With Rhine Lab's data, Xing Chen's original exploration plan was cut short; he had already pinpointed the location of the Stasis Chamber.
"Xing Chen, what should we do with these clothes?"
"Just throw them all away. They were only made for work anyway."
To leave a good first impression on Friston, he took a careful shower and put on the clothes he had bought from the clothing store.
Seeing how much importance Xing Chen placed on this, Theresa also tidied herself up meticulously. She didn't have a habit of wearing makeup, so by the time Xing Chen was ready, she was essentially done too.
After renting a car, Xing Chen and Theresa encountered an exploration team led by Nastya, the Director of Engineering at Rhine Lab, on their way to the Stasis Chamber.
As a mixed-blood banshee, she did not immediately recognize Theresa's identity as the Demon King.
"Director, these are the two scholars I introduced to you the other day," the exploration team leader enthusiastically introduced Xing Chen and Theresa to Nastya. "Their research findings happen to be a blind spot in our current technology—the detection of structures insensitive to Originium Arts."
"Hmm, I've seen it, a very creative idea," Nastya extended her hand to the two of them. "Hello, I'm Nastya, Director of Engineering at Rhine Lab. As you can see, I am a banshee, but my bloodline isn't pure."
"Hello, I'm Xing Chen," Xing Chen shook her hand, feeling the warm, smooth touch. He had to admit, Sarkaz women all had excellent skin.
"I am Theresa, sharing the same name as the former Demon King," Theresa did not shake her hand, as this would increase the chance of premature exposure.
"Oh, interesting." The banshee scrutinized Theresa up and down. "You bear a strong resemblance to that Demon King—are you her shadow warrior?"
"What is a shadow warrior?"
"A character often appearing in Eastern film and television works. My apologies, my mistake."
"It's fine." Theresa offered a gentle smile, and Nastya was momentarily stunned upon seeing it. "However, I do have a bit of a connection with the Military Commission's high-ranking officials, but that's all in the past."
"After all, ordinary people in Kazdel rarely get the chance to receive an education," Xing Chen interjected into their conversation, preventing them from continuing to discuss Sarkaz internal affairs. "How's your progress?"
"I am currently constructing a distribution model for anomalous signals. My people have already scanned the entire area using conventional methods, but with no progress. I am indirectly searching for the target through this method."
"Alright, you all keep up the good work. I won't bother you anymore."
"Goodbye, and good luck to you."
After bidding farewell to the Rhine Lab personnel, the two walked a certain distance perpendicular to Nastya's exploration line.
Once he was sure they wouldn't disturb him and Theresa, Xing Chen took out the cross-section and plan views, explaining the direction of the structural tunnel to Theresa.
They couldn't access the Stasis Chamber directly by digging a vertical shaft. Instead, they had to create multiple low-gradient tunnels, cutting through the potentially anomalous spaces within the Stasis Chamber to reach their goal.
"I understand the method and principle, but Xing Chen, what do we do with the excavated earth and rock?"
"That seems to be a problem. Such a large amount of earthwork, whether piled nearby or sent back to the library, doesn't seem ideal."
"How about we dig one tunnel first and send the earthwork back to Wandering's End? If we don't hit the Stasis Chamber, we can backfill the earthwork from the second tunnel into the previous one."
Xing Chen briefly estimated the volume of earthwork for one tunnel... it should be manageable... right? And they could even create a few major attractions at Wandering's End then.
Once the plan was decided, Theresa immediately began to utilize her Originium Arts.
She used threads to break the mud and rocks into small pieces, then continuously transported the earth and rock to the library via "links."
Xing Chen, meanwhile, stood by with measuring instruments, ensuring Theresa didn't dig off course.
Neither of them felt physical fatigue, and the psychological monotony was relieved through an alternative method.
"Xing Chen, look, this rock is completely different from the one above it."
"This indicates we've likely penetrated a different stratum. See how its color is distinctly lighter? Perhaps its Originium content is lower than the previous stratum."
"If we find a stratum with absolutely no Originium, can we then determine the specific time of the Originium's arrival by examining the relationships between different strata?"
"To be honest, I think it's a bit difficult. In your own legends, the Originium arrived only ten thousand years ago; this isn't enough time to form very thick strata. As for isotopic dating, let me tell you..."
Theresa was indeed one of the most powerful Sarkaz casters in history; her thirst for knowledge and comprehension ability left Xing Chen feeling far behind.
Xing Chen had only generally introduced some techniques to her, and she immediately understood the underlying principles.
As the tunnel deepened, after crossing a peak, the Originium content also rapidly decreased. However, its rate of decrease was close to a linear function, which greatly puzzled him.
After all, strata differing by tens or hundreds of thousands of years, a smooth transition in Originium content clearly wasn't natural—the Originium's arrival wasn't that long ago.
The first tunnel, as expected, yielded no results; the deepest stratum still contained abundant Originium.
Next was the second, then the third... after an unknown number of tunnels, Theresa began to doubt the accuracy of Xing Chen's deductions.
"My deduction should be generally correct, but something must be wrong somewhere."
"Could it be that Originium affects some physical rules, making your exploration inherently inaccurate?"
"It's possible, but I still have confidence in myself."
"Alright, I believe you."
"Thank you."
Xing Chen began to review the results of previous drilling. Each tunnel went deeper and deeper until the Originium content at the deepest point was almost zero.
"Xing Chen, do you think Originium had already been created when the Seer and their people built the shelter?"
"The prototype must have been created... I understand! We targeted the wrong stratum." Xing Chen pulled out his hand-drawn geological cross-section sketch. "The Stasis Chamber must have been built before the Originium's arrival. We should be looking for the section before the second Originium content peak."
"Oh, I get it! It's the layer beneath the stratum with the highest Originium content." Theresa clapped her hands, also realizing. "But why not look for the first peak?"
"Silly, the first peak is the layer we're standing on right now."
So, the two of them went deep into the already excavated tunnel, found the stratum with the highest Originium content, and began to excavate horizontally using a herringbone mining method.
"Bang" "Click"
A different sound came from the rocks ahead. Xing Chen brought the Originium lamp closer and saw whitish stones appearing within the black stratum.
Further clearing the surrounding black rocks, the white stones gradually formed a smooth wall. Clearly, this was an artificially constructed passage.
"It seems we've found the Stasis Chamber."
