Book 6: Chapter 21: Minas Gift

“Mina, give the necklace on your neck to Priest Karu!” Karu turned and crouched in front of the girl in fine clothes, speaking kindly.

“Priest Karu, my father said I cannot give this necklace to anyone!” The girl in fine clothes pouted, saying somewhat unhappily.

“Mina, be good! Once everyone is safe, Priest Karu will buy you many, many necklaces!” A flicker of guilt passed through Karu’s eyes as he held out his hand to the girl.

“Alright then!” The girl in fine clothes looked up at Qin Lun, her bright, watery eyes showing a trace of helplessness. Her plump little hand took off the necklace and handed it to Karu. Even though she had been used to fine clothes and good food, and being spoiled, after living in this city that was like ruins for over two years, she had learned to endure and obey.

“Who is she?” Qin Lun glanced at Mina and took the necklace Karu handed over. It was a toy necklace strung on a red cord, with a triangular pyramid pendant that had some small bumps on the surface. However, he couldn’t see anything unusual about it. It was just an ordinary accessory, neither Apostle equipment nor any special treasure.

“Mina is the little princess of our Anka Tribe. Her father is the chief of the Anka Tribe and also a High-Rank Apostle!” Karu patted Mina’s head, a kind expression on his face. Although he wasn’t Mina’s real grandfather, after more than two years of relying on each other for survival, he had developed a deep affection for her.

Hearing Karu’s words, Qin Lun narrowed his eyes slightly, a dangerous glint in his gaze. He said softly, “We Apostles cannot leave behind descendants…”

“Lord Qin Lun, you misunderstood!” Karu was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said, “Mina’s father is different. He was originally just an Atlantean. But several years ago, a lord from the ‘Celestial Wheel,’ grateful for his contributions to the ‘Celestial Wheel,’ went through great efforts to make him a Saint. Mina was already born before that!”

“Oh! That makes sense.” Qin Lun’s expression relaxed a bit. He picked up the triangular pyramid pendant with two fingers and asked, “Then… what is this?”

“It’s a key. It can open a secret room in the fortress.” Karu hesitated, then stepped forward closer to Qin Lun and said quietly, “Mina’s father was one of the high-level leaders of this ‘Celestial Wheel’ branch. That secret room is his personal warehouse.”

“How do you know it’s not empty inside?” Qin Lun glanced at Karu dismissively.

“Mina’s father didn’t withdraw from the Holy City with the ‘Celestial Wheel.’ He died fighting for the Anka Tribe. Before he died, he gave this key to Mina. I believe it definitely isn’t empty inside. There must be things you can use!” Karu said meaningfully.

“Fine, then take me to see it.” Qin Lun smiled slightly. He had only taken two steps when he stopped, looked back at the girl in fine clothes, and said, “Bring her along too!”

“This…” Karu’s face paled. He looked at the girl hesitantly, then gritted his teeth and turned to the black-haired young man next to him. “Tang, you carry Mina and follow me and the lord.”

At this point, it was too late for regrets. Having made his choice, he could only see it through to the end. The black-haired young man looked at Anlis and the others. Seeing that the other priests, though their faces were ugly, did not object, he crouched down, picked up the girl, and followed Qin Lun and Karu.

“Elder Karu… be careful!” Anlis watched their retreating figures, his eyes dimming, and softly called out from behind.

Karu paused in his step, sighed quietly, and walked out of the warehouse without looking back.

Qin Lun led the three to the door, then suddenly turned back with a smile and said to Anlis, “Elder Anlis, I do not like being deceived. Are all of you here in this warehouse now?”

“You… Yes, only we remain in the base!” Anlis was slightly startled and hurriedly replied.

“Good. There are currently 131 people in the warehouse. When I return, if I find even one person missing or added, then it cannot be said that I broke my promise. I hope you understand.” Qin Lun said calmly.

“Please rest assured. Not a single person will step out of here until you return. And please, you must honor the contract with Elder Karu!” Anlis bowed deeply to Qin Lun, his body stooping as if he had aged more than ten years in an instant.

After leaving the warehouse, Karu led the way in front with a flashlight, while Qin Lun and the black-haired young man carrying Mina followed silently behind. The group soon reached the deepest part of the fortress.

After about twenty minutes, Karu brought Qin Lun and the others to a steel wall. It was right at the corner of two passageways, and on the surface, it looked just like an iron wall.

“Lord Qin Lun, please give me the key.” Karu took the necklace from Qin Lun’s hand, crouched in front of the wall, and carefully felt around. After a while, he pulled the triangular pyramid pendant off the necklace and pressed it onto a certain screw button.

Qin Lun looked closely and saw that this screw button had a unique style, with a slight concave surface that perfectly allowed the triangular pyramid pendant to embed into it.

“Click, click, click!” After Karu slowly turned the triangular pyramid pendant for a while, mechanical sounds came from inside the iron wall. The entire steel wall slid open quietly, revealing a huge doorway four meters wide and five meters high.

Qin Lun only took one look at what was inside the doorway and slowly raised his eyebrows, an incredulous expression appearing on his face. As for Karu and the black-haired young man Tang, they were greatly surprised, their faces gradually changing color.

Inside the doorway was a small hangar. Within the hangar, apart from one old Exoskeleton Mecha, it was completely empty. There was nothing else.

“How could this be? Why is there only this thing here? How could Mina’s father only leave her a broken mecha!” Karu’s face turned ashen. He muttered to himself, quickly ran into the doorway, and anxiously searched everywhere, not even glancing at the Exoskeleton Mecha in the center of the hangar.

For the Atlanteans, this kind of engineering mecha was the lowest level of armed mecha. Not to mention Apostles, even ordinary Atlanteans could blast it into pieces with laser rifles. This kind of Exoskeleton Mecha was generally only used for repairing other high-level mechas and heavy machinery.

“Let’s go in and take a look too.” Qin Lun turned to look at the black-haired young man. After the young man hesitantly stepped into the hangar, Qin Lun followed slowly behind. After entering the hangar, Qin Lun ignored Karu, who was in a semi-frantic state, and just stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the Exoskeleton Mecha expressionlessly.

“How could this be? Chief, you’ve doomed us!” The hangar was completely empty; one could almost see everything at a glance. After turning around a couple of times, Karu’s eyes finally cleared, and he muttered with trembling lips, “Chief, you’ve doomed us!”

“Haha, Mina’s father was truly a clever man!” Just as Karu and Tang were trembling with fear, Qin Lun let out a laugh. Looking at the Exoskeleton Mecha, he praised softly, “Karu, your old eyes are failing you. Look at this engineering mecha again. It is an exquisitely beautiful treasure!”

“Treasure? Lord Qin Lun, are you saying this mecha…” Karu jerked his head up. Qin Lun’s words made him think of one possibility, but he still found it hard to believe.

“You are thinking correctly! This mecha, from top to bottom, is entirely made from equipment materials that only Apostles can exchange for. It is a very special piece of Apostle equipment!”

Qin Lun looked at this Exoskeleton Mecha and turned to ask the black-haired young man, “You are more familiar with this kind of Exoskeleton Mecha. About how heavy is it?”

“This kind of mecha… generally weighs around 3000 Ankala. However, if it’s made from Saint equipment materials… and it seems there are some components inside made of even more precious heavy metals… I’m afraid it might be even heavier. I don’t know exactly how much.” The black-haired young man put Mina down. A trace of fanaticism appeared in his expression, and his eyes became dazed as he reached out to touch the Exoskeleton Mecha, as if facing his most beloved lover.

“Is this the gift Daddy left for Mina?” Mina closed her eyes and leaned against the mecha, a faint smile appearing on her face, as if she could smell her father’s familiar scent on the cold steel giant.

“3000 Ankala?” Qin Lun quickly converted the Atlantean units of measurement in his Death Notice, a look of surprise appearing on his face. “Over two tons… over two tons of Apostle equipment materials…”

Even with Qin Lun’s composure, he felt greatly moved inwardly. The Apostle system implemented by Atlantis wasn’t entirely without merit; at least in resource integration and utilization, it was unparalleled.

Large Apostle teams from Devil’s Horn might also be able to gather this many Apostle resources, but the problem was that this mecha could only be used by one Apostle! Which large Apostle team would dare waste Apostle resources like this? Even the leaders of large teams wouldn’t build such a mecha for themselves!

Over two tons of Apostle equipment materials! For a moment, Qin Lun didn’t know how to react. He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly to himself.

The Death Notice couldn’t display the quality of this mecha, but from Qin Lun’s perspective, most of the materials of this mecha were of Blue and Purple quality, with some core components being Dark Gold Quality. The materials used probably wouldn’t be less than a million Shattered Crystals, basically the value of two Legendary Items.

Unfortunately, unless this mecha was dismantled, no Apostle participating in the Domination War could take it away. Forget that everyone’s Storage Space was sealed; even if it were open, it wouldn’t fit inside. Only the Team Warehouse of some large teams could hold this thing.

What a pity! Qin Lun couldn’t help but sigh. If this mecha could be taken away or hidden, he would even be willing to abandon his original plan.

Mechas represented the highest technology of the Atlanteans, while Apostle equipment represented wealth. Mina’s father left such a relic for his daughter, probably to prepare for the resurgence of the Anka Tribe. He had really put a lot of thought into it.

Too bad! Qin Lun took another look at the mecha, then turned away and said to the distracted black-haired young man, “This mecha should be able to start up. You get on it, pilot the mecha, and follow us!”

“Me?! Uh, yes… alright!” Tang’s eyes flashed with delight. He hurriedly picked up Mina and climbed into the mecha’s cockpit.

“Lord Qin Lun, since this mecha… then our contract is still valid, right?” Karu rubbed his hands together, looking at Qin Lun awkwardly.

“Of course. Now there’s only one last problem!” Qin Lun narrowed his eyes, smiled, and turned around.