"Why don't we just find a good spot and dig deeper? That way, Sofia can probe deeper.
We can also learn more about this area and see if there are any unusual soil conditions."
Simon, watching Alka ponder, suggested.
Hearing this, Alka shook his head slightly. "We're probably looking for a tomb, possibly that of someone high in position. Such tombs are likely to have defensive measures.
Digging rashly downwards might trigger some of these defenses. We also don't know how deep it is, given the numerous problems this area has experienced.
And the empire has been thousands of years away from us."
Next to him, Sofia remarked, "The rock below is very hard, getting harder the deeper we go, and there's also a lingering aura of the abyss.
Even if we dig five meters deeper, the distance we can detect won't increase by another five meters. The various auras and the power of the earth below will hinder my detection range."
Hearing this, Simon nodded and retracted his suggestion. Lucelia, sitting on Alka's shoulder, frowned at his words. After a moment's thought, she said, "Perhaps we could first learn about the Saralan Empire's tomb construction style? And their funeral culture."
"Do you have any information on this?" Alka turned to Lucelia and asked.
If you have any information on this, that would be even better.
Lucelia nodded. "Yes, I do, but I wasn't interested in it before. I just learned about some research and records in a book when I was learning about the Saralan Empire."
"Wait a minute, I'll look. I put all the books about the Saralan Empire in my pocket ring."
As she spoke, Lucelia reached out to her bracelet and, closing her eyes, began to carefully search her pocket space.
She was exploring her pocket space with her mind, the equivalent of searching with her eyes. After only half a minute, Lucilia produced a thick book. The cover looked quite old.
"This is it."
She controlled the book to float and began flipping through it.
He soon found the information he needed.
Alka and the others leaned over to examine the book.
The book explored the culture of the Saralan Empire and traced its origins through burial and tomb construction styles. This allowed people to better understand the empire's past customs, folklore, and character.
It even included many simple illustrations, including some tomb architectural styles and even architectural blueprints.
The book then elaborated on these drawings.
Alka examined the description and learned that the burial style was earth burial, not sea burial. This was quite unusual in an ocean world like the Infinite Sea.
The tombs were constructed in various circular or regular shapes.
Of course, most are circular; even the royal tombs of the Saralan Empire are circular.
Because of the practice of burial, there's also the custom of burial objects, and sarcophagi are often made of a type of stone called "desolate stone."
They believe sarcophagi made of this stone bring peace, and the stone itself is a dull gray.
However, the stone exudes a faint plant fragrance, and the people of the Saralan Empire believe that within such sarcophagi, they can return to the world.
Isn't that a return to the embrace of the gods? In a world where gods clearly exist, this style is quite peculiar.
As he learned more, Alka gained a general understanding of the overall tomb style.
After understanding these styles, Alka immediately re-examined the map and re-read the treasure information.
Just as he had expected, an expansion had indeed appeared, but the information about the expansion was somewhat ambiguous.
[Left in a tomb that did not belong to him. Although he didn't know the specific meaning of this information, it was at least certain that the treasure was located in a tomb.
Based on the expanded information he had just seen, it was almost certain that there was a tomb beneath their feet.
The treasure was within this tomb, and it was buried very deep.
Thinking of this, Alka looked at the map.
He began to experiment with drawing a circle.
Because the golden treasure spot and the surrounding white spots appeared to be within the same area on the map,
This gave Alka reason to suspect that the treasures were within a single tomb.
There couldn't possibly be several different tombs beneath his feet; that would be too strange. According to funeral traditions, family tombs were circular.
He was trying to draw a circle that would encompass all the treasures. This way, he could determine the exact scope of the tomb.
Initially, he drew a circle with the golden treasure dot at its center.
But no matter how he outlined it, the circle seemed a bit too large, with numerous gaps.
It wasn't very realistic.
After several circles, Alka finally arrived at a circle he was relatively satisfied with.
The golden dot wasn't in the center of the tomb, but rather at its edge. This allowed him to create a more accurate circle encompassing all the white dots.
The tomb was also within a relatively normal size.
Comparing his circle to the one-kilometer circle they had just explored, Alka began to make a simple plan for their current location.
The one-kilometer-long area they had just explored was clearly too large.
The diameter of this circle should only be around 700 meters, or at most a kilometer, even with the margin of error.
"This should be the tomb of a powerful individual. According to the description, such tombs should have a proper entrance.
During major festivals, descendants would enter the tomb to offer sacrifices."
Alka said, starting with the circle he had just drawn, he began to make a simple plan based on classic tomb construction practices.
After a few attempts, he identified several points.
"Let's dig down from these points."
Alka suspected that these points were outside the tomb, but likely close to it, making it easier to detect the edge.
This would allow them to detect the tomb without damaging or affecting it.
Hearing Alka's words, the others nodded.
They began searching for a starting point.
After finding and marking it, Simon began to construct the machine for excavation. He immediately unfolded his treasure and piloted a massive mecha.
The mech's hands, assembled through a series of mechanical structures, transformed into an electric drill and digging tools.
Once activated, the power was powerful and efficient, quickly creating a seven- to eight-meter-deep pit. It wasn't too large, just enough for Sofia to jump in.
After digging, Sofia jumped in and began probing downwards.
"We've extended the depth by three meters, and still nothing strange."
Alka nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "Let's dig similar pits at other locations first, and then increase the depth if we find any."
Simon nodded, and everyone set to work again.
In total, six pits were dug, each of the same dimensions. But just as Sofia had predicted, the extended detection range didn't reveal anything more, so everyone continued digging, bit by bit.
......
A few hours later
Pit No. 3 had reached a depth of 20 meters.
When Sofia jumped in again, her eyes gleamed and a smile crossed her lips.
"We've found it! The curved wall of a man-made structure, a full 40 meters below the ground. It's protected by incredibly solid stone."
Everyone smiled upon hearing the structure confirmed. After so much hard work, they finally had something to show for it.
"It's still 30 meters from where I'm at," Sofia said after gesturing.
Then she pointed in a direction.
Simon made a quick calculation and said, "Let's get closer and dig a new hole."
Simon had said so, so naturally, no one objected.
After finding a good spot, they continued digging.
This time, they had to dig a hole deep enough. The rocks below and the aura of the abyss would have an impact, so they needed to proceed slowly and not rush.
After another three hours, they finally reached a 45-meter-deep pit.
They could already sense the aura of the abyss, a presence that permeated the earth and permeated the ground, scarring the entire world.
Enlarging the entire cave entrance, Sofia began a more detailed exploration and planning at the bottom.
She determined exactly how many meters she needed to dig before stopping.
"Dig another three meters from here. After three meters, we'll be only one meter away from the wall. Then I'll do a more thorough investigation to see if there are any traps or anything like that."
Hearing Sofia's words, Simon nodded and jumped down again, beginning a gentler excavation.
This time, they couldn't be as quick as before; they had to be more meticulous.
But after all, only a few meters were cleared quickly, and Sofia once again pressed herself against the mud wall to probe.
Silver ripples rippled through the stone wall, revealing the tomb's location.
She quickly determined the information she sought. "There's no trap in this direction, so we can open it."
The last meter was quickly opened, and everyone could clearly see the gray stone exposed after the dirt was cleared.
This stone, while strong, was not rare. It was a very common building material, and the stone used in the magic-proof fortress was primarily of this material.
"Can we start digging?" Simon asked.
"Yes, normal, minor damage shouldn't be a problem."
Hearing this, Simon, of course, sprang into action, quickly opening the hole. Everyone could see the pitch-black space within.
A slightly decayed smell emanated from within, along with a dull odor.
"Now we just need to enlarge the entrance."
"How about I go in and take a look inside?" Lucilia asked, looking at the hole.
She could just fit through it.
Hearing this, Alka thought for a moment and nodded.
Lucelia's figure immediately slipped into the shadows, vanishing from the spot where she had been, entering the cave entrance.
They began to explore the interior of the tomb.
However, she only explored the area around the entrance briefly before emerging again.
"There shouldn't be anything around here."
Simon enlarged the small hole until they could fit inside.
He also brought out a steel frame to support it, in case their actions caused any damage to the tomb's structure.
With everything ready, they slowly and cautiously entered the tomb.
After confirming that it was only a dull odor, not poison, they used darkvision to observe the situation within.
If there was danger within, they could use darkvision rather than light to avoid alerting the enemy.
Next to them stood a sarcophagus.
The sarcophagus was completely sealed, and no information could be seen on it. This is because each sarcophagus is custom-made after the deceased's death, crafted using a spell that controls the stone's shape.
He learned this from the book he had just read.
The sarcophagus also bears the inscriptions used during its construction.
Using dark vision, Alka observed the inscriptions on the sarcophagus. The patterns and phrases described the deceased's life.
The owner of the sarcophagus before him had clearly lived a less than remarkable life, with only a few melancholy words to his credit.
The phrases roughly meant something like a responsible father, a good brother, or something like that.
These were fairly common expressions of respect.
The mural depicted a family portrait.
While painting a family portrait on a coffin might seem a bit strange, it was a local custom after all.
A white outline appeared amidst the rubble of ash beside the coffin. Alka walked over and gently pushed the rubble with his leg, pushing it aside.
The white lines wrapped around some metal object. As Alka lifted it, the gleaming white lines vanished.
Clearly an ordinary treasure.
Lucelia took a quick look at the object in Alka's hand.
It was a rather luxurious-looking hourglass, older than the ones they used to record time.
Of course, that didn't mean it wasn't accurate, but rather that such an hourglass would have been incredibly valuable in that era.
The hourglass's exterior was also exquisitely crafted. After simply cleaning off the ash and dirt, it was revealed to be adorned with gemstones and precious metals.
"Using this as a burial object suggests the deceased's profession prioritizing time.
Then it's very likely that the person lying in this coffin was once a government official in the Alalan Empire.
The Saralan Empire's government was, at one point, renowned for its efficiency."
Lucelia reasoned briefly.
Alka nodded and casually put the hourglass away.
It was clearly a valuable item.
It was their first find in the tomb.
Looking around, it was a circular tomb, easily divided into two sections. The first was the central section, a square-like area.
The construction of this tomb clearly indicated a family-owned structure. Within this square, one could learn about the family's deeds and find a passage leading outside.
Of course, that passage had clearly been blocked off long ago.
After all, it was 40 meters below.
Then, one could walk through the central square and passageway to other tombs.
These tombs were divided by walls like a pizza, compartmentalized.
The sarcophagi in each compartment represented deceased members of the same family from the same era.
In other words, family members of the same generation.
The tomb Alka and the others were currently in was at the end of the pizza, likely from a later period of its use.
There were two other sarcophagi nearby, belonging to a pair of brothers.
Entering the central square through the passageway, everyone was able to see the family.
Lucelia began to interpret the stone tablets in the center of the square, which depicted deceased members from different time periods.
Built.
It records the family's moments of glory and its lows.
This was a family of moderate size.
The original founder was a wealthy merchant, whose descendants, using their wealth, entered politics.
The most influential individual who emerged was the deputy to a city's highest official.
After a brief overview, everyone began to examine the sarcophagi within each chamber.
Arka walked directly toward the spot of golden light.
What he saw was a similarly broken gap in the wall.
Inside the gap, a corner of a sarcophagus could be seen broken, as if by force.
Next to the broken part of the sarcophagus lay the decayed skeleton.
Next to the skeleton lay the golden light.
It was a cup-shaped object, completely covered in dust and grime.