Chapter 1 Undersea

Under Duncan's slightly clumsy but careful control, the submersible slowly adjusted its orientation.

The "base" beneath the Frost City-State, like a vast and strangely rough marine cliff, moved slowly in the dim seawater outside the porthole.

The sunlight from the surface above had faded, leaving only the beams of light from the three large searchlights at the front of the submersible. The beams cast huge spots of light on the surface of the "cliff," and beyond the spots of light was an unknown darkness.

A low hum and the hiss of certain valves automatically adjusting pressure occasionally reached his ears, and these monotonous and lifeless sounds only served to amplify a sense of… solitude.

It was the solitude that arose when an individual was separated from the group, when the mind was far from the borders of civilization, the unease that came from gradually sinking into an endless darkness, enveloped by an endless amount of seawater.

Agatha fell silent. She stood in front of the porthole, staring in one direction for a long time. After who knows how long, she softly broke the silence: "All the light is fading... but I can still 'see' the base of the city-state. It still emits a very, very faint light, the only thing I can see in the darkness."

The world she observed was clearly different from that seen by ordinary people.

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" Duncan's voice suddenly came from behind her.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that perhaps this is how we observe the world," Duncan said in a low voice, as if blending into the hum of the surrounding machinery. "The mortal world is like a sea, and if you consider the entire civilization as a whole, then you are like navigating in such a boundless abyss.

Distinguishing whether it is rock or metal."

Some debris fell rapidly in the water.

Agatha was stunned for a moment. The question seemed a little out of the blue, but after a brief thought, she shook her head. "As far as I know... there has never been such a case of drilling through. Because the underground is unsafe. The lower below sea level, the higher the probability of mutations appearing in the darkness. Even with the protection of steam and fire, mental pollution and bizarre accidents in the mines occur every year, not to mention digging deep down with the crazy idea of 'drilling through the city-state,' and..."

Duncan withdrew his gaze and looked around him.

This layer of sturdy spherical steel plate was created by countless "ordinary people" bit by bit, hammering and forging. These craftsmen, who may never step out of the city-state in their entire lives, used their skills and wisdom to send this magnificent submersible into the endless abyss beneath the city-state.

The sound of seawater being injected into the ballast tanks came from under his feet. The submersible slowly adjusted its angle and began to accelerate its descent. In the observation window in front, the undulating cliff face within the range of the searchlights continued to rise upward—the next moment, the scenery in the spot of light might turn into a vast expanse of dark water, or it might not.

This sense of oppression from being deeply immersed in vast darkness and constantly sinking was far greater than facing that strange hollow deep in the boiling gold mine.

Duncan, however, simply smiled and didn't respond. His gaze fell on the porthole, carefully observing the "cliff" that was gradually rising, using the beams of light from the searchlights.

Agatha also gripped the handrail in front of her, slightly relieved.

He carefully steered the submersible forward, hovering at an extremely close distance, and then skillfully found a control lever on the console and released the mechanical arm located at the very front of the submersible.

No matter how powerful the searchlights were, they could not find a target to illuminate in such a vast and boundless sea—Duncan could only see the vague boundaries of light and shadow extending from the porthole, but he could not see any reference points, whether inside or outside the light.

But such a vertical structure and such a regular "base" did not seem like something formed naturally.

Duncan manipulated the mechanical arm, trying to scrape some samples from this white, dense structure, but to no avail.

"Yes, for this boundless sea, a slightly distant gaze is insignificant," Duncan said softly, but then his tone changed. "But for us who are navigating in the darkness, even being able to see one more meter is of immeasurable significance."

"The known and measurable world brings us a precious sense of security, and we can no longer cast our gaze into the darkness beyond the ark... But it is these ordinary people, who make up the largest proportion, who are weak and powerless, who maintain the operation of the entire ark, and even support those pioneers and lunatics."

After who knows how long, they finally crossed the "fault line" at the base of the city-state.

But the "creaking" sound that often came from somewhere in the hull constantly reminded the people in the crew compartment that between this comfortable and dim cabin and the billions of tons of seawater outside, there was only a layer of sturdy spherical steel plate.

"I've always been curious about something," Duncan suddenly broke the silence. "For so many years, so many city-states, there has never been a lack of deep underground excavations, whether for mining, building underground facilities, or simply for research... Has no one ever dug through this 'base'?"

"A single fallen leaf may hide an entire forest behind it, a stubborn stone may stand behind an entire mountain, and a vine that flashes in the light may be just an outstretched tentacle of some mythical beast—beyond the glimmer is the unknown, and within the glimmer is only a one-sided impression of the truth presented to us at a specific location and time.

"The deeper it goes, the harder it gets." Duncan frowned, turned to look at the mechanical arm outside the porthole that was striking the "cliff." It had already knocked off some attachments, and after these loose debris fell off, the inner layer of the cliff revealed a darker, denser structure.

"Instead of this careful navigation, some people accidentally glimpse parts beyond the light, and then they go mad. Some people try to expand the light, and we call them pioneers—in many cases, there is not even a clear boundary between these pioneers and lunatics. And as for more people, they gather inside the 'civilization' ark, gathering within the limited light that is enough to illuminate their feet, lowering their heads, carefully containing their vision.

Very suddenly, the "cliff" within the range of the searchlights came to an abrupt end, and the huge spot of light was like being swallowed by darkness, and the boundless dark water rushed towards them.

In the light, the mechanical arm slowly unfolded, and the pointed structure at its end touched the "cliff" in front and lightly tapped and scraped.

"We are called 'ordinary people.'"

But its surface seemed to have faint, regular lines, just like... the crisscrossing grooves of some kind of creature's skin.

My "vision's" last glimmer disappeared.

The texture looked like stone, and the surface was covered with parasites similar to seaweed and coral.

"I didn't expect you to be such a person, and I didn't expect you to be so sentimental." A smile seemed to appear on Agatha's face. "Ah, I always forget that you were originally the greatest explorer in this world."

"The unknown darkness covers the entire world. We carefully peek at the scenery that occasionally emerges from the darkness from the lights of civilization, and try to deduce and piece together the outline of the entire world from these fleeting images. However, we have almost never had the opportunity to truly understand the entire truth behind these lights and shadows.

The cabin lighting shone down from above, and everything in the submersible was bathed in light. After staring at the darkness outside for too long, looking back at this comfortable cabin did indeed make one feel a sense of heartfelt relief.

He casually turned off the main lighting in the cabin, leaving only the necessary lights on the console.

But the inside of the debris seemed to be a softer structure.

She paused, sorted through her memories, and then said: "And even if someone really had such a crazy idea to dig deep down, no one seems to have ever succeeded. I heard that the Academy of Truth has tried this, and their conclusion is... when digging to a certain depth, the drill can't go any further. The deeper it goes, the harder it gets, until even the softest and most advanced drill breaks."

Along with the noise from the ballast tanks, the submersible continued to descend.

Agatha was silent for a long time, then said softly: "Actually... I often feel fortunate that my eyes can now see more than ordinary people. Like you said, we are all navigating in a boundless darkness, so my eyes can now see a little further in places where the light doesn't reach, but I often feel frustrated, because compared to this endless darkness, this slightly farther vision seems meaningless..."

"I described a desperate world to you, because this world is so wonderful to begin with. My attitude is optimistic, because I am an optimistic person to begin with," Duncan said casually. "We can't change this world, but 'attitude' belongs to us."

"The world you describe is almost hopeless, but your attitude seems to be forever optimistic," Agatha said. "That makes me... a little surprised."

The interior of the submersible darkened. However, with the change in the contrast of light, the beams of light from the high-power searchlights in the darkness outside the porthole appeared even more obscure, and the details on the surface of the "cliff" became increasingly insignificant within the range of this spot of light.

After all, exploring the "huge unknown entity" directly below the Frost City-State was his primary goal for this trip, and on the premise that it was uncertain whether there would be a second deep-sea dive, he couldn't waste the submersible's precious battery life halfway.

Various guesses arose in Duncan's mind, and even some bold exploration plans emerged, but in the end, he tried his best to suppress this curiosity and began to control the submersible to continue moving into the deep sea.

The mechanical arm was not powerful enough, and the white substance was softer than expected... some kind of "bottom shell"?

Oh my...