After fixing the transport airboat and putting on a cloth for sand control, the dragon calendar and his party entered the ruins of the ancient stone.

When he looked down from the air, Gordon felt that this ancient fortress was not so much a fortress as a cluster castle covering an extremely large area.

There are empty squares, open-air courtyards, and a towering castle in the core area, and small buildings are even denser, but most of them have collapsed and become ruins.

The people of the advance party did not go any further, but found a few rooms in the vicinity of the city walls and settled down.

This is their chosen base camp, and it is also the place where the hunters who previously guarded the ancient fortress lived.

The walls of the ancient ruins are badly weathered, and many sections of the walls have collapsed, but at least the structure of the location they selected is still intact.

Simply pack it up and you'll get a shelter that can keep the wind and sand out.

"Okay guys, let's rest for half an hour and then get to work."

The person in charge of commanding the advance team, which consisted of scholars and support staff, was a female scholar in her fifties.

She was wearing an earthy yellow expedition suit, her hair was short, and her whole person looked neat.

This scholar's name is Duda, and he is the youngest of the several core scholars in charge of archaeology at the Longli Academy.

Anhill calls her "Lady Duda", and Gordon asks Anhill privately to learn that Duda is the lady's surname, and in addition to being an archaeologist, she also has the status of a nobleman of the kingdom.

Gordon couldn't quite understand why a noble lady would choose to become an archaeologist, eating sand in the wind and sun all day long.

But when he turned his head to look at Anhill, he felt that it was not so strange again.

Isn't there a young master who left home to be a hunter?

While Gordon was thinking about these things, Duda came up to them, and she smiled and asked, "Two young men, how does the desert environment feel, can you adapt to it?" ”

Gordon smiled and didn't reply.

If you ranked the most adaptable people in the world, at least eight or nine of the top ten would be hunters.

Anhill nodded politely and reservedly, "Of course, Lady Duda. ”

As the leader of the advance team, Duda had the authority to command the scholars and the support staff, but he could not command the two hunters.

After all, Gordon and the others were not part of the advance team, they just came along the way.

Still, she had something else to do.

"The rebellious young master of the Stirling family is so old in the blink of an eye, do you remember your Aunt Duda?

Yes... It's normal if you don't remember, after all, the last time I went to your mother for tea was almost twenty years ago. Duda's face showed a look of regret and loss.

Anhill: "......"

"I really miss it, little Anhill always likes to hold ......"

"Alright, Aunt Duda." The corners of Anhill's mouth twitched fiercely, "If there's anything you need our help with, just mention it." ”

"Oh, is that okay?"

Duda shook his palm, an action that reminded Gordon of the third princess who shook the fan.

"Actually, it's not a big deal, can I ask you to confirm the safety of the surrounding area as soon as possible? For example, whether there are traces of monsters and so on.

We'll have a hot dinner ready for your return. Lady Duda smiled.

"Let's go, Gordon, stay in the gale, just in case some small monsters come in."

With that, Anhill picked up his crossbow and walked out.

Gordon didn't immediately follow, but whispered to Duda, "Ma'am, so what did Anhill like to hold when he was a child?" ”

Duda winked at Gordon and the pork chop that came over, and chuckled, "A pet pig doll, his mother also complained to me, saying that little Anhill can't sleep without holding that."

Oops, how can I have such a good memory, I remember all this thing? ”

......

Anhill, who was teased by Gordon about the pet pig doll with a black face, reached out to the black and gold heavy crossbow behind him.

There is only one circumstance in which it is not illegal for a crossbowman to pull the trigger towards a human.

That's when the crossbow chamber is filled with auxiliary ammunition such as recovery bullets and ghost bullets.

He carried all of this with him.

"Okay, okay, no kidding." Gordon, who didn't want to be slapped in the face by the reply, diverted the topic, "It turns out that your family is very familiar with Ms. Duda?" ”

"No, she and her mother are good friends, but they may have been concentrating on archaeological work and not having much contact."

While spending most of his energy paying attention to the surrounding environment and possible traces of monsters, Gordon casually asked Anhill, "Is the one behind you a new heavy crossbow made of Lanlong materials?" ”

"Hmm."

Speaking of this, Ansiel's expression suddenly turned thunderstormy.

"How do you look like a wall clock......"

Anhill opened his mouth to refute, but found that he couldn't refute it, Gordon's complaint was very accurate, and he himself felt that the shape of this heavy crossbow was like a clock.

In desperation, I had to skip the styling problem and introduce the inner part of this heavy crossbow.

For example, the number of bullets usually loaded is amazing, such as being able to load almost all kinds of ailment ammo, and you can also crouch and shoot through bullets or something.

It can be said that it is the strongest and most versatile heavy crossbow of all the weapons that Anhill currently has.

The two of them centered on the position where the advance team was stationed and quickly reconnoitred the situation in the surrounding area.

Nothing was found.

The land here is barren, not to mention monsters, not even slightly larger animals, only drought-tolerant reptiles such as spiders and beetles are often seen.

No obvious footprints have been found, of course, this point in the desert area covered with wind and sand does not mean much.

After confirming that there was no danger nearby, Gordon glanced at the sky.

There was still some time before sunset, and it was a little early to go back, and after consulting Anhill and Pork Chop, the two of them walked out of the wall and came to the empty but uneven sand in front of the barricade.

Between the yellow sand, there are many fragments of masonry and stone half-buried, and as for the source of the fragments, it is naturally the ruined city wall nearby.

In addition to the masonry, there are also huge components scattered around.

For example, it is estimated that the copper-red beams used to strengthen the building, the strangely shaped mechanical parts, the ordinary metal plates and so on, and Gordon even saw a corroded and deformed cannon......

It's all worthless stuff.

"Gordon! This way! ”

Gordon, who was looking at the rusty dragon lance, heard Ansill's call and walked over quickly.

The latter was standing on the edge of a funnel-shaped bunker.

"This is where the mechanical behemoth burrowed into the ground and disappeared."

Anhill looked at his surroundings and said, "The bunker is wide, but not deep, it should be the yellow sand blown by the wind that fills the hole, maybe after a while, this bunker should be completely flattened."

How about it, do you want to dig up the pork chops first? ”

Gordon circled the bunker.

Under the golden red sunset, the yellow sand in the bunker reflects the luster of gold.

"Don't worry, this is a desert, there may be quicksand underground, and it's too dangerous to dig it down.

Let's go back first and have a good night's rest, anyway, there is no time limit for this exploration mission, we can take our time. ”