“Huh?” Winnie scratched his head, watching Isatia and Aesphyra exchange words back and forth.
‘Ah, it's itching, could my brain finally be growing?’
Weren't they just exploring a Mars civilization dungeon? Given the scale of the Mars civilization, there shouldn't be only one such dungeon left. Besides, whether this dungeon formed passively or was deliberately constructed hadn't even been determined yet.
“Wait, didn't we come here to explore Mars civilization's relic dungeon?” Winnie asked blankly. “Since when did this turn into an archeology documentary? Isn't this a bit ridiculous?”
Could a single leftover dungeon truly be connected to the Mars civilization's extinction?
“Was this conclusion made by the Academy?” Winnie asked.
“The Carillian Academy hasn't issued any judgment on this dungeon yet,” Aesphyra replied. “Everything remained provisional. After all, the discovery was sudden, and this is the first known dungeon of the Mars civilization ever found. With only a few months to work, it's already a feat just getting the teleportation anchor set up given the Academy's size.”
“There's no way the first discovered Mars civilization dungeon just happens to be their final sanctuary before extinction, right?” Winnie couldn't help but blurt out. “That'd be too coincidental!”
“You never know,” Aesphyra raised an eyebrow, arms crossed.
Winnie glanced at Isatia. Although the Carillian Academy hadn't had time for in-depth investigation due to the rushed timeline, it was clear that Isatia's expertise might surpass even the most specialized archaeologists who dedicated their lives to studying the Mars civilization.
Where did she gain such detailed knowledge about the Mars civilization's history and secrets?
Suddenly, Winnie wondered, could this be related to Isatia's [Divine Blessing]?
“The gods worshiped inside and out aren't the same,” Isatia murmured, staring at the fragments of the fallen statue, seemingly lost in thought.
Then, she paced around the temple, examining the murals on the walls, taking notes and sketching into her notebook.
Winnie used this time to study the temple's layout and the murals himself.
The temple was clearly spacious, but the front area was blocked by a collapsed pile of pillars and stones. Moving them wasn't appropriate, after all, these were priceless relics that could reveal crucial information about the Mars civilization and the continent's historical developments.
Secondly, the temple had stood for who knows how long. Disturbing its structure might destabilize it entirely, leading to a complete collapse. That was a real possibility.
Winnie noticed that after Isatia finished recording the temple's layout, the statue fragments, and the altar area, she moved toward the surrounding walls to examine the murals.
Curious about what the murals depict, Winnie followed to take a closer look.
The first mural near the entrance shows a group of soldiers clad in golden scale armor bravely fighting enemies and conquering lands. Above them fluttered a celestial flag that looked strangely familiar to Winnie, similar to the diaper-like banner he'd seen earlier on the city walls.
This mural likely depicts the Mars people's conquests during ancient times, before the Carillian Empire even existed, when the Carillian family only led a few scattered tribes and hadn't expanded yet, while the Mars civilization had already entered a slave-based society.
Judging from the mural, the Mars people generally had chocolate skin and favored wearing golden scale armor in battle, creating a striking contrast with their skin tone, assuming the mural was accurate.
Next, Mars people raised the celestial flag and knelt before two statues, praying devoutly.
The two statues were the Ouroboros-like multi-legged serpent Winnie had seen outside, and another tall god surrounded by three planet-like spheres, with multiple hands and faces.
This god looked extremely bizarre, four arms, one on each side, and four faces, though nearly the entire face was covered by one enormous eye. Three rotating planets orbited around it.
What strange god was this?
Winnie always feels that on the Terraria continent, gods, both ancient and modern, often resemble monsters more than gods.
Did this painting suggest that after conquering various lands, the Mars people began worshiping these two gods as their own?
The Ouroboros serpent represents the Authority of [Eternity]. Then what Authority did the other god represent?
Winnie thought of [Continuance], after all, the Mars people's ultimate pursuits were probably just these two Authorities.
So, was the destroyed statue within this temple the one representing the Authority of [Continuance]?
But why was the statue symbolizing [Continuance] destroyed? What connection did this have with the Mars civilization's extinction? What exactly happened here?
Winnie turned to the next mural and was surprised to find the scene depicting a rebellion of various ethnic groups, with Mars soldiers being dispatched to suppress it.
Of course, slave societies always ended this way: slave uprisings.
However, this was a world where magic and gods truly exist. The chances of such rebellions succeeding were extremely slim.
Winnie looked at the next mural, the one Isatia was now frowning at, and was shocked to discover it couldn't be seen at all.
It had been completely charred, covered with dense scratches from blades, clearly the result of many people slashing at it.
Looking at the other murals, he found many were similarly scarred, covered in weapon marks and heavy magical blast damage.
Unbelievable.
This place didn't resemble a dungeon formed passively from residual civilized energy at all. It seemed more like the Mars people actually lived here, the temple had truly seen warfare.
Looking at the murals behind the unreadable one, he found they were equally destroyed, blasted black and shattered by magic, containing no usable information at all.
So, did the slaves ultimately succeed? Nobody knew.
“Ah, I got it!” Winnie suddenly slapped his hand, his face lighting up with realization, catching Isatia's and Aesphyra's attention.
“Oh? Did Winnie finally have a moment of clarity? How rare. What did you figure out? Let's hear it,” Aesphyra teased.
“Tch, don't look down on me,” Winnie shot back, glaring at Aesphyra. “Didn't Isatia previously suggest this dungeon is directly linked to the Mars civilization's extinction?”
“Well, I've already deduced how the Mars civilization fell!” Winnie declared proudly, pointing confidently at the murals.
“Oh? So brilliant?” Aesphyra raised an eyebrow, while Isatia beside her also adopted a serious listening posture.
“Hehe, isn't it obvious? How the Mars civilization collapsed, it's all written right here! Clearly, the Mars civilization was overthrown by the other races they enslaved!” Winnie said triumphantly, gesturing toward the mural content.
“How do you know?” Isatia felt Winnie wouldn't be that superficial. After a moment of silence, she asked.
“Do you even need to ask? The murals, of course! Look, they clearly depict the Mars people conquering and enslaving others, and then getting overthrown!” Winnie confidently explained, then pointed at the statue fragments in the center of the altar. “This wreckage is proof! All caused by slave uprisings.”
“Then what else?” Isatia continued.
“What else could there be?” Winnie was puzzled. “Isn't that exactly what the murals show?”
“......” x 2
Aesphyra and Isatia fell into a silent, wordless stare.
When it came to collective silence, Winnie truly was ahead of his time, a supreme master of silence.
“Ah, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Or misunderstand?” Winnie scratched his head.
“Winnie, could you say something nobody already knows?” Aesphyra asked with slight amusement.
“Uh...”
“Then, Winnie, according to your theory, if the slaves successfully overthrew the Mars people, why were these murals preserved? And why in the Mars people's artistic style?” Aesphyra questioned.
“Well, maybe the slaves kept them to mock the Mars people?” Winnie insisted.
“That doesn't make sense. Logically, when a civilization falls or declines, it suffers a dimensional collapse in art. And why didn't they destroy the statue outside the temple too? Why only smash the statue representing [Continuance], but leave the one symbolizing [Eternity] intact? What's the meaning behind that?” Aesphyra pressed further.
“Well... maybe the [Continuance] statue was just too ugly?” Winnie starts making things up.
Because his theory was indeed too crude, many aspects couldn't be explained.
“But still, we can't confirm whether the Mars civilization was destroyed by slave retaliation, right?” Winnie added.
Isatia then took out a recording stone, documenting the interior of the temple. After finishing, she put it away.
“Are there any more areas you need to inspect closely?” Isatia asked.
“No,” Aesphyra shook her head.
As for Winnie, what could he possibly need to examine in detail? He didn't understand any of it.
“Isatia, did you discover anything new?” Winnie asked curiously.
“It's too early to draw any conclusions,” Isatia shook her head.
Perhaps the Carillian Academy's current investigation progress hadn't even reached half of what Isatia already knew.
“So how do we get out? Retrace our steps?” Winnie changed at the path they came from.
“No need.” Isatia walked to the broken altar at the center of the temple platform, turned around, and stepped forward several paces. She stopped before a floor tile beneath the altar, knelt down, and tapped it, producing a hollow sound. Then, she removed the tile, revealing a lever-like mechanism underneath.
Pulling it down, the side walls of the temple split open from both ends, revealing a path.
Winnie stared in utter astonishment.
“This is a passage to the rear of the temple, probably reserved for priests,” Isatia explained.
“Isatia, were you a high priestess of the Mars civilization in your past life?” Winnie exclaimed. “How do you know this place so well, like it's your own home?”
The three stepped into the opened passage and soon emerged behind the temple through a newly opened wall.
“Click, click, click.” The instant they stepped out, the wall sealed shut again.
Winnie looked out at the endless yellow sands and scattered ruins, then turned sideways at Isatia, his gaze shifting.
The three continued walking through the desert.
“Could this be a residential area?” Winnie asked, turning toward the dwellings emerging from the sands.
Isatia didn't answer. She stared silently at the rows of low buildings ahead.
So this was where the Mars people lived? Just as expected, each looked like a mole's burrow, extremely inconspicuous, just a small earthen mound on the surface providing shelter from wind and rain, with the interior extending deep underground.
The three entered one of the small mounds and inspected it. It contains basic living facilities, beds, cabinets, oil lamps, tables and chairs, dried food bags, etc.
But these earthen huts clearly hadn't been lived in for a very long time.
“Chaotic,” Isatia suddenly said, stepping out of one hut.
“Chaotic? You mean the inside of these huts are messy?” Winnie thought it wasn't too bad, though living underground in perpetual darkness wasn't something he could easily accept.
“Isatia is referring to the layout here being extremely disordered,” Aesphyra explained. “Normally, temples used for worship are built far from residential areas, near the center of governance. But we barely left the temple before stumbling upon the Mars people's residential district.”
“Earlier too, the base of the Ouroboros serpent statue was chipped and placed in front of a temple not dedicated to it. The temple interior was even more chaotic.”
“This Mars civilization dungeon can be summed up in one word: chaotic.”
With Aesphyra's explanation, Winnie finally understood.
This dungeon definitely wasn't formed passively. But if it wasn't passive, why would a deliberate dungeon be so chaotic? Especially for the ritual-obsessed Mars people, this was highly unusual.
It was as if someone had haphazardly stuffed a random assortment of things into this dungeon with no order at all.