Spaceship

Hansen County!

Fernandez I led his son into the mountains. As for that little shop, it had temporarily closed down.

The reason given to outsiders was that the old man was getting on in years, was unwell, and wanted to return to his hometown for a visit.

In truth, the batteries smuggled in during their repeated cargo transports over the past two years had restarted the ancestral grounds.

He had even prepared extra batteries to store power, just in case.

As they passed through the dim underground caverns once more, the whale oil in the torches along the walls had mostly dried up after so many trips. The two could only carry lanterns and feel their way forward.

Antoine was unusually silent today. He walked ahead of Fernandez I with his head lowered, not making a single sound.

When they arrived, Fernandez I hesitated before drawing the family heirloom sword and inserting it into the only gap.

Beep!!!

This time, they were not shut out. Instead, the cliff wall trembled and slowly rumbled open halfway.

The sound of machinery still squeaked and creaked, like an over-worn mechanical pulley.

Both of them had studied mechanical principles and knew that humanity's precise creations required maintenance.

As for the inheritance left behind by their ancestors... they could more or less guess from science fiction novels.

Do not mistake Fernandez I for some old fossil who knew nothing of the world, and do not underestimate a writer with a full stomach.

"Looks like the mechanical joint is stuck," Fernandez I said, feigning ease.

But his heart had already gone cold. Weren't the technological creations in novels supposed to require no maintenance?

Why did the thing left behind by his ancestors seem so outdated?

That was also why he had not made a move against