AHumanMadeMOFO
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Chapter 244: I Won’t Forget This Grudge! (1)
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 13:47:49 +0000 UTCAfter the robots finished exploring the underground ruins and confirmed that there was no danger and good ventilation, Josh finally led Vito and the others inside.
"What a shame. No danger usually means no real value," Josh sighed as they walked through the underground passage.
Yes, after scanning the entire underground—no, rather, the underwater ruins, since the entire structure was actually below sea level—the robots found that it was quite large, comparable to a palace in ancient times.
However, although the ruins were intact, there were no artifacts, statues, or murals to reveal its origins. It was unexpectedly clean.
This suggested that the original inhabitants had left in an orderly fashion, unlike the Kree at Attilan, who had abandoned their site in a hurry.
This meant that the ruins were unlikely to contain anything of great value.
Still, the robots had discovered a strange area, so Josh decided to check it out with Vito and the others.
Following the robots, they soon arrived at a vast circular hall, with a radius of nearly a hundred meters—large enough to hold thousands of people.
The dome was high, over three meters, and the entire hall had no supporting pillars, making it an architectural marvel.
The most striking feature was an ancient looking stone platform in the center.
"Something was originally placed here," Vito noted, pointing to the center of the platform after a careful examination.
"Judging by the shape, it looks like it held a sword," commented another bodyguard.
A sword? What is this, the Bifrost? Josh scoffed at the thought.
But then something clicked. Why did he immediately think of the Bifrost?
The hall was magnificent, but it had none of the golden glory of Asgard. The architectural style wasn't even close to what was shown in the movies.
Hesitant, Josh approached the stone platform and examined the slot. His eyebrows furrowed.
"Boss?" Vito called out, noticing his strange expression.
Then, to their surprise, a sword suddenly appeared in Josh's hand.
If Dracula were here, he would have recognized it instantly—it was the broken steel sword he had given Josh.
While Vito and the others were still wondering how such a large two-handed sword had appeared out of nowhere, Josh hesitated.
The slot in the platform was an exact match for the broken steel sword.
But that made no sense. The sword was supposed to be a legendary artifact from European mythology. Josh had assumed it was made of Uru steel by the light elves of Alfheim and given to King Arthur.
Then why did it fit perfectly into a mysterious ruin in the Java region?
Had his previous assumptions been wrong?
And what would happen if he inserted the sword?
"Boss, should I try it?" Vito offered, noticing Josh's hesitation.
"Sure, go ahead," Josh replied without hesitation, smoothly handing him the sword.
Vito blinked in confusion, feeling the weight of the sword in his hands.
By the time he realized what had happened, Josh had already stepped back to the door.
Seeing the situation, the other three bodyguards quickly retreated to the doorway as well. They stood around Josh, staring at the ceiling as if hoping to find something fascinating up there.
The only ones left beside Vito were the loyal, duty-bound robots.
...Could you at least try to act human?
Vito felt utterly betrayed as he looked at Josh waving at him from the doorway and his three useless colleagues pretending to be statues.
He shook his head and dismissed the thought. It was just inserting a sword—what was there to worry about?
But just as he lifted the sword to place it in the slot, a breeze blew through. In an instant, the sword disappeared from his hands.
"WTF?" Vito waved his now empty hands in disbelief. He even checked his hilt, but there was nothing there.
Where was the sword?
He glanced at the slot—nothing.
"What's wrong, Vito? Where's the sword?" Josh's voice came through the robot's built-in communicator.
"Boss, I don't know! I was just about to put it in when I felt a gust of wind and then it was gone! I swear I didn't drop it!" Vito said worriedly.
A gust of wind... and the sword was gone?
Josh was stunned by Vito's explanation.
But then...
"Did any of you feel that breeze just now?" Josh frowned at the three bodyguards.
"Yes, boss... now that you mention it, I think there was a slight breeze," one of them replied after thinking for a moment.
"But don't you find it strange? This underground ruin has good airflow, but since we came in, we haven't felt any noticeable wind... until just now," Josh's expression darkened.
"Boss, are you saying that gust of wind... took the sword?" The bodyguards had overheard his conversation with Vito and were already wondering how the sword had disappeared so suddenly.
And now, from Josh's tone, it seemed that the wind wasn't just a natural phenomenon?
"Heh... if this is what I think it is, that wasn't wind. That was a person," Josh said through clenched teeth.
A person?
