The ancient ruins lie dormant in the darkness. Thousands of years have not been able to erode those solid artificial building materials, but they have eroded the human atmosphere that once existed here. A kind of cold and moist air lingers in those weathered buildings. There was neither life nor death in the air in the corridors and rooms.
This atmosphere lasted for so long until it was broken by outsiders.
The light from the magic crystal illuminates the way forward. Under the leadership of Byron Knight, the squad of fully-armed Cecil combat soldiers are walking deep in the corridor. They are cautious and attentive, as if they are ready at any time. Facing the monsters that swooped out from the darkness - even though from the time they entered the ruins until now, the largest creatures they have seen are just a few rats.
Knight Byron walked at the front of the team, and a soldier behind him was holding an oil lamp - with the bright magic crystal, the lighting effect of the oil lamp was not very good. Large, its main function is to provide early warning when there is a lack of oxygen in the surroundings, and to respond when there are shadows and unclean things around.
According to the order issued by Gawain, they went deep into this ancient mountain ruins. It was now the second day of activities in the ruins. The things they saw along the way still did not change much. They were nothing more than plans. Neat, surprisingly wide corridors and empty rooms. The building structure in the mountain feels very complicated at first, but after exploring it for a while, you can grasp its rules: this facility is obviously not designed to let people in. Designed for the purpose of people getting lost.
However, no matter how boring the things he saw along the way were, Byron dutifully drew the map and marked the rooms.
The light of the magic crystal shone into another deep room. Byron and others came to the end of the corridor temporarily marked as the "Third Corridor". The soldiers moved forward in a warning formation and confirmed the room. Once they were safe, they set up a sentry post at the door: they were going to take a rest here.
Exploring in the dark ancient ruins is a very draining thing. The physical exertion of walking is nothing, but groping in the dark is quite a test of one's spirit. The soldiers brought this time are already experienced and determined veterans, but they still need timely rest before they can continue.
After checking the risk factors, the soldiers set up camp in the open space in the corner of the room. They placed magic crystals around to provide lighting, then took out their own dry food and drinking water, and took the time to eat and replenish their physical strength. Byron sat next to a magic crystal and looked at the map in his hand by the light.
This hand-drawn map marks the areas that have been explored so far. Since the corridors and rooms are very regular, the map is very concise and easy to understand. Although the three-dimensional interior of the facility makes drawing the map difficult. It's a bit troublesome, but as long as the plane of each layer is drawn separately on paper, it's not a problem.
Byron, who was a mercenary, was familiar with this.
"Sir, there seems to be nothing on this floor," said a veteranSaid beside, "The useful things have been evacuated."
"The valuable things are often in deeper places," Byron replied, pointing to a place on the map, " According to the previous rules, this should be the big staircase leading to the next level. We will go this way later."
"Yes"
Byron focused. Returning to the map, I casually glanced at the oil lamp that had just had its shade opened. The bright flame was still burning well and trembling slightly due to the breeze.
Wait a minute...wind?
Where does the wind come from in the completely blocked mountain ruins? The ventilation holes won't create such a large airflow, right?
The vigilance cultivated during his mercenary days made Byron not let go of this detail. He immediately closed the map and wet his fingers with saliva to feel carefully - there was indeed wind.
"There is airflow here," he immediately reminded, "Light a few more lamps and search separately. There should be more than one entrance and exit to this room."
The soldiers immediately took action. , began to look for secret doors and mechanisms in the room, and soon they discovered something unusual.
At the end of the room, there is an obvious rectangular depression on one wall, which looks like a door. Next to the depression area is a pile of decayed debris - wooden shelves and steel that have been weathered for thousands of years. scrap.
The light in the room was dim before, and similar wall depressions and debris piles could be seen everywhere in the ruins - mostly traces left after dismantling equipment - so the soldiers did not Didn't pay attention to these things.
But there is airflow blowing out of this place, and it is obviously connected to the outside world.
Byron ordered the soldiers to clear away the accumulated debris, which revealed a section of metal half-buried in the wall. It was a cylinder less than half a meter in diameter, perpendicular to the ground. Half of it is buried in the wall, while the exposed part is covered with complex patterns. The upper part is still a downward-sloping plane: obviously it cannot be used as a countertop for placing items.
"What is this?" A soldier looked at the metal pillar curiously, with a nervous look on his face, "Could it be a trap..."
"No," Byron shook his head, while recalling some common sense that Gawain told him, "According to the Duke, this is how items with this appearance are usually used..."
On one side As he spoke, he placed his hand on the inclined plane at the top of the metal object, but the latter showed no reaction.
Byron showed no embarrassment on his face: "Of course, most of the things in here cannot be used. After all, they will break down over time. This is common sense."
A soldier He said carelessly: "Sir, would you please take off your gloves and try?"
Byron's face was not red at all, and he glared at the big-headed soldier: "Then try it!"< /p>
The soldiers on the other side are worthy of being brought out by Byron. They are not polite at all. They take off their gloves and imitate what Byron just did and put their hands on the side.On the surface.
The next second, the complex patterns on the surface of the metal object became slightly brighter, and at the same time, a slight vibration came from an unknown place. While the soldier's face showed a look of astonishment, Byron I heard a somewhat distorted and unusually dull voice coming from the metal object: "Testing...sample tester...stability period...allowed to pass. The isolation door is being opened..."
Following With the creaking sound of the ancient mechanism running, the hollow in the wall actually shrank inward, revealing a previously hidden passage!
Everyone looked at each other, dumbfounded.
"I...I didn't do anything." The soldier quickly took his hand back, with a nervous and confused look on his face, "You are all watching."
Byron looked at Glancing at the dark passage behind the door, he suddenly took off his gloves and put his hands on the metal slope.
The metal device also lit up, and an old-fashioned distorted voice soon came from inside: "Detection...sample tester...stability period...allowed to pass, the isolation door is open."
"Me too?" Byron was stunned, then frowned and randomly ordered a soldier, "Come and try!"
This soldier has learned a lesson. I also put my hand on the device, and what happened next was exactly the same: the metal device lit up, and a voice came from inside announcing that passage was allowed.
I dare say anyone who puts their hands on it can pass the test.
"It's probably broken..." After testing two more soldiers, Byron breathed a sigh of relief, "It's such an ancient thing after all."
一A soldier asked cautiously: "Sir, where do we still..."
"Go in and take a look," Byron's face was still cautious, but his heart was already slightly excited. As a man who had traveled all over the southern border, A former mercenary who has never overturned the ruins, he seems to have smelled something good. "After searching for so long, I finally found something!"
...
In Byron As the group continued to delve deeper into the ruins in the mountains, a new guest also set foot on the new territory of the Cecil family.
This is a young woman with a graceful figure. She is wearing a gauze dress that is not like Ansu style. Her long hair is spread behind her, and a lavender veil covers her face. Leaving a pair of bright and lively eyes exposed, she walked into Cecil's territory openly, passed through the soldiers' posts, and passed through the gate of the camp, which is now a small town. Walking through the neat wooden houses.
Cecil’s subjects were busy coming and going next to her, but everyone turned a blind eye to her.
The veiled woman walked openly like this, curiously observing this town that was theoretically only a few months old. Those orderly wooden houses can be regarded as qualified town buildings in other places - after all, hereIn most places during this era, the living conditions of civilians were not even comparable to such houses, but in fact these wooden houses were still obvious "transitional buildings" because they could be seen being demolished and rebuilt everywhere on both sides of the town's avenues. The houses, with their solid foundations and bricks, were clearly the next generation of houses in this town.
A strange noise came from not far away. The woman wearing a veil followed the sound and found that the direction of the sound was a factory building with smoke and dust. She walked over curiously and pushed it openly. Opening the door, he was stunned when he saw the scene inside.
It turns out that this is the place where bricks and tiles are fired, but there are two strange-looking machines placed in the awning in the center of the yard. One of the machines has an obvious magical response. It is in some kind of magic mechanism. It rotates under the driving force of the machine, and uses a powerful rotating shaft to drive another machine connected to it, and that machine continuously presses the mud and sand mixture as raw material into regular porcelain bricks. Not only are these two machines incredibly efficient, , and obviously does not require complicated control: there are only two civilians wearing coarse clothes and trousers watching next to the machine, while more people are busy loading the rapidly forming bricks onto the cart and pushing them to the other side of the yard In the neatly arranged rows of kilns that are several times larger than ordinary brick kilns.
What are those two large magic devices?
Magic mechanism? But what about the mage who controls them? Who is infusing them with magic? Who regulates the flow of their magic? Who controls their speed and starting and stopping?
Could it be those two ordinary people who didn’t have any magic reaction in their bodies? !
Speaking of it... It seems that magic power can be sensed everywhere in this place. This is really strange. Is it possible that the entire territory is built on a magic focus?
The veiled woman frowned beautifully. She really wanted to take apart the two machines and take a look, but to make such an outrageous move, I am afraid that no matter how clever the stealth or psychological suggestion skills are, It would all fail, so she could only shake her head regretfully, exit the yard and close the door.
At this moment, a seemingly familiar and energetic voice suddenly came from behind her: "Ah! Who are you?!"