Chapter 2590: Chapter 1732: Scientific Expedition Team (Firecrackers Are Deafening Early in the Morning!)

Reality is always more bizarre than movies.

Duanmu Huai originally thought he was on the path of a typical sci-fi horror movie, the kind where the rescue arrives, everyone dies, and then the rest come to investigate what happened here—it’s such a cliché plot.

Of course, for Duanmu Huai, that’s the ideal scenario. After all, if everyone is really dead, then there’s nothing to worry about.

So when he walked to the bottom of the pit and had a gun barrel spewing smoke pointed directly at his face, he was momentarily stunned.

"Hey, who are you!?"

A burly mercenary held a gun aimed at Duanmu Huai, his expression serious.

"How did you get here!?"

Should I kill them all now?

Faced with the gun barrel, Duanmu Huai paused for a second and then made a decision.

"I’m here to help."

Killing these guys now would be too easy for them, plus who knows what the Mechanical Religion’s relic might be hiding. Besides, Duanmu Huai wasn’t sure if the Mechanical Religion had defected; if they had, leaving one or two meat shields behind to clear the mines wouldn’t be bad.

"Help."

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, the burly man frowned and stared at Duanmu Huai. Because of the hurried arrival, Duanmu Huai was only wearing essential Antarctic clothing, but it was clear that he was a petite girl. However, her coming here alone made people somewhat uneasy.

"Yes, Professor Williams sent me."

"..............."

Faced with Duanmu Huai’s answer, the burly man hesitated for a moment, then made a gesture. Quickly, another companion left, and after a moment, they brought over a thin elder. With glasses and a scholarly look, the elder showed as much surprise and confusion as he saw Duanmu Huai.

"You were... sent by Professor Williams?"

"Yes."

Duanmu Huai looked at the elder.

"May I ask, who are you...?"

"I’m Celt, the captain of the search team. We’ve lost contact with the previous exploration team, so we came to investigate."

The old professor paused as he said this, staring at Duanmu Huai in silence for a moment.

"Only you?"

"Yes, may I ask how Professor Williams is?"

"They disappeared. According to our investigation, they should be inside this relic, but the door is currently locked, and we can’t open it."

"I see........."

That’s great; there won’t be any worries about eliminating them without involving others. Hearing this, Duanmu Huai also sighed in relief.

"I’m Professor Williams’ student. I have some research on this civilization relic, which is why Professor Williams specifically contacted me to come here."

"I see........."

Professor Celt looked at Duanmu Huai, who stared back at him. After a moment, Professor Celt turned his head.

"Follow me."

As he spoke, he hunched his body and walked deeper into the pit. Duanmu Huai followed beside him, and several other mercenaries surrounded them as well. But Duanmu Huai didn’t mind; he was just listening to Professor Celt’s explanation.

"We found some strange thing inside... It seems they were sleeping previously but suddenly activated and awakened. We’ve attempted to communicate with them, but it’s been fruitless."

According to Professor Celt, the scientific expedition team was divided into two groups: one led by Williams for on-site investigation, and the other led by Professor Celt for logistics support. Professor Celt came onsite because Williams’ regular contact had been interrupted, prompting him to bring others to check the situation.

"You didn’t contact the outside?

"We shut down communication."

Professor Celt sighed.

"Since the situation isn’t good at the moment, it’s not appropriate to share these matters until we figure out what happened to Professor Williams."

For Duanmu Huai, this was also a good decision—this way, he could eliminate these people without restraint.

After all, nobody would know what happened here.

While talking, the group came to the entrance. Duanmu Huai glanced at the already opened Mechanical Religion door and walked inside.

Then, he saw several archaeologists standing in front of a large door, scratching their heads, with several mercenaries standing beside them.

Oh, strictly speaking, what was troubling these guys wasn’t the door itself, but rather a humanoid object next to the door.

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai chuckled; he almost wanted to laugh.

Seriously, guys, you’re stuck here? Isn’t this just the beginning?

"Ah, Professor."

At this moment, a young man saw Professor Celt return and hurriedly ran over.

"You’re finally back. What exactly happened... uh, who is she?"

Looking at Duanmu Huai, following beside Williams, the young man appeared puzzled. However, Duanmu Huai was dressed tightly, which completely concealed his face.

Duanmu Huai didn’t answer the young man’s question; he went directly to the door and looked at the Contemplator guarding it. Logically speaking, this thing wasn’t a Space Undead. After being here for so many years, it should have decayed beyond recognition. But in reality, everything here was as new as ever. According to Professor Celt, there seemed to have been some strange reaction here before—hmm...

Looking at the Contemplator in front of him, Duanmu Huai suddenly felt uneasy.

Could it be that the seal here was a super-large stasis device? Then triggered by his own song, it shut off? Then opened? And then Professor Williams led the team inside to investigate, only for the door to shut again?

What did those oil man bastards leave here!?

Damn, is it still possible for me to go back now?

Of course, Duanmu Huai was just thinking about it. The Mechanical Religion, the Stasis Device, all of these made him feel very uneasy, extremely uneasy.

Damn it, in his memory, whenever the Mechanical Religion is involved with the Stasis Device, nothing good happens!

"Excuse me...?"

Seeing Duanmu Huai standing silently in front of the Contemplator, the person next to him asked in confusion, while Duanmu Huai sighed, then raised his head to look at the Contemplator.

"Open the door."

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s request, the Contemplator slowly raised its head. Its mouth had been completely modified into a grid and breathing tube, and a twisted, static-filled voice emerged from it.

[Please identify yourself, Outsider]

"Big Judge of the Tribunal, emergency code MKA32541."

If it were his main body, Duanmu Huai could have it scan him. But the duplicate doesn’t have this convenience; however, Duanmu Huai was not without options. The emergency code is a kind of forced opening code, of course, this code is known only to a small number of Great Judges. It’s mainly used to enter certain closed Mechanical Church facilities.

Of course, if outsiders learn this code, it would make the Mechanical Church furious.

But the Judge doesn’t care.

Because generally, when this code is needed, it indicates that those stubborn oil men of the Mechanical Religion messed up again...

[Emergency code verification... Verification complete]

[Warning, the facility is currently in Level 1 alert status]

"What about the defense protocol?"

[Unable to verify, connection failed, control... Data transmission... Terminated for unknown reasons]

"Can you contact anyone else?"

[Communication protocol damaged, signal delay cannot be assessed, bidirectional connection cannot be established]

"......."

What on earth happened inside?

"Open the door, please."

Duanmu Huai gathered his thoughts, looked forward, and silently gave the order.

"Click———!"

With Duanmu Huai’s command, the door slowly opened.

At this moment, the person next to him witnessed this scene and also widened their eyes in shock.

Of course, they couldn’t understand the High Gothic language used in the exchange between Duanmu Huai and the Contemplator, and Duanmu Huai used the Tribunal’s jargon as well. But as archaeologists, they could somewhat hear that this should be a very ancient language. In other words, is this girl specialized in studying this language? Is that why Professor Williams asked her to come along?

"You... What did you just say to it?"

The young man asked curiously, and Duanmu Huai glanced at him.

"Nothing, I just asked if we could open the door to let us in..."

"You know this language?"

"Yes, it’s my field of study."

Because Duanmu Huai had previously been to archaeological sites with Mary, disguising his identity was quite easy—after all, anyone who might expose him was probably wiped out long ago inside.

"Alright, let’s go in."

The group exchanged glances but still mustered the courage to follow Duanmu Huai inside.

The cold, inorganic lights shone from above, illuminating the passage ahead. The fans rotated, making a buzzing sound. Because of the stasis field, everything here remained in perfect condition. Or rather, at least in the same state as when they were put in stasis.

No Imperial Guard, no Mecha Servant; does it look abandoned? No, it looks more like it’s sealed. But where did the people here go?

Duanmu Huai walked through the corridor and entered the control hall, which was still in chaos. Around, traces of laser shooting could still be seen, unless a Technological Priest planned to experiment with their mechanical tentacles here, something serious must have happened.

"What exactly is this place...?"

Professor Celt widened his eyes in surprise; the expressions of the others were equally astonished. This was understandable since the mention of ancient ruins usually brings to mind things made of stone. However, the place before them was purely a steel construct, even equipped with air-intake fans. If it weren’t for the decorations around looking anything but modern, they might even think they had walked into the wrong place.

However, the surprise was only momentary. Soon, the group snapped back to reality and began walking deeper into the ruins along the passage.

Passing through the corridor, they arrived in the hall, where they quickly saw several boxes and instruments placed in the center of the hall.

"These are Williams and his team’s equipment!"

Professor Celt hurried over, looking at the equipment, including computers and some instruments. However, these instruments seemed to be broken now, completely unusable. There were also a few rifles thrown on the floor next to them, as well as...

"........"

A mercenary walked forward, crouched silently, and reached out to touch the bloodstains on the ground.

"It has dried up."

"Did something happen to Professor Williams and his team?"

Seeing the bloodstains, the other members of the scientific expedition team felt a chill in their hearts and subconsciously looked to the side. However, in the cold hall, aside from the steel-made statues on both sides of the walls staring coldly at them, there was no one else to be seen. Aside from the bloodstains, no other presence could be detected.

"Be careful."

At this point, Professor Celt was also solemn and spoke sternly, then gestured to a few mercenaries to raise their guns and move to the front, while the others followed behind.

"Let’s follow the bloodstains to see what we can find!"

For them, there was no other option now.