Chapter 85: The Might of the Ancient Divine Artifact

Qin Fei gazed at the block of ice before him and pondered for a moment.

Such a massive chunk of ice would require a tremendous amount of fuel to melt with fire, and it would take a great deal of time. Instead of trying to thaw it with flames, it would be far more efficient to use an iron pickaxe to carve a hole right in the center. That would save much trouble.

He reached into his backpack and pulled out a metal pick, then began digging into the middle of the ice block.

A sharp clang echoed.

After a while, the metal pick in his hand suddenly shattered...

The pick actually broke?

Qin Fei’s eyes shone with contemplation.

The reason his metal pick split apart was likely because it had been exposed for too long, causing its temperature to drop too low. Tools like picks and axes become extremely brittle in the cold. When the metal’s temperature falls beyond a certain point, its hardness may not even match that of the ice.

Judging by the temperature inside this enormous ice cavern, trying to hack through the ice with an iron pick was out of the question.

Qin Fei realized that if he wanted to clear the ice completely, he really had no choice but to use fire.

But the small amount of wood in his backpack wouldn’t suffice. To melt this ice, he would need a vast quantity of anglerfish oil.

Anglerfish oil burns inefficiently and is difficult to control in terms of burn area. Qin Fei would need to process it further.

He took out a metal can used for holding water and added chunks of anglerfish oil that had frozen solid.

Then, he tore a strip from a piece of gauze bandage and inserted it into the can full of fish oil.

Thus, a simple anglerfish oil candle was ready.

Qin Fei used a lighter to ignite the strip of gauze, then held the can up to the center of the ice block and began to warm it slowly.

The candle he had fashioned was exceedingly thick—at least ten times the size of a typical candle.

As a result, the fire burning in the can was much larger than that of an ordinary candle.

Holding the can, Qin Fei heated the ice for about an hour. Finally, he managed to create a hole roughly one meter wide in the center of the block.

The snowman chief, seeing Qin Fei burn through the ice, approached him.

It came close to the hole in the ice, comparing the opening to its own size.

The hole Qin Fei had made was not particularly large; the snowman chief was too big to pass through.

The only ones who could crawl through were Qin Fei, Xie Nainai, and Caesar.

The snowman chief glanced at the hole, looked at Qin Fei, and gestured for him to go through.

Qin Fei was a bit speechless.

Was there something hidden behind this enormous block of ice?

Though uncertain whether danger awaited beyond, Qin Fei knew he had to investigate.

After all, the purpose of his journey in the ice cavern was to search for the artifact of strength; he couldn’t afford to miss any opportunity.

Urged by the snowman chief, Qin Fei squeezed through the hole.

Xie Nainai and Caesar remained behind.

There was no need for all three to enter together. If there truly was danger, it would be better for only Qin Fei to risk his life than for all three to perish.

After all, his backpack still contained two substitute dolls for emergencies.

On the other side of the massive ice block was a dim passage.

Qin Fei lit a torch and proceeded carefully down the corridor. He didn’t rush to draw his shotgun.

Under these circumstances, any firearm should not be used prematurely. In this frigid environment, guns left out for too long almost inevitably risked exploding.

After walking less than a few hundred meters, a pale blue glow appeared ahead.

At the end of the passage lay a vast and radiant chamber.

The interior was immense, rising at least twenty meters high.

In the center stood a sphere emitting a soft blue light, its surface covered in countless protrusions.

Qin Fei was overjoyed.

This was exactly the artifact of strength he had been searching for!

The distinctive glow of the artifact made it instantly recognizable to him.

Behind the artifact, a colossal snowman was entombed in ice, standing nearly ten meters tall.

Beside this giant snowman rested an iron rod as tall as its height.

The rod was yellow at both ends and red in the middle, bearing a striking resemblance to the legendary staff from Journey to the West.

Of course, this was not the actual golden staff, nor was the frozen snowman the fabled Monkey King.

It was simply an Easter egg placed in the game by the developers.

Qin Fei stepped forward and took the artifact of strength from the room’s center.

[Artifact of Strength: Primitive Might—The law of survival sought by all beings.]

No sooner had Qin Fei retrieved the artifact than a tremendous noise echoed through the chamber, as if some mechanism had been triggered.

Qin Fei sensed danger.

He immediately stowed the artifact in his backpack.

He turned and dashed toward the passage he had entered.

He intended to retrace his steps and exit.

But before he could reach the corridor, a massive icicle crashed down from above the entrance, sealing the room completely...

Now, Qin Fei was truly trapped.

At the very moment the icicle fell, the giant snowman encased in ice began to tremble violently.

Seeing this, Qin Fei’s face became wary.

As the snowman’s movements intensified, the ice covering its body started to crack and break away.

Eventually, when no ice remained, the snowman opened its eyes.

The giant snowman lowered its head and looked at Qin Fei, who was huddled in the corner.

Staring at the enormous creature, Qin Fei was filled with dread.

Matters were slipping further and further out of his control; now, the plot had diverged entirely from the game’s events.

In the original game, the frozen snowman was merely an Easter egg—placed as a background decoration in the artifact chamber by the developers.

But unexpectedly, it had now come to life.

Qin Fei felt uneasy.

Would this snowman suddenly attack him?

After breaking free, the snowman stretched its limbs, then picked up the iron rod beside it.

As it gripped the rod, it began shrinking rapidly, soon becoming small enough to fit in its palm.

Then, the snowman extended its hand and offered the rod to Qin Fei.

Qin Fei could clearly hear the mechanical rumblings emanating from the creature’s body as it moved.

Listening to the metallic clangs, Qin Fei realized:

The giant snowman before him was likely a massive machine forged from steel.