I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

Near the active volcano, there were many architectural ruins buried by the volcanic ash spewed out over the millennia.

But from a certain angle, looking down from high above, one could still see many shining rune structures under the sunlight.

"Solid Rune..."
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"And Concrete Wall Iron Wall... these... might be some kind of energy pathways." Lu Yuan recognized at a glance the basic, commonly used rune combinations in the construction field.

Besides, this volcano was hiding terrifying powers...

According to the expert group's rudimentary prediction, this massive volcano was the sole release point for the geothermal energy nearby, containing an estimated energy of about 10^23 joules.

This magnitude baffled Lu Yuan, knowing that a nuclear bomb's energy was calculated at 10^14 joules, a volcano was roughly equivalent to the power of one billion nuclear bombs.

Mother Nature's power was indeed formidable.

"Do you mean, they fly with a volcano and let the volcano supply the energy?"

"No, no, no, not to that extent. Most of the volcano's energy is hidden deep in the crust, they couldn't possibly transport the entire crust into the sky."

This geography expert gestured while explaining, "My guess is that the civilization specifically sought out this volcano, thus building extensively around this area."

"As for the purpose of the volcano, the first is energy supply, perhaps this volcano is a bit special, capable of producing Ideal Energy?"

"Secondly..."

Lu Yuan's pupils dilated as he realized—Super Idealist Weapons!

Possessing high-grade destructive weapons was an important hallmark of a Third-level Civilization!

It was widely known that nuclear bombs were easily intercepted in this world, with intercontinental missiles barely reaching speeds of Mach 20 after sustained acceleration.

Many with extraordinary abilities could sense the crisis the moment a nuclear bomb was launched and react accordingly.

With strong Idealist Interference, destroying the missile's chips could likely cause the nuclear bomb to malfunction. Not to mention the Ideal Technology that could temporarily alter physical parameters to make the missile inactive was not impossible either.

But such Idealist weapons were not so easily intercepted—of course, Lu Yuan was not clear on how this volcanic weapon operated, and whether it was actually a weapon remained speculative.

"If we could move this volcano... alas, it's too large in size, unless we settle here."

The surrounding experts apparently thought the same, their faces excitedly discussing, "The scale of that civilization must have indeed been large enough!"

"An area of 1500 square kilometers, comparable to the cities of Green Grass Civilization. And the volcano's footprint is 100 square kilometers."

"If there really is a fallen Sky City near the volcano, at the least it's undoubtedly a Third-level Civilization, perhaps even a Fourth-level Civilization."

"Could it be even more powerful than Green Grass?" someone else asked.

"That's unlikely, at their peak, the Green Grass People could defeat most civilizations with just one Opium poppy. Now, the Opium poppy might only be one percent of what it used to be, don't overthink it, managing to provide Green Grass Paradise is already quite impressive."

All the insiders discussed tirelessly.

The imagination brought by a Third-level Civilization was simply too rich, the value of this ruin... unimaginable!

Although the Green Grass Civilization was powerful, besides the Opium poppy, there really wasn't much left behind.

But this was different, especially since Humanity had just recently become a Second-level Civilization, trying to follow a quality path was like a teenage boy lacking nutrition, finding a delicious, unopened meal in the trash.

All the insiders excitedly flushed red with excitement, like they were injected with chicken blood, tirelessly discussing various plans, even gobbling their food hastily.

Even a piece of porcelain had to be turned over and studied for a long half day.

A broken semiconductor, or rather a robot, sparked substantial interest in numerous laboratories.

More and more evidence indicated... it really could be a Third-level Civilization, truly!

Until six o'clock that afternoon, the Orca communication team finally returned.

According to the Orcas, approaching that volcano would provoke attacks from 'Mirage Dragons.'

"The number of small fish and shrimp is really too high; it spares them, but the orca, as a massive creature, is its target for attacks. Thus, that area of the sea became a shelter for the small fish and shrimp."

"As for the 'Mirage Dragon's' specific abilities..." Conch Girl bit her lip, massaging her temples in frustration.

The orcas were simply too dim-witted to comprehend the concept of "superpower". Despite communicating for a good while, they couldn't get a clear answer.

"It might be large-scale celestial control? The orcas once saw vague human figures near the volcano, just like a mirage."

"After a while, those figures disappeared."

"Ying, ying, ying!" Several big orcas began to splash and play with water; it was evident they liked humans, becoming familiar with them in just a few hours.

"Celestial control, mirage..." People murmured to themselves, sinking into deep thought.

Conch Girl continued, "There's also the freezing ability. Before the volcano becomes fully active and erupts, the Mirage Dragon always finds a way to push back this violent energy... otherwise, the buildings here would have been long gone."

"If the orca's description is correct, and it can hold down a large volcano, then its power level is quite strong..."

Lu Yuan felt both joy and worry in his heart. The joy was because if the "Mirage Dragon" continued guarding this relic, it meant there were no additional risks.

If they could handle this creature, the city's relics would belong to humans.

The worry was—"large-scale celestial control" sounded like a phenomenon-level ability.

If this phenomenon was born in this Epoch, it might still be reasonable, as its strength could be predicted.

If it was left over from a previous Epoch, it would be more troublesome. Those who survived the Epoch Disaster always had their own survival tricks.

What if it went berserk? Humans... might not be able to beat it!

"Does the Mirage Dragon have intelligence?"

"I don't know, the orcas can't understand the concept of 'intelligence'."

"We shouldn't be too hasty," Lu Yuan frowned, "Now the enemy knows but we don't; it's always good to be cautious and gather more information."

"How about sending a small boat in?" Jin Dongliang slapped his thigh, coming up with a plan, "We'll modify the boat to look like a big fish..."

"Then install some surveillance to observe whether the boat is attacked."

"If all else fails, we could put a few pigs on it and rig it with some timed explosives. What do you think?"

Lu Yuan fell silent for a moment.

Wireless technology wasn't very reliable in places with strong Idealist Interference.

But probing a bit would be harmless—it's just a small speedboat, something humans could afford.

"Let's start the preparations."

...

The military was efficient; in less than an hour, a speedboat was covered with shark skin, transformed to resemble a shark, bloody and smelling strongly of blood.

Two terrified, fat pigs were herded onto the speedboat.

Two "Second Brothers" were bound by their limbs and collapsed on the ground, crying out.

The speedboat also carried a physical surveillance system, a poppy bud monitor, and a hypnotic "Spirit Rune," but no bombs were installed.

According to the scientists' plan, if a "Spirit Rune" could hypnotize the opponent, capturing it alive would naturally be the best result.

If unable to capture it, there was no need to alarm the creature needlessly by using bombs, as making the opponent wary wouldn't be advantageous for humans.

Thus, with a "rumbling" noise, the speedboat, carrying its unfortunate passengers, headed toward the direction of the volcano.

Meanwhile, the people in the control room stared solemnly at the images being fed back from various monitors.