The safe return of Pork Chop made Gordon and the others finally feel relieved after worrying about it for a long time.
When the former reported on the situation in the underground cave, Gordon specially called Ms. Duda over.
Exploring unknown areas is what the scholars of Longli Academy are most concerned about. They all dream of discovering some new ruins.
But after listening carefully to Pork Chop's report, Ms. Duda frowned.
“From the description, the caves under this ruins don’t look like artificially constructed ruins, but more like naturally formed hollow landforms.
Piglet Chop, have you found any traces of artificial creation? "
"There's meow!"
Pig Chop pulled the picture it drew, "In these areas, many man-made artifacts were found, including fragments of masonry structures and large metal components."
Speaking of this, Zhupa thought for a while and added, "The areas where these man-made objects are distributed coincide with the areas where those golden beetles appear. Meow.
I don’t know if there is any connection between the two. "
Ms. Duda nodded slowly, "In this case, it may be that ancient craftsmen carried out some construction around this naturally formed cave."
After Ms. Duda finished speaking, Gordon also spoke.
He paid more attention to those golden beetle monsters than to the ruins or anything like that.
"Pork Chop, do those golden beetles communicate with each other?"
"Meow?"
"Let me put it more directly. Do you think there is sociality among these monsters? Do they live in groups like velociraptors? Or do they fight alone or even compete with each other?"
Pig Chop scratched his beard and said, "I'm not sure about the meow. It should be a gregarious cat? But it's not necessarily a meow. Those beetles are not too close to each other."
"I hope they are not living in groups, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble once a fight breaks out." Ancier whispered.
Speaking of the unknown golden beetle, Ms. Duda also seemed very concerned.
Although the main direction of her research is in archeology, as a scholar of the Ryūli Academy, she also has a fairly in-depth understanding of the types of monsters and their evolution.
"Judging from the sketches that Ancil drew for me before, this suspected beetle-like creature has a very primitive body structure and is probably some kind of ancient species that has become extinct or has never been discovered.
If you have the chance, I hope you can bring back some specimens. The old guys in the paleontological research department will be crazy about it, and the chief researcher will not be stingy with the rewards. "
If you say so, we won't be sleepy.
Gordon and Ancier exchanged glances, ready to find the chance to bring one back at least with one leg.
After the report, Gordon asked Pork Chop to rest early, while he discussed with Ancil and Ms. Duda late at night to determine the exploration process of the underground cave.
He had a hunch that some surprises were waiting for them in the underground caves.
...
In the dark cave that is invisible to humans, a spark lights up.
"Bah."
Gordon struck the flint and lit the wick of the kerosene lamp. The orange-red flame drove away the darkness within a few dozen meters.
"Hugh~."
Gordon whistled, "This underground cave is indeed higher and more spacious than I thought."
Anhil also lit a kerosene lamp, but instead of holding it himself, he hung it on Gale, using it as a moving light source.
Looking around by the firelight, Gordon quickly came to a conclusion, "It is a naturally formed cave. It is not known whether the ancient people built a fortress on such an unstable landform intentionally or accidentally." .”
Ancier ignored Gordon's emotion. He is a very efficient person. "Pigcho will lead the way. Let's first go to the place where you mentioned that the artifacts were found."
"Good meow!"
The group moved into a tight formation.
Different from being cautious when exploring alone before, this time with companions by his side, Pig Chop led the way very quickly.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the cave area where artificial objects were scattered around the pig's mouth and where golden beetles were active, and the exploration operation officially began.
Nearby, there were a lot of messy building fragments and metal structures, but no trace of the golden beetle was found.
Gordon speculated that it might be because of time.
It was afternoon to night when Pork Chop explored the ruins yesterday, and now it is morning. Those golden beetles may have gone to other places.
This is definitely a good thing for hunters.
Although they did come with the idea of "taking some biological specimens back", it was best before leaving the underground cave.
Otherwise, the noise of the battle is likely to attract other beetles, affecting subsequent exploration.
What is this thing, like a wheel made of steel? The diameter is almost twenty meters, so big!
What is this? A statue made of copper?
Why are there still cannons? !
The more Gordon investigated, the more strange he felt. These metal structures had no connection with each other, and they were all very heavy, so they should not appear together.
Could it be that this underground cave was a dumping ground where ancient people discarded metal scraps? Or a smelting plant that recycles metal?
"Gordon, come and take a look."
Gordon, who was looking around the large-caliber cannon, heard Ancier's call and walked over quickly.
"Look at these." Anhil pointed at a large piece of building debris in front of him.
This building fragment, which was the size of a two-story house, was made of gray-yellow bricks. Gordon frowned, feeling a sense of déjà vu.
"Is this...?"
"Well, it should be part of the city wall of the ancient village ruins. The specifications of the bricks and the degree of weathering are the same." Anhil said while touching the broken pieces of the city wall.
Gordon squatted down, inspected the section of the lower city wall fragments, and then emphatically confirmed the condition of the ground beneath the lower city wall fragments.
His expression gradually became serious, "The cross section is relatively new. Judging from the traces on the ground, it should have just fallen here not long ago. If I guess correctly..."
"Yes, it should be part of the ancient wall of the ancient village that was eaten by the mechanical beast before." An Xir continued.
After that, he tilted his head towards Gordon and said, "Let's take a look at this again."
Anhil led Gordon to a much smaller piece of building debris. Gordon's brows furrowed even more.
Different from the gray and yellow bricks that can be seen everywhere in the ruins of the ancient village, this building fragment is made of blue stone bricks, which obviously came from elsewhere.
"This kind of blue-gray stone is not found in desert areas, but it is more common in the Xiuret area in the northern part of the continent, all the way to East Dorumana." Anhil added next to him:
"Not to mention other pieces, this fragment alone weighs at least several tons. It is not easy to transport, and no one will spend a lot of effort to transport these worthless building fragments."
"It must be that mechanical behemoth. It has the habit of destroying city walls and devouring them. It may have chewed them off from other places and vomited them here."
"What an incomprehensible habit."
"yes....."
"Woof!"
Gordon and Ancil were discussing when they suddenly heard the barking of the strong wind.
The big dog ran over, grabbed the edge of Ancier's armor, and dragged him to a huge stone pillar lying on the ground.
It slapped the stone pillar with its paws and stuck out its tongue, as if asking for credit.
Gordon looked intently.
By the light of the oil lamp, he discovered that there were some golden silk threads stuck to the place where the strong wind beat.
