They were emerging from that gray hell, and the dusty yellow they had been tired of for weeks had never looked so lovely.
The ominous color like weathered bones gradually faded away, which was undoubtedly a good sign, but the length of the transition section was still beyond William's imagination.
In my impression, just a short while from top to bottom, those gray and white spots occupied the entire cave wall. The return at this time took much longer than when we came, and the stubborn burr-like white spots are still clearly visible.
These irregular spots were distributed upward, as if they were assimilating to expand their range. He even suspected that on some trend that could not be observed by the naked eye, the gray was rising and would one day reach the surface of the earth.
It makes people think of tinea depigmentation, which erodes the surrounding normal skin, and this land is already extremely diseased, and we don't know when it will spread from the inside to the outside.
Even though he would definitely never see that day, the thought made him feel a chill and deepened his fear of land.
He quickened his pace and got closer to Kraft. In order to save torches, they decided to light only one torch at the same time. Now it was Kraft's turn to light the way and lead the way. However, this person's condition could not be said to be very good and he did not have much energy to pay attention to whether William was in time.
Keep up.
When the white color almost completely disappeared from the field of vision, the two of them came to another section of confusing stone cul-de-sac.
"Wait, let me rest for a while." Handing the torch to William, Kraft sat down against the vertically wrinkled rock and shifted his position uncomfortably.
I pressed my knuckles on my forehead, which slightly loosened some tight wrinkles. My headache symptoms were subjectively better than before, but there was an uneven spot on my back that was annoying.
He touched the slightly convex spot, and felt a different touch from the surrounding area in his palm. It was not a bulging rock surface, but a somewhat prickly grainy texture.
"What is it?" Kraft stood up and looked behind him. It was the third color besides gray and dusty yellow, an imperceptible touch of fine green, distributed in the form of scattered crystal dots.
Because it is too small, it is difficult to detect in the light of a torch, roughly like quartz particles in granite.
This is so rare. As a more eye-catching and soothing color, green is difficult to miss.
"What kind of mineral does it seem to be?" William came close to the grain, rubbed it with his fingers, and licked the rock powder on it. "It is something that is not often bought and sold, otherwise I would definitely recognize it. The taste is a bit familiar.
But I can’t remember clearly.”
"I advise you to get rid of the habit of using your mouth to identify ores as soon as possible, otherwise something will happen sooner or later." This action, which touched the nerves more than the pain, seriously disturbed Kraft's calm state, and his disgusted expression twisted into a ball.
"If I can survive today, I will remember it." William dusted off his hands, chose a place to lean on on the other side, and then found a similar piece of jade green next to his feet.
The boots covered it nonchalantly and wiped it out of sight, out of sight out of mind. At this moment, William had eliminated several gems he knew. Besides, it would be hard to see the sun tomorrow, who cares about collecting even a little bit?
Minerals with no value?
"Take a break and forget about this." He raised the torch to take over the guard post, allowing Kraft to get a better rest within a limited time.
The latter can't stop for a moment during high-intensity activities, and has yet to show any intention of reaching the limit. Such a tenacious mental state is like a person who is still alive and kicking after losing half of his blood, and said that he can still go to bloodletting therapy.
Take a walk down there.
In William's opinion, the facts were so unreasonable, and Kraft's condition was improving at a visible speed. He quickly loosened the fingers that were rubbing the side of his skull, and his divergent eyes were focused again, and he held the hand before William's breathing had calmed down.
the object in the sleeve.
"The next section is up there. We can return to the real world." He held William's hand and pulled the captain up from the ground. He had plenty of strength.
William learned his lesson this time and immediately closed his eyes when the feeling of reverse falling hit him, successfully avoiding visual confusion and waiting on the spot for Kraft to light the torch and illuminate the stable environment.
They were back, and although there was no visual distinction in William's opinion, returning to the normal world still made him feel more comforted, giving him a homecoming-like comfort.
However, as we moved forward, the changes around us became unfamiliar.
The previously inconspicuous green spots on the rock wall gradually increased, forming obvious angular blocks. Like sugar lumps rolled in the dust, the edges and corners were filled with the bright color unique to crystals as the light source moved.
The reflected green light lights up in turn as the torch passes by, jumping out from the edge of the field of vision like a needle, flickering erratically. As the tunnel intersects with another ascending road, it becomes more dense, in line with the rich ore characteristics of the southern hills.
The cave builder did not pass through when entering this place, but directly rammed into the mine tunnel diagonally. It expanded into parallel and disorderly transitional sections like intestinal repeats, and then drilled back into the deep layers, leaving behind a space that looked shaky.
.
Deep cracks that need to be stepped over are densely covered in the cave wall, intertwined like a spider web, peeling rocks are piled on the ground, and rich bright green crystals can be seen in the cross section.
When setting foot in it, you need to be careful about your footing to avoid being scratched by sharp edges, and be careful not to slip and fall into the gravel pile lined with crystal clusters and corners.
William picked out a piece and looked at it. The texture of this gem-like mineral was brittle and soft, and it was often broken and broken. Some of it was ground into light green powder, which rustled when he picked it up.
The green crystals didn't match up with the several bulk minerals that had been transported in my impression, but these powders unexpectedly awakened some memories, and they should have encountered them somewhere.
I put it under my nose and sniffed it. The dust aggravated my nose and made me shrink my nose. I sneezed a few times, but I didn't smell anything.
Seeing that Kraft was in front and had no time to pay attention here, William wiped a layer of mineral powder from the crystal surface and curiously licked it with the tip of his tongue.
This is an old method that has been tested for a long time. After all, mineral forms are changeable, and the finished products obtained by different collection methods are even more diverse. In addition to appearance and feel, it is important to have an additional identification method. Experts usually make preliminary judgments through taste.
Whether the ability to judge is allowed or not is another matter.
Of course, it's best not to do that when you're in the ice field.
"Bah!" William spat out the mineral powder in his mouth. It had a slightly astringent taste, and after it dissolved in his saliva, there was a very bland rusty smell. It did have some impression, and he should have tasted it.
While thinking about it, he walked upwards along the half-collapsed cave. Kraft stopped without warning, bent down and picked up something.
"Don't look at it. I think I have encountered this kind of mine before. Give me some time and I will remember it." William stepped forward and took the object in his hand. It had a smooth curved surface and did not feel like an ore at all.
Although it has been broken into pieces, it can still be seen that it is incompatible with the surroundings. It is a material formed by firing clay.
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The relatively uniform thickness and residual arcuate segments showed that it came from a larger whole and was probably an artificial object. He looked to Craft in disbelief for advice, "Pottery shard?"
Kraft nodded in agreement, "The workmanship is quite good, not like the clay pots used to hold water."
"What does this mean?" William didn't understand how the well-made pottery could appear here. His intuition had already advanced to an ominous premonition. It would definitely not be a good thing to find something unexpected here.
The good thing was that his doubts soon disappeared. Not far ahead, a strange-looking pottery remains appeared in front of him.
It fell from the base of the blackened stone barrier, at least one-third of it was directly smashed, and most of the remaining body was destroyed by falling rocks, basically completing the transformation from "piece" to "tan" in terms of quantifiers.
.
As far as the remaining parts are concerned, there should have been a large bottle belly and a... long neck? The hollow cylindrical part on the ground is one of the sections of this neck.
Considering its original shape in this way, apart from its size, it is surprisingly similar to Father Adrian's retort flask. The strange structure is definitely not a container used for normal daily life.
When the two of them got closer, a crackling sound erupted from the soles of the boots. Kraft raised his feet to check the soles and found that they were not mineral particles, but another kind of debris, which was covered by dust.
He buttoned off a small piece that had been dug into the sole of the shoe, and the upper layer of skin on his finger was scratched, "Glass?!"