Steel Chang'an

Chapter 34

"Currently the oxygen content in the cabin is 20.00%."

"Currently the oxygen content in the cabin is 19.00%."

"Oxygen content 18.00%."

"Boss, are we almost there?" Su Sheng's voice came from the communication channel.

Under normal conditions, the oxygen content in the body is 20.00%, which is a comfortable oxygen concentration for humans.But as time goes by, the amount of oxygen stored in the body continues to decrease, and the oxygen concentration in the body also decreases. 18.00% is already a very uncomfortable oxygen level. Mu Yun felt faintly dizzy and weak in the cabin, and he also knew that if the oxygen level in the body dropped beyond 5.00%, then their remaining lives would be in danger. Only less than 1 minute left.

Mu Yun calculated the rate at which the oxygen level dropped... Currently, they only have enough oxygen left for another 10 minutes.

"Soon." In the communication channel, Li Jing's voice replied briefly.

"You said the same thing 10 minutes ago." Mu Yun pointed out.

"Shut up, stop talking nonsense, and don't waste oxygen." Li Jing's voice sounded weaker than usual.

"Currently the oxygen content in the cabin is 15.00%."

"Currently the oxygen content in the cabin is 14.00%."

"Oxygen content 13.00%."

"12.00%."

The red count bar representing the oxygen level quickly faded away, as if the lives of the three people were rapidly disappearing.The cold mechanical counting sound gradually became indistinct in Mu Yun's ears, his body was limp and weak, and the sound of his heartbeat was infinitely amplified between his heavy breathing.

"Li Jing..." He gritted his teeth and wanted to say something more, but he heard Li Jing's roar from the communication channel: "Shut up! Hold on!"

"You guys better believe my words...the way out is in front of you, get over it for me!"

Following Li Jing's loud shout, a light suddenly appeared on the always dark monitor screen.It was as if this dark underground river was also frightened by Li Jing's will, and a crack was abruptly roared out!
The light in front of me continued to expand, the rumbling vibrations from outside the mech became stronger and stronger, and the turbulent underground river was pushing the fuselage towards the light!
Finally, with the sudden shock of the fuselage, they were thrown to the solid ground, and the two zero-type mechas rose from the water waves and rushed out of the underground river together!

"Currently the oxygen content in the cabin is [-]%... It has been detected that the oxygen content in the outside air is sufficient, and the breathing filter system has been turned on."

"Currently the oxygen content in the cabin is 20.00%."

Mu Yun took a big breath of the sweet and plentiful air in the cabin again.

When he was thrown out of the dark river before, the instinctive reaction to accept the body almost exhausted his last bit of strength. Now, the only thing he can do is to breathe.His brain, which had become dull due to lack of oxygen, was blank, and he couldn't think of anything, and he didn't even bother to move a finger.

A few minutes passed, and Mu Yun felt that she finally regained some physical strength, the feeling of dizziness disappeared, and her brain began to function again.It was at this moment that he realized that something was wrong here——

Underground, where does the light come from?

Mu Yun operated the armor Xifeng and stood up.Behind him is an underground river in the darkness.This underground river lurking under the sea of ​​thorns is the culprit of the quicksand terrain of the sea of ​​thorns.It is unknown whether such an underground river originally existed under the Sea of ​​Thorns, or whether it was the groundwater leaking from the Sea of ​​Thorns. After a long period of accumulation, such an underground river with a spectacular water volume was finally formed.

After rushing out of the narrow channel, this turbulent underground river gradually became gentle, then turned a corner ahead and disappeared from Mu Yun's sight.This is below the sea of ​​thorns, and it is also the secret guarded by the black murderous thorns.Limestone washed by dark rivers forms this subterranean gray dome.

Under the gray dome is a corridor that exudes silver-white light.The light they saw when they rushed out of the underground river was the lighting from this corridor.

"It seems that this is the entrance to Dead Castle."

Behind Mu Yun, Li Jing manipulated the armor Wuming and walked forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, looking at the silver-white corridor.

"Boss, there is a light!" Su Sheng finally woke up in the metal back cabin behind the armor Xifeng. He opened the metal back cabin and poked his head out. After seeing the surrounding scene clearly, he immediately opened his eyes wide and sat up straight. He stood up and shouted, "No, boss, didn't you say that this is a relic from a thousand years ago? Could it be that these lights have been on all the time... for more than 1000 years?"

Speaking of the last sentence, Su Sheng seemed to feel the strangeness here, and shrank his head involuntarily, even his voice trembled.

The ancient battlefield buried underground, the countless souls who died in battle, and the lamp that lasted for thousands of years... If Su Sheng's imagination was richer, he would pee his pants.

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true." Li Jing smiled, "I don't know what kind of material these lights are made of, but seeing that they can illuminate such a large area, it shows that the power is not small. If they are really bright for more than 1000 years, then The powerful energy spar can't withstand such consumption. But after a thousand years, the light can still maintain this brightness... Maybe it's because of the use of a sensor device, it will only light up when someone enters the corridor."

Mu Yun lowered his head. Although they were still standing in the stagnant water of the underground river, judging from the pattern of broken floor tiles under their feet, they were standing at the entrance of the corridor.

"However, the working principle of the lamp is not important to us." Li Jing asked the armor Wuming to pull out the thermal saber. "What is important is that there is a light, which means that the energy here has not been exhausted. There are remnants of the mechanical legion of the Eternal King, and I am afraid they still have enough energy to move."

Mu Yun was awakened by Li Jing's words, and then thought that if the lights were turned on because they sensed their arrival, then there might be other things that also sensed that uninvited guests entered their territory...

Controlling the battle armor Xifeng, Mu Yun carefully stepped onto the corridor, walking side by side with Li Jing's battle armor Wuming.As the terrain rose, the stagnant water slowly receded from the feet, exposing the dry ground and broken pillars, and revealing more of the original appearance of the ruins: the corridor they thought before was actually a road built on a stone platform. On the wide avenue, there are majestic and sturdy columns on both sides of the avenue.On the dilapidated column body, there are faintly worn carvings and marks left by the oxidation of the paint.Those silver-white lights poured down from the top of the pillars and sprinkled on this avenue.

Although the pattern of floor tiles laid on the road has been corroded, and the pillars are only ruins, in Mu Yun's mind, he can still imagine that thousands of years ago, under the sunshine, this road could support two [-]-ton aircraft. How magnificent is the high platform avenue that the mechs pass through at the same time.

But at the same time, a trace of doubt also rose in his heart: what exactly is this dead castle?
Judging from this majestic avenue, this Fortress of the Dead doesn't look like a military fortress at all. On the contrary, this kind of decorative and ceremonial columns are more like temples...

Judging from the mottled patterns on the pillars, it seems that it depicts some kind of ancient beast fighting with human knights, but the age is too old, and the remaining paint and carvings alone can only tell that the beast has an incomparable size Huge, but I can't tell what kind of animal it is...

"strangeness……"

Unknowingly, Mu Yun blurted out, but saw Li Jing's armor Wuming turned his head and asked, "You feel it too?"

"Well," Mu Yun nodded, "This dead castle... looks a little weird."

"Hehe," Li Jing smiled, "Dead Fort is just what people call this ruins today, because the entrants will never return, and there is only one dead end, so it is called Dead Fort. No one knows."

"Uh, boss, it's not that I'm greedy for life and afraid of death," Su Sheng's weak voice came from the communication channel, "but since this dead castle claims to be a dead end, why do we still have to go to a dead end? what?"

"Hehe, this is called death and rebirth, kid understand?" Li Jing didn't seem very nervous, talking and laughing along the way, "Besides, if it is true that everyone who enters the dead castle will never return , Who left the map of the Sea of ​​Thorns, and where did the way to enter the Fortress of the Dead come from?

"It's just that those who venture into Dead Castle are either outlaws who are cornered and do not dare to show their faces. They can only use Dead Castle to take the East Forest, and disappear naturally after leaving; or they are greedy for what is good in this ruins. Things, those who come in to hunt for treasures must make a fortune in silence, and they will never leak the news casually. Over time, after the rumors are added to the description, it becomes the saying that entering the dead castle, there is only one dead end."

"That's really reassuring." Mu Yun smiled dryly, and wanted to point to the mecha in front of him, missing arms and legs, and ask Li Jing: The owner of this mecha seems to be in a good condition. Does it look like walking out of the dead castle?What kind of thing is it that can tear a [-]-ton mech into pieces like a chicken?
Although he didn't know what it was, Mu Yun could be sure that it must be very ferocious and definitely not easy to deal with.

But I don't know if the thing that tore the mech into pieces has anything to do with the beast depicted on the pillar?
But Mu Yun didn't have time to ask a question, but saw Li Jing operating the battle armor Wuming, quickly stepped forward and kicked the crippled mecha off the road, rolling into the darkness where the lights couldn't reach.Immediately afterwards, Li Jing switched to the separate communication channel with the armor Xifeng, and said in a low voice, "Quiet."

"Huh?" Mu Yun hadn't recovered yet, but Li Jing continued to say, "If you don't want to scare Su Sheng, don't mention that unlucky mech in the public channel."

"Why, can't you see that you are still a caring person?" Mu Yun was a little surprised. Li Jing, who is so informal, would actually notice such a trivial matter as whether Su Sheng would be frightened?Such a chivalrous Li Jing almost frightened Mu Yun.

In the next second, I heard Li Jing say: "Hehe, isn't it? Su Sheng is my beloved student. As a teacher, he will naturally care and love him. Besides, Su Sheng may come in handy later, so we can't scare him away now." Soul. You should also pay attention, and clean up the things that don't need to be seen by him as soon as possible."

Sure enough, I still think too much.Mu Yun sighed inwardly.

Loving an apprentice is not the point at all, after all, Li Jing just wants to exploit child labor.In such a dangerous place, even a child would not be spared, and he had the nerve to call himself a teacher... Speaking of which, why did he consider admitting such a person as his teacher in the first place?
Mu Yun was complaining in her heart, but her steps became more cautious.Because he found that as they walked deeper and deeper in this corridor, the number of mecha wreckage falling on this corridor became more and more.It was difficult to identify the model of the torn mecha, but the faded paintwork on the wreckage looked quite old.The upper body of a dried skeleton hangs from the cracked hatch, maintaining the posture of death. It seems that the knight in the mecha is still struggling to escape from here.

Controlling the armor Xifeng to move her footsteps, Mu Yun turned on the heat sensor in the monitoring system while avoiding the remains of the armor on the ground without any trace.The design of this corridor made him very insecure.

Just as Li Jing expected, the lights on the pillars were controlled by the sensor system. As they moved forward, the lights in front of the corridor lit up one by one, and the corridor behind them gradually fell into darkness.

On both sides of them, the tops of the huge pillars were sprinkled with silver light. While the silver light illuminated the road ahead of them, it also made the place outside the avenue darker.

Mu Yun felt that something was about to move in the darkness, and their two zero-type mechas walking in the bright light were like prey exposed to the light...

"Wait!" Wuming, the armor controlled by Li Jing, suddenly raised a hand.Mu Yun immediately stopped her steps, pulled out her thermal saber, and looked around.He found no trace of the enemy from the infrared monitor, but Li Jing's tone sounded unusually serious.

"There are traces of battle here." Li Jing's voice came from the private channel.

Mu Yun didn't take it seriously, "There are traces of fighting everywhere here."

"These traces are new." Li Jing said, letting the battle armor Wuming approach the split column.

Mu Yun also turned the battle armor Xifeng around, but only saw that the cracks in the column were charred black, which indeed looked like traces of the output of thermal energy weapons, but to determine when these traces were left, it was only with the aid of Xifeng. The detection system of the old-fashioned zero-type mech could not judge it.

"Look at the ground." Li Jing reminded.

Mu Yun operated the battle armor Xifeng and looked down, there was a strange black liquid left under the huge pillar.

"This is... blood?" The liquid has not yet solidified, so it is no wonder that Li Jing can tell at a glance that there was a battle here not long ago, and his feelings are not judged by the split marks on the pillar.

For the huge mecha, this small pool of blood is not eye-catching, but if it is the blood flowing from the human body, the amount of blood loss is a bit scary.Mu Yun frowned: If a knight is hacked to such an extent in the mecha, the mecha is probably scrapped.But when he looked around, there was no mecha wreckage left in this area.

Mu Yun zoomed in on the monitoring image multiples.He noticed that near the pool of black liquid, there were still some traces of liquid dripping, but the direction of movement was not forward, but to the left side of the road.

The traces of those dripping liquids finally disappeared in the darkness outside the road.

"That injured guy..."

"It may not be human beings." Li Jing finished the sentence for Mu Yun, turned the thermal saber in his hand, with the blade facing outwards, and held it obliquely in front of his chest, "We didn't encounter an attack just now, maybe a group of people just entered before us They cleared the way for us. With their advancing speed, if we didn't meet their corpses ahead, they should have already entered the inner circle of Dead Castle.

"It's just that they are advancing so fast, not only is it impossible to kill all the mechanical creatures here, but they may also disturb some things that should not be disturbed when they pass...

"If the legend is true, humans won the Millennium War by seizing the energy spar of the Immortal King, and finally sealed the Immortal King. Without the command of the mastermind, the king's army composed of mechanical creatures will naturally be destroyed. .

"It's just that I don't know how the people at that time dealt with the remaining mechanical creatures. If they didn't kill the grass and roots, they just sealed them underground... Then, once this army of kings who has been sleeping for thousands of years is awakened, how will they deal with the invasion? It’s hard to tell.”

Mu Yun narrowed his eyes, looking at the wide passage and the huge pillar.The torn mecha wreckage that he had witnessed before, and the incomplete patterns of alien beasts on the pillars overlapped in front of his eyes.From the moment he set foot on this avenue, he has been feeling uneasy, and now he finally understands where his uneasiness comes from, "I don't know who this army of kings was... What kind of mechanical creatures are they made up of, but judging from the size of this avenue and the mecha wreckage encountered along the way, they must be quite large."

With two poorly equipped zero-type mechas, Xifeng and Wuming, to fight against the king's army in the Millennium War?Mu Yun shook his head.Not to mention an army of large mechanical creatures, even if there is only one such huge mechanical creature left here, it may be enough for Li Jing to drink a pot with him.

"Then you have to be mentally prepared." Li Jing's voice still seemed to be so lazy, but Mu Yun could hear an unprecedented sense of tension from his words, "Because our luck seems to be not very good. Judging from the battle traces left along the way, the team that entered the Castle of Death ahead of us clearly did not encounter any large mechanical creatures.

"It is said that the mechanical creatures that make up the king's army are divided into arms just like the human army. I suspect that the previous team probably encountered small mechanical creatures that were used as scouting arms, so there was no large-scale battle. Because the small mechanical creatures of the scouting arms do not aim to kill intruders, their mission is just to inform. And the task of annihilating the enemy should be handed over to some big guys."

"Speaking of which, the team that entered Death Fort before us was really lucky." Mu Yun couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

"Yeah," Li Jing also said with emotion, "how could we be so unlucky and come in after someone's buttocks. Could it be because a guy who didn't wash his hands after going to the toilet got mixed up in the team, so we lost our luck ,Ugh!"

Who is the guy who doesn't wash his hands after going to the toilet?Mu Yun's face darkened, and he just wanted to give Li Jing a big roll of his eyes.But when it comes to luck, Mu Yun can't help but feel a little guilty: this thing seems to be born against him.But if you think about it carefully, Li Jing's character is so poor, he should have had better luck in the first place.

From this point of view, if two unlucky people get together, they will only accumulate bad luck, and they will definitely not be positive.

Just as Mu Yun was thinking, she suddenly heard Li Jing yell softly, "Here we come!"

"Where?" Mu Yun asked hastily.No trace of the enemy has yet appeared on the infrared monitor, so Li Jing should just judge by listening to the sound.Mu Yun stepped on the wind trace, and the armor Xifeng also put on a defensive posture, but he didn't know which direction to defend.

But immediately, Mu Yun realized that he had asked this question for nothing.

Because the rumbling vibrations came from all directions at the same time.

They are surrounded!

(End of this chapter)