The next day, Law said goodbye to Salin and went to the treasury.
Crossing the towering walls, he once again stepped into the dust-covered imperial capital, making his way straight toward the tower-like structure.
Most of the antiques in the imperial capital had already been scavenged by Salin, but there were still plenty of gold and treasures left.
Law's target was the contents of the metal vault, after all, something the emperor had taken such great care to preserve surely couldn't be something as ordinary as gold.
Passing through the clusters of buildings and ascending the white jade steps, he entered the grand hall.
Click, click.
The glow of fluorescent stones illuminated the shadows of countless decayed weapons.
Walking down the staircase leading to the underground chamber, he soon arrived in the disheveled room. Without pause, he headed straight for the metal vault.
Since the settlement had just experienced such a major incident, Salin couldn't leave and thus didn't accompany him.
However, Law had already informed her of his intention to open the vault and investigate its contents.
Keeping his distance from the vault's door, Law moved to one side of the metal wall and immediately began cutting into it.
The unique glow of Nen slowly emanated from his palm, seeping into the metal wall like water.
With a pull of his arm, he extracted a square-shaped metal block and gently placed it on the ground before continuing to dig deeper into the gap.
The metal, despite its high quality and hardness, was as fragile as tofu under the power of Law's [God Hand].
Before long, Law had breached the metal wall of the vault. Measuring its thickness, he found it exceeded two meters. He couldn't fathom how the people of the imperial capital from that era had transported such massive amounts of metal or constructed such an exaggerated metal vault.
Thinking of the pyramids and the Great Wall on Earth, Law quickly dismissed his surprise. Before entering the vault through the passage he had created, he enveloped his body with his Domain as a precaution.
Though the nature of a vault differed from that of a tomb, there was no guarantee that it wasn't equipped with deadly traps designed to kill intruders… such as poison gas or mercury.
Suppressing the growing excitement in his chest, Law used the fluorescent light to survey the interior of the vault.
No ancient artifacts, no gemstones or gold, no treasures. The vast vault contained only a collection of books quietly placed on wooden shelves… nothing else of value.
"…Huh?"
Law stared in disbelief at the numerous books in the vault, unable to comprehend the thought process of the emperor from over a thousand years ago.
'To expend so much manpower and wealth to construct a metal vault of such staggering thickness… just to store books?'
"You've got to be kidding me."
Feeling a pang of frustration, Law walked up to one of the shelves and reached out to pull out a book. The moment his fingers touched it, the book silently crumbled into dust.
Witnessing this, he tried pulling out other books, but the result was the same… they all turned to powder.
Resigning himself, Law stopped touching the books and wandered around the vault, ultimately confirming the harsh truth: the vault contained not a single antique with Nen, only wooden shelves and books.
Judging by appearance alone, the books were made of paper.
Law recalled that the paper used in the oasis countries was all imported by merchants from outside.
Yet this thousand-year-old empire had preserved so many books.
"The greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment."
With a sigh, Law left the vault and resealed the passage he had dug, pretending he had never been there. He wouldn't share this information with anyone, leaving it to trick the next batch of people who might open the vault.
If even a portion of the books had survived, this place would have held significant research value. Handing it over to Ruin Hunters would have earned considerable merit and fame.
Leaving the underground chamber, Law returned to the surface and climbed to the top of the building, gazing quietly at the sprawling cityscape below.
The unending sandstorm, the endlessly churning black clouds.
The high-risk species lurking in the mountain paths.
The countless army ants on the grasslands.
How the strongest empire in history met its downfall.
Why a heavily-fortified vault was used to store paper books?
The reasoning and motives behind the construction of the golden chamber.
Many mysteries shrouded the imperial capital, and Law felt it was time for him to return to Elba.
Jumping down from the tower, he headed back toward the settlement.
The imperial capital still held plenty of gold and jewels, but Law didn't bother collecting them.
When the time came to leave, the amount he could carry would be limited. If he wanted to take everything, he'd have to be ruthless and make multiple trips.
For now, he had no such plans, so he paid no attention to the gold and treasures scattered throughout the royal city.
Upon returning to the settlement, Salin approached him and teased, "Did you open it? Was it a mountain of treasure inside?"
"There is no treasure mountain, just a pile of books." Law said seriously.
"Hah!" Salin slapped his shoulder dismissively, "Who are you trying to fool?"
'These days, even telling the truth was hard.'
Law shook his head slightly, deciding to drop the topic. Then, with a faint smile, he said, "I'm just teasing you."
"You're itching for trouble, aren't you?" Salin raised her hand and smacked him lightly on the head, "Come on, let's eat."
Law rubbed his head, which felt neither painful nor itchy, and followed Salin out.
In the settlement, people sat together in groups, each receiving an equal portion of steaming hot food.
Law finished his meal quickly, and then, without saying anything to Gel or Salin, he led Buhara toward the city's outskirts.
Gel noticed Law's movements and followed.
The grassland was eerily silent, with no signs of any living creatures.
"Wait here."
After saying this to Buhara, Law walked onto the grassland.
"Boss, what are you doing?" Buhara was startled when he saw Law heading into the grassland.
"You'll find out soon," Law replied without turning around, waving a hand dismissively.
At that moment, Gel also arrived at the rocky clearing, standing beside Buhara, her gaze fixed on Law, who was already dozens of meters away.
'This is fine. The sooner we test it, the sooner it's over.' She thought silently.
After walking nearly a hundred meters, the silent grassland suddenly stirred… first faintly, then with increasing intensity, until the ground itself trembled slightly.
"Here they come."
Law took out the glass vial, extracting half of the poison and letting it hover on his palm.
Boom!
A crimson tide burst from the ground, surging toward Law.
Law remained calm as the terrifying swarm of army ants closed in. With a flick of his wrist, he dispersed the poison on his palm, injecting it into the leading ants.
Then, with an explosive burst of Nen, he instantly retreated dozens of meters.
Bang!
The swarm crashed into empty air, the impact resonating dully.
The grating sound of hard exoskeletons scraping against each other became the only melody on the grassland.
Law retreated effortlessly back to the clearing, while the ants, like helpless insects unable to cross a chalk line, piled up at the edge, unable to advance even an inch farther.
"Now we just wait to see the results." Law said, glancing at Gel, who had followed.
Noticing his gaze, Gel said nothing, only observing the nearby swarm with a composed expression.
At this moment, a large section of the surging crimson tide suddenly collapsed, and the army ants in that area inexplicably dropped dead, only to be swiftly devoured by their living companions.
Gel noticed this scene and was secretly shocked, 'Could it be that he really managed to create an infectious poison?'
'Without proper equipment, sufficient materials, or test subjects… how was that even possible?'
On the grassland, within the seething mass of army ants, entire clusters would suddenly perish.
Their corpses were quickly eaten by others, and those that consumed them soon died as well. The cycle repeated endlessly.
Every second, countless ants died… yet the swarm showed no signs of shrinking, as more continued to crawl up from underground in an endless stream.
"Looks like we'll have to wait a while longer. Let's head back."
Law glanced up at the churning black clouds in the sky before turning away.
Seeing him leave, Buhara immediately followed.
Gel didn't move. She watched Law's retreating figure, her expression complicated.