Impeachment.

That's enough.

Maria nodded and turned around.

Malitus, with a touch of unease, prepared to set off with Maria.

To his surprise, Maria didn't seem to have found any nearby passage.

She simply placed her hand on the door.

What is she going to do?

She... managed to hold onto the door?

Is she starting to exert herself?

Fool, how could the technology of Precursor Civilization be countered by barbaric force...?

Huh?!

396

Chapter 396 Impeachment.

Malitus was stunned for a long time.

He didn't realize what was happening until the metal door rubbed together and the heavy iron cage was opened.

"Etc!"

At that moment, he didn't care how Maria opened the iron gate that had been sealed for tens of thousands of years with her bare hands; he just wanted Maria to stop.

This contains precious Precursor Ruins!

If there is no water inside, but only air, then her action will directly cause seawater to rush in, thereby destroying many precious materials that have been sealed for who knows how many years!

This could make them sinners!

But...

He was still a step too late.

Just after Maria opened the iron gate, the contents inside were finally revealed to everyone.

It was just an ordinary passageway. Some scattered documents and supplies remained, but overall it looked quite empty.

"This..."

Malitus's words caught in his throat; the words he wanted to say stopped, and he was unable to speak for a moment.

"Only ten minutes."

Maria spoke calmly, her tone devoid of joy or sorrow.

Undoubtedly, such an astonishing act added an air of mystery to Maria herself, and her origins became even more intriguing.

At least the blue-haired woman next to him was too frightened to speak.

This woman... she's practically a superhero!

The strength of the Precursor Civilization's architecture is something the Aegir, as inheritors, especially a technology executive like her, know all too well.

There was once a desire to use Terrorblast Torpedo for strength testing. The prevailing idea in the industry at the time was to see how much impact a building constructed with the technology of Precursor Civilization could withstand before it broke.

But what was the final result?

They fired all twelve of their explosive Terrorblast Torpedo, each capable of destroying a Type I warship in a single hit, before they could barely break the connecting plate made by the Precursor Civilization... and even then, only the connection point was broken; the plate itself didn't deform much!

Such advanced technology further fueled Aegir's fervent research into the extent to which Precursor Civilization had reached.

And Maria actually altered its internal structure with her bare hands?!

In other words, her exertion just now was at least equivalent to twelve Terrorblast Torpedo?!

Are all Land-Dweller this level of creature?!

In an instant, the blue-haired woman felt a strange sense of dread regarding land-based civilization.

But Malitus, standing nearby, didn't care about any of that.

After realizing that his original thoughts were unnecessary, he stopped worrying and prepared to rush to the first floor to find something of value.

Maria, however, simply looked around.

The feeling surrounding that giant tree remained extremely obscure and vague... Maria was certain that the other party was nearby, but... she didn't know what the other party wanted to do.

At least for now, Maria sensed that the other party didn't seem to harbor much hostility; they were simply acting instinctively according to their own logic.

Now, its operational logic is to issue a warning...

'Companion? Enemy? Messenger? Leave!'

The sound slowly echoed in Maria's ears, and it grew stronger with the passage of time.

When Maria mentioned ten minutes, it wasn't just that she was willing to wait ten minutes; more importantly, it was her feeling that if the other side were really going to launch an attack, the sound would continue to echo for at least another ten minutes.

Although Malitus was eccentric and extreme, his research on Precursor Civilization was indeed genuine.

In just a few moments, he bypassed a huge pile of meaningless documents and found a diary that had survived countless years.

"Record it. In Precursor Civilization, not everything was recorded mechanically; some people chose to record information using more traditional writing and books."

As Malitus spoke, he clicked around inside his diving suit for a while, then carefully, even pinching the pages with his fingers, turned the pages of the book with difficulty.

Of course, his understanding of the writing system of the Precursor Civilization was not profound, because the incompleteness was so obvious that he could only vaguely glean some information from it.

"Disaster... maybe... perhaps we should... survive..."

"The enemy is clearly... a major danger... the plan... has failed..."

"Negation, partner, liking..."

Maria's words were so awkward that even he himself found them strange.

Having arrived here, he could finally confirm that this was indeed not a research notebook; judging from the content, it seemed more like someone's own record.

After analyzing it for a while, he became excited again.

"The document mentions some kind of disaster, and it's extremely dangerous... The Precursor Civilization put up some kind of resistance, and this ruin might be one of those resistance methods... In other words, the disappearance theory is completely wrong; the destruction theory of the Precursor Civilization is correct!"

Malitus was excited for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses.

"No... that's not right either... after all, this is the first time physical evidence has appeared, and it can't explain the full scope of the disasters encountered by the Precursor Civilization. Perhaps the user of this diary only encountered problems within this ruin?"

Malitus kept proposing conjectures, only to later deny them.

Numerous questions swirled in his mind, preventing him from determining the situation.

He could hardly resist the urge to delve deeper and explore what other documents were hidden inside.

Meanwhile, the others were searching for other items that might be valuable.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

"It's almost time."

The blue-haired woman spoke first, holding a batch of individual mechanical constructs in her hands.

She wasn't very interested in the remnants of the Precursor Civilization, and she was already feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

Although the Aegir are a race that lives in the deep sea, a depth of over 10,000 meters still puts too much pressure on them.

Even with the protection of a special diving suit, she still felt that breathing had become extremely difficult.

But nearby, Malitus was shaking his head frantically.

"No! That's not enough!"

"Um?"

"This is important news from Aegir's research on Precursor Civilization... Perhaps I can find something in it to prove the destruction theory... If I can do that, then next time, we can bring more teams and more people to clean up this ruin!"

Malitus spoke with fervor.

He turned to look at Maria beside him, "Five minutes... no, not five minutes, three minutes is enough. I'll go deeper to search!"

His tone became somewhat pleading, even pitiful.

Although Maria's initial impression of this guy wasn't particularly good, at this point, Maria had to admit that he was indeed just a simple research fanatic.

Unfortunately, even when asked, Maria did not soften her stance.

"It's time to leave..."

"But..."

"You should keep your promise, Malitus."

At this moment, Heratia spoke up, making her stance clear.

Malitus turned his head and looked at the two people beside him.

Unfortunately, none of the five people present chose to support him.

This made him start to become somewhat extreme.

"No! We can't leave yet!"

"This is an unprecedented opportunity! We should put aside our personal opinions... and do everything we can to record everything here!"

Malitus shouted and began to move more dramatically.

Heratia's reaction to this was quite indifferent.

After watching the other person go crazy for a while, Maria slowly spoke.

"This place may be valuable, but... you should go."

"No!"

Malitus spoke in the loudest possible tone to Maria, issuing a denial.

"I admit, Land-Dweller, you do possess some amazing abilities, but you have no idea what this thing means to us! The seabed is constantly changing, and the fact that it has remained here for so long is already a rare miracle, but how much longer can it hold on?"

"Maybe tomorrow? Maybe the day after? Maybe a month from now? Or maybe the very next second we're talking? It can't stay here forever!"

"And each of our operations takes at least three months to prepare. By the time we return, it may very well have been destroyed or disappeared for various reasons!"

"We should seize every moment to search for information!"

Malitus kept explaining the importance of his actions, but Maria just watched him gesticulate indifferently.

"I don't care..."

"..."

"The promise I made to you before was only for ten minutes. In fact, even that initial promise was already an act of leniency on my part... I don't care about your so-called great Precursor Civilization; they are ultimately extinct."

"Now, it's my turn to communicate with you... Perhaps you've long been accustomed to breaking your promises, but you can't always succeed in doing so..."

"At least, with me, no one can go back on their word..."

Maria whispered, her aura making the atmosphere in the room increasingly uneasy and eerie.

She herself was opposed to exploring this place.

Especially considering that she had already backed down and that Malitus himself had agreed to the agreement, how could the other party possibly go back on their word?

She wasn't happy...

But it was precisely at this moment that the atmosphere on site became increasingly tense.

A strange gurgling sound began to gradually approach the group.

"Um?"

Everyone turned to look.

A tiny flash of light appeared before them.

Maria was still somewhat confused.

But the others' expressions changed drastically.

"It's Cavalry Fish!"

This is arguably the last type of fish they, who work outside the ship's hold, want to encounter.