A Technological Creation

The reason why Gray recognized this was an arrow shaft was because there were two metal fletchings on its end.

Could it be that this was also an arrow shaft used in rituals?

An arrow with a metal fletching obviously couldn't be used in actual combat. Gray had seen similar things before. It was called an empennage, and the thing that carried it was a missile.

The length of this arrow shaft was about half the length of Gray's arm. The surface was extremely smooth without any unnecessary patterns or decorations. It was completely different from the gorgeous arrowhead that he had found.

However, for some reason, Gray had a feeling that the arrowhead that he had gotten previously should have come from the same place as this arrow shaft.

There was no particular reason. The only connection was that the appearance of these two items was so coincidental that it was puzzling. Both of them came from this mysterious forest that had no traces of civilization.

Gray felt that there was no way that several relics of civilization could be buried in this forest at the same time.

However, if the arrowhead and the arrow shaft came from the same place, it was a strange thing. He did not know why the dragon egg had only sensed the presence of magic energy in the arrow shaft and not the arrowhead.

However, it was also possible that the arrowhead was small in size, so the magic energy in it might have been lost.

Gray reached out his hand to the shaft. The moment he touched it, the shaft felt warm in his hand. It didn't feel as cold as he had imagined. It didn't feel like a hard metal at all. Instead, it felt like a polished glass product.

Gray held the end of the shaft in his hand and lifted it with force. The shaft came out smoothly from the soil without any resistance.

"Clack!"

As soon as it came out of the soil, something detached from the shaft and fell to the ground, breaking into pieces.

Gray looked down, and his expression changed.

That was the arrowhead of this arrow. That wasn't the main point. The main point was that the arrowhead looked very similar to the one he had obtained earlier.

Although it was already broken beyond recognition, Gray could clearly see some similar patterns.

There was no doubt that these two things came from the same civilization!

As Gray pulled out the arrow, the dragon egg began to become more and more excited. Its joyful mood was transmitted unreservedly to Gray through his inner senses.

This feeling was very similar to discovering a mana crystal. Gray could sense that this meant that there was mana hidden in this arrow.

However, unlike with mana crystals, the dragon egg still didn't have any desire to devour the arrow.

Puzzled, Gray directly asked,

"Do you want this arrow?"

The dragon egg transmitted a feeling of denial.

"Then why are you so excited about this arrow?"

The dragon egg paused, as if thinking about how to express its thoughts. However, after a while, it seemed that it still couldn't find a suitable expression in the end, and the dragon egg finally gave up.

Being restricted by its lack of a physical body, and only being able to transmit its spiritual perception, many of its thoughts could not be transmitted very well.

Then, the dragon egg could only continuously transmit happiness or reluctance to Gray, as if it was afraid that Gray would throw away the arrow because its description was not accurate.

The dragon egg's small thoughts made Gray smile. He knew that even if there was no request from the dragon egg, he would still bring the arrow with him.

Needless to say, this arrow seemed to have gathered a high amount of mana that he might be able to use. There were probably more secrets behind this arrow. It was worth it for Gray to bring it with him.

At the very least, the trees in this forest had become unusually tall. It should have something to do with this arrow.

Gray carefully analyzed the arrow again. At the front of the arrow shaft, he found a strange protrusion.

This protrusion was extremely small, but it did not fit the smoothness of the arrowhead itself.

Gray pressed lightly on the protrusion and was surprised to find that the protrusion could be pressed down.

It was a bracket!

Gray was a little surprised. He had originally thought that this metal-forged arrow should be made by casting. After all, to make an arrow purely from metal using the casting method was probably the most time-saving and labor-saving method.  He had not expected that there was another mystery behind this arrow.

It seemed that there was a mechanism at the front of the arrow shaft. Looking at the extremely smooth surface of the arrow, the level of the craftsmanship had exceeded Gray's original estimation.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Gray's mind, and he pulled out the arrowhead that he had taken from before.

He compared the tip of the arrow shaft to the bottom of the arrowhead and came up with a bold idea.

Gray aimed the tip of the arrow shaft at the bottom of the arrowhead and gently pushed it inward.

The arrowhead easily slid into the arrowhead. It was actually perfectly sealed!

Before Gray could be surprised, the arrow let out a click.

Gray realized that the bracket at the tip of the arrowhead had been activated.  In Gray's opinion, it was probably a mechanism used to stabilize the arrowhead.

However, an astonishing change began with the activation of the mechanism.

"Buzz buzz buzz."

There was actually a series of mechanical sounds coming from the arrow shaft. Gray's impression of such sounds might have come from a motor or the rapid rotation of gears, but it definitely couldn't have come from a slender, pure metal arrow.

Gray's first reaction was to throw the arrow on the ground.

He realized that he might have inadvertently activated the creation by this unknown civilization.

There was no time to be surprised or exclaim over the ingenuity of this creation. Gray threw the arrow down, turned around, and was about to escape.

Who knew what the real purpose of this arrow was? It was better to be careful against this kind of inexplicable thing. The dangerous jungle exploration didn't kill him, and he didn't want to die under his own whim.

Just as Gray was about to turn around, he saw something.

The whirring mechanical sound suddenly stopped.

Gray looked at the arrow on the ground. After a while, the arrow no longer moved.

After barely confirming that it was safe, Gray walked forward and carefully picked up the arrow again.

After the accident just now, Gray's impression of this arrow, and even his impression of that unknown civilisation, had changed dramatically.

The sound just now could not be faked. It was definitely the sound of machinery working. There was no doubt that this seemingly ordinary metal arrow was actually a technological creation!

And that unknown civilization that he had never seen before was probably a species that was not inferior to the previous human civilization on Earth!