Chapter 207 Earth Relics
At the agreed time, Shen Cheng drove to the university gate and waited.

Soon, Si Han and Han Zhiqing appeared in his sight.

Shen Cheng originally thought that Han Zhiqing was there to see him off, but after they both got in the car, he realized that Han Zhiqing was also going to go along.

"Is she going too?"

Shen Cheng turned around and looked at Si Han. You said it was so dangerous before, but you still want to bring a girl with you?
Si Han had a look of helplessness and doting on his face: "This girl is my assistant. There are some things I can't handle alone, so I have to take her with me."

"Sorry to bother you, Mr. Shen."

Han Zhiqing showed an embarrassed smile on her face, but hugged her grandfather's arm, fearing that she would be kicked out of the car.

Shen Cheng just asked casually and didn't care whether Han Zhiqing wanted to follow or not.

As long as Si Han doesn't find a large group of people to protect him, there will be no problem.

The ruins were not found in the state capital, but in the surrounding countryside, which takes several hours to drive there.

The three of them set out in the morning, and it was already noon when they drove there.

When we arrived at the destination, we looked around and saw that the narrow road was full of parked cars.

In the fields in the distance, there were many large construction machines parked, and the originally flat land was dug into a pit at least the size of two football fields.

On the way here, Si Han had already told Shen Cheng about the situation here.

This place used to be a farm and a farm stay. Two years ago, a sudden earthquake created a huge crack in the farm.

At first, only some bone fossils and the remains of some special creatures were found under the cracks. After the archaeological company took over, they dug deeper and finally discovered the ruins hidden deep underground.

Shen Cheng had just parked the car when the middle-aged man he had met in the office last time was already standing by the roadside waiting with several bodyguards in black.

After the three got off the car, the middle-aged man immediately came forward, extended his hand to Si Han, and said enthusiastically: "Professor, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Si Han also reached out his hand and shook his hand: "I will trouble Mr. Li next."

"No, it's our company that's bothering you."

Mr. Li responded politely, then looked at Shen Cheng: "Is this your new assistant?"

Si Han nodded: "Yes, this is my new assistant. He will accompany me into the ruins in a while."

Mr. Li said "oh" and stopped paying attention.

But Shen Cheng vaguely felt that the look in Mr. Li's eyes when he was looking at him was quite strange.

After leaving the parking place, the group got on the construction vehicle and drove to the excavation site.

From a distance, Shen Cheng saw the huge crack that was at least hundreds of meters long, which looked like a small canyon.

The company dug directly on both sides of the big crack and actually dug out a huge deep pit similar to a mine. They also built two winding roads on the side leading to the bottom.

Si Han and Mr. Li were sitting in the front, talking about the content of the excavation work.

Shen Cheng looked at the huge man-made landscape outside and asked Han Zhiqing who was sitting beside him, "Isn't this your first time here?"

Han Zhiqing nodded: "Two years ago, I came here with my grandfather."

She seemed very happy that Shen Cheng took the initiative to talk to her, and enthusiastically talked about her experience two years ago.

Shen Cheng listened slowly and asked casually, "Can these archaeological companies recover their costs?"

They opened up such a large construction site, hired so many machines and workers, and it is said that they even bought the entire farm.

With such a huge expenditure, Shen Cheng doesn't think he can make back the money just by selling antiques and cultural relics. What if the things dug out are of no value? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?
Han Zhiqing glanced ahead, then leaned over to Shen Cheng's ear and whispered, "I heard that this archaeological company does these things not to make money, but to find something."

"what?"

"I do not know either."

Mr. Li, who was chatting with Si Han in front, glanced at the two people behind him through the rearview mirror.

The group soon arrived at the bottom of the pit, which looked like a large construction site with sheds built around it and many workers busying around like ants.

Shen Cheng looked up and found that the height here was at least hundreds of meters from the ground, enough to accommodate a building dozens of stories high.

However, this was not the end. Everyone walked into the largest shed in the middle, where there was a dark deep hole with a diameter of more than five meters. There were a large number of pipes and wires laid on the edge and deep inside, and an elevator was also installed.

The group took the elevator in batches to the bottom of the deep cave, and finally arrived at their destination - a spacious underground space.

Many ventilators are installed here to constantly exchange fresh air with the ground. Lighting facilities are hung on the surrounding walls, making this place as bright as day.

Shen Cheng saw an ancient brick wall at a glance, which was buried deep in the soil with only a small part exposed.

There are many fossil bones scattered around, all surrounded by warning ropes.

Han Zhiqing whispered to Shen Cheng that this was part of the underground ruins, and the remains of corpses found were suspected to be the legendary Earthlings and underground insect swarms.

However, Shen Cheng discovered another thing. There were a lot of people here, but there were no staff members. They were all fully armed bodyguards, or should they be called the company's security personnel.

Each of them had a serious expression and tense muscles, as if there was some danger underground that made them extremely afraid.

After arriving at the underground, Mr. Li ordered his men to carry a box and place it in front of everyone.

"Professor, this is our result from last month. More than a dozen people were injured and five employees were killed."

Amid Mr. Li's somewhat distressed voice, the box was opened, revealing a body frozen in ice.

The corpse was a giant insect, one and a half meters long. It looked a bit like a cricket, but was much more hideous and terrifying than a cricket.

Si Han immediately squatted down to study it. Han Zhiqing was not afraid, but instead came over curiously.

Before Shen Cheng came, he had heard Si Han mention that two years ago when they were excavating underground ruins, they encountered some kind of creature that attacked in secret, killing many people. Coupled with some other factors, the excavation work was forced to be terminated.

The project was restarted two years later. Before starting, Mr. Li organized a group of people to hunt, and finally found and killed the insect hiding underground.

In order to prevent the body from rotting, it has to be frozen first.

Even if it is just a corpse, this insect is very valuable, both in terms of research value and collection value.

Si Han squatted on the ground and studied it non-stop, and even wanted to knock the ice open to take a look.

Finally, Mr. Li urged, "Professor, we can study the bugs when they come back. It's more important to do the work first."

Si Han then stood up reluctantly: "Let's go."

The so-called serious business, of course, is to enter the underground ruins.

Shen Cheng quietly summoned a part of the demon armor to sense the energy of this underground space to ensure that there were no bugs hiding in the dark. However, the bugs did not find it, but he found that Mr. Li, who looked like an ordinary person, actually had extremely powerful energy in his body.

This guy is a fat pig eating a tiger.

Shen Cheng did not expose the other party, but he remained vigilant.

As the distance went deeper, more and more underground ruins appeared before our eyes, but most of them were just broken walls or enclosed bone fossils.

After passing through a long, excavated passage, the view suddenly opened up and an extremely spacious underground space appeared before our eyes.

This is not dug out, but a natural underground cavity.

There are lighting facilities installed near the passage. Under the bright light, a giant door nearly five meters high appears in Shen Cheng's sight.

"Behind this door are the true remains of the Earthlings."

Han Zhiqing whispered beside Shen Cheng: "We have been blocked outside the gate of the ruins."

It was extremely quiet in there; even if Han Zhiqing spoke in a low voice, others could hear her.

But no one paid any attention to her. Both Si Han and Mr. Li were already impatiently approaching the door.

Shen Cheng also followed to the tightly closed door, looked up and found that there were countless star patterns carved on it, and these patterns looked somewhat familiar.

There was a dusty operating table in front of the gate, on which was also engraved a star map.

Si Han used the hair dryer he carried with him to blow away the dust on the map, and then carefully adjusted the star map on the operating table with his hands. It turned out that the stars on the map could move, just like buttons.

As Si Han operated, the stars on the gate actually moved and changed their positions constantly.

Han Zhiqing and Mr. Li, who were standing nearby, watched nervously, not daring to breathe, for fear of disturbing Si Han.

Time passed minute by minute, and Si Han finally stopped, and the star map on the gate was completely changed into another appearance.

"This is……"

There was surprise in Shen Cheng's eyes. He had actually seen the star map on the gate before. It was in the star map research materials he got from the stargazing club.

He had read it several times when he had nothing to do. Although he did not understand the information in it, he remembered several of the patterns in it.

A clue suddenly connected in Shen Cheng's mind.

Two years ago, Si Han might have been blocked outside the gate of the ruins and could only record the star map and hand it over to the stargazing club for research.

That's why he had to get the research data, because it was related to whether he could enter the underground ruins.

Just at this moment, Si Han looked at Shen Cheng with gratitude in his eyes. Shen Cheng realized that his guess was correct. Si Han was thanking him for bringing the information back.

The door soon opened with a loud bang, and it was pitch black inside, making it impossible to see what was going on.

Si Han did not rush in, but turned to look at Mr. Li beside him: "Mr. Li, let me confirm again, do you really want to go in with us? Even if there are unknown dangers inside."

Mr. Li said firmly, "Of course, I have said it many times, Professor, this is the responsibility assigned to me by the company."

Shen Cheng found it a bit humorous. The powerful energy contained in Mr. Li's body was at least at the top extraordinary level.

But now he behaves like an ordinary person who is ready to die.

"OK then."

Seeing this, Si Han stopped trying to persuade them: "It's not advisable to have too many people go in."

Mr. Li looked back at the bodyguards following him and picked out two of them.

A group of six people entered the gate, and the rest waited outside.

As soon as I entered the door, I felt something was wrong. The ground and the surrounding walls were too smooth and flat, just like concrete.

Mr. Li, who is an engineer, squatted down to check it, then stood up and said, "It's a cement floor."

Shen Cheng and Han Zhiqing were both a little surprised. In their impression, the technology of this ancient civilization that died out millions of years ago should not have been advanced. How could there be a modern product like concrete floors?

"If you think this relic is backward, you are wrong. It was not destroyed because of its backwardness."

Si Han didn't seem surprised by this and walked straight inside, and the others quickly followed.

After passing through a long cement passage, a door appeared in front of us. There was actually a display and buttons next to the door, but they had already decayed and would break with the slightest touch.

"This is……"

Mr. Li showed a shocked expression on his face and turned to look at the others: "Is this the elevator?"

If we can say that cement floors are the result of the invention of this building material by chance, then even elevators have appeared, which means that the technological level of this underground civilization is very likely the same as that of humans.

After a brief moment of distraction, Mr. Li immediately ordered the bodyguard behind him to force open the closed elevator door.

Si Han did not stop them. Although the most feared thing in archaeology is the destruction of cultural relics, the elevator in front of him, although it looks very old, it is still unclear whether it can be considered a cultural relic.

The bodyguard seemed to be a person with life-like abilities, and his enormous strength easily forced open the rusty elevator door.

There was indeed an elevator inside, with a large number of skeletons stacked up on top of each other lying in a mess, and they were almost turning into fossils.

Everyone could even imagine a picture in their minds - this group of Earthlings were crowded in an elevator, unable to escape for some reason, and were eventually trapped to death in it.

The elevator is out of service and no longer functions, but luckily there is a staircase leading down next to it.

The group walked down the stairs, thinking they would soon reach the bottom, but they did not expect the spiral staircase to be so long that they did not reach the end after walking for a long time. At one point they even suspected they were standing still.

Moreover, the air gradually became thinner, making people feel very uncomfortable.

Han Zhiqing and Mr. Li had to take out the small oxygen tanks they carried with them to breathe.

After walking down the stairs for almost an hour, we finally reached the bottom and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

As I walked out of the stairs, the originally turbid air suddenly became fresh.

This means there is either a vent or the space is particularly wide.

It was pitch black in front of me, and I couldn't see anything.

The bodyguard took out the signal gun he carried with him and fired a miniature flare into the sky.
boom!
The flares cut through the darkness like meteors, emitting dazzling light in the air.

Everyone was stunned.

Under the light, countless layers of buildings emerged from the darkness, looking like a huge underground city.

(End of this chapter)