Chapter Seventy-Five: The Poisonous Gas Mine

The three grooves on this terminal must be the operation ports to unlock the cave before us. And this cave is none other than the Tek Mine, where the final boss, the Overseer, awaits.

In Ark, players use the terminal within the Tek Mine to teleport to the space station floating above the island’s skies. That is where the Overseer resides. The key to opening the entrance to the Tek Mine lies in filling these three differently shaped grooves with three skulls. Each corresponds to one of the island’s three ultimate creatures, and only by defeating them, obtaining their skulls, and setting them into the grooves can the Tek Mine’s gates be opened.

As Qin Fei and his companions studied the terminal before the Tek Mine, all three Arks on the island began to emit a deafening roar. The entire island trembled in response...

[Red Ark is sinking!]
[Blue Ark is being eroded by an unknown force...]
[Green Ark is undergoing self-disintegration for unknown reasons!]
...
[Main quest activated. Darkness will descend... World distortion countdown: 50 days!]
[Current number of survivors across all planes: 4.]
[Since 2,381 survivors have perished during the Ark world quest, all remaining survivors receive an extra time bonus of 2,381 hours for this mission!]
[Island distortion countdown revised: 149 days!]

Qin Fei’s pupils contracted.

Among the information the system just provided, two points stood out as crucial.

First, only four survivors remain across all worlds. Qin Fei’s team, including himself, consists of exactly four members... In other words, the only survivors left are Qin Fei and his companions.

Second, over two thousand survivors have already died during this Ark world quest. This indicates that the difficulty of this mission likely far surpasses that of other worlds...

Previously, the system mentioned that the Ark world’s quest was the “main quest world” among all sandbox game worlds.

From this, Qin Fei deduced that the system’s purpose in sending survivors into various game worlds was likely to prepare them for the Ark world’s quest. The other sandbox worlds merely served as filters, selecting the most capable survivors. Even the earlier PVP mode was just another means of elimination.

Whenever survivors entered the Ark world and failed the quest, perishing, the system would select a new batch and send them in once more.

Over and over, in endless repetition.

Until someone finally completed the Ark world’s quest.

Now, it was Qin Fei and his team’s turn.

What secrets lie hidden within the Ark world, the “main quest world”? What is the system’s true purpose in continually sending survivors here?

Qin Fei did not possess enough information about the system to unravel these mysteries yet.

As he pondered, subtle changes began to manifest in the three Arks on the island.

At the summit of the Blue Ark, part of its color mutated from blue to a strange dark purple, crawling with countless fine tendrils...

Meanwhile, the Green Ark’s top was undergoing a bizarre disintegration. The decomposed fragments drifted skyward, gathering to form what resembled the roof of a cavern.

Though all three Arks were transforming, the process was slow. According to the quest prompt, it would take about one hundred and fifty days to complete.

This meant Qin Fei and his companions had one hundred and fifty days to defeat the Overseer.

Though one hundred and fifty days seemed ample...

Before they arrived, over two thousand three hundred had already died in this very quest.

Now, every moment counted. Qin Fei had to make full use of each second.

Without delay, he resolved to begin searching for the ten legendary artifacts hidden across the island.

He had already found three: Unity, Wisdom, and Hunter. Only seven remained: Cunning, Master, Immunity, Devourer, Steadfast, Brutality, and Strength.

To clear this island quest, the steps were clear: 1) Find the artifacts, 2) Defeat the three ultimate creatures and obtain their skulls, 3) Challenge the Overseer.

It was only due to Qin Fei’s foreknowledge of the game’s content that he could devise such a precise plan in so little time.

Other survivors likely wouldn’t even know about the ten artifacts, let alone how to summon the ultimate creatures and claim their skulls.

Many would waste all their allotted time merely exploring the island, struggling to discover how to progress.

With this in mind, Qin Fei realized that the deaths of over two thousand prior survivors were not surprising.

He then shared his well-organized strategy for clearing the quest with his team.

Of course, when explaining the plan, he instinctively concealed his foreknowledge of the various worlds’ plots.

When questioned about the source of his information...

Qin Fei claimed he had found an introductory note about this world in an Ark supply crate, and all his knowledge came from that note.

At the base of the island volcano, there was a cave housing an artifact—Wisdom.

Qin Fei already possessed this artifact, so he ignored the cave.

He led his team south from the volcano's base, soon reaching another cave, the second closest to the volcano.

This was the cave containing the Immunity artifact, known among players as the Poison Gas Cave.

Raptors in the mangrove forest rarely appear during the day, so Qin Fei and his team encountered little danger along the way.

Occasional encounters with a few swift-footed raptors and carnotaurus were swiftly resolved by concentrated gunfire.

The entrance to the Immunity Cave was extremely narrow.

Upon entering the Poison Gas Cave, Qin Fei witnessed countless giant dragonflies hovering in midair.

Each of these dragonflies was the size of a fist.

But that wasn’t the main concern.

The key issue was their overwhelming numbers.

They swarmed like a sandstorm, their wingbeats alone sending chills down the spine.

Faced with hundreds of dragonflies, Qin Fei and his companions could only halt.

With so many, firearms alone could not eliminate them.

Among Qin Fei’s team, aside from Xie Nai Nai—who had never experienced the Ark world—the others had all tamed at least one island creature.

Qin Fei had tamed Big Nose and Eggy.

Caesar had domesticated a dire wolf.

And Pulsar was accompanied by a devil frog.

The devil frog, native to the swamp, preyed on these dragonflies and was their natural enemy.

Upon seeing the giant dragonflies, Pulsar volunteered to let his frog try clearing them out.