In the dim darkness, the Swords of Calamity followed Josh and stepped forward, the echo of footsteps faintly audible.

But the drill made his way through the crowd and came to Ricky.

"Wait," Hammer looked at Tails, who was being held hostage by Marina, suspiciously, "Are you going to take him down?"

"You know, we can wait for you here, right?"

Tails frowned, and he noticed that a number of mercenaries were faintly surrounding him.

Ricky turned his head and glanced at the chisel.

"You've done a great job and saved us a lot of work, chisel. ”

He pressed the shoulder of the hammer: "But I also know that the reason why you are so cooperative and spare no effort is because of this hostage in our hands,"

The hammer's expression stiffened.

"On a different occasion, it doesn't have to be. ”

"Now, you can choose to go down with us, or stay here and wait for me. ”

Ratchet ignored the ugly chisel, waved his hand, and continued on.

Semir passed by the hammer and snorted disdainfully.

Tails, who was watching, hoped that the drill would be tougher.

But alas, the chisel didn't say anything, he just made a gesture and followed along with a few low-key Shadow Assassins.

In this way, Tails was escorted by the hordes of Swords of Calamity and continued on his way.

As they farther and farther they went, the Sword of Calamity spread out, and many prisoners spotted the intruders.

From time to time, patrolling guards encountered the invading Sword of Calamity, often outnumbered after an inspiring struggle.

The prison of bones gradually became agitated, and the chaos was beyond Tails's imagination:

"The guard guy over there...... Yes, it's you, let me tell you, I've made a lot of money reselling weapons in the past few years, most of which they haven't found, as long as you let me out, I promise to give it to you...... Eh, you guys, you're not guards?"

"Damn it...... What's going on again!"

"Wow, oh, oh, someone's really robbed ......the prison, ahhh The last time the gang infiltrated the prison robbery, it didn't last five minutes before the freaks rushed to wrap it up, and Williams chopped them up like firewood, this time you have to be more powerful, you must hold on to ten minutes!"

"Let me out! I'm a devout priest of the Temple of the Night! they can't keep me here for the art I create...... With this group, this group ......"

"Hey, good friend, let's talk about it, I've been locked up here for four years, and I'm going crazy...... I'm not begging you to let me out...... Only, as long as I am transferred to the women's prison, I will be satisfied...... Okay, okay?"

"Killing, lalala!

"Grass your father...... Damn, there are so many solicitors on the street, why are you just locking me in! Women's clothes? What's wrong with women's clothes, Lao Tzu likes to solicit customers in women's clothes, what's wrong? I don't believe you guys came to touch my breasts......

"Grass, stinky boy, come back! What does it matter to rob you, believe it or not, I'll beat you again! Hold me well, don't turn your head around...... Yes, alas, well, hard, ah, that's like words...... Don't worry, as long as I'm satisfied, I won't beat you tomorrow. ”

"Please, marijuana...... Give me some more marijuana, please, a

"Grass his baron! grass his Stardust Guards! Grass his blade tooth camp! Believe it or not, when I go out, I must tie up that Williams, force him to put on women's clothes, find a hundred big men, three days and three nights, take turns to relay, just like this and press him on the bed, mm......mm Oops, oops, too hard, bleeding ......"

"Hey, over there, help me bring a message to my wife, she wrote three years ago that she wanted to get me out of prison, but she didn't come now...... I'll pay you......"

Damn, what the hell is this place!

The prince, who did not dare to say anything, followed Ricky's side, and glanced behind him worriedly: the fast rope was still tied, and he looked at the infamous cell with a look of horror on his face.

Finally, led by Josh, they descended several flights of stairs to an empty room with no cells.

The room was large, large enough to hold a hundred people, almost as large as a nobleman's banquet hall, and even the noise of the prisoners seemed to be shut out for a while, and no longer heard of it.

But Tails was also acutely aware that the floor was paved with carefully fired rock bricks, and the walls were old, contrasting with the rough and dirty cells outside.

The design of the room is also very peculiar, with a full eight walls, like a regular octagon.

Even more strange is that there are four narrow openings in the ground that resemble wells, and the inside is dark.

For some reason, Tails looked at the deep wells, and suddenly felt a heartbeat, a chill.

Odd.

Is that......

Is that......

Hammer and Russell noticed this, too, and they looked at the place in amazement.

Even the Swords of Calamity, including Clay and Semir, seem to be here for the first time.

Ricky glanced around him and stood in front of one of the mottled and dilapidated walls.

"This is it?"

Josh nodded, and solemnly pointed to something that resembled the mouth of the well, "Yes, we have observed that the guards regularly bring excess supplies here, and they must have dropped supplies here. ”

Ricky crouched down, knocked on the "well", then picked up a rock, threw it in, and listened.

For tens of seconds, there was no sound in the depths of the wellhead.

Tails understood something.

"That's right," Ricky dusted off his hands, nodded, and stood up, "This is it." ”

"As for the entrance......"

He looked up at Josh.

But Josh just shook his head in embarrassment.

Ricky snorted, seeming a little helpless.

"If I were Williams, I wouldn't be asking for trouble. Ricky paced, looked down at the ground, and muttered, "There are no ladders here, so it must be somewhere you can touch while standing......"

The face of the chisel changed.

"Wait, dear Crassus," said the hammer with a frown:

"What does he mean is that you want to go into the black prison, but you can't even find the entrance?"

Ratchet ignored him, but took a torch from Clay in full view of everyone, walked to the wall, and continued to survey the empty room.

"The Black Prison is a legend after all," Clay said coldly, "No one knows how to get in except for those who enter, and those who go in ......"

"Nobody has ever come out. Semir snorted softly.

Russell stepped forward.

"You know we don't have time to play a scavenger hunt, right?"

I saw Russell say dissatisfiedly: "Once the camp reacts......"

"Shut up. ”

Semir interrupted him, the imprint on his face even more hideous in the firelight: "Northlanders." ”

But Russell not only did not relent, but also seemed to be provoked by the ex-Star Guard: "You know what kind of risk we are taking......"

Right now.

"Aha. ”

Ricky suddenly spoke up, attracting everyone's attention.

Tails looked curiously at the leader of the Sword of Calamity.

I saw the latter holding a torch, facing a wall, stretching out his left hand and gently patting off the dust and cobwebs on it.

"The people in the past probably didn't want to hide," Ricky said with a smile, "As for the Star People, they probably didn't expect that someone would be able to sneak in here." ”

The crowd looked at the wall in disbelief.

As the dust fell, a strange and mutilated pattern appeared on the mottled walls.

At Ricky's brush, the first thing that appeared was a triangle, one of the corners pointing to the left, and the side it corresponded to, but concave toward the center of the triangle.

Soon, to the right of the triangle, a circle was brushed out by Ricky.

In the center of the circle is a circular hole that recesses into the wall.

Ricky smiled, and he continued to wipe.

To the right of the circle, a new triangle emerges symmetrical to the triangle just now, but this triangle has one corner to the right and the concave edge to the left.

Ricky stepped back and looked at the pattern in front of him with satisfaction: two irregular symmetrical triangles, sandwiched between a circle.

"We found it. ”

But many, including Russell, wondered, "What is this? An eye?"

Ricky pursed his lips.

In the midst of the bewildered crowd, Tails stared at the pattern in a daze.

No one knew that the moment the pattern was wiped out, Tails' whole body froze.

At that moment, he even forgot that he was in danger.

Is that......

Is that......

The chisel stared at the pattern for some reason, but he saw something else with his eyesight.

"Down here," said the hammer as he stepped forward, stretched out his hand, and brushed away a line of dust from beneath the circle:

"Like a sentence?"

Sure enough, under the palm of his hand, a strange line of words engraved into the wall appeared.

But neither Drill nor Russell, nor Clay and Josh, looked at the text in confusion.

"I don't understand that. ”

Russell frowned:

"This insignia is strange enough, I have read the coats of arms of the great nobles of the stars, but none of them match...... And the following words, these are not even lingua franca, and they are not like the emperors I know Chinese......"

Russell, who felt uneasy, looked at Ricky with a solemn face: "Crassus, what is this-the Prison of Bones?"

Ricky didn't answer.

Another voice rang out abruptly.

"Ancient Imperial Language. ”

Everyone turned their heads in unison to look at Semir, who was standing on the other side.

I saw this branded man looking at the words under the pattern with a complicated expression:

"This is the purest ancient imperial alphabet, a script handed down from the ancient kingdom of Chauvin, not the modern imperial Chinese language mixed with lingua franca, which is said to have been founded by the first ancient humans under the teaching of the ancient elves, with complex grammar and obscure grammar. ”

Semir walked slowly, the Swords of Calamity at his side making way for him.

"No one uses it anymore, and even the nobles of the Star Kingdom have few people who know about it. ”

Russell and Hammer turned their heads in surprise and looked at the unfamiliar line of writing again.

Semir stretched out his hand with a confused expression, as if he was missing something: "Except for the elves of various veins, probably only a few archaeologists and historians in the Dragon Kiss Academy understand." ”

"I don't know the words, but I remember the root. ”

His finger touched one of the words.

"When I was a teenager, in order to strive for the qualification to enter the Fuxing Palace and be selected for the royal guard, the old bachelor invited by my father took me to know some. Semir's expression darkened:

"The root word is probably 'total' or 'all'......"

Everyone listened silently to the words of the former flag bearer of the royal guard.

Except for one person.

"Omniscient. ”

In the crowd, a teenager's voice sounded faintly.

The hammer turned his head in surprise and looked at the most unexpected of all of the guys, along with Russell, who had a blank face.

Clay and Josh gave the leader an inquiring look, and Ricky raised an eyebrow.

Even the fast rope that was tied up with five flowers widened his eyes.

"All-knowing, or omniscient," Tails sighed, stepping past Marina, who was frowning at him, and slowly stepping forward, staring at the line of writing:

That's what that word means. ”

At that moment, Semir looked at Tails with an incomparably complicated gaze.

After a second, Semir sighed and bowed his head, "Of course, as a descendant of the imperial family, the ancient imperial language is a must-learn for the Bright Star royal family......"

Tails shook his head.

"I'm not very good at learning, except for the first few months, everything else is basically self-taught," Prince Xingchen looked at the line of text with a solemn expression, "But if you only look at the words, I think the meaning of this sentence is probably ......"

Tails whispered, "To omniscience." ”

Everyone fell silent, chewing on the meaning of the sentence.

The road to omniscience.

Tails slowly raised his head in the silence, staring at the pattern that looked like an eye.

It feels like you're looking at another person.

This made him very uneasy.

But Tails didn't think, he really didn't think of, something he had been searching for years in books without being able to find it...... Will be here.

The Prison of Bones.

This "eye".

This is......

"Very well, in that case," Ricky said with a smile, interrupting everyone's thoughts:

"Then let's—to omniscience. ”

As he spoke, he pulled out a long, angular dark green stone from his bosom.

"What is this?" the chisel squinted at the palm-length stone, which was only two fingers thick, as if sensing something was wrong.

And this time, Ricky had no intention of hiding it.

"To open the black prison, you need a key that can open the lock," Ricky stared at the thing in his hand steadily, his eyes complicated: "And the only key in the camp hangs on the body of the baron of the Bladetooth camp all the year round. ”

Ricky gently lifted the dark green strip in his hand, "Until we found a second one outside the camp." ”

Russell was puzzled, "Key?"

Ricky stopped talking, he turned around without hesitation, and pressed the "key" in his hand into the center of the "eye", the small circle that resembled a pupil.

Groov!

There was a muffled sound.

Tails was startled.

Under everyone's nervous gaze, the "pupil" with the "key" in the middle suddenly protruded a cylinder outward.

"Da-da," Ricky smiled, "right in the bull's-eye." ”

He addressed everyone: "The black prison must be underground...... Perhaps, you'll want to step back a little bit and make room for space?"

In the empty room, everyone hurriedly stepped back until they were against the wall behind them.

The next second, I saw Ricky tentatively grasp the protruding cylinder and twist slowly.

Until I heard a "click" sound.

Everyone held their breath and looked around curiously.

The first person who felt something was wrong was Tails.

From his senses of hell, he saw that the four "wells" on the ground were actually pumping air.

No, it's the air that is rushing inside!

This is......

While Tails was still in doubt, there was a sound from underground.

Thundered......

With a slight tremor.

Everyone was startled and stared intently at the floor tiles in the room.

Thundered......

But they were wrong.

It's not the ground that's changing.

It's the walls.

Thundered......

"No!" Semir turned and shouted angrily, "Wall!"

"The wall is receding!"

Tails subconsciously took a step forward and looked anxiously behind him along with the others.

Thundered......

Really.

It's the wall.

Eight walls, which are receding parallel to each other at the same time!

It looks like the ground is expanding.

Thundered......

Under the stunned expressions of the people, several walls of this room retreated at the same time, and the gaps between the different walls were exposed, and they were constantly growing!

Fortunately, the abnormal movement only lasted for more than a dozen seconds, and then it fell silent.

The walls don't retreat anymore.

Tails looked in shock at the inexplicably backward walls, at the gaps in the ground that were several meters long that had appeared on the ground where they had moved away.

Looking down from above, it looks like an octagonal room that has suddenly been stretched outward.

And the part that was pulled apart......

Tails saw it.

Those are not gaps, but layers of spiral stone staircases, centered in the center of the room and descending from each other.

I don't know where it leads.

Thinking of this, Tails subconsciously glanced at the sentence under the pattern.

"My God......"

Russell was stunned as he looked at the spiral staircase that suddenly appeared at his feet: "Although I have heard that the Kingdom of Stars and the City of Steel are friendly and have excellent forging skills, this is also ......"

The drill looked at the sudden change in disbelief, and looked at the room that had become larger vigilantly: "...... here?"

Ricky smiled.

"You know, the Prison of Bones is obviously a prison for felons, but why is there only such a small number of guards to maintain basic operations?"

Ricky changed a torch and said lightly: "That's because it's not the living who really guards this prison." ”

"It's the dead hundreds of thousands of years ago. ”

He took the lead and stepped into the crevice and descended the stone spiral staircase.

"The Prison of Bones is not just a cell, it is not just for criminals. ”

As he advanced, Ricky's voice came from underground.

"What it really wants to detain is the past. ”

He stepped down the spiral staircase that led to nowhere, the Swords of Calamity following behind him.

Russell was stunned.

"The deceased?"

The former baron of Exeter frowned and turned to the drill: "Imprisoned...... What does he mean?"

But the Shadow Shield's assassin looked solemn.

"I've seen a lot of strange things in my long career," he said, staring at the strange room, and exhaled, "but the most disturbing of them is the legend that the well-informed Teng told in one night." ”

Russell was stunned: "Teng?"

The hammer nodded, becoming more and more uneasy: "Legend has it that before the end of the war, and even before the Age of Empires, there was such a group of people in the world. ”

"They despise taboos, they despise authority, they have a vast knowledge and a great skill. ”

The chisel gritted his teeth and looked up at the strange emblem on the wall:

"They used to be the brightest presence in the world. ”

"Until the merciless history turns them all into dust, and there is no word to be seen, and there is no piece of paper. ”

Russell's eyebrows rose and fell.

The most dazzling presence?

"You're talking about ......"

The chisel shook his head, and he saw that Tails was also being escorted down, so he hurried to follow.

Tails followed behind Semir and walked down the stairs with trepidation, which had apparently not been visited for a long time, so much so that with each step he took it would bring up so much dust that His Royal Highness, who was not very tall, had to cover his mouth and nose so that he would not cough repeatedly.

This place gave him a very bad feeling.

In the darkness of his vision, not even the senses of hell could help him.

There were only torches, shining on the stone staircase beneath his feet.

Deeper and deeper.

Getting down.

It's getting darker and darker.

After walking up and down the stairs, Tails finally stepped on the ground and was relieved.

"The first floor," Ricky's voice came slowly, "we're here." ”

The prince of the stars took a deep breath and looked up with irrepressible curiosity and inexplicable uneasiness and fear.

The Swords of Calamity raised their torches and looked around in amazement.

It was still an octagonal shape, large enough to hold dozens of people.

But unlike the room on the ground, the dark masonry here is finely crafted, and in the center of the room stands a stout pillar with a circle of curved stone tables next to it.

But instead of focusing on the stone pillar, Ricky turned to the eight walls.

Following his torches, Tails noticed that the eight walls here were not "walls".

Rather, it is a fence of thin metal pillars from top to bottom, each covered with gray dust.

It's like......

Tails looked at the fences, and through them he could see the space behind them.

It's like......

Tails thought wistfully, "It's like a prison cell."

Ricky held a torch and approached one of the metal fences, illuminating the scene behind the railing.

Tails shuddered and took a step back!

Bone.

Exactly.

It's bones.

Human bones.

Ricky spun around with a torch, illuminating the eight wide cells.

The floor behind each "cell" was covered with a thick layer of air-dried human bones, including ribs, arms, leg bones, skulls, and many of them covered with faded clothing that was also full of dust.

I don't know what year, I don't know what month.

Semir stood in front of Tails, he looked at these old bones, his mood was agitated, and he subconsciously clenched his fists.

"It seems that there are no more living people on the first floor," Ricky shook his head helplessly, "Unfortunately, we still have to go down." ”

Russell and Hammer followed closely behind and made their way to the "first floor" cell.

"It's ......"

Russell saw his surroundings clearly, and his eyes widened: "This is the prison of bones?"

The drill frowned, as if he couldn't even speak.

Ricky snorted and waved his torch at his equally amazed companions.

"Of course. ”

"Welcome to the 'Black Prison', the true subject of the Prison of Bones. ”

Ricky walked over to the pillar in the center of the room and raised the torch to illuminate the pattern on the pillar.

That's another "eye".

The same emblem as the room on the ground.

And the ancient imperial sentence under the eyes.

[Leads to omniscience.] 】

"A thousand years ago, this place had another name. ”

The leader of the Sword of Calamity looked at the emblem and sighed, "The fourth division of the Alchemy Tower, the Confination Laboratory. ”

At that moment, Tails unconsciously clenched his teeth.

Ricky turned around and looked solemnly at the bones in the eight cells.

"It is also ...... in the unknown history"

His next sentence made Tails' eyes widen.

"The first anti-demon armed ......"

"The place where it was born. ”

(End of chapter)