(From MC's perspective)
A few hours later,
I arrived at the base camp. Seeing that there is no one here. I realized everyone went to the ruin site. Shortly after, Ms Valerie arrived.
Looking at me she said, "Let's go to the ruin site."
Hearing that, my eyes gleamed with surprise. I thought she would restrict me like Elder Compton. But it looks like she doesn't want any mishap to happen to me.
Then I nodded in understanding. Anyway, I have to tell Elder Compton face to face that I don't need her protection. So far she has been hindering me.
Then shaking my head, I followed her. Thinking about the ruins, my heart rose in excitement. This is the first time I'm going to see the actual ruin site.
So far I have only seen some books and videos about the ruins. But most of them were censored. I don't know whether the information piled up online was true or not.
"Follow my commands after entering the ruin. Don't act on your own," Valerie Lyons said without turning her back.
Hearing that I retracted my thoughts and looked at her. "Is there any danger inside the ruin?" I asked.
Valerie's expression turned solemn before replying, "There might be some old traps. Only a leader can solve them in our team. So we have to be careful after entering the ruin."
"She is right," a look of understanding dawned upon me.
Elder Compton is an elite-level powerhouse. It's normal for him to solve problems.
Time passed in the blink of an eye,
We arrived at the spot. Seeing the run-down stone structure, a quick glint flashed in my eyes. I asked, "Is this some kind of building?"
On the other hand, Valerie Lyons opened the ruins map in watch to check. Currently, they are standing in front of section 1 of the ruins area.
She looked at the map once again before her eyes fell on the ruins' structure. She found some changes in it. It didn't look like what the leader had described.
Then retracting her thoughts, she turned towards Zack Lockwood.
"Yeah, this is the ruin site. We are currently at section area one. You can use the map to check."
After saying that she added further, "I believe the leader went ahead with the team. So let's go inside."
After saying that she entered section area 1 following the narrowed path. She found traces of footprints. Seeing that she confirmed her thoughts.
At the same time, several questions appeared in my heart. What type of ruin is this? I can tell these were complete structures. But right now time has left traces on them.
It's hard to discern what they were in the original.
I silently used my perceptual ability to check the nearby area. Seeing that there is no problem around me. I silently followed the footprints of Valerie Lyons.
"Wait," Valerie Lyons shouted all of a sudden.
Hearing that, my expression turned solemn. Because I found she was shocked to the core.
I asked, "What happened?"
Seeing her standing like status, I walked past her to look ahead. But what came into my view was a large hole in the ground.
My heart starts to beat faster. "What is this?" The hole is 10 m wide in size. Is this natural or what? Several questions popped up in my mind.
But all of this can be only answered by the research team. I turned around and saw the petrified face of Valerie Lyons. Seeing her like that I have a bad feeling about this.
"Ms Valerie?" I called out.
She let out a deep sigh before saying, "I tried to reach out to the leader. But I found some kind of interference in the signal."
Hearing that I once again looked at the hole. Does something happen to them? But I quickly removed these thoughts.
Elder Compton is Elite Warrior. He should be fine. Instead, we should worry about ourselves. Shaking my head, I asked, "Can we go ahead?"
Valerie Lyons nodded in understanding. When the duo moved forward they found similar holes and cracks in the ground, inside the section 1 area.
But they carefully avoided them and walked forward towards the section 2 area's direction.
"Are we not going to investigate this place?" I asked.
Valerie Lyons said in a solemn tone, "Section area 1 was already cleared out. There is nothing valuable here. I believe the leader and others were in the section 2 area."
"The section-2 area has several unexplored structures," She added further.
Hearing that, I'm looking forward to seeing what's going on inside.
Right after the duo left, the cracks started to widen on the ground inside section area 1.
Time passed,
After several minutes, we entered section area 2. But still, there is no sign of the leader and others. Though the area appeared to be calm. I don't know. Why do I feel something amiss about this?
Valerie Lyons stopped her movements after arriving here. She is sure that the leader is not inside section area 3. Because that section is an unexplored area. So the leader won't go blindly inside without the full support of the team.
So Valerie made up her mind to investigate this section area 2. She turned towards Zack and said, "Okay, we will start searching from this place."
Hearing that I nodded then slowly we started from a nearby ruined structure.
Time passed in a blink of an eye.
An hour later, we didn't find traces of the leader and others. Which made me furrow my eyebrows further. Things are getting troublesome. I have to say Valerie Lyons seems clueless.
I can say that only in my heart. I let out a small sigh before asking, "is this place fully covered like section area 1?"
A quick glint flashed in Valerie Lyon's eyes. There are still places inside this section which are left unexplored. She has the feeling that the leader perhaps walked into one of these places.
As this thought rose in her heart. She felt this is most likely possible.
She replied looking at Zack, "Yes, there are some unmarked stone structures in this area."
"Let's go and search that place also," She added.