“Ah, I accidentally put on a big show, didn’t I?” Yu Lian looked at the bear-man kowtowing to him, then at the awe-filled soldiers around him, feeling like a clown stuck in a cannon, utterly embarrassed.
“No kneeling!” Yu Lian fired a shot into the sky, then thought it was useless and kicked the bear-man’s backside.
All in all, after some kicking, beating, and scolding, the soldiers were still a bit cautious, but at least they weren’t looking at him with pilgrim-like gazes anymore. However, Sergeant Baka remained respectful and offered to scout ahead, taking the lead with his battle-axe. Youyou also put on her precious power armor and followed him.
There wasn’t really any danger here, but Yu Lian felt it wasn’t good to dampen their enthusiasm, so he let them scout ahead.
Yu Lian took one last look at the magnificent light gate, then jumped onto the tower of the Frankenstein tank and set off second.
Actually, he knew this light gate was made of the legendary Misa Crystal, or “Moonstone.” It was one of the “Gifts of God,” or a type of mysterious substance known as “Zero Element,” which were two of the three main culprits that warped the universe’s technology tree and made its style strange.
These so-called “Zero Elements” came in various forms: crystals, metals, liquids, and even dust and gases. Naturally, they possessed different physical, chemical, and even “mystical” properties. However, their biggest commonality was that even the most advanced instruments couldn’t determine their molecular composition.
Thus, they could only be mined, not manufactured. Their properties could be utilized, but their principles could not be analyzed. Therefore, the technologies that arose from their properties were more akin to alchemy than science.
More importantly, the things created by “alchemy” were often incredibly powerful. Who could resist that? It would be strange if people weren’t mystical about them.
Yu Lian knew that if all the Moonstone on this light gate were removed, melted at high temperatures, reshaped, and then given to a reliable tech master—which was essentially a mystical “alchemist”—it would be possible to forge psychic treasures.
...Uh, but it felt a bit like burning a zither to boil a crane, similar to the guilt of melting the Colossus of Rhodes to make bullets. And there really wasn't time for that now.
Stepping through the grand gate, what met the eye was a wide, artificially carved passage. The walls of the passage were made of a peculiar material that was warm in color yet incredibly sturdy. Touching it, one felt not the coldness of stone, but a warm, pleasant sensation, as if there were fire pits embedded in the inner walls. Yet, even with so many people, including the heavy tanks and armored vehicles, driving over it, the floor showed no signs of cracking—the Frankenstein tank and Panther combat vehicles were dual-purpose; they could hover on flat ground, shallow water, and beachheads, but they needed wheels for climbing mountains.
Faint lights flickered within the passage, like stars occasionally twinkling in the firmament. Though their source was unseen, they cast a hazy, soothing glow throughout the entire passage.
Such an environment made it difficult for anyone to feel tense, and everyone relaxed a bit. However, Yu Lian knew that Ina, who had been staying in the tank cabin, must not have relaxed her guard. She was probably still glued to the ion cannon’s aiming scope, her hand not leaving the trigger.
After walking for another ten minutes or so, the scenery ahead became much clearer. Directly in front of them stood a statue over ten meters tall, also made of an unknown material—neither metal, jade, stone, nor wood—and presenting an ancient, weathered bronze color.
The statue was a seated human figure, elegant and uninhibited in its posture, draped in a long robe adorned with patterns, as if an ancient scholar had stepped out of a legendary tale. A faint smile graced his face, his expression detailed and lifelike. More importantly, his appearance was clearly more than ninety percent similar to that of a human... or rather, if human ancestors for eight generations had all been handsome men and beautiful women, and each generation had not inherited any flaws, they might look like this.
“En, Enlightener…” Uncle Karl murmured.
“Thump!” Baka knelt down, continuing his mystical chant: “Great Enlightener, apostle of the universe spirit, guide me, my…”
Yu Lian wanted to kick him again, but considering the bear-people’s nationwide superstitious nature, he couldn’t say anything. Moreover, even though this was his second time here, he was still awestruck by the statue. It was an inevitable appreciation for pure grandeur by any intelligent being with normal sensibilities and aesthetics.
“The Empire and the Alliance believe that all humans are direct descendants of the Enlightener… Everyone is a seed of life sown by the Enlightener in the galaxy, fellow brethren,” Ina said softly. She had emerged from the tank at some point and was standing behind Yu Lian.
“Perhaps. But the Empire (the Empire's main ethnic group) and the Gebeya (the Alliance's main ethnic group) are not lacking in fraternal love; rather, there are very deep-seated political reasons. Since everyone should be loving brethren, why should they form their own nations? This is one of the reasons for so many collaborators. Furthermore, human supremacism is fine if it appears in the Empire, which is full of martial virtue, or the Alliance, which boasts wealth and technology across the galaxy. But if it comes to the weak Commonwealth, it will only directly tear apart our society,” Yu Lian sneered.
Ina blinked, a little confused.
“Wow, humans really are the greatest race!” Youyou exclaimed instinctively, looking at the statue.
Sergeant Baka, prostrate on the ground, glared fiercely at Youyou, who was startled and quickly said with a smile, “Hey, buddy, bear-people are certainly part of humanity.”
Sergeant Baka sighed, seemingly thinking of something, his expression dimming.
The Sergeant Major finally understood a little, and immediately felt a bit annoyed.
“And then, sir, where should we go?”
She was pointing to two passages that diverged behind the statue. The right one led to a large hall, clearly visible from outside the door; the left one was longer, but its destination was unknown.
Yu Lian hesitated. He, of course, knew where to go. If he took everyone to the left, they could exit the mountain in less than half a day with no danger at all. If they took the right, that was the main body of the ruins, and relatively, the greater the gain, the greater the risk. Isn’t that a very balanced setting?
“According to the developments in ‘Treasure Raiders Alliance,’ every Enlightener Ruins must have a final boss.”
...“So that’s a TV show!” Not every ruin has a Guardian; otherwise, archaeology would be a high-risk profession. However, this one did. Of course, if his memory was correct, if you didn’t court death, the Guardian here was generally quite friendly. After all, analyzing the many clues left by the Enlightener (at least so far), they should still have hoped that later inheritors would obtain their legacy, so they naturally wouldn’t leave behind a deadly killing machine. Moreover, if the things in the ruins were the same as in his memory, they would be of considerable help in the subsequent Tulon War.
But I also have no reason to make everyone risk it with me, right? Or, I could take everyone out of the ruins first, find a safe place to set up camp north of the mountain, and then I’ll come back to check.
As Yu Lian pondered this, he suddenly heard Ina’s confused voice from over there: “Uh… Hmm, sir, did you hear anything?”
“A sound? Here… Wait, Ina, you’re not…?”
At this moment, Ina had already revealed a completely lost and dazed expression, like a walking corpse, taking a step forward and almost falling off the tank. Fortunately, Yu Lian quickly grabbed her.
“Ina, Ina? Hey, hey, wake up, what number is this? Look into my eyes and tell me what number this is.”
“I, I heard…”
Yu Lian was about to ask “What did you hear” and add a spirit-calming palm strike, but Ina shivered, and her vision refocused. Immediately after, she regained her alertness within a second, directly raising her gun.
“There’s something strange there!”
Nonsense, all Enlightener Ruins seem strange to ordinary people! Yu Lian thought.
“There’s a voice alluring me… I feel like I’m falling… Oh, you know what I mean!”
The uneducated Sergeant Major, a mere drama fan, truly lacked literary refinement and didn’t know how to describe her recent state.
Yu Lian was about to ask for details when he suddenly heard a rolling sound of metal rubbing against the ground from inside the hall, and then a massive sphere, with a diameter of over three meters, rolled out.