Lu Mingfei Development Program

Chapter 549: The Sleeping Mechanical City

"Florence... is about to be destroyed?" César was stunned again. He was already surprised that the devil appeared in Avalon, and this time the inexplicable announcement of Florence's death sentence even made him feel a little horrified.

Where is Florence? This is the capital of the Papal States, the most developed city in the West, and even in the world. In the past hundred years, countless people have tried to conquer or destroy it, but they have no way to do so because it has the most advanced weapons in the world, and it is also the best defense.

No one can destroy Florence, the people who built this city proudly announced. They said Florence would be the new underground paradise, and the glory of the Messiah would start from here and shine on the West and even the whole world.

The Messianics firmly believed that Florence was indestructible, and Cesare also knew that although the Papal State had lost the Battle of Marston, only one tenth of the Seraph Knights that had terrified the world remained, and the losses of the Crusader Guards were even more serious.

However, this would not have any impact on the defense of Florence. From the cardinals to the ordinary soldiers, the Papal States believed that the defeat outside Florence was nothing. As long as they returned to Florence, they would be invincible.

Césaire didn't know why they had such confidence, he was once a rising star in Florence. But even so, he had never touched the deepest secrets of this country.

The devil had no need to deceive himself. He said that Florence would be destroyed, so the city would definitely disappear. This made Xizel feel a little uneasy, and the closer he got to the bottom of the city, the stronger the uneasiness became.

With a long sigh, Xizel stopped thinking about it. The rail elevator stopped at the bottom of the underground, and the secret of this city was about to be revealed in front of him.

"Little César, I have to remind you that although this is a restricted area, there is actually nothing down there." Franco reminded.

At this point, César might not care about any ban, so when he found that the elevator continued to fall as if out of control and César still showed no expression, he did not speak out to stop it.

As the head of the Minerva Agency and the highest technical staff of the Papal States, Franco could be said to understand nothing about politics, and even his knowledge of the earth was very limited.

But as for this underground, he believed that no one could understand it better than him except the people who first built these underground facilities. By the way, those who built this place were actually the original builders of the Minerva mechanism.

Without replying, César walked out of the elevator in silence. The dim light came on, but it could not illuminate the deeper darkness. This seemed to be a mine, and the air was filled with a faint smell of red mercury.

Xizel thought that this might be a red mercury collection point, but the metallic color reflected above the mine tunnel made him feel a little weird.

Franco said behind him: "This place was abandoned a hundred years ago. The reason for the abandonment was not explained. I guess it may be that some of the materials here have been collected."

A hundred years ago? It seems to be the early days of the establishment of the Papal States. César carefully observed and indeed found signs of rough processing. A hundred years ago was the beginning of mechanical technology, and the technology at that time was not as advanced as it is today.

Without saying a word, Xizel walked forward into the darkness. He could feel that something was calling him softly in the deep darkness.

The mine tunnel was unexpectedly short, and a black rock wall blocked their way, with holy words written on it from hundreds of years ago.

"Go back and never come back. This is the end and there is no need to move forward again. The holy city has been built and the great souls should rest in peace." Xizel stroked the words left by his ancestors.

Even though these golden words had been written a hundred years ago, they were still as clear as if they had just been written, and there was a warm heat on the words. He felt inexplicably that these words were more like some kind of exorcism ritual than a warning to future generations not to move forward.

Those who dug this mine a hundred years ago probably didn't want to stop digging, but for some reason, they had to give up and list this place as a prohibited area.

"You may not believe it," said Franco, who had been following behind César, "This tunnel has been dug for as long as it has been since the founding of the Papal States."

Xizel remained silent. The tunnel was actually not very long. Even without the support of mechanical technology, it would usually take people only about a month to build it.

But this is Florence, the capital of the Papal States, and the newly developed mechanical technology, even if it is still very primitive, has surpassed all contemporary technologies. But even so, it took the original members of the Minerva Agency nearly a hundred years to dig out such a passage, and it was eventually abandoned.

Sweat dripped down his forehead as Xizel caressed the rough wall of the mine tunnel. It was warm and heavy there, like caressing the earth. This description was a little inappropriate, but it was just like that. This was not a rock wall. It was a super metal that was harder and more difficult to destroy than the high-grade metal used to make mobile armor.

He suddenly remembered where he had seen these words. After the incident at the Royal Mechanical School in Marston, the Midgard Serpent Train buried under the ruins of the church was dug out.

The soldiers opened the train and found the "cargo cabinets" used to carry the Omegas in a hidden cargo compartment. They were golden coffins similar to the coffins used to carry the Blazing Iron, but much larger and more gorgeous.

Written on it were words in ancient holy language that sounded more like some kind of exorcism ritual than letting the person in the coffin rest in peace.

"...So that's how it is." Xizel said faintly.

Someone once asked, why is the powerful mobile armor of the Seraph not mass-produced and deployed? Once such a powerful mobile armor has the same scale as the Seraph Iron Cavalry, there is no need to spread religion, Florence can make the whole world crawl under the glory of God.

But the reality is that the Seraph cannot be mass-produced, and it seems that some important parts have been exhausted. And as time goes by, the more Seraphs are scrapped, the less they can be used.

During the Marston incident, the Seraph Armor was nearly half destroyed, which, in the eyes of those in the know, was a far greater loss than the annihilation of the Seraph Cavalry. The Seraph Cavalry, which is theoretically advanced but not as good as the prototype armor, can be restored to its original scale as long as time is sufficient.

However, Seraphim will only become rarer with the passage of time.

Although this speculation is a bit abrupt, Xizel feels that this mine may be an important part of the production of Seraph Armor. And because it is closed here, the mass production of inverted Seraph failed.

"Little César, compared to this mine with nothing to see, Minerva is more suitable for you." Franco continued to wipe the sweat off his face and reminded César that it was time to leave.

There is a huge furnace called "Vesuvius" under Florence, and one-third of the world's high-grade alloys flow from here. And this abandoned mine is under that huge furnace, and the residual heat transmitted here alone can make people feel uncomfortable.

"It's not over yet." César said softly, "Aren't you curious about what's behind this?" Franco was stunned. As a scientist, he knew when he was young that there was such a place under Florence. Naturally, he was very curious about what people were looking for here a hundred years ago.

It took our ancestors hundreds of years to dig out a small hole using some primitive mechanical technology. So, can we speed up the excavation process using today's technology?

He once asked his teacher why they stopped digging. The answer he got was that even if they continued digging with the current technology, it would not be much faster than a hundred years ago. Moreover, they had already found what they wanted.

A hundred years ago, the Blazing Iron Cavalry made its debut and annihilated the proud Black Knights of the Roman Empire. At that time, the Papal States went crazy and attacked the countries that had suppressed the Messianic sect.

They only thought that Seraphim would only become stronger in the future, but they never thought that Seraphim had been at its peak from the very beginning.

When they came to their senses and wanted to create more Seraphs, they found out helplessly that it might take a hundred years or even longer to develop this place before any results were seen.

This is a fact that is hard to accept, but helpless. Even though mechanical technology has been developed for a hundred years, when faced with certain places, humans are still no different from primitive people.

The underground in Florence is one of them. No matter how advanced the civilization humans evolve, when they arrive here, they can only sigh at the black rock formations.

“Since you are curious, then keep moving forward.” Xizel said softly, with golden light flashing in his purple eyes, and walked into deeper darkness.

Franco was suddenly stunned. The metal rock walls that had blocked the Minerva mechanism for a hundred years retreated in front of César, like soldiers waiting for the king's coronation.

The Minerva Agency's speculation was correct. Even if they used mechanical technology a hundred years later to continue excavating, it might take a thousand years or even longer to reach where they wanted.

Xizel looked at the vast metal space in front of him, which looked like some kind of temple or some kind of circuit structure, searching for the faint voice that seemed to be calling him.

Behind him, Franco was completely speechless. He stared in amazement at the place that was almost like the kingdom of God to scientists and mechanics.

He wanted to express some sincere praise, but found that with his artistic level, no matter what words or poems he used, they would insult this place that left him speechless.

He didn’t know whether the Kingdom of God in the Messianic Holy Church existed or not, but this was his Kingdom of God!

César walked in this huge mysterious space that looked like a factory. It was so huge that ordinary people could not imagine it at all. Under the extremely luxurious Florence, there was a mechanical city that was far more gorgeous, more advanced, and seemingly larger than Florence, like a miracle.

The believers who built Florence may have known about the existence of this steel city from somewhere. Florence may have been just an outpost built to find it.

In the end, they did not find this unimaginable mechanical city, but built Florence into the most gorgeous and fashionable city on earth.

Without the time to press his face against the metal floor like Franco did to feel the pulsation of the metal, César silently walked into the depths of the metal temple, and the door that seemed more like the skeleton of some large creature than a door opened.

The great soul behind who had called him here was waiting for him.

It was a heart made of metal. Xizel didn't understand why a mechanical creature needed a heart, but its heart was beating, slowly but powerfully.

“The Son of God who was supposed to ascend to the sky, you have finally arrived.” The thing that looked like a heart spoke words that Xizel could understand but could not comprehend. “…Also, the existence that resembles the Son of God, I can sense your arrival.”

"Oh?" Lu Mingfei asked using Xizel's body, "How did you find out about my existence?"

"The Lord's breath remains in your spirit." The huge metal heart said softly, "I have to thank you. It is because of the disappearance of the spirit left by the Lord that I can wake up."

Lu Mingfei said dimly: "If you could sense what happened in the east, you wouldn't thank me."

Liberating the spirits left behind by God was the request of the Water Angel, one of His apostles. But he was the one who actually carried out the execution. In a sense, he was a godslayer, and these creatures of God should not respect him so much.

“No.” The metal heart began to beat. “I, the Lord, and my fellow countrymen should not exist in this era.”

Lu Mingfei looked at the angel of the earth buried deep in the earth with some curiosity. It seemed that it had suffered great damage in the war in ancient times and had been sleeping underground for thousands of years.

The Messianic followers learned of its location on the island of Avalon and came here to excavate it. Although they failed to find the ancient angel of the earth until the end, they built a big city like Florence.

And harvested some parts that dropped from the archangel.

"If there are still people you care about in the city on my body, please ask them to leave immediately." The huge heart beat, "Whether it is my awakening or the arrival of my compatriots who do not want to be forgotten, the city on my body will disappear."

Lu Mingfei restored Xizel's consciousness because the words of the angel of earth were directed to him.

"...Florence is about to be destroyed." Xizel repeated what Lu Mingfei said to him.

This destruction came so unexpectedly. Not long ago, he announced in the Sistine Chapel that he would change the country. But the change he wanted was not this kind of change.

Without having time to think about what to do next, César immediately returned to the surface. He had to make the people he cared about leave Florence immediately!
(End of this chapter)