Warrior's Tomb

What could be more surprising than learning about the existence of aliens?

Of course there is! It's learning that an old tomb raider dug up alien relics from an unknown ancient tomb.

Looking at the black metal plate in front of me, which was constantly vibrating and emitting a faint humming sound, my brain was instantly filled with various movies and novels, and strange and bizarre stories poured out one after another.

A powerful warrior from the depths of the universe, after countless brutal battles, was severely wounded and fell to Earth, which was still in an uncivilized period. The warrior, unable to return home, was revered as a god by the local natives, leading the Earthlings in countless struggles against tyranny and dictatorship. Finally, he spent his lonely life on this distant planet. The items he left behind were treated as sacred objects by the respectful Earthlings and buried in the long river of history, until one day, an old man named... uh, I forgot his name, but anyway, a lewd old man discovered a forgotten tomb, and the story of this alien warrior finally revealed a corner of the iceberg, and then the credits rolled...

"A Jun?" Qian Qian's voice suddenly rang in my ear, quickly bringing me back from my delusional state.

"Huh?"

"What are you doing? Why are you spacing out again?" Qian Qian looked at me with some dissatisfaction, seemingly helpless about my frequent spacing out. Lin Xue even blurted out, "You haven't been cursed by the ancient items here, have you? As far as I know, some ancient mysterious items can make people's minds wander – how about I send you for a check-up?"

"Uh... no need, I was just thinking... How about it, we can now confirm that the item can resonate with Qian Qian, so what exactly is this thing?"

Everyone's eyes focused on Gu Zhengfeng.

The old tomb raider coughed dryly and said, "Actually, I'm not very clear either..."

All of us glared at him fiercely.

The old tomb raider quickly shrank his neck and said, "But I can confirm that this thing is useful – back then, I found that ruin with a few friends, and found this thing deep inside a tomb within it. At that time, there was an introduction to this thing on the tomb wall, saying it was the 'Lost One's Beacon', and only the chosen one could take it. At that time, I was greedy and didn't listen to my companions' dissuasion and took it out of the box, which triggered a mechanism. Several companions died in the tomb, and only I escaped with the guidance of this thing, but I was hunted down and ended up in this state..."

After listening to Gu Zhengfeng's narration, I roughly understood the history of this "Null Beacon" and said, "So you set a rule that only someone who can establish some kind of connection with this 'Lost One's Beacon' can take it?"

The old man nodded and said, "That's right. Actually, at first, I didn't expect anyone to really resonate with this thing. I just had a try-it-out mentality and entrusted the Esper team. If there were people going to the ruins for investigation, they would bring them to me. As a result, I actually met an archaeologist named Xu... It's a pity, that person didn't listen to my advice and instead cursed me out... Alas, it's rare for me, Old Gu, to do a good deed in my life..."

Lin Xue snorted dismissively and said, "If I were you, I'd throw this thing away as soon as possible."

"If he really throws this thing away, wouldn't our trouble be even bigger?"

Lin Xue snorted coldly again, but this time she didn't habitually refute what I said. Instead, she stood up and changed the subject, saying, "Anyway, we've got this thing. Let's hurry up and leave. I've been here for so long that I almost feel like I'm buried in a tomb."

Heading into the ruins...

"It's there." Getting out of the specially modified desert off-road vehicle, Lin Xue pointed to a place not far ahead.

"Where? Why can't I see it?" I looked around and found nothing but a sand dune.

Lin Xue took the lead and walked forward, saying, "Idiot, how could such a mysterious ruin be placed where people can see it at a glance – it's under this desert!"

Underground again? Do ancient people also have the same hobby as Lin Xue and the others, liking to build underground bases?

At the bottom of the sand dune, we saw the entrance to the ruin.

A passage about two or three meters high, supported by grayish-white stone blocks. Looking inside from the entrance of the passage, we could only see the long stone steps under our feet extending downwards, gradually swallowed by the deep darkness, giving people the illusion that "this won't lead directly to hell, will it?"

Lin Xue closed her eyes, seemingly sensing the surrounding environment carefully, and then said, "Indeed – the sand dune here is static, so this entrance hasn't been submerged by quicksand."

Without Lin Xue's reminder, I had already received a more accurate description from Pandora.

Centered around this entrance, the sand within a radius of one kilometer was all in a strange "pseudo-static" state. The reason it was called "pseudo-static" was that it wasn't truly completely still in place, but would still slowly move due to the wind. However, after a period of time, this sand would return to its original position under the action of a mysterious force. Therefore, this entrance had existed here for countless years, but had never been swallowed by the flowing desert.

A place full of strangeness.

"Sikaro," I said to the Knight-Faced Uncle next to me through a mental connection, "Increase your focus. If an accident occurs, prioritize protecting Qian Qian and Lin Xue. Their self-preservation abilities are the weakest."

At this time, Lin Xue also finished sensing the surrounding situation. She opened her eyes and said, "It's safe ahead, everyone go in."

I felt my clothes being pulled from behind, so I turned around and gently comforted, "Don't be afraid, Qian Qian, there are six Espers protecting you here."

This passage had existed for who knows how many years. The stone steps under our feet had been worn down by time, becoming uneven. In many places, stepping on them would even cause a piece to collapse, and the broken stones would roll down into the boundless darkness with a clattering sound. We held onto the rough stone walls, carefully walking forward with the slightly dim light emitted by the bluish-white cold fluorescent lamps. Lin Xue was leading the way, using her ability to sense the dangers that could appear at any time.

"Strange..." Lin Xue suddenly said, "How long have we been walking?"

"About an hour, I guess," I said uncertainly, because of the darkness of the environment and the oppressive atmosphere, I felt like I had been walking in this strange place for a long time.

"Twenty-something minutes," Pandora's calm voice sounded in all our minds.

"Hmm..." Lin Xue murmured, "In this oppressive environment, people's sense of time passing will be inaccurate. Lily is blind anyway, so she's not affected. That means we've been walking here for nearly half an hour..."

"Sister, what did you find?" Lin Feng asked.

"The air – we've gone so deep, but the air in this passage hasn't become thin at all, nor has it become turbid – this is absolutely abnormal in an ancient underground cave."

Is it that strange "pseudo-static" phenomenon again?

"Although it's a very abnormal phenomenon, it's better than having no air. At least we won't need the respirators we brought for now," Lin Xue said, quickening her pace and walking forward. We followed closely behind.

After walking for who knows how long, just when I was starting to wonder if this seemingly endless staircase could lead all the way to the center of the earth, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared in front of us.

After Lin Xue confirmed that there was no danger ahead, we immediately hurried towards that faint light.

"Ah – this is..." Lin Xue exclaimed, looking at the scene before her.

Appearing before us was a huge stone hall!

Pandora's voice suddenly sounded in my mind, with obvious excitement: "This is the Warrior's Tomb!"