Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 497: Chapter 469: The Asteroid’s Change

To be honest, this was the first time Fang Chenyi had ever gotten so worked up and cursed out the System.

Of course, you couldn’t really blame him. He had gone through hell and high water to get down here beneath the lava and find this giant asteroid, but it wasn’t like he could just grab this thing with his trash picker and swagger right out.

Not to mention, if he actually did that, every relevant government agency in the world would be knocking on his door by the next day.

’I finally managed to think of a solution, and the System just shoots it down? Isn’t that just bullshit?’

And it seemed the System also sensed Fang Chenyi’s anger, as this time, it surprisingly provided a response.

[Host’s confusion detected. The System will now provide an answer for the Host: The asteroid cannot be collected. Please inspect it and handle it yourself.]

Fang Chenyi, who had just finished cursing, hadn’t expected the System to actually answer him again. ’But isn’t this answer the same as telling me nothing at all?’

’Telling me to inspect it myself, and even handle it myself. How is that any different from saying nothing?’

However, Fang Chenyi, who knew all too well what a pain the System could be, mulled over its words again. ’What on earth does it mean?’

Suddenly, Fang Chenyi’s eyes lit up. He had latched onto the key phrase in the System’s message: *inspect it yourself*.

Obviously, the System wouldn’t have said those words for no reason.

And so, Fang Chenyi gathered his thoughts and started walking, carefully examining the large rock.

Perhaps the asteroid’s Xuanji was on its very surface.

He felt his way along, bit by bit. He inspected it, piece by piece.

Fang Chenyi’s inspection was meticulous and thorough. He ran his hand over almost every single spot. On top of that, visibility was quite high at the moment, so he could see the asteroid’s surface with perfect clarity.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty.

Still, Fang Chenyi had found nothing. He had, however, inspected about a third of the asteroid before him.

After all that work, his stomach started to complain. He reached out, opened his bag, and fumbled around inside for a piece of bread.

Because of the Water Spirit Pearl inside him, his body was covered in a faint, watery ripple.

The same went for the bread in his hand; the entire loaf was enveloped in a faint blue halo of energy. Even down here beneath the lava, in this water-like liquid, the ordinary bread remained completely unaffected.

He didn’t have time to worry about appearances. He grabbed the bread, stuffed it into his mouth without a second thought, and with a GULP, swallowed it down.

He took out two bottles of mineral water and chugged one down. But when he habitually placed the other bottle by his feet, it suddenly vanished into thin air.

Seeing this, Fang Chenyi finally realized. ’Holy shit, I’m still under a pool of lava. The moment something leaves my body’s protective field, it’s instantly incinerated.’

But this also told him that the pale blue liquid around him was extremely hot—hot enough to easily disintegrate a full bottle of mineral water.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Fang Chenyi didn’t dwell on it. With his stomach full, he continued to feel his way along the asteroid before him.

"Huh?? What’s this?"

Fang Chenyi, who was slowly feeling his way along, suddenly froze, his hand stopping in its tracks as his feet planted themselves on the ground.

He quickly looked down at his hand and saw that right where he was touching, a strange pattern had appeared on the otherwise smooth stone surface!

To be more precise, it was a pattern that resembled a circular disk. The entire design was indented, about a centimeter deep. And within that disk were carved all sorts of unknown symbols and figures.

This discovery couldn’t help but pique Fang Chenyi’s curiosity. He leaned in closer to observe it carefully.

’This pattern... why does it look so familiar?’

As Fang Chenyi leaned in to examine the pattern, he couldn’t help but let out a soft gasp of surprise. He felt a faint sense of familiarity from the pattern in the disk, as if he had seen it somewhere before. But for the life of him, he just couldn’t recall where.

’Where on earth have I seen it? I’ve definitely seen it before... but where?’

Fang Chenyi’s brows furrowed together as his mind raced. Suddenly, he smacked his forehead.

’Fuck, I remember now! This is the pattern from that pitch-black, iron-like stone!!’

After another careful look, Fang Chenyi nodded with complete certainty. That’s right, this was the design from the unknown Rune Stone that the System had given him as a special reward!

At this thought, Fang Chenyi quickly grabbed his woven bag and rummaged through it. Soon, a pitch-black, irregularly shaped, iron-like object appeared in his hand.

Looking at the strange, densely packed lines on it, Fang Chenyi carefully compared it to the circular disk in front of him.

’That’s it, this is the one. This is a part of it!’

With that thought, Fang Chenyi didn’t hesitate, immediately placing the disk fragment onto the circular indentation before him.

The instant he placed it down, the entire asteroid in front of him erupted in a blinding flash of light! At the same moment, the already boiling lava began to surge violently.

What Fang Chenyi didn’t know was that up on the surface, pillars of lava were shooting hundreds of meters into the sky, creating a spectacle even more magnificent than some volcanic eruptions.

At that same instant, the area within a hundred-meter radius of the cave entrance was instantly covered in lava.

Some of the survey vehicles conducting reconnaissance were not spared. In just a few moments, more than half of them were destroyed.

This left the observation personnel in the base camp on the outskirts of the Taklamakan Desert completely dumbfounded and astonished. When they came to their senses, they were overcome with heartache.

You have to understand, a single one of those survey vehicles was worth an astronomical sum. Even the top-of-the-line supercars on the market today weren’t as expensive.

But in that one instant, their side had just lost five of them! And now, in their entire lab, the only one left was the vehicle currently surveying from 500 meters outside the cave entrance...

Of course, that was only because this particular vehicle had poorer performance, which was why they hadn’t sent it directly inside.

But Fang Chenyi, the culprit behind all this, was completely oblivious. At that moment, he was staring in astonishment at the glowing asteroid before him.

’What’s the deal here? It has a mechanism?? Isn’t this an asteroid? Aren’t asteroids supposed to be made of rock?’

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