The black sun hangs high

Chapter 444 Machines
"Bang! Bang!"

As it traveled, the makeshift vehicle, pieced together from various materials and discarded parts, constantly emitted a noisy din.

The two giant rats that were pulling the cart worked very hard, especially after they sensed the aura of the running rat hidden in Hugh's body. They dared not slack off for a moment. If Aziv hadn't repeatedly ordered them to slow down and rest on the spot, the two giant rats would probably have continued straight to their destination without stopping.

As Aziv said, there is an incredibly vast space inside this enormous "mountain," and the huge vertical shaft that Hugh saw when he first arrived, as well as the ratman settlement built next to it, actually only occupies a very small part of this space.

After the giant rat led the vehicle away from the rat people's settlement, Hugh was able to see more perplexing and strange structures.

In the vast space inside this "mountain", the first thing Hugh saw was a series of high walls that rose from the ground and stretched into the deep darkness above.

These high walls are clearly arranged according to a specific pattern. Their existence divides the vast space inside this "mountain" into several areas of varying sizes in an orderly manner. After entering the passage between these high walls, one will feel a very serious sense of disorientation.

Fortunately, the ratmen had clearly explored these ruins long ago, leaving behind simple road signs made of stacked and arranged glowing crystals in many places, which allowed the ratman warriors in charge of driving to quickly identify the correct direction.

Aziv curled up in the corner of the seat, "enjoying" the bumps from the vehicle while chatting idly with Hugh: "It's spectacular, isn't it? When I first saw such a scene, I was a little stunned... These relics left by past civilizations and countries are so strange. I can't imagine what kind of people could have the time and ability to build such magnificent buildings."

As they were talking, the vehicle entered an area littered with rubble and debris, which intensified the bumpy ride. Aziv, being quite old, shakily pulled a thick black blanket from under his seat and hastily placed it behind his back.

Hughes noticed that the so-called blanket was covered with the deep shadows unique to the creatures of the Dark Abyss.

Clearly, even this seemingly ordinary blanket is actually a special trophy obtained by the ratmen through hunting specific Dark Abyss creations.

"Have you been here many times before?"

"Yes, yes... I myself don't know how many times I've been here, I've lost count. As for the other hunting teams responsible for exploring this area, they've already covered most of these places long ago."

Aziv said slowly, "At first, we were afraid and terrified of these areas, but now, some young mice come here to play from time to time. Ha... they call this kind of play courage-building and adventure, just like humans, aren't they?"

"really."

Hugh twitched the corner of his mouth. After making contact with the ancient ratmen, Hugh discovered that, aside from their physical structure, social organization, and some unique habits, the ratmen's way of living was not much different from the humans, elves, and other Vaan races he had in mind. This difference became even more pronounced after Aziv had carried out overall transformation and guidance of the ratmen tribe.

"Actually, there are quite a few beasts living in here... They are very similar to the monsters outside, but not exactly the same."

Azifu tugged at the blanket behind his back and explained, “Ordinary creatures of the Dark Abyss, regardless of their power or ferocity, are ultimately aggregates of the cold magic of this world. Once they are defeated and destroyed, they will immediately disintegrate into their most primordial state. But the beasts living in this place are completely different.”

"Although these beasts' bodies have also been influenced and modified by this world, they still retain their own flesh and blood, just like us. That's why we can get some important spoils from them, such as fur, flesh, bones, and internal organs... These are absolutely rare items in the Dark Abyss."

At this point, Azifu sighed: "In the beginning, in order to build our settlement and for some rituals that could not be used inside the Dark Abyss, we hunted down a large number of beasts hidden inside this 'mountain,' almost driving them to extinction. Later, I issued an order requiring them to stop the endless hunting of these beasts and to start trying to tame them."

"Did it succeed?"

"It was a success, I guess. Look, turn the corner up ahead, and you'll see our 'ranch'."

As they spoke, the vehicle arrived at the fork in the road. After following the road signs under the high wall for a while, Hugh saw the "Ratman Ranch" that Aziv had mentioned.

The so-called ranch is actually a huge area consisting of three high walls, or you could call it a huge "room".

In short, in this space, Hugh saw many rat-people "herdsmen" busy at work. Some of them were grinding the magic crystals brought back by the hunting party into finer powder. Then, they crushed a large number of remains collected from the outside world and mixed the two together.

This is the process by which the rat people make "feed".

Soon, Hugh also saw the beasts enjoying this "delicacy".

Their appearance surprised Hugh.

As Aziv explained on the way, these beasts were very different from the native creatures of the Abyss. Hugh could clearly see many familiar animal shadows in them.

However, these beasts, which once bore distinct features of cattle, sheep, or rabbits, have now become exceptionally large. Dark abyss mists flow continuously over their bodies, and their eyes have largely degenerated. Where their eyes once were, Hugh can only see clusters of shadows "embedded" in their heads.

When the rat-man herders delivered truckloads of ground and mixed special "feed" into the pasture, these strange beasts immediately became active, rushing to the feeding area in a truly spectacular sight.

"You didn't bring me here specifically to see the ranch, did you?"

Hugh turned to Aziv and asked, "While this pattern is important and interesting, it seems to deviate somewhat from the destination you mentioned earlier."

"It's just a necessary route. In this 'labyrinth' made of high walls, not all roads are clear... There are many places that are damaged and collapsed, and some roads are blocked by huge debris."

Azifu laughed, "Young people are so easily agitated. But when I first came here, I was just like you, my mind filled with nothing but Vaan. It's a pity I could only dream about it." Then, the ratman warrior driving the carriage fed each of the two giant rats pulling it a crystal, and the vehicle resumed its high-speed journey.

As the vehicle ventured deeper into the site, more details of this ancient ruin were revealed.

After passing through a dilapidated "hall" and entering a new, wide passage, Hughes discovered that in the darkness above him, some new structures appeared that felt both familiar and strange.

Those are tracks fixed to the top of this passage.

Yes, the track.

Hugh immediately recognized the purpose of these structures because their shapes were so typical. In Hugh's true "homeland," that distant world he knew so well, these tracks installed directly inside buildings were often used to transport heavy and troublesome goods or heavy objects. Even in the current Vain workshops and factories, similar tracks have appeared. Although the power sources used by the two are vastly different, their functions are highly similar.

However, the metal tracks that Hughes was seeing now were indeed quite enormous.

They were firmly fixed to the top of this space, their surfaces were smooth, and their sides had neat grooves and engravings, which were basically the same as the kind of tracks that Hugh had envisioned for transporting heavy or expensive materials.

This discovery intensified Hugh's curiosity about the "mountain" and the civilization that created it.

The strange light source "embedded" at the top of this spectacular building, the massive elevator shafts and metal tracks inside that require an enormous amount of manpower, resources, and technology to achieve their complex structure, clearly used to transport large quantities of goods or heavy objects, and the beasts that live inside the building whose ecology clearly violates the usual rules of the Dark Abyss...

All indications suggest that this unusual "mountain," which has remained within the Dark Abyss Wasteland, may have played some unimaginable magical role in the past.

When Hughes questioned Aziv about what he had seen, the once legendary poet, now a wise prophet, fell silent.

After thinking for a long, long time, Azifu finally spoke: "This is why I absolutely had to take you to see the depths. Although, so far, my decision to relocate the tribe here has been correct, I know very little about the habitat we have chosen... Everything I see and touch here is constantly challenging my understanding."

Aziv raised his hand and pushed up his reading glasses: "When I first stepped into the deepest part of this ruin, I could hardly believe my eyes... You know, I have come into contact with many lost magics and rituals, and through them I have glimpsed countless wonders from the distant past, but those sights still cannot compare to what I saw here."

Aziv licked his lips: "Those scenes were truly shocking and despairing to me."

"What do you see?"

"Don't worry... we'll be there soon."

As he spoke, Aziv looked around, then raised his hand and summoned a magic orb for illumination. Due to the magical properties of the orb, its color appeared rather eerie and cold, but with its help, many details of the surrounding environment were revealed.

Then Hugh saw that there seemed to be all sorts of different signs of damage on the high walls on both sides of this wide road.

Huge scratches, damage and gaps caused by explosions or some kind of brute force impact, charring due to severe corrosion or high temperatures...

Such marks were scattered along both sides of the passage, and some huge metal tracks had also fallen from the top and crashed into the passage.

Soon, as the vehicle passed through a bumpy road, Hugh finally saw the wreckage left over from a distant war.

He couldn't help but widen his eyes.

It was a huge shadow standing in the middle of the passage. As the vehicle got closer, the outline and details of the shadow finally became visible in the light created by Aziv.

Then Hugh saw a huge, broken metal machine lying on the ground.

Aziv noticed Hugh's change in mood, so he ordered the driver to stop. Hugh then jumped off his seat and rushed to the wreckage of the machine.

Under the light, the heavy metal chassis revealed its dark and somber color. From the sides and rear of the metal chassis, five thick metal limbs extended out respectively. In this massive mechanical part was a slightly bulky-looking cabin. On its sides and front were some almost indistinguishable metal parts. Judging from their appearance, they should be heavy weapons that had been severely damaged.

On the front of the cabin, Hugh saw an astonishing black hole—at some point in the distant past, this massive war machine, equipped with thick metal armor and a variety of deadly weapons, was struck by some terrible force that not only tore through its armor and destroyed its core, but also caused all the crew members inside the cabin to evaporate and perish on the spot.

"..."

Hugh stood silently in place, staring blankly at the scrapped machine in front of him that seemed to have traversed several different dimensions at the same time. His usually resilient and active mind was momentarily frozen in place.

“It’s been lying there since I first came here. I don’t know what it is, nor do I have the ability or courage to study or judge it.”

Archie, leaning on his metal cane, approached Hugh from behind and said in a low voice, "Young man, after you told me about those unheard-of vehicles and weapons, this was the first thing that came to mind, so I decided to bring you here to see... So, did you find anything useful?"

(End of this chapter)