[1] Huangquanchuan Aisui

(Forbidden World, Thursday, March 24, 2011, morning; Northern California, Abandoned Mine Pits)

The upper layer of the forest is densely packed with intertwined branches, which are lush and green under the rare rain of recent times, filtering out most of the bright sun. A thick layer of leaves from last year's litter had accumulated in the damp and dark woods, and a foul smell was emitted from afar.

Heavily armed, Huang Quanchuan Aiho quietly followed behind Po Ping Dongjing and the other members of the expedition team, his vigilant gaze sweeping over his surroundings from time to time. The occasional spill of sunlight dotted the moss and sheep's tooth ferns, snaking and crawling like insects as the foliage swayed in the wind.

The high-level of the school city gave her and Po Pingdong Jingxin information before the mission began. Two months ago, three backcountry hikers went missing in the area, and while the police were unable to find them, they reported that there appeared to be traces of some prehistoric civilization in the area, all the way back to some mine shafts that had been abandoned for many years.

Upon learning of the news, anthropologist and archaeologist Shauna Madsen invited Po Hi Dongjing, a geologist and engineer, to accompany him on the expedition, along with several of the former's students, as well as a Japanese retired special forces soldier Aiho Huang Izumi who served as a guide and bodyguard - of course, her and Po Hei Dongjing's identities were fake.

The origins of the mine have long been forgotten, and it is tentatively speculated that it was established during the gold rush in the mid-nineteenth century. Perhaps the original proprietor was one of the lucky few who found gold and wisely chose to expand his business, but subsequent records show that the industry has not been passed on.

Obviously, their team didn't have a map of the pit in their hands, but Po Ping Dongjing brought a variety of cutting-edge technological equipment from the school city, including a multi-legged rolling detection robot that can walk in the rubble, plus the ability to manipulate metal at critical moments, I don't think there will be any fatal danger in this exploration.

They made their way through the woods along leaf-covered paths, finding only specious fragments of small sculptures and obscure stones carved with signs of chaos, but nothing of value — at least not the samples the police had brought back. A short time later, a dilapidated wooden building appeared in the glade, and satellite positioning indicated that this was the spot marked by the police.

"Dr. Poping, Professor Shauna, we've arrived. ”

Huang Quanchuan Aiho reported coldly, and then quickly opened the gun safety and broke in. The surface of the floor and various machinery was covered with dust, and the traces left by the previous search were very clear, and the life detector showed that there were no medium-sized or higher creatures in those dark corners.

"Is it necessary to be so vigilant? No one has come to work here for a long time, not to mention that the police have only recently come to search, and they have not found anything wrong. ”

"That's it, Mr. Black. Huang Quanchuan Aiho said indifferently, pretending not to notice the frivolity between the other party's words, "And don't forget the earlier disappearance." ”

The man named Karth Black whistled, clearly dismissing her reminder. Another female student, Susan McAllister, shuddered when she heard this, and her panicked look flashed.

Po Pingdongjing, a mechanical engineer, began to inspect the old equipment. The police did not enter the mine when they came to search and rescue, and it is better for him to make sure that it is safe before rashly using these machines that I don't know if they are malfunctioning, so as not to be trapped in the complex caves and mines when they go down.

Considering the need to conceal his identity and abilities, despite the fact that Level 4's [Metal Manipulation] can easily troubleshoot faults and weak points in the metal, Poping Dongjing still took a lot of time to conduct a normal examination. Some of the metal's tired parts were subtly repaired by him, while some inconsequential damage was downplayed.

"Looks like we're lucky, we thought we needed to fix it for a few days. Professor Shauna smiled, then turned to Po Ping, "It's up to you to be a robot, Dr. Po Ping." ”

The first to enter the mine from the elevator is not a real person, but a robot equipped with various detectors to check the composition of the gas inside the mine and other possible dangers to prevent them from dying of suffocation or poisoning. The results of the gas detection were quickly sent to their data terminals, while the terrain detection took a while.

"There was no problem with breathing, the channel structure was a bit complicated, but the initial modeling was done. Po Pingdong looked at Shauna Madsen as he spoke, "Professor Shauna, do you think you should rest first and then go down?"

It was eleven a.m., a little earlier than normal lunchtime, but the group had simply eaten something — they wouldn't be able to eat so comfortably in the dark cavern later. At around eleven thirty a.m., after Po Pingdong confirmed that the elevator could be turned on below, everyone entered the mine together with the click of iron chains and turntables.

As soon as Huang Quanchuan Aiho arrived on the first floor of the mine, he turned on the light on the safety helmet. The road underfoot was paved with gravel, and not far away were two railroad tracks that stretched into the darkness. After a few steps, the passages began to fork, and in some corners the narrow passages were sealed with heavy planks and welded chains, with warning signs written in paint.

"The two robots have split into the two passages, but no place has been found where the ruins have been excavated. Po Pingdongjing stared at the data terminal in his hand, his brows furrowed, "It's dangerous to rush into two ways in this kind of place, let's choose a channel to explore first." ”

He said here and looked at the sealed places: "As for the passages marked 'dangerous'...... I thought it would be wise to save that until the end, and if it was necessary to explore, to let more advanced robots in. ”

"I couldn't agree more, Dr. Poping, and now is not the time to do it. ”

The passage on this level is a bit plain, and the artificially excavated rock wall has no patterns or symbols, which is high enough for one to walk upright and alleviate a lot of oppressive feelings. Walking diagonally down from the fork in the road on the left, Aiho of the Yellow Springs River, who had opened the way in front, soon found the entrance to the lower floor, a narrow, steep passage with a dilapidated wooden ladder. She cautiously tested the weight capacity of the ladder and found that it was barely enough to bear the weight of a person.

"The ladder should be able to handle us going down one by one, but it's better to leave a rope to be on the safe side...... Maybe you have to make a rope ladder with a temporary knot, this place is not easy to exert force. ”

Huang Quanchuan Aiho was trained in this area, and it didn't take long to tie a row of equal-distance climbing knots on a climbing rope, carefully check the sharp rocks, and fix a section of the rope to a rivet not far away, before signaling that the others could go down.

As she expected, despite the "creaking" of the ladder as Carter descended, the group climbed down safely. The passage on the next floor is obviously not as wide as the first, and you have to lower your body from time to time when walking. Pillars of searchlight flickered as they moved, and the sound of shoe soles on gravel echoed in the cavern, adding to the eerie feel of the mine, which had been uninhabited for years.

The pathfinder robot remained about a few dozen meters in front of them, and everything seemed to be going according to the normal script. They wandered around the complex cavern until the robot circled around in a slightly larger area, unable to find the next passage.

Po Pingdong Jing went to investigate the condition of the robot before. After a while, his voice came over the intercom:

"There's no road ahead, but I seem to have spotted some strange stone chips...... It's in the corner of that rockpile formed by the collapse. ”

The receiver in Huang Quanchuan Aiho's ear received a message in a special channel that the other party did not say publicly: "There seems to be some strange faint sound behind the collapsed stone pile, and the analysis shows that it is the sound of running water...... and the sound of something moving. ”

……