Chapter 120: The Earth Melts, Becomes a Hot Spring.
It has been two months since the arrival of the Investigation Team. The rain clouds brought by Steel Dragon Storm have dispersed, and the sunlight once again hangs over the coast.
The felled timber from the Slaying Dragon has been cut into suitable shapes and transported up the mountain using makeshift hoists.
With the panting breaths of the investigators, rough nails are hammered onto the crudely made wooden planks.
The Starship’s hull, damaged by the storm, is being repaired. Though not as aesthetically pleasing due to non-original materials, at least there’s no longer a worry about leaks in the dormitories.
Aside from the Starship, scaffolds are being built on the mountain, with wooden planks laid along them, enhancing the convenience of going up and down the mountain with strength and reliability.
“Manpower remains the biggest issue.”
The Commander sighs; the current construction scale is severely affected by the number of people available, making large-scale construction impossible.
“The vitality here is already great. Don’t be too hasty. Many things still require subsequent Guild support to arrive.”
“When will they arrive?”
“I guess it’ll be during the next Ancient Dragon Crossing.”
“Ten years.”
The Commander furrows his brow.
“Yes, ten years—the cycle of the Ancient Dragon Crossing has shortened to that ten-year span.”
Assigning top talents from various fields to the Ancient Dragon Investigation Team was itself a big gamble for the Guild. However, for industry elites who have climbed to the peak, the opportunity to explore new unknowns and leave their mark in history is equally precious.
The Ancient Dragon Investigation Team far away in the New Continent needs the Guild on the Original Continent to know their status, assess risks, prepare accordingly, and take time to select excellent personnel.
They also need to wait for an Ancient Dragon Crossing to reconfirm the sea chart, clench their fists, and slap courage onto determination.
The Team Leader understands these matters. He himself is someone trusted and expected by the Guild, familiar with the Guild, and believing in it.
“Am I thinking too far ahead?”
The Commander relaxes his brows. He also thought of what the Team Leader had considered, his gaze quietly gazing at the distant forest.
“BANG!”
A bright light rises from the forest, exploding into the color of the highest level of urgency.
“What!”
Both the Team Leader and the Commander were stunned, their bodies instinctively breaking free from their idle relaxation state, tensing up involuntarily.
Highest level of urgency… means the sighting of an Ancient Dragon.
“Gather all available investigators. I’m heading out first.”
Without saying anything else, the Team Leader directly jumps off the ship, sliding down the rope at high speed, running and jumping down the mountain, rushing towards the forest in the direction of the signal flare.
“Sigh, I’d like to go out too…”
Seeing the person he should assist run off, the Commander sighs helplessly and immediately sounds the alarm bell on the ship.
Most investigators have seen the signal flare rising in the distance, and the urgent assembly message is continuously being passed around.
It only took ten minutes for the investigators, whether on the mountain or below, to gather on the ship, waiting for arrangements after understanding the situation.
At the same time, they are also waiting for the second signal flare—
The signal flare belonging to the Team Leader, the one that signals their mobilization.
“Meow?”
Only the head chef looks around, realizing that the Smoky Snow Weasel that should be in his arms has gone somewhere.
—About ten minutes ago—
A team of investigators was carrying out the task of expanding the map horizontally.
Large blank areas on the map have been filled in, marked with signs of monster appearances, or locations where minerals and plants flourish.
The two new monsters discovered by the Team Leader still haven’t been named. Formal naming must be done after confirming the skeleton post-hunting, but the investigation team hasn’t had such thoughts yet.
As they step foot on the land of the New Continent bit by bit, the blanks on the map are gradually filled, and the group’s morale is high.
As top-notch investigators, this kind of exploratory mission poses little difficulty for them.
Unless they encounter some particularly powerful monsters.
“Did you feel it?”
“Yeah, the ground is trembling.”
After confirming that the tremors on the ground aren’t just imagination, they begin looking around, finding cover to hide behind.
But after waiting for a while, they didn’t see any Large Monsters passing by nearby, instead, the ground shaking became more intense.
“Is it just an earthquake? No, do you feel… isn’t it getting hotter?”
“Could it be a volcanic eruption, magma about to spew out directly from the surface?”
“Impossible! Look there—”
Under the guidance of the exploration squad captain, the members saw a patch of ground that was boiling.
That’s right, boiling.
It’s as if some terrifying presence is using high temperatures to turn the earth into a hot spring, melting it from solid to liquid.
Roots cannot anchor themselves in the scorching hot spring, trees are falling one by one, tipping into the hot spring, like ingredients added to the soup.
The ground boils to the point of bubbling, golden objects floating up from it.
The investigators widen their eyes, astonishedly staring at the scales and claws that emerge from the ground turned into a hot spring-like state.
Until the fully radiant Dì Mǔ Shén places her claw on the ground, pulling out her wide and heavy skirt from the cooling lava field.
“Be careful!”
An investigator pulls down two companions, and the next moment, the golden skirt carries a burning wind sweeping past, narrowly grazing their heads.
The golden molten liquid cools as it drips, turning into dazzling gold stones sprinkled everywhere.
When the investigators raise their heads, the ground hot spring has cooled enough, and that massive golden figure turns her back to them and walks forward.
Trees are visibly withering, and they find their own skin hot and dry, the sweat that previously dripped having been evaporated by the burning wind.
The tail sweep that could have potentially dealt a fatal blow to them earlier was merely her turning around.
“That’s—”
Wherever that figure passes, trees wither and fall, the scorching burning wind seems to distort reality, bringing calamity while occasionally showering golden blessings.
“It’s an Ancient Dragon… melting the earth, even altering the surrounding environment, it’s definitely an Ancient Dragon.”
The captain of the exploration team mutters, pulling out a glaring signal flare from his waist pouch and firing it into the air with a small launcher.
What is an Ancient Dragon? Anything incomprehensible is categorized under Ancient Dragons.
And that golden giant monster walking out of the earth turned into a hot spring-like state, these are powers they can neither imagine nor understand.
“Gold.”
Another investigator picks up the blessing dropped by Dì Mǔ Shén, this piece of golden wealth still radiates residual heat.
“The unknown Ancient Dragon covered in gold, let’s follow her!”
The captain just gestures for him to put the gold away and speaks.
Gold is just gold. As top talents, regardless of whether they lack money, the courage to abandon social honor and venture to the New Continent surpasses all worldly goods.
The trio begins chasing that golden skirt.
Most Large Monsters are not synonymous with clumsiness; they possess immense strength to move their bodies, taking steps spanning dozens of meters. Even simple movement is enough to make the exploration team look up to them.
Moreover, the fallen trees become obstacles to their movements.
Further and further away, until she disappears behind the barrier of trees, they couldn’t even see her true form.
“All the way, she’ll leave gold behind, easy to track. Let’s wait for reinforcements first.”
The captain wipes away sweat and flakes of dead skin, sitting on a fallen tree.
“Such a big thing, could we lose it?”
Chapter 121
