All the light was absorbed.
The entire area was plunged into pure darkness.
The moment darkness descended, all the flying constructs froze in their places, swaying back and forth, trying to find their targets.
However, this darkness was true darkness; even the orange-red light emanating from the energy veins of these aircraft was absorbed.
They were plunged into absolute darkness.
The aircraft began to circle aimlessly in the sky above.
But Alka and the others could see them clearly.
At this moment, Sofia remained motionless with her fist clenched, tightly grasping the light in her hand to prevent it from escaping.
She completely enveloped the area where everyone was fighting, as well as the sky. Entering this range was somewhat beyond its limits.
Only the occasional sound of shattering could be heard from the sky.
Alka and the others, who could clearly see their surroundings, continued to destroy the machines in the sky.
However, they were all trying their best to remain silent.
Besides relying primarily on vision, making noise would also alert the machines.
This environment was a perfect fit for Lucilia. Having reached the second stage, she constantly darted through the darkness, appearing in various locations.
All they could see was the machines in the sky, constantly crashing and destroying.
The edge of darkness enveloped the portal, and the flying constructs that continued to fly out stopped bewilderedly around it.
There was already a large crowd there.
"Done!"
Simon exclaimed, then extended his right hand, his strangely gifted index finger radiating light.
The flying construct in the sky swayed from side to side, as if struggling.
If it were still able to emit light, you would see its orange-red light flickering.
"Permissions changed, mode released, standby mode."
As the mechanical voice rang out, no one except Lucelia could understand it.
But they saw all the aircraft, following Simon's control, line up in the sky and fly behind him.
"Phew, done, all right."
Hearing this, Sofia loosened his grip, and the surrounding darkness immediately vanished.
Matricha stood up and began to check everyone for injuries.
After being attacked by so many constructed flying objects, no one was unscathed.
Everyone looked somewhat disheveled, covered in mud and burns everywhere.
The heat emitted by the energy balls was so intense that even if they weren't hit directly, the heat from their passing would still burn their skin.
After examining everyone's injuries, Matresa raised her hands. A stream of water gushed out, then formed droplets, landing on the burns.
As the water poured in, a cool sensation emerged.
The burns quickly faded, returning to their original appearance, with only some burned flesh falling away.
Thankfully, these were minor injuries; no one had been hit directly.
After a brief rest, everyone began to repair themselves.
The surroundings were littered with the wreckage of the constructs they had destroyed.
Simon controlled the flying constructs, whose permissions he had modified, flying around in the sky, forming them into various formations.
"Did you see? These constructs are truly impressive! They're only the size of a head, yet their attacks are so powerful, and they can fly. And the energy within them..."
Simon kept talking, his entire body filled with excitement.
"Come on, friend, you're too excited. Calm down. You'll have plenty of time to study later. The main issue right now isn't this. Don't you want to go in and take a look? There might be more inside."
Alka came over and patted his shoulder, calming him down.
Hearing this, Simon nodded repeatedly and took a few deep breaths. "Yes, yes, I'm too excited."
It's mainly because the technology of these constructs is so perfect that he's a little obsessed.
Alka looked at the still-open portal.
"Is it safe in there?" he asked, turning around.
Simon, having calmed down, nodded. "It's safe. It's just an arsenal. These aircraft are sentinels for security."
Hearing this, Alka looked at the group and said, "Then let's go in. Not all of us, leave half of us outside."
Finally, Alka and Simon, along with Jason, Sofia, and Lucilia, entered the portal.
The others stood guard outside.
As they passed through the portal, the golden light within the overlapping space was revealed.
It was simply a simple warehouse, with various metal objects neatly arranged around it.
Some were quite messy, as if they had been looted.
"Is this where those aircraft were launched just now?" Alka glanced at the area near the entrance.
A solid metal plate with what looked like clips on it lay on the ground, and several aircraft were currently parked on it.
There were also scattered metal parts and casings on it.
This space looked significantly larger than the temple they had entered earlier.
After all, one was a research facility, and the other was a storage facility.
"Lucelia, take a look and see if there's any information recorded here."
Lucelia nodded, hopped off his shoulder, and began to examine the surroundings on her own.
"Can you control these, too?" Alka asked Simon.
In addition to the area at the entrance where the flying constructs were stored, there were also numerous other areas where other unknown metal objects were stored.
They looked like constructs, too.
Simon went to the area where the aircraft were stored and picked up each one that was still there, examining it.
He shook his head with some regret: "No, these have long since been damaged by the passage of time."
In other words, the ones that could move had just flown out.
Then Simon looked at the unactivated constructs ahead.
Several people followed behind him.
"This pile of objects should have been weapons, not constructs. What a pity, they're all unusable," Simon said, picking up a spear-like weapon. Jason picked one up and examined it. "It looks fine, doesn't it?"
Alka shook his head. "The exterior is fine, after all, the shell of this thing is incredibly tough. The real problem is the inside."
Alka picked up a spear and began shaking it.
As he shook it, the various parts rattled within the spear.
The interior was already shattered.
"Are these materials still usable?" Sofia asked, considering the number of damaged weapons.
"These materials aren't worth much. Instead of melting them down and removing the impurities, it's better to spend some money on new raw materials."
Alka said, looking at the spear in his hand. He had already learned about some of the metals used in the spear through the effects of the spell.
Simon sighed and said, "If we hadn't come to the Infinite Sea, these materials would have been quite good. But now, they're really not worth much."
They hadn't found nothing in the town. While wandering around, they noticed that many metal products were made of this material.
These metals were part of the trade offered by the caravans. They weren't expensive, and could even be considered affordable.
Not to mention the materials they'd collected while exploring the island; they were far superior to the materials used in the standard weapons they had.
They were all spell materials plucked from living creatures.
So it wasn't worth wasting effort on such scraps. Besides, their rings weren't big enough to hold much.
"These two are usable." Simon finally selected two relatively well-preserved spears from the pile.
He handed one to Alka.
Alka examined it carefully, probing it with his magic and easily determining its structure. "This design is excellent! Simple and practical."
He sighed, then picked up the spear and swung it twice, easily severing the discarded spears below.
The internal structure is designed to increase the spear's sharpness. The main problem is that it doesn't use any spells, and the material cost is very low.
It can also be thrown. The internal structure enhances the spear's penetration when thrown, and increases its speed and distance.
It seems more like a ranged weapon for throwing than for close combat.
"The races that once inhabited this city-state seemed larger than humans today," Simon said, looking at the spear in his hand.
They weren't spears at all, but javelins.
It seems he had the same idea.
Further inside, there were some completely incomprehensible structures, as well as some firearms that looked like stone-shaking guns.
These items had long since become scrap with the passage of time, yielding little in the way of significant gains. If these weapons weren't made of sturdy materials and inscribed with certain incantations, they wouldn't have lasted this long.
The more Simon explored, the more regret grew on his face. He found it hard to accept that so many items had been abandoned.
The main reason was that the ruins had existed for so long.
These constructs and weapons were delicate, and long periods of disuse would cause these problems.
The flying sentinels were still able to function because they were used for security. The entire arsenal had a dedicated energy network and automatic repair program for them.
Even so, few of the aircraft remained intact. Most were tattered, and a small number were completely unusable.
They reached the center of the space.
There was an object encased in a metal shell.
"What's in there?" Jason walked over to take a look.
"Can I open it?" he asked, looking at Alka.
Alka nodded.
What's inside is most likely their target.
As the metal casing was peeled back,
The contents were revealed, and as expected, it had a blue border.
The overall shape of this thing looked very much like a cannon.
The muzzle was the size of a human head, and the cylindrical barrel was two meters long. Including the base that supported the cannon, the total length reached about three meters.
There was a circular mounting under the barrel, and the area behind it fixed it. This thing seemed to be able to rotate 180 degrees, lift it up, and slightly lower it.
It had a wide range of attack angles.
Simon walked over step by step, his hands gently caressing the barrel, his eyes filled with obsession and tenderness, as if he were caressing a loved one.
"My God, look at the material, look at the patterns carved on it." He let his magic flow into it, exploring its internal structure.
"There are so many spells carved inside, arranged so neatly, and using such sophisticated construction techniques.
I have no doubt that if it were to fire, it would cause tremendous devastation."
As he spoke, he even stuck his head through the muzzle to examine the interior more closely.
"Uh... he's gone crazy again," Jason said helplessly.
Alkar shrugged. "Forget it, let him watch for a while. Disturbing him now will drive him crazy. Let's go see Lucelia."
Since they had quietly moved away, Simon was left alone in the middle area.
After all, he was considered a technician on the ship, so he would eventually be the one to study this thing.
They found Lucelia in a corner, deciphering something on a pile of discarded weapons.
Next to her was a metal tablet, densely engraved with indistinct text.
"How's it going, Lucelia? Did you find anything?"
"Not much," Lucelia shook her head.
"This is just a weapons storage area. Aside from the serial numbers engraved on the weapons, the weapons storage regulations next to them, and the weapon names, there's no other information."
In other words, staying here was pointless.
The group returned to the center.
Simon was a little better now, but he still acted incredibly obsessed.
"Wow, what's wrong with him?" Lucelia asked in amazement.
This was the first time she'd seen Simon like this.
"Um...one of his little quirks," Jason said, a little embarrassed.
Then he and Alka walked over and forcibly pulled Simon over.
"Calm down. Let's figure out how to get him out first."
"We can't just carry him aboard like that. The townspeople will definitely see us, and that's not good."
Hearing this, Simon recovered slightly and said, "It's okay. We'll take it apart. It's segmented and can be broken down into three parts. Each of us will take one and put it in our pocket rings."
With that, he walked over and touched the cannon once again.
But this time, he finally restrained himself.
Magic power surged from his hands, and bright lines appeared on the cannon's surface. The barrel then separated, and Simon lifted a section of it.
Jason quickly took it and stuffed it into his pocket ring.
Luckily, they had cleaned their pocket rings before leaving, leaving plenty of space.
Next, he stuffed the rear section of the gun barrel into his pocket ring, and finally the base.
This was the largest section.
Alka glanced at his pocket ring and shook his head helplessly.
He had too much stuff in there, and even after cleaning it, it still couldn't fit.
Finally, Sofia had to put the gun mount into his pocket ring.
After this was done, everyone left the portal.
Standing outside the portal, Lucilia repeated the secret code she had just recited in reverse, and the portal immediately closed.
"The solidity of this space is much better than the last one," Julia said from above the pit.
"Perhaps it's because this is the arsenal."
Sofia spoke of the possibility.
"So, should we continue digging?"
"Why not?"
Arka calculated the time. They had been very efficient today; only nine hours had passed, and it was still at least halfway to night.
Simon gathered the debris from the battlefield, and the others dug down again.
This time, they forced their way through.
The entire ruins were dug up, and Lusilia continued to interpret them, trying to gain some useful information.
The only regret was that there were no valuable white spots around this spot.
They only found some valuable precious metal objects and gems.
Only after the entire ruins were excavated did Lusilia nod and speak.
"The only potentially important piece of information I know is that there's a place in Vastva City-State specifically for receiving important guests, called the Observation Hall. It also serves as Vastva's museum.
There might be more information about Vastva City-State as a whole. After all, it's a place for receiving outsiders, and it's also a museum of the city's history."
Alka felt that this information was very useful. If they could find this place, it would definitely help them better understand the city.
However, he only hoped that the museum contained well-preserved magical items.
Even if there were no magical items, there would have to be at least some common valuables, otherwise it would be difficult to locate them on the map.
Forget it, there were only a few hours left until nightfall.
He said, "Let's call it a day for today. Let's go back and sort out our gains while I figure out what to do next."
Everyone nodded, and then began to cover the ruins.
After completing all this, they began to return the way they had come.
"Have you completely controlled these constructs?" Alka asked, looking at the Sentinel patrol aircraft flying beside Simon.
Sentinel patrol aircraft was the name of the construct, recorded on the metal tablet in the armory.
"They are completely under my control, but only four of them are intact. The others all have significant problems," Simon said with a hint of regret.
Only four of them were still floating around him. All the other defective ones had been stuffed into his pocket rings.
Some were kept in other people's pocket rings for easy transport, as there were quite a few defective ones.
However, these were merely defective, not unusable. He just needed to study them and see if he could repair them.
Chatting casually, they soon returned to the town.
As soon as they entered, a human approached, clearly a member of the merchant ship's crew.
"Hello."