Chapter 12

After trying some other things, it turned out that as long as they were metallic, they all ended up with the same fate. Zheng Chen had made many attempts, and this thing did not absorb everything; for example, ordinary soil or stones on the ground would not work.

It could be said that apart from metallic objects, which had no restrictions, everything else that was too ordinary would be ignored.

At the same time, there was a limit to the amount of objects the pattern could accommodate. Zheng Chen calculated that the upper limit was roughly equivalent to his own volume. Exceeding this limit did not mean it could not accommodate more, but after exceeding it, he would bear the full weight of the accommodated objects.

A two-pound ordinary iron block, after being absorbed and then expelled, became the size of a soybean, but its weight did not decrease. However, its quality far surpassed that of the iron block before absorption.

It seemed that during the absorption process, the metal was exceptionally refined. This special effect only worked on metallic objects. Once this was understood, one could avoid this extra refinement by paying attention during absorption.

As for other things, they could only be absorbed in the smallest possible volume, so it was not possible to carry many items using the convenience of the pattern. Moreover, absorbing external objects consumed his physical strength.

Except for metals...

Flipping through the package that Ping Shizhi had given him, it contained many items, with medicinal herbs making up the majority. It seemed that Ping Shizhi was worried that Zheng Chen might not know the properties of these herbs, so each one had detailed annotations.

In addition, there were some scattered gold blocks.

The pattern, hidden under his clothes, silently spread to his fingertips. The gold blocks he touched, like water being sucked through a straw, quickly shrank and disappeared, providing a very convenient and quick storage method.

As for the herbs, Zheng Chen hesitated for a moment, then reached out and grabbed a ginseng root. The color of the entire ginseng root quickly faded and disappeared, as if it had experienced a long period of time, and finally turned into a very fine powder that scattered from his hand.

For non-metallic objects, the pattern was not so gentle during absorption. When plant-type items were absorbed and then expelled, they turned into a pile of wet, broken fragments. A different approach was needed, such as refining them before absorption.

The refined herbs existed in a liquid form, and the refinement seemed to extract all the medicinal properties. However, this was limited to this effect, and for Zheng Chen, it simply made them easier to carry.

Putting the now completely empty package aside, Zheng Chen stared at the sky, lost in thought. The players in the procurement team were idly chatting, as they would not be returning to the village after leaving.

After all, this place was not particularly special. After staying for a while, most players who could leave had already done so. Many players jokingly referred to it as the "newbie village," and the procurement team was like a escort mission to leave the newbie village.

Zheng Chen's first stop after leaving the village was a small city. As the blacksmith apprentice had said, he did indeed see many people with unusual hair colors here. The cultural diversity was greater, but due to the regional nature, most of it leaned towards ancient styles.

The players walking on the streets barely glanced at Zheng Chen's arrival. To them, this place was like a second world, and seeing a freely moving NPC was a common occurrence. Many players even formed groups with some of the native inhabitants when exploring.

The native inhabitants had factors that players lacked, such as combat skills!

Before entering the game, most of them were ordinary people. Even with the convenience of leveling up, they could quickly grow from ordinary people to professional athletes or even higher levels, but they lacked experience.

Having a native inhabitant or two in the team was far superior to a team composed entirely of players.

After arriving here, the first thing Zheng Chen did was to go to the library. To leave, he first needed to understand where he was.

For the next week, Zheng Chen stayed in the library, flipping through all the potentially useful books. Unfortunately, most of the recorded information was about this region, with only a few mentions of other places.

Zheng Chen paid attention to some of it, but it was mostly just to help with his journey. What particularly caught his attention was the "gods" of this world, not mythological figures, but real ones.

Perhaps these beings could help with his situation? This seemed like a viable path. However, Zheng Chen shook his head; these beings had lofty statuses and would not care about a mere mortal like him.

Closing the book in his hands, Zheng Chen turned and left the library. No matter what, he had to try; otherwise, there would be no hope.

There were many "gods" in this world, and since he had decided on his goal, he would aim for the highest level.

A week had passed, and much had changed outside. The streets were bustling with activity, and players interacted with each other at every turn. Even Zheng Chen, who was leaving, was stopped by several players who said they were preparing to explore a certain area and asked if he wanted to join.

After saying he was an ordinary person, the players lost interest. Bringing an ordinary native inhabitant was not as useful as acting on their own.

After shaking off these players, Zheng Chen planned to find a larger city. During this time, he looked for many places that allowed long-distance travel, and there were many options, but the most common was still by carriage.

When Zheng Chen saw a jeep that seemed out of place, his usually expressionless face twitched. It was truly out of place, and the fare was expensive!

To reach a large city required many detours, but there were also faster ways, such as directly finding an airport!

Yes, an airport...

The airport in this world had various types of aircraft, which, while feeling out of place, Zheng Chen had already gotten used to.

"Currently, there are no departing airships... The earliest one is a week from now. After all, this is a small place," a staff member said, flipping through a book. "Would you like to wait?"

"I'll take a carriage."

"That's a good idea, but going to the nearest large city will take several days and cost a lot. It might be better to wait." Seeing that Zheng Chen did not change his mind, the staff member thought for a moment and continued, "If you're really in a hurry, there are other options."

Zheng Chen asked, "Private job?"

"Cough, cough." The staff member was momentarily taken aback. "No need to be so blunt. As you can see, this small place doesn't have much business, so we have to do some extra work to make ends meet. The price isn't high, and it's definitely more cost-effective than taking a detour by carriage."

...Actually, it wasn't much cheaper. Zheng Chen sat motionless in a sealed cargo hold, which was filled with goods to be transported elsewhere. Clearly, he was now on a transport airship, and the staff member had used some small tricks to arrange for Zheng Chen to be placed in a container in the cargo hold.

This kind of situation, if thought about carefully, was very dangerous. A person with no skills would be caught and interrogated upon arrival, having sneaked into the cargo hold.

However, Zheng Chen was confident he could leave if nothing went wrong.

Just in case...

A faint cry echoed in the quiet environment.

"..."

Zheng Chen quickly moved to a corner, pressing his hand on an iron box. One side of the iron box quickly melted, and soon a half-meter-wide hole appeared.

"No one? That's not right." Zheng Chen, now inside the iron box, listened calmly to the outside. The sound of searching grew louder, and then, after finding nothing, a low curse followed, and the cargo hold door closed again.

Zheng Chen waited quietly, not leaving. After a while, as expected, they returned.

There was something wrong with that staff member!

After coming out of the iron box, the pattern spread to Zheng Chen's fingertips. The iron absorbed from the box was released, sealing the hole.

He wiped his hand on the ground, finding a drop of fresh, undried blood... Well, it seemed he wasn't the only one using this method. There were others in the other cargo holds, and the reason each hold only had one person was probably to avoid being betrayed.

What a... hassle.

The person who came up with this betrayal method was quite resourceful.

After one sweep, the rest of the journey was smooth. He had no interest in the cargo, as moving it would expose his presence.

The transport airship suddenly shook. "Hurry up and unload, time is short!"

Hearing the commotion outside, Zheng Chen frowned slightly. What was happening... couldn't the journey be smooth?

Feeling the vibrations around him, Zheng Chen pressed his hand on the edge of the container, creating a hole and moving to another container. After multiple transfers, the commotion outside subsided, and the airship took off again with a hum.

This container was filled with valuable items. He chose this container because its material was not ordinary, reinforced with many layers, making it safer.

Looking at the pattern on his palm, this thing was indeed amazing. Apart from the significant physical strain from frequent use, it was very useful.

Compared to before, this pattern allowed Zheng Chen to travel without carrying any equipment.

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