The Miraculous Treasure Hunting System-Chapter 145. Holy Light Wheat Ring

With a rumbling sound, the thick stone wall beside them slowly slid open, revealing a gap.

Gami used the vehicle’s steel tentacles to forcefully push the stone door wider, releasing a plume of dust and a strange odor.

The space within was revealed.

A faint, milky-white light emanated from inside, so bright that Ed didn’t even need to use his mirror to illuminate the area.

"Is it a Holy Relic?" Jason couldn’t help but ask in surprise upon seeing the light.

After all, given the situation and location, such a radiant presence was hard not to associate with a relic.

Gami shook his head. "How could that be? Holy Relics are usually understated, not so ostentatious as to flaunt their existence like this."

He then drove the vehicle inside, adding as he went, "It must be some kind of magical item imbued with the power of the Holy Mother or the faith of believers."

When the group entered and saw the glowing object, Gami nodded without surprise. "It really is that thing."

On a stone platform floated a headdress woven from wheat ears, emitting a steady, milky-white light.

"These are usually found in a church’s meditation room, placed directly beneath a central sculpture to facilitate communion with the gods," Gami explained. He extended several tentacles, carefully took the floating headdress, examined it briefly, and handed it to Jason.

"For me?" Jason pointed to himself, puzzled. The item clearly belonged back in a church; it seemed more symbolic than practical.

"Of course it’s not for you," Gami clarified. "It’s just for you to wear. You’ll have to return it to the church later. Didn’t you say you once touched a treasure that looked like a wheat wreath? That was a prototype. Wearing this can temporarily boost your magical power, enhancing its holy attributes. It’s quite useful in a place saturated with dark energy like this."

He then pointed to himself and Ed. "For us, wearing it would at most clear our minds a little. Nothing more."

Hearing this, Jason nodded as if he’d learned something new and placed the wheat wreath on his head.

The instant he did, the milky-white light subsided, flowing into his body. Jason’s magic power, which had a faint pale white tinge before, was now completely infused with the luminous glow. He could clearly feel the holy magic surging within him, after all, what had activated his potential was a legitimate church treasure.

"Now, if I encounter that evil spirit again, I’ll just punch it to death," Jason said smugly, clenching his fist.

The other two shook their heads helplessly, ignoring the idiot who thought a random magic item made him overpowered. They headed straight outside to climb the stairs back to the church.

They carried the carefully wrapped priest’s remains, dug a pit outside the church, and reburied them. After completing this task, they returned to the sanctuary and found a not-too-damaged bench to rest.

"Given the size of this island, this should be the only church. If there are no relics here, there probably aren’t any on the island at all. Should we explore other places?" Gami asked, looking at the other two.

Hearing this, Ed turned without hesitation. "Of course we should explore! There are definitely many places hiding valuable things. We’re treasure hunters; we can’t neglect our job. Besides, Andre and the others might not have finished exploring their targets yet. We’re just killing time."

"Haha, that makes sense. Let’s rest a bit and then go," Jason said, patting Ed on the shoulder with a smile. Only a son can understand his father, he thought, pleased they were on the same page.

A short while later, rested and ready, they set off again.

Ed intentionally led them toward the glowing dots on his mental map, knowing only these locations held real value; searching elsewhere was a waste of time. If a white dot proved too difficult to find, he was prepared to abandon it.

Their haul wasn’t small. In a nearby ruined farm, they found a solid gold cane, its weight satisfyingly heavy in their hands.

On the dark island, only their immediate surroundings were illuminated. Jason, chin in hand, followed the other two, lost in thought.

"What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?" Ed asked, looking at him curiously. It was rare to see Jason behaving like a normal person and not making a fool of himself.

Hearing Ed’s words, Jason looked up. "Perhaps... you really are a born treasure hunter." His expression remained confident, but inside he was cursing the entire universe for being so unfair.

"Go away, you bastard. What do you mean ’born’? It’s all the result of my hard work," Ed waved a hand annoyingly, though inside he smiled with pride. It felt good to fool others into thinking he was a genius. Only he knew he was cheating the entire way.

Jason turned and patted Gami’s cockpit, seeking approval. "Gami, don’t you think so?"

"I’ve always thought he’s more professional than you," Gami said calmly. "And I also think it’s all about ability and skill, not something like being ’born’ to be a treasure hunter. There’s no such thing. If you work hard, you can be as good as him."

"...You could have just answered, ’I think so too,’ instead of all this nonsense," Jason gave him a weird look, rolling his eyes.

"But don’t you think so yourself?" Gami continued with the same calm expression.

Jason silently shut his mouth and strode forward. "Let’s speed things up; we need to explore this island at least once."

Ed and Gami smiled and quickened their pace to catch up. They proceeded toward the back of the island, arriving at a manor on a hillside.

Ed looked around and couldn’t help but remark, "This place would have been really grand, if it hadn’t been abandoned."

The manor was much larger than they had imagined. The distance from the gate, along a stone path, to the main buildings at the back was over a hundred meters.

A large garden had once surrounded it but was now overrun by weeds, with only a few tenacious flowers visible. The structures before them were relatively well-preserved, with no major collapses, only some outer walls had crumbled.

Jason looked at the broken-down door and pursed his lips. "Looks like we won’t even get a sip of soup here."

Along the way, they had witnessed just how thoroughly the previous group had looted the place, turning it into a meaningless ruin. Not a single surface-level valuable remained, only things hidden deep inside might have been missed.

Ed walked over, patted down the doorframe, and stepped inside first. "Stop complaining. Let’s see if anything’s been left behind. After all, we’re the experts, aren’t we?"

"Maybe they had too much loot from the last haul and were too lazy to look for hidden things," Gami added, unable to resist a retort.

Ed and Jason looked at Gami speechlessly before silently walking in, ignoring his less-than-positive and sarcastic words.

Once inside, Ed adjusted his mirror’s reflection to illuminate the entire interior. Looking around, his suspicions were confirmed: every obvious place where valuables might have been stored was empty. Various cabinets and drawers had been roughly pulled open, scraps of cloth were scattered about, and Ed saw broken chairs with empty spaces on their backs where ornamentation had clearly been pried off.

"This place is cleaner than a plate licked by rats. I don’t know if they were professional treasure hunters, but the last group’s looting skills were definitely top-notch," Jason complained, looking at a table where only broken plates remained, not even any cutlery. At this level of wealth, tableware was usually made of silver or gold.

However, Ed wasn’t concerned with that. The main reason he had come here was that the remaining blue dot on his map was located within this very manor. Judging by the distance, it was inside the building they were standing in.

"Let’s split up and look. Maybe there’s something they missed."

With that, the group divided the area and began searching the manor, calling out occasionally to ensure each other’s safety. Fortunately, although the building was large, it was drafty and spacious, so communication wasn’t hindered.

Ed walked around, looking carefully, occasionally stamping his feet and knocking on the walls. In this era, basements and hidden wall passages were the simplest and most direct places to hide things. He didn’t understand why everyone used such obvious secret spots, almost anyone would think to look for them first, but that didn’t stop him from searching.

"Ed, there’s something emitting a wave beneath your feet. It’s hitting me." Lucilia’s sudden voice in his mind made Ed stop immediately.

"Emitting a wave? What kind of wave?"

"I don’t know, but it’s so obvious I can feel it even within the Magic Mirror."

Hearing this, Ed looked at his feet. This meant there must be an underground space below, and it couldn’t be too deep for Lucilia to sense it so clearly, unless the object’s magical emission was extremely strong. The question was, where was the switch to open it, or the passage leading down?

Thinking this, Ed immediately lay down on the floor. He took a palm-sized round plaque from his waist, placed it on the ground, and channeled magic into it. An invisible wave traveled downward. A strange, resonant sound reached his ears, and following this feedback, Ed began to move slowly, controlling the plaque to transmit waves downward as he went.

The round plaque was engraved with a simple detection incantation. When its waves encountered an open space, they would echo back with a distinct sound, useful for finding hidden chambers. Of course, it only worked for larger spaces; in smaller ones, the difference in sound was unnoticeable. It also couldn’t probe too deeply.

Soon, Gami and Jason joined Ed, having completed a brief search of their assigned areas. Seeing Ed’s movements, they immediately slowed their pace. Clearly, he had discovered something, and too much noise would disturb his work.

Finally, Ed stopped and stood up.

"Is there a space down there?" Jason asked, approaching.

Ed nodded. "Yes, but I don’t know where the mechanism to access it is."

"I’ll find the mechanism!" Gami said impatiently from the side; it was finally his turn to shine. He extended four tentacles from his vehicle, their tips emitting a faint blue glow as they probed the ground and surrounding walls, clearly using some specialized detection magic. The tips of the tentacles then split into four petals, adhered to a section of the wall, and twisted.

With a click, the floor about two meters away trembled, sending up a puff of dust. A stone slab began to slide aside but got stuck halfway.

"The mechanism’s broken, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve found the entrance."

The group hurried over. Jason knelt, got a firm grip on the half-shifted slab, and with a strong heave, pushed it completely aside, revealing the dark space below.