Chapter Eighty-Six: The Classification of Awakened Artifacts

Ye Chen shifted his attention back to the people in defensive bureau uniforms and asked in a low voice, “Yuanzi, what are those defensive bureau people doing here?”

Yuanzi glanced back. Her hand was already misbehaving again, reaching for a second strip of meat, but after hesitating for a moment, she felt the muscles in her mouth were still a little tired, so she decided to rest a bit first.

“They count as major buyers of spirit stones. The Defensive Bureau has a dedicated procurement budget.”

“And they also buy a lot of recovery serums.”

Ye Chen nodded in understanding.

From what he had learned before, awakeners with spirit reserves under one hundred were E-rank, while those from one hundred to one thousand were D-rank.

And high-level awakeners were rare. The vast majority of awakeners were concentrated in the E and D tiers.

If one relied on piling up spirit stones to manufacture top-tier combat power, it would be very difficult.

But merely promoting E-rank to D-rank, or D-rank to C-rank, still left some room for maneuver.

An auction really was a battlefield of sheer spending power.

“Can ordinary people take part too?” Ye Chen asked, remembering that he had once taken a liking to one before and wondering whether he might have a chance to snag a bargain.

“Yes. Anyone can. You just need to put down a deposit.”

Money again. Why was every interaction with the Supernatural Bureau all about money?

“How much?”

“The minimum entry is one million.”

Damn it... he could sell himself and still not get that much. He barely restrained the urge to turn around and leave.

Seeing Ye Chen’s face darken, Yuanzi covered her mouth and giggled.

Ye Chen glared at her, suddenly tempted to bend her over his knee and spank her.

“Oh, right. I also have a spirit stone here. Will it still make it in time for this auction?”

Ye Chen took the stone belonging to Little Brined Egg out of his pocket and set it on the bar.

Yuanzi’s eyes widened instantly, shining with excitement as she exclaimed, “Yours?”

“A friend’s. He can’t get into the inner city, so I brought it over on the way.”

Yuanzi immediately asked, “How old is your friend this year? Is he single? Is he handsome?”

Ye Chen laughed. “You can take him as your little brother!”

Yuanzi looked full of longing, as though imagining something, and murmured, “Having a little brat brother doesn’t sound bad.”

“Hey, hey! What are you thinking? Wake up. Then I’ll leave this spirit stone with you. Help me handle it.”

“Oh, and one more thing.” Ye Chen took out the mission sheet, shook it, and asked, “Can this mission still be accepted?”

Yuanzi was still somewhat dazed and googly-eyed, but after a cursory glance she said, “It’s still available. Just go upstairs straight to the research lab. I won’t go up with you. There are actually quite a lot of guests today.”

“The research lab is on the fourth floor. You can get in with your card.”

“Oh, and remember to put on a lab coat in the changing room before you enter. Director-General You Zhi gave strict orders: the research lab is his turf, and what he says goes.”

For a huge place like the Supernatural Bureau, it seemed You Zhi only cared about one research lab. What a director-general he was... Ye Chen silently complained to himself.

...

Inside a conference room in the fourth-floor research lab.

A group of researchers, all wearing white lab coats, sat around a conference table.

Everyone wore grave expressions, and no one spoke.

Some were furiously tugging at their already scant hair; some had a pen in their mouth, the barrel bitten nearly in two.

Others were bent over paper, writing furiously, no one knew exactly what calculations they were making.

Seated at the head of the table was the glamorous and icy goddess, You Ya.

Her jet-black hair was simply pinned up, revealing her pale, rounded earlobes and her exquisitely beautiful face, enhanced by delicate makeup.

Her glasses had been removed at some point. Her clear, dark eyes had lost focus as she sank into thought.

Her lipstick had been changed to another shade, making her appear even more composed.

One hand supported her chest, while the other held a pair of black-rimmed glasses. Her lips were slightly parted, and the temple arm of the glasses was lightly caught between her snow-white teeth.

In the research lab, everyone had to abide by Director-General You Zhi’s rules.

Even his own younger sister was no exception, so at the moment You Ya was also wrapped in a lab coat.

The researchers had no interest whatsoever in what Director-General You Ya wore underneath; all their attention was fixed on a small box on the table.

The box was only the size of a palm and about a finger in height. Made of metal, it was entirely silver-white.

Ancient patterns were carved around its body. The top was openwork, revealing many gears inside, large and small, tightly meshed together in a peculiar arrangement.

A knob protruded from the front, with a tiny keyhole at its center—clearly meant for a key.

And it was precisely this seemingly unremarkable little box that had stumped the entire Supernatural Bureau.

It had been unearthed by chance from the ruins of an ancient human settlement. When found, all the surrounding objects had long since suffered severe weathering and corrosion.

Only this box, apart from being covered in dust, showed no damage at all.

According to the Supernatural Bureau’s years of research, it was undoubtedly an autonomously awakened artifact, formed naturally over the course of history.

These autonomously awakened artifacts seemed to appear out of thin air, or like treasures the Creator had secretly hidden in the world.

In short, the reason for their formation had always been a mystery, and one of the subjects the Supernatural Bureau had long been investigating.

However, their properties had gradually been uncovered by the researchers.

One of them was that they could not be completely destroyed.

Even when researchers tried every possible means to damage them, autonomously awakened artifacts would eventually repair themselves little by little.

It was as if they possessed life of their own.

As for awakened artifacts like Team Leader Dai’s glasses or Qiao Mu Grass’s rubber gloves, the Supernatural Bureau collectively referred to them as companion awakened artifacts.

Companion awakened artifacts could be damaged, and once their awakeners died, the artifacts would revert to ordinary objects and could not be inherited.

But autonomously awakened artifacts were different. At most, they would revert to a masterless state, fall silent again, and wait for a new owner to appear.

Thus, anyone had a chance to become the owner of an autonomously awakened artifact.

The one who obtained it, if an ordinary person, would immediately become an awakener.

If already awakened, one would undoubtedly gain yet another ability.

If the mystery of autonomously awakened artifacts could be solved, it would mean humanity had taken a great step forward on the path to creating man-made awakened artifacts.

Unfortunately, dreams were beautiful, but after so many years, when it came to creating artificial awakened artifacts, the Supernatural Bureau had remained stuck in place.

“Director-General You Ya, have you considered taking this box to the Supernatural Bureau in the Steel Capital and, with the help of their industrial technology advantage, trying to crack it there?”

The speaker was a younger researcher, who felt as though his brain had been hollowed out and his nerves worn thin lately. Eager to get rid of this troublesome package, he wanted nothing more than to shove it away.

Another researcher, somewhat older, swore and said, “What kind of way is that to talk? Are you saying our Supernatural Bureau in Energy Capital isn’t good enough?”

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on You Ya.

He was afraid that his words might offend her, after all, You Ya represented the Supernatural Bureau of the Steel Capital.

Yet You Ya seemed deaf to it all, staring straight at the box in deep thought.

...If it truly cannot be opened, perhaps the only option is to take it back to the Steel Capital and dismantle it.

Once its internal structure is understood, after it restores itself, there may be a chance to get it to recognize a master.