CH 76

This is a standard school-style building, with a rigorously symmetrical gate, academic-looking design, a badge with elements of historical classics and exploration, and members of the school who have curiosity and a thirst for knowledge written on their faces.

Rode presented his introduction letter and was immediately invited in by the gatekeeper.

The internal structure of the Ashen Excavators School is different from elsewhere. Upon entering, there is a salon-style hall, with each round table covered in books, drawings, and various strange tools. People wearing school uniforms sit in pairs or threes, talking gently or passionately.

They are refined and courteous, sometimes wild and sharp, using affected formal vocabulary that Rode, still a country bumpkin, could not understand.

The gatekeeper shouted, "Professor Bince, Professor Bince, the collaborator from the academy has arrived, you can set off now."

An old man with white hair and wrinkles all over his face stood up at the edge of the hall. Although he was not tall, he was in good spirits, dressed in a neat work outfit, and clearly more than just an academic.

"Nightwing, Molly, let's go."

A tall young man and a red-haired woman stood up and followed the old man.

"Are you a collaborator from the academy?" The old man glanced at Rode.

Rode handed over the introduction letter from the President of the Academy, Theodore. "Yes, Professor Bince."

After reading it, the old man nodded. "Let's set off."

"Wait." The tall young man shouted, "What level of combatant are you? What is your psychic level?"

"Uh, I'm a reserve combatant, and my psychic level is 2."

The tall young man's face turned black as soon as he heard it. He loudly questioned, "Are you just here to show off again?"

The red-haired woman gently pulled him back. "Nightwing, stop it."

"Why can't I say it?" The tall young man pulled up his sleeve aggressively. "Why do they treat us like a garbage dump? We're planning an operation and they don't even bother to plan or spend resources. Why do they have to bring a useless burden like you?"

Rode coughed. "Um, I'm a special student."

This was a tried and true explanation. The special students of Kimberly have a kind of magic in the minds of many people, even surpassing combat level and psychic level. Although Rode didn't understand how it came about and had not yet communicated with other special students, it didn't stop him from using this point.

Sure enough, the tall young man's expression improved a bit, but he still seemed dissatisfied.

"You're too young, exploring history requires patience. What can you do? You better not slow me down. I have a fast pace when it comes to action."

Does intelligent sound, heating, and vibration count?

Rode silently mocked, explaining normally, "My clairvoyance is high, and I have strong pistol skills, fast and accurate, never missing a shot."

The tall young man nodded, with a slightly satisfied expression."What is your tactical style? What position do you usually play? It's just the two of us fighting, so it's better for you to have more functions."

Rode carefully recalled various tactical positions and cautiously chose a few back row positions.

"Backline reconnaissance, backline support, backline firepower support."

"My style is cautious, careful, and never reckless."

Nightwing's joy +1.

Hmm, it looks like you really like this kind of teammate.

"Very good."

Nightwing nodded in satisfaction.

"This is exactly what an excellent Ashes excavator team needs. If we perform well this time, there may be opportunities for future cooperation."

"Let's go."

Professor Bince said briefly, taking the lead out the door.

Nightwing shouted, "The seventh Vulcan operation begins!" and followed him out.

The red-haired girl came to Rode's side and whispered, "Sorry, sorry, the professor is always silent, and Nightwing's personality is always more intense, but they have no malice, please don't take it to heart."

After speaking, she bowed deeply to Rode, her collar falling down, revealing her snow-white neck and slender collarbone.

Hmm...I'll forgive you because of your sincerity.

If she didn't wear that piece of clothing, it would be even more sincere. It is said that the activity of psychic power is higher in an excited state, and the speed of shooting a gun is faster.

Rode looked at the red-haired girl's back and wanted to try his guess.

But then he thought that if it really worked, the teacher wouldn't have mentioned it in class, and it's impossible that no one has ever used it before in a life-threatening situation. They must have some means to use it.

It's probably impossible.

Rode ended this unreliable speculation and thought that if their efficiency was too low, he would just live alone in the sewer after the mission, anyway, he had a whistle given by the dean, and if he couldn't beat them, he could still run away, right?

If only I could make such a powerful item.

Rode thought to himself.

The items on the stone platform are not weak, but the "Soul Ashes" requirements are too demanding, and he currently has no way to obtain a Sunstone.

"The Guardian of Darkness" is a defensive item that can only be used in dreams.

The only useful thing is the "Sealing Bullet", which is also very expensive and its power is unknown.

There are many missing items on the list, and it is obvious that the stone platform cannot only make these few items.

He needs to find more recipes.

The dream is about to go to the "River of Eternal Death", and he doesn't know what the new special item will be.

Rode's thoughts were mixed as he continued to fill or extract bullets from the psychic gun.

Under normal shooting, he only uses true silver bullets, and if the monster is strong, he immediately switches to sealing bullets.

Otherwise, with his super-fast shooting speed, twenty sealing bullets would be gone in an instant.

He is still far from being able to freely use bullets.

Sigh, if only I had money."Damn it, why am I always short on money no matter where I go? Can't someone give me a prince or princess identity?"

Lost in thought, the Ashes Excavation Team set out on their journey.

Along the way, the tall youth Nightwing kept talking, Professor Bince remained silent, and the red-haired girl Molly occasionally chimed in.

The Codeless Car drove towards the inner city area, and there were fewer people on the road today, but there were still many spirit cars coming and going, not only four-wheeled carriages but also large metal cars and gorgeous small cars. Rode even saw a group of people in a corner handling something like a tram.

"You guys also have electric cars?" Rode blurted out.

Nightwing sneered, "It's another strange thing made by the Mechanical Research Institute. They always spend money on things that don't matter. It's better to allocate more budget to us. Excavating the history of the royal city is a hundred times better than the unreliable things they make!"

"Um, doesn't the Mechanical Research Institute have some research on science... and aren't their crystal balls and detection devices not very useful?" Rode asked.

Nightwing sneered, "All the current spirit and soul characteristic detection devices are made from relics brought back from ruins and relics. They don't even understand the principles and can't make them at all."

"And what use are their steam, electric power, thermal power, lever, so far? Did they kill a monster? Make a rare weapon? Or train a high-level combatant? The funniest thing is, they are still so confident. A fool even said that if you give him a stick and a fulcrum, he can pry open the Ash Mountains... Why doesn't he just pry open the earth and release the demons from the abyss?"

Nightwing seemed to have a strong prejudice against the Mechanical Research Institute, and his language was full of sarcasm.

"I tell you, there is nothing more reliable than history in this world. History contains endless knowledge. History won't deceive people. We can witness the rise and fall of the kingdom, the birth and death of civilization, the struggle and effort of humanity. We can summarize countless experiences, excavate the truth of darkness, the secrets of black mist, and find the way to the ultimate light."

He opened his arms and said loudly, "The remnants of history have warmth. They can warm our cold bodies, resist the invasion of black mist, and guide us in the right direction."

"So, I believe that the highest council should allocate an additional 500,000 to us!"

Red-haired girl Molly whispered, "Nightwing, our allocation is already high. Many schools have a larger scale than us, but they don't have as much funding as we do..."

Nightwing snorted, "Isn't that the way it should be? We are so excellent, and we produce so many results every year..."

The Codeless Car suddenly stopped, and Nightwing looked out and saw that the spirit car in front had already crowded together, and he cursed.

"A bunch of fools! The Spirit Traffic Management Bureau is malfunctioning again! They spend so much money every year, and the spirit search function breaks down every other day! When they encounter rush hour, the controller's pig brain burns out, right?""Rode exclaimed, 'Do you also have rush hour?'

Nightwing gave him a glance. 'You sound strange. Are all special students like this? You are kept in the greenhouse of the academy, not knowing anything about the lives of the residents. If you don't work in the factories, workshops, or mines, what do they eat? What do we use? If they don't take the spirit car, do they walk? What if they encounter danger on the road, not just on Tuesdays?'

'Isn't there a floating spirit car?'

Nightwing sneered, 'You are a typical academy student. A floating spirit car costs ten silver coins per person. Who can afford it except for the ordinary residents who have to take the green-skinned car with ten tickets for one silver coin, which is their only choice?'

Soon, the spirit car started moving again, and a lengthened one rushed to the front.

Nightwing cursed, 'Are you in a hurry to be reincarnated?'

'Please don't say that. It's not auspicious.'

During the last part of the journey, Nightwing kept denouncing the various unreasonable phenomena in the royal city, presenting a furious image of a young man.

Professor Bince didn't say a word, and sometimes Molly whispered to comfort him, but it only aroused Nightwing's anger.

He directly aimed at the seven major families in the royal city who claimed to be the 'chosen people of fire,' accusing them of being corrupt parasites and the cancer of the kingdom. The king was too kind and should arrest them all and send their property to the Ash Diggers School as a budget.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

Rode listened silently. Nightwing was indeed a knowledgeable youth who knew a lot.

From his words, Rode roughly understood the system of Thalorian, which was a monarchy system with the highest council as the core.

The king was elected by the upper elders and was the leader. His status only extended to his spouse and did not involve his children.

In other words, there were no princes or princesses.

The candidates for the king had a similar status.

The main responsibility of the only legal church in Thalorian, the Holy Church, was to appease the people, treat the sick and wounded, and publicly pray and sacrifice, without involving politics. The pope of the church was also the king, and the church's armed forces were also under the jurisdiction of the military.

In other words, the royal power completely overwhelmed the divine power.

This was a rare phenomenon.

In such an environment, with a clear object of worship, religion should have complete control. However, Thalorian had a clearly more open and tolerant advanced idea, except for the clear ban on fire-related things, there were no other restrictions on religious behavior, and even residents were not allowed to engage in worship, prayer, preaching, and other religious activities.

However, due to its long history, there were still some door-clan families in the royal city, the upper nobles called the 'chosen people of fire,' who occupied more resources. Although the new king had been weakening and restricting them, Nightwing still thought the king was too kind-hearted.Amidst the incessant complaints, Moli whispered to Rode's ear, "Don't mind it. Nightwing just thinks we can do better. Twenty years ago, the settlement farthest from the royal city was only three hundred miles away. The outer city was filled with ghostly realms shrouded in black mist, and even the combatants couldn't get enough food. Clean water was the most precious resource, and no one had ever thought of getting hot water by turning a handle. The king has done well enough, and he is the person I admire the most."

Rode nodded, "I know. If there was no hope, he probably wouldn't be complaining here."

Moli covered her mouth and chuckled, "Nightwing always thinks that if he were the king, he would have led everyone to defeat the terrifying existence in the black mist and shine the light of fire across the Ghost Lake."

The two laughed together.

And so, amidst the heated discussions and whispers, the horseless carriage came to a stop.

After getting off, Rode found that they had arrived at the foot of a massive mountain range. Towering grey rocks rose from the ground, reaching into the bottomless black mist, like a giant wall connecting the heavens and the earth.

Rode exclaimed in surprise, "Where is this?"

Nightwing said discontentedly, "Were you sleeping in class every day? This is the Ashen Mountain Range, and the royal city was built against it. The upper city is on the mountainside, and the plains below its north and east sides are the Red Earth Plains, our main territory."

"Weren't we going to the sewers?"

Nightwing disdainfully said, "The sewers in the outer city have mostly been transformed, expanded, or newly excavated. We are going to the oldest, original sewers built by the giants."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Of course, it's dangerous! Many unknown places have never been visited by anyone! Who knows what's there! I'm telling you, after we go in, you must follow my arrangements. Do as I say, and my experience is very rich..."

As Nightwing chattered on, he moved a large well cover, set up bright yellow signs around it, and installed an emergency signal.

Then, the four of them climbed down the long iron ladder and entered the royal city's sewers.

Afterward, Nightwing's words were noticeably fewer, and the control of the team was taken over by Professor Bince, who led the way.

"This way."

"Go from here."

Along the way, Rode finally understood why they respected Professor Bince so much, even though he was just an ordinary person.

Indeed, knowledge is power.