Astral Cockroach

Banbu lay down next to that cabinet and stayed there for an entire day, occasionally fiddling with the mechanical combination lock rollers in a seemingly earnest manner, as if engrossed in research.

Red Bean Mountain Master initially waited patiently, inquiring from time to time, but after a day of no progress, lost patience and went into the jungle to hunt for food.

After eating and drinking its fill, it continued to lie there for another day.

Red Bean Mountain Master was already numb, silently lying on the ground, somewhat worried: Judging by the situation, things are unusually troublesome!

Just as it was worrying and uneasy, it suddenly heard Banbu shout: "I understand!"

Red Bean Mountain Master jumped up and asked: "Did you open it?"

"No." Banbu said: "I know how to open it with the least amount of effort!"

"Uh…" Red Bean Mountain Master crawled back down and said: "Golden Orchid Mountain Master, I'm not in a hurry, take your time."

Another half-day passed while waiting.

Banbu felt it was about time and began to turn the rollers. After a series of "click, click, click" mechanical turning sounds, with a "snap", the first combination lock was opened.

Click! Click!

Two crisp sounds, the second and third combination locks were opened.

With a "clang", the cabinet door was pulled open.

The cabinet was large, but the contents inside were not much.

Three rows, top, middle, and bottom, mainly filled with shock-absorbing and temperature-controlled materials, with only 3 compartments in each row.

Fortunately, the goods were all there. Each compartment had a metal box embedded within, with a handle.

Banbu grabbed the handle and pulled out a box.

"There are small boxes inside! I…" Red Bean Mountain Master exclaimed in pain: "What kind of evil race is this! What's inside? Why make it so complicated!"

Red Bean Mountain Master was happy for less than three seconds after seeing the cabinet door open, but after discovering small boxes nested inside the large boxes, it felt somewhat hopeless and asked hopefully: "Golden Orchid Mountain Master, can you open the small boxes?"

"I…" Banbu saw Red Bean Mountain Master's appearance and couldn't bear to continue tormenting it. After wasting two and a half days, it was no longer in the mood to continue acting.

"I'll try."

After Banbu finished speaking, it picked up the box and examined it back and forth.

The box was square, with sides of 30cm. The outside was made of a hydrogen-gold-based mixed material, so it wasn't too heavy.

There was no combination lock; it was a purely mechanical buckle mechanism.

There was a red button on each of the four sides.

The box was placed properly, and with a gentle downward press, all 4 buttons were pressed.

Click!

With a crisp sound, the tightly connected metal lid, with almost invisible seams, popped open slightly.

Banbu grabbed the handle and opened it.

The inner wall of the box was inlaid with a layer of artificial high-strength raw stone, which not only prevented the loss of original power but also had a constant temperature effect.

The inside of the box was divided into 4 layers, each layer separated by high-strength raw stone.

Each layer had 4 neat rows of grooves, holding 16 dark gold spheres with a diameter of 1 cm, each with a black font number on the surface.

"It's open! So fast!"

"Golden Orchid Mountain Master, you're amazing!"

Red Bean Mountain Master praised twice, its gaze attracted by the things inside the box, and asked strangely: "What is this? I feel original power fluctuations."

It also carefully scraped the artificial high-strength raw stone partition with its toe, and found that it couldn't be scraped off, exclaiming: "Golden Orchid Mountain Master, this is raw stone! Such hard raw stone! I feel that it contains very rich original power!"

This wasn't a feeling; it was raw stone, and the original power concentration was 100 times higher than that of raw stone formed in nature.

"Golden Orchid Mountain Master, we're rich!" Red Bean Mountain Master cheered, then lowered its divine sense and gently pointed its toe at the original power food inside the box, asking again: "Golden Orchid Mountain Master, is this metal? I feel it has original power fluctuations."

"I just sensed it… It seems to be an original power food that enhances metal abilities!" Banbu said, picking up one and stuffing it directly into its mouth.

This thing was an original power fruit condensed and produced by a star-destroying original power plant, processed by human means to facilitate long-term storage and long-distance transportation, and to facilitate the absorption of original power by warriors.

A single one, in terms of original power content, was roughly equivalent to the Crimson Firm Tree God's gifted seed producing the Crimson Firm Fruit. In terms of original power quality, it was of course two or three grades higher.

"Original power food, enhances metal abilities!" Banbu smacked its lips and gave a definite answer, analyzing in a serious manner: "It should have been processed once by some means by extraterrestrial evil creatures. The quality is super high, even higher than the quality of the top-grade original power fruits I've eaten!"

"Higher quality than top-grade original power fruits?" Red Bean Mountain Master picked up one, then reluctantly put it down, regretting: "It's a pity it enhances metal abilities; I can't eat it."

Banbu continued to analyze: "In terms of actual value, a single one can sell for 150 raw stones. However, this thing is rare and non-renewable. Many wealthy warriors like to collect rare original power foods to taste. Selling it to a caravan can fetch 200 raw stones per piece, or perhaps even more."

"Each box contains 64 pieces, totaling 12,800 raw stones. Red Bean Mountain Master, happy cooperation, we're rich!"

Red Bean Mountain Master carefully counted, there were 9 boxes in total, and after calculating, it felt a little dizzy, muttering: "We're rich!"

Banbu then pointed to the original power food storage box and said: "The box is also worth a lot; it can be used to store precious original power food."

Red Bean Mountain Master followed up: "Yes, the box is also very valuable."

Banbu said: "There are a total of 9 boxes. Let's each take 4, and there's one left over… how should we divide it?"

Red Bean Mountain Master was still confused and followed up by asking: "There's one left over, how should we divide it?"

Banbu said: "I have a God-given seed. Let me have the box. I'll take it back to store things. All the original power food inside belongs to you."

"Okay… no!" Red Bean Mountain Master finally came back to its senses, stared at the box, struggled for a while, and resolutely said: "Golden Orchid Mountain Master, the box belongs to me, the original power food belongs to you… I think the box and the original power food are of equal value."

"Uh… okay!" Banbu said: "The original power food belongs to me, the box… including the high-strength raw stone inside, all belongs to you."

"Okay!" Red Bean Mountain Master agreed.

Banbu opened its own cabinet, took out its backpack, poured a box of original power food into it, and took down 4 boxes, putting them all into the cabinet, stuffing them with dry grass to prevent them from shaking around.

Without lingering any longer, it flew away directly.

The Brown Wasp Kingdom was not very friendly.

Anyway, it had already wasted so much time.

Banbu simply followed a river and detoured, all the way to the Jin River, and followed the Jin River, winding around to return to Li Bamboo Peak.

The return journey took nearly a month.

At this time, it had not only missed the Longevity Feast but also missed the annual dry season.

…

Banbu, carrying things, had just landed in front of its residential cave.

Unexpectedly, Yellow Stripe Mountain Master crawled down from the mountain, looking somewhat angry, and questioned: "Banbu, where have you been running off to? You've even missed the Longevity Feast! It was all arranged, and I secured you an opportunity to meet the Longevity Roach King, but you actually… You've made the Crimson Firm Roach King very anxious; it's come twice…"

Meeting the Longevity Roach King requires an appointment? Did it ditch the Longevity Roach King?

"That…" Banbu said in a serious manner: "Two months ago, the Blade Mantis Kingdom encountered a natural disaster, and I went to help with disaster relief."

The other members on the mountain hurried over as Banbu returned.

"Banbu, you're finally back!" Big Head greeted with surprise.

Du Bamboo flapped its wings and landed directly on the storage cabinet, curious and surprised, asking: "Wow, Banbu, what is this?"

"A cabinet, for storing things." Banbu spread its wing veins and swept Du Bamboo down, saying: "I worked for the Blade Mantis tribe for a month, and this is a gift they gave me before I left."

All the other members on the mountain surrounded it, squeezing the Yellow Stripe Mountain Master, who had been aggressively seeking Banbu to question it, to the edge, curiously watching the cabinet, asking questions all at once.

Banbu patiently explained, stood the cabinet upright against the cliff wall, opened a drawer, and closed it, demonstrating twice.

There was immediately a burst of "wow wow wow" exclamations.

A metal cabinet, with drawers that could be opened and closed, was too magical!

They all scrambled to try it, but Banbu drove them away.

It was noisy and lively for a while, and they gradually dispersed.

In the end, only Yellow Stripe Mountain Master and White Bamboo remained.

White Bamboo stubbornly refused to leave, squinting at Banbu, with an expression of "I've seen through it, I know everything."