Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 70: Hive Mutation
It’s not that Asdalen deliberately wanted to delay time and postpone leading the logistics troops to support the valley outpost.

He and Harvey have been in a lot of trouble these past two days.

Three days ago, an unexpected situation occurred in the territory's most important development resource - the nest of energy-absorbing beetles.

The original insect nest that was originally dug by the beetles themselves suddenly experienced a slight landslide.

This reveals a larger collapsed space below, the depth of which is currently completely undetectable.

Harvey broke out in a cold sweat when he thought about it.

There had actually been a huge cave underneath his main fort. If it hadn't been for the reinforcement work during the previous construction phase, he would have been buried alive underground one day in his sleep as the main fort collapsed.

He still didn't dare to take it lightly, and quickly asked Reiner to dispatch all the working alchemy beasts to reinforce the walls of the underground laboratory and some areas of the original insect nest.

However, if we don't confirm the situation of this cave, no matter how we strengthen and improve the structure of the main fort and laboratory, it will be of no avail.

After all, Harvey had to know clearly whether the core area of his territory built on the ruins of the ancient wizard's ruins contained an unknown treasure buried in the underground cave, or a time bomb that could explode at any time.

"The beetles that are scattered in the insect nest have begun to gather towards the collapsed cave entrance. It seems that there is something in the cave below that attracts them." Asdalen has been observing for a whole day and night.

If the hole is not sealed, I'm afraid that the tens of thousands of free-range beetles will all run away in a few days.

"I plan to send someone down into the underground cave..." Harvey has vaguely thought of a possibility, but he is not sure yet.

Why would an ancient wizard's ruins appear in this desolate land at the foot of the northern slope of the Divine Ridge Mountains? Why did they choose this place?

Only by actually going down to the bottom of the cave can we probably find the answer.

Asdalen agreed with Harvey's idea, but absolutely disagreed with him taking the risk himself. After all, the probability of emergencies in such an unknown space was too high.

Harvey is currently in the critical stage of striving to be promoted to a mid-level spellcaster. There is only one three-ring spell engraved in his magic pattern. If he encounters danger underground, it will be difficult for him to escape unscathed.

"Alright, Asdalen, I know you're worried about my safety, but I have to personally confirm this exploration. Furthermore, I don't think exploring the underground caves is as dangerous as exploring the rifts in the magic web..."

With two powerful alchemical creatures, Asdalen and Reiner, guarding him on both sides, plus the beetle ores they were equipped with, and a few wolf spiders that could climb flexibly, Harvey felt that this expedition configuration could basically avoid most of the dangers.

Egno was recalled from the medical institute to the main castle laboratory. He needed to stay in the main castle and deal with some possible emergencies while Harvey and the others went down into the cave.

For example, sending more alchemy beasts into the cave to support or rescue Harvey and others.

"Don't worry, I'll stay by the communication device every step of the way. As soon as I receive your distress signal, I'll immediately activate all the alchemy beasts in the laboratory."

……

Several large illuminating magic stones were installed on the wolf spider beasts. As they crawled up and down without paying attention to the terrain, the general situation of the entire cave space was revealed.

This is indeed a naturally formed underground cave, and it seems that there are no traces of human intervention.

The entire space is several times larger than Harvey's main castle on the ground. It is filled with dozens of stalactite columns that are as thick as several people can hug. The surface is extremely dry, indicating that there should be no underground rivers nearby.

"It's a perfect place for a secret laboratory and storage space..." Asdalen walked along the cave's stone walls, confirming there were no other openings or passages. "It's strange. If it's a closed space, why is the air able to circulate? I don't feel short of breath or chest tightness at all." Harvey, the only human to come down, keenly noticed this.

Reiner pointed to the countless tiny cracks in the stone walls around and on the top of the cave and speculated, "Perhaps these cracks in the mountain connect the cave to the underground fissures, allowing air to enter here."

He still remembered the sudden mountain tremor they encountered long ago when they were at the top of Jackdaw Ridge looking at the north slope, which caused the collapse of the ancient wizard's ruins.

"Sir, these stalactite columns in the cave should be able to support the stability of the cave structure, but I still think we need to add some artificial load-bearing columns just in case."

Harvey nodded, agreeing with Reiner's cautious idea, but he always felt that he had missed some key information.

correct!

Where did all those energy-absorbing beetles that crawled down from the hive go?

Reiner and Asdalen also reacted and began to drive all the wolf spiders to quickly search the crevices in the cave mountain, but they did not see any trace of any beetle.

Harvey immediately called Egno, who stayed in the laboratory, and asked him to catch a few beetles from the beetle breeding room, put them in small iron cages, put them on a hanging basket and send them underground.

"It's very simple. Release these beetles and follow their tracks to find out where the main group of beetles has gone."

After Harvey finished speaking, he opened the iron cage bars and shook the fat beetles onto the ground.

A few beetles turned over with difficulty, turned around a few times on the ground like headless flies, then immediately confirmed the direction and lined up like ants to crawl towards the stalactite column in the distance.

Harvey and his companions followed closely, watching them climb to the front of the stalactite column with a clear purpose, then gently extend their slender tentacles to touch the stone column, pause for a moment, and then climb directly onto the stone column, and then disappear from the surface of the stone column in an instant as if melting.

"How could this happen?" Reiner walked forward in surprise, extending his metal hand to touch the surface of the stone pillars. "How did they disappear? These are indeed stalactites. Can they even pass through walls?"

Harvey thought of a somewhat fanciful possibility, "Reiner, use the metal drill on your arm and try to drill a hole in the stone pillar."

Reiner nodded, raised his right arm and activated the metal drill, which made a hissing sound as it ran at high speed.

As the slender drill bit touched the surface of the stalactite, the sparks or stone powder flying that Harvey had expected did not appear.

The surface of the stalactite was like an eggshell, and immediately a large number of tiny and dense cracks appeared with the metal drill as the center.

Asdalen approached the stone pillar, bent his fingers and lightly tapped the cracks on the stalactites. The cracks shattered and fell down with a rustling sound.

The real core material inside the stone pillar is exposed, wrapped in the stalactite shell.

"This! How is this possible!" Harvey was so shocked that he stood there with his mouth open.

This huge stalactite column, which requires three or four people to hug, is actually crystal clear inside, and its light flows like a pure gem.

This... this is magic stone ore!

(End of this chapter)