Section 51 Expedition

Once again, Ashrufat came to the mouth of the cave in the "Land of Vanity".

It was night, and it was quiet. This time there was no one else, not even anything else. In addition to the vegetation, creatures such as snakes, insects, rats, and other small animals also rely on their instincts to avoid this place.

The last time Ashruphat was here with a group of dwarven engineers, he didn't feel anything. But now, he could clearly feel the heterogeneous energy in the air. A viscous yet wild energy poured out of the mouth of this underground cavern, spraying outward.

The grass and trees in the vicinity do not grow, and the insects and ants do not come, because of the destruction of this energy. Ashrufat could instinctively feel that this energy had a very powerful corrosive effect on ordinary lifeforms, far stronger than what he had encountered in the excavation site before.

At that time, a few months in the church's excavation site would have a lethal effect, and it would take only a few days here.

"Strange, the energy intensity seems to have increased a lot?" said Carrie in her mind, a little confused. “...... Whatever, even if a dwarf or a greenskin broke in, they wouldn't be able to get out. ”

Carrie has a point. Before, they had seen a lot of green-skinned corpses at the entrance to the cave. Obviously, these greenskins can't even escape from the cave. This is also normal - the radiation intensity can be so dangerous here at the entrance of the cave, so when you get to the depths, close to the ship's main body, that intensity is enough to kill someone in a few minutes.

"Master, I don't think things are going to be good inside...... I suggest that we return to our normal posture for the sake of ease of movement. Carrie suggested.

Ashrufat was a dwarf now—a dwarf by every measure.

"Recovery?" Ashruphat also sensed a danger. In fact, the dwarf's body is not able to give full play to his strength, at least it is not flexible enough. In addition, due to the change in the center of gravity of his body, he is not very comfortable using the Withered Sword. "Can it be restored now?"

"To transform your body into a dwarf, you do have to use specialized equipment, but it's much easier to say that you can recover it. In her head, Carrie chuckled. "As long as you're not afraid of being seen, you can do it at any time. After all, I have saved all aspects of the body's data. I'm going to start!"

In the silence of the night, Ashruphat suddenly let out a dull moan, and his body let out a distinct crunch. Then his body slowly rose at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.

A gust of night wind blew. Standing at the entrance of the "Land of Illusion" is no longer the Great Foundry Eshurufat, but the Scarlet Duke Eshurufat.

Carrie...... How can this be...... It hurts so much......"

"The nervous system is affected in the process of stretching bone and musculature...... Carrie explained in a terminology that Ashrufat did not understand. "Did I forget to remind you that you wouldn't feel anything if you used the sink...... However, we don't have that good equipment around us right now. ”

"Holy!" Ashruphat cursed. There was an almost spasmodic tingling sensation all over his body, and he couldn't even stand on his feet, and had to fall to the ground. He gasped for breath for a long time before he recovered.

"Direction, master, although there is a certain amount of pain, but this is not really hurt, and it will never cause fatal effects. Carrie said in a relaxed tone.

Ashrufat actually wanted to scold a few words. But after the words came to his lips, he still couldn't get out. There was a vague uneasiness in his heart, and Carrie didn't care more and more about his feelings.

The Engineers Guild uniform, which belongs to the Dwarven Clan, is completely out of place. So Ashruphat took a little effort to take them off, pile them up, find a pit and throw them in, and hold them down with a stone. He opened his backpack. Unlike the average traveler, he doesn't really need to eat or drink, so his carry-on backpack has enough room for an extra set of clothes.

"Get all the tools out. Mind, Carrie suggested.

Ashrufat prepared some tools for the expedition, including hook ropes for climbing, tool hammers, knives, and other commonly used tools. After taking all of these things out, there was nothing left in the backpack, so he simply threw the backpack aside.

"Master, I advise you to put on your cape. Carrie said.

Ashrufat pulled out the strange cloak from his pouch. The cloak was from Carl, white, but never dusty. The cloak was so defense-free that not even musket bullets could penetrate it. Normally, he tries to wear this cloak on his body as much as possible (you can't go out and wear armor forever, but you can wear a cloak forever). However, when he took on the role of the Great Forge, he had to hide it close to him, as the cloak was too long for the dwarf's size to wear.

There were three things in his pouch, one was the cloak and the other was the four deposit slips that Thomas had left him. Now, these huge certificates of deposit, which are astronomical to ordinary people, are just a few small coins to him, but he still keeps them close to him. The last one is the magic stone obtained from the rat god, which can summon a demon.

He still had Thomas's harp. Sadly, after his duel with Ylan-Ylang, that beautiful piece of art had been lost in the ensuing explosion. According to Carrie's speculation, the harp must have been lost in the void. There was no way to get it back, so Ashrufat had no choice but to forget it.

After tidying up, Ashrufat walked into the cave.

It's not a responsible journey. Ashrufat was cautious along the way, but there really wasn't any danger in this cave - other than the radiation. Along the way, in addition to some green-skinned bones found from time to time, there are only large and small stones, scattered traces of greenskin, and some fragments of something that I don't know what the road is. There were no particular obstacles, and the tools that Ashrufat was carrying were completely useless.

In the deepest part of the cavern was a massive metal object—the same thing seen at the site of Ashrufat's deep excavation—the ship was made of the same material, that is, a metal that never corroded and felt like it didn't belong in this world. The ship was half buried in the rock, and what appeared to be magma flowed out of the ship's hull where it combined with the rock, but it didn't flow long before it resolidified into stone. The magma is dark red, but no heat is felt on it.

It was as if the ship was trying to melt the rock so that it could get itself out of it. Other than that, though, there's nothing dangerous to see here.

"It's badly damaged...... Carrie muttered in her head.

"Sabotage?" Ashrufat asked.

"Engine. Carrie replied in her mind. "I would have liked the engine to work just fine...... It seems completely impossible. The one on the left might be the entrance, so let's go over and take a look. ”

Ashruphat passed as he was told. Just as he had encountered the last time, on the ship's hull, on this impassable metal wall, he found a small square the size of a palm that seemed to emit a green light. This thing should actually be part of the ship's hull, as it is integrated into the surroundings without any gaps.

Just as he had done the last time, Ashrufat placed his hand on the box.

"Data Link Begins...... Linking the operating system successfully...... All-round inspection ...... Read the information...... Artificial intelligence interconnection begins...... Artificial intelligence interconnection fails...... Start trying to link the database...... Basic database link failed ......"

"Hosts, it looks like the situation is the same here. In her mind, Carrie said. "The ship's AI has also been damaged - but that's normal. ”

"What do you know?"

"It's a small ship...... Much smaller than our Dark Castle. But it's the driverless type, so there seems to be a lot of equipment in there – though I'm not sure how many of them still work. ”

That being said, Ashruphat felt that since the ship's hull was intact, the equipment inside should be largely preserved - the situation in the Dark Castle was the best example.

Moments later, Ashruphat saw the metal wall begin to move—the seemingly unmistakable hull of the ship suddenly splitting open, revealing a door for human entry. Ashruphat remembered that the first time he entered the Dark Castle (which wasn't yet, of course), the air inside and outside was noticeably different. But this time it wasn't like that. Maybe this means that the ship is not sealed?

"Wait, master, don't go in yet. In her head, Carrie suddenly screamed, stopping Ashrufat's footsteps.

"What's wrong?"

"The host...... Such an unmanned spaceship, which may have an automatic defense system inside. Now I'm just opening the entrance, I haven't taken control of the ship yet, and for safety, I recommend that you get your weapons, put on your armor, and make all the preparations before going in. ”

Ashrufat took off his cloak and folded it back into his pouch. Out of habit, he tucked four certificates of deposit into his cloak. After doing this, he summoned his armor and sword.

As soon as I entered, the door behind me quietly closed again.

"Carrie, is this sealed?" Ashruphat asked.