Sonia was so happy that she almost danced in circles with Griffith. She immediately caught up with the hired worker who had just left and asked for a fossil to come back. She read the notes happily, tapping her toes on the ground from time to time.
Professor Bell's investigation records were additional intelligence that could be used as reference material to make her own assignments better, and more importantly, it piqued her curiosity. It is definitely a rare adventure to stumble upon a major archaeological discovery in the ruins.
Griffith didn't know much about mysticism, but he keenly noticed that Professor Bell must have been in an extremely excited state when he wrote the speech, so that his logic was somewhat confused. The professor's team should have first exploded the limestone layer and discovered the fossilized remains of the ancient forest. During the subsequent excavations, they obtained significant results. They discovered the fossil of an ancient creature that had continuously evolved and left clear stripes and wavy marks.
This is the logical sequence that the speech section of the notes should have.
It can be seen that the discovery of this batch of fossils has amazing academic value, so much so that when Professor Bell started writing, his mind was filled with the great archaeological discoveries of Archaean organisms, and he made grammatical mistakes that even first-year students would not make. Moreover, this obvious error was not discovered until he sent the note to his sponsor. He must have reviewed his manuscript three times, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
The professor's sanity miraculously evaporated in the face of this astonishing discovery. He dedicates his precious manpower to escorting the notebook and the batch of fossils away, like a child anxious to show his parents a butterfly he has just caught.
Griffith asked with some worry: "Knight Roland believes that there was a mutation near the swamp, which was the cause of the previous battle. It is not far away from Professor Bell's excavation work. Isn't there any dangerous radiation in these fossils?" "
Galadia hurriedly examined the fossils, but found no abnormalities.
Everyone gathered around Sonia and read the follow-up to the professor's notes. It reads:
"We've made some amazing discoveries in the limestone and among the bones.
"These were some huge, misshapen fossils of a completely unknown species; we initially thought they might be some kind of plant.
"However, upon further study we discovered that these were pupae with wavy strips attached to them. The sample was damaged, but strange structures like cavities could be seen.
"Its limb structure shows irregular radials and many indescribable deformities, and is more twisted than known mutant creatures. Around the center of the torso, there are multiple ridges, and the limb trunks or tentacles are branched from them. All the limbs were found attached to the torso, and we hypothesized that it could expand, and the dissection work confirmed our suspicion."
"Look at these stripes," Sonia pointed to the sketch of the specimen drawn in her notes and put forward some radical and bold ideas, "These are the traces left by large ancient creatures, like highly evolved creatures. We may be able to Ancient fossils of their community have been discovered in the ruins!”
Griffith stared at the indescribable compositions. If this is a creature, then it must have many wriggling tentacles growing on its body, or it must be wrapped in vines.
"Sonia, don't get excited. You must stay calm during archaeological and historical research. Don't lose your mind because of sudden discoveries." Galadia rubbed her companion's blond hair. "The discovery of this ancient creature requires more and more detailed evidence. Come support.”
"What you said makes sense, Galadia!" Sonia held the elf's hand, her eyes shining with sapphire light, "If these are not fossils left by living things, how did these distinctive traces come about? ? Running water and weathering will not leave such vivid marks. Everyone, after we arrive at the main camp, can we change the route? I want to go to the professor to dig a piece of slate and take it back for analysis. Okay, okay! "
"..." Galadia didn't expect that her words would be followed like this, and she looked at her companion with wide eyes.
Sonia has been in a state of high excitement ever since she saw these reports. She took action quickly and drafted several formal letters during her break, preparing to forward them to the officials of Tynephes and Turanburg after the expedition, to apply for permission for subsequent excavation and protection work, and proposed to form a multi-party team. specialized research station.
Her beautiful eyes shone with wisdom and concentration, and she carefully explained every detail mentioned in the notes to everyone. After she finished talking about the notes, she started talking about other things, even the generational characteristics of ancient shellfish. Don't let it go.
When everyone was fed up with the annoyance, she grabbed Griffith and told him.
"Don't worry about the family tradition," Fiona whispered to the worried people, "I heard from my father that the last Miss Larmore was an archaeologist who was keen on learning and exploring. The current earl traveled to wonders and monuments around the world. Later they got married and took a honeymoon trip to dangerous ruins in the south. The countess danced on the totems of primitive tribes, and the earl had to fight a battle with the furious locals. Only then was he able to escape.
"..." These words made everyone feel even more uneasy.
"The Countess is quite stable now," said Griffiths, who finally took a break and prepared to drink some orange juice. He met the countess many times at dinner parties. She had impeccable elegance and etiquette, and was much more stable than Sonia.
Fiona shook her head hesitantly: "Have you seen Sonia's little occult warehouse?"
"I've seen it," Griffith gestured to everyone, "It's bigger than her bedroom."
Before Galadia and Lana could show their surprised expressions, Fiona raised her index finger and shook it: "Then haven't you seen the countess's small warehouse? She is as big as a classroom underground in the Earl's Mansion. The room is filled with...well, indescribable collections."
Galadia covered her face and looked at Sonia who was sitting not far away, as if she were looking at a piece of sodium metal that would be thrown into the water at any time.
"I'm telling you, don't tell anyone~" Fiona lowered her voice and whispered to everyone mysteriously, "My dad said that the count and his wife never gave up this hobby after they had their eldest son Nolan. Sony Ya was conceived by them on a stone tablet in a ruins in the Western Region."
"How did Count Chalon know? (Why is it on the stone tablet?)"
Griffith and Lana asked in unison, and then let out a long "Oh" together.
Galadia took out her notebook and hit them.
…
The inspection is a very painful thing. Putting aside the dangers of all sizes that may be encountered at any time, the diet, washing and rest during the inspection must be simple.
Galadia, who is very fond of eating, prepared a lot of food for everyone in advance, including biscuits, bread, chocolate, canned meat and dried vegetables, honey and coffee, as well as large bags of raisins, nuts and some orange juice to supplement nutrition. These foods may not be very tasty after eating too much, but they are easy to carry around, and everyone has nothing to complain about after a tiring exercise.
However, Sonia barely ate. When everyone stopped to rest tiredly, she read the professor's notes energetically, compared the maps and specimens, and whispered softly.
That night, her behavior became even more bizarre, and she even began biting her fingers and hair like never before. She jumped around and took the fossil of the ancient creature to the dogs in the team to smell it, hoping that they would look for similar traces nearby so that she could dig out a few pieces. These poor animals are used as sentries while resting. They were frightened out of their wits by the unknown aura, curled up and whimpered.
Beautiful girls who do weird things are often treated with extra tolerance and even a bit more cute. When they are immersed in learning and research, their focused temperament is even more delicious. However, Sonia's actions still frightened everyone, even the hired workers before Fiona.
This is going to be difficult...
Galadia looked at Sonia who was neither eating nor sleeping, brewed a cup of Ningshen scented tea with added spices, and handed this difficult task to Griffith.
"Sonia, take a rest." Griffith came to the girl with tea.
Sonia's good spirits are worrying, as if the fire of her life could be extinguished at any time due to excessive burning. When she saw Griffith coming over, she opened her notebook happily and pointed him to one of the records:
"The bone fossils discovered by Professor Bell are different from existing specimens and records of terrestrial organisms.
"This is a strange, unpolished skeleton and tissue structure. It is very regular and smooth. It is oval in shape, a bit like the brain of a squid. It is hollow and must be used to wrap important body tissues and withstand the terrible pressure on the seabed. .
Seeing how excited she was, it was impossible to talk to her and let her drink tea and rest... Griffith listened silently, and quietly put his right hand around Sonia's shoulder.
"However, there are no signs or evidence that the ocean once existed in the Bellomont ruins. The professor speculated that these strange creatures came upstream from the river and entered this swamp. However, the structure of other parts is consistent with existing marine life and legends The living things are significantly different. Ah, what are you doing, woo, woo——"
The girl turned a blind eye to his wanton actions at first and continued to explain very attentively, until Griffith suddenly grabbed her chin, opened her mouth, and drank the Ningshen scented tea.
Sonia struggled desperately for a while, and then the scented tea began to take effect. She plopped into Griffith's arms and fell asleep with surprising speed...
On the morning of the third day, Sonia woke up from her sleep in a daze. Everyone looked at her with concern.
After the forced rest, her condition improved a lot, she ate a lot of breakfast, and her beautiful eyes became much more normal.
The expedition was able to start again.
The cave in front of me was so vast and empty that it was beyond imagination, as if the soil and rocks here had been excavated entirely, and a towering mountain peak had been piled up somewhere else.
The contours of the terrain are also strange, with layers of cliffs and cliffs like layers of melted chocolate.
This spiral mysterious place slopes downward, leading to the unknown and dark underground. Luminous crystals and moss formed a galaxy-like bright band of light above the head and on the cliff. The wind whistled through the cliffs and tunnels, going in and out of the caves, making sounds like whistles and flutes.
The main camp of the Purifiers is located here. According to the detailed map markings, near tea time, everyone found the camp on a protruding rock.
The camp faces the dark spiral abyss ahead, and behind it is the road we came from. Insect-proof mosquito nets, burned-out campfires and leftover cooking utensils showed that someone had been here, but the place was deserted.
The Shutorals in charge of security immediately spread out to inspect the camp, and the hired workers carrying supplies also put down their luggage to rest.
Sonia took the map and looked it over and over: "That's not quite right~"
This flat rock is about a hundred paces wide and can barely be used as a campsite. A boulder larger than a house stood abruptly in the center of the camp, making vision and movement very restricted.
Rana quickly completed the search and returned from the area, telling everyone: "Some traces of fighting were found nearby, as well as broken bows, arrows, knives and guns. There were small-scale battles here, but there were no corpses or blood stains left."
Fiona smoothed her long, silky hair and her expression became solemn: "Is this place being attacked? We need to report this situation to the rangers and garrison as soon as possible."
"Miss Sif is an experienced ranger and a Sequence 7 Beyonder, and Purifier Chief Besarius is an even more powerful Beyonder." Galadia first expressed her thoughts, "Working with Miss Sif as a camp commander There should also be local Beyonder Cretan on guard, let’s wait here, maybe they will return soon and tell us what happened.”
Although there are still many secrets waiting to be discovered in the Bellomont ruins, it is within the sphere of influence of humans and elves after all. After long-term inspection and purification, even if there are dangers, they have been suppressed to a controllable range.
Everyone present also agreed with the elf's view. They felt that this was not necessary and went back home. Then they began to set up a peripheral defense line for warning and rest.
Sonia felt that there was something she couldn't figure out clearly. She took the map and sat next to the big rock, staring at the cliff in front of her and continuing to think. Griffith walked towards Galadia.
The elf girl was looking around cautiously. She saw the would-be knight approaching and said with a serious expression: "At this time, you should stay with Sonia to protect her safety."
"Well, but..." Griffith thought what she said made sense and didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Be more professional!" The elf turned him around angrily and pushed him in the direction of Sonia. "I approve that you give priority to taking care of Sonia during the inspection."
Griffith obediently carried out the elf's will. For a Shutoral, it is his duty to protect his master in such a suspicious environment. Although Sonia has always been easy to talk to, Griffith himself should not give up his position for other things.
Having said that, this big rock is really neat... Griffith thought as he looked at the boulder Sonia was leaning against. This rock has an oval bottom and a rounded outline. Although the upper part has rugged bulges and spikes, it generally has a semicircular arc shape. It is difficult to imagine where it fell off. .
Griffith came to Sonia's side. The girl was looking at the map intently and thinking about something. He looked up and saw that the rock wall stretched toward the darkness above his head, gradually closing in like a dome, becoming narrower as it got closer to the ground. There are also stars shining on the dome, like a starry sky.
"Could this stone fall from above? Sonia, should we be careful about landslides?" Griffith lowered his head and said to Sonia.
No one answered him. An open roll of map fell on the ground, and there was no one beside the rock.
