My exclusive card pool

Chapter 199 Unit-01 (Two Chapters Combined)

Wang Xi finally understood why the Gear Consortium had sealed off Old Los Angeles but hadn't taken any steps to destroy the old site of their company building...

Because they have been searching for the key to open the black cube, waiting for the day they can unlock it.

If Bai Qimeng hadn't come straight for the "evidence," she wouldn't have discovered this secret.

Seeing that their scheme had been exposed, the Gear Corporation was forced to take control of the airship and drop a high-yield bomb in an attempt to kill the three of them.

"Now we can say that we are now locked in a life-or-death struggle with the Gear Consortium."

Wang Xi laughed.

Bai Qimeng was also somewhat embarrassed, after all, this whole thing started because of her. Although she had hired Wang Xi to help, the commission clearly stated that it was only to retrieve "her aunt's belongings," and did not include making an enemy of the behemoth, the Gear Corporation.

"Don't worry, Mr. Wang. If you manage to leave alive, feel free to ask if you need anything in the future."

Bai Qimeng said solemnly.

"Okay." Wang Xi smiled, walked to the black cube, stroked its cool, smooth surface, and sighed:
"I don't know what methods the Gear Consortium used to ensure that the entrance to this maze always leads to this scene, and it hasn't changed for 15 years."

“My aunt’s notes mention that Professor Chu and his wife, along with your parents, obtained a giant ‘treasure chest’ during that joint operation.”

Bai Qimeng looked at the black cube and said in a deep voice.

"That should be it."

"Perhaps it is because of its existence that this scene is fixed and will not change until it is opened."

"Dungeons numbered A through 4 produce the highest quality cards, which are deep blue. However, this 'Goblin Craftsman' dungeon, numbered 5 of spades, produces even higher quality cards..."

"Furthermore, this cube requires specific conditions to open, which shows that the things hidden inside are extremely advanced. No wonder the Gear Corporation is so persistent."

As she was speaking, she saw Wang Xi touching and examining the black cube, even putting his fingers into the keyhole-like groove.

Bai Qimeng couldn't help but laugh: "Hey, handsome Wang, you don't actually want to open this treasure chest, do you?"

“Yeah.” Wang Xi said without looking up. “It would be such a waste if we couldn’t unlock this big secret we’ve finally discovered.”

"Please." Bai Qimeng rolled her eyes. "The Gear Consortium is rich and powerful, and they haven't been able to open it for so many years. Let's not waste our energy."

"This thing is much sturdier than that alloy door; you can't open it with brute force alone..."

"Who said we had to use brute force?"

Wang Xi gave her a strange look.

He then tapped his temples.

"I possess extraordinary wisdom; please do not disturb me."

"Go, go, go."

Bai Qimeng said helplessly.

Just then, Lin Xin'er leaned closer: "Boss, the outside world has been bombed by the Gear Consortium. If we go out later, we'll probably be buried underground. How are we going to escape..."

"Let's take one step at a time."

Bai Qimeng was also having a headache, but now was not the time to say anything discouraging, so she pretended to be relaxed.

While the two women were talking and had no time to pay attention to him, Wang Xi used a wild card.

—The Heart of Pinocchio!
It is not used to lie, but to materialize it.

In Wang Xi's hand appeared a palm-sized, black, bar-shaped object that resembled both a wind-up toy and a key.

He slowly inserted it into the groove at the bottom of the cube, and it fit perfectly without any awkwardness.

Once the spring is fully inserted, it begins to spin immediately.

Boom!
A muffled thud came from inside the cube.

The sound of spinning was the sound of countless gears turning simultaneously.

Click.

Click...

Bai Qimeng and Lin Xin'er looked over in surprise upon hearing the sound, and saw with their own eyes that scarlet lines appeared on the surface of the giant black cube, which was ten meters long, wide and tall. Then, like a Rubik's Cube, large and small cubes appeared and began to move and assemble on their own.

At the same time, a gentle, deep voice echoed from inside the cube: "My child, you will become the hope of humanity and a hero of the world. Dad believes in you."

Bai Qimeng's eyes widened in surprise, and she exclaimed, "That's your father's, Mr. Wang Xing's, voice?"

She turned to look at Wang Xi, her eyes filled with disbelief and curiosity. How could a voice message have been left inside this treasure chest hidden deep within the labyrinth?
Wang Xi noticed Bai Qimeng's gaze and secretly admired her ability to fill in the blanks.

nerve.

I'm from a mountainous region, and my dad speaks a foreign language, right?
"..."

Wang Xi fell into a brief silence.

He could feel a subtle fluctuation coming from the "Heart of Pinocchio" within his body. The sound was like a message engraved deep within the core of the treasure chest, activated by the "key" materialized from the black card.

He knew, of course, that this was not his biological father, but rather the final words and hopes of Geppetto Tesla, the chief engineer of the clockwork kingdom.

His silence was not an admission, but rather an inability to explain the complex connections involved.

He lowered his eyes, bent down, and picked up the deep black cube that seemed to absorb all the surrounding light.

It was no longer a colossal object, but had shrunk to the size of a shoebox. The scarlet lines on its surface had not disappeared; instead, they seemed to pulsate slightly as if they were alive, while the metallic shell felt surprisingly smooth to the touch.

"Ahem." Wang Xi finally spoke: "This pre-arranged message did not originate from my father; I don't know who it came from."

He offered a casual explanation, his gaze fixed on the constantly changing cube.

Bai Qimeng's gaze lingered between Wang Xi's handsome and calm profile and the strange cube. Wang Xi's silence and ambiguity, in her view, precisely confirmed the conjecture that had instantly formed in her mind.

She almost instantly "figured out" the key points.

Bai Qimeng pointed at the cube, her voice rising with excitement: "I understand! Wang Xi, they are your parents! They must have sensed the danger before the fall of Los Angeles!"

"They've already figured out how to open this cube, and they've left the key to you as a final safeguard!"

"And then, uh... and then you kept it with you until today, when we came here, and it only truly manifested because it was close to the main body, or was accidentally activated by you, right?"

The more she explained, the more reasonable it seemed to her, and the surprise in her eyes turned into a sudden realization, admiration, and heartache.

It seemed that only in this way could one explain why the Gear Consortium, despite exhausting all its manpower, resources, and high-tech methods, could not open the treasure chest, while Wang Xi was able to shrink it and activate the message upon his first contact with it.

This is not a coincidence at all, but a legacy that Wang Xi's parents left to their son at the cost of their lives!

Wang Xi listened to Bai Qimeng's long, rambling explanation, looking completely bewildered. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he only managed to say:

Is it so hard to admit my extraordinary wisdom?

"Awe-inspiring wisdom?" Bai Qimeng looked at Wang Xi, her tone complex, a mixture of understanding and a hint of guilt: "No wonder you always say that..."

"This isn't wisdom at all; it's the path your parents paved for you with their lives! You've been carrying that 'key' all along, bearing this heavy secret!"

She even felt that everything was preordained. Her acquaintance with Wang Xi, her chance encounter here, and opening this door—it all seemed to be destiny.

Listening to Bai Qimeng's analysis, Lin Xin'er felt it was melodramatic, but couldn't find a more reasonable explanation. Her gaze towards Wang Xi was full of meaning and a hint of sympathy.

"..."

Wang Xi responded to the two women's gazes with silence, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.

At this moment.

The black cube, about the size of a shoebox, in his hand writhed and disintegrated rapidly, accompanied by a sickeningly fine metallic scraping sound, until it completely crumbled.

Click...

The cube instantly transformed into hundreds or thousands of tiny "black sugar cubes" with faint red glows around their edges.

These small black blocks seemed to have broken free from the constraints of gravity, hovering around Wang Xi's body with a buzzing sound. Like a deep and mysterious star ring, they slowly and rhythmically rotated and pulsated, forming a spherical protective force field that shielded him at the center.

At the center of this "star ring," surrounded by countless floating black cubes, a point of extremely deep purple light suddenly burst forth.

hum-

The light was not dazzling, but it possessed an indescribable penetrating power, as if it had dyed this dark space with a noble color, like a violet veil.

At the core of the light.

A card floats silently.

It is the same size as a regular wild card, but its material has a profound texture that is neither gold nor jade, and its edges are shimmering with a purplish light that is so intense it cannot be dissolved.

Unlike ordinary cards that depict specific images, the card's design is more like a condensed, rotating cosmic nebula, with a majestic mechanical giant shadow faintly visible at its center.

An overwhelming, unstoppable pressure, enough to make even the soul tremble, was silently emanating from the card.

Wang Xi's pupils contracted slightly. A purple card?

No.

It's even higher than a purple card; it's deep purple!

Lin Xin'er exclaimed in surprise, "A card that surpasses the quality of Deep Blue..."

Even Bai Qimeng looked incredulous.

Even she had never seen a wild card more advanced than the Deep Blue Card.

Wang Xi reached out and took the floating dark purple card.

"Alpha Titan Unit-01 (Item Card)"

"Quality: Dark Purple Five-Star (Cannot be upgraded)"

"A masterpiece that the chief designer of Clockwork Kingdom, Geppetto Tesla, is proud of. It is a giant machine puppet that can be freely controlled by humans. It is indestructible, incredibly powerful, and has multiple functions including melee, ranged, and flight. Moreover, thanks to the revolutionary brainwave direct docking technology, it requires no complicated mechanical control training or specific driving skills."

"Upon use, Titan Unit-01 will be summoned. Once activated, the unit will continuously consume magic stone energy, the exact amount of which depends on the intensity of the battle and the frequency of use. (Warning: Use with caution if not at top-tier energy reserves)"

"Ok?"

Wang Xi read the information stream that Caius had detected and felt that this trip had been a dream.

It's a deep purple five-star card!

Bai Qimeng and Lin Xiner immediately moved closer to try to see the cards clearly and scanned them with their monitoring wristwatches.

Wang Xi didn't keep anything to himself and let them examine it.

Drip!

After the watch scanned the screen, some basic information first appeared, then it was filled with garbled text, and a cold warning box popped up:
"The energy level far exceeds the detection limit of the equipment!"

"Unable to read specific data!"

"Please upgrade your device as soon as possible and try again!"

The two women exchanged a glance.

What kind of all-purpose device is this? It's so advanced that it even paralyzed the detection equipment.

"A deep purple five-star item card!"

Bai Qimeng's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"It looks like a giant, controllable mechanical puppet?"

She once again demonstrated her remarkable ability to fill in the gaps in her understanding, instantly piecing together all the clues and exclaiming in sudden realization:
"No wonder the Gear Consortium has spared no expense in protecting Old Los Angeles all these years... I learned some inside information from the Shining Consortium's board of directors. The Gear Consortium is secretly carrying out the 'Titan Project,' developing large, drivable mechs as the ultimate force for strategic deterrence and labyrinth exploration."

"Their ambitions go far beyond simply preserving their wealth!"

She spoke rapidly, her gaze fixed intently on Wang Xi, as if explaining something to herself:

"Their latest achievement this year—the experimental machine codenamed 'Behemoth III'—costs an astronomical sum, and its performance barely reaches the edge of a top-tier three-star machine."

According to Bai Qimeng, Wang Xi learned that the so-called "Behemoth III" mecha had officially entered service as a high-level armed force of the city's defense forces.

However, it is extremely complex to operate, requiring the cooperation of at least three five-star heroes who have mastered the "Puppet Control Master" skill, and it is also extremely unstable, so its practical value in combat is questionable.

In retrospect, the "Titan Project" touted by the Gear Foundation was nothing more than a clumsy imitation—all their research and development involved reverse engineering, attempting to replicate Unit-01.

The Gear Consortium knew better than anyone how difficult it was to design something from scratch. So their real goal had always been to obtain the prototype designed by Master Gipeter, which was sealed in a treasure chest.

This is the real "Titan"!
They coveted it, wanted to obtain it, replicate it, and even mass-produce it. Once they mastered this power, not only the Mountain and Sea Federation, but the entire world order could be altered…

After speaking in one breath, Bai Qimeng's expression turned solemn.

"Wang Xi, I feel like you've opened Pandora's box..."

She felt a suffocating pressure.

What Wang Xi held in his hand at that moment was not only a priceless treasure, but also a nuclear bomb capable of detonating the Gear Consortium.

If the Gear Consortium knew that their ultimate goal, which they had longed for and devoted countless efforts to, had not only been opened by someone but also obtained by Wang Xi, they would definitely do everything in their power to hunt him down!

"This thing... is really too hot to handle."

Lin Xin'er's face was also a little pale, and her palms were sweating.

The allure of the deep purple card is unparalleled, but the risks that come with it are enough to shatter one's life.

"It doesn't matter."

Wang Xi shrugged.

He is no longer the weak cleaner he once was. Now he wields enough power to make the Gear Corporation think they can get rid of him. They'll have to wait and see.

Wang Xi remained calm and collected, carefully putting the cards away.

At the same time, the hundreds of black cubes that were floating around lost their support, abruptly withdrew their red light, and fell to the ground with a clatter, like ordinary metal particles that had lost their energy.

Wang Xi looked at the purple vortex gate behind him: "We should go."

...

...

The three of them passed through the vortex gate.

As soon as they returned to reality, they were all overwhelmed by the unparalleled heat. The once cool and spacious underground laboratory was now filled with dust and heat waves.

The surroundings were still shaking violently.

Boom! !
A terrifying shock, far exceeding any previous one, came from above once more. The shockwaves continued unabated, and the surrounding metal walls, unable to withstand the pressure, emitted ear-piercing sounds and were squeezed and deformed.

Crack——

Suddenly, the sturdy partition overhead cracked, and a huge concrete block, still embedded with twisted steel bars and broken pipes, crashed down.

"Get out of the way!" Wang Xi and the other two quickly dodged.

boom! !

There was a loud bang.

Dust and gravel were immediately stirred up in the laboratory.

Then came the second piece, the third piece, the fourth piece...

Broken rocks and concrete rained down, and the three realized that the surface building was definitely destroyed, and the underground laboratory would soon collapse as well.

The remaining machinery, control consoles, and broken metal walkways, like weightless toys, overturned, shattered, and fell with a deafening roar.

"Watch out!" Lin Xin'er warned sharply, and suddenly pulled Bai Qimeng to the side.

A piece of concrete, weighing at least half a ton, grazed their backs and slammed into the spot where they had just been standing.

Smoke and dust filled the air, and visibility deteriorated rapidly.

The rubble pelted the three people's high-level protective suits like hail, making a crackling sound.

“The elevator shaft has also collapsed,” Wang Xi said. “We can’t go back the way we came.”

"What should we do then?" Bai Qimeng asked anxiously.

The ear-piercing sounds of metal tearing, rocks cracking, and countless components collapsing and falling intertwined, creating a frenzied symphony of an underground apocalypse.

The chilling aura of death instantly gripped her heart.

"Don't rush." ​​Wang Xi looked around. "You are my employer, and I must get you back safely."

He immediately activated his magic to erect an ice wall, temporarily resisting the collapsing and falling heavy objects.

Immediately, Wang Xi took a deep breath and took out the dark purple card he had just received.

—"Alpha Titan Unit-01"!
hum! !

A force far more terrifying, more magnificent, and more awe-inspiring than the black cube from before suddenly erupted!

"The Titans have descended."

Wang Xi activated the card and said in a deep voice.

next moment.

A colossal, iron-gray giant, whose awe-inspiring presence defied description, forcefully and without warning pushed open the nearly destroyed underground laboratory.

Boom! !
(End of this chapter)