sofa in her suite, Doro pondered over the text on the coffee table from “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” stroking her chin seriously as she thought. After a moment, she wrote her thoughts in the margins of the book, and soon, a printed response from Beverly materialized before her eyes.
“Yes, the Gold Stone Demon’s direct combat ability is quite strong, especially effective against elementalist types. In face of other Red Tier professions carrying out direct confrontations, it doesn’t fall short either. Its weakness lies in dealing with mental, spiritual, and conceptual interferences, particularly in the mental aspect. However, as I mentioned before, they have countermeasures to compensate for these shortcomings. The mechanized intelligence device works exceptionally well against mental interference; now, almost every high-tier ‘stone’ possesses such a device.”
“So, if he has that mechanized intelligence device, it will be nearly impossible to defeat him at the mental level? The ultimate victory… still must happen on the material level…” Looking at Beverly’s words, Doro immediately responded in writing, and Beverly quickly replied.
“Yes, I remember you had a way to forcefully break through the stone demon’s defenses on the material level back when you were with the chalk. Now that you are Red Tier, that ability should be capable of threatening a Gold Stone Demon. So you possess the capability to directly take him down on the material level, but…”
“But what?”
“However, defeating doesn’t equal killing. It doesn’t mean you can disable him instantly. If your type of attack is unleashed and doesn’t succeed in a one-strike k*ll on Federico, he will immediately become aware of the threat you pose after sustaining injuries. His proud defense cannot perfectly shield him.”
“From my understanding of the Dark Gold Society, once they realize they are not invincible, they will immediately flee underground thousands of meters deep, leaving you no chance to chase after them. By that time, the items you wish to take will also be taken away, and it may be very hard to obtain them again later.” Beverly’s response unfolded before Doro’s eyes, causing her to frown slightly. She wrote back.
“Fleeing immediately after sensing they have been breached? Are they that cowardly?”
“Of course. These guys are engaged in underhanded dealings, not noble crusades. They are quite cautious with their lives, so unless you can defeat Federico in one strike, once he senses danger, he’ll run, and you won’t be able to stop him. This escape mechanism is even ingrained in their mechanized intelligence.” Beverly’s words continued appearing before Doro, who pondered for a moment before writing back.
“Then I’ll strive for a direct strike to his vital spot, killing him in one blow…”
“A single hit to a vital spot? It might not be that simple.” Beverly’s response came, and Doro was left puzzled.
“Why not? Is the Gold Stone Demon similar to those ‘cups,’ having vital points?”
“Not exactly. The Gold Stone Demon does have vital points, but they’re not the usual head or heart. The only vital point for a Gold Stone Demon is its ‘stomach’… or rather… its internal ‘treasure vault.’” Beverly elaborated. Doro frowned in confusion and continued writing.
“’Stomach’? ‘Treasure vault’? Can you elaborate?”
“The so-called treasure vault is the power source of the Gold Stone Demon, the organ that stores all the loot it has devoured. The treasures consumed by the Gold Stone Demon are digested here to fuel its power, providing it with strong elemental energy for combat, thus being the source of its strength.” Beverly’s statements appeared in quick succession before Doro’s eyes, and after reading them, she quickly responded.
“So this ‘treasure vault’ is located internally in an indeterminate position? If I just destroy it, I can k*ll the Gold Stone Demon, right?”
“If you truly destroy the treasure vault, you could indeed k*ll a Gold Stone Demon. However, it is unfortunate that you won’t be able to determine its position quickly.”
“Why not?”
“Because the location of the treasure vault is not fixed. The Gold Stone Demon can somewhat reconstruct its internal structure, allowing its treasure vault to change positions internally. Thus, no one except the Gold Stone Demon itself knows where its vault is.”
Beverly’s neatly printed words appeared before Doro, and upon seeing them, she furrowed her brows deeper. After considering the matter, she picked up her pen and began writing again.
“The so-called vital point treasure vault… is it really unpredictable inside the body? That complicates things. It means… in order to achieve a one-strike k*ll on Federico, I must find out where his treasure vault is located within his body? That seems quite troublesome… By the way, can I use ‘lamp’ to shine a light on it?”
“Using ‘lamp’ to shine light directly would probably be challenging. The Gold Stone Demon aids ‘shadow,’ and it has plenty of ‘shadow’ reserves. How many ‘lamps’ do you have to consume against him? Even if you had enough ‘lamps’ to deplete his ‘shadow,’ the information illuminated by ordinary ‘lamp’ items like the Radiance Lamp would only reveal spiritual information about your opponent, fundamentally lacking the ability to perceive body interiors. Mostof the ‘lamp’ items with such penetrating functions are high-tier goods sold by the church. Do you possess any?”
Using a rhetorical tone, Beverly replied to Doro, who fell into thought while considering Beverly’s response. After a long moment, she slowly wrote back.
“By the way, you previously mentioned that object that helps Federico resist mental interference. The mechanized intelligence device, right? Its prototype is manufactured by you all?”
“Yes, originally, this was our high-end product, of which many were sold. Federico must have one. I’m unsure if it was sold by us and then handed to him, or if they replicated it themselves. If you’re thinking about targeting this mechanized intelligence device and asking us to help you here, I would advise you to give up, as we won’t leave backdoors in products sold due to commercial integrity.”
Beverly asserted confidently in her response, prompting Doro to write back immediately.
“Isn’t it said that this device can replace the user’s main consciousness for autonomous combat and continually adjust the user’s combat state according to battlefield changes? It can even learn and reallocate spiritual energies during battle, right?”
“Yes, it has some really powerful features, adaptive battlefield regulation; this is the hallmark of our product~”
Beverly wrote flamboyantly on the page of “Navigation of the Literary Sea,” while Doro, after thinking, resumed writing her response.
“Then, is there a possibility that the mechanized intelligence will analyze the current battlefield and determine that some extraordinary mechanisms possessed by the user are redundant concerning the battlefield situation, thus choosing to dismantle them and redirect resources elsewhere…
“In other words, will the mechanized intelligence choose to actively optimize, eliminating ‘useless’ extraordinary stealth mechanisms to conserve resources while reallocating them to other areas once it assesses that the user’s situation has been completely ‘sensed and understood’ by the enemy?”
