I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

Inside the command post of the Black Iron Army camp, the air seemed to solidify into solid blocks of lead.

Benjamin stood before the massive oak tactical table, his hands, gripping the edge of his top hat tightly, still trembling slightly despite his best efforts to control himself.

He had just handed over the intelligence that was enough to change the course of the entire battle to Colonel Vance, who was now presenting it to the Iron Duke, who sat serenely in the shadows.

Duke Balthazar did not speak immediately.

His large, calloused hands slowly unfurled the parchment, his gaze like two sharp carving knives, scraping every word on the paper inch by inch.

"Biobeacon... Western Sea aliens... guiding landing..."

The Duke repeated these keywords in a low voice, his tone eerily calm.

Suddenly, he raised his head. The anger that had been directed at Mortimer personally in his gray eyes had vanished, replaced by a cold, emotionless killing intent befitting an imperial commander.

"Vans." The Duke casually tossed the parchment onto the table with a soft thud. "Notify the artillery regiment to reload with Type III armor-piercing shells."

Colonel Vance's body jolted, a look of astonishment flashing in his eyes: "Sir, that's a strategic reserve used to attack fortress-level defenses. If used at this distance, the three blocks surrounding the Necropolis Tower would be razed to the ground."

"Then raze it to the ground."

The Iron Duke stood up, his tall figure casting a huge shadow.

He walked to the wall with the map of the capital, drew his sword from his waist, and pointed the tip heavily at the location of the Necropolis.

"Mortimer isn't just engaging in political infighting; he's selling out his country. Traitors don't need trial; they just need destruction."

The Duke turned to look at the trembling Benjamin, a cold, hard smile curving his lips: "Tell that brat named Rhodes that he did a good job. If the King's City can hold this position, I will personally award him a medal. Now, get out of here and stop getting in my way."

Benjamin felt as if he had been granted a pardon and scrambled out of the command post.

Ten minutes later, on the artillery position in the western district of the royal capital, thirty-six massive black iron magic cannons raised their muzzles.

The cooling runes engraved on the cannon lit up one by one, emitting a chilling red light.

"put!"

As the commander waved his flag, the earth trembled violently.

Thirty-six dazzling streaks of light ripped through the night sky, accompanied by a piercing shriek, crashing down on the tower shrouded in green poisonous mist like a meteor shower.

"Boom! Boom!"

The explosion's flames instantly engulfed the outer defenses of the Necropolis.

The originally tough dark yellow barrier shattered in less than three seconds before being confronted by armor-piercing bullets designed specifically for exorcising magic.

A violent shockwave swept out, tearing the surrounding buildings to shreds like paper.

At the same time, a golden signal flare was launched from the direction of the royal palace.

That was the signal that Sieg was sending.

The king has received intelligence that the Royal Mage Corps is gathering on the high walls of the palace, ready to snipe any target attempting to escape the tower from a distance.

Meanwhile, on the streets, the Holy Knights of the Church of the Morning Star began their advance.

"For the glory!"

Hundreds of paladins clad in silver armor stood in neat square formations, their longswords and shields gleaming with a holy white light.

They stood like a white dam, forcefully holding back the horde of mutated zombies surging from the sewers and shadows.

Each swing of the sword would bring forth a shower of green blood, and each shield bash would send infected individuals attempting to self-destruct flying.

The priests behind them kept sprinkling holy water and purifying dust, suppressing the pervasive poisonous fog to a foot above the ground.

Iron and fire, light and darkness, were completely intertwined at this moment.

……

While the war raged on the surface, a different scene unfolded deep underground.

Rod carried a specially modified alchemical lamp whose light was limited to a range of half a meter as he walked through a long-abandoned underground drainage ditch.

Here, fifty meters below the surface, the thick rock layers filtered out most of the explosion sounds, leaving only the occasional dull tremors and the fine dust falling from the cracks in the rocks above.

Professor Isaac followed behind Rhodes, clutching a stack of blueprints tightly in his hands. These were his reconstructions of the underground pipe network of the capital city based on ancient documents.

"Rhodes, are we really going to go in this way?" the professor asked in a low voice, his tone tinged with unease. "This route is marked as abandoned on the blueprints, and it runs right under the foundation of the tower. What if it collapses..."

"It won't collapse, Professor."

Rhodes stopped and reached out to touch the slippery rock wall.

Through the touch of his fingertips, he could sense that the rock structure here was exceptionally stable, even reinforced by some kind of earth magic.

"Mortimer is a man who values ​​his life. Since he dared to make such a commotion up there, he must have made the foundation as solid as a rock. The more intense the shelling up there is, the safer it is here, because everyone's attention is drawn to the sky and the ground."

Rod continued forward, his steps light and precise, avoiding every puddle on the ground that might make a sound.

The Ironbeak Raven in his mind was fully aware of its surroundings, scanning the activity around it like a radar.

This is the sanitation system of the Necropolis, and also the dirtiest and most easily overlooked blind spot in the entire defense system.

Logically, this place should be filled with warning runes and highly poisonous traps.

But at this moment, Rhodes did not sense any magical fluctuations.

"Too clean," Rhodes thought to himself.

This is not in Mortimer's character.

Unless... the defenses here don't need runes at all.

After walking for about twenty more minutes, the passage ahead gradually widened, and the sound of flowing water became clearer.

A strong, metallic, rusty smell of heat hit me in the face.

"arrive."

Rhodes stopped and raised the alchemical lamp.

The lights illuminated the view ahead.

This is a circular underground cavity located directly beneath the Necropolis.

Several thick sewage pipes protrude from the rock formations overhead, like giant blood vessels, converging into a deep pool in the center.

But at this moment, no sewage flowed out of the deep pool.

It was sealed off.

It was not sealed by rock or steel, but by a silvery-gray substance that was slowly creeping and had a mercury-like luster.

This substance, as if it were alive, filled the entrance to the entire deep pool and continued to spread to the surrounding rock walls, as if it wanted to envelop the entire underground cavity.

"This is..." Professor Isaac leaned forward, adjusted his glasses, and a look of shock appeared in his eyes: "This is living metal?!"

Rhodes' pupils contracted slightly.

He extended his left hand, a drop of secondary acid condensing at his fingertips, and gently flicked it towards the silvery-gray substance.

"Sizzle!"

No corrosion reaction occurred the moment the acid came into contact with the metal surface.

Instead, the surface of the metal rippled, quickly caved in, engulfed the acid, and then returned to its smooth state.

The whole process took less than a second, and the smooth fluidity made it seem less like metal and more like a high-density biological tissue.

"The pinnacle of ancient alchemy."

Rhodes' voice turned serious: "I saw records of this in the forbidden section of the library. The alchemists of the Third Era attempted to create a building material that could self-repair and adapt to any environment. They fused slime fluids, memory metal, and the blood of some high-level magical beast to create this thing."

"It is not only indestructible, but it can also block all magical detection and physical intrusion. Unless you have a specific frequency key, even if you bombard it with a magical cannon, you can only temporarily deform it, but you cannot penetrate it."

Professor Isaac's face turned pale: "What do we do then? This thing completely blocks the entrance; we can't get in."

Rod did not answer.

He walked up to the lump of living metal, less than half a meter away from it.

Suddenly, the "Species Atlas" in my mind emitted an extremely faint but very high frequency vibration.

This tremor wasn't due to the discovery of a new species, but rather... resonance.

Rhodes keenly sensed that something very familiar seemed to be mixed inside this mass of living metal.

He closed his eyes and activated the [Steel-bristled Wild Boar] gene within his body.

Gene fragments originating from ancient war creatures, possessing a natural affinity for metals, began to activate.

Rhodes extended his right hand, his palm remaining in its original fleshy state, without activating [Stone Skin], and gently pressed it against the cold, slippery metal surface.

"Buzz..."

A peculiar pulse traveled through his palm into his body.

This mass of living metal is not dead; it is breathing.

Its breathing frequency was surprisingly in sync with the vibration frequency of the bones in Rhode's body, which had been enhanced by the [Abyssal Dragon Spinal Fluid].

"I see."

Rhodes opened his eyes, a glint of shrewdness flashing in them.

"Although Mortimer obtained this ancient material, he did not have complete control over it. He merely used some coercive means to put it in a state of lockdown."

"But the underlying logic of this thing is biological."

Rhodes turned to Isaac: "Professor, put away your alchemical explosives. Violence won't work against this."

"Then what should we use?"

"Use deception."

Rhodes took a deep breath, and the magic within his body began to circulate along a specific path.

Beneath his skin, his black bones began to tremble slightly, emitting a low-frequency sound wave that could only be perceived through contact.

At the same time, he controlled the genes of the [Poison Vine Demon], causing it to secrete a special enzyme that could mimic biological fluids, which covered the surface of his palm.

He wanted to make this living metal mass mistake him for one of their own, or... a higher-ranking predator.

"Open the door."

Rhodes gave a low shout and suddenly exerted force with his palm, injecting the simulated biological signal into the metal.

The silver-gray surface trembled violently.

The originally tightly bound metal molecular chains began to rapidly deconstruct and recombine upon receiving this signal.

Under Professor Isaac's dumbfounded gaze, the living metal that had sealed off the entire entrance slowly parted to both sides like receding tides, revealing a deep passage covered with silver threads, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

At the end of the passage, a spiral staircase leading upwards can be vaguely seen, along with faint lights shining down from above, emitting a ghastly green glow.

"This is the basement of the Necropolis."

Rhodes withdrew his hand, and the mass of metal slowly writhed behind him, seemingly ready to close again at any moment.