A Machine Still in Operation

About half an hour later, even the rooms that hadn't been opened were already highly decayed. The ancient books had even turned into wisps of dust as soon as they were taken out.

In the end, there was still a regret.

But Rein felt that at least 70-80% of the key texts in this ruin had been recorded. Several thousand volumes in total, it was quite a pleasant surprise.

Unable to understand the professional texts on alchemy and engineering, he wanted to find some books on literature and history to learn about the Goblin Civilization and the "discontinuous history" of that era.

But upon closer inspection, Rein discovered that goblins were a fascinating race, and a group of research workaholics!

They have almost no spiritual and cultural entertainment, and very few "leisure books" such as humanities classics. The vast majority of their books are professional classics, professional classics, professional classics!

These ancient texts record their entire lives: mining, research, and experiments.

They spent their days hidden in this dark underground mine, day after day, year after year.

These thousands of books did not fill in much of the historical gaps, giving Rein a strange impression that it was a civilization that existed in almost complete isolation.

Because there were no major events with verifiable dates, Rein didn't even know how many tens of thousands of years ago these goblins lived.

Like the two great empires of the Ice Ridge Wasteland today (before the airship crash), they lived in an era and a "local area" inhabited only by their goblins, a highly intelligent species. There are no records of contact with other civilizations, and after a long period of time, they were lost to the dustbin of history.

Oh, and one more thing.

As for how the goblins in this city died, Rein had absolutely no clue.

It could be divine punishment, a curse, an experimental accident, poison gas, or a virus.

Or something else?

In an era where gods existed, there were countless strange and bizarre things, and these documents and records could not help him deduce the reason for the sudden disappearance of this civilization.

However, the truth of history from too far back is no longer important.

The decay was irreversible, and no new documents were found after the search.

In this way, the busy work came to a stop.

Old Master Tuster also seemed exhausted and sat down on the stone steps.

The physical exertion was one thing, but the key issue was the constant mental strain, which left him feeling as weak as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

Ymir to the side, also had her mouth slightly open and her breathing slightly rapid.

Rein was actually the most relaxed one; he barely expended any energy throughout the entire process, except for moving his eyes.

At this very moment, he was selecting from the written records of goblin history that the "Mind Core" had filtered out for him.

But this "dazed" expression seemed rather unfathomable to outsiders.

They thought that the Lord Rein was probably using some kind of Transcendent ability to enhance his memory.

Then, a group of people appeared, surrounding him nervously, wanting to ask questions but afraid of interrupting his train of thought and causing some memories to be lost.

Finally, after a long time.

Or Ymir called out softly, "Rein?"

"???"

Rein snapped out of his daze and looked at the seven or eight pairs of eyes staring at him, his face full of questions.

Ymir asked the question everyone was curious about, "How much of those goblin documents did you memorize?"

Rein frowned. "This."

He himself didn't remember a single thing, but the "Mind Core" remembered everything.

But he was considering how much he should remember in order to be considered a "normal person".

To remember even 10% of these thousands of books would be an astonishing feat.

But to others, that furrowed brow looked different.

Could it be that he simply didn't remember?

Especially Mr. Tuster, his old face was frozen in place, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest with tension.

All the ancient books and documents have decayed, so even if you haven't memorized them, it's impossible to read them again now.

If you really didn't remember.

Oh, that was a nightmare! Please let me wake up right now!

Ymir's expression was also grim. She asked cautiously, yet with a mixture of fear and expectation, "About... how much do you remember?"

A voice seemed to be calling out in her heart: Yicheng! Even just remembering Yicheng would be enough!

Looking at the group of people in front of Rein, especially old man Tuster, whose heart was pounding so hard that anyone could hear it.

If I were to say "I don't remember," the old man would probably rush over on the spot.

Finally, after some thought, he decided to give everyone a surprise and said, "About 40% or 50%."

Rein didn't give a definitive answer, paused for a moment, and then said, "I rarely forget things I've seen; you never know when I might remember even more."

"Forty or fifty percent? Oh! Thank goodness for the 'God of Steam'!"

Upon hearing this, Tuster finally felt the soul that had been frightened by hearing bad news and was about to leave him return to his body.

He looked at Rein with excitement and said solemnly, "This old man doesn't expect you to remember more, but you must never forget. Every word you remember now is of great significance to the disciplines of 'alchemy' and 'engineering.' Even more so to this era!"

Ymir, standing to the side, also let out a long sigh of relief.

Rein felt that the old man was too old to handle any more shocks, so he comforted him, "Don't worry, Grandpa Tuster. I won't forget what I've memorized."

Mechanics are always meticulous; they trust what they see more than what is mystical "memory."

Hearing this, old man Tuster breathed a sigh of relief, but he was not completely at ease.

After thinking for a moment, he quickly took out the white paper and pen he usually used for drawing and said to Rein, "Quickly, while your memory is still fresh, write down as much as you can remember."

This old man has gone mad with geodesy for the sake of technology.

"."

Rein was both amused and exasperated, as if he were being forced to sign a confession.

But seeing Tuster's cautious expression, he still picked up his pen and began to write.

I wrote down a few formulas, and then drew a simpler mechanical design drawing.

Although he couldn't understand what Rein had written on the ground, Tuster, as a professional mechanic, immediately realized upon seeing the highly accurate design drawings that Rein had indeed memorized them completely!

"Wow, you really wrote it down!"

Only when he saw the real thing before his eyes did Tuster dare to believe that fate was truly on his side, and he trembled with excitement.

He looked at the items on the blueprints, pondered for a moment, and then said, "This looks like the design for a 'special bomb.' No, it looks like a bomb-assist device, probably for controlling the blast radius."

Upon hearing this, Rein thought to himself, "That's professional!"

Sure enough, professional tasks should be handled by professionals, because the blueprints clearly state "Goblin Directional Bomb Device"!

Then, Tuster looked at the alchemy recipe recorded in the ancient Goblin Language and sighed, "What a pity. The 'Goblin Civilization' is an even older, discontinuous civilization than the 'Monkell Civilization.' All the 'Goblin Language' documents that have been unearthed so far probably don't even amount to these few lines. Deciphering them will be a huge problem."

Seeing Tuster's anxious expression, Rein tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Grandpa Tuster, you know I have a bit of a talent for languages. I've read a lot of those goblin tomes. Give me some time, and I should be able to translate them."

Ymir, who was standing to the side, didn't say anything. She glanced at Rein, a strange look flashing across her face.

Has a little talent? Maybe a tiny bit.

Upon hearing this, Tuster seemed to have been injected with a tranquilizer.

Then he suddenly realized that he had lost his composure due to excitement. Although he was still full of anticipation, he also seemed relieved and said, "Rein, don't push yourself too hard. Just memorize as much as you can. The 'God of Steam' has already been very kind of us to be able to see these goblin documents."

But as soon as he said it, he felt a little discouraged, so he added, "But I also feel that He continues to look after us."

Just as everyone was watching Rein demonstrate his miraculous memory by rewriting goblin technology documents, new news suddenly arrived!

The thieves who went to scout the way returned and reported, "Lord Rein, Your Her Highness the Eldest Princess, we have discovered a large smelting plant and forging plant in a mine pit 300 meters below!"

"As expected!"

Upon hearing this, Tuster slapped his thigh.

The discovery of this ancient goblin city was an unexpected surprise. Their original purpose for coming here was to obtain the [Angelas Black Iron].

He had already thought of this: where there are mineral deposits, there must be smelters; where there are standardized shields and weapons, there must also be forging plants!

At this moment, the assassin added, "Furthermore, we also discovered a very strange instrument underground."

Tuster: "A very strange instrument?"

Assassin: "Yes. And it's still working!"

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

This city has been around for countless years; the steel has rotted into dust. What instruments could possibly still function here?