South of the Western Continent of the Federation, Fettican Continent.
The stone gate of a First People temple was blasted open.
Shattered stones lay scattered across the ground, and a twisted bronze door bolt had fallen onto the ground ahead.
A man in a long leather coat and wide-brimmed hat picked it up. His implanted eyes contracted a few times, and when he saw it was merely ordinary bronze, he lost interest and tossed it aside. Before it hit the ground, however, another hand caught it.
It belonged to an elderly scholar leaning on a walking stick. He turned it over, examining it from every angle, and said, "An early Pedia bronze artifact. Back then, they were still using technology from the East Continent." He looked ahead. "This temple should be about a thousand years old."
Someone behind him asked with great concern, "Professor Nowitzki, is there gold?"
"Perhaps."
Professor Nowitzki shrugged.
The people around them burst into cheers, the wave of sound completely drowning out the latter half of his words.
"But gold isn't the most valuable thing in a temple."
Although the wide-brimmed-hat man's eyes burned with eagerness as he looked into the temple, he did not cheer. He knew that wealth often came with danger.
This ruin had actually long since caught the attention of the Federation government and various corporations.
During the pioneering era, however, residents of nearby colonies had often died for no apparent reason. No matter how many times they attempted to settle the area or what methods they used, they could not solve the problem. Fighters had greater resistance, but clearing land and establishing outposts still required ordinary people. In the end, the place could only be abandoned.
After the Federation was established, two later investigations detected a highly infectious biological pathogen. This