Chapter 75

First, let's go deeper inside.

Ristocom turned on the light and looked around the cave.

The cave was about 2.5 meters wide and about 3 meters high, with a gentle slope leading downward.

There was a pipeline with a light source and an exhaust port near the ceiling, and a similar pipeline on the ground.

It was probably an air circulation pipe for the cave, with the ceiling side supplying oxygen and the ground side expelling carbon dioxide.

There was a large power source and air pump outside, so it must be correct.

Well, it wasn't working, though.

Moreover, there were plates every 10 meters indicating the distance from the entrance.

Worst of all, I found cracks in the cave.

It was probably damaged by the bombardment earlier.

It would be best to hurry and escape.

When I reached about 50 meters from the entrance, the path split into two, and the pipelines also branched left and right.

The right path extended straight from the entrance, while the left path turned at about a 45-degree angle.

So I decided to go down the right path first.

The right path had the same height and width as from the entrance to here, but there were short side tunnels here and there, which seemed to be excavation sites.

The team members, including the professor, seemed to be very meticulous and didn't just throw their tools around.

After walking about 1800 meters from the entrance, which took nearly 30 minutes, I could feel that we had descended quite deep, even with the gentle slope, and I started to feel short of breath.

At about 1850 meters, the pipeline and light source disappeared, and after walking about 20 meters further, I reached what seemed to be a dead-end at the forefront of the excavation.

Reluctantly, I turned back, and the shortness of breath gradually eased.

Still, I needed to act quickly.

The cave could collapse at any time due to the bombardment damage.

While I was thinking this, I returned to the fork and this time went down the left path.

This left path had no side tunnels, and after walking about 20 meters, a small space opened up.

Looking around, it seemed to be a base for the excavation, with boxes for storing artifacts, emergency oxygen masks, anti-gravity hover carts for transporting soil, excavators, large and small batteries, shovels, small pickaxes for excavating relics, a portable toilet, chairs and tables for resting, a radio for communication with the outside, and a water server, so it seemed that escape was possible.

In fact, I should have chosen this path from the beginning.

The light source was battery-powered and worked properly, so when I turned it on, I could see cracks in part of the wall.

The professor and his team couldn't have missed these cracks, so they must have been caused by the bombardment, just like the cracks in the cave.

I checked the excavator's battery and tested if it was working properly, then hoisted it and returned to the entrance, bringing the light source as well, and immediately started digging.

At first, I thought it would be open soon.

However, even after digging for about two hours with the excavator, it didn't seem to be getting any thinner, and the air should have been getting thinner, so I was getting anxious.

It was past 8 PM, and I had spent an hour traveling to and from the excavation site on the right and two hours digging.

The air in the cave was holding up well.

Anyway, since there was a water server, I decided to return to the base camp and take a break.

When I sat in the resting chair and drank water, I realized that I wasn't feeling too short of breath.

Since the cave had a slope, this place, which was slightly lower than the entrance, should have been more suffocating, and considering the size of the cave, I should have needed an oxygen mask by now, but I could still breathe comfortably.

This must mean there was some kind of air vent somewhere.

Perhaps one of the cracks was connected to the outside and was supplying air.

But this would allow me to resume digging without worry.

By the way, the rocks and soil I had excavated were getting in the way, so I decided to remove them with a shovel.

After taking a 10-minute break, I resumed work.

Thanks to the air supply from somewhere, I didn't feel short of breath even after moving the soil for about 20 minutes, and I continued digging for another two hours, but it still wasn't open.

"It's already 10:30..."

I had arrived here around 5 PM.

The rain and wind were supposed to last for about two days, so I decided to sleep here. I could use the chairs in the base camp as a bed.

While thinking this, I returned to the base camp, but it was inexplicably a dead-end.

"Huh... Why?"

I couldn't have taken a wrong turn, and there hadn't been any tremors that could have caused a cave-in.

At that moment, I noticed a crack near the entrance of the base camp.

"Could this space actually be an ancient elevator...? No way."

While thinking this, I lightly tapped the cracked part, and a piece of rock fell off.

There was a button that looked like an elevator control panel where the rock had fallen off.

The moment I saw it, a bad feeling and a question arose simultaneously.

The professor and his team must have used various measuring instruments, so they shouldn't have missed such a simple disguise.

If they knew about it, they might have planned to investigate it last.

If they really didn't know, it would mean their investigation was sloppy.

However, considering that this was an ancient facility, it made sense that the ancient people had camouflaged it.

In that case, it would make sense that various measuring instruments didn't detect anything.

If I were the protagonist, I would press the button and explore the ancient ruins, but I decided to ignore it and head back to the entrance.

Who would touch something that clearly smelled dangerous? This should be left to the protagonist!

Most importantly, if this space was an elevator, it meant someone had activated it.

I hurriedly turned to hide at the excavation site, but it was too late.

The wall that had been a dead-end silently opened, and several laser shots hit the ground near my feet.

"Don't move, intruder. I'll kill you if you move."

A woman's voice came from behind, and I stopped moving.

"Tell me why you entered here. Follow my instructions, and I won't kill you. If you understand, throw that shovel far away."

I threw the shovel as instructed.

"Turn around slowly."

I turned around as instructed, and the person who had given me the instructions was a tall woman, about 180 cm, with sharp eyes and long black hair, holding a gun.

"Hand over what you have on your waist as well."

Of course, I handed over the heat ray gun on my waist.

I probably couldn't beat her.

"Now, let me ask you again. Why did you come here?"

I told her everything from the beginning.

This place was currently a ruin under excavation.

I had come to retrieve something forgotten by the excavation leader.

During this time, the leader's excavation results were attacked by someone who wanted to steal them, and I had fled into this cave.

The attacker had also shot at the cave out of spite.

I was trying to dig through the soil and rocks at the entrance to escape.

"I see. I understand why you're here. Dig quickly and get out."

She seemed to lose interest in me and was about to return to her original location via the elevator.

"Wait, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Why didn't the professor and his team discover this facility when they first investigated it?"

Why didn't they find it despite using various survey instruments?

This was the main reason I had called out to her.

She casually gave me the correct answer.

"The camouflage of this facility uses 'disguise soil,' which contains nanomachines that block sound reflections and detection devices. Your current tools can't penetrate it."

There might be something similar, but the technological level was probably far beyond ours.

"By the way, one more thing. Have you heard the word 'Rosweize'?"

This was the other reason I had called out to her.

I had felt I needed to ask her this since I first saw her.

"That's the name of one of my foolish sisters. Do you know it?"

"Yes."

"I see. I am the small combat ship, Wagner, Varukyuria, Sisters, Lot No. 02, Gerhilde."

I thought so.

Her face and height were completely different, but I had a feeling it was her.

The right person has appeared.

Please don't carry out indiscriminate attacks...

Thank you for your comments, opinions, and corrections.

I added a portable toilet to the break room (inside the elevator).