The worst-case scenario had arrived.
Anything related to the 'Necrons' was clearly never simple.
"As expected of a Vigilus, I suppose" Emrys furrowed his brows, letting out a sigh. "Though I had guessed it would happen, I didn't expect to encounter them here."
It was truly bad luck; he had almost run into Necrons back on Roselle, barely escaping, only to encounter them again here!
They were like lingering spirits!
But complaints aside, having come this far, Emrys naturally couldn't turn back, so he leaped down from the pipeline.
He looked around. This seemed to be the lowest level of the mine, with several horizontal mining tunnels excavated into the rock walls nearby.
Next, Emrys crouched down, his fingers lightly touching the remains of an 'Immortal'. "There was an intense battle here, and not long ago... about half an hour?"
Following the bullet hole traces and combining them with the positions where these Immortals fell, he slowly pieced together the entire event in his mind!
The Inquisitor and personnel from the Adeptus Arbites, following the residual energy of the psychic explosion, arrived at the bottom of the mine. As they were about to begin their search, they were suddenly attacked by several 'Immortals'.
Thus, both sides engaged in a fierce battle here.
However, due to their numerical superiority, the Inquisitor-led forces successfully killed these 'Immortals' but paid a price. After incinerating the bodies of the fallen humans, they departed towards the largest mining tunnel.
Not leaving behind bodies was indeed to prevent accidents, as this place might not only contain Necrons but also a very small number of genestealers and suspected Chaos forces.
After reconstructing the entire process, Emrys immediately heightened his vigilance, knowing that this time was different and he had to be extremely careful, otherwise, he might truly be caught off guard.
After much thought, he retrieved some 'items' from his personal space that he had specifically prepared before his departure.
They were several palm-sized, entirely black metal cassettes. After he injected a bit of energy into them, the cubes immediately transformed!
The metal cassettes trembled, then began to deform, like intricate small mechanical lifeforms, with a spider-like appearance, eight metallic limbs coiling around his arm.
"Go scout ahead."
Emrys gave them his orders: "Remember, if you are discovered, self-destruct immediately!"
These metal cassettes, to be precise, were not complete Cybertronian lifeforms. They were secondary Transformers created by 'Soundwave' specifically for reconnaissance, espionage, and other missions.
Although these secondary Transformers were almost useless on the front lines, Emrys discovered their advantages, so he requested a few.
"Yes, Commander!"
The activated Cassette Warriors leaped from his arm, clung to the rock wall of the largest mining tunnel, and quickly disappeared from view.
"Lord Shockwave, access the Cassette's reconnaissance view."
Emrys switched to the reconnaissance view and followed behind the 'Cassettes', entering the largest mining tunnel.
"Strange" As he walked deeper into the tunnel, Emrys' gaze was drawn to the nearby rock wall. Coming closer, he pried a tiny piece of metal from the mining marks on the rock wall.
He looked down at the metal, which seemed to be stuck in the rock wall due to damage, his brows furrowed. "Lord Shockwave, can you analyze its age and era from this metal?"
"Based on the scan results... the metal's origin is very likely a product from approximately 50 to 60 million years ago."
"Indeed... I knew something was off!"
Emrys' pupils contracted slightly. Before entering this largest mining tunnel, he had felt something was not quite right. Now it seemed... this mining tunnel was not excavated by Stygies VIII at all, but rather existed a very long time ago!
"This is a Necron mining tunnel" He suddenly realized, no wonder the Inquisitor's forces encountered the Necron 'Immortal' units.
Suddenly!
Just as Emrys was thinking, the Cassette Warriors scouting ahead seemed to be attacked by something, and their vision was instantly lost!
Not just one, but four!
And almost at the same time, all were destroyed, losing their vision, without even capturing what had attacked them!
In the mine, in the dense darkness, Emrys' heart slowly sank into the abyss, a suffocating atmosphere seemingly enveloping him at all times!
"Since I'm already here... I can't just turn back, can I?" Looking at the dark mining tunnel ahead, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, and once again took out several 'cassettes' from his personal space.
After activating them with Lord Shockwave's spark energy, he had them disperse as much as possible, to avoid being wiped out by an unknown enemy like last time.
The Cassette Warriors split into smaller, less detectable organisms, exploring ahead.
Soon, in the transmitted images, Emrys was finally able to glimpse the secret of this ancient mining tunnel's deepest part!
After the Cassette Warriors emerged from the mining tunnel, the transmitted images clearly showed an underground basin, approximately several hundred kilometers in diameter, seemingly formed naturally.
But what was even more shocking was this:
In what appeared to be a naturally formed basin, the shadows of city ruins could be seen. Although many had completely collapsed, a very small number of relatively well-preserved buildings remained. The most eye-catching among them... was the black spire in the central area, like an obelisk!
"This is... a Necron relic?!"
Emrys was stunned by the images transmitted by the 'Cassettes', remaining motionless for about half a minute. From the architectural style of the building ruins and the extensive use of 'metal' materials, it was not difficult to determine who the former Masters of this city were.
"The Tech-Priests of Stygies VIII discovered a Necron relic at the bottom of this mine!" Emrys swallowed hard. Although he wasn't sure if the Tech-Priests of Stygies VIII had encountered Necrons during their mining operations before.
But now... due to the uncontrolled psychic, the Necrons hidden in the hyperspace dimension were slowly awakening from their slumber!
'Immortals' were the best proof!
"The problem is troublesome" Emrys' eyes darkened slightly. He had to change his plan. He couldn't let the Inquisitor cause a major incident here, otherwise... if all the sleeping Necrons were awakened, it would be over!
Given the condition of Siluria, it couldn't withstand the Necrons' torment!
The key was that when you discover a Necron tomb, the situation you face is similar to opening a blind box; no one knows whether a common Overlord or a Necron Lord is sleeping in this tomb.
If it was the former, it might still be manageable.
But if it was the latter, then just wait for death. None of the Overlords of the Necron Dynasties were easy to deal with!
Emrys immediately accelerated, speeding out of the mining tunnel and arriving above the basin. But then he saw something that made his heart stop!
Someone was fighting in the Necron city!
Huge flashes of fire and explosions, even from a great distance, still reached Emrys' eyes, especially in the open underground space, where the sound was even more piercing!
No time!
Emrys was burning with anxiety and leaped down from the hundreds of meters high cliff.
But just as he stepped onto the ground of this city, which had long become a pile of ruins, a chill immediately surged from his spine to his mind!
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he always felt... as if a pair of eyes in this tomb were quietly watching him from the shadows!