Chapter 2003 - 8: Starlight_3
Luo Yu had a certain understanding of Combat Artisans.
But precisely because he understood them, he knew that craftsmen absolutely could not use a Gunslinger's Magic Guided Reactor, nor wield a Gunslinger's Magic Guided Skills.
Unless the Construct's controller was, in the first place, a Gunslinger.
But the problem was, how would a Gunslinger control a Flexible Construct?
"Generally speaking, that's how it is..." Fang Hong answered as well.
He took a step back, looking at the ten Constructs standing opposite each other.
A strange thought rose up in his heart.
...What if they didn't need to be controlled?
The others clearly also thought of that earlier battle all at once, and couldn't help falling a bit quiet.
"But they don't have Core Crystals, so how are they able to move?" Tang Xin asked.
Fang Hong stared at the ten Constructs, his heart likewise filled with doubt.
But these Constructs should indeed be Flexible Constructs; that feeling couldn't be wrong. Only Flexible Constructs, because they require Magic Power input from the outside, would have that kind of Ether Fluctuation.
"Let's go up ahead and take a look first." Unable to find an answer for the moment, he turned back and spoke to the others.
The long bridge didn't go all the way to the end of the line; he wanted to see what else was here. That Pirate boss wouldn't leave his inheritance to outsiders for no reason—there had to be some clue left behind.
No matter what the answer was, these Constructs were clearly anything but ordinary.
If they could also possess the Gunslinger profession, did that mean Constructs could also have the ability to learn and grow?
If that point was true, then the impact this Construct would have on the Alchemy system might not be any less than the Zero-Type Crystal he had mastered.
Although Fang Hong's intuition told him this was unlikely, and that they should have achieved this through some other method, either way this technology could be called great.
He stepped back, studying the stern, imposing forms of these Constructs, thinking: were these the so-called god-forged creations the ship's owner had mentioned in his log?
In some respects, they could be called miraculous; but in terms of Construct craftsmanship, they hadn't surpassed current technology—there was even a strong flavor of the Empire's technical style. He noticed this from a few details.
The group passed by the Constructs one by one; the road ahead actually wasn't very far. As Fang Hong had expected: at the end of the long bridge, he found what he had been looking for.
It was a square-column platform. On top of the platform, there was still a cluster of flickering Starlight. When Fang Hong saw this thing he couldn't help but let out a speechless laugh; this ship's owner really was cautious.
He sank into the Spirit World. Worried that the man might have prepared some sort of surprise, he still remained careful, yet just as easily unraveled the Array.
The Starlight dispersed, the platform let out a clacking sound as its surface sank downward, and then a Crystal rose up.
Fang Hong hesitated for a moment. Since things had already come to this step, the other party shouldn't have any more tricks left. He placed his hand on it.
It was a Record Crystal, and the instant he laid his hand on it, he received the information stored within.
It was a voice that carried a certain natural authority, even faint arrogance. "...Latercomer, I don't care who you are—Colin People, Imperials, Dwarfs, Elves, those uncivilized beasts from Rotao, or those Little Fatty from Sanxiak, Lizardmen—none of that matters."
"...By the time you see this message, chances are I'm already in dire straits. But I've long foreseen this day, so there's nothing strange about it."
"...You've seen those things outside, and if you could make it in here, you should understand what they are. That's my little gift to you, heh, my heir."
"But if you inherit my legacy, you'll have to take revenge for me. Go to the Osh Empire. There, I've left my true inheritance..."
The voice faded away.
Fang Hong froze for a moment, then withdrew his hand, but of course the information in the Record Crystal was far from just that.
In the latter half of the Record Crystal's message, this Pirate boss had also left him a map of the Osh Overseas seas; the mark on it should be the location of his treasure vault.
The platform cracked open with a click, revealing a dark, heavy Alloy Key below.
Fang Hong looked at this Key, understanding that this was the one and only Key mentioned in the Record Crystal that could open that treasure vault.
Yet what truly shocked him was the information that, at that moment, automatically flowed from the Record Crystal into his mind.
It was a set of peculiar information.
It recorded a method for constructing a peculiar Alchemy Array.
No, it shouldn't be called a method—it was an entirely new Alchemy system.
And on that Alchemy Array, Fang Hong seemed to see Creatogenesis, and at the same time the shadow of another technical line he was familiar with.
This Alchemy Array was called—Starlight.
And its function was to record the way craftsmen controlled Flexible Constructs.
To put it simply, it was a means of recording Margin.
Fang Hong almost instantly thought of that Magic Guided Device the Lonely White Field had entrusted to him.
The Closed Loop Device.
He had studied that little thing more than once, and there were many similar Alchemy Arrays on it that he couldn't quite understand.
But without exception, all of them were far simpler than the Array before his eyes.
At the end of this jumble of information, there was also a written message.
When Fang Hong read it, he felt it sounded somewhat like an excerpt taken from that previous log:
'...This Array is the most valuable thing we found there...'
'...But to master it, it seems we still have to pay a heavy price...'
'...Just what are we still lacking...'
As Fang Hong withdrew his hand, the Record Crystal instantly shattered into four or five pieces.
Behind him, the others looked at that black Key. Ai Xiaoxiao, curiosity brimming, asked, "What happened?"
Fang Hong was stunned for quite a while.
Only then did he turn around, skipping over all the tangled information he himself didn't quite understand, and simply recounting the cause and effect to the others.
"So," Tang Xin asked, "this person just gave us a legacy for nothing?"
"It's not exactly for nothing," Ai Xiaoxiao said. "He wants us to avenge him."
"But did he say who we're supposed to take revenge on?" Tang Xin's counter-question left Ai Xiaoxiao stuck.
"Maybe... maybe he forgot?" she asked, not even believing it herself.
"And," Luo Yu added, "isn't he worried that the ones who come knocking will be his enemies? Theoretically speaking, that's the most likely scenario, right?"
"Also, he never explained clearly how this ship ended up sinking here."
Tang Xin and Luo Yu's barrage of questions left Ai Xiaoxiao at a loss for words.
Xiangzi leaned alone against the railing, watching the three of them, not joining the discussion.
Fang Hong thought for a moment, quietly glanced at those two rows of Constructs in the distance, and finally spoke:
"Call the Seven Seas Traveler over."
They had come to hunt for treasure, and it seemed they really had found something remarkable.
...