The soldiers drew closer and closer to the deep pit, hearing the voices of a man and a woman talking within.
"How much more dirt are you going to eat?"
"I'm not eating dirt! I'm eating the metallic elements in the soil! And why were you using me as a shield when you clearly can't be hurt? You made me burn through quite a few parts."
"Ahem... Falling from that high up, I instinctively grabbed something to shield myself with... Besides, didn't I react in the end? I made this pit, after all."
The soldiers could not understand what the two were talking about. All they could hear from the pit were sounds of digging and smashing rocks.
One man cautiously poked his head out and looked into the pit. He saw two raggedly dressed people digging deeper into the earth. Beside them, a creature that appeared to be female lay on the ground, devouring dirt and rocks like a caterpillar while useless dust seeped from her skin.
"Who are you people?" a soldier shouted, aiming the firearm in his hands at them.
"There are actually Imperium forces on this planet? But what level of technology is this? A knightly feudal world, or something?"
Lin Fan looked up at the soldiers pointing their weapons at him. Their guns were old-fashioned muzzle-loaders, mostly consisting of wooden casings around metal tubes, with simple firing mechanisms at the rear.
The metal tubes also seemed rather large in caliber, almost like boltguns.
"We are the Imperium's Astra Militarum! Where is your lord?"
"They may not know about the Imperium. This world has remained sealed off in an unknown state."
Rebecca stood up and wiped the dirt from the corner of her mouth.
After hearing this, the soldiers told Rebecca and Lin Fan to wait