Early morning, August 18th, the next day.

After waking up, Lear washed up briefly and immediately summoned the army, while also having the captive half-fishmen, who had been held for a few days, brought before him.

Currently, there are still several important areas near Weilu City yet to be explored — 30 kilometers to the north, a large group of over 500 Level 9 decaying centaurs.

The half-plane where the two-headed ogre chieftain resides.

The valley occupied by the Dark Naga and the ancient ruins discovered by the half-fishmen.

Today, he plans to first investigate the ancient ruins discovered by the half-fishmen.

If time permits, he will also visit the Dark Naga's territory to try and ascertain their exact strength.

The gathering place of decaying centaurs and the half-plane occupied by the two-headed ogre are both far away and on another plane, so they can be left for later conquest.

Step by step.

He brought along three squadrons of wetland lizard-men and also summoned 50,000 mire wasps.

Along with the two-headed ogre chieftain traveling with the team.

The bubble beasts and swamp boggarts that have been following in battle these days are temporarily left in the territory to rest.

Haggs is also staying behind to manage the newly joined wetland lizard-men as a strong hero is needed at home to hold the fort.

Today's main focus is exploration, so there's no need to bring the entire army.

After gathering the troops, they headed directly south.

Their objectives were clear, their movements swift.

Among the 300 wetland lizardman warriors, 200 were newly joined.

It was their first time going to war with the army, and once outside the territory, they seemed unfamiliar and had difficulty coordinating with him.

Seeing this, Lear scattered the 10 squads of veteran warriors to integrate the new ones.

To accelerate the integration.

The wetland lizard-men have keen instincts for battle, and with the help of the old soldiers, they quickly blended together, gradually developing a mutual understanding.

They began to get familiar with Lear's commanding style.

After heading south for about ten kilometers, and still more than an hour away from the ancient ruins, Lear sensed something unusual.

This area had not been explored before, but along the way, they did not encounter any wild monsters.

Even mosquitoes were notably fewer.

Moreover, there were often messy footprints seen in the mud.

But the muck made it difficult to glean any useful information, making it impossible to identify what kind of life form they belonged to.

He became alert and instructed the troops to heighten their vigilance.

A few more minutes onward, and a wetland lizard-man scout solemnly approached with a pale, bloated corpse in tow.

It was the body of a half-fishman, whose face still faintly showed terror, as if it had seen something extremely horrifying.

The skin was bloodless, ghostly white and creepy.

"Sovereign... this is a freshly discovered body, dead for less than a day."

"The area's creatures have been cleaned out by someone!"

Lear furrowed his brows tightly.

This half-fishman corpse had no major wounds, only two conspicuous marks on its neck... as if pierced by an animal's fangs.

While pondering, he opened up his full senses.

Feeling from head to toe, after a moment, his expression shifted slightly.

A faint evil aura lingered at the heart of the being.

Lear suddenly recalled the swamp hippoman he had seen before, worshipping an evil deity.

The evil aura was quite similar to theirs.

Could there be other life forms within the swamp also worshiping an evil deity?

As these thoughts scrolled, he willed the mire wasps in the sky to disperse and explore the surroundings for further abnormalities.

Numbers are power; tens of thousands of mire wasps spread out, and soon the surrounding area of several kilometers had been scanned.

And it indeed yielded discoveries.

Upon receiving the news and reaching that area, Lear immediately witnessed a horrific scene.

On a semi-wet, semi-dry meadow ahead, over 200 half-fishmen knelt on the ground, their heads tilted skyward.

Forming a circle from the outside toward the center.

Faces aligned toward the center of the circle.

The beast's fang marks piercing through their necks were exceedingly clear, with no trace of life left.

All the half-fishmen's death status mirrored one another.

Lear's expression grew grave.

It was evident these half-fishmen had been drained for sacrificial purposes...

The two-headed ogre chieftain stepped forward at this moment, speaking in a deep voice.

"Lord, these half-fishmen are mere shells now, their blood and energy completely drained..."

Lear spoke softly.

"Any discoveries nearby?"

"None, only bodies here.

The two-headed ogre chieftain's tone was also very serious.

He faintly sensed unease.

Associations with an evil deity hardly ever bode well.

Lear drew a deep breath.

It appears the swamp is more complex than he anticipated.

"Let's go, we'll search for the ruins first."

Lacking relevant information, he didn't linger.

No matter the external circumstances, what matters most is oneself.

As long as one's strength is sufficient, any threat can be subdued.

After this encounter, everyone's expressions turned more solemn.

The atmosphere during the march became a little more tense.

The ongoing journey still yielded no wild creatures, as if life in this area had been cleared by unknown evil god devotees.

Not until more than an hour later did news from the front slightly lighten the heavy air.

Ancient ruins, we've arrived!

Lear immediately felt invigorated and led his army forward.

Traversing the stinking swamp ahead, they arrived beneath a towering tree with a canopy over a hundred meters in diameter, entwined with countless vines.

Guided by a Half-Fishman captive, they made their way through the dense vines to the tree trunk.

Only upon approaching did Lear discover that a stone door grew on the trunk of the giant tree!

The stone door was over fifteen meters tall and reached an astonishing width of 10 meters!

Lush moss grew on it, and the runes carved into the stone had long blurred under the passage of time.

The Half-Fishman captive trembled and spoke.

"Respected sir... the Chieftain once said that this Alchemy Gate has lost its magic power, and currently requires brute force to open."

Lear looked at the exaggerated stone door and couldn't help twitching his lips.

Just how much strength would it take to move this?

Yet, feeling a bit unsatisfied, he waved his hand, letting the Wetland Lizard-men give it a try.

The Two-headed Giant Chief, upon hearing this, became instantly excited and charged forward, leading the way.

Standing almost three meters tall, he resembled a small giant, far stronger than ordinary Wetland Lizard-men.

The Wetland Lizard-men behind him lined up in succession.

However, the foothold before the stone door was limited, with dense surroundings of vines that couldn't accommodate too many people.

Under the Two-headed Giant Chief's roar, more than forty Wetland Lizard-men exerted their strength simultaneously, but even with their utmost effort, the stone door remained immovable.

It felt like trying to push a majestic mountain.

The Two-headed Giant Chief, always proud of his own strength, ended up with trembling hands.

He said unwillingly.

"Master, remove the surrounding vines and build a catapult to smash open the stone door!"

"This stone door can't be opened by ordinary human strength!"

The face of the Half-Fishman captive changed dramatically.

"You can't do that..."

They hurriedly explained.

"This mighty sir, the Chieftain previously mentioned that this tree is part of the ruins. If the vines or trunk are destroyed, the ruins might collapse immediately."

"According to the Chieftain's estimate, these ruins have a diameter of at least five kilometers..."

Lear slightly raised an eyebrow.

Five kilometers?

No wonder the other side found the Cyclops so obediently.

The Two-headed Giant Chief, upon hearing this, could only give a frustrated snort and halt his efforts.

Lear contemplated the runes on the stone door, reflecting for a moment, then signaled the Wetland Lizard-men to clear a space and stepped forward.

Upon approaching, the door's massive and weighty presence became even more apparent.

Even if a catapult could be used to smash it, the effect would likely be minimal.

He took a deep breath, pressing his right hand on the stone door, feeling the moss and rock simultaneously.

His Spiritual Power started to diffuse.

A moment later, his expression turned subtle.

He could sense the thickness of these stone doors reached... three meters!!

Three meters thick, fifteen meters high, ten meters wide stone doors... are you sure this isn't a city wall?

Lear started to doubt whether the Cyclops could push them open.

Shaking his head, he released his hand.

But at that moment, a new message discreetly appeared in his intelligence system.

[You've discovered an untouched ancient ruin, earning extra intelligence—1. The doors of the ancient ruins contain unique metals, weighing ten times more than ordinary rocks; only the Cyclops can utilize Bloodline Power to activate the metal and push the doors, and once inside, the ruins' energy will reactivate, causing the doors to close. Only reaching the energy core within the ruins can reopen the doors.]

[2. This ancient ruin is left behind by the Goblin Civilization, containing precious treasures, even 5-star level treasures. However, similarly, the ruins are fiercely guarded by mechanical puppets, with levels reaching 10, numbering over a thousand, the most powerful being a Level 14 Mechanical Puppet King.]

Seeing the refreshed intelligence, Lear was both surprised and then furrowed his brow.

Goodness, this door is even more exaggerated than he imagined, mixed with metal, weighing ten times more than ordinary stones?!

Moreover, once inside, the door would automatically close, only reopening upon reaching the core.

The guardian forces inside were even more ferocious...

But, producing 5-star treasures?!!

He felt like it was bait, drawing him in directly.

Too tempting, a 5-star level treasure... isn't this close to a Divine Artifact?

He took a deep breath and deeply stared at the door.

"Aite, let's retreat for now; this ruin isn't ready for exploration."

The 5-star treasure might be tempting, but one must be able to obtain it.

Not mentioning others, just the thousand Level 10 mechanical puppets standing in the way posed a colossal barrier.

Mechanical puppets are mechanical constructs; lethal poison and agony that affect ordinary life forms don't affect them.

Thus, the Mire Wasp's effects would be nearly null.

As for the remainder, how much must he sacrifice to pierce through with the Wetland Lizard-men he had?

Not to mention the Level 14 Mechanical Puppet King was guarding it too.

At present, the force was not sufficient for exploration...

Once the orders were given, the army didn't hesitate and immediately turned around to retreat.

On the way back, Lear, still uneasy, commanded the army to scatter over a wider area to search for traces of Evil God worshippers.

Eventually, they discovered two places for Evil God worship.

Each site had hundreds of corpses, all with pierced necks, arranged in a circle facing the center.

The worship time was within the last two days.

Though they revealed the worship sites, they couldn't find any trace of the instigators.

As darkness gradually descended, Lear had no choice but to suspend the search and lead the team back.

Today's aim was to explore the ancient ruins, additionally triggering intelligence, thus understanding specific details of the ruins.

It counted as mission accomplished.

However, the bizarre rituals found along the way added additional pressure on him.

He always sensed something hidden in the shadows... an ambivalent danger, drastically heightening his sense of crisis.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.