After fixing the transport airboat and covering it with sand-proof cloth, Longliyuan and his party entered the ruins of the ancient village.
When Gordon looked down from the air before, he felt that this ancient village was more like a cluster of castles covering an extremely large area than a fortress.
There are empty squares, open-air courtyards, and there is actually a towering castle in the core area. Small buildings are even more densely packed, but most of them have collapsed and become ruins.
The people in the advance team did not go deeper, but found a few nearby rooms inside the city wall to station themselves.
This is the base camp they selected, and it is also where the hunters who previously guarded the ancient village lived.
The walls of the ancient village ruins were severely weathered and many wall sections collapsed, but at least the structure of the location they selected was still intact.
With a simple tidying up, you can get a shelter that can block the wind and sand.
"Okay everyone, let's take a half-hour break and then start working."
The person responsible for commanding this advance team composed of scholars and support staff was a female scholar who looked to be in her fifties.
She was wearing a khaki adventure suit, her hair was cut short, and she looked neat and tidy.
This scholar is called Du Da, and he is the youngest among the core scholars in charge of archaeological work at Longli Academy.
Ancil called her "Mrs. Duda", and Gordon found out after asking Ancil privately that Duda was the lady's surname. In addition to being an archaeologist, she also had the status of a noble of the kingdom.
Gordon couldn't quite understand why an aristocratic lady would choose to become an archaeologist, spending her days exposed to the wind and sun and eating sand.
But when he turned around and looked at Anxier, he felt that it wasn't so strange anymore.
Isn’t there a young master who left home and became a hunter?
While Gordon was thinking about all this, Duda came to them. She smiled and asked: "You two guys, how do you feel about the desert environment? Can you adapt to it?"
Gordon smiled and didn't reply.
If we were to rank the most adaptable people in the world, at least eight or nine of the top ten would be hunters.
Ancil nodded politely and reservedly, "Of course, Mrs. Duda."
As the leader of the advance team, Duda had the authority to direct scholars and logistics personnel, but he could not command the two hunters.
After all, Gordon and the others were not part of the advance team, they were just traveling along the way.
But, she has other ways.
"The rebellious young master of the Sterling family has grown so big in a blink of an eye. Do you still remember your Aunt Duda?
Ah... It's normal if you don't remember. After all, the last time I went to see your mother for tea was almost twenty years ago. "Duda had a look of regret and loss on his face.
Anhir: "..."
"I really miss it. Little Anxier always liked to hold..."
"Okay, Aunt Duda." Anxil's mouth twitched fiercely, "If you need any help from us, just ask."
"Oh, is that okay?"
Duda shook his palms. This action reminded Gordon of the third princess waving a fan.
"Actually, it's not a big deal. Could you please confirm the safety of the surrounding area as soon as possible? For example, whether there are any traces of monsters.
We will prepare a hot dinner here to welcome you back. Mrs. Duda said with a smile.
"Let's go, Gordon. Stay with Gale in case any small monsters wander in."
With that said, Anhil shouldered the heavy crossbow and walked out.
Gordon did not follow immediately, but asked Duda in a low voice, "Ma'am, so what did Ancil like to hold when he was a child?"
Duda winked at Gordon and the pork chop that came over, and chuckled: "It's a pet pig doll. His mother even complained to me, saying that little Ancil couldn't sleep without holding it.
Oops, why is my memory so good that I can even remember this? "
...
Ancil, who was so embarrassed by Gordon's teasing about the pet pig doll, reached for the black and gold heavy crossbow behind him.
There is only one situation in which it is not illegal for a crossbowman to pull the trigger on a human.
That is when the crossbow is loaded with recovery ammunition, ghost ammunition and other auxiliary ammunition.
He carries these with him.
"Okay, okay, no kidding." Gordon, who didn't want to be slapped in the face by the reply, changed the subject, "So your family is very familiar with Ms. Duda?"
"Not really. She and her mother were good friends, but she may have focused on archaeological work later and didn't have much contact with her."
While Gordon focused most of his energy on paying attention to the surrounding environment and possible traces of monsters, he casually asked Ancil, "Is the one behind you the new heavy crossbow made of Lanlong materials?"
"Um."
Speaking of this, An Xil's expression suddenly turned from thunderous to sunny.
"Why does it look like a wall clock..."
Anhil opened his mouth to refute, but found that he couldn't refute. Gordon's complaint was very accurate. He himself felt that the shape of this heavy crossbow was like a bell.
With no choice, I had to ignore the styling issue and introduce the inner workings of this heavy crossbow.
For example, it can load an amazing amount of normal ammunition, it can load almost all kinds of abnormal status ammunition, and it can also shoot penetrating ammunition while squatting.
It can be said that it is the strongest and most versatile heavy crossbow among all the weapons currently owned by Ancil.
The two people quickly surveyed the surrounding area with the location where the advance team was stationed as the center.
Nothing was found.
The land here is barren, let alone monsters, not even slightly larger animals are seen. Only drought-resistant reptiles such as spiders and beetles can often be seen.
No obvious footprints were found. Of course, this means nothing in the windy and sandy desert area.
After confirming that there was no danger nearby, Gordon glanced at the sky.
There was still some time before sunset, so it was a little early to go back now. After consulting Ansiel and Zhuba for their opinions, the two of them walked out of the village wall and came to the empty but uneven sandy land in front of the village.
Among the yellow sand, there are many masonry fragments half-buried. As for the source of the fragments, it is naturally the broken city wall nearby.
In addition to the masonry, there are also some huge components scattered everywhere.
For example, there were copper-red beams that were probably used to reinforce the building, weird mechanical parts, ordinary metal plates, etc. Gordon even saw a corroded and deformed cannon...
They are all of little value.
"Gordon! This way!"
Gordon, who was looking at the broken dragon gun, heard Ancier's call and walked over quickly.
The latter was standing on the edge of a funnel-shaped bunker.
"This should be the location where the mechanical giant burrowed into the ground and disappeared."
Anhil looked at the surrounding environment and said: "The bunker is very wide, but not deep. The yellow sand blown by the strong wind should have filled the hole. Maybe after a while, the bunker will be completely leveled. .
How about, do you want to let the pork chop dig in and take a look first? "
Gordon circled the bunker.
Under the golden red sunset, the yellow sand in the sand pit reflects a golden luster.
"Don't worry, this is a desert, there may be quicksand underground, it's too dangerous to dig down.
Let's go back first and have a good night's rest. Anyway, this exploration mission has no time limit, so we can take our time. "
