Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 539 Arriving at the Great Rift

"Is this the Great Rift of the Divine Ridge Mountain?" Wayne put down the telescope in his hand and turned to look at the pale old Hughes.

Old Hughes and he were riding in the same war beast vehicle. It was their first time boarding this strange alchemical creation. The rumbling sound when it was traveling at high speed and the violent bumps caused by the lack of a shock absorption system made the priest, who was over fifty years old, miserable.

"Wayne... Commander, huh... That's right, ahead is... the big rift..." Old Hughes responded with difficulty, trying hard to swallow the sour water that rose in his throat.

Wayne frowned, picked up the telescope again and looked into the distance, muttering doubtfully: "It looks more like a huge valley..."

A believer standing behind Old Hughes approached cautiously and patiently explained, "The Great Rift itself is at the end of the valley. This is the only place in the northern desert with a water system. It's the Zelt River, which flows down from the Sacred Spine Mountains. Once it enters the desert, it becomes a dark river flowing underground."

He paused, then looked at the old priest with a certain admiration. "Lord Hughes once traveled here alone when he was young. There's no way he could have made a mistake."

Dave quickly caught up, stretched out his long arms, and nimbly climbed onto the chariot. He asked in surprise, "We've been camping along the way, and we've heard this huge roar coming from underground. Could it be the flow of the Zelt Underground River you mentioned?"

Even through such deep ground rock layers and thick quicksand, one can still hear the clear sound of flowing water, accompanied by slight vibrations caused by the underground river hitting the rock layers... How turbulent and wide must this underground river be?
Old Hughes coughed and waved his hand reservedly. "Ahem... that was over thirty years ago, when I was an adult. It wasn't a solo journey. If the Church's Inquisition hadn't offered a bounty on my head, I wouldn't have rushed headfirst into the desert, lost my way, and stumbled upon the legendary Great Rift..."

In the end, he fainted from hunger and thirst in the wilderness. He was rescued by a tribe of "rootless people" who were grazing nearby. He rested for more than half a year before returning to the south.

Wayne nodded in understanding. No wonder the old priest could find a way to help them contact the border tribes in the border mountains and the northern desert. It turned out that he had established friendships with these "rootless people" living in this area decades ago.

"What do you mean? It's getting dark... Should we march directly into the valley tonight, or should we camp here and rest until tomorrow morning?"

The war vehicles they brought with them on this expedition were not sufficient, and the precious liquid magic energy could not be transported from the unstable temporary teleportation array in Highland City. They had to be frugal and save it along the way. This resulted in the soldiers taking turns riding vehicles to replenish their strength during the high-intensity march, and they still had to walk most of the time.

The only ten magic vehicles were also assigned to the special operations team, asking them to replace the ranger sentries to explore the way and clean up the traces.

"Let's set up camp here... Let the mobile sentries go into the valley first to see what the situation is inside." Wayne's command style is exactly the same as that of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vaughn. Although he is personally adventurous, he tends to be conservative and stable in collective military operations.

Dave rubbed his hands, nimbly jumped off the chariot, and said with a smile, "I'll take the mobile sentry boys into the valley, and then take a few engineers with me, and map out the topography of the valley."

This is one of the southern defense lines designated by His Majesty. A permanent military fortress will be built here in the future. The preliminary work must be solid and meticulous so as not to delay subsequent plans.

Soon, the soldiers who received the order stopped moving forward. Under the guidance of several young believers under old Hughes, they lay in the sand pit and quickly located the position of the tributary of the underground river. They controlled the engineering alchemy beast to dig out several sand wells in a few seconds. After a while, they saw gurgling water gushing out of the wellheads.

Fifteen war beast vehicles were arranged in a circle to form a simple outer defense line. The people gathered in the center were busy setting up camp, making fires, and cooking... Only Daf enthusiastically led seven or eight bloodline warriors and three engineers, started the magic vehicle, and roared all the way towards the valley entrance several miles away.

……

The closer we got to the valley entrance, the more green the ground began to appear. After driving a little further, we could see the lush green shrubs not far away, over the jagged rocks. It seemed that this valley, nourished by the Zelt River, was a rare sweet water oasis in the northern desert.

Dave held the vehicle's armrest firmly with one hand, and with his free hand he impatiently scratched the back of his neck, then gestured to his soldiers to slow down.

"Brothers, once we enter the valley, split into two teams and explore from the left and right. No need to push too deep... We'll meet up at the riverbank ahead in an hour. If you find anything unusual, report it to me immediately via wireless communication!"

"Got it!" "Understood!"

The soldiers immediately divided into two convoys, each heading in a predetermined direction. Although the valley was covered with lush vegetation, most of it was low shrubs with shallow roots. The trees were sparsely distributed, so the field of vision was relatively wide and there was no need to be too careful to avoid obstacles while driving.

Dave led three soldiers alone and excitedly ran half a circle along the edge of the valley. Then he was the first to arrive at the wide riverbank of the Zelt River, waiting for another team to arrive and join him later.

An Orc soldier came over and lit a cigarette for him, grinning, "The temperature in the valley is surprisingly warmer than in the desert. If we were to camp here tonight, it would be much better than before..."

Dave took a long drag on his cigarette and pointed at the clear river in front of him. "I'd say Wayne's a bit of a stickler. What's wrong with just camping here a few hours later? I haven't showered in almost half a month since leaving Highland City. Not only are my clothes smelly...but my body is also terribly itchy."

The soldier scratched his head awkwardly, not daring to respond. Who was Captain Duff? He was the man who dared to roll around shirtless in the snow and mud during winter training in the North. He was the man who, during cross-country marches, discarded his military rations to lighten his load, eating whatever he could find in the wilderness. How could he suddenly become so delicate and tidy?

Of course, the special military uniforms with both front and back sides worn by the expeditionary force were also the cause of his discomfort. The designers of the military factory had a sudden idea and insisted on applying the optical camouflage coating on the inside of the clothes, so that the soldiers could take it off and wear it inside out during combat, and keep it covered inside at other times to prevent the coating from wearing out.

Many soldiers secretly complained that the camouflage-coated lining of their uniforms made their skin uncomfortable, and some parts of their bodies even occasionally broke out in rashes.

"Once we've met up with the other team, let's take turns going down to the river to wash. Wayne doesn't have a set return time anyway... a little delay won't be a big deal."

Just as Duff made the decision to drop his cigarette, another team of sentries rumbled out of the woods, with the two leaders each holding a fat grouse in their hands.

"Boss! Game!"

Dave laughed heartily and immediately began to undress. "Three of you, spread out and stand guard. You two will light a fire and roast the grouse. The rest of you, come with me into the water to cool off!"

In this wild and uninhabited land, there was nothing to explore except for a few rare magical creatures. Daf volunteered to lead the team just to break away from the main force. The long-distance march for more than half a month was so boring that he almost fell ill.

Only three engineers still remembered their duties. They climbed to the top of the tree with nimbleness, and began to draw the terrain around the entrance of the valley based on their memory, holding the picture album.

As soon as he entered the water, Daf shivered with cold. "Hiss! How come this water is colder than the glacial rivers in the north in winter? What's strange is that it's so cold, but it hasn't frozen yet..."

Before he could climb up the shore tremblingly, the engineer on the treetop suddenly slid down and crawled towards him.

"Boss! Boss! It's bad! There's a flash flood!"

Dave was stunned, "What?"

Before he could finish, everyone suddenly felt the ground shaking slightly. A large number of small animals such as wild mice and mountain rabbits suddenly emerged from the bushes, huddled together and ran away desperately. In the crowns of the towering trees, some birds were frightened and flew up.

"Get in the car! Retreat out of the valley!"

(End of this chapter)