Memory Metal

Soren did not answer the Eastern Dancer's question.

He looked up at the sky, his gaze seemingly piercing through the heavens, glimpsing fragments of the future. The stars in the night sky were already quite dim; as April drew to a close, some stars had become inconspicuous, and the moon appeared somewhat hazy, as if shrouded in a layer of mist. There were still eight months left until the end of the year; these should be Soren's most peaceful eight months yet. By the time spring arrived next year, he probably wouldn't be so relaxed and at ease.

The Eastern Dancer looked up at the sky, her expression somewhat dazed, and murmured, "Have you heard of the legends of the East?"

"What legend?" Soren poked at the fire and asked in a deep voice.

The Eastern Dancer stood up and looked at the moon. Then she whispered, "When all the stars in the sky become dim and without light, a demonic star will streak across the sky! At that time, a great disaster will befall us. It is said that rumors are circulating in many places, and the Monk seem to be secretly preparing to deal with something. In the Eastern Realm, there are messages that many Ascetic have been practicing in seclusion have emerged from their retreats, including the ascetic monks of the Prajna Sect. The actions of the Monk have made many people uneasy."

"After completing this mission, I will return to the Eastern Realm."

"Her Highness the Imperial Princess has ordered us to evacuate the vicinity of the Death Desert by the end of the second half of the year, although I don't know what might happen."

Eastern Diji.

This woman's professional level was over 30, making her a Legendary Legendary. It was not surprising to Soren that she was able to sense the signs of the Time of Troubles in advance.

The Death Desert was the first to be ravaged by the Time of Troubles!

Too many Evil Creature are sealed here, but there are no monasteries to suppress them, making it easy for it to become a chaotic Slaughter ground.

"It's better to leave here."

Soren turned and glanced at the woman behind him. The Eastern Dancer possessed a charm unlike any other woman; this exotic allure made it easy for them to win the favor of others.

However, this does not include Soren, because the woman in front of him is very likely trying to use this opportunity to get closer to him.

If we were to use a type of person to describe the Eastern Dancer, they would be like the Yin Kuei Sect of the Demon Sect Path. The Eastern Diji are proficient in Charm techniques, and the lethality of their dances is by no means much weaker than the ' Celestial Demon Dance.' Moreover, they secretly have intricate connections with the brothels and entertainment venues of the Eastern Realm. Many Eastern Dancer are outwardly top courtesans in brothels, but in secret, they are ruthless Assassin.

Soren stood up, staring at the woman before him. He said in a deep voice, "The time has come."

"It's time for someone else to keep watch."

"You'd better get some rest early tonight; we can go underground tomorrow."

The second person on watch was the Eastern Ronin. He sat by the fire, holding his sword, and glanced at the Eastern Dancer, but seemed completely uninterested.

After a while, he pierced a scorpion with his sword and roasted it over a fire. Surprisingly, he even drank some wine.

The night passed quickly.

The next day, the laborers were urged to work again. The morning's progress was much faster; they dug into the remnants of some buildings. But another unexpected event occurred. After breaking through a wall, a swarm of scarabs suddenly poured out, a dark, overwhelming mass of them, instantly engulfing the three closest laborers. Not only these ordinary people, but even the other professionals present, especially the Eastern Dancer, paled slightly upon seeing the dense swarm of scarabs.

Desert Scarab.

They are like Army Ant on Overseas Islands —a species capable of overwhelming even high-level professionals.

"Fire!"

Soren was prepared for this, and as soon as his order was given, Lamp Oil was poured down the side of the passage, and a fire quickly spread through the passage, burning for a full ten minutes before the scarabs were driven away. There were many dead scarabs at the entrance of the passage. There were probably thousands of them. These creatures are found in many Ancient Ruin, and seeing them without prior preparation is enough to make one's scalp crawl.

Two dead and one injured!

The casualties were within Soren's expectations, even though they had only just dug to the edge of the underground ruins.

"Let's prepare to enter."

Soren looked up at the sky and said in a deep voice, "Grab the torches! Everyone else, get ready. Below us should be the plaza of Ancient Ruin, and there are some unclean things inside."

"We need to clear them out before we can continue digging the tunnel."

For an ordinary person, going down there would be suicide.

Soren needs to clear out some of the monsters inside before they can go in and continue digging.

"I've been waiting impatiently for a long time."

The Dwarf Heavy Warrior banged his shield, jumped up from the sand dune, and exclaimed excitedly, "Is there treasure down there? Didn't you say you knew everything about the inside? There should be some good stuff near the plaza, right?"

A treasure.

Apart from Soren and the Eastern Dancer, everyone else present was there for the wealth.

Soren glanced at him, nodded, and said, "There should be some. Based on the architectural layout during the Arcane Empire era, there should be quite a few Arcane Magic Gold Coin nearby."

"These Gold Coin are very valuable, with an exchange rate of about 1:10 with Gold Daler."

Arcanite.

Simply put, it's gold refined through Alchemy. Gold has a very high degree of stability, and the Arcane Empire's Gold Coin manufacturing technology is at least two eras ahead of the current technology.

"Is it worth that much?"

The Dwarf Heavy Warrior exclaimed excitedly, "Doesn't that mean finding a hundred of them would be enough to exchange for a thousand Gold Daler?"

Upon hearing his words, both the Eastern Ronin and the Desert Samurai's expressions shifted slightly. It was quite normal to find thousands of ancient Gold Coin during an exploration of underground ruins, which meant that even without counting other treasures, they could earn tens of thousands of Gold Daler.

Don't be too happy yet.

Soren frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "There might be undamaged Golem Guard the area below. Our task is to clear the plaza first before exploring other areas."

The Dwarf Heavy Warrior patted his chest and said earnestly, "I know. It's not like it's my first time exploring ruins. Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless."

Rumble!

A slight thud could be heard coming from inside the passageway, as if a wall had been pushed down.

Soren glanced down and immediately said, "Prepare the ropes. We've dug an entrance; it looks to be over thirty meters deep."

Torch, hook and lock, pulley.

Soren, as Rogue, went first. Although he could have easily descended using Levitate, he still slowly slid to the bottom using a rope.

No one knows he works part-time as Wizard yet, so it's best to keep it a secret for now.

"Safety!"

Soren had excellent night vision; he glanced around, then immediately lit the torches and planted them, saying in a deep voice, "You can come down now."

The second to come down was the Dwarf Heavy Warrior.

He's the true tank, his heavy armor weighing over sixty pounds—only Dwarf Warrior could wear that. (He possesses considerable strength and the highest Constitution among the common races. Even a non-advanced Dwarf with good Constitution can reach 19 points in physique. Aside from their height, Dwarf Warrior are top-tier tanks in every aspect, and these guys are naturally good at Taunt.)

Bump!

Because of his weight, the sound of him landing was quite loud.

The sound echoed in the deathly silence of the underground, and soon there seemed to be some slight movements coming from all directions.

Never expect Heavy Warrior to move silently. Soren listened intently, his expression growing serious. He said in a deep voice, "Get down here now! Prepare for battle!"

Both the Desert Samurai and the Eastern Ronin are agile melee classes. They quickly landed and stood firm, while the Eastern Dancer landed silently.

Waaaaah!

The eerie sounds came from all directions, sending chills down one's spine.

Damn it!

The Dwarf Heavy Warrior listened for a moment, then muttered, "It's like seeing Undead!..."

A ghostly blue flame appeared.

The aura of the Undead appeared with the cold wind. The sealed underground ruins should have had very little ventilation, so the experienced ones immediately knew that they had encountered the Undead.

"Spectre! Will-o'-Wisp! There seem to be Skeleton Undead nearby!..."

Soren frowned, surveying his surroundings. He said in a low voice, "Prepare the Holy Water; we can apply it to the weapons! Everyone, don't scatter; nobody knows what monsters are here!"

Waaaaah!

A semi-transparent figure appeared; these Wraith, buried along with the city, rushed towards them.

Clang!

Soren instantly swung his blade, the Scimitar Icetail imbued with energy damage, capable of directly dealing with these semi-solid Undead creatures.

"I hate the Undead!"

The cumbersome Dwarf Heavy Warrior was having trouble dealing with the Spectre, so he turned his attention to a resurrected Skeleton Undead (Challenge Rating 6).

Those present were all high-level professionals.

He was a prominent figure in a local town organization, so dealing with these Undead was naturally a piece of cake for him.

The battle lasted only a few minutes.

With all the Undead dealt with, Soren sheathed his Scimitar and lit torches. This was the first stop on their exploration of the underground ruins. Because it had sunk deep into the desert, many parts were buried, and the exploration had to begin here, clearing a path step by step. As the light became brighter, everything before them was revealed.

This is a large square, with a dilapidated obelisk in front of it.

Half of the plaza was buried, and the other half was where they were digging. If Soren hadn't found the location, they probably wouldn't have been able to dig this far without having to dig through all the soil and sand. There were passageways near the plaza, which were the city's old streets and appeared very spacious, but much of them had been buried, and the houses had collapsed quite severely. Only a few of the buildings in front of them were still relatively intact. These intact places were not simple; they likely contained traces of Arcane Magic.

"It should be this location."

Before taking action, Soren decided to give them a little reward first, since they were all high-level professionals and it would be difficult for them to put in their best effort if they didn't see any benefits.

He still had a strong memory of a place nearby where there were many spoils of war.

"Follow me." Soren looked up. After being buried for thousands of years, the area had become much more stable, but the possibility of it shifting and collapsing could not be ruled out. He didn't want to be buried under the sand.

The group proceeded very carefully.

As they approached a relatively intact building, some plants unexpectedly appeared before them.

Mosses and bryophytes.

The walls bear mottled marks and fragments of artificial Crystal, a technique from the Arcane Empire era, where they used artificial Crystal to transmit Magic energy.

"Intruder detected!"

"Intruder detected!"

"Reserve energy activated!... Magical Energy Power Device activated!... Class I Defense System activated!..."

A cold, mechanical voice sounded.

A dull thud suddenly came from the wall in front, followed by extremely heavy footsteps. A Puppet Golem, about three meters tall and made entirely of steel, stepped out.

Soren cautiously took a step back, letting the Dwarf Warrior stand in front, and said in a deep voice, "It's Puppet Golem from the Arcane Empire era!..."

Be careful!

"They may have means of energy attack."

These Steel Golem are easy to encounter in any underground ruins related to the Arcane Empire, as they completely replaced city Guard during the Arcane Empire era.

"Target spotted!"

"Magical Energy Power Guard Type I receives attack command!..."

Click.

The Steel Golem's arm suddenly began to rotate, and then a black cannon barrel emerged. This Golem craftsmanship was extremely rare in this era. Soren's expression changed drastically after just one glance, and he shouted, "Scatter!"

Boom!

Boom boom boom!

Three energy cannon shots hit their location, blasting craters into the ground; their power was comparable to that of a mortar.

"Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!"

The Dwarf spat out the mud from the Heavy Warrior's mouth, growled, and charged forward, shielding him with his shield, shouting, "Taldandin hates Puppet Golem! Die, you iron monster!"

The Hill Dwarf once possessed a brilliant Alchemy Craft, which was ultimately Destruction by the Dwarf defenders (construct Golem) they created.

Clang!

With a piercing metallic clang, the Dwarf Warrior swung his axe at the Steel Golem's leg, sending sparks flying.

"Attack the joints!"

Soren also moved, circling around from the side. The Eastern Ronin reacted just as quickly, sliding sideways and swinging his sword at the Golem's leg joint.

"Activate Energy Shield!"

"Elemental Fission Barrier activated!... Insufficient energy!... Elemental Fission Barrier activation failed!..."

"Magical Energy Power Guard Type I, switching to melee mode!"

Under the attack of Soren and his companions, the joints of the Steel Golem began to function, transforming rapidly like Transformers. The black cannon muzzle entered its body, transforming into a pale gold obelisk and a greatsword forged with magic steel. At the same time, the key part of its leg that had been struck by the attack began to gradually repair itself, as if the metal had come alive and slowly returned to its original form.

"Memory Metal?!"

Soren's expression changed instantly, then brightened with surprise. He murmured, "A high-level construct Golem?"

...(To be continued~^~)