A huge hole is located at the end of this alley.
Vanna came to the edge of the hole, and the alleyway ended abruptly here. The ground and ceiling disappeared in front of it as if they were swallowed by something invisible. And opposite the neat break, the huge and empty darkness even made her... The inquisitors all felt a huge pressure, and the instinctive fear of human beings when facing such a huge dark space came overwhelmingly.
Morris also followed him to the empty "entrance". He raised the lantern in his hand, but the light from the special underground lantern seemed to be swallowed directly - the light did not disappear, but because the dark space in front was too huge. , so that there is nothing to reflect the light in all directions. The light gradually decays in the darkness, and finally only illuminates a steep slope extending downward from the pit wall, and the rest of the place is still shrouded in darkness.
"This... no matter how you look at it, it can't be the original structure in the mine." Fanna took a breath and looked back at the mine tunnel that the group of people walked along. "The normal passage suddenly stopped here. Stop it...this location should be the 'stone wall' mentioned in the report."
Morris bent down and carefully examined the inner wall of a small hollow illuminated by a lantern: "It feels like there was some huge 'thing' filling this place, but now that thing has disappeared out of thin air, leaving behind A big hole."
"Such a large cavity did not collapse, but stabilized?" Duncan couldn't help frowning, and his tone was worried when he looked up at the darkness, "If a collapse occurs here, at least one-third of the upper I’m afraid there will be big problems in the city.”
Having said this, he suddenly looked back at Agatha: "Are you okay? You didn't seem to be in the right state from just now?"
"I...can't see clearly what you mean by 'empty'," Agatha said hesitantly, "I only see a huge and distorted reverberation here, and the wind is full of noise. There is really nothing in front of it. There's none?"
"There's nothing, at least visually, and you can't feel the pollution left by the extraordinary power." Fanna nodded firmly, then thoughtfully, "But you can feel it... maybe it's because of this place What is left behind resonates with you?”
"I don't know," Agatha shook her head, then turned to Duncan, "What do you think?"
"We should go in and see what's going on here." Duncan had already made his decision, and then he waved in the air, and a group of green flames appeared beside him out of thin air, and the skeleton bird wrapped in flames emerged from the air. It fluttered out from the flames and landed on his shoulder with ease.
Ai Yi tilted his head and looked around: "The old driver is here! The old driver is here!"
"It cannot be ruled out that this 'cave' is at risk of collapse, so take this pigeon with you," Duncan explained. "Don't scatter after entering. Pay attention to the surroundings at any time for signs of instability. Pay attention to the movement above your head. Once there are signs of collapse, Teleport to all."
"Yes, Captain." "Understood." "Okay." "Hehe..."
Duncan knocked Alice on the head casually, then checked the terrain at the edge of the hole, took a gentle breath, and was the first to step out of the darkness.
Others followed closely behind.
Stepping into the cave is a rather steep slope, and the slope is not continuous. There will be height differences and winding "forks" at any time in the middle. You must be extra careful every step you take, and this winding road The difficult slope continued straight into the darkness, as if it could reach the bottom of the cave.
The slope gives the impression of a deep indentation in the rock left by some form of long-term erosion.
Duncan moved forward cautiously in the darkness, while the green flames burned and spread quietly under his feet. The endless spiritual fire illuminated the small space around the path, and also left a striking "flame" behind everyone. "Path", looking back, you can see lines of fire, winding in the darkness outlining the path to the exit of the cave.
When exploring such a huge and dark underground space, it is very important to make good road signs. Although the pigeon spirit is used as the ultimate means of evacuation, out of caution, Duncan still left his own flames along the way - these flames also extend His perception helps him grasp the subtle changes in the inner wall of the cave at any time.
A storm sword made of ice has been condensed in Vanna's hand. She holds the sword in one hand, alert to the monsters that may be hiding in this huge darkness. Alice carefully holds her head the whole time, for fear of falling due to a slip. In this darkness, her head was missing, and Agatha was affected by some kind of "reverberation" in the cave. She could only be supported by Vana, and she carefully took steps on the rugged slope.
Morris was curiously observing the stones on the roadside under his feet.
"Very dense rocks... and they seem to be fused and squeezed together." He raised the lantern, his eyes flashing with a faint silver light, and looked as far away as possible, "If the entire inner wall of the cave is composed of this kind of rock layer, Perhaps explaining why it remains stable even after its 'contents' are gone - the stones form a dense and thick 'inner shell' that supports the entire structure."
Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment and then said uncertainly: "But I'm afraid that just one inner shell is not enough. For such a large-scale cavity, there should be other supports in the middle."
Fanna couldn't help but turn her head and glance at the old man: "How much do you know about this field?"
"Mathematics, history, chemistry, mysticism, physics, a little knowledge of geology and mining, and some knowledge of fighting, firearms, machinery and explosions," Morris said casually, "Any questions?"
Fanna was stunned: "You... how did you do it?"
"Just read more books," Morris said. "It's not surprising that I know these things. I am a historian after all."
Vanna looked at Morris with a strange look, thinking to herself that among the many subjects mentioned just now, apart from firearms, fighting and demolition, which one could be related to the professional needs of a "historian", but she hesitated. I didn't feel embarrassed to say it for a long time.
The expression on Agatha's face, who was being supported by Vanna, was even weirder - the gatekeeper lady was once again deeply shocked by the followers around Captain Duncan. The last time she had a similar feeling, she still knew that Vanna was a " When I was a sports student...
However, Morris himself obviously did not have the consciousness to arouse everyone's amazement. At this time, his attention was once again attracted by the "stone" under his feet.
Under the light of the lantern and the green fire, the surface of these stones glowed with a slight metallic luster, and I don't know if it was an illusion... There seemed to be some special lines on their surface.
The old scholar bent down, picked up a piece of gravel, and examined it curiously.
He suddenly stopped.
Duncan also stopped and looked at the stone in Morris' hand curiously: "Is there any problem?"
After several seconds, Morris seemed to suddenly react and spoke slowly in a strange tone: "...it's boiling gold."
Agatha immediately turned her head: "Boiling gold?"
"The boiling gold raw ore is so pure that it can be directly stuffed into the steam core reactor..." Morris muttered to himself in astonishment, and then quickly bent down to pick up another piece of gravel. After inspecting it, he simply squatted down. He came down and carefully inspected every rock under his feet. The more he inspected, the more frightened he became, "It's the same here... No wonder, no wonder I thought the texture of these 'stones' was very strange just now. It was just because it was too dark. Can be found..."
The old scholar suddenly stopped and looked up at Duncan and Agatha.
The expression on his face was strangely astonished, but also vaguely excited about a huge discovery: "It is indeed boiling gold, Captain, Agatha - this entire cave is made of boiling gold! At least it is The bottom of the pit is covered with raw ore!"
Everyone fell silent, and in this silence, Duncan could clearly feel Agatha's emotions fluctuating violently, and Vanna even felt her body trembling slightly.
No one understands the meaning of "boiling gold" better than a native Frostman.
"Everything here is boiling gold. We also saw the remaining veins of boiling gold in the mine before," Vanna grabbed Agatha's hand and whispered, "It seems that at least for a period of time, Hanshuang doesn't have to worry too much. ”
"Yes... don't worry... there is boiling gold here..." Agatha murmured to herself, but her tone was unusually complicated, "But why, why are there these things..."
"Will the erosion of Holy Lord Netherworld leave boiling gold?" Duncan couldn't help but frown, "If the inference based on the intelligence is correct, this is how this big hole should have come..."
Everyone seemed to suddenly become serious, so much so that even Alice, who had always been slow to react, felt the change in the atmosphere. Miss Doll couldn't help but come over and gently pulled Duncan's arm, and cautiously said: "Captain... What is boiling gold?”
Duncan: "..."
When everyone is so serious, it's hard to believe that this idiot is still an unwavering idiot.
He sighed: "Boiling gold is the foundation of modern industry and the energy source for all steam-powered machinery - just like people need to eat, machines also need boiling gold to run."
Alice listened half-comprehensively, and after a long time she suddenly nodded: "Oh——"
Duncan didn't care whether the illiterate puppet really understood or not, and once again cast his gaze into the darkness ahead.
This huge underground cavity has completely aroused his curiosity.
If the entire cave is made of extremely pure boiling gold...then what will be waiting for him in the deepest part of the cave?
(End of chapter)
