The descendants of the Gland-Eating Golden Ants, Jia Yin called them Gu Ants.
As dusk settled, while others rested, Jia Yin was not idle.
He asked Fang Er for a few men, and together with the Gland-Eating Golden Ants and Gu Ants, he entered the pyramid once more.
The space inside was illuminated by oil lamps on the walls. When the scorpion horde appeared, Jia Yin quickly released the Gu Ants.
These little fellows seemed to sense something. After their antennae twitched back and forth, they charged directly towards the scorpion tide.
The moment the two sides met, it was like oil on a raging fire; the scorpion horde instantly boiled.
The Gu Ants embodied the principle of "unity is strength" to the fullest, launching their attack on the scorpion horde.
The scorpions' hard exoskeletons offered almost no protection against the larger Gu Ants.
The Gu Ants were ferocious. After killing a scorpion, they did not stop to feed but moved on to attack the next, leaving the corpses for the smaller Gu Ants to develop.
Concurrently, some Gu Ants delivered scorpions to the Gland-Eating Golden Ants for them to consume.
And the Gland-Eating Golden Ants acted like a breeding machine. They didn't even need mating; they could complete the arduous task of reproduction entirely on their own.
One brood every fifteen minutes, almost without pause!
Fang Er observed that each brood produced at least several hundred Gu Ant eggs.
By morning, the number of Gu Ants had reached an astonishing level.
Moreover, these creatures had already begun to take the initiative. They dispersed to find targets, and as soon as they discovered a scorpion, they would immediately summon nearby companions to attack it collectively.
After breakfast, upon hearing Ge Luoyang's report, Fang Er was overjoyed. He issued an order to everyone.
"Divide the Crusaders into small groups and enter the tower to explore. Report any discoveries immediately!"
The slow progress of archaeology in later generations was due to scholars considering artifact preservation and the excavation of historical value.
But Fang Er did not need to. He only wanted to find things useful to him.
Many hands make light work. The two hundred Crusaders, divided into groups of ten, roughly mapped out the situation inside in less than half a day.
They discovered a total of one hundred and five stone chambers of varying sizes within the pyramid.
Most of these chambers were empty, containing nothing.
Only six chambers contained remnants of human activity.
Upon receiving this news, Fang Er immediately led his men to them.
Upon entering the first chamber, the layout suggested it was a warehouse.
In the nearly two hundred square meters of space, many items were piled up, and there were some shelf-like structures against the walls.
However, the items on the shelves were so deteriorated that their original shapes and uses could not be discerned.
Fang Er put on gloves and reached for an item on a shelf, but the next moment something unexpected happened.
The object instantly turned to dust the moment he touched it.
"Holy crap!"
Fang Er was stunned.
When he had entered here last time, he hadn't thought the pyramid was very old.
This was because the air quality was good, and not even a trace of mold was visible.
But the pile of dust on the shelf before him made him overturn his previous assumptions in an instant!
Given the internal environment of the pyramid, these items must have been there for at least a thousand years, otherwise, they wouldn't have decayed to this state!
He fixed his gaze on the shelf. The dark shelf produced a distinct metallic sound when tapped.
While the items on it had decayed into dust, this shelf, made of an unknown material, showed no damage whatsoever!
"Duke, look at this quickly."
Just then, Ge Luoyang's voice came from the side.
Fang Er turned to look. Ge Luoyang was holding a shimmering silver object, its design peculiar and its purpose unclear.
"Silver?"
He subconsciously voiced his guess.
But when he took the object from Ge Luoyang's hand, he could clearly feel that the weight was unusual.
"Sis Tong, do you know what this is?"
Recalling that the system could detect thorium elements on the island of Japan previously, Fang Er communicated with the system in his mind.
[You think I'm omniscient?]
[Although I don't know what it's used for, I can confirm that this is a titanium alloy product.]
Fang Er was greatly disappointed. While titanium alloy was a good thing, he was more interested in knowing the item's purpose.
He decided to put it aside for now, to ponder it thoroughly later if he had the time.
After searching the entire chamber, they found over a dozen similar titanium alloy products. Judging by their appearance, their uses were equally indistinguishable.
All the discovered titanium alloy products were piled together, and the shelves were cleared.
In front of Ge Luoyang and Wang Xuance, he waved his hand and stored these items into the system's warehouse.
The two exchanged glances, seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Titanium alloy products were also found in the second and third chambers.
The fourth chamber, unlike the previous three, contained not only titanium alloy products but also murals, which made Fang Er very excited.
The chamber with the murals was also in the upper part of the pyramid, directly below the chamber they had accidentally entered when being chased by the scorpion horde last time!
This chamber was larger than the one above, and the murals depicted more things!
The very first mural plunged Fang Er into deep thought.
It depicted four spheres, colored differently.
After careful examination, he was utterly bewildered. This was the Earth depicted here!
The reason for the four spheres was that they represented the Earth from different perspectives!
Not only that, but Fang Er's calculations yielded an even more shocking result.
The Earth recorded in these murals was completely different from the present day.
In later generations, land area on Earth accounted for less than thirty percent.
But in the mural before him, blue occupied sixty percent, while the remaining forty percent was covered by green, brown, and earth yellow!
This meant that at that time, the continental area was one-third larger than it is now!
But in the mural before him, blue occupied sixty percent, while the remaining forty percent was covered by green, brown, and earth yellow!
This meant that at that time, the continental area was one-third larger than it is now!
The second mural showed the Earth, like a virus structure, surrounded by nine planets, with connections between them.
[Hmm~ You rascal~ This seems to be a depiction of the great battle that Earth experienced 4.6 billion years ago!]
The system's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"What are you talking about?"
Fang Er didn't react immediately, but soon, he remembered the story of the Yanhuang tribe that the system had told him before.
He quickly looked further back.