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On the morning of March 9, a blow floater arrived with reinforcements.
Two general-purpose golems and a <
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Nikelis.
"Oh. Rhodes, you seem to be having a hard time.
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It's more of a mystery than I thought.
I'm on it. I'll use this golem of Marikka's design... and I'll have this mystery solved before you know it.
"You're as brawny as ever. But it really is a mystery. Be careful.
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I know.
Nikelis is another engineer who once participated in the Marikka Cup.
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Rhodes explained the route inside with Momoko.
"I see, I understand. ...... But why didn't you check the left route in the small room with the branch?"
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"I didn't have time. It was almost night."
I see.
"Then, would you ask Momoko to join us and leave the left route to her and the right route to the generic golem?"
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That's fine.
I'll take care of it.
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We were able to advance without any problems at all up to the small room that branched off in three directions.
There, Momoko splits off to the left and the two general-purpose golems split off to the right.
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What awaits each of them: .......
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Momoko went left, and after about 30 meters she came upon a collapse.
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The rock was brittle in that area and the tunnel had collapsed.
<
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"Do you know when the tunnel collapsed? That will determine the degree of danger."
The collapse seemed to have happened a long time ago, and the area did not seem to be in danger right now.
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"I see. Then check the surrounding walls a bit."
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Momoko receives the order and checks the walls of the tunnel.
The area was clearly not from the skarn deposit.
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When Momoko reported this, Rhodes said,
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"Okay. Bring back the samples.
Momoko follows his instructions.
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Momoko stuffs as much as she can into the pockets of her clothes...... apron dress.
* * * *
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Meanwhile, the right route.
Momoko's research had shown that there were no problems along the way, so the two generic golems proceeded at a brisk pace.
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Nevertheless, they did not neglect to search their surroundings in order to deal with any unexpected situations.
The two Golems also shared the area, which halved their workload and made them more efficient.
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Then, the door in question.
The golem's physical strength ...... is five times that of Momoko's ......, but it does not seem to be affected.
It is possible to destroy it, but I have no idea what kind of negative effects that would have, so I'm not going to do it.
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What shall we do?
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Golem1 consulted his colleague, Golem2.
Since it is designed by Malicka, it has the ability to make such decisions.
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By not being able to open it, the possibility of this being a doorway is reduced.
Golem One has power, Golem Two has thought and judgment.
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What does that mean?
It means this door could be a dummy, or it could be a trap.
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......
<1> and <2> first checked the walls, ground, and ceiling around the door with a ground search.
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When nothing was found, we backtracked a little and checked with <
It turns out that there is nothing within 20 meters from the door.
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...... then the door in front of it is suspicious.
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<2>thinking logically, <2>he guessed that there might be a hidden branch in that area.
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Let's check in front and behind the door.
Got it.
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The two of them split up to investigate the outside ...... doorway and the inside ...... back side of the door.
It was <1> who found the clue while examining the inside of the door.
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There is something hidden in the rock wall here.
He found it to be a handle.
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It looks like you have to pull or twist it.
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When I pulled on the handle, I felt a heavy touch and saw a crack in the wall outside the door.
It seems there was another hidden doorway here.
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You guessed right.
And then two of them open up the gap.
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It was a steel-lined doorway with a rock-covered surface.
The door, rusted as if by age, creaked as it slowly opened.
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It took two of us about a minute to get it open enough for us to get through.
There you have it. ......... we'll report back to Mr. Nikelis and move on.
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Roger that.
The two bodies reported to Nikelis via their built-in manacam, and then stepped out into the unknown passageway.
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The passage was immediately downhill, with rough stairs that appeared to have been dug by hand.
Two bodies slowly descended.
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The first one, who was walking in the lead, stopped.
What's going on?
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There's a corrosive gas pool under here. ...... hydrogen sulfide.
Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas with a rotten egg smell.
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It's highly reactive and corrodes iron and copper.
Our exterior is made of light silver, so we should be fine.
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Mm-hmm.
The general-purpose golem that Marikka designed is not made of iron.
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They're all highly corrosion-resistant materials.
Light silver forms a strong oxide film on its surface, so it is impervious to hydrogen sulfide.
However, it is susceptible to dry chlorine gas, resulting in pumice silver tetrachloride.
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Since the corrosive gas in this case was hydrogen sulfide, there was no problem.
The two bodies slowly descended the stairs.
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Their footing had become flat.
I mean "level" and "smooth".
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The material seems to be quartz, which is impervious to hydrogen sulfide .......
Strictly speaking, quartz is also slightly affected, but it is not yet noticeable in this place.
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And the passage ......, which is no longer a tunnel, goes up again.
It seems that the passage was once deeper to create a
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No more hydrogen sulfide?
It seems so. Oxygen is still present, but only marginally.
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The passage continues. .......
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* * *
On the ground, Rhodes greets Momoko when she returns with the samples.
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"Thanks for your hard work," Momoko said. And the stone samples?
"Yes, this way, sir."
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Momoko took out a stone sample from the pocket of her apron dress and laid it out on the sheet.
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"No, this one is ...... granite? This one is ...... I don't know. Is this ...... quartz?"
Rhodes was not good at identifying stones because of his limited knowledge of geology.
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He could only identify a few common rocks and minerals, such as granite and quartz.
"I'd have to ask someone, an expert, to tell me. ......"
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Rhodes therefore thought that he would ask Kondak to call an expert for him later.
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