Universe Infinite Canteen

After completing the promotion ceremony, Ma Lu went to the dungeon for a while to play interrogator.

It was mainly for show, to check on that young Fallen Witch who had been captured last time.

The reason Ma Lu brought her back to Holy Temple City, instead of letting her go immediately, was that she had witnessed the magical ability of the Blue Mini Drill.

If she were simply sent back to the Witch Alliance, it could likely bring unnecessary trouble, so the only option was to toss her in the dungeon of the Sacred Order of Knights for now.

Now a Master, Ma Lu could arrange for a separate cell for the captured prisoners.

Though it was a dungeon, it still continued the Holy Temple City's consistent cleanliness and orderliness, without the scenes of rampant rats and vermin common in medieval dungeons.

Inside the cell there was a bed, a table, and a toilet, with meals promptly delivered by the prison guard three times a day.

The taste of the food was tolerable, not comparable to the restaurants in the city, but the Fallen Witches had been living outdoors before, with scarce supplies.

The young Fallen Witch named Hua Mian Li had stayed here for a week and had actually gained some weight compared to when she arrived.

Furthermore, from her, Ma Lu learned some things about the Witch Alliance, as there had been rumors that the Fallen Witches were also building their own city.

Hua Mian Li confirmed this claim, but said she had never been to that city herself, only that she had heard it was nearing completion.

Each Fallen Witch was to get a house there and enough supplies in the future, so they wouldn't have to live outdoors, keep company with dangerous Energized Plants, or face the Church's relentless pursuits anymore.

When Hua Mian Li spoke of this, her eyes were filled with hope, but to Ma Lu, it sounded more like a pie in the sky.

Shrike, using the grand promise of a city to keep the Fallen Witches fighting against the Church, but that was understandable, as great political leaders are all adept at painting a rosy picture.

Especially when entirely at a disadvantage, without some pie in the sky, everyone would have given up long ago.

Ma Lu then asked Hua Mian Li about the weapons of her and Shrike, unsurprisingly, Hua Mian Li knew nothing about them.

She was like those insignificant employees in large companies who couldn't access core information, just following orders and performing unremarkable mechanical tasks every day.

Yearning for the day when she could accumulate enough seniority to retire, to have a house that would take care of her in old age.

The latter part had now been prematurely realized, at least.

Seeing that he couldn't extract any valuable information, Ma Lu swiftly ended the interrogation and glanced around, seeing no entertainment nearby, he asked Hua Mian Li if she wanted a few books to relieve her boredom.

To his surprise, like him, Hua Mian Li was illiterate as well. Ma Lu finally promised to bring her a couple of boxes of modeling clay next time to pass the time.

After leaving the dungeon, Ma Lu casually took on a cleaning quest for the Goladot Mountains, planning to collect ingredients there while continuing the search for Meteorite Shards.

These were crucial enhancement materials, and the ones in Circle Mirror Lake had already been almost completely gathered by Ma Lu, leaving only those too perilous to bother with, choosing to give up and try his luck in the Goladot Mountains this time.

The Sacred Order of Knights had also issued a task near the area to collect Meteorite Shards.

Though the task disappeared later, likely already completed by someone, the person who completed it didn't have the Chessboard Map, and certainly couldn't have been as thorough as Ma Lu.

There ought to be some that slipped through the net; it's just uncertain how many were left.

Ma Lu, riding his Aircraft, took less than three hours to fly to the Goladot Mountains, not far from Holy Temple City.

He found a place to park the aircraft and, breathing in the fresh air blowing from the mountain pass, pulled out the Blue Mini Drill. Pressing the green button on top, he casually knocked down a Thousand-Faced Konjac hiding in the grass.

Then, he opened the Collection Bag and effortlessly stuffed the Thousand-Faced Konjac inside.

Afterward, he couldn't help marveling once again at the piece of equipment left by the Pointy Hat.

So useful, really too useful!

This gadget was even cooler than the Sleepy Harpoon in "Diver Dave," because the spear's sleep effect still required a probability trigger.

But the knockdown effect of the Blue Mini Drill was 100%, even against 4-star Energized Plants. One shot was all it took, treating everyone equally.

At the same time, Ma Lu noticed that after this use, the Energy Storage Gem on the back of the Blue Mini Drill seemed to have dimmed a bit more than the few times he had used it before.

Ma Lu guessed it was because the target's strength had increased, so the energy needed for knocking it down had also become greater.

To verify his theory, he later found a 1-star Cucumber Skull Crusher nearby and brought it down.

Just as he thought, the color change in the Energy Storage Gem was almost imperceptible this time.

Wow, it really is related to the star level!

But this was normal. While both were instant kills, taking down a boss definitely consumed more energy than clearing minions.

Fortunately, the gem contained quite a lot of energy. Ma Lu estimated that the remaining energy could let him knock out at least seventeen or eighteen 4-star creatures, but he wasn't sure how it would work against 5-star ones.

Ma Lu then pulled up the Chessboard Map and began to search it. Quite quickly, he spotted a Horseshoe Bamboo Shoot Chieftain about 140 squares away.

It wasn't his first encounter with a Horseshoe Bamboo Shoot Chieftain; he had seen one at Circle Mirror Lake before, but considering the difficulty of confrontation, he had chosen the Demon Grinder Pumpkin as his opponent the last time.

However, he had long been salivating over the delicacy of the Horseshoe Bamboo Shoot.

If he could catch one and breed it in his Desktop Farm, he'd be able to eat it whenever he wanted.

So, Ma Lu, with a wave of his hand, led Yun Que and the others towards the red dot on the map.

When they were about 60 squares away from the Horseshoe Bamboo Shoot Chieftain, the target reacted.

Next, it blew the horn around its neck, and from the nearby ground, all sorts of bamboo shoots began to emerge continuously.

There were Lu Head Green, Moso Bamboo Shoots, Red Shell Shoots, Winter Shoots, Arrow Bamboo Shoots... An entire meeting of bamboo shoots, quite a lively sight.

But Ma Lu had anticipated this. He had intentionally picked a path with the least bamboo shoots, and the ones sprouting around them were mostly 1 or 2-star, getting taken out by Yun Que and the others as soon as they popped up.

Thus, the group was barely affected. After blowing the horn, the Horseshoe Bamboo Shoot Chieftain also hesitated no further and charged towards them.

It was fast, and the Hellhound was ready to intercept, but Ma Lu suddenly shouted, "Stand back, I've got this!" and charged forward before her.

Yet, halfway through, Ma Lu didn't forget to add, "If I can't handle it, you guys jump in."

After saying that, he raised the Blue Mini Drill in his hand and pulled the trigger.

A green arc of light shot from the metal head, striking the Horseshoe Bamboo Shoot Chieftain 5 squares away. The creature's large body wobbled before it thunderously collapsed to the ground.