CHAPTER 302: CHAPTER 206: MAJOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH DISCOVERY

"Captain, this is where I found the superweapon’s ruins."

Tom cheerfully pointed to the concealed entrance leading to the sewers while tightly clutching the large-caliber firearm that just helped him gain merit, as if afraid it would be taken away.

Just now, the Helentz Castle tunnel defenders once again repelled an attack by the Oden Kingdom’s daredevil squad, relying on the intricate sewers and tunnels.

Among them, two formidable high-tier berserkers were killed in action.

One unlucky guy stepped on a trap and was hacked to death.

Another stronger one was attacked from both sides by Joseph and Tom, then was hit by a large-caliber firearm excavated from the ancient ruins, dying rather unjustly.

After carefully examining Tom’s unexpected find, Captain Jacobs decided to explore the ruins once more.

Defending Helentz Castle with capability alone was almost impossible, unless a miracle occurred.

A miracle was certainly not some so-called bond of friendship or extreme anger.

When a person is extremely angry, they often realize that they were just angry for a moment, and still can’t do anything.

Only strong support could change the tide of battle.

Jacobs dared not speculate how much support might still come from the rear.

He received an order to break out, which normally meant no large-scale reinforcements would come.

He didn’t report the bad news to the entire army, fearing a collapse in morale.

Breakthrough? He would like to, but it’s not feasible.

Helentz Castle was now divided into two worlds.

The surface belonged to the Oden Kingdom, the underground to the Helentz Castle defenders.

As an urban construction model of the Alamanni Border Region during the Magic Empire era, Helentz Castle had at least a 2,500-year history since its founding.

Such a long time without flooding from heavy rains demonstrated the sewer system’s construction level.

Relying on the sewers and tunnels, with a strong will to survive, the Helentz Castle defenders stubbornly held on.

The vast majority of soldiers believed that the Governor or even the great Empress would come to save them.

This belief was also their courage to hold out.

Jacobs, however, was different; he believed the Empress would not abandon them, but he didn’t trust the Governor or that cold-blooded witch.

Rather than unknown reinforcements, he preferred to believe that there were weapons wrapped in oilcloth paper in the underground cave.

In any case, he needed to look around first.

The situation in the underground cave was unclear; to prevent a violent explosion, he dared not light a flame and had to feel his way forward.

Jacobs gave command to Joseph, and he took Tom and a few soldiers to explore downward.

The underground cave was winding and twisting, pitch black, but fortunately, the Helentz Castle city hall had a few leftover magic lamps.

The light from the magic lamps, with magic crystal stones almost exhausted, was dim, barely illuminating one or two meters ahead.

Despite being very careful, two soldiers accidentally sprained their ankles.

Jacobs decided to have the other soldiers carry them back.

A large search party might not even be useful.

Guided by Tom, Jacobs crawled over a hundred meters, finally reaching a slightly spacious platform.

He was somewhat curious about what this place was, possessing such a level platform.

While he was wondering, a "click" sound echoed, followed by a cold mechanical voice.

Uh-oh, could it be that a guardian was triggered?

Jacobs shouted in a low voice, "Tom, fall back!"

He raised his shield, hoping to resist somewhat, but he knew very well that if this place was from a civilization that manufactured large-caliber firearms, a mere shield wouldn’t stand a chance.

As despair gripped him, a blinding light turned on.

"Identity check, unknown target, initiating attack!"

Jacobs felt his soul freeze.

Although he couldn’t understand which language the mechanical guardian spoke, he knew he was doomed.

His life flashed before his eyes. From the hopeful beginnings of becoming a member of the Knight Order, through the vast gap between reality and ideal causing his downfall, to the changes after the Empress ascended to the throne reigniting his hope.

Just as change was about to occur in his life, he was about to die here—it was indeed the unpredictability of life.

Even though he knew there was no hope, Jacobs still raised his shield to defend.

If he were to die, he would die like a knight.

A true warrior dares to maintain a fighting stance in the face of an insurmountable enemy.

Even if it meant nothing.

The sound of a trigger being pulled echoed, yet the anticipated gunfire did not follow.

The trigger was pulled again, yet still no roar of gunfire.

As his eyes gradually adjusted, the blinding light also began to dim. Jacobs, still shaken, finally used the faint light to see the guardian before him.

It was a track-based mechanical guardian over three meters tall.

The guardian held in its hands two incredibly large-caliber weapons aimed at Jacobs, yet unable to fire any ammunition.

Evidently, over time, the ammunition in the weapons had failed.

Before Jacobs could ask, Tom hastily answered.

"The large-caliber rifle I got also had its ammunition failed, but I found a box of special bullets in an oilcloth paper."

Jacobs said nothing, he just nodded.

His heart pounded wildly.

Moments ago, he was only one step away from the Netherworld. Even if the mechanical guardian had one usable bullet in its gun, he’d be dead.

Fortunately, the Goddess of Fate was on his side.

Although the mechanical guardian looked frightening, it was clearly out of power and unable to operate.

Jacobs courageously walked forward.

Looking up at the towering mechanical guardian, Jacobs secretly marveled at the advancement of prehistoric civilizations.

No wonder the Magic Empire referred to the new era’s people as the Barbarian Race; civilization had indeed regressed significantly.

The Magic Empire was not known for its mechanical civilization, yet it still created glorious mechanical achievements.

By contrast with today’s few powerful countries...

Jacobs took a deep breath to dispel the negative emotions, then climbed onto the mechanical guardian’s body to remove the headlamp from its helmet.

The headlamp wasn’t bright, but it was better than the soon-to-be-exhausted magic lamps.

Treading shallowly through the darkness with Tom, neither spoke.

This place was dangerous, but they had to venture forward.

They needed to find out what was hidden in the sewers.

After proceeding several dozen meters further, they arrived at a storage room’s entrance.

Gazing at the rusty giant iron door and the heavy granite walls embedded in rock, Jacobs and Tom exchanged a glance, both slightly disheartened.

The feeling of hope being replaced by disappointment was truly difficult to bear.

If they had never seen the light, they wouldn’t resent the dark so much.

Seeing Tom’s dejected expression, Jacobs smiled and said, "Let’s look around, as you could find one super rifle, we might find a second or third."

They spread out to search.

After an unknown amount of time, Tom’s joyful voice echoed from a corner.

"I found it! I found it!"

Jacobs rushed over quickly, not minding as he tripped over a protruding stone slab.

A large oilcloth-wrapped package, sealing several large-caliber rifles.

The design looked exactly like the one Tom found.

Clearly, this was standard equipment of the previous civilization.

The locked super warehouse was very likely an armory.

At this thought, more than half of Tom’s joy was diminished.

"Captain, it’s a pity, if we could open this armory, we could definitely win this battle!"

"Young man, don’t be down. We’ve already found several superweapons. Alone we can’t defeat the enemy, but holding the tunnels is no problem."

Jacobs patted Tom on the shoulder, his voice subtly filled with excitement.

"Now we have a reason to hold on. As long as we hold out long enough, Lord Governor’s reinforcements will eventually arrive. The credit for discovering these ruins..."

He didn’t finish, but Tom understood.

He seemed to see the possibility of more Silver Stars adorning his rank insignia.

The captain was right; they had to hold on and they certainly could.