We shouldn't believe any promises made by an unreliable uncle like Zaku, especially when he announced that this shabby airship was in good condition. As it turned out, this thing had become a pile of scrap metal in the underground warehouse when Miriya was four or five years old. After ten years of corrosion, it no longer had any function other than to cultivate mushrooms. Even Lin's Big Mouth Landing was more reliable than this thing.
But at least Uncle Zaku was right about one thing. The engine system of the Glory of Glow was indeed bursting with enthusiasm at its peak. This enthusiasm was so high that the cooling system of the main engine was destroyed after ten minutes. When we climbed to an altitude of a few thousand meters, this ancient aircraft began to let out a tragic cry. The temperature of its engine room was rising, and its power output was gradually approaching that of an electric car. The 2D projection screen on the pilot's seat showed the scene inside the engine room. It looked like an electric oven.
The ear-piercing alarm had been ringing for two minutes. It was the only thing on this airship that seemed to be working well.
"I told you that it's not a good business to have anything to do with relics." Uncle Zaku put on a long face and let go of the steering stick. "The engine will stop in five minutes. If we're lucky, we'll fall into the Lake of Ten Thousand Lakes. If we're unlucky, we'll be done for. By the way, aren't you guys a little too calm?"
Uncle Zaku was surprised to find that even the usually calm and steady Blena had a nervous expression on her face. On the other hand, the twenty or so of us were all calm. Shallow Shallow even had the leisure to lie on the porthole and draw little people. On the other side, Bubble was teaching Rhododendron Spp. (Uncle Zaku regarded her as one of the performance artists. He still couldn't believe that there were people with tails in this world. Also, this planet obviously didn't have a fox mother.) How could he calculate the constant of gravity of this planet based on the current falling speed?
Even Miriya, who was supposed to be screaming in fear, was calmer than him. She was busy listening to Rhododendron Spp..
"Hey, it'll be dangerous if we continue like this, right?"
Hearing my uncle's words, Milia lifted her head and glanced at me. It was obvious that she wasn't afraid of the current situation since she knew our true identities. She only felt that her uncle was even more humiliated — he couldn't even fix the airship!
I nodded and reached out my hand to grab a shorty who was squirming around beside me under my armpit. Under the latter's cries of protest, I walked towards the engine room. Not long after, the sound of the airship's alarm was lifted and the monitor showed that all the engines were rapidly returning to normal.
I tied Chiruno to the grille.
There's no need to elaborate on the rest of the journey. This strange airship worked pretty well for the rest of the journey. First, we raced through the upper atmosphere until the auxiliary engines stopped. Then, we sprinted in the opposite direction for half an hour under the guidance of the reversed rudder. When we passed through a thundercloud, I thought the airship was doomed. But in fact, the thundercloud only took away two of the boosters. Later, we chased after a military aircraft for 15 minutes. When the latter was about to open fire after multiple warnings, Uncle Zaku fixed the rudder. This journey, which wasn't long at all, ended up lasting a full 10 hours. The airship didn't have a flight package, so the hungry Sandora ate all the seats in the airship. If it wasn't for the fact that Miriya couldn't stand the thin atmosphere, I think she would have eaten the outer shell of the airship. Rhododendron Spp.'s face was deathly pale. Every one of her tails was curled up. In order to reduce the damage caused by the collision, she thought she was smart enough to use her big tail to curl herself into a furry ball. As a result, she rolled around in the cabin until she almost went into shock. Ilson was tied to the ground by his sister. After seeing the Nine-tailed Fox's miserable state, we all felt that if this hard metal can rolled around in the cabin, the consequences would be disastrous. Everyone had forgotten that a well-trained God of War would not make such a stupid mistake.
This hellish journey finally came to an end in the Gobi Desert. We safely crashed in a field of sand. Although Uncle Zaku had repeatedly said that it was a safe landing, it was in fact a safe landing.
"If we really slowed down, I would believe you." Liliana stared at Uncle Zaku with a gloomy expression. Behind us, Miriya was vomiting.
"You also know that the speed reducer was broken in the beginning."
Uncle Zaku's face was also deathly pale, but he could still stand up. This meant that the old adventurer's physique could still withstand the test.
At this time, Lin weakly interrupted, "I think I can fly better than this …"
Icetis and I simultaneously stared at the Dragon God girl who had finally found a bit of confidence. Liliana accurately ridiculed, "This thing is at most a reprieve. Yours is an immediate execution!"
After a long journey, it was already nightfall. Three bright moons hung high in the sky, forming a straight line. Two of the moons had a small troop of the Imperial Army stationed on them. The shimmering ring of stars slowly glided across the eastern sky. It orbited around Planet Mobrador, rising and setting in the sky four times a day. We looked at the desolate Gobi Desert, then turned our inquisitive gaze to Biluna.
"The information about the ruins is nearby. Of course, it is underground."
As Biluna spoke, she moved a large suitcase from the airship and rummaged through it for various unknown equipment. "Exploring ancient ruins has always been a popular activity. However, the number of ruins is always limited. Up until now, the ancient ruins that are easy to find have basically been discovered. The remaining ruins are mostly at the bottom of the sea and underground, places that are not easy to fully explore. Under normal circumstances, only large-scale geological changes can expose these ancient ruins to the world. There was an earthquake here a while ago. Then, someone found something here. Unfortunately, that person was a newbie. He most likely confused the entrance of the ancient ruins with the entrance of an old-fashioned mine. This is too good for us. "
A faint golden light floated in Sandora's eyes. She was currently scanning the things beneath the earth's crust and found a large hole. It was obvious that the ruins that they had guessed existed. However, I still waited patiently for Biluna to use her pile of oddly shaped equipment to investigate. Finally, she pointed in a direction and said, "It's most likely this way."
The direction was correct. Although I didn't understand it, the triangular-like equipment that she was fiddling with seemed to have the ability to sense special energy. With the help of these equipment, she found the nearest crack that led to the surface from the large hole.
Zaku had been sitting on the ground sighing, calculating how much money he would need to repair his precious Glory of Glow. Now, he lazily raised his head and said, "Oh? It seems that there really are ancient things nearby? "
"The signal strength is very low, but today's atmospheric environment is pretty good. There is almost no interference." Biluna seriously responded to her partner's procrastination. She conveniently pulled Zaku up from the ground. "It is best for us to set off now. The equipment shows that there might be a strong wind in three hours. We need to find the entrance of the ruins before that, or set up a camp nearby."
"Actually, I want to turn around and go back to the airship to sleep. Don't forget, there are also Terror Scorpions in the Gobi Desert at night."
Uncle Zaku muttered, but still obediently followed.
Since the airship was about to fall apart, even the two transport vehicles on it had fallen off. Everyone could only move forward on foot. Fortunately, the signal indicated that the distance wasn't very far, so I gave up on the idea of summoning seven hundred billion. Twenty to thirty people walking in the Gobi Desert in the middle of the night was something that very few people had experienced before. There was definitely no one on Earth who would do this. But in Mobrado, it seemed that there was nothing but a hurricane that could stop the evolved natives from doing outdoor activities. Uncle Zaku wore a small vest as he walked in the frozen Gobi Desert, complaining loudly about the stupidity of this trip. Even the weak-looking Miriya didn't feel anything about the environment here. Of course, we didn't feel anything either. However, this indirectly explained one thing. Creatures that could thrive under the radiation of the Empire were not easy to deal with.
Along the way, we kept waiting for the Terror Scorpions that Uncle Zaku had mentioned because Sandora was very curious about their smell. But in the end, the largest creature that appeared in front of us was only a half-frozen mosquito. I thought that Magni's loud singing might have been an important reason why we didn't get disturbed by wild beasts on the way.
Along the way, Biluna occasionally stopped to adjust her detector. After walking for a while, she finally accurately locked onto the location of the energy leakage from the large hole in the ground. After walking for more than an hour, we found an exposed landmark on the surface.
It was a metal pipe that was almost completely weathered. The lower half of it was buried in the sand, while the upper half was facing the sky and letting out a low hum in the weak night wind. Only a few hundred meters away from this most obvious man-made object, we found a place that could possibly lead to the underground: the entrance of a mine that was half buried in the sand.
"I kind of believe that the ruins exist," Uncle Zaku said in a low voice. "Normally, abandoned mines in the Gobi Desert that often have strong winds like this would be buried under gravel and gravel in just one or two months. However, the gravel near the entrance of the mine is fresh, and the nearby wind is obviously suppressed, which prevents the entrance of the mine from being buried."
Biluna nodded. "Perhaps some equipment in the ruins is still operating and changed the energy field near the mine. What was its original purpose?"
"It's just to save some effort when cleaning the ventilation holes." Sandora said faintly. Then, she took the lead and walked into the deep tunnel. We also followed closely behind. Uncle Zaku shouted from the back, "Hey! Don't rush into the tunnel! First, let the detector go down and check the oxygen and … Forget it, wait for me! "
The scanning results showed that this "mine" led to a place that was nearly a kilometer underground. There was an obvious fault there. The fault wasn't very stable, and there was a big dislocation with the nearby geological structure. Initially, it should have been caused by the earthquake that had occurred here not long ago, as Biluna had mentioned. After walking for a while, we confirmed our guess: A metal structure that had collapsed and tilted appeared in front of us at a 45-degree angle. The originally spacious tunnel had suddenly become so narrow that only two people could pass through it.
"This place should have been completely sealed once," Uncle Zaku observed the twisted and broken complex support in front of us. It looked like the cross-section of a metal corridor. Behind the thick metal plate, we could see broken pipes and lines. "First, it was sealed by long-term geological changes. Then, a crack was opened during the recent earthquake. The energy that seeped out from the crack affected the nature of the metal that is sensitive to energy. Many of the metal plates used in ancient ruins are similar to the metal plates used in the tunnel during the Hundred Year War. If we can't find this bit of energy residue, even an experienced person would be confused."
These were the words of the adventurers' experience. They could find something special about a piece of scrap iron from a few simple patterns. They could also determine whether it came from an ancient ruin or an ancient battlefield from the little bit of energy left on it. However, when it came out of Uncle Zaku's mouth, I always felt that it was a little unreal. This seemingly unreliable and lazy uncle actually had this kind of experience? I thought he didn't know anything except to dawdle around!
"Even a little girl like you has this kind of expression in your eyes?" Zaku suddenly patted Milia's head. "Although I haven't been active in the past few years, I used to be a famous adventurer!"
"Is it just because you haven't been active in the past few years?" Milia muttered in a low voice.
"The results of the instrument scan are out," Biluna said, interrupting the "father and daughter" quarreling. She raised her head to look at the pitch-black collapsed corridor in front of us. The powerful spotlights on her shoulder swept through the darkness in a flash, revealing strange and dazzling shadows. "There is a metal partition about five hundred meters in front of us. Then, there is a big hole. However, the stability of the ground here is not guaranteed. This place has not been maintained for many years. The corridor could collapse at any time."
"Anyway, we can't go back here." Uncle Zaku chuckled. This time, he took the initiative to walk in. A large group of us followed closely behind him. I wasn't worried about the underground tunnel collapsing. According to Sandora's scan, this place was much sturdier than expected. I don't know how many tens of thousands of years of geological activity had not completely torn this part of the corridor. It wouldn't collapse for a while.
As we walked forward, we also observed the surrounding environment. This crooked metal corridor reflected very advanced technology. Although it had experienced the baptism of time, the main parts were still as bright as new. Under the illumination of the lights, it reflected a silver-white cold light. Some broken pipes were exposed in the cracks on the ceiling. The pipes were wrapped in a kind of translucent crystal material. It was very similar to the energy pipes I had seen on the battleships of the Empire. It was obvious that the disappeared ancient civilization was also related to the legacy of the Empire. Sandora frowned as she walked next to me. The surrounding scenery made her thoughtful. She might have recalled something from the old Empire from the things here. I didn't dare to disturb her.
In fact, I didn't have the time to disturb her. I had been busy dealing with a certain stupid ice fairy. Elune had been tied to the radiator grille of the airship for ten hours. She had made outstanding contributions to our safe journey. However, this little shorty obviously didn't want to be a selfless martyr. She had been trying to fight me with all her might. Her current record was forty losses, zero wins, and zero draws. I didn't dare to tell her that we might have to take that airship on our way back. Uncle Zaku had confidently promised that the Glory of Glowing Light could still take off after a short rest. By then, Elune would definitely run for her life.
Before that, I would let the ice fairy go crazy for a while longer.
In the end, a heavy alloy door blocked our way. It also stopped Elune from grinding ice powder on the back of my head with her ice sword.
"I feel psionic waves behind us," Sandora said softly.
Shadora said softly. This was the first time she spoke since entering the underground tunnel.
I didn't think it was surprising. "The civilizations of this world are all born from the legacy of the Empire. It's the same for the ancient civilization."
"But … it's different. I feel that I care a lot about this place." Sandora said softly. She extended her hand and placed it on the alloy door that still had a luster despite the passage of time. She gently stroked it. The latter had neat patterns on its surface. It was something left behind by the ancient civilization. Uncle Zaku analyzed it carefully for a while and deciphered a sentence: Open the door outward. Be careful of collisions.
Damn it! I've been pushing it for half a day!
The power source of the ancient ruin had been cut off. Of course, the door couldn't open automatically. Fortunately, we had a strong man with us. Ibuki Suika suddenly felt herself being lifted up. It turned out that Lin was holding her waist as though she was carrying a battering ram. I stared in shock at the Dragon God girl, who seemed to be having a mental breakdown. She ignored Suika's protests and slammed her against the door. Then, she inserted one of Suika's hard horns into the gap of the door and forcefully pried it open.
It's pried open … it's open … it's open …
Ibuki Suika and Eleanor, who had also been treated as strange tools, hugged each other and cried bitterly. They sobbed as they announced their revenge plan that would never succeed. Uncle Zaku's patience had been stimulated by the astonishing abilities of our group of strange people. Although he was stunned for a moment, he smartly chose to keep his mouth shut. He led the group into the underground cave that no one had visited for tens of thousands of years.
"Oh … I think I'm going to be rich this time."
Uncle Zaku changed his complaining attitude from before. He looked at the spacious hall in front of him and the nearby corridors that led to various places. He began to mutter to himself excitedly.
The ruins weren't as gloomy and humid as we had expected. There was also no lack of oxygen or toxic gas (although those things had no effect on us). Just as we had expected, even though the ruins had stopped operating for many years, the mysterious ancient technology in the ruins was still working. The underground cave that was thousands of meters deep was well-ventilated. It was dry and tidy. Some invisible air passages might have extended from other places on the ground. We could still smell the dry, sandy smell of the Gobi Desert, which meant that the underground air had just been pumped from the surface. The lighting system had stopped working, but there was still a faint light in the underground space. The light came from the blue crystals inlaid on the ceiling and the walls. They were psionic crystals that had been depleted to the point that they could no longer provide standard energy output for the equipment.
They were using psionic crystals as decorations here? Were the ancient civilization's psionic crystals as cheap as cabbages?
"Blue light! We're rich! "
Uncle Zaku exclaimed in a low voice. He then took out a pile of tools and carefully crouched next to the largest psionic crystal. It seemed that he was ready to pry a piece out.
He was careful enough, but sometimes, you couldn't deal with the things in the ancient ruins just by being careful. The moment Uncle Zaku's hand touched the crystal, a deep roar came from the underground of the ruins.
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