Chapter 134: The Shackles of the Cult of Technology

"My friend, what are you trying to do?"

A bearded man with long hair, looking like the de facto leader of a small group, watched Fang Tang with wary eyes.

Feeling slightly guilty, Fang Tang softened his tone. "Apologies. I'll be leaving in a moment; I didn't mean to disturb you all."

Despite his words, Fang Tang’s eyes never once left the girl with long, straight black hair.

This unreserved stare made the girl break into a cold sweat, and she turned to the bearded man for help.

The bearded man’s expression darkened, and he immediately issued an ultimatum: "Friend, whoever you are, please leave this place right now. You are not welcome here."

Fang Tang remained unmoved, merely blinking his eyes as if checking whether he had looked long enough.

This action left the long-haired girl feeling completely bewildered.

*What does blinking at me mean? I have nothing to do with you, hey!*

[Tang Tang loves me!!! Giegie, you dote on Yan Yan so much, won't your girlfriend get angry if she finds out? She won't beat me up, will she? Your girlfriend is so violent, unlike Yan Yan, who only knows how to pity Giegie.]

Fang Tang: "..."

*Go to hell!*

Frustrated, Fang Tang pulled out a rolling pin and tossed it to the girl.

"Sorry for the intrusion. Consider this Spirit-Infused Item as compensation."

With that, Fang Tang transformed into a dark shadow. Under the stunned gazes of the group, he climbed onto the wall and rapidly hammered out a hole, successfully avoiding a major social catastrophe.

Long after Fang Tang had departed, the group finally recovered from their stupor.

"Was there just a lunatic staring at Sister Chen for a long time?"

"Yeah, I saw it too."

"He even left behind a Spirit-Infused Item. Sister Chen, check what ability it has."

As soon as the mention of a Spirit-Infused Item came up, everyone’s eyes locked onto the rolling pin with fervent heat.

The girl with long black hair pondered for a moment, tested the item, and suddenly pursed her lips. "It has a fifteen percent chance to stun the target for three seconds."

"Hiss!"

"It’s actually a combat-type Spirit-Infused Item! This guy is way too generous. Should we call him back and have him stare at me for a while longer?"

Everyone was stunned by Fang Tang’s grand gesture. They had been to the Cradle World and knew exactly how precious Spirit-Infused Items were.

Now that they possessed such a powerful item, their greed began to stir, and the rational minds of some were soon overtaken by desire.

"Sister Chen, Brother Wang, since this person can just hand out a Spirit-Infused Item so easily, why don't we..."

The speaker was a bald, burly man who made a slashing motion across his throat with a sinister expression. The others, hearing this, began to grow restless.

"Exactly. There are over a dozen of us; even if that guy is strong, he can't possibly beat us all."

"He gave away a Spirit-Infused Item so casually; he might have even better things on him. I think that blade in his hand looked excellent. If we give it to Brother Wang, it would be a perfect match!"

The bearded man was somewhat tempted, but reason ultimately prevailed.

"The arrows from a Tier 2 piece of technology couldn't even break his defense; you can imagine how strong he is. Plus, he's a lone wolf. If he gets desperate, we might not be his match."

The bearded man judged calmly, but when he remembered the exquisitely crafted Daxia Longque blade, a flicker of heat still crossed his eyes.

The long-haired girl stared at the rolling pin, deep in thought, as if she had realized something, but she looked at the others and kept it to herself.

The idea of tracking Fang Tang was suppressed by the bearded man, yet several people kept glancing at the hole in the ceiling, rubbing their chins and occasionally letting out strange, greedy chuckles. The bald man was one of them.

...

In Cave 270.

Fang Tang quickly exhausted his pickaxe uses, then took out his living quarters, washed up, and lay down on the bed.

He pulled out his phone and saw several unread messages.

There were messages from Liu Yiran, Liu Xu, and Zhao Xiaoxiao—the latter had sent a long string of insults.

Finally, there was a message from Jin Tu.

This Jin Tu had asked him to craft many plant cultivation troughs; he was a proper farming tycoon. Fang Tang had bought some vegetables and fruits from him, which actually tasted quite good, and they had established a solid partnership.

Jin Tu wanted him to commission a set of armor.

There was no reason to refuse business, so Fang Tang had Jin Tu send the materials and tossed them all into his phone to begin production.

Thinking about the armor, Fang Tang felt that his Tier 6 gear was no longer helping him much. He considered contacting Ta Meng and the others to ask if there were any high-tier armor blueprints for sale or methods to upgrade.

Ta Meng and Xu Lin replied that they had nothing, but suggested he visit the Church of Technology. If he was lucky, he might find high-tier armor for sale, though blueprints were out of the question—those were the lifeblood of the Church’s profits and were strictly forbidden from sale.

Seeing the words "not for sale," Fang Tang fell into deep thought.

Where did the blueprints in the Infinite Caves come from?

To this, "Eyes" gave a very prompt answer, as Fang Tang had risked social suicide to provide him with some entertainment earlier.

[The rules of the Infinite Caves differ from the Cradle World. After all, the Infinite Caves belong to the outer perimeter of the Cave World and function as a kind of city wall. Since it's a city wall, how could there be no one living here? Otherwise, how would they hold back the invasion of the Twisted?

The cave rules are quite humane. To make the horses run faster, they provide ample food and resources, which leads to a large number of people staying in the Infinite Caves. Of course, the duration of the entry pass is also a crucial point.

Therefore, in the Infinite Caves, resources are the least precious things. When you encounter a diamond chest, you can probably extract blueprints of Tier 7 or higher from it.

However, don't expect to find Tier 12 blueprints, because they simply cannot exist. Although the Church of Technology has developed over a long period and possesses technological power that exceeds many worlds—perhaps even more exaggerated than you imagine—it stops at Tier 9.

Tier 10 is a 'divine punishment'—you read that right, not a 'moat.' It is impossible to manufacture Tier 10 technology within the caves; it relates to the rules. You'll understand later.]

"Eyes" was in a good mood, and the amount of information he revealed was beyond expectation.

This cleared up a lot of things in Fang Tang’s mind.

"It seems the Cave World is quite unfriendly to technological development. But since Tier 6 and 7 armors are already so powerful, what would a Tier 9 armor look like?"

Fang Tang thought of the Tier 7 armor he had seen while rescuing people in Sector C. Its performance crushed Tier 6 armor by more than just a notch, though it had been corroded into a pile of scrap metal by Liu Yiran.

Thinking of the rescue mission in Sector C, Ye Qing’s figure surfaced in his mind.

"That woman still owes me two Spirit-Infused Items!"

Fang Tang rubbed his chin and found Ye Qing’s contact information.

Unfortunately, her area communicator had been confiscated by the Cave Shop, so he couldn't reach her.

He thought for a moment and remembered Leng Shan.

Ye Qing had been taken away by the Garrison; surely they would provide a replacement for her area communicator, right?

He found Liu Yiran and obtained Leng Shan’s contact info to ask for Ye Qing’s new area communicator number.

The moment he opened Ye Qing’s new account, he saw her location, and Fang Tang couldn't help but chuckle.

As it turned out, this young lady was only one cave away from him.

It was a pity his pickaxe had already refreshed its usage limit, otherwise, Fang Tang would have gone over to find her right then and there.