Hand over the treasure?
Out of the question, naturally.
If he handed it over, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he'd be silenced for good — that much was beyond doubt.
After a tense back-and-forth of mutual performance, Ryan and the old man settled on terms for a stalling tactic, and Ryan finally launched into the story he'd already prepared: "Master Pisces, back then, in the sewer..."
But he'd barely begun his fabricated tale when someone knocked on the metal door of the medical room.
...
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The heavy metal door thudded, and a voice called out from outside: "Master Pisces, Boss Quinn requests your presence immediately — there's an urgent matter to discuss..."
Pisces frowned at this. "Understood."
With an outsider present now, continuing this top-secret conversation wasn't appropriate.
Regardless, the terms had already been settled — Baron Morin's secret would be his sooner or later; there was no rush.
He glanced at Ryan and said, "The toxin in your system hasn't been fully purged yet — you may still be in some danger. Rest here in the medical room. We'll continue this when I get back..."
Toxin not fully purged?
As if I'd believe that.
Ryan silently scoffed inwardly, but on the surface he responded obediently: "Of course, Master Pisces."
With that, the old man turned and left the room.
A metallic clank rang out as the medical room door was locked from outside.
Staring at the sealed medical chamber, the excitement that had briefly lit up Ryan's face slowly cooled. He muttered to himself: "The old man's afraid I'll run, is he..."
This was a medical room reserved for the base's higher-ups — the surrounding steel plating could withstand artillery fire. For an ordinary person who hadn't even awakened transcendence, escape was simply impossible.
Looking at it now, this was essentially a prison cell.
Still, it was only to be expected. Ryan shrugged, pouting slightly.
With nothing else to do, he decided to take stock of the loot in his folding space.
What he found left him overjoyed.
Only now did he finally understand why the Weasel Bandit Gang's leadership had been willing to take such an enormous risk to force their way into the city and assassinate Baron Morin.
It turned out... this Baron Morin had been hiding an earth-shattering secret!
...
As it turned out, Baron Morin's real name was Sherwood Andrei.
He had once been a Wastelander — a wasteland scavenger and explorer — for the enemy nation, the Sid Empire.
Ryan flipped open a diary among the dead man's belongings and immediately understood the full context behind this assassination.
The chain of events traced back six years, to the expedition during which Baron Morin had first discovered his "great secret."
The "War Hammer Company Wasteland Log" read as follows:
"Steam Calendar Year 1123, September 10th. The captain accepted a well-paying exploration contract from the Wastelander's Guild — we're to explore a canyon near the 'Dark Forest.' Word is there are traces of ancient ruins in the area..."
"14th. We encountered an extremely strange dense fog and lost our bearings. Our gas masks stopped working entirely. Team members began showing signs of poisoning one after another — panic is spreading..."
"15th. We have no idea where we are anymore, fog everywhere. Team members are dropping one by one, dying of poison. After analyzing blood samples from the corpses, I've found this fog contains more than one type of highly lethal, unidentified toxin..."
"20th. Ninety percent of the team is already dead from poison, and we still can't find a way out of the fog. I think we're all going to die here..."
"26th. We've used up all our high-grade antidotes. Only the captain and I remain..."
"..."
The first half of the diary read as fairly ordinary — a wasteland exploration team venturing into unknown territory, then losing their way in dense fog.
This misty world was already brimming with countless dangers — monstrous beasts, wasteland behemoths, poison mist, scavenger creatures — all lethal threats.
Countless exploration teams were wiped out on the wasteland every single day.
For this "War Hammer Wasteland Company" to meet such a fate was nothing out of the ordinary.
But Morin hadn't died — clearly there was more to his survival than met the eye.
As Ryan continued reading the later entries, his eyes widened as though discovering a whole new continent — each line more astonishing than the last.
"27th... just before death, we found a strange steel mechanical city's wreckage in the valley... It had no treads or wheels, and its equipment was beyond anything we could comprehend. It seemed to have fallen from the sky, leaving a massive crater in the ground! God, could there really be flying steam-powered mechanical cities in this world? Unfortunately, the captain couldn't hold on any longer..."
"My consciousness is starting to fade too... I think I found something like an antidote vial in the wreckage. On instinct, I injected it into myself. I suppose I'm going to die too..."
This world had no concept whatsoever of flying machinery. Reading this, Ryan realized they must have encountered something like a steam-powered airship.
But he found this genuinely surprising.
In his year in this alternate world, he'd gathered plenty of information.
Though this world's technology had developed along a strange, twisted path, giving rise to these miraculous steam-powered steel cities...
Neither of the two major human empires shrouded in this mist — neither the Sid Empire nor the Ormar Empire — possessed any flight technology whatsoever.
Could there be some other, unknown human nation elsewhere in this misty world, possessing a far more advanced civilization?
Clearly, the "steam airship" wreckage described in the diary confirmed exactly that.
This world was larger than it appeared.
...
At this point in the diary, the handwriting had grown increasingly disordered.
As though the writer's consciousness had been slipping away, the strokes grew weak and crooked, the final few characters completely distorted beyond recognition.
Had there been no further entries, this would surely have been his final words.
But then, on the next page, the handwriting suddenly turned firm and vigorous again!
"I woke up. I'm still alive... God, by the grace of the great 'Lord of Grey Mist,' I've actually broken through my second Gene Lock! Oh, this feeling is incredible — that serum was actually an advanced gene serum!"
"I feel a power unlike anything I've ever experienced. I've never heard of a second-tier gene serum having this kind of absurd amplification effect... the effects are still developing, and I can feel a terrifying enhancement to my attributes. God, what grade of gene serum was this even?"
"I've never seen a Gold-grade serum myself, but I'm certain the effects of that unknown serum I took far exceeded even Gold quality! Could it be... the legendary 'Legendary-grade Serum'?"
"I heard something terrifying stirring within the wreckage — something monstrous seemed to be lurking there. I didn't dare venture deeper to investigate. The mist around me had suddenly grown much thicker too — I worried a 'fog tide' might be coming. I didn't dare linger, gathered what treasures I could find, and had no choice but to leave..."
The adventure diary ended there.
Reading this, Ryan's gaze burned with intensity.
He suddenly suspected that among the treasures now sitting in his folding space, there might be something truly extraordinary!
...
As for the assassination — that was the latter half of the story.
Baron Morin had a habit of keeping diaries.
Flipping through several more of them, Ryan easily pieced together how events had unfolded afterward.
Later, this man named Andrei had escaped the mist alive, and returned home carrying some high-tech treasures salvaged from the airship wreckage.
"Sandra used to be my best friend..."
Reading this line, Ryan already anticipated what kind of melodramatic sequel was coming.
As it turned out, Andrei had spent long stretches away from home on his wasteland expeditions, and during his absences, his beautiful wife had taken up with his best friend.
Then, upon returning, he'd shared his secret with his wife — only to be betrayed by both her and his friend, who conspired together to kill him for his fortune.
Fortunately, he'd managed to escape.
Disillusioned and heartbroken, Andrei had made his way to the Ormar Empire, changed his name to Morin.
He then donated a Gold-grade gene serum formula obtained from the airship wreckage, in exchange for the title of Baron.
"If you're reading this diary, it means I'm already dead. The only people who ever knew my secret were Sam and that wretched woman — it must have been them who did this to me... If it's within your power, I hope you'll avenge me and kill that treacherous pair. Of course, this is in exchange for the fortune I've left behind — one worth enough for two great empires to fight tooth and nail over..."
The notes ended there.
Ryan closed the diary, his expression turning peculiar.
This assassination had come out of nowhere, with no record of it anywhere in the diary. Yet Baron Morin had clearly anticipated that the only possible way his identity could ever be exposed was through that treacherous pair.
...
"So this Sandra fellow must have tracked down Andrei's new identity, then hired the Weasel Bandit Gang to kill him and seize the treasure?"
Thinking this through, Ryan shook his head.
Based on what the diary described, that treacherous pair surely didn't have the resources to track someone across international borders, let alone the wealth to bribe an entire bandit gang into infiltrating Steelburn Fort for an assassination.
The most likely explanation was that the pair had sold the secret to some powerful, influential figure (or perhaps struck some kind of deal with one).
And that powerful figure was the true mastermind behind hiring the assassins!?
...
Having finished the diary, the entire chain of events behind the assassination suddenly became crystal clear.
"These treasures are a bit too hot to handle. Whoever's behind this contract probably won't give up so easily..."
Looking at the treasures in his folding space, Ryan suddenly felt the situation had spiraled far beyond what he'd anticipated.
If a single, unremarkable gene formula alone had been enough to buy a noble title, one could only imagine how astronomical the value of Morin's remaining treasure trove must be.
And what's more — this wasn't just the treasure Baron Morin had originally brought back. There was also a map leading to the airship wreckage itself!
According to the diary, that wreckage held a wealth of secrets yet to be discovered...
Secrets that surpassed even the current cutting-edge steam technology of the "Engineers' Guild," advanced transcendent knowledge, cultivation techniques and martial arts...
If the diary was to be believed, this was without question a staggering treasure trove — one that would make both great empires burn with envy.
...
After carefully sorting through and cataloging everything, Ryan had a rough idea of what all those bottles and jars among Morin's belongings actually were.
Of course, what interested him most was the loot that could immediately boost his combat strength — namely, gene serums!
Only by breaking through his first Gene Lock and ascending to transcendence would he have a real chance of surviving in this brutal world.
And then, Ryan found exactly what he was looking for.
A gene serum for advancing to "Awakened One."
And not just any serum — one of a grade he'd never even heard of before... a Superior Gold-grade serum!
"Now this... I really have hit the jackpot."
Staring at the effects description Morin had written for the serum, Ryan's eyes trembled, as if he were holding a winning lottery ticket in his hands.