Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 361: Chapter 361. Getting the Safety Device

”You talk big, young cultivator, but can you truly realize all these things you mentioned?” Yuka asked. Her tone was skeptical.

”Don’t worry, I will prove it to you. But before that, let me do what I originally came here to do,” Amon replied.

He walked to one of the derelict battle puppets. There were four. All four had the build and look of the still-functional warden puppet, so they should have the same grade.

Amon studied the broken puppet. He located the connecting lines between its parts. He then used the swan dagger to pry the parts open. Yuka observed Amon’s work with curious interest.

Amon might not yet be an expert in building a battle puppet, but his basic knowledge gained from studying at the Royal Academy, allowed him to properly disassemble a battle puppet. He quickly opened the broken puppet without damaging it.

Before long, he had stripped the puppet into parts. He found the core in its left chest region. Thankfully, the power source housing the core was mostly still intact. Amon carefully removed the power source.

He studied the power source. It seemed to be made of unknown materials. No wonder Shi Zi failed to produce it. Maybe it was because he had no access to the right material. He stored the power source in his space ring. He also stored the parts of the broken puppet that seemed salvageable. This puppet used to be high-tier runic grade, so its materials should be valuable.

He proceeded to do the same with the rest of the broken puppets. Unfortunately, not all the broken puppets had intact power sources. Two out of the four were cracked. They didn’t seem workable anymore, so he tossed them away.

”My business is done. Now, I will attend to yours. I need to leave this room to get a device from someone I know,” Amon told Yuka.

”There are more of you in here?” Yuka asked.

”Yes. I come with others,” Amon said. ”One of them has the device I need. They are stuck inside a maze in the previous room. I must go to find this person.”

”If they are hindered by a defensive mechanism of this place, you can negate the mechanism from here,” Yuka informed.

”I can?” Amon asked.

”Yes, I had seen the despicable geezer controlled this place from this room. Go to that corner,” Yuka pointed.

Amon walked to the corner indicated by Yuka.

”See a strange diagram on the floor? Touch it with your hand and channel your aether into it,” Yuka said.

Amon stood and watched the diagram for a long time. Yuka chuckled and said, ”Are you afraid I lead you to a trap? What for? You offered to help me. What benefit is there for me to plot against you before you do me the favor?”

Amon heard the sense in her words. He decided to take a leap of faith. He placed his left hand at the center of the diagram while his right hand held the swan dagger. He was ready to cut his left arm with the dagger if anything went wrong. Yuka chuckled again when she saw his act.

He channeled his aether and poured it into the diagram. The words of power around the diagram lit up. The floor before him split, and a pedestal came out. He removed his hand from the diagram after the words of power stopped glowing.

”Put your hand on the pedestal,” Yuka informed when she saw Amon studying the pedestal.

When Amon did, an image appeared above the pedestal. It was a holographic image showing a map layout.

”Heh,” Amon sneered. This looked rather hi-tech. Despite the appearance, the pedestal still operated using aether. His aether interlinked with the technology within this pedestal, allowing him to understand the way it functioned.

The holographic image showed the map of this entire pocket world. It was a tiny world. From what he saw, there were lots of rooms before the one they entered from. It seemed even before the previous team Si Zhi sent here, there had been other parties that entered this pocket world. They were already near Yuka’s prison when they started at the hall with the battle puppets.

Aside from showing the map of this pocket world, the pedestal also acted as a control panel. He could control the maze from here. He could even spy on those inside the maze and know their progress.

Out of everyone still trapped inside the maze, Sima Fang was the closest to finding the exit.

Originally, he planned to wait at the exit until Sima Fang appeared before tricking her into using the device on the warden puppet. He could ask Yuka to use her darkness to hide herself. This way, he could keep her existence secret. But thanks to this control panel, he didn’t need to risk the others from encountering Yuka.

Amon used the control panel to rearrange the maze. Those inside the maze were alarmed when the walls started shifting. He did this to prevent everyone, especially Sima Fang, from reaching the exit.

Afterward, he called Lin Li out.

”Multi-tailed fox...?” Yuka uttered. Her eyes were wide. The large mouth in her belly made chomping sounds again while the small mouth on the woman’s face made licking motions. ”Give that fox to me. I will give you all the blood you want.”

Lin Li shivered. Her beast instinct urged her to run as far away as possible from Yuka.

Amon put a hand on her shoulder and calmed her. ”No need to be afraid. She can’t harm you,” he told her. Yuka scoffed at those words.

Lin Li nodded. She had seen the event transpire inside the black space ring, so she knew the situation. Amon had also talked to her inside the black space ring about what he wanted her to do before he called her out.

Amon removed his hand from the pedestal. Lin Li took the place.

”Remember. This is the woman I want to talk to,” Amon said while pointing at the map. ”After I’m done talking, open the path for me, but close it again once I pass.”

”I understand,” Lin Li said.

Amon walked to the exit and passed the hallway into the maze room. When he arrived, the wall in front of him moved and provided him with a passage. He followed the path as the walls continued to rearrange themselves. He stopped after another wall moved to the side and revealed a confused Sima Fang.

”Friend Lin Mo!” Sima Fang called. ”Finally, I found someone. I thought I almost reached the exit when the walls started moving again. I am kind of at a loss afterward.”

”Give me the safety device to stop the high-tier runic battle puppet,” Amon asked.

”What? Why? Have you seen our target?” Sima Fang asked in return.

”I have,” Amon answered. ”I have stumbled on the exit by luck. Apparently, once I reach the exit, I can come back into this maze and return to the exit without a problem. The maze opens its path for me.”

”Good! Then you can take me to the exit,” Sima Fang said.

”I can’t. If someone who hasn’t reached the exit by themselves is with me, the maze will block the exit. I am the only one allowed to return. You must find your way by normal means, but once I deactivate the puppet, I can access a control panel that sends you all out of this pocket world. By then, I will have the power source. Our mission is accomplished, and you can all leave this place safely... Well, except for Wong Cou.”

”Why not Wong Cou?” Sima Fang asked.

”He also found the exit like me. Unfortunately, he was killed by the battle puppet because he ventured too close. It was his death that persuaded me to come back to find you for the safety device. Luckily, the battle puppet stays in the next room. It only attacks intruders.”

”I see... But how do you know about this maze and the control panel that can bring us out?” Sima Fang asked.

”I found a note detailing that in the next room, right before the battle puppet attacked Wong Cou,” Amon lied.

Sima Fang contemplated. Amon could see she didn’t completely believe his explanation, but what could she do? The other option was continuing to try to navigate this maze to find her way out. If she chose that, Amon would let her. He had told Lin Li to use the control panel to ensure Sima Fang never reached the exit. Amon didn’t believe she would continue to be stubborn after wandering this maze for days.

She decided not to try her luck. The safety device appeared in her hand. She handed it to Amon.

”Good. Sit tight. You will be out of here in no time,” Amon said after taking the device. He took a step back. As he did, a wall came out of the wall, separating the two.