I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

The massive anchor chain of the steam-powered ironclad warship crashed into the water, stirring up murky waves.

With a piercing whistle, the silver-white airship bearing the emblem of the Truth Society slowly descended, its massive airbags obscuring the already dim light and casting shadows that enveloped the entire breakwater.

"Everyone back off! Back off beyond the cordon!"

Before the airship had even come to a complete stop, two teams of battle mages in dark blue uniforms jumped down from the deck.

Instead of immediately rescuing the wounded or distributing supplies, they brandished their staffs and quickly erected a series of lightning-fast isolation barriers around the dock.

The surviving soldiers and civilians who had been cheering and rushing forward were violently pushed back like livestock.

"What are you doing! We're from the garrison!" A wounded officer tried to negotiate, but was thrown back by a battle mage's Ring of Fire, crashing heavily into a pile of rubble.

"Shut up, you fool." The mage glanced coldly at the officer on the ground, his eyes filled with arrogant condescension. "This is a Level 1 controlled area of ​​the Truth Society. Anyone who attempts to overstep the boundaries will be considered a rebel."

The cheers abruptly stopped.

The initial joy of surviving the ordeal quickly cooled, turning into bewildered fear and anger.

Benjamin, huddled behind Rhodes, watched this scene, his teeth grinding together: "This is... reinforcements? They look more like robbers coming to ransack the place."

"That's who they always were."

Rhodes stood behind a towering reef, his eyes coldly fixed on the cabin door of the airship.

With a soft hum of hydraulic transmission, the hatch opened, and a red carpet with gold trim was laid out in mid-air.

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged man dressed in an elaborate purple robe and holding a mithril staff slowly walked out.

He wore an all-knowing eye badge on his chest that shimmered with arcane light; it was the mark of a high-ranking member of the Society of Truth.

Amidst the ruins filled with mud, blood, and gunpowder, his spotless, magnificent robes seemed out of place, yet exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.

Rod recognized the man.

Anthony Victor.

The vice chairman of the Truth Society, and also a well-known arcane hawk in the capital.

It is said that this person had an almost pathological obsession with the excavation of ancient ruins, and in order to obtain magical items from the First Era, he did not hesitate to destroy several small duchies.

"It seems the energy fluctuations from Titan's self-destruction are even more tempting than I imagined," Rhodes thought to himself.

Anthony hovered in mid-air without landing.

He raised his staff, and the crystal ball at its tip emitted invisible ripples that swept across the entire Plymouth Harbor in an instant.

This is a high-level wide-area detection spell.

Rhode immediately suppressed his aura, and the [Ancient Siren Heart] within his body stopped pounding violently, instead simulating the magical frequency of an ordinary water mage.

At the same time, he secretly pressed down on the hidden pouch in his arms, using the force field properties of the [Immortal Body] to firmly lock down the fluctuations of that Titan core fragment.

A few seconds later, Anthony withdrew the detection ripple, his brow furrowing slightly.

He doesn't seem to have found what he wants most.

"landing."

Anthony waved and slowly landed on the breakwater.

He ignored the awe or fear in the eyes of those around him and walked straight to the area at the very center of the explosion, where high concentrations of etheric radiation remained.

"Summon the person in charge here." Anthony's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly throughout the entire port through amplification. "I need to know every detail of what happened here yesterday. Especially... the whereabouts of that giant construct."

Several battle mages immediately dispersed and began searching for the highest-ranking person in the crowd.

Rod patted Benjamin on the shoulder, signaling him to stay where he was, then straightened his slightly disheveled collar and walked out on his own.

"Chairman Victor."

Rhodes' voice was calm and hoarse, revealing the weariness of a great battle.

He removed his hood, revealing a young but pale face and a badge on his chest that, though dusty, remained prominent.

"I am Rod Griffin, the interim commander here."

Anthony stopped and turned around, his pale purple eyes scanning Rhodes up and down.

"Rhodes Griffin..." Anthony's tone carried a hint of disdain, but it softened slightly upon seeing the royal crest. "I've heard of you. However, this isn't your laboratory. Tell me, where's that big guy?"

He pointed to the huge, swirling crater on the sea surface.

"It's blown up," Rod replied simply.

"It exploded?" Anthony narrowed his eyes, and an invisible pressure from a third-circle mage instantly enveloped Rhodes. "Young man, it's foolish to lie in the face of truth. How could such a well-preserved machine be so easily destroyed? Did you hide it?"

As he questioned him, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, and the staffs in the hands of several battle mages were subtly aimed at Rhodes.

Rhodes was not intimidated by this oppressive aura.

The dragon bones within his body vibrated slightly, counteracting the pressure on his mind.

"Your Excellency Chairman, you should know better than I do," Rhodes said, pointing to the sea with a composed tone. "We are facing a Deepsea Whale Herder. It is a legendary creature approaching the fourth ring. If we hadn't detonated the Titan's power core, Plymouth would be a wasteland by now. You would only see corpses everywhere, not living people standing here reporting to you."

Rod paused, looked directly into Anthony's eyes, and offered an irrefutable reason: "Besides, with my capabilities, where do you think I could hide a fifty-meter-tall war machine? In my pocket?"

Anthony fell silent.

He scanned Rhodes with his mental energy once more.

Although there was a strange aura of bloodline, there was indeed no fluctuation of spatial equipment.

Moreover, the residual etheric radiation at the scene was extremely chaotic and violent, which indeed matches the characteristics of a power furnace overload and spontaneous explosion.

"What a terrible waste." Anthony sighed, heartbroken, staring at the massive crater in the sea as if it held not a machine, but his own flesh and blood. "That was a masterpiece of the First Era... used as a bomb. Foolish! Absolutely a crime!"

He turned his head and glared fiercely at Rhodes: "Since it's blown up, what about the wreckage? What about the core fragments? Surely something should have remained, right?"

"Most of them sank to the bottom of the sea." Rhodes spread his hands, looking helpless. "The remaining fragments were used by the soldiers to reinforce the defenses. As you can see, we lack everything here."

Anthony glanced at the precious alloy plates piled up on the defensive line as scrap metal, and his eye twitched violently.

"A bunch of barbarians..." he muttered under his breath.

Just then, a battle mage in charge of surveying the scene rushed over, holding a piece of charred metal fragment in his hands.

"Chairman! We detected high-purity remnants of the soul spark at the edge of the explosion! Although very faint, it is definitely present!"

Anthony's eyes lit up, and he grabbed the fragment, greedily sniffing it.

"That's right... it smells like ancient soul technology. Although it's burned away, that means the core technology is still there!"

He abruptly turned to look at Rhodes, his eyes filled with greed and suspicion: "Scholar Rhodes, as the initiator, you should have had access to that core. Hand over all the data you know about the initiation key and the Soul Fire. This is a requisition order from the Society of Truth."

See the picture poorly.

They really were there for the technology.

Rhodes sneered inwardly, but his face showed a troubled expression.

"Chairman, those data... are all in my head. But during yesterday's battle, I suffered a mental shock from the Whale Herder, and my memories are a bit jumbled. I need time to sort them out."

"Memory confusion?" Anthony sneered, raising his staff. The crystal ball at the top glowed with an eerie red light. "It's alright. The Society of Truth has a hundred ways to help you recall. For example... Mind Extraction Technique."

Benjamin saw this from a distance and tried to rush over in terror, but was blocked by the barrier.

Rhodes's eyes turned cold.

His right hand stealthily reached for the alchemical pistol at his waist, while his left hand gripped a bottle of highly concentrated corrosive liquid hidden in his sleeve.

If the other party really dares to make a move, he wouldn't mind creating another accident here.

Just as tensions were about to rise, a series of heavy footsteps accompanied by the clanging of armor approached.

"Anthony, stop with your interrogation tricks."

A rough, authoritative voice broke between the two.

A squad of elite soldiers clad in heavy black armor and wielding tower shields broke through the battle mage's defenses.

The leader was a burly general with a full beard.

The medal on his chest gleamed in the sunlight; it belonged to Rein Ironwall, the First Legion Commander under the Iron Duke.

Ryan strode over to Rod and blocked Anthony's view like an iron tower.

"Rhodes Griffin is a scholar appointed by the royal family and a hero of this battle." Raine's hand rested on the hilt of his greatsword, his grey eyes fixed on Anthony. "The military has taken over the defense of Plymouth. The people and things here are now under the command of the Iron Duke. Have you asked my sword before you touch him?"

Anthony's face turned extremely ugly.

"Raine, this is a matter of magic, and the military has no right to interfere."

"This is war!" Renn roared back without backing down. "On the battlefield, I'm the boss! Take your men and go salvage scrap metal from the sea, don't put on that arrogant act here!"

The two faced off, the air thick with tension.

Rhodes stood behind Raine, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.

This is the situation he wanted.

Although both the Truth Society and the military are there to reap the benefits, their interests are not aligned.

The military values ​​combat results and territory, while the school values ​​technology.

By making good use of the contradiction between these two factors, he can find a space to survive in the cracks.

"Since the military wants to protect him, I'll give the Iron Duke some face."

Anthony took a deep breath and withdrew his staff, but the malice in his eyes remained undiminished. "However, Scholar Rhodes, you can't escape the Society's hearing after returning to the capital. Hopefully, your memory will be back to normal by then."

After saying that, he snorted coldly, turned around and led the mages towards the sea to begin organizing the salvage operation.

Raine turned around and looked at Rhodes, his fierce expression softening slightly.

"Well done, lad. The Duke is very pleased with your results." Renn patted Rhodes on the shoulder, so hard he almost shoved him into the ground. "But don't get too excited. The Duke wants to see you. He has many questions about that Titan."

Rod rubbed his numb shoulder and nodded.

"I await your command at any time, General."