In the evening, a few dragonflies flew low across the sky, some landing on the tips of the grass, others resting on the straw of the carriage. The red and emerald dragonflies bent their bodies, rested for a while, then took off again, disappearing into the dim foliage.

The carriage came to a halt, and in this quietness, Hexia finally slowly opened her eyes from sleep.

"Have we arrived?" Her voice was slightly languid, with a hint of girlish charm.

Because on this planet, unlike within the Federation, where she often had to deal with various official media and personnel, she behaved more like what a girl should be—relaxed and natural.

"We've arrived, Miss Hexia." Seeing her awake and sitting on the haystack rubbing her eyes, a few people accompanying the carriage responded with a smile.

The two carriages stopped, and then they unhitched the horses to let them eat while the people on-site started setting up tents.

"The ruins are in the valley ahead, where there's a gap covered by thick underbrush. Digging down along the crevices, you can enter the crack and find traces of artificial work inside." Flan said, flipping through a notebook.

"The last time I came was late summer. I went in for hundreds of meters, but the way down was blocked, requiring manual excavation to clear the covered parts."

"In the middle, I saw some traces of artificial excavation; someone must have been here before. Thinking it might have been dug by others, I abandoned continuing the dig."

"How did you confirm this is a ruin then?" Sura asked, curious.

"Because I brought a metal detector, which is pretty good for that. There were plenty of metal signals below, and according to the band signals, they should be alloys refined by humans, not natural metal ores." Flan explained.

"But this metal detector has a downside; when in operation, it easily attracts nearby War Machines. That's how I got stranded on the barren hillside."

"Let's rest well today, and tomorrow we'll go down to check it out." Guy suggested.

So everyone decided and spent the night on the high ground above the valley.

The next day, Hexia sat in the tent, looking at the two pairs of shoes in front of her, hesitating about which to wear. The little leather shoes on the left were custom-made by craftsmen within the Mountain Castle and matched her dress well. The right pair was laced boots with a hard heel suitable for harsh environments, though not as light and flexible as the left pair of leather shoes.

Better wear the boots; this time, going down, who knows what situation we will face.

The girl put on the boots, tightened the leather laces, inserted a light dagger, adjusted a bit, then tidied up her hunting attire and stepped out of the tent.

After the five of them finished breakfast, they descended along the mountain wall, gradually reaching the bottom of the valley. Flan then followed his memory to the base of the cliff obscured by vegetation and used a shovel to enlarge the opening so everyone could see clearly.

"Going in from here, these are the ruins. There should be several collapsed blocked areas in the middle, which we need to dig out manually to enter."

Tilan listened and placed her hand on the stone wall, perceiving down along the mountain wall. The environment below ground vividly unfolded in her mind. Within seconds, she began to grasp information far clearer than Flan's underground intelligence and started searching for key useful rooms in this vast Underground Palace.

She saw it—the room still emanating a dim green light appeared in her mind.

Originally without much hope, she now felt a slight anticipation, but for the moment, she had to guide everyone in that direction.

"I think, if we head down that way, we should be able to find a path..."