Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
─────
Chapter 160: Ruined City
The lighting equipment flared to life. Screams could still be heard echoing from above, but Golem had already stomped to the front of the formation. It kicked open the decayed door of the room, throwing up a massive cloud of dust as it crashed down.
Ronin silently pulled out a gas mask and strapped it to his face. Without unnecessary chatter, Golem strode out of the room and into the corridor, with the mercenaries following closely behind, guns at the ready.
Tactical flashlights pierced through the dust, exposing everything in the hallway to everyone's eyes. Finding nothing abnormal, Golem took the vanguard and headed toward the stairwell.
It had barely taken a few steps before hisses and the clatter of rapid footsteps erupted from the floor below. It seemed something had been awakened by the noise of Ronin's group.
"Prepare for combat."
Twin handguns materialized in Muhuell's grasp as he issued the order.
Vanessa shifted her footing, her figure instantly vanishing from the spot. But this time, Ronin saw exactly how she did it. Vanessa's entire body sank seamlessly into Mashuel's shadow, while Mashuel moved to secure the rear of the formation.
Ronin stuck by Muhuell's side. Within his expanded [En], he sensed life signs intruding, sprinting rapidly toward their position. From their silhouette, they strongly resembled the Xenomorphs Ronin had seen in movies from his past life.
But when the gunfire roared and the first monster smashed through the stairwell door, he confirmed that his perception was spot on. It truly was a sleek, vicious beast reminiscent of a Xenomorph, though strictly speaking, it looked more like a velociraptor.
Golem raised an arm, rapidly Conjuring a Gatling gun. As the barrels spun, a torrential cascade of bullets unleashed. Beast after beast poured from the stairwell, only to be shredded into bloody mist by the bullet storm before they could even lunge at the group.
Three minutes.
No more monsters charged out from the stairwell. At the same time, the wall housing the stairs had been completely blown away by the deluge of bullets, revealing the gaping darkness outside the building, along with the faint silhouettes of distant structures.
As howling wind swept into the corridor, the gunner on Golem's left arm vaulted down, immediately replaced by another armed Nen user. The man who jumped down grabbed a submachine gun and fell back into the squad's formation.
Ronin noticed that the other three men at the base of Golem formed a protective perimeter around the rotated-out fighter. The protected man quickly pulled food from his backpack and began eating to replenish himself. The food was rather unique; traces of life energy were visible on it.
It was likely a Nen product meant to accelerate recovery, perhaps the masterpiece of an Emitter.
The person atop Golem Conjured a war hammer. The towering mecha warrior swapped to the hammer in its right hand while its left hand pulled down a massive shield from its back. Amidst a grinding clatter, Golem marched down the stairs, crushing the corpses of the beasts underfoot.
Ronin and the rest quickly kept pace.
The screams outside had faded away. Looking out into the void through the blown-out wall, one could see numerous white cocoons now hanging from the cavern ceiling above. Some of those undoubtedly contained the explorers who had ventured down here.
Without the slightest intention of playing hero, Ronin withdrew his gaze and continued following in Golem's footsteps. The gas mask filtered out the foul stench of the air. [En] detected no further anomalies, though the floor beneath their feet was riddled with cracks and fractures.
A few minutes later, the squad halted.
It was the same rapid footsteps and hisses as before. Only this time, Golem didn't employ the Gatling gun. Instead, it coordinated with the squad members to launch a combined assault against the rushing monsters.
Ronin and Muhuell didn't hang back to watch either; they dove straight into the fray. After carving through several consecutive waves of monsters, the squad finally hit the ground floor. Stepping out of the structure, they were greeted by dilapidated streets littered with derailed, overturned railcars.
This is... Since stepping into this zone, Ronin's mind had been flooded with questions. After all, according to the records, the Mahavi Ruins predated the current era by over two thousand years. Had this world really advanced far enough to build high-rises and rail networks two millennia ago?
"Surprised?" A hint of amusement crept into Muhuell's voice. "The first time I delved into ruins and saw a sight like this, I was equally astounded. But if we're talking about the root cause of this, we have to bring up a highly classified location—a truth that ordinary people will never touch in their entire lifetimes."
As Muhuell spoke, a guess had already formed in Ronin's mind.
"This world is much larger than you can imagine. The place we live in now is merely a small island situated in a giant lake. Beyond this lake lies an infinitely vaster continent, a place currently known as the Dark Continent. And that Dark Continent is exactly where our ancestors originally lived!"
Muhuell stopped in his tracks and looked at Ronin with absolute seriousness. "However, not all ancient ruins are like the Mahavi Ruins, exposing the technological truths of millennia past. Especially after V5 was established; they categorized ruins. Sites like Mahavi, which risk exposing the existence of the Dark Continent, are treated strictly as forbidden zones."
Ronin nodded in acknowledgment. Yet he also caught on to something slightly amiss. Because as it stood, the Mahavi Ruins shouldn't have any ties to the Dark Continent.
But Muhuell had forcefully linked the two together while explaining it to him. If Muhuell didn't harbor ulterior motives for doing so, Ronin wouldn't believe it for a second.
"If exploring ruins yields discoveries of this ancient technology, why hasn't modern society's technological advancement progressed as rapidly as one would expect?" Ronin countered, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
Muhuell gave him an appreciative look. "Because every high-tech ruin discovered lacks the single most crucial component that fueled their advanced technology—the energy source!"
Ronin was slightly puzzled.
The squad was taking a breather on the first floor. Next, they would depart the building and venture into the outer perimeter for further exploration. And since a single building was already swarming with a massive number of monsters, it was utterly impossible to predict what kind of hellscape awaited them out in the open.
It was precisely during this downtime that Muhuell found the opportunity to chat with Ronin.
"All the technology from thousands of years ago possessed one fundamental difference compared to the tech we possess today—the power source they used was an entirely unique entity derived from the Dark Continent."
Muhuell pointed at the rail cars outside. "Take those train cars, for instance. There's absolutely no battery onboard, nor do they run on fuel. Instead, they relied on a peculiar type of stone."
Triggered by Muhuell's words, Ronin instantly recalled a specific type of stone originating from the Dark Continent—the Unmanned Rock! It was an ore capable of generating electricity merely by being submerged in water. A piece of Unmanned Rock the size of a single bead could output roughly twenty thousand kilowatt-hours of power a day.
And twenty thousand kilowatt-hours was roughly equivalent to the normal electrical consumption of an average household over a span of ten years!
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations