21st Century Necromancer

When Chen Yu and Major General Claire disembarked from the Solar Boat and set foot in the Garden of Osiris, the breathtaking scenery before them left both feeling an irresistible sense of tranquility.

The entire Garden of Osiris was surrounded by waterways, with a massive temple at its center, identical to the ancient Temple of Osiris previously seen in Abydos. However, this Temple of Osiris was perfectly intact.

In front of the temple stood not only a tall, pristine obelisk but also two grand statues carved from obsidian, depicting Horus with a falcon head and Anubis with a jackal head.

This gave the temple a sense of majesty and solemnity, although it appeared less weathered by time.

Surrounding the temple were rectangular tombs separated by stone-paved paths. Most of the tombs were sealed, but some remained empty.

Regardless of whether a tomb was in use, each one had an obelisk and statues of Horus and Anubis in front of it.

The water flow that had brought them in was channeled through designed waterways, separating each tomb and the central temple, adding a touch of grace to the place.

The lotus flowers growing in the waterways further infused life into this garden of the Underworld King, making it appear less lifeless.

"No pyramids here?" Major General Claire curiously inspected the surroundings, asking with some confusion.

In her mind, the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs should be grandiose pyramids, yet there wasn't a single pyramid in the Garden of Osiris.

"In pre-dynastic Ancient Egypt, pharaohs used mud-brick tombs until Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty, who commissioned his minister Imhotep to design and build Egypt's first pyramid." Chen Yu found it unsurprising that there were no pyramids here, as he had previously asked Professor Smith the same question.

Upon hearing Chen Yu's explanation, Major General Claire nodded in confused understanding.

However, Claire was not concerned with Ancient Egyptian burial practices; she scrutinized a nearby sealed tomb, observing the flames burning under the obelisk, and asked Chen Yu, "So should we open these tombs, Mr. Chen Yu?"

Even as she asked, Claire appeared eager to try.

However, Chen Yu shook his head directly, looking at the temple in the center of the garden: "A single tomb would have no more than one pharaoh's mummy and some burial goods. I am more interested in what lies within the central temple."

With that, Chen Yu led his summoned undead soldier towards the central temple.

Chen Yu's words made Major General Claire realize, evidently, the most valuable site in the Garden of Osiris was indeed the central temple dedicated to Osiris.

Compared to the temple, what value did these surrounding tombs hold?

It should be noted that, according to mythology, Osiris's body was buried at Abydos. What place in all of Abydos, or even in all of Egypt, could be more fitting for the burial of His body than His own garden?

Understanding this situation, Major General Claire hurried to catch up with Chen Yu, stepping on stone slabs engraved with Ancient Egyptian script as they headed towards the central temple.

As they advanced, Chen Yu examined everything within the garden with keen interest.

Though called a garden, it resembled a vast communal cemetery, even similar to a modern cemetery.

However, its scale was grand and overflowed with divine power.

Each tomb in the garden was surrounded by waterways that separated the tomb from the surrounding stone paths, making each tomb an independent existence. Used tombs would be completely disconnected from the surrounding paths, while empty tombs still had connecting roads allowing slaves to carry mummies inside.

The obelisks and statues at the tomb entrances were evidently decorative, but they also served as defensive structures.

The obelisks bore inscriptions praising the accomplishments of the tomb owners and possessed certain defensive capabilities, although the primary defense in the garden came from the two statues at each tomb entrance.

In the mythology of Ancient Egypt, Horus was the guardian god of pharaohs, and Anubis was the guardian god of the deceased. Erecting their statues before the tombs was meant to invoke their protection for the peace of the deceased in the afterlife.

In Chen Yu's perception, these two statues were charged with two different divine powers, linked to the two grand statues before the temple at the garden's center.

Chen Yu believed that if he attempted to intrude on any tomb, the statues at the entrance would instantaneously animate into incarnations of the deities to block him, and even if he defeated the statues at the tomb entrance, he would likely trigger the garden's defense mechanisms, causing the two grand statues to animate.

Though Chen Yu felt confident in dealing with the two grand statues, he preferred to avoid fighting them if unnecessary.

Crossing the garden path, Chen Yu and Major General Claire stood at the temple's entrance.

Chen Yu studied this temple, which was identical in form to the one seen in Abydos but appeared to exude an entirely different aura.

The Abydos temple was submerged underground, whereas this temple stood on the surface.

Chen Yu couldn't fathom why there was such a distinction. Perhaps it represented a difference between the temple in the world of the living and that of the dead, so he didn't dwell on it and directly entered the temple.

The interior of the temple was not large. Still, unlike the ruined temple in Abydos, this well-preserved temple exerted an inexplicable pressure on both Chen Yu and Major General Claire as they entered.

This pressure emanated from a massive stone coffin enshrined within the temple.

"Is that Osiris's coffin?" Major General Claire whispered to Chen Yu, the solemn atmosphere inside the temple subconsciously lowering her voice, fearing to offend the deities.

Chen Yu nodded with a solemn expression, now fully confident in his assessment.

"Indeed, it likely contains Osiris's mummy." Chen Yu was now on high alert, drawing his weapon: "In Egyptian mythology, Osiris, as the first mummy, was resurrected when his wife reassembled his body into thirteen pieces, so be cautious; there's a real risk of the Underworld King coming back to life."