Using the MC system to pretend spiritual revival

Chapter 97 Entering the Dark Fortress
Suddenly, the view in front of me opened up.

The pressure of being in a confined space for so long was suddenly released, and everyone felt a sense of relief as they looked at the blood-red world outside.

It can only be said that the quality of an environment depends on comparison.

Then turn around and look behind you.

On the steep, knife-cut rock face, a perfectly round shape came into view.

Even after walking around the cave, traces of repairs can still be seen, which now confirms that it was man-made.

Dr. Payton, who followed closely behind, and another eyewear researcher slowly approached Professor Watson, who was still standing there.

The soldiers from the two special forces teams spread out around the perimeter, holding rifles and standing guard.

However, the ground beneath their feet was wide open, and they did not see any living creatures.

If you ignore the bizarre art style, it does resemble the cliffside beach landscape of the North American coastal region.

Looking into the distance, you can see a vast lava lake, radiating a dazzling, fiery red light.

Facing everyone was a towering, dark building, which Watson had been looking up at ever since he emerged from the tunnel.

You can see some holes on its surface, indicating that it has been abandoned for a long time.

The building appears to be constructed from neatly stacked, unidentified black rock bricks, somewhat resembling a medieval castle.

However, it lacks the classic tower top, but at the top you can still see some arrow-shaped features.

On the walls of this square building, there are some narrow windows, which are also blocked by the same stone blocks.

Combined with the bastions, this building resembles a fortress more than a castle.

But if this building is a fortress…

The three of them walked slowly, following the soldiers' exploration, until they arrived directly beneath the building, looking up at its towering height that seemed to reach into the clouds.

It looks to be more than ten stories high. It's hard to imagine what kind of enemy such a tall fortress was intended to defend against.

The entire dark fortress stood on the edge of the "beach" where everyone was standing.

Even climbing a few high steps, one can enter the fortress through a dark portal, just as it was originally designed.

At that moment, the bespectacled researcher among the three, having just shifted his gaze from the awe-inspiring building in front of him, began to look around with curiosity.

However, he was startled and took a step back.

Before they knew it, the three of them had arrived in front of the dark fortress, and also at the edge of this sandy area below the cliff.

You can see the viscous, orange-red lava rolling around from almost two meters away.

The lava was almost level with the ground beneath our feet, only slightly lower.

This made the bespectacled researcher tremble with fear.

He lived in rural North America as a child and became an orphan after a fire.

Even decades later, through his own efforts, he has become one of the top talents in the field of scientific research.

But the fear of fire and high temperatures in his heart continued to haunt him like a leech.

Sometimes, when staring at flames, he would even hallucinate seeing his parents being engulfed by the flames.

Moreover, his own reasons are ignored.

As far as he knew, magma was an extremely unstable fluid that could spread rapidly at any time due to the expansion and explosion of rock vapor.

This slight drop in elevation is no different from walking on a tightrope; you're constantly at risk of being killed by a lava eruption.

The eyeglasses researcher wanted to remind his two colleagues and the soldiers around them.

But seeing the two of them seriously studying and thinking, he opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

Among the three, his qualifications and performance were the worst, and since the others hadn't said anything, he was afraid that offering his opinion would only make him a laughing stock.

Having figured this out, he shut his mouth, silently following the two, focusing on his research without making a sound.

However, what he didn't know was that although Watson was highly accomplished in biology and physics, most of his attention was currently drawn to the black fortress in front of him.

Secondly, since entering this strange place, Watson had hypnotized himself, abandoning conventional scientific knowledge and avoiding subjective influence on his judgment of these strange things.

As for Payton, he didn't have these concerns; he simply didn't care.

While the group was discussing amongst themselves, the soldiers who had gone to scout the surrounding area returned and regrouped. "Report to the captain: No living creatures or suspected dangerous targets have been found."

Hearing his subordinate's report, the bearded captain didn't seem surprised. He simply nodded and waved for him to return to his unit.

Seeing the three people over there stop talking after hearing the noise, the bearded man turned around and walked over.

"What do we do next, Professor? There are no other paths around us, only the rock wall behind us and the cave we came from, and the rest is an endless lava lake."

Upon hearing the report about the surrounding environment, Watson frowned and pondered for a while.

There are no other roads around here except for the fortress behind us, for whatever reason.

It's not right to turn back without encountering any danger; it would be difficult to explain later.

Having figured this out, he spoke again and made the arrangements.

"The next plan is to explore this ruined fortress. However, judging from its appearance, the interior space of this fortress should not be very large."

"If everyone rushes in at once, it will only have the opposite effect. I suggest splitting into several teams to allow for ample space for reaction."

Upon receiving the professor's advice, the bearded man nodded, agreeing with his assessment.

With his extensive experience in urban warfare, he understood that in a small building, more people were not necessarily better.

He immediately nodded in agreement and began directing the people behind him to divide into several small teams.

"The entire team consists of 24 people, divided into groups of six. Enter one after another, keeping your communication devices on at all times. If you encounter anything unusual, inform the rest of the team first. In case of emergency, you are allowed to fire freely. Understand?!"

"Yes! Captain!"

As this concise and clear order was issued, the soldiers, who already had rich combat experience, responded in unison.

Next, three six-person teams entered the fortress through the dark main gate one after another.

Watson, Payton, and other researchers followed the team led by the bearded captain and entered last.

At this moment, the three of them were walking in the middle of the group and could hear the walkie-talkies on the shoulders of the soldiers next to them making a continuous crackling sound.

Watson knew this was a sign that the walkie-talkie was always on.

While a confined combat environment can highlight individual soldier capabilities, it also makes soldiers vulnerable to surprise attacks and difficulties due to unfamiliarity with the terrain.

Therefore, the soldiers were on high alert, and the lights on their heads and hands swept over every dark corner again and again.

The three members of the expedition team also looked around, but their task was different from that of soldiers, which involved reconnaissance and preventing danger.

Their main task was to observe the internal structure of the fortress to see if they could deduce who had used it before, or some information about the attackers.

As you go deeper, you'll be greeted by a spiral staircase leading upwards, as if you have to climb to a certain height to reach the main space.

As they continued upwards, the three of them became increasingly puzzled by the various things they encountered along the way.

The handrails and steps on the stairs are made of the same material as the fortress, consisting of slender stone bricks that appear to be half a meter long.

It feels very solid when you step on it, and it seems to be a natural stone with an extremely high hardness.

The handrails on the stairs are fine, their height and design don't matter, but the height of each step on the stairs going up is quite strange.

Each step spans at least half a meter, and even the carefully selected soldiers, all tall and strong, could barely manage to walk on it.

However, the three ordinary people on the expedition team found it difficult to adapt to the terrain.

Professor Watson felt that, based on the span of each step of this staircase, if the creatures using it normally walked on two legs like humans.

Based on this, we can infer the length of the legs and extend this to the overall height. Calculations show that a person needs to be at least two meters tall to barely fit into such a staircase.

"Could a group of little giants have once lived here? Heh~"

Watson muttered those words involuntarily, and he felt like he was making himself laugh.

Immediately, he put those thoughts aside and began to observe his surroundings carefully with a scientific mindset, occasionally flipping through his notebook to write or draw or jot down a few words.

The two people behind him did similar things, glancing up every now and then and then looking down to take notes.

This can be seen as a return to the style of archaeologists from the early days.

The surrounding soldiers were mostly unsurprised by their actions.

Before they set off, the general had already told them not to worry about the researchers' outrageous behavior and to just do their job of providing security.

(End of this chapter)