Chapter 301 - Fortune Favors The Bold?
Amidst the piles of black ash and rock-solid soil of the underground space below the dormant World Tree, palace guards and regular soldiers alike gathered before several simple constructs of rope lifts that could take them back to the surface.
Their group was tasked with exploring the unknown underground and collecting various items of value from this designated region.
Few archeologists dedicated to the study of ancient history and relics were transferred over from the Capital to join them during this period while the rest of the kingdom was busy with other concerns.
Lilith had become especially popular among these archeologists due to her profound knowledge of the ancient language.
The archeologists relied heavily on Lilith for simple translation of the ancient texts and relics unearthed in the underground and did not discriminate against her for being a beastkin.
Over time, Lilith was nominated as the head archeologist of their exploration group and enjoyed great respect from the archeologists despite her young age.
In any, when a person is passionate about their area of study, they do not concern themselves with the seniority of one's age and only have respect for the wiser.
To them, greater knowledge was the true representation of seniority and not age. The group of archeologists was precisely like this.
Lilith felt like she had found a place among the humans and fitted right in, but she knew that her current treatment and privilege were all thanks to Leon.
As she thought about Leon, she felt warm and gratified. She wondered what Leon was up to and when he would be returning to the World Tree.
"Stay in line and stick to your group! Do not fall out of order! There is no need to rush. Everyone will get their turn to use the rope lift!"
A palace guard strictly warned to keep the rowdy bunch from falling into chaos.
During this exploration and excavation period, there were two instances where they had overloaded the rope lift and caused a bunch of injuries due to the vine rope of the rope lift snapping.
It was fortunate that the accident occurred relatively early. Otherwise, no one would have been able to survive the full dive of over 3000fts.
Watching the rope lifts finished their returning descent, a palace guard said, "The rope lifts are back. The next group may proceed forward to use the rope lift. I do not think I need to mention this again, but please follow all the safety precautions to prevent another accident."
No one stepped forward after the palace guard made his announcement, causing the palace guard in charge to frown slightly.
"Group Three, that is your call. Please proceed to use rope lift!"
Everyone began to look around with confusion when no one stepped forward after this second call.
"Sir, Group Three is not here." An ordinary soldier from the crowd informed.
The palace guard was displeased, but that was about it. Group delays were a regular occurrence as the subterranean world was dark without sunlight and challenging to keep track of time.
"Alright, Group Four may proceed to use the rope lifts." The palace guard strictly issued.
The depths of the subterranean world were unknown, and they could not account for every danger lurking.
That being said, a list of designated zones that were considered relatively safe has already been established. As long as no one left this designated zone, no punishment would be meted out for tardiness.
"Nice, it's our to turn to leave. Let's go, everyone." Said a person within Group Four.
Large leather and hard grass-woven bags were seen being carried in each of their hands. These bags contained various items ranging from ancient relics, Transcendent Crystals, and books to black ashes, exotic earth soil, and identifiable clumps of alloys.
As every group eventually made their way back to the surface and hand in their loots to keep inventory, they were returned to their camps to prepare for dinner and rest for the day.
"Thank you for your hard work, Howard. Was there any problem with today's work?" A palace guard asked, seeing how the palace guard in charge of the underground returned later than usual.
The palace guard, Howard, smiled wryly and retorted, "What hard work? All I did was stand around, giving orders all day. I'd take this job over looking after his Highness any day. There wasn't any problem, Jack. Just Group Three being tardy again."
"Group Three? Them again?" Jack wrinkled his brows and said, "Might as well let them spend the night down there. That will teach them not to be late again."
"That was exactly what I was planning." Howard smiled.
The two palace guards talked as they made their way over to the storage area. This was where all the loots were packaged into crates and stored away after they had been accounted for.
"We have collected quite a lot of items from the underground, haven't we? There isn't much room left. We might have to expand the storage area." Howard commented as he glanced at the crates stacked as high as twice his own height.
"Nah, that probably won't be necessary. I heard we will be getting an airship to transfer these goodies back to the Capital tomorrow." Jack explained.
"Airship? Are you talking about Brigadier General Rohan's airship? The one carrying a bunch of survivors from Eastfell City?" Howard asked.
"Actually, I heard the airship belongs to General Marquis Hendrick, but yeah, that is the one. There aren't that many airships left in the kingdom." Jack answered.
The two palace guards soon engaged in idle chat as they made their way back to the main camp.
…
At another location, deeper within the subterranean world, a group of explorers was venturing through a narrow earthen passage while holding brightly lit oil lamps.
These people were all from Group Three.
"Dammit, I knew we shouldn't have listened to you and try to explore the ant holes. Look at where we are. Lost! We are completely lost! Should have known when the higher-ups made this place prohibited!" One of the soldiers in the group scowled.
Group Three were part of the explorer's group. They were tasked with finding new passageways and undiscovered areas in the subterranean world. However, they were also aware implicitly aware that the ant holes were off-limits.
Nevertheless, they had entered an ant hole to try their luck. Only with sufficient contribution points would they be able to exchange for Transcendent Crystals.
The king had introduced a contribution system with Transcendent Crystals as one of the many rewards. This was to ensure the explorers' loyalty while they work to unearth the countless treasures waiting for them in the subterranean world.
Everyone was aware that this was part of a scheme to strengthen the kingdom and match the country's ongoing rapid development.
It was a hard-to-come-by opportunity to get their hands on the Transcendent Crystals without breaking the law. They could not let the opportunity slip past their fingers. It would be too late for regrets once the Transcendent Crystals were removed from the contribution exchange list.
"You can't blame me for this. This was what we had all agreed to do. Only by making big discoveries would we be able to earn swift contribution points to exchange for good cultivation resources." The group leader said coldly.
"What the group leader said is correct. We should be figuring out how to get back rather than point fingers." Another person defended the group leader.
Like the group leader had said, they would not have entered the ant hole if they had not all agreed to do it. This is because they all had the same thoughts at that time.
Fortune favored the bold!
"Sigh, there's something wrong with these passageways. I'm sure that we had marked our way here, but these marks had all disappeared." Another member of Group Three pointed out the crux of their problem.
Everyone frowned with heavy hearts at this reminder.
There were far too many connecting passageways within the ant holes, making the place one massive maze. They were smart enough to leave marks to help them find their way back, but they still ended up lost.
"I think we might have missed the correct path a while back." The archaeologist within the group suddenly said.
"What do you mean?"
"The passageways are dark, and our visions are limited by what our lighting shows. It would not have been strange if we had overlooked a crossroad and mistaken for a single passageway." The archeologist explained.
A few faces became deathly pale at this revelation.
"Then what should we do? Continue? Or go back?"
"Hold on. I hear something coming from ahead of us." The strongest of their group suddenly said. The others turned towards the soldier.
"What do you hear?" The group whispered.
"I hear…" Suddenly, the person's face stiffened as he shouted, "Run!"
"You hear run? What do you mean—"
Due to the current passageway being slightly wider, the soldier could bolt past the group and escape ahead.
It was not long before they start to hear the soft but numerous and incalculable tremors. Their faces warped in horror when they listened to the distant 'scree' sound.
"Ants!"