47: Chapter 47 Materials for the Future Nest City

Hearing this, Xia Xingchen was stunned on the spot. What do you mean you have no way to open this gate?

"We have heavy artillery, weapons, and even an entire warship; now you're telling me you can't even open a single gate?"

Xia Xingchen walked up to the gate and looked at the rust-stained frame, thinking to himself, "No way, a door like this actually has you guys stumped?"

Xia Xingchen reached out to push the door, thinking, "Isn't this going to be easy?"

Wait...

Why does it seem like it won't budge?

Xia Xingchen shoved hard a few times, hearing the entire gate let out a creaking sound as if it were about to crack open at any second, yet it remained steady and refused to be pushed open.

Surprised, Xia Xingchen tried once more, but no matter how much force he applied, he couldn't move the gate in the slightest.

Xia Xingchen looked at the gate with curiosity, muttering to himself, "Wait, what the hell is going on?"

"Have you tried using bombs or cannons?"

"We have. The only thing we haven't tried is an Orbital Strike."

Xia Xingchen knew an Orbital Strike was impossible, as it would blow away the mountain along with everything underground.

Seeing no other choice, Xia Xingchen began to examine the rusted gate closely. Since brute force wouldn't work, it meant the gate required some special method to open.

Under Xia Xingchen's careful observation, he soon discovered a groove on the gate, and the shape of this groove was exactly the Empire's double-headed eagle emblem.

Xia Xingchen looked curiously at the Imperial double-headed eagle groove, which had long since been filled with weeds and moss.

If one didn't look closely, they wouldn't notice the mysterious groove at all; this had to be the key to opening the gate.

The problem was that the key had long been lost to history. Should he find an double-headed eagle pattern or try to forge one?

It seemed he had to insert an Imperial double-headed eagle emblem to open the gate.

Xia Xingchen decided to give it a try.

But the problem was, where would he find an Imperial double-headed eagle emblem?

Xia Xingchen turned around and asked Nuwa and the members of the Iron Heart Society behind him.

Especially the Iron Heart Society; they had previously been affiliated with the Imperial Adeptus Mechanicus, so they must have an double-headed eagle emblem.

But the people from the Iron Heart Society shook their heads helplessly; those things had long since been melted down and recycled into resources.

After all, since they were no longer with the Empire, who would still carry an double-headed eagle medal?

Hearing the Iron Heart Society's response, Xia Xingchen couldn't help but frown. What should he do now?

Just as Xia Xingchen was feeling distressed, he suddenly noticed everyone's eyes were focused on him.

"What is it? Is there something on me?"

Xia Xingchen followed their gaze and looked down at his own chest.

Oh, right! How could I forget? The Emperor gave me an double-headed eagle medal too!

Xia Xingchen slapped his head, having nearly forgotten about it.

Xia Xingchen quickly unpinned the double-headed eagle medal from his chest and compared it; the size was just right to fit into the groove.

Without hesitation, Xia Xingchen embedded the double-headed eagle medal into the groove.

Xia Xingchen took a deep breath and waited for a moment, but strangely, nothing seemed to happen.

Just as Xia Xingchen thought the medal was useless...

...the next second, the gate suddenly spat the medal out.

So it really was useless after all.

Xia Xingchen took the medal and looked at the mysterious gate with a worried face, thinking to himself:

When the Imperial Adeptus Mechanicus built this gate back then, what on earth did they put inside it?

Just as Xia Xingchen thought he had failed, the gate suddenly let out a rumbling sound of machinery turning.

It worked!

In the next second, the entire heavy gate slowly opened inward.

The pitch-black darkness inside the gate made Xia Xingchen feel a bit nervous.

But as if the entire underground space could read his mind, within a few seconds, the lights on both sides of the corridor lit up one by one with a series of thuds.

"My Lord, you succeeded!"

Leovitos walked to Xia Xingchen's side and, looking at the path illuminated by the lights, spoke in his signature mechanical voice.

Xia Xingchen nodded, then took the lead and walked down the corridor.

Everyone followed closely behind Xia Xingchen for nearly a hundred meters until a massive underground space appeared before him.

No, it wasn't just an underground space.

Xia Xingchen looked around and was shocked to find an entire warship embedded within the underground rock layers.

The entrance had been widened by the warship's armor, and pillars had been added to support the underground structure.

Xia Xingchen could only describe the sight before him as superb craftsmanship; the entire warship seemed to have completely merged with the planet.

Just how long had it been stored here?

Leovitos quickly walked to the warship's hatch and examined it carefully with his eyepiece.

As red light emitted from the Servo-skull and completed a full scan, he soon obtained the exact information about this warship.

A cold mechanical voice emanated from his vocalizer, reaching everyone's ears clearly.

"My Lord, detection confirms this is a Battlecruiser, a model from the Great Crusade era; the specific model can no longer be identified."

Leovitos's words made everything clear to Xia Xingchen.

Xia Xingchen looked at the warship in front of him and reached out to knock on the hull.

"In other words, it's impossible for it to fly into space again, right?"

Leovitos nodded.

"How high is this Holy Mountain behind us?"

A thought had already formed in Xia Xingchen's mind: to use this warship as material to build a Hive City.

"Approximately five thousand five hundred meters."

That's enough; this height has fully met the Empire's standards for building a Hive City.

And Leovitos's next words made Xia Xingchen completely certain that a Hive City could definitely be built here.

"Beneath the Hive City is a very stable tectonic plate, and the body of this Holy Mountain is composed entirely of incredibly solid, ultra-hard granite."

"Dismantle this warship and use it all as our infrastructure material. We must ensure the foundation of the future Holy Mountain City's Hive City is firmly anchored in the rock."

Xia Xingchen directly named his future Hive City "Holy Mountain City."

"As you command, My Lord."

Leovitos hadn't even considered repairing the warship.

Whenever a warship makes a forced landing on a planet's surface, it's safe to assume its keel is likely broken; repairing it would be less efficient than simply building a new one.

The technicians of the Iron Heart Society quickly took up their cutting equipment and forcibly carved an entrance into the warship's hull.

The first thing they needed to do was scavenge all useful materials from inside the warship and move them all out.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchen left all matters here entirely in the hands of Leovitos and returned to the surface with Nuwa.

But as soon as Xia Xingchen reached the surface, a shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.