CHAPTER 480: CHAPTER 243: MUSEUM EXPLORATION_2

Moreover, the main excavation area was still within the 100 meters nearest the ruins. Other places were only dug superficially to relieve some pressure and prevent a collapse.

Judging by Chadite’s survey, the sheer size of this area was astounding.

If we really have to dig all this, how long will it take? Jason already had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, Chadite began placing markers to divide the entire area. Although most markers were placed within a 400 to 500-meter radius, the area was still vast, especially since they had to dig downwards. As the markers were laid out, everyone’s expressions grew increasingly grim. They realized such a massive undertaking clearly couldn’t be completed in just a day or two.

How exhausting is this going to be? An unpleasant future seemed to loom before them.

After she finally finished placing all the markers, Chadite wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to look at everyone. Seeing their expressions, she couldn’t help but smile. "Haha, no need to look so glum; it’s not as serious as you think."

"The area below is relatively well-preserved. We don’t actually need to dig very deep. The deepest part only needs to be excavated to 10 meters. For the other sections, we just need to do a little digging to ensure the structure below doesn’t collapse. Besides, I’ve found an opening leading to the well-preserved area. We just need to clear that."

The main goals are to reduce some of the weight overhead and refortify certain locations. This will make our descent safer and also help preserve the entire ruin. After all, further excavation could potentially cause a larger cave-in, destroying more of the ruin, which would be a pointless loss. This was, after all, the best-preserved ruin they had encountered in days; it would surely yield significant findings.

After hearing Chadite’s explanation, everyone’s expressions finally eased, and they couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

If we had to dig an area this large like we did before, it would take at least four or five days.

"Alright, now that we’ve got that sorted, let’s start digging."

Everyone began to dig. Soon after, Simon deployed his four intact Sentry Patrol Planes, having them spiral on patrol in the surrounding area to prevent any unwary beasts from disturbing them.

Due to the large excavation area, disposing of the displaced earth became a problem.

"Pull, oxen, pull!" several Puppet Girls called out. They were riding two magic-beast oxen, using the two oxcarts Simon had just made to haul the earth to a more distant spot. They too were helping the group in their own way.

"Jason, move away! Why did you bring your egg out again?" Pororo exclaimed, feeling a stinging sensation on her skin as she spoke to Jason beside her.

Hearing this, Jason just shrugged helplessly. "I can’t help it. It insisted on staying by my side today." As he spoke, he reached under his hood and gently patted the egg nestled there.

Even though they had come to the Endless Sea, and the egg no longer clung to Jason as tightly as before, it still had to be close to him for at least two-thirds of the day. The excavations of the past few days had reduced their contact time, and now it seemed unwilling to be too far from him.

With everyone digging together, it took about ten hours, but they finally broke through at the deepest point. They also reinforced the other areas.

"Down this way is the area that was buried but not completely destroyed," Chadite said, then jumped straight down.

Alka looked up and said, "Lucilia and Julia, you go down with her."

With that, the three of them jumped down as well, while the others remained outside on guard. Clearly, not everyone could go in under these circumstances.

As soon as they landed, they saw Chadite conjure one glowing orb after another to illuminate the area. They appeared to be in a passage. However, collapsed earth and rubble filled it on both sides, making the way somewhat narrow.

"This way. Beyond this passage should be the main entrance," Chadite said, pointing ahead.

Indeed, further on, they could see structures resembling a large doorway, but these were twisted and deformed, long since embedded in the surrounding earth.

Illuminated by the glowing orbs, the group ventured further in. The deeper they went, the less collapsed debris they encountered, and the interior became more intact.

Soon, they saw two complete statues. Standing before them, everyone looked up.

The statues were humanoid, standing about 2.4 meters tall. Their builds were slender but didn’t appear frail. Although the carvings had cracked somewhat with the passage of time, their former intricate detail was still apparent. The carving was exceptionally detailed, capturing skin texture and even facial expressions with complete precision. It was as if they had been sculpted from live models.

The pair of statues depicted a male and a female. Though humanoid, they possessed two pairs of ears: one larger pair with sharply pointed tips, and a smaller, similarly pointed pair. Their smiles revealed extremely sharp teeth, arranged like neat rows of shark teeth. However, like humans, they only had an upper and a lower row. The proportions of their arms were longer than a normal human’s. They had five fingers on each hand, and these too were slender and elongated.