"As expected of the national treasury!" Chu Feng and the others had all spied treasures they wanted as well.

"Start picking out your favorite, but let me warn you: just because something is valuable doesn't mean that it'll be appropriate for you as you are now," Zhang Lie warned, then headed in the direction of the medicine cabinets.

Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng glanced again at the peak-grade soulshards, then forced themselves to look away and calm down. If not for Zhang Lie's reminder, they might well have chosen that as their prize.

Given their current genetic energy density, they would hardly be able to make use of the soulshards' true strength, and by the time they were able to do so, they would have ascended to the second realm, with sufficient ability to hunt down peak-grade lifeforms on their own. As a result, there was no urgent need to obtain those soulshards that they couldn't even make full use of.

Zhang Lie scanned the herbs present in the medicinal cabinet. He knew precisely what he wanted, and no rare trinket would distract him from his goal.

"Cosmos leaf... just where would the military put it?" Murmuring to himself, he went deeper into the treasury.

When Qian Zhen and He Tian saw Zhang Lie moving forward, they smirked at each other. As Zhang Lie vanished from sight, both of them also headed to find treasures that they wanted.

At the same time, somewhere within the capital, dozens of hunters were furiously tapping away at virtual keyboards. Command after command was sent to the system via these hunters' microchips.

"I've hacked into the treasury's system!" one of them announced jubilantly. "And there's the security system's targets modified..."

Within the treasury, Sun Mengmeng and Fang Yi had just decided on their first reward. Sun Mengmeng ultimately obtained the dragonbreath grass, because it was an herb that Zhang Lie had requested at any cost. Similarly, Fang Yi chose the rare demonspirit flower, another ingredient on Zhang Lie's list.

After consuming Potion #1, the two of them were well aware of just how valuable some of these herbs were. Once they finished selecting their first treasure, they headed toward a selection of soulshards, hoping to improve their own collection. Despite how many soulshards were on display in the treasury, it was still difficult to find some that were perfectly compatible with their current frameworks and techniques.

"Cosmos leaf!" As he reached the other side of the treasury, Zhang Lie finally found the herb he had been looking for. However, just as he tried to take it, the cabinet suddenly glowed, and a tremendous force rushed toward him.

His body instinctively reacted, activating his white-grub soulshard and deflecting the attack.

Even then, Zhang Lie stumbled quite a few steps back. If not for the fact that his soulshard had activated instinctively, he would have been heavily wounded by the attack. What fearsome strength!

He frowned as he glanced at the cosmos leaf again. Why had he been attacked? An alarm began to blare and white light started to flash. An automated defense system seemed to have somehow triggered.

Could there be something wrong with the system? Zhang Lie sucked in a deep breath. He needed the cosmos leaf, and no defense system would stop him. As he circulated his genetic energy and activated [Ninecarp Transformation], he reached out toward the cosmos leaf again.

Alarms quickly sounded, and Zhang Lie reared back in shock. Had he triggered the entire treasury's defense system?

In Yan Long's mansion, as he was leisurely sipping a cup of tea and waiting for Zhang Lie and the others to return, his transceiver began to beep shrilly. The robotic message stated, "An invader has been sighted in the national treasury. Defensive systems are activating." 

"What? Quick! Take me to the national treasury!" Yan Long cried out, then rushed out the door.

Outside the treasury, Luo Lie, who had heard the commotion, suddenly paled.

Sun Xiaowu banged on the robotic door that Luo Lie was standing on the other side of. "Lieutenant Liu, what's going on?!"

"There must be a problem with the automated defense system—it thinks you're all thieves!" Luo Lie shouted, glancing at his transceiver. He was well aware of just how strong the guards within the treasury were.

"In that case, hurry up and open the treasury doors! Let us out!" Li Feng shouted.

"I can't! I've lost my administrative privileges! It's likely that something's gone very wrong with the system, and we'll have to wait for Commander Yan Long to get here!"

"What will we do?" Sun Mengmeng asked.

"Commander Yan Long's on his way here. You'll have to defend yourselves for the time being," Luo Lie gritted out, knowing just how infeasible that was. Everything would be resolved once Yan Long arrived, but Luo Lie didn't know whether or not they would still be alive by then. After all, the guards within the treasury each had the strength of a third-realm hunter.

After Zhang Lie triggered the defense system, he retreated back and glanced warily around him. The other members of Team Zenith, along with Chu Feng, Yun Bing, He Tian, and Qian Zhen immediately gathered together.

Suddenly, several ion beams locked onto Zhang Lie's body, and he felt tingles of unease all over. As he activated his galewolf soulshard, Zhang Lie began circulating his genetic energy. The combined effect of his soulshard and footwork technique made him nimble and agile, and he was able to avoid the beams with ease. After the attack, however, two white-armored robots rushed forward, seemingly optimized for speed.

Radiance shone from their palms as they blasted beams of light toward Zhang Lie. The two robots sandwiched Zhang Lie between them, one to his left and one to his right.

Venombane appeared in his hand. Zhang Lie sucked in a deep breath, intending to get rid of the two robots flanking him first, but he suddenly felt killing intent directed at his back. Zhang Lie didn't have time to turn back. He darted aside, moving forward in an S-shape.

A barrage of genetic energy smashed into the ground where Zhang Lie had been located. He turned back to see two more robots coming from behind. 

The four robots had all but blocked him off. Zhang Lie frowned again. The white-armored robots were each as strong as a third-realm hunter, whereas Zhang Lie was really only as strong as a peak second-realm hunter without combining [Eclipse] and his blood ant soulshard.

The reason he had managed to kill Li Xin was because his opponent had underestimated him, but he surely wouldn't stand a chance against four third-realm robots.

Zhang Lie inhaled. There was no need to fight off the robots; he just had to defend himself. After all, Yan Long and Luo Lie surely had to be alarmed by the activation of the defense system, and they would surely be on their way to investigate.

Zhang Lie glanced cautiously at the four guards, trying to recall whatever information he could about them. He was certain that, no matter how strong these robots were, they were still only just that—their artificial intelligence routines weren't complex enough to truly act like hunters. They were sure to have weak spots of their own.

One of the robots struck at Zhang Lie with a crackling lightsaber, moving so quickly it seemed to have used some sort of technique. Light exploded from its saber, and a blade of sword energy, curved into a crescent, flew toward Zhang Lie.

The other robots all used techniques of their own, techniques at the level of a third-realm hunter. With little space in which to maneuver, Zhang Lie seemed to have no choice but to defend himself from the blows.

"[Heaven's Judgment]!"

"[Lunarflame Shot]!"

Just then, two shouts came from behind him. An arrow flew toward the guards, a phoenix's shape materializing around it. At the same time, Fang Yi, surrounded by a crackling field of lightning, moved toward another guard.

Without hesitation, Zhang Lie activated [Fists of the Silent Sea] and [Three-Wave Resonance], crouching down in order to reduce his exposed surface area. As all sorts of genetic energy clashed against each other, the treasury rocked with the force of a multicolored explosion.

Zhang Lie darted toward Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng.

"We won't win against these robots. Run!"

"What do we do now, Captain?!" After trading blows with the robots, Fang Yi and Sun Mengmeng both realized just how strong they were.

"Wait!" Zhang Lie activated [Eclipse], spawning a domain around him that greatly sapped the speed and strength of the incoming robots. Their eyes flashed with red light, as though trying to analyze the technique that Zhang Lie was using.

"Don't forget, they're just analyzing our data and using it against us," Zhang Lie explained. [Eclipse] was a rare and unusual technique, one that the robots wouldn't be able to dissect in a matter of moments.

The four robots again gave off a wave of genetic energy. Zhang Lie focused on them. Given how much data these robots seemed to possess, it was likely that they could activate a variety of techniques. Indeed, each of the robots used a technique of a different attunement than before, and four different beams of light shot toward the three hunters from Team Zenith.

"Scatter!" Zhang Lie shouted, and they all rushed off in different directions.