Matrix Survival: I Get A Random Chest Every Day

"Mysterious Lantern?" Li Zheng's pupils slightly enlarged, then instantly contracted.

The Mysterious Lantern was exactly the precursor of the Mysterious Declaration. When obtained, it only had a basic lighting function and an unknown key ability.

"Yes, the Mechanic was found by our team, and we made it very clear at the time that he only deals with Players holding the Mysterious Lantern. No matter how many resources others offer, he will refuse." Qian Bugen explained briefly.

The reason for daring to share the Mechanic's information with others privately was because they found the target themselves, so it couldn't be considered as betraying the organization.

Besides, the transaction conditions were too harsh; even if he told Li Zheng, so what?

Without the Mysterious Lantern, it was a waste of time for Li Zheng to go looking.

Using this useless information to gain a favor, why not?

Li Zheng asked calmly, "Then didn't you try to find that lantern?"

Only a few close Players knew about the lantern being in his possession. Li Zheng trusted them and believed they wouldn't betray him.

"We searched, how could we not?" Qian Bugen said with a frustrated expression, "But everyone in Nine Heavens tried their best, and to this day, we don't even know what the so-called Mysterious Lantern looks like. It's really worthy of being a mysterious item, damn mysterious."

"Oh, really..." Li Zheng speculated deliberately, "Maybe it's because the Mysterious Lantern's tier is too high, and the Players can't access it yet."

"We thought the same, which is why Nine Heavens has arranged a few people to take turns watching the Mechanic's door, changing shifts every forty-eight hours." Qian Bugen unintentionally revealed a crucial piece of information.

Having people stationed at the Mechanic's doorstep was both good and bad news for Li Zheng.

The good part was that Li Zheng could find out their names and use his once-a-day channel transition to teleport directly to the Mechanic's location.

The bad part was that if discovered by the other party, Li Zheng's possession of the Mysterious Lantern would be completely exposed.

So this matter required careful planning.

"Guarding for forty-eight hours would cost a lot of resources, wouldn't it?" Li Zheng casually asked, while thinking of how to sneak past others to visit the Mechanic.

"There's compensation, Nine Heavens never lets its members suffer losses, there will always be a return after the effort." Qian Bugen explained as if it was only natural.

There's compensation?

As an organization, did it really not have rules forcing members to complete tasks?

Li Zheng suddenly became interested in the Nine Heavens organization, "Can you tell me what Nine Heavens is really about? It seems like you have a lot of freedom."

Qian Bugen thought Li Zheng might be interested in joining Nine Heavens and replied, "Our Nine Heavens only accepts specific groups of people, not ordinary Players."

"Specific groups?" Li Zheng was even more curious.

Neither Nine Heavens nor Kunlun had ever approached him, could it be that even as the top Channel power, he was still considered an ordinary Player?

"That's correct, Nine Heavens currently only accepts police, medical staff, teachers, and some Players with special functions, like craft masters, researchers, etc.," Qian Bugen explained, "Like a Bilibili creator who restored cultural relics, he was invited to join us just a few days ago."

"You wouldn't be talking about Cai Qian, would you?" Li Zheng didn't follow Bilibili much, but he had only heard of this relic restoration creator.

"It's him." Qian Bugen nodded, "Besides him, the one who netizens jokingly call the 'New Era Minister of the Ministry of Justice' joined us a long time ago and has brought us many surprises."

"Surprises?" Li Zheng was momentarily dazed, "Do you mean before he joined you, he gained a lot of blueprints?"

"No." Qian Bugen shook his head, "He designed a lot of new blueprints that were certified by the Terminal using the materials within the Matrix."

Designing blueprints on his own!

Li Zheng was taken aback by this news. Until now, he always thought such things were the patent of the "Blacksmith" faction.

He never expected a genius like this to emerge among Earth Players!

Li Zheng quickly asked, "How did he do it?"

"Sorry, that's confidential." Qian Bugen smiled without speaking, clearly distinguishing what could and couldn't be said.

Li Zheng realized his question had overstepped a bit, "Sorry, I was just curious."

"Everyone has a curious heart," Qian Bugen looked into Li Zheng's eyes, "Just like I'm curious how you managed to improve so quickly, even the few masters in Nine Heavens admit they're not your match."

"The secret to being number one on the Channel power ranking is actually quite simple, and it's fine even if I tell you," Li Zheng said with pride, "It's talent plus hard work! I achieved my current strength entirely through my own efforts!"

What Li Zheng said wasn't entirely wrong. If he hadn't risked his life to snatch a flower from the knee of the Rock-Ice Giant Leader, he wouldn't have his current achievements even with Lu Pu's benefits.

Though Ice and Fire Attachment was just an auxiliary genetic ability, it laid the foundation for Li Zheng's future development path.

He had relied on this ability to get through several tough times.

For instance, when he first encountered the Infinite Transformer and later during a life-and-death shot in the Ancient Ruins, Ice and Fire Attachment played an indispensable role.

"Whose strength isn't earned through struggle?" Qian Bugen had obtained much information from within Nine Heavens and knew that high risks often brought high rewards, while endlessly pursuing comfort would ultimately make one blend in with the crowd.

"I've said pretty much all I need to." Li Zheng glanced at the time and stood up, "In short, only a Black Merchant exists in channel 879. If you're determined to find it, I won't stop you; just don't stir up trouble in channel 879."

Li Zheng's main goal for visiting Qian Bugen this time was to figure out their objective in channel 879 and to meet the so-called 'King of Undercover' from Old Xiao.

Now that both tasks were completed, it was time for him to leave, as he had other matters to attend to tonight.

"We're all compatriots here, what could we possibly cause?" Qian Bugen reassured Li Zheng, promising, "I guarantee that apart from seeking special entities, we won't cause trouble."

Li Zheng gave him a deep look and said, "I believe in your character, don't disappoint me."

"Farewell!"

"I won't see you off."

Qian Bugen stood up, watching Li Zheng's figure disappear, his expression suddenly deepening.

It was then he had the leisure to respond to the other teammates in the group. When he saw Li Zheng, he had already sent a message to the group, so if Li Zheng made a move against him, at least Nine Heavens would know who was responsible.

"Li Zheng must have obtained a High Tier teleportation item. He's been hopping through many channels in recent days, and the restrictions of the Space Transition Device seemed non-existent to him."

"Do you even need to say that... The question is, why did he suddenly seek out the boss? Clearly, we were there before he left 879, so it doesn't make sense for it to be delayed this long, right?"

"Perhaps he was busy with something else. At the time, wasn't he having a conflict with those guys over there? Maybe he went to settle that."

"Although he killed a lot of them, which was gratifying, suddenly visiting the boss can't be a good thing. Let's hope the administrator position doesn't have the authority to kick people out. If we're kicked from channel 879, we'll never find that item."

"They would have already kicked us by now. Wait for news from the boss."

Qian Bugen roughly scanned the messages in the group and replied, "Li Zheng has been temporarily misled by me. He now thinks we're here for the Merchant."

"The boss is really impressive. Li Zheng would never guess we're here for the lantern, right?" a teammate said.

Won't he?

Qian Bugen couldn't shake off the feeling of unease, as if Li Zheng's eyes could see through everything, even the acting skills he honed over a decade as an undercover agent.

"Do you guys think... the lantern might be in Li Zheng's possession?" a teammate suddenly suggested.

Qian Bugen collected his emotions and said in the group, "I've had the same suspicion, which is why I gave him false information.

Inform Wang Wei and have their team watching the Mechanic work hard. They shouldn't sleep at night these days. If Li Zheng shows up, have them notify me immediately!"

"Yes!"

...

Qian Bugen closed the group chat interface, looked up in front of him, and sighed, "Hopefully it's not with Li Zheng, otherwise getting it will be as difficult as climbing the sky..."