The boss of a foreign organization called the police, claiming that he was defrauded by me

Yang Xia remained calm and slowly said, "It's best not to have any inappropriate thoughts. Under any circumstances, you must maintain a clear and rational mind."

He hoped that his subordinates were both intelligent and law-abiding, because there were some things that were not for them to dream of.

Like the green gem on the mountaintop, if anyone is tempted by greed when they come out, they may not be able to come out safely.

Moreover, moving this huge object after it came out was a considerable challenge for them.

After a lot of hard work, they finally managed to get the items onto the airship.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts finally at ease.

The airship carried the supplies they needed, so they no longer had to eat dry rations like before, which were tasteless.

Yang Xia stood in front of the airship. As long as he could bring this part back, the weather controller could be completed ahead of schedule. Just thinking about this made him excited.

At the same time, the high command of the Atlan Empire received an announcement from the Central Military Region of the Nine Boats Kingdom. Everyone's face was solemn, and an emergency meeting was immediately convened.

"We can't let them continue like this; we must find a way to stop them immediately." McClane's face was grim, and he was extremely anxious.

So much time has passed, and we still don't know where the enemy's stronghold is. We are at a complete disadvantage, with the enemy in the dark and us in the light.

The newly promoted Harlan offered his key opinion: "Actually, I think their announcement might not be a bad thing for us."

Michael looked puzzled and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

The Kingdom of Kyushu is growing stronger step by step, but all they can do is worry and can't think of any way to deal with these enemies.

This was incredibly humiliating for them, and if word got out, they might be ridiculed by the whole world.

Harun reassured them, "Actually, if they open up maritime trade, we can send people to guard all the sea routes. They are not a closed country. As long as we see the cruise ships of Kyushu appear, we can send people to follow them and find their lair."

All they have to do now is wait. Only when the right opportunity arises can they wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop.

Michael took a sip of tea and fell into deep thought.

He wasn't unaware of Harlen's meaning; it was just that this would put him in a very passive position.

If the other ship doesn't come out, are they just going to sit here and wait to die?

Seeing his solemn expression, Harlan roughly guessed what was going on and continued, "To catch a thief, you must first catch his king; to strike a snake, you must strike its vital spot. If we want to find their lair, we must lie in wait and wait for the most opportune moment."

Several important figures nearby also expressed their opinions.

“I think Minister Harlan is right. We can’t find a better way right now. We can only wait for the best opportunity to find their stronghold.”

"I agree with this statement. Targeted searching is much better than searching blindly."

“As long as Kyushu does not close itself off from the world, they will definitely come out. As long as they are willing to come out of their own country, we will have a chance to catch up. None of this will be a problem.”

With this goal in mind, they wouldn't be like headless flies, bumping into walls everywhere.

It would be better to do as Harun suggested and lie in the shadows; perhaps there's still a chance to find the location of Kyushu.

After thinking it over, McClane realized that this was the only feasible method at the moment, so he agreed to everyone's decision and secretly lay in wait for the most suitable opportunity to find the location of the Nine Provinces.

Yang Xia returned in triumph with his men, but Meng Yu was still fighting in the tomb with his men.

They encountered a group of strange beings, more like mindless monsters than human beings. They looked like humans, but their attack power was many times greater than theirs.

His men suffered heavy casualties and were forced into retreat, without even a chance to fight back.

Seeing so many of his brothers dead and wounded, Meng Yu could no longer bear to waste any more time. He roared at those around him, "Get out of here! This place is too dangerous. There will be endless waves of monsters attacking us. These things are impossible to kill; they've become immortal long ago."

It's no wonder he said that, because no matter how hard they swung their knives at these monsters, it had no effect; in fact, their weapons were even taken away.

Gu Xiaowu held him tightly, refusing to leave with the people behind her: "Since we came together, we should leave together. We can't leave you here alone while we run away."

We're all brothers; we're meant to live and die together.

Meng Yu shoved Gu Xiaowu away abruptly, his eyes wide with fear, yet also revealing a hint of relief. He shouted, "I'm content with just those words. To have a brother like you in this life, I have no regrets even in death. We can't let all our brothers perish here. You must take them and retreat!"

The monsters' attacks were so fierce that they gave them no chance to breathe. If the brothers stayed here, they would surely be wiped out.

If his life could bring peace to everyone, he felt it would be his good fortune.

At least he protected everyone and held fast to his beliefs. As long as his brothers are alive, there is a chance to enter this tomb again.

Therefore, we must save our brothers' lives no matter what, and we must not let them perish here with us.

Gu Xiaowu charged forward again; he simply couldn't bring himself to do something so heartless. The soldiers behind him refused to leave either; they all knew that if they retreated without hesitation, General Meng Yu would surely die.

They huddled together, fighting off the monsters, and at least for the time being, there would be no more casualties.

But if they leave, the situation will be very different.

Looking at his brothers, Meng Yu's eyes gradually welled up with tears. He said, deeply moved, "Thank you for standing by my side in this crucial moment. It's my blessing to have brothers like you in this life."

"General Meng Yu, please don't say that. It is our blessing to have a general like you."

Gu Xiaowu said, panting heavily.

The general chose to stay behind, leaving the hope of survival to them; such courage is not something an ordinary person possesses.

The general could exchange his life for theirs, and they could do the same.

Looking at the endless stream of monsters, Gu Xiaowu suddenly had a flash of inspiration and shouted to the people behind him, "Remember when we came here, there was a deep pool of water. We waded through that water to get here."

Meng Yu asked, "What do you mean?"

Gu Xiaowu took a deep breath, kicked the stone golem that was rushing down, and said, "Why don't we lure them into that puddle? We might not be able to drown them, but at least we can trap them there."

On their way here, they passed a huge, deep pit filled with water. They had grabbed onto vines on the cliff to leap from the other side to this horrible place, only to encounter these stone men.

Meng Yu nodded and immediately made the decision: "Then let's do it your way. We'll lure these things over there and trap them in the deep pit so we can continue our journey."

After both sides came up with a plan, they pretended to attack the stone men while retreating. Most of them retreated to the sides, while Gu Xiaowu and the general led a small group to lure the monsters to the edge of the pit.

They grabbed the vines with incredible speed, jumped to the other side, and landed safely.

Meng Yu, being the last one, had just grabbed a vine to jump over when, in the next second, his feet were firmly gripped by the stone golems, rendering him completely immobile.

He was being pulled backward by a tremendous force, and it looked like he was about to be trapped in a desperate situation.

Gu Xiaowu made a quick decision and threw the knife in his hand, which smashed heavily onto the stone man's head.

With a loud "bang," the stone man collapsed instantly, and Meng Yu regained his freedom, successfully jumping to the opposite side of them.

The stone figures were unconscious; one after another, they jumped forward and all fell into the huge pit.

The water in the pit wasn't much, only up to their waists, but they seemed to have suddenly malfunctioned, remaining motionless.

They had struggled so fiercely before, but now they were as still as stagnant water.

Gu Xiaowu sat on the ground, panting heavily. He had just survived a near-death experience, and now, looking at the stone figures in the pit, he found them utterly repulsive.

"It's outrageous! I don't know which scoundrel put this up in a place like this. It almost killed us."

Meng Yu wholeheartedly agreed with him: "That's right. If you hadn't reacted quickly, I probably would have fallen into the trap with them and wouldn't even have been left with a complete corpse."

The moment these things grabbed his trouser leg, his heart sank. And since they were right across from him, the people around him couldn't save him.

He was prepared to die, but at the crucial moment, Gu Xiaowu threw away his sword and helped him escape.

The group grabbed the vines and walked back. Gu Xiaowu thought to himself that the monsters were guarding that place so desperately because there was something there.

So he suggested going back again, determined to get to the bottom of it.

The group returned together, and without the monsters' attacks, the place was unusually quiet. For some reason, the quieter the place, the more eerie it felt.

Meng Yu braced himself and dared not slacken his guard. He led the people around him forward and instructed them, "Everyone be careful and see if there is any other way out."

In this open space, they spotted some strange runes. Gu Xiaowu stared at the characters and said, "This seems to be the mechanism to open this door. Only by deciphering these runes can we get out of here."

Meng Yu was a military general, and he found textual things particularly troublesome. He didn't want to look at them at all, so he asked the people around him to check them.

He had long since given up hope on the writing aspect, and said, "I'll leave this to you guys. I'm going to rest for a bit."

He didn't know if it was because he had entered this place, but he felt weak all over and just wanted to find a place to sleep peacefully.

Gu Xiaowu noticed the fatigue on his face and found him a place to rest, saying, "You can rest here. Leave the rune matter to us, don't worry about it too much."

Meng Yu trusted him greatly and said, "Then I'll leave this matter to you."

After saying that, he fell into a deep sleep, lying directly on the hard floor without any cushions, yet he seemed not to feel the coldness of the floor.

Gu Xiaowu didn't notice anything unusual about him; he simply led the people around him to study the runes.

These runes may seem random, but they actually hold hidden meaning. The person who inscribed these runes here may have intended to give them a test or leave some clues.

Gu Xiaowu's confidant said, "Take a look at these two runes. In a sense, don't they resemble a pattern?"

Gu Xiaowu looked in the direction he pointed and pieced the two images together, finding that they looked like a picture.

"Like the sun?"

In the very center of that gate was a huge sun disk, with sixteen small holes distributed around its edge, each hole having a different shape.

After hearing his confidant's explanation, Gu Xiaowu seemed to understand something: "These runes scattered all over the walls are the key to opening this door. As long as we piece together the runes according to their patterns and align them, the door will open and we can go in."

Da Zhuang, a trusted confidant, nodded confidently and said, "That should be the idea, but it's a bit difficult to implement. We'll need to spend some time piecing these pictures together, and we must find all the text and images."

Everything is essential; this place is so spacious, it's very likely that we'll forget something else.

So don't even think about opening the door until it's completely assembled.

Gu Xiaowu nodded thoughtfully: "Then you will form groups of five and start looking for pictures and texts in the surrounding area. Draw any suspicious places with a pen. Meet here in an hour."

"Yes!"

With his instructions, everyone got to work in an orderly manner.

Everyone held a piece of white paper and began to copy the pattern on it, leaving no corner untouched.

Gu Xiaowu wasn't idle either; he joined their team. There were many repetitive images and text here, so they had to use their naked eyes to distinguish the different patterns.

This process is quite complex.

Gu Xiaowu walked for about half an hour and was already panting heavily. It wasn't that he lacked stamina, but rather that the air in this space was much thinner than he had imagined.

Many people were already exhausted, covered in cold sweat, and weakly leaning against the wall as they slowly sat down, the white paper in their hands wrinkled, but they still did not give up.

This is their mission and task, and there is no reason for them to give up halfway before it is completed.

While resting, Gu Xiaowu walked up to General Meng Yu and reported to himself, "We have collected quite a few runes. I believe that it won't be long before we can leave this place and get one step closer to our goal."

However, no one responded to him.

Meng Yu seemed not to hear anything, lying quietly asleep on the spot, only her breathing grew weaker and weaker. (End of Chapter)