For the treasure hunters, today was the day nightmare descended. Even after becoming specters, they still remembered that terrifying mechanical man. His sword, thick as a door plank, could snap human muscle and bone like straw. The mangled remains after being crushed by the blade were exactly like the gruesome sight of being torn apart by a rampaging troll.
Simon was now very familiar with summoning Soul Traps. After all, every time he performed alchemy and enchanting, he had to experiment on two Soul-sucking Tapeworms. With hardly a lift of his hand, all thirteen treasure seekers were bitten by Soul-sucking Tapeworms.
The specter count had now reached thirty-two.
A great harvest.
In the boy's vision, what he had cut down was merely a pile of abstract linear outlines, without the slightest discomfort of harming his own kind. There was only the primal joy of violence.
"Haha! What a thrill!" Of course it was thrilling. Jonas was using the Boundary Azure Quick Sword, a heavy greatsword weighing a thousand pounds, wielded like a rapier. It truly created a vortex of death. Often, a single horizontal slash could cut down three to five people, more efficiently than chopping firewood.
After Simon finished converting the specters, he surveyed the half-hidden, half-exposed tall towers on the slope. Facing the perilous cliffs, they were impossible to explore directly. However, a continuous stream of treasure hunters had come here, and there were already wooden ramps winding down to one of the towers.
Very familiar.
Of course it was familiar. Simon had explored this place about fifty times in the game, almost making it more familiar than his own home.
Moreover, he had no intention of taking that fixed route; it was too much effort.
Leading the boy to a distant tall tower with its top exposed, this tower was actually a steam elevator, with bronze railings on all four sides. Like the other towers, there was a wooden bridge connecting from the hillside to this spot, indicating that explorers had come here one after another. However, the tower's brass gate was tightly shut, and it was unknown if anyone had ever entered the ruins from here.
Peering inside, there was a lever on the inner side of a stone pillar next to the door. Simon took out an iron bar and pushed it, and the two gates immediately opened. Inside was a stone platform, with another lever in the center of the platform, and gears and cogs on the wall.
The two stood on the platform. Simon pulled the lever, and a muffled sound of a steam valve activating came from below. The gears began to operate, and the elevator slowly descended.
"How amazing!" Jonas exclaimed.
Simon nodded. Having ridden many electric elevators, occasionally trying such a steampunk-style elevator was a good experience. Besides its slow speed, there wasn't much to complain about. It was very stable, without the rough feeling of Simon's self-developed steam structures.
Everything was good.
Everything was good.
But it was too slow!
Simon and Jonas ate breakfast and chatted on the elevator, finally reaching the bottom floor.
They finally arrived. Stepping out, they entered a large hall. There was a door in the distance, and nearby they saw a mechanical square platform with an activation pillar and a spherical groove, perfectly sized for the tuner Simon had taken from Septimus Signus.
After inserting the copper sphere, a complex melody sounded from within the mechanical platform, and the brass crystal turntable on top began to rotate. The floor around the platform then sank into a spiral staircase.
"Let's go."
The Dwemer engineering was grand. Jonas's current armor also allowed him to move about freely, unafraid of getting stuck in the architecture.
At the very bottom were two tall, carved brass doors. Simon nodded, pushed them open, and walked in.
In an instant, the night rushed towards them.
Jonas held his breath.
Simon sighed softly.
This was one of the Dwemer's holy sites, Blackreach, also known as the Land of the Darkest Empire. It was vast, spanning the Underground space beneath both the Whiterun Hold and Winterhold Hold, meaning that in many places within these two holds, digging down would lead here.
The dark Underground was filled with a blue luminous mist. Fluorescent ore on the dome above twinkled like stars, and glowing roots hung down like divine ribbons. Countless Dwemer buildings were scattered across the land, with majestic cities standing tall and towers like forests. Stone slabs paved the undulating roads in the wilderness, and glowing crystals grew everywhere, providing a faint light. Tall, fluorescent mushroom trees hung down vine-like mycelia, swaying low, like torches. In the distance, there was a Waterfall, its cascading water crashing into a deep lake with a rumbling sound. In the dimly lit darkness, beasts, monsters, machines, and buildings were all shadowy, and a weighty sense of danger felt like a thick, flowing river.
"Incredible..." Jonas said softly.
Simon took out big ivan and equipped it. What enemies were there in this place?
Dwemer machines: Dwemer spiders, Dwemer ballistae, Dwemer mechanical spheres, Dwemer Centurions—all products of brass-constructed magitech. However, compared to big ivan, they were all inferior.
Snow Elves, Falmer, once the native inhabitants of Skyrim, almost wiped out by the Nord barbarians. They hid in Dwemer cities but were ruthlessly betrayed. The Dwemer murdered and abused their cousins. Now, their minds are twisted by hatred, turning them into ugly, blind monsters. They raise Nest Moths, terrifying insects that spray potent venom, existing in two forms: earlier as crawling insects, and at the end of their lives, they cocoon and pupate into flying insects.
Wispmothers, terrifying undead creatures, masters of frost magic, protected by darting wisps. Wiping out villages and towns is nothing to them.
Giants, unintelligent creatures, over ten feet tall when adult. They attack anyone who gets too close, herd mammoths, and wield massive clubs that can send people flying high into the air, providing an authentic aerial experience.
All in all, the numbers and types were numerous, making it a relatively dangerous place.
Simon drove big ivan, with the little boy following behind him.
They descended from the high platform and walked along a small path in Blackreach. Two Dwemer mechanical spheres rolled towards them. The round copper spheres, like Bakugan, slid on their bottom wheels to Simon and his companions. The copper plates opened, and a mechanical humanoid popped out, with one arm a long sword and the other a crossbow. Its face was lifelike and perfectly carved.
big ivan drew its wall-like giant axe and lightly brushed against these two little ones, immediately crushing them.
Simon waved his hand, collecting them into his Pure Land.
They're all technology! Can't let them go to waste.
A dark arrow flew out of the darkness, striking big ivan and breaking into two pieces.
A Snow Elf lurker, fifty yards away behind a rock, had launched the attack with a bow.
big ivan raised its left arm, and four layers of crossbow mechanisms sprang open, automatically cocked and fired. A Sleeve Flying Swallow streaked through the air like a cannonball, silently. The next moment, the Snow Elf's helmet exploded, its skull shattering, and then its soul left its body, flying into the specter magic energy orb in Simon's hand.
The Snow Elf specter's intelligence was neither outstanding nor completely lacking; it didn't warrant a number.
Continuing deeper, Simon looked closely at the crystal ore by the roadside and realized it was a soul stone! No wonder the Dwemer had so many soul stones available; Blackreach was an entire mine.
With soul stones, it meant the Soul Agreement enchantment was no longer necessary, allowing more space for other enchantments. Generation four armor had a future.
Simon walked and collected along the way. He intended to thoroughly reorganize Blackreach. If he had his eyes on this place, it was his. As for what the monsters here thought? After becoming specters—they wouldn't have to think at all!
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