The Shelter Game: Me, Starting with a Tenfold Drop Rate

James listened intently to the issues Irving raised, furrowing his brow in thought.

"As for the lighting problem you mentioned, I've already instructed my team to gather enough lighting equipment. However, you should be well aware that transporting the lighting equipment here will take some time. So, there's no need to be overly anxious. I've got this covered; we just need to focus on solving the geomagnetic energy issue."

Irving was pleasantly surprised by James' words. He quickly grasped James' hand and said, "You truly are my good brother! If you ever run into trouble, please make sure to let me know. I will definitely help you out!"

With a smile on his face, James replied, "It's all part of what I should do. Have you forgotten? We already formed an alliance before. You provided a large arsenal of weapons to us, the Green Ivy Group, and it's only right that we reciprocate accordingly."

Upon hearing this, Irving's expression turned slightly awkward. Indeed, he had supplied James and his subordinates with a significant cache of weapons. However, the weapons Irving provided were mostly standard and advanced ones, with not a single rare weapon among them.

"As for the geomagnetic energy issue you mentioned, I don't actually have any leads," James admitted. "My team and I have discussed it at length, but we couldn't come to any conclusions. I even consulted a highly esteemed professor from the University of Warding, but he couldn't provide a reasonable explanation either."

James didn't notice the change in Irving's expression and continued speaking.

Upon hearing this, Irving immediately formed a hypothesis. "If even a renowned university professor can't offer a reasonable explanation for the geomagnetic energy issue, it likely means that the geomagnetic energy isn't a natural phenomenon. The geomagnetic energy beneath the castle might be due to some other cause. There could very well be a powerful exotic beast hidden under the castle."

Irving's words left both James and Wendy astonished.

"Your hypothesis might be valid," James conceded. "But even if we know there's an exotic beast capable of generating geomagnetic energy beneath the castle, we have no way of finding it."

"Because my team couldn't find any passageways leading underground within the castle. We might have to dig through the castle's foundation to find the exotic beast you mentioned," James stated bluntly.

He wasn't trying to mock Irving; he was simply stating the facts. Irving didn't take offense and remained calm, deep in thought.

"Perhaps your team's skills aren't up to par, which is why they couldn't locate any passage to the underground space. Let's both thoroughly inspect every corner of the castle again," Irving suggested.

James didn't show any sign of impatience at Irving's proposal. He merely said, "Alright, but we need to be quick. I have a very important meeting in two hours."

Irving nodded. "An hour should be enough. Although the castle looks massive from the outside, we only need to check the areas near the ground to find any passage to the underground space."

James nodded in agreement and began to follow Irving. Wendy, although skeptical of Irving's theory, decided to join them.

The three of them spent about half an hour meticulously inspecting all the areas near the ground level of the castle.

But in the end, they still couldn't find any passageways leading to an underground space. Irving was slightly puzzled.

"This is unlikely. Did we miss any crucial area? Even under normal circumstances, there should be some passageways leading underground within the castle," Irving said thoughtfully.

His words actually made sense. James suddenly realized that they might have indeed overlooked a significant area. Only Wendy, standing behind the two men, showed a hint of impatience.

"I think your approach has been wrong from the start. Why does the geomagnetic energy beneath the castle have to be due to a powerful exotic beast? Couldn't it be some unknown natural phenomenon?

Just like you both told me, the natural phenomena in the Shelter Game are completely different from those in the real world. This means that the anomalies we find in the Shelter Game might only seem abnormal to us," Wendy said.

Irving and James exchanged glances upon hearing Wendy's words. After a moment, James shook his head and replied with a smile.

"Your theory is indeed unexpected, but I think it's unlikely. The natural laws in the Shelter Game are still traceable. Without the presence of a powerful exotic beast or rare treasure, such abnormal geomagnetic changes are nearly impossible. So, let's focus on diligently searching for that underground passageway."

After saying this, James shifted his gaze to other areas.

However, Irving found a hint of an idea in James's words.

"I think what you said actually makes more sense. What we're looking for might not be a powerful exotic beast but rather a very rare piece of equipment," Irving suggested.

James turned to look at Irving, his face showing a very puzzled expression. He didn't understand why Irving was repeating what he had just said.

"If the abnormal geomagnetic energy is caused by a piece of equipment, we might not be able to find a passageway to the underground space. We might have to do what you mentioned earlier—dig through the castle's foundation," Irving continued.

After saying this, Irving closed his eyes. He extended his consciousness, seemingly trying to sense the rare treasure that might be hidden underground.

Seeing this, James instinctively fell silent. Although Wendy found Irving's actions somewhat ridiculous, she also refrained from speaking further. Wendy didn't want to disrupt Irving's focus.

After a while, Irving suddenly opened his eyes.

"I've found the most likely location of the equipment," Irving said, turning his gaze to James. "This room isn't the lowest level of the castle. There should be a smaller room beneath it. Once we dig into that room, I should be able to further pinpoint the location of the equipment."

With that, Irving moved to the center of the room without hesitation and began digging downward. Initially, James was slightly hesitant, but he eventually decided to join Irving in the effort.

Working together, they quickly uncovered a hidden trapdoor beneath the floor. Irving knocked on the trapdoor, and the hollow sound confirmed that there was an empty space below.

"You heard that, right? There's definitely an empty space below! Let's get down there quickly!" Irving exclaimed.

Without hesitation, he kicked open the trapdoor and jumped into the room below. Though James felt that Irving's actions were somewhat risky, he ultimately decided to follow Irving.

Wendy, however, hesitated slightly.

After waiting for a while, exclamations of astonishment echoed from the underground chamber where Irving and James were.

"I can't believe there's actually a treasure chest here! And it looks incredibly old!" Irving exclaimed, his excitement palpable.

"There must be an immensely powerful piece of equipment inside this chest! Let's open it right away!" James's voice was equally charged with excitement, leaving no room for doubt about his enthusiasm.

Upon hearing their remarks, Wendy hurriedly entered the underground room as well.

The moment she stepped into the room, Wendy saw the treasure chest embedded into the inner wall. The chest was made of an unknown metal and was encrusted with a multitude of gemstones.

As a highly skilled assassin, Wendy instantly assessed that the gemstones adorning the chest were of very high value.

"These jewels are absolutely precious! A chest decorated with such valuable gems must contain something extremely rare and powerful," Wendy quickly pointed out.

Despite the apparent camaraderie between James and Irving, Wendy remained skeptical. In her mind, James was far from trustworthy.

She speculated that James might resort to underhanded tactics to claim the rare equipment for himself. If Irving wasn't adequately prepared, James's potential betrayal could very well succeed.

Therefore, Wendy felt compelled to caution Irving.

Irving didn't pay any attention to Wendy's perfectly reasonable warning. Instead, it was James who turned his head to glance at her. However, his gaze was devoid of any discernible emotion, as if he was merely taking a casual look at her.

"We can't open this treasure chest right now. It requires a key, and that key is definitely not inside the castle," Irving concluded after observing the chest for a while.

James, slightly intrigued, directly asked Irving, "How do you know the key isn't in the castle? Is it just because this chest is extraordinarily valuable? Maybe the person who hid it thought the most dangerous place would be the safest."

Hearing this, Irving chuckled. "Your guess is indeed plausible. However, my conclusion isn't based on that line of reasoning. I concluded this simply because I haven't sensed the key's presence."

As he said this, Irving tapped his temple with his finger. This gesture reminded James that Irving had the ability to extend his consciousness. If the key had been anywhere near the chest, Irving would have sensed it by now.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, James said, "Even if we can't find the key to the chest, stumbling upon it is already incredibly lucky."

Irving nodded in agreement, fully aware of just how fortunate they were to have discovered the chest at all.