Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 217 Ancient Ruins Deep Underground

Deep in the mountains on the northern slope of Jackdaw Ridge, a huge alchemical beast that is more than 30 meters long and more than 6 meters in diameter, emits a huge roar and emerges from a deep drilling tunnel.

This is a magical shield machine designed by Harvey himself. It is a large underground working alchemy beast transformed from the soul of a giant phagocyte worm.

Each time it infuses ten units of liquid magic energy, it can dig about three to five kilometers in a hard mountain, depending on whether the area it passes through is made of rock or soil.

Three engineers from the Territory Defense Force poked their heads out of the cabin behind the shield machine and jumped down, sweating profusely.

"Damn it! This underground monster gets incredibly hot once it's running. Staying inside its chamber is like being roasted in a steamer..."

The team leader took off his sweat-soaked uniform shirt and shouted to the engineers to spray the shield machine with cold water to cool it down. "Notify the territory's Energy Department that the liquid magic energy in the North Slope Underground Base has been exhausted. Have them deliver another thirty energy tanks today!"

The assistant said cautiously, "Boss, I sent a message to the Ministry of Energy when you left this morning, but... there's been no response. Do I really need to push them again?"

The engineering team leader was stunned for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "They're playing dead again, aren't they? Ever since the Magic Car Factory started production, these snobs have prioritized the supply of the already scarce liquid energy to the factory. They've been giving us perfunctory and delaying us more than once!"

But then I thought again, since the North Slope Base started exploration work, seven or eight excavation routes have been opened in the past two months, but basically there has been no results.

Although several copper and iron metal veins were discovered, they were all buried deep underground and were difficult and costly to mine, making them completely worthless for development. A crystal sapphire vein that was discovered by chance was also determined by the mineral experts in the alchemy laboratory to be of low quality, with no room for profit from mining.

"We have less than ten units of liquid magic left. Boss... do we want to continue exploring today?"

The team leader, holding an iron lunch box, lowered his head and studied the exploration drawings carefully. He fell into deep thought at the blank area on the drawings that was only about three miles away from the cave at the north slope base.

That is the area directly below the main excavation route. According to the lord's exploration requirements, the excavation route needs to be avoided. After all, digging downwards is much more difficult than parallel excavation, and it is also easy to encounter geological faults, causing the shield machine to accidentally fall or get stuck in cracks deep in the mountain. The risk factor is too high.

But after operating this mechanical beast with my own hands for the past two months, I have developed some tacit understanding with it. After all, it is a magical machine rumored to be made from ancient monsters. Whenever a suspected mineral vein is discovered during excavation, it will automatically adjust its route and rumble towards the area where the minerals are found.

The blank area below the main route is where the shield machine wants to drill down every time it passes by. The driver needs to fully control the magic power output to control it to maintain a parallel moving direction.

"So there must be something good down there! Maybe a gold mine, or even the magical mineral the lord values most... called the Magic Core!"

The team leader slammed his fist on the exploration blueprint and made a firm decision: "Pour all the remaining energy into the shield machine. Our next exploration goal is to follow it to the bottom of the main tunnel!"

……

By the time Harvey received the news and rushed to the North Slope underground base with his personal guards, it was already late at night. However, there was no natural light in the underground base, so the time of day didn't matter.

The Defense Force Engineering Team, responsible for operating the magic shield machine for exploration work, discovered suspected signs of human activity deeper in the earth during an unscheduled route exploration today... an ancient relic!
"What's your name? Tell me what you discovered today." Harvey asked the engineering team leader who was covered in dust and sweat.

"Lord... Lord, my name is Pep. I'm one of the three operators of the magic shield machine and the third team leader of the North Slope Base Exploration Team..."

He wiped his face sheepishly, pointing to the exploration drawings with a trembling hand as he explained to Harvey, "It's not just me, it's the same for the other two drivers too. Every time we pass through this section of the main excavation tunnel, the shield machine will signal an attempt to dig downwards, so today we decided to take a risk..."

The engineering team leader named Pep used to be a stonemason. He was quite good at recognizing and distinguishing various rocks and minerals. So after digging down and reaching the sensing area of the shield machine, he boldly opened the sealed hatch to explore.

It turned out that there was also an underground cavity in this area, and it was surrounded by large and small mountain cracks, which emitted a terrifying humming sound from time to time, indicating that although it was nearly 100 meters underground, there was still air circulation here.

When he put on the helmet inlaid with the magic stone of illumination and jumped down the shut-down shield machine with two team members, he was immediately frightened by the scene in the underground cave.

In the light of the headlights, hundreds of huge stalactites like crystal prisms rose from the ground, with a diameter of seven or eight meters. It looked like a deep and crystal underground forest, standing tall before them.

A look of ecstasy instantly crossed Harvey's face, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Are you sure what you saw were a large number of crystal stalactites? Under the light source you brought with you, they would reflect a crystal blue light?"

Pep nodded and answered honestly, "Yes, sir. But what's even stranger is that around these pillars, we've discovered numerous traces of artificial excavation... There are smooth stone steps, stone plates with strange carvings, and even some incomplete stone sculptures, but they're so worn out that it's hard to tell what they are..."

He scratched his head and added with some shame, "We originally wanted to break off some of the crystal pillars and bring them back for you to see, but those crystal pillars are incredibly hard, practically one piece. Even with the shovel, sparks flew off, leaving only a few scratches..."

If it is really the same magical substance as the magic stone veins under the territory castle, of course it cannot be decomposed and excavated with ordinary tools. Only by relying on energy-absorbing beetles to devour and transform it can the pure magic energy contained in it be obtained.

Harvey turned to his guards and ordered, "Notify the Ministry of Energy to urgently dispatch thirty units of liquid magic energy. I will personally travel to the underground ruins in a tunnel boring machine!"

Asdalen was shocked. "Sir, just arrange for the bloodline warriors and these engineering soldiers to go down. There may be many unknown dangers deep underground. I do not recommend you to take the risk yourself!"

Harvey shook his head and decisively rejected the Chief Advisor's suggestion. He said in a deep voice, "If it really is an ancient relic existing in the magic stone vein, as a spellcaster, I must go and see it myself."

Those ancient secrets buried in the long river of history are so tempting.

(End of this chapter)