Chapter 699: Big Ole Pocket Dimension Vault
[So…how much longer do we have to wait here? Because the director’s in the area and we could just like…roll over to where he is.]
[Yeah, but as the maestro said, we can’t move until we secure that pretty piece of evidence from this jerk wad’s wardrobe.] Hurricroak responded to Razorstella’s inquiry. [And we can’t do that until he leaves the room.]
[Is he seriously still sleeping?]
[Yup…]
A little over eight hours ago, Razorstella, Frosttusk, Hurricroak and Spring Brawler had managed to sneak their way into the residential areas of the Zhen Clan’s estate and snuck into the quarters of Zhen Jun Yao, a young Aether Grandmaster that they had identified as a traitor to the Zhen Clan.
Their original plan was to go in, steal whatever evidence they could find and then run away as fast as their legs could take them.
However, Zhen Liu had opted to order the kaijin to stay where they were for the time being, since he could just pick them up the next day.
As such, the three and a half kaijin were simply chilling while pretending to be decorative pieces in the traitor’s room. They had thought of spending the evening to fuck with the guy, but they had observed him already being a bit of a hot mess and decided against it.
Easy targets were boring targets, after all.
[Say, what is the director doing right now anyways?]
[I.D.K,] Hurricroak replied. [We gotta ask Nepherage for that kind of information.]
[Aight, Nepherage, mind telling us how the director is doing?]
[We’re about to enter what appears to be a pocket dimension dedicated to the maintenance and care of aether treasures.]
[…fucking what?]
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The fucking what:
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“…shit…”
After following Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian for a little over ten minutes, the branch clan scions had finally arrived to the so-called treasure vault she had promised to take them to.
And it was a lot more…intimidating than any of them had anticipated.
At least two out of seven of the branch clan scions had assumed that the vault would just be a giant room, with a heavily guarded door, filled with all of the aether treasures the Zhen Clan had collected over the years, hanging on the walls or in specially designed protective display cases.
Instead, they had been brought to what appeared to be a solid wall with an incredibly elaborate spatial attributed aether array written on it. The array in question was so powerful that the branch clan scions could feel it actively warping and distorting the aether around it, and how it was being actively used to repel anyone who would be considered an intruder.
The scions stared at the formation for a solid minute, before Zhen Xun Tian requested for everyone’s attention so she could tell them what to expect.
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“Uh…”
The branch clan scions looked at one another, unsure if they were supposed to laugh at what sounded to be a rather sinister sounding joke, but Zhen Xun Tian had already decided to move on with her explaination.
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“Wait, what?”
With her explaination finished Zhen Xun Tian turned towards the spatial attributed aether array. She then made a strange looking hand seal in it’s direction, directing her internal aether to enter her hands before directing it into the aether array in front of her.
The once hostile aether distortions surrounding the aether array became a lot more gentle, as Zhen Xun Tian began to manipulate it into opening a big blue swirling portal.
‘Huh…that looks…familiar…’
The Fourth Young Master of the Zhen Clan couldn’t help but mentally compare it to an old television show he used to watch a literal life time ago, as well as compare it to his own portal making key to the Library of Nowhere.
He could feel that while this array was indeed more powerful than his key, his key was a lot more efficient.
Regardless, once the portal was fully formed Zhen Xun Tian stopped directing her aether towards the array and turned her attention back to the scions.
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The branch clan scions looked at one another for a moment, trying to figure out what the marching order for entering this vault should be, before settling on just entering one at a time based on age.
Zhen Hai was at the front, followed by Zhen Yue; and then Zhen Xing, Zhen Liu, Zhen Tai, Zhen Guo and Zhen Feng.
Once this was figured out, they simply marched into the portal, unsure of what to expect on the other side.
Well, some of them had a decent idea though.
“Wait…is this vault gonna be similar to the wandering ruin we entered during the Prospector’s Run?”
“Maybe? I mean…there’s no gravity this time…”
Granted, this prior experience wasn’t going to help much in the face of what they were going to see on the other side.
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The inside of the vault.
The moment the branch clan scions passed the threshold of the swirling blue portal, darkness overcame their senses for a brief moment before suddenly recovering. As their senses return though, they noticed that they were all now floating in some kind of crazy black void. Needless to say, the reactions were…mixed.
“Stampeding hell, I’m falling!”
“Hey, whoa! Am I floating?!”
“Forget the floating, how is this a vault?! It’s an empty void!”
“Not empty…look.”
“What are you-oh…that’s what she meant.”
“Oh my…”
It took a few moments for the branch clan scions to get used to their surroundings and correct their orientations since the concept of floating mid air was still new to most of them.
Once they got over that hurdle though, they were then overwhelmed with a different sight: the sheer amount for aether treasures that was locked inside this space.
“That’s…a lot of aether treasures.”
“It’s like staring at the night sky…except we can touch the stars this time.”
“I…honestly kept forgetting how rich and powerful the main clan is in comparison to our branch back home.”
“And now?”
“This cemented the fact in my head.”
Before the scions’ eyes, hundreds upon thousands of different colored stars floated in the void-like space of the treasure vault.
From what the scions could sense, while briefly observing each of the stars on their own, the brightness and color of the star determined the power and attribute of the aether treasure in question.
The really bright stars were high tier aether treasures that had a lot of power to them, while the duller looking stars were low tier aether treasures that while respectable were kind of weak in comparison.
A brief moment of greed filled the scions’ hearts as a part of them wanted to take everything that wasn’t nailed down home with them, but they tempered their expectations once they realized that that particular act was probably easier said than done by a very large margin. That, and because they had no idea what they were doing.
“So…anybody know how we’re supposed to get any of these treasures?,” Zhen Xing asked his cousins. “Because while all of this is incredibly awe-inspiring, I don’t think we can just float in this empty void all day and I’m pretty sure none of us know how to maneuver in midair well enough to just grab one of those floating treasures. Honestly, I’m getting a bit nauseous doing this.”
“Please don’t vomit inside our distant family’s treasure vault,” Zhen Feng said in response.
“I’m actively trying not to.”
“Hmmm.”
Zhen Yue briefly ignored her cousins to stare at all of the floating, colorful stars that composed this void of a vault, for some insight on how they functioned.
After staring at them for a brief moment, and noticing how the stars in question were actually subtly moving, she had an idea.
“I think I know what to do…”
“Which is…”
“Just watch.”
Zhen Yue took a deep breath before extending her hand outward and circulating her aether into the center of her palm, creating a visible disturbance in the space surrounding it.
The dark void giving way to a silvery corona.
While she did this, several of the stars in the distance began to move towards Zhen Yue’s outstretched hand.
