NOVEL NEXT Chapter 178: We've Arrived at the Long-Desired Sky City!_2
[Ouch! You really are an unreasonable scumbag!]
Lu Yuan burst into laughter, teasing the wild animals and listening to the conch scold the camels, which was quite entertaining.
He gathered a pile of withered yellow leaves shed by the metabolism of the Tree of Life and let the big camel chew on them.
The creature "ah-uh ah-uh" called out, eating with great enjoyment.
It was likely due to the leaves of the Tree of Life being immensely attractive to these herbivores, or it was possible that these creatures had been domesticated by some civilization, thus not too adverse to contact with humans.
In just a few hours, Lu Yuan had befriended the camels, and they did not object to him riding on them.
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Yet, they still couldn't understand human speech and were simply happy to enjoy the delicacy.
Having no other choice, Lu Yuan could only add a lot of salt to the food. (He had obtained a box of salt from the Rize Civilization.)
"I refuse to believe that after eating so much salt, you guys aren't thirsty."
Indeed, camels really craved salt, indiscriminately scarfing it down by the handful, which was alarming to watch.
So, having waited on these lords for two days, they... finally got thirsty!
One of the small camels made an "err-err-err" noise and stuck its tongue out.
The leader of the camels stood up from within the desert, leading the herd in a certain direction.
Lu Yuan's heart leapt with joy, and he quickly followed them on his tricycle.
Walking on and off, they covered about 30 kilometers a day, continuing for five days.
To his surprise, he saw cactuses and a very small amount of weeds; the ground was no longer sandy but a soil surface. However, the ground was completely cracked, with a few sparse tamarisks still standing.
After another three days and reaching the top of a loess hill, his Explorer's Eye suddenly heated up, revealing vast expanses of green light.
Lu Yuan and his companions were thoroughly amazed.
He saw a massive mountain peak shaped like the character "皿"!!
Yes, shaped like "皿" with a central column and wide platforms at the top and bottom. At first glance, the platforms seemed to be about 30 kilometers in scale, covering an area of one thousand square kilometers.
The center was like a structure of columns, except these columns were probably a whole kilometer in diameter and about one to two kilometers in height.
And the platform at the bottom had been submerged by thick yellow sand.
A small stream of water flowed down from above, creating a high and fine waterfall.
Around the waterfall, there was a small lake, surrounded by wild grass and cactuses.
This was... an oasis!
And also—Sky City!
"Sky City does exist! All the efforts were not in vain!!" Lu Yuan could not help but tear up; his heart beat uncontrollably.
The strength in his body vanished completely, and even the muscles in his thighs began to cramp.
He collapsed on the tricycle as if completely exhausted.
Then he awoke Mr. Turtle.
The stones on the Undying Giant Turtle's body flaked and cracked, waking from its slumber.
"Water!! Mr. Turtle smells the scent of water! Swimming... I want to swim!"
On the 6212th day of the Ninth Epoch, Lu Yuan and his companions finally arrived at the long-desired Sky City.
What they faced head-on was... a real opportunity and challenge!
...
...
Never before had Lu Yuan so eagerly anticipated a water source, the green plants, and the wildlife.
Nor had there ever been a moment when the sight of an oasis moved him so deeply!
He ran quickly towards the source of water, and then his eyes lit up with a red glow.
There was danger hidden in the water...
A creature resembling a crocodile was lurking in the small lake, eyeing its surroundings menacingly.
He felt like crying, trembling all over, even reluctant to easily contaminate the still somewhat clean source of water...
He thought staining this water source with blood would be a desecration!
"Today is a day of celebration, not fit for killing."
Lu Yuan patted his chest, quelling the restless urge to charge in.
Unexpectedly, almost all of Lu Yuan's companions agreed with his viewpoint.
"Don't rush, let's observe for a little while longer,"
The water resources of Sky City were still a rarity.
The formation of this oasis was not due to abundant rainfall or groundwater, but because of the architectural structure of Sky City itself, which was suitable for collecting rainwater.
Even the desert would occasionally experience rainfall, but the erosion was severe, and the fine sand simply couldn't retain water.
However, Sky City was different; as an artificially constructed giant city, it had basic structures like reservoirs, water tanks, and sewers.
These water storage facilities were the true source of the oasis.
Lu Yuan followed the camels toward the front, and he saw one Yadan after another.
Actually, these Yadan were weathered man-made structures—nothing could stop the erosion of time.
The relics of Sky City had a much longer history than those of the Meida Civilization, which may have only decayed for a few hundred years, while the fall of Sky City might have spanned thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.
Perhaps in tens of thousands more years, it too would be weathered into a mound of yellow sand, becoming the dust of history.
"Ah eh~" the camels called out from the front, circling around a small lake, then heading off toward a more distant place.
Many parts of the city had already collapsed.
With the breakage of some load-bearing columns, large portions of the upper structures had caved in, creating a small hillock that could be climbed upon.
But for Lu Yuan, this was undoubtedly a real heaven!
His garbage-picking heart was stirringly active; there were green and gold glows everywhere.
Garbage was all around.
The feeling was too wonderful, and the function of the Explorer's Eye could be fully utilized here.
He picked up a shovel and dug vigorously in the soil where a glint of gold was, uncovering a small object similar to a music box.
The music box was actually plated with a thin layer of gold, with not much rust inside.
Upon winding it up, relaxing music began to play.
This turned out to be a music box with extraordinary power, the melodious song from an alien civilization conveyed a rich joy, and even the surrounding air turned rainbow-colored, vibrant and colorful.
[The Traveler's steps cease here.]
[Laughter floats over with the wind.]
[We take off the flower crowns on our heads,]
[And then throw them towards the sky...]
[Aloha hei ya, hei aloha hei ya, hei aloha hei ya, hei!]
The song was truly beautiful and captivating, perfectly timed, as if the whole world was welcoming the arrival of the Traveler.
Lu Yuan walked and dug along the way.
Curiosity!
He was truly too curious!
Apart from the music box, he also picked up gold, platinum, metals of unknown purpose, books? They were indeed books!
[I can translate!] The translator volunteered immediately at this moment.
Sky City had not disappointed Lu Yuan's years of expectation; the relics left behind were astonishingly rich.
Especially these extraordinary technological creations, the principles of which were unknown, sparked great imagination—just a music box was this incredible, what about other things? How powerful was this civilization?
Soon, the camels found a small puddle in a corner on the upper level.
A small amount of water had accumulated in the puddle.
Having drunk heartily from the puddle, they left without looking back, one after another heading toward the direction of the desert.
"Hey, guys, where are you heading?" Lu Yuan shouted, "Leaving just like that?"
"This might be the only oasis in this vast desert," Old Cat's pupils reflected the scorching sunlight, "don't just focus on treasure hunting, think about what could happen?"
The size of this desert might compare to half of Earth!
It was incredibly challenging.
"All the animals converge within a few hundred kilometers of this territory...and the extraordinary life within the ruins is obviously not small in number,"
Lu Yuan frowned slightly, "So, you're saying the pressure of survival here is actually quite high, and that's why the camels replenish their water and leave?"
"Yes," Old Cat's eyes whirled around, "A great opportunity to take back Palu!"