Chapter 548: Chapter 41: Krimasha Relics (2)
"You said they plan to stay a few more days in Cartier?" The Queen slowly turned her head, looking somewhat surprised at Cornelia.
"Yes, that’s what they said."
"Why? Haven’t the negotiations already ended? Or do they have new ideas?"
"They said... they find Cartier’s climate very comfortable and want to stay a few more days."
"The climate is comfortable?" The Queen’s eyebrows furrowed, "If they said they wanted to take a look around, I could understand. Comfortable climate? Does that mean they don’t plan to go out but just stay here, right?"
"I think that’s what they meant." Cornelia responded.
The Queen’s eyes slowly narrowed into a slit, and she muttered to herself, "There must be something wrong. Giant Snake City is not small, and as the City Lord, he definitely doesn’t have so little to do that he can stay here just to enjoy the comfortable climate. Those Liches can all cast space magic, so I estimate he might already not be in Cartier. If he’s not in Cartier... where would he use the time to stay in Cartier to go? Pretending to stay in Cartier, what’s the difference from going back directly... negotiations? Yes, since he is still in Cartier, he could talk to me again. So the purpose of pretending to stay in Cartier must be related to the negotiations. Have they already gone to excavate the Krimasha Relics directly?"
The Queen looked over at Cornelia in shock.
Cornelia hesitated and nodded, "It’s possible."
"Excavate the Krimasha Relics... which Krimasha Relic do you think they will open?" The Queen hesitated, "Andrew happens to be excavating the Krimasha Relics as well; might they bump into each other?"
...
At twilight, when Jones’s team appeared near the 11th Krimasha Relic within the Gustav Empire, the invading Lunbak soldiers hadn’t yet retreated. However, it seemed they had received orders to retreat and were currently breaking camp.
"Should we wait until they leave to start?" Adelle asked.
Standing atop the mountain, Jones gazed at the camp from a distance and softly said, "No, no need. They pose no threat. Adelle, keep an eye on them, ensure they withdraw as planned. Time is pressing, we need to start preparing to enter the relic now."
"Alright, good luck then."
Leaving the mountaintop, under the lead of the Wood Elves acting as scouts, Jones, Lucy, and Dora arrived at a location about five kilometers from the camp.
It was a dense, snow-covered pine forest on the plains. On the surface, it looked no different from a typical pine forest.
The leading Wood Elf brought Jones and the others to a large tree, then reached out to uncover the snow and mud at the roots. Soon, a gray stone brick was revealed.
"Is this the relic?"
"Yes, it’s entirely underground. There isn’t even a fragment above ground. If it were a city relic, there should be traces above ground. It currently appears to cover at least fifty square kilometers. The entrance is unknown, the depth is unknown. We discovered a dug-out entrance upfront, but found it was a dead end."
"Take me to see it."
"Okay."
Following the Wood Elf’s lead, Jones and his team walked about another kilometer. Along the way, the dense forest occasionally revealed sealed stone bricks a meter below the ground. The upper platform of the relic didn’t seem to be a flat surface but an irregular shape. Some places, like the spot under the tree root Jones first saw, actually stood out if not covered by roots. In some places, you wouldn’t find stone bricks even after digging five meters down. The secret archives of the church only vaguely mentioned the position without any further information.
Finally, they arrived at a slope.
"Here it is."
Following the direction the Wood Elf pointed, a small protrusion on the slope. It was a broken stone wall, already dug into a pit. By now, it was completely dark, and the pit was pitch black, revealing nothing.
Standing at the entrance of the pit, Jones slightly opened his mouth and emitted sound waves. Quickly, the outline of the pit appeared in his mind.
Inside, it looked like a hallway, a simple structure. Some parts appeared to have collapsed. Indeed, both ends seemed to be dead ends.
"There are no other entrances, right?" Jones asked.
The Wood Elf nodded, "We haven’t found any others. These walls don’t seem to be reinforced by magic and should be breakable. However, without your command, we didn’t dare to act rashly."
Jones lowered his head slightly and stepped inside. Behind him, Dora also bowed her head and entered. The Wood Elf and Lucy had to stoop to get in.
The breach was small, but the space inside was quite large.
In the pitch darkness, the elf lit a fire signal. Instantly, the surroundings were illuminated.
It was a long passage, four meters high, eight meters wide, its length unseen. The ground was hard stone bricks; the walls were also made of stone bricks. The whole seemed to be constructed from the same type of stone bricks. There were no visible murals or inscriptions.
Jones extended a hand to the Wood Elf, "Give me the fire signal, you go out first."
"I go out? No need for help?" The Wood Elf casually handed over the fire signal.
"You haven’t been inside either, you can’t help. And if danger arises, we can’t protect you."