I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

The surveillance technology used now was actually provided by the Rize Civilization's First Branch, a little rough around the edges with only 256 colors, but it passed muster for military products—functionality was key.

12 monitors were installed on the speedboat, each corresponding to one of the 12 screens in the communication room.

The boat would need about 3 hours to cover a distance of 100 kilometers.

Everyone was intently staring, eyes unblinking.

Until the second hour, when they were only 33 kilometers away from the volcano, suddenly, a thick white fog began to rise, obscuring the surveillance cameras' view and the signal became intermittent.

"Here it comes... Everyone, look closely."

In the next moment, a frightening scene unfolded!

The two Orca pigs let out heart-wrenching wails, clearly terrified!

The entire screen shook violently!

In that dense white fog, a vague dark shadow appeared. Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire

The shadow's speed was like lightning!

In the blink of an eye, the wailing pigs had vanished without a trace.

"Snap!" The small boat was utterly smashed by a powerful force, and gasoline from the fuel tank, along with a wooden plank, floated on the water's surface as the oil spread out slowly.

The Poppy Bud surveillance lasted a bit longer; one could just make out the dark shadow gradually disappearing into the mist.

"That's it... gone?"

The crowd immediately stirred into an uproar.

Jin Dongliang furrowed his brow and asked, "Wasn't there something about a Hypnotic Spirit Rune? Why did it not activate at all?!"

A scientist expert in Spirit Runes immediately perked up, "No! It should have activated. We incorporated a simple energy circuit into the talisman paper; it's self-adaptive and activates when substantial Extraordinary Interference is detected nearby."

"Didn't you hear that the pigs only wailed for a moment before their voices weakened? That's because the rune was activated, and the hypnosis effect took hold."

Discussions erupted amongst the crowd.

"Play back the recording!" Lu Yuan instructed.

Indeed, the replay showed the Spirit Rune emitting a bright light.

The pigs wailed loudly at first, but after half a second, they actually ceased their cries.

This Hypnotic Rune had a tremendous power!

To what extent?

Comparable to the effects seen during the Human skin bat War, about 70%-80% effectiveness!

It should be noted that at that time, when a "Human skin bat" uttered a single sentence, others would take it for truth, essentially a potent hypnotic ability.

Back then, even a Level Six Grandmaster like Jin Dongliang could not resist the hypnotic effect.

That's why the Mandala Empire fell without resistance in such a short time.

And now, against that shadow, it had no effect at all!!

"One possibility is that the opponent has extremely high Spirit Resistance; another possibility... is the rune's power too low?"

Many experts responsible for its development felt a surge of frustration; the weapons they had worked so hard to develop over thirty years were apparently of no use, leaving them with a chilling disappointment as cold sweat continuously broke out on their backs...

But facing the soldiers' doubts, they could not explain for the moment.

After all, on the battlefield, any malfunction in weaponry could mean the loss of human lives!

However, Lu Yuan had a different opinion.

Listening to everyone's arguments, he suddenly said, "I think it might be... Space Ability..."

"That shadow appeared out of nowhere, ate the pigs, and vanished immediately; the time it spent in the real world was probably less than 0.1 second, so the effect of the hypnosis was actually minimal."

Everyone fell silent—this indeed was a possibility.

Jin Dongliang's sweat poured down, "Could it be a Monster?!"

If it were one of the Four Great Calamities, they would need to prepare for a quick retreat.

Treasures are enticing, but life is paramount!

"Moreover, this thing... it seems to have some intelligence... It knew that the boat was a decoy and directly destroyed it, eating the pigs on board. But its intelligence seems not that high... otherwise, it should have already discovered us."

"The intelligence of Monsters seemed to be like this... teetering on the edge of existence and absence."

The more they discussed, the more their hearts raced with fear.

Those Rat Artisans also began to lament, "What damn Qi Fortune, this is misfortune!"

"Let's go, let's go, escape quickly, there's no sense fighting a natural disaster."

The morale of the Ratmen was quick to rise and even quicker to dissipate; one moment they were jubilant, the next they were like deflated eggplants.

"No, everyone, it might not be a Monster," Lu Yuan shook his head, offering a different view.

He had previously battled a Monster; a Monster had the ability of "Multiple Alternative Spaces" and didn't even need to launch an attack to pull people into Different Spaces directly.

The shadow that had just appeared was pulling those two pigs into Different Space by pure brute force.

From the perspective of rule refinement, it clearly wasn't as sophisticated as a "Monster".

But just having Space Ability was troublesome enough.

Even if you used traps or something similar to lure it, if it didn't die from the explosion, there would be endless problems.

For the moment, people really couldn't think of a good solution.

Thus, Lu Yuan could only put on a smiling face and consult the Rat Artisan.

"It's still not easy to deal with even if it's not a 'Monster'"... these guys looked worried.

"Space Ability is one of the most difficult types to handle. Once you piss off the other party, who can stand being targeted by an Anomaly for stealth attacks every day?"

Lu Yuan dismissively said, "Running away like this isn't the human way of doing things."

The most skilled craftsman among them, Shu Gongye, stroked his beard: "We are currently staying on the edge of the other party's territory and haven't launched an attack, which indicates it's not highly aggressive..."

"Usually, we from Shu Mi Dam Civilization wouldn't really provoke these things."

"Young Human Civilization... it's the survival rule of this world to have gains and losses. There are plenty of ruins in the world, why pine over this one?"

Lu Yuan let out a sigh—he knew there were many ruins, but most of them were risky.

Should he leave the next equally risky ruin with a downcast face?

Moreover, were there really that many ruins in this world?

Meida Ruins were what Lu Yuan had stumbled upon at the beginning, and the Green Grass Civilization was found through clues from the Meida Civilization—without that clue, who would go into the great desert to court death?

Therefore, this ocean ruin was the first civilization that humans had found on their own!

It was also a chance encounter, under the guidance of an Orca.

Based on this method, finding a ruin every 80 years meant that ruins weren't that numerous.

"Let's do this... I have something good here." Shu Gongye fumbled in his chest pocket and took out a blue bead.

He hesitated to hand it over to Lu Yuan.

"Master Mouse, everyone's watching, don't be stingy!" Lu Yuan took a firm step forward and, taking advantage of Shu Gongye's carelessness, snatched the blue bead and pocketed it.

"Oh, you... " Shu Gongye's beard quivered a few times. "Fine, take it."

Lu Yuan thought it was some amazing item, but upon closer inspection he saw:

[Underwater Breathing Bead: Significantly enhances your lung function, allowing you to absorb oxygen from water. (Rare Level·Man-made artifact)]

His expression changed. He had thought it was a treasure that could target Space Ability, but it turned out to be an underwater breathing bead.

"Hmph, you humans don't even have this kind of gadget yet!" Shu Gongye said unapologetically, "Don't give it back to me."

Now that the item was in his possession, Lu Yuan naturally had no intention of returning it: "I'll return it after the fight. Do you think I would default on my debts?"

Master Mouse sniffled a bit, "Well, let's assume that thing is an Anomaly... something Dragon... not easy to deal with."

"The name of an Anomaly often correlates with its strength. For instance, one named with 'turtle' often has a long life and strong defensive capabilities, virtually unkillable."

"An Anomaly with 'snake' in its name often has lethal toxicity."

"And one with 'Dragon' in its name, well... you can't underestimate its brute strength..."

"Cough, Master Mouse, the name came from the Orca, it might just be a translation issue, don't think too much about it. I, Old Lu, am still quite strong."

"Um... Master Lu, you are a very powerful craftsman." Shu Gongye remembered the previous "Gambling" and nodded somewhat inexplicably.

"Any more information?"

Shu Gongye's eyes swirled around—he would never willingly part with his treasures, so he had to deflect: "Go and see if Shu Tongtie has something. He has a good treasure for archeology, but it needs to be used in conjunction with the Divine Skill 'Information Retrospection'. This Ability is very rare. Does your civilization have it?"

Lu Yuan licked his dry lips, having never heard of anything like "Information Retrospection".

Fortunately, humans have an all-purpose "Mind Control" ability user... even if a bit inept, it should still be useful, right?

"What kind of treasure?"

"A fragment of a mirror that can reflect past events that have occurred. Impressive, isn't it?"

"It's just a pity that the mirror is broken. It requires the ability of 'Information Retrospection' to function and reveal anything."

Another Craftsman Master, Shu Tongtie, was gleefully watching from the side.

Upon hearing that someone wanted his treasure, his sharp, gaunt face almost began to cry, holding his pocket protectively and putting on an act as if he were dying: "Lu the King, you never said that joining the humans meant handing over family assets."

"I'm putting this up as collateral. I'll give it back after it's used. Are you afraid I'll die or something?" Lu Yuan took out "Innate Gun Steel," an artifact he had bought from Shu Mi Dam Civilization to make weapons, of Legendary quality.

With a collateral in place, the guy reluctantly took out the mirror shard from his pocket.

[Fragment of the Star Mirror, capable of absorbing some of the significant historical information from civilization ruins.]

[Due to complete damage, its grade has decreased, and it must be used in conjunction with the Divine Skill 'Information Retrospection' to function properly. (Superior Level·Artificial Artifact)]

[Note: Only information from major historical events is likely to be recorded.]

...

(PS: A wave of Monthly Tickets would be nice! If not, just pretend I didn't say anything.)