Chapter 1 The Humid, Cold Second Waterway

In the damp, frigid Second Waterway corridor, the Gatekeeper strode deeper into the darkness.

The black uniform of the city-state's defender was tattered, the combat staff crafted with specialized technology was scarred, and pain and exhaustion felt like distant illusions. All that echoed in her ears was the hollow resonance of the deep underground.

Her blood seemed to be running dry, but her heart still beat. Death was so close that she could almost feel the chill of the world of the dead with every breath. In this dark, lonely corridor, there were no comrades, and it had been a long time since she'd seen an enemy.

But something still accompanied Agatha on her journey. At the end of this death-bound road, there was a cluster of flames, not very bright, but with a little warmth.

Agatha held her left hand in front of her chest, carefully protecting that cluster of "fire seeds" that danced in the air. The faint green light of the flame illuminated her chin and a small section of the surrounding corridor. She felt, even enjoyed, the slight warmth that the fire seed gave her—because she could feel that the road ahead was getting colder.

Or perhaps it was her own body that was growing cold.

"I have crossed the Upper City intersection and am approaching the branch corridors around the Boiling Gold Mine..." Agatha said softly to the flame. She raised her head and scanned a plaque on the wall to her side. The mottled, ancient plaque was marked with the corresponding city streets of the sewer system—this helped her determine her current location. "I have encountered almost no enemies along the way, but the road is getting harder and harder to travel. There is a... suffocating cold that is slowing me down."

A dignified, deep voice rang directly in her heart: "Perhaps those cultists have given up using their claws to slow you down... They are focusing their energy on the final moment."

"How are things outside?"

"A great fog has risen, shrouding the entire city-state. The city-state guard is maintaining order and urging residents to return home. Guard teams can be seen at some intersections—they are carrying night watch lanterns, because the fog is blocking the power of the sun," the dignified voice in Agatha's heart said. "Around the city-state, fog is also rising on the sea, covering an area that may extend hundreds of nautical miles."

"...Those heretics have taken action," Agatha said softly. "Perhaps my actions have stimulated them and made them act ahead of schedule..."

"You don't seem to be in good condition."

"I may be injured a little too seriously," Agatha continued forward. She felt her breathing was a little heavy, but her mind was clearer than ever. "But don't worry about me, I am ready to die—I will deliver your fire seed to their lair, in whatever way possible."

"I would rather see you complete this mission alive, Agatha—although you are a messenger of the God of Death, there is no need to rush to report to Bartok. By the way, speaking of this, I am suddenly a little curious. For you clergy of the God of Death, is 'death'... a demotion or a promotion?"

Agatha paused for a moment and twitched the corner of her mouth. "Your sense of humor is really surprising—I'm sorry, I really can't answer this question. I'm afraid that death clerics throughout the ages have never thought about this. If there is a chance in the future... I will think about it carefully."

"Okay, I wish you find the answer."

The voice in her mind fell silent for the time being. Agatha breathed a sigh of relief—perhaps it was an illusion, but she suddenly felt that her breathing was not as difficult and tiring as before, and even her footsteps became a little easier.

She glanced at the fire seed held in her left hand, carefully protected it, and stepped through another intersection.

Water flowed out of a nearby drain, forming a small pool of water on the ground. The pool was as calm as a mirror, reflecting the dim sewer vault.

Agatha stepped over the pool, and the calm water rippled in layers—in the suddenly shattered reflection, a figure in a black trench coat, wrapped in ritual bandages, and carrying a tin cane was reflected.

The figure walked towards the direction Agatha had come from. In this brief moment, they passed each other.

Agatha suddenly stopped and looked at the place she had just passed with some doubts. She saw a small pool of water there, and the surface of the water disturbed by her footsteps was still rippling.

In the turbulent and broken water surface, she could no longer see the reflection of that moment, but Agatha always felt that she had seen something just now.

It was a figure, like her own, but not quite—the figure was wearing a tattered black uniform, covered in scars, and looked as if she had experienced battle after battle, and her direction was the depths of the Second Waterway.

That was exactly where she had just left.

Perhaps it was because she stopped so suddenly that her subordinate's voice came from behind: "Gatekeeper? What's wrong?"

"That pool of water..." Agatha turned her head and pointed not far away, "Was it there just now? Did you see anything strange in it?"

"The pool of water?" The subordinate turned his head and glanced at it, with a puzzled expression. "It was there just now... but I didn't see anything strange."

Agatha didn't speak, just suddenly fell silent, staring at the still shaking water for a long time. After a long time, a trace of solemnity and thought gradually appeared in her eyes.

"Did you see something?" The subordinate couldn't help but worry.

Agatha was silent for a moment before shaking her head gently: "Don't worry, everything is fine, everything... is fine."

The subordinate was obviously still a little puzzled, but faced with the solemn expression of his superior, he restrained his excessive curiosity and changed the subject in time: "What did you find on the other side of the door just now? I feel like you always have a serious expression after you came back..."

The chaotic thoughts in her mind quickly gathered. Agatha raised her head and looked in the direction she had come from—the door leading to the abandoned mine had disappeared on the other side of the intersection, but she still clearly remembered what she had discovered in that dark mine.

She didn't explore in that mine for too long, but after confirming her discovery, she returned to the Second Waterway and hurriedly led the team on the way back to the stronghold—out of necessary caution, she hasn't told her subordinates what she discovered behind that door.

Even now, she didn't know how to explain that overly terrifying and bizarre... "guess" to the black-clothed guards in front of her.

After a brief hesitation, she turned around and continued walking towards the stronghold.

After walking for a while, she suddenly said softly to herself as if talking to herself: "Frost... what does it use to survive?"

"What does it use to survive?" The subordinate was slightly stunned and didn't react for a while. After a few seconds, he hesitated and said, "Are you talking about... the city-state's economic source? The Boiling Gold business?"

"Boiling Gold is the blood of Frost, and the mine is the heart of the city-state..." Agatha murmured to herself, saying words that confused the black-clothed guards. "We don't seem to have thought that this heart would stop beating..."

Another black-clothed guard couldn't help but step forward, with a trace of nervousness on his face: "You..."

Agatha gently raised her hand, interrupting her subordinate.

"Don't think too much about it yet. Everything is not yet certain. I did see something on the other side of that door, but whether I can tell you the details needs to be discussed with the Archbishop."

She had calmed down from her previous unease.

Perhaps she was too nervous. It was just a dry and abandoned mine, and for an ancient mine that had been mined for many years, it was not surprising that one or two mines were dry. The city-state hall's subsequent decision to close it was likely due to other reasons—some kind of pollution that once existed but has now subsided was the most likely situation.

Jumping to conclusions is a major taboo in investigations.

Agatha shook her head, but she couldn't help but recall the scene she had just seen in that pool of water.

That blood-stained, battle-hardened..."herself" walking in the opposite direction in the reflection.

Agatha closed her eyes slightly, and the knuckles of her hand holding the cane were slightly white due to the force, but after a moment, she reopened her eyes and looked ahead, her expression had returned to calm.

She still had many things to do.

In silence, Agatha led the guard team back to the stronghold located at the underground crossroads, and as soon as she returned here, she noticed that the surrounding atmosphere seemed a little different.

A slightly tense atmosphere shrouded the stronghold. Priests who looked like they had just come down from the shaft were talking nervously to the stronghold's security chief about something. Several steam walkers who had previously set off to clear the fork roads were recalled in advance and seemed to be preparing to return to the surface by elevator.

Agatha quickly stepped forward, and before she could ask, the black-clothed guard commander in charge of the stronghold quickly said: "Lord Gatekeeper, there is a situation on the surface."

Agatha frowned tightly: "What's the situation?"

"Fog, very thick and strange fog, has enveloped the entire city-state and the surrounding sea area. You can't even see the sun in the sky," the commander reported quickly. "And evil things have appeared in the library and archives. Although they were suppressed by the scholars on duty in time, panic and chaos are spreading in the city—the Archbishop sent someone down and asked you to return immediately!"