Chapter 133: Chapter 125: Foreign Languages Must Be Learned
Luo De was somewhat surprised, scrutinizing the soldier captive, "Judging by your surname, was your family previously carpenters?"
"Yes, my lord, but I didn’t learn before becoming a soldier for Count Hawk, and then you captured me."
Mussen said in a low voice, head down.
"Well done, maybe you’ll have a chance to return to your ancestor’s profession someday."
Luo De said casually.
"Yes, yes, my lord, I will certainly work hard for you!"
Mussen quickly promised loudly.
Luo De nodded slightly, and Durant picked up two gems, respectfully handing them to Luo De.
Luo De took them and examined closely, his brow relaxing.
The originally blood-red gemstones had now turned green, and the system’s information confirmed to Luo De that both were Life Gems among the Extraordinary Gems.
With these two Extraordinary Gems, Luo De considered this a gain this time.
Luo De put away the Extraordinary Gems and turned his gaze to the fragments of the two statues.
"It seems these two things are not simple."
Life Gems aren’t just placed on any statue to revive it.
These two statues should be the main bodies, and Life Gems merely provided the drive energy for them.
Luo De secretly estimated that these two statues must have been more powerful before, perhaps time had made them fragile.
But even so, they could still engage Gang Le and Durant evenly.
Unfortunately, those two statues had already turned into a pile of rubble.
Everyone was amazed and couldn’t help but go up to see the pile of stones on the ground.
Gang Le ran up to pick up the Mermaid Monster’s fish spear, presenting it to Luo De, exclaiming, "This thing can withstand even the axe you forged; it must be something good!"
Luo De nodded, taking the fish spear and examining it closely.
The trident, the weapon’s entire body, presented a dark blue hue.
Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be faintly complex symbols and patterns on it, with the handle wrapped with decorations reminiscent of seaweed, giving it a unique oceanic style.
Luo De weighed it in his hand, knowing from its heft that this was definitely not ordinary iron.
Upon reflection, it made sense that a weapon withstanding long-term immersion in the salty ocean waters was surely no ordinary item.
Either it’s an extraordinary magical weapon or a special mineral from the sea.
"Gather it all and take it back."
Luo De and the guards weren’t accustomed to using it, but it was somewhat similar to the Wildman Spear.
Or try to see if it could be reforged.
"And dig out all these weapons embedded in the stone on the ground too."
Luo De ordered, a smile on his face.
Not knowing them didn’t matter as long as he knew they were good things.
"Yes!"
Everyone responded in unison, and the guards immediately began to busy themselves.
Luo De beckoned to the soldier captive Mussen,
"Take your teammates and check the rooms on both sides of the corridor."
Luo De instructed, "Be careful."
Mussen nodded repeatedly, leading his teammates to first open the door on the left-hand side.
The room was somewhat cramped, probably less than twenty square meters.
Inside were three parallel rock platforms, appearing like stone beds or experimental tables.
Luo De speculated in his mind, if they were stone beds, then this was a dormitory; if they were experimental tables, then it was a laboratory.
At the end of the room, the wall had a row of shelves carved from reef stone, adorned with some broken coral decorations.
Other than this, there was nothing else of value.
The soldiers searched carefully, but apart from the fossil patterns on the walls, they found nothing worth attention.
Luo De did not waste time in this room, waved his hand, and led the group to another room.
In two consecutive rooms, Luo De found nothing.
Until they reached the fourth room at the end.
The fourth room was different from the other three; here, the walls were lined with reef stone cabinets, and the stone door was tightly closed.
Mussen led his teammates forward to try to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.
The guards then brought in ropes to tie to the stone door, with seven people plus Gang Le exerting force together, desperately pulling the stone door.
"Put your backs into it!"
"Boom!"
With a muffled sound, a stream of light flashed across the cabinet, and the stone cabinet door was forcefully pulled down by everyone, crashing heavily to the ground.
The contents inside the cabinet were revealed to everyone.
—It was filled with various types of ancient texts.
"Bring them over for a look."
Luo De commanded with some curiosity.
"Yes, sir."
Mussen respectfully agreed, reaching out to take an ancient text.
However, as soon as he touched the ancient text, it instantly crumbled into powder, turning into a pile of dust.
Mussen was stunned for a moment, then frantically knelt before Luo De: "Sir, I... I didn’t use force, I didn’t!"
He anxiously explained, his face full of worry.
Luo De sighed, not blaming him.
"Stand up."
After such a long time, it’s normal for ancient books to weather into fragments.
The fact that these books have been preserved for Luo De to see is already quite miraculous.
Perhaps there was some special spell on this cabinet, preserving these books for so long.
But when the door was opened, the spell had already dissipated, so these books were difficult to preserve.
"It’s okay, continue taking them."
Luo De calmly ordered.
"Yes, yes, Sir."
Mussen carefully stretched out his hand, taking the books out of the cabinet one by one, and each one crumbled into pieces.
Not until the ninth book was it intact, and Mussen respectfully placed it into Luo De’s hand.
Luo De’s heart leapt with joy, but his excitement was short-lived after receiving the book.
The text was twisted like insects, unreadable to him.
Luo De was a bit speechless.
"Keep taking them."
"Yes, Sir."
Mussen took down the books one by one, totaling thirty-nine, but only four were perfectly preserved.
Luo De looked at the four books arranged in front of him, unable to help but sigh.
These four books were excellently preserved, the paper soft and pleasant to the touch, like some kind of creature’s skin.
But he did not recognize a single character of the text on these four books.
Yet Luo De did not underestimate these four books; he preserved them like treasures, valuing them even more than the Extraordinary Gems.
In this ancient ruin, seeing intact books is undoubtedly a precious find.
The material of ordinary books would turn to fragments, only precious books would survive for so long.
Besides these four books, Luo De found nothing else in the room worth attention.
To be cautious, Luo De had the guards search the four rooms thoroughly twice, confirming no other gains.
"Let’s continue forward."
Luo De pointed to the next door, instructing Mussen to open it.
However, after a long push, the stone door showed no response.
Gang Le attempted to use the same trick, trying to pull the door open with ropes, without any reaction.
Luo De and the others checked around, but found no mechanisms or switches.
When Luo De placed his hand on the door, he sensed a faint flow of energy.
Is there an Extraordinary Gem within the door?
Or is it, like the two statues, an extraordinary creation?
As Luo De pondered, Gang Le spoke up,
"Sir, should I try breaking it open with a pickaxe?"
Luo De thought for a moment; it seemed there was no better option, so he nodded in agreement.
Subsequently, Gang Le fetched pickaxes and began hammering away at the stone door.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—
Gang Le continually struck the stone door, causing fragments to fly.
Oddly, the entire stone door was exceptionally tough.
After half a day of hammering, only a few surface stones were knocked off, with no further effect.
Gang Le did not give up, continuing his vigorous chisel work.
As he went deeper, Luo De suddenly saw a translucent light shield appear on the door.
Each strike from Gang Le caused the light shield to materialize, covered with worm-like twisted fine characters, glowing with a strange light.
Luo De stared at the twisted text, suddenly recalling something,
"Bring me those books."
Durant quickly unwrapped the books and presented them to Luo De.
Luo De took a book, comparing it carefully, and found that the text on it was very similar to that on the light shield.
Luo De meticulously searched, even finding symbols in the books nearly identical to those on the shield.
Although he couldn’t read the text, Luo De could understand the images.
"This is likely an energy-protection Extraordinary Spell; brute force won’t work."
Luo De mused to Gang Le: "Forget it, don’t waste your strength."
It seems he’ll need to study the script within these books to decipher their nature.
He sighed softly.
Only after discovering this ruin did Luo De truly realize his ignorance in the Extraordinary domain.
He couldn’t even understand the language of the discovered texts.
Luo De couldn’t help but sigh,
"Looks like I need to properly learn these Extraordinary languages."