"I caught a spy!" the Papalar man said confidently. Fang Yu lifted him up by his shoulders and looked at the pitiful little thing that was pinned down by Parker. The little thing was half a head shorter than Parker, with gray skin covered with scales, pointed ears, and a pair of big black eyes.
Fang Plover recognized that it was a kobold. They are quite common in the underground world and survive by eating insects and fungi. Most kobolds have extremely limited intelligence, and there are very few who can speak as smoothly as this one. Most of the people active in the empire are gray-scaled kobolds, just like the one in front of them. Their intelligence level is not even comparable to that of Ithurian's distant relatives.
Kobolds are generally not dangerous. Because they are timid and lack aggressiveness, and they are not capable of being spies. If anyone thinks of training kobolds as subordinates, he must be out of his mind. Fang Plover dragged the Papalar away, looked at the trembling little thing, and asked, "Your name is Pepe?"
The little thing was holding his head, looking at them pitifully, and begging, "Pepe is a good person."
"It's not up to you to decide whether you are a good person or not," Fang Yu replied. "You answer my questions seriously and I will judge whether you have bad intentions."
"Why are you talking to it so much?" Parker bared his teeth at the little thing in dissatisfaction, "It is sneaking behind us, how can it be kind?"
His vicious expression made the other party tremble, and the words that came to his lips were frightened back into his stomach.
Fang Pliance kicked the Papalar man angrily, "You go away! You have made a contribution to this matter, but if you keep talking nonsense, the bonus will be gone."
Parker was full of complaints but was blocked by the bonus, and walked aside. Sylvide looked at this scene with some humor and took a gold coin and put it in his hand.
The Papalar man became a little nervous and said loudly: "I will not accept bribes from you two." But as he said that, he wiped the Kaulin gold coin worth seven to eight hundred Lisels on his gloves and said, "I will not accept bribes from you two." Into the pocket.
"You guys have such a good relationship." Luo Wei said with some envy when she saw this situation.
Sylvide smiled and said, "If Senior Luo Wei wants to come to the Seven Seas Brigade, Ed will definitely welcome her."
"Haha, let me thank you for your kindness first," Luo Wei smiled and shook her head, "But I have a contract with the club, so it's not that easy."
"That's not necessarily true. Ms. Ming is the president of the Godslayer, right?"
Luo Wei was startled for a moment, as if she thought of something.
On the other side, Fang Plover finally calmed the little thing down.
"Your name is Pepe?"
"Pepe is Pepe," the kobold barked, "Pepe is a good person. Pepe is not following you sneakily. He just asked Pepe to take a look. He said that you and the people above are not the same." .”
"Big guy?" Fang Plover looked at the other person in surprise. This kobold could understand what they said and organize basic logic. This was not easy. It is also a grey-scaled kobold, which can be said to be the weakest in intelligence in this lineage. Either it is extremely talented or has another fate.
He couldn't help but become interested in the big guy in the other person's mouth.
"A big guy is a big guy. He is much bigger than Pepe, and also much bigger than you." Pepe replied with his big dark eyes flashing.
"Really? The big guy asked you to follow us," Fang Plover asked, "Why?"
Those people above naturally refer to the Imperial people, but how the other party can tell that they are not from the same group as the Imperial people is not something that can be judged simply by relying on a little intelligence. It needs to be analyzed from the perspective of motivation, and there may even be some intuition. judgment. Who is that big guy? Is he an earth elemental?
"Because Aona wants to meet you, the big guy asked Pepe to lead the way."
"Who is Aona?"
"Aona is Aona."
Fang Plover asked again and again, but Pepe kept saying the same words back and forth. It seemed that although his intelligence was much higher than that of the average kobold, it was still limited and his words were confusing.
But he understood clearly that there was a being named Aona who wanted to see them. He didn't know whether this Aona was a human being, but the name sounded like a woman. The big man and the Pepe in front of him were all related to Aona. The little head was heartless, but the big man still seemed to have some concerns about them, so he asked Pepe to follow them.
In that case, the big guy should be not far away.
He looked around with some curiosity. Why would his group be targeted when they entered this underground ruins?
Judging from the words, the other party seemed to have met the people of the Empire, but he did not take the initiative to deal with the Empire, but came to him. Is it just because he is not from the Empire? This reason does not seem to be tenable. Even if Pepe and the owner behind him have a rift with the Empire, it does not mean that everyone outside the Empire is a good person.
The big man looked so alert that he believed that the person behind it who could direct him would not be so naive. So what is the other reason? What is the difference between myself and the people of the Empire? The identity of the Kaolin people and the identity of the craftsman seemed wrong. Fang Yu's heart skipped a beat. There was indeed something about him that was different from ordinary people.
Such as the Ring of Golden Flame, such as the Glory of Cang, such as Miss Tata, such as... Zero Crystal. He came here just for the Type Zero Magic Furnace, so the first thing he naturally thought of was the Type Zero Crystal. Could it be that the other party was related to the inheritor of the sixth technical route, so he sensed the Type Zero on him through some means? crystal?
The more Fang Yu thought about it, the closer he felt that he was getting closer to the truth. If there are still descendants of the inheritors of the sixth technical route left under this ruins, then everything will make sense. Why did the clues in the Temple of Knowledge reach the people first? Someone must have rushed in before the Imperials entered. Evidence has been eliminated here before.
He couldn't help but feel a little excited in his heart, just like the extinguished hope was rekindled by fire, the originally broken clues were connected again, and it took no effort to get them. He looked at Pepe and asked, "You said someone wants to meet us, where is she? Or can you take us to meet the big guy?"
Pepe nodded vigorously, "Pepe can lead the way."
Sure enough, Fang Plover breathed a sigh of relief. "Peipe, wait a minute." He took out the communication crystal, "We still have some companions in this ruins. I have to call them back first."
"Pepe knows," the kobold nodded again, "As long as you don't hit Pepe, Pepe can wait."
"Don't worry," Fang Plover replied, "I have driven away that bad guy."
The kobold's dark eyes couldn't help but reveal some gratitude.
Fang Yu felt a little sorry for deceiving this little guy, but then he thought about it and he really didn't intend to do anything to the other party. He took out the communication crystal and asked about the situation on Alyssa and Luo Hao's side. Both teams were different from him. Almost, not to mention getting nothing, at least nothing.
However, after hearing what happened here, both of them were a little surprised. Who would have thought that they would encounter such a thing. The Imperial people had obviously turned this place upside down, and there was nothing left. It's almost the same. The scope of the ruins is not very large. It is said to be a 'city', but it is just a small town on the edge of the cliff. The two groups quickly returned to the central square to meet them.
Thinking about the descendants of the sixth technical route who entered the underground, it was obvious that there were not too many people. Hundreds of people maintained the city underground for a long time until it finally withered. There may be a few people left to pass on from generation to generation. Today there are not many people left in the underground. The Aona mentioned by Pepe may be one of those people.
Maybe even the last descendant.
Fang Yu has already thought about a lot of things.
And when he saw the 'big guy', he felt even more certain.
The group of people stood in front of the 'big guy', looking up at each other.
The opponent was not the earth element or similar rock-derived creature as imagined in advance, but it did not escape Fang Plover's general guess. It was a heavy, old iron statue. Like all magical creatures that have worked overtime, its appearance is covered with rust, its original decorations are in disrepair, and there is even a big hole in its chest, and the working gears can be seen inside.
It is indeed tall and tall, almost as high as two stories. Its core is powered by an old-fashioned magic furnace. It is a type between the tower magic furnace and the new magic furnace, or it is the later work of those craftsmen. A masterpiece, either transformed by Aona herself. The magic furnace is connected to the piston, which is driven by curved stems and gears to move slowly.
The steam rising from the chimney at the back does not come from the steam engine, but from the evaporated coolant. However, it is actually an air-water cooling device made by using the wind element core to solidify water molecules (element particles) in the air. This design It's quite old, but much more complete than what Fang Plover has seen in the museum.
It had a video crystal mounted on its head, and it was also looking down at Fang Pliance and his group. The crystal shone with orange light and looked like the headlights of a steam locomotive. But after a while, this old and tall iron statue spoke in front of Fang Plover and others, and its voice buzzed:
"Thank you for not harming Pepe, everyone," it said in a roaring tone, but it seemed to be talking to itself, "Ms. Aona wants to see you, please come with me."
"It can talk."
Shui Wuming was surprised.
Although golems, iron dolls, rune guards and flexible constructs are roughly two types of magical constructs, most of the former have a certain degree of autonomy. This is because the wizards who made them implanted in them materials from other creatures. The most common souls are various spirits, even demon pets, and even human souls.
Of course, the last one is strictly prohibited by the Tower of Star and Moon, but it has been repeatedly banned in the hands of some evil warlocks. The incomplete soul endows the puppet machine guards with a certain intelligence, just like the clockwork puppet that Fang Lu once encountered in the abandoned castle at Masonk Creek, but most of them are extremely limited.
They act on instinct, which is generally used in combat. They can't even do daily chores, let alone speak. No wonder Shui Wuming was so surprised. Giving a machine a soul is basically a miracle in the field of alchemy, and it's the kind of thing that's legendary. The craftsmen generally sneered at the wizard's tricks, thinking that it was just a kind of opportunism.
What's more, it's an opportunistic move with a lot of negative effects.
However, the magicians also have reasons to look down on the alchemists, because essentially, the alchemists' method of creating dragon knights copied their method of making golems.
Of course, alchemy does not pursue autonomy. The dragon soul exists only to assist the dragon knight in better controlling his machinery. The free dragon soul only exists in the dragon soul in nature, except... Fang Plover looked at his tower. Miss. Miss Tata was quiet, also looking at the tall machine in front of her.
"The world of alchemy is full of magical things," she whispered to Fang Plover. "Just like the Silver Tower can create me, maybe someone can create a machine with a free soul."
Fang Yu nodded slightly, but did not make a conclusion.
"Perhaps someone is using it to talk to us behind the scenes," Xiaoyao expressed his judgment, "Maybe it is Ms. Aona."
His judgment was the most realistic, and Shui Wuming and others nodded. However, the tall 'machine' did not comment on this. Fang Plover looked at the other party and asked another question that he wanted to know the answer to more, "How did you tell that we and the Imperial people were not from the same group? I guess you didn't." Have you ever dealt with people from the Empire?"
He was not just thinking randomly. If the Empire had discovered this machine and the owner behind it, they and Pepe would probably not be here long ago. The Imperials are not that unreasonable, not to mention they are just a small team, and behind the Oshu people is a huge country, and they will definitely take away all possible clues here.
"I am more familiar with the Empire than you think." Unexpectedly, the other party gave such an answer in a roaring voice.
"Then what's your name?" Fang Plover asked, "We can't call you 'Big Guy', right?"
"You can call me Otta," Big Man replied in a huffy voice. "That's the name the lady gave me."
Fang Plover was startled, that was the meaning of steel in imperial language.
It seems that the woman named Aona is probably related to the Imperial people.
But the tall machine didn't seem to want to tell them more. It turned around and walked forward slowly. Its mountain-like body is huge, but its steps are not cumbersome, nor does it feel like the earth is shaking. It feels more like a huge creature, huge, but dexterous.
Several young people from different guilds couldn't help but be surprised.
"No matter who made it sound," Xiaoyao said, "at least this level is unparalleled. There are many dexterous structures nowadays that cannot achieve this level of flexibility. You must know that this is an old antique. It seems that this time we are going to correct."
"But this is a golem," Shui Wuming was a little worried. "Most golems are made by magicians and elementalists. Can we really learn anything from them? This golem feels very strange to me. , It’s like a natural dragon soul has been implanted in an old body. If that’s the case, the inspiration for us will be very limited. We are alchemists.”
Several people murmured, but Fang Yu didn't pay attention to it.
The other members of the Seven Seas Brigade have not done much research on magic machinery. At most, they are a little curious about this 'big guy'. However, Fang Plover has been carefully looking at the crank rods, pistons and gears on the opponent's body, seeming to want to find out from them. There is a clue about the former batch of inheritors of the sixth technical route.
A group of top craftsmen once lived here underground. It is not surprising that they have researched anything. Maybe the 'big guy' in front of them is one of their masterpieces. Otherwise, it would be too coincidental. This underground ruins are similar to those in China. Alchemy in modern times is so closely connected, and there happens to be such a construct here.
Especially the 'big' energy-supplied tower magic furnace, such a design is rarely seen nowadays.
However, it seemed that Ota was taciturn and tight-lipped. Fang Yu expected that the other party would not answer his questions, so he did not ask for trouble. And since Aona took the initiative to see them, she must have something to ask them. In this case, instead of asking this big guy, it would be better to directly ask the owner behind it.
As for whether this is a trap.
Fang Yu didn't think about it that much. First of all, it was out of confidence in himself and the Seven Seas Brigade.
Secondly, he had no other clues to get besides this.
In fact, it was pretty much what he imagined. The journey was uneventful. Ota's tall figure led them through the underground city and towards the rock wall, which was beyond the scope of the ruins. Fang Yu was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but suddenly realized that the empire would definitely not let go of any inch of land in the ruins. If the other party was still in the city, the Oshu people would have discovered it long ago.
However, he did not expect that they would go so far. After leaving the underground city, Ota took them on the road for at least half an hour, going deeper and deeper underground. However, the surrounding scenery remained unchanged, and there were still those tall and tall people. mushrooms and glowing plants.
Even Fang Plover became a little suspicious. The other party was so far away from the ruins. How did they know that they had entered the city and made Otta and Pepe rush to that place? He asked this question, but the answer he got was that Otta and the little head man had actually been guarding that place to guard against the imperial people.
But I didn't expect to wait for them.
Ota didn't answer, and Pepe answered incoherently, but it was still understandable.
Aona was probably able to remotely monitor that place through some means. Fang Yu thought it might be through some equipment on Otta's body.
Understanding this, he stopped talking and others followed him. After walking for a while, the landscape in front finally changed. The rift valley had not become lower, but there were fewer mushrooms, and stone stalactites began to appear around it again - the erosion of the underground rivers that originally flowed through this place. The formation of rock pillars is much taller than the layers above.
Limestone pillars stand tall and straight into the darkness on the rock dome, connecting the sky and the earth. Next to these natural wonders, mortals are as small as dwarfs entering the kingdom of giants. Those tall pillars are the giants' corridors, and they are like a The rocky forest casts a shaking shadow between the torches raised by everyone.
After walking in these winding caves for an unknown amount of time, the tall iron statue in front finally stopped. Ota turned around and said to everyone: "We are here."
"What is this place?" The Papalar man looked at this strange place and couldn't help but feel a little frightened. "Where did you bring us?"
"This is the Hall of Giants," Otta replied angrily as he looked at the rock pillars. "In the past, there was an underground lake here. The water flowed down from the lake you saw above, and through this place, this forest was formed. . It used to be called Kastana, and there used to be a floating market, but then the underground river flowed to the other side, and it became what it is today.”
"This is the gray field. Many people buried themselves in this place. It is the last tomb of the king." Its voice became deeper and was finally replaced by a light female voice. "They have been here for generations, witnessing the history of this place." Alphonsus has also witnessed all these changes, which is why it is so angry at those treacherous people on the surface.”
Fang Yu unexpectedly looked in the direction where the sound came from.
He saw a fluorescent, translucent girl coming out from behind the rock pillar and watching them from a distance.
"Oh my god," Xiaoyao screamed in fright when he saw this scene: "Ghost!"
…
