Chapter 1 A Vast Void

A huge void lay at the end of the alleyway.

Vanna reached the edge of the void. Here, the alley came to an abrupt end, the ground and ceiling disappearing as if devoured by something invisible. Across the neat break, the vast and empty darkness emanated a pressure that even she, an Inquisitor, could feel. The instinctive human fear of such immense dark spaces washed over her.

Morris followed, holding up his lantern at the "entrance" to the void. However, the light from the specially made underground lamp seemed to be swallowed directly – not that it disappeared, but the darkness ahead was so vast that there was nothing to reflect the light. The light gradually faded into the darkness, illuminating only a steep slope extending down the pit wall; the rest remained shrouded in darkness.

"This… no matter how you look at it, it couldn't have been part of the original mine structure," Vanna said softly, glancing back at the mine tunnel they'd come through. "The normal passage ends abruptly here… This location should be the 'stone wall' mentioned in the report."

Morris bent down, carefully examining the small section of the void's inner wall illuminated by the lantern. "It feels like some enormous 'thing' originally filled this space, but now that thing has vanished into thin air, leaving behind a large hole."

"Such a large cavity hasn't collapsed, but has stabilized instead?" Duncan frowned, his tone worried as he looked up into the darkness. "If this collapses, at least a third of the upper city will be in serious trouble."

He suddenly turned to Agatha. "Are you alright? You've seemed a bit off since we arrived."

"I… I can't clearly see the 'void' you're talking about," Agatha said hesitantly. "I only see a vast and distorted echo here. The wind is full of noise. Is there really nothing ahead?"

"Nothing, at least visually, and I can't sense any pollution left by supernatural forces," Vanna said with certainty, then thoughtfully added, "But you can feel it… perhaps because whatever's left here is resonating with you?"

"I don't know," Agatha shook her head, then turned to Duncan. "What do you think?"

"We should go in and see what's there." Duncan made his decision, then waved his hand in the air. A ball of ghostly green flame appeared beside him, and a skeletal bird, wreathed in flames, emerged from the fire, effortlessly landing on his shoulder.

Iee tilted her head, looking around. "The old driver's here! The old driver's here!"

"We can't rule out the risk of collapse in this 'cave,' so bring the pigeon," Duncan explained. "Don't scatter once we're inside. Watch carefully for any signs of instability, and pay attention to what's above. If there's any sign of collapse, everyone teleports."

"Yes, Captain." "Understood." "Okay." "Hehe…"

Duncan tapped Alice on the head and then, after confirming the terrain at the edge of the void, took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness.

The others followed closely behind.

Entering the void meant descending a steep slope, and the slope wasn't continuous. Abrupt changes in elevation and winding "岔路 (chàlù, forks)" appeared constantly, so every step had to be taken with great care. This winding, difficult path stretched into the darkness, as if leading to the very bottom of the void.

The slope felt like a deep indentation left in the rock after a long period of erosion.

Duncan cautiously proceeded into the darkness. The ghostly green flame burned steadily beneath his feet, illuminating a small area around the path and leaving a clear "trail of fire" behind. Looking back, they could see the flowing fire like a line, winding through the darkness to outline the path to the entrance of the void.

In such a vast, dark underground space, marking the path was crucial. Although the pigeon spirit was the ultimate means of escape, Duncan, out of caution, still left his flames along the way – these flames also extended his senses, helping him to monitor subtle changes in the cave walls at any time.

Vanna had conjured a storm greatsword made of ice in her hand. She held the sword, wary of the monsters that might be lurking in the vast darkness. Alice carefully supported her head the entire time, afraid of slipping and losing it in the darkness. Agatha, her senses affected by some kind of "echo" in the cave, could only be supported by Vanna, cautiously stepping on the rugged slope.

Morris, meanwhile, was curiously observing the stones along the roadside.

"Very dense rock… and it seems to be fused and squeezed together," he held up the lantern, a faint silver light flickering in his eyes, trying to observe as far as he could. "If the entire inner wall of this cave is composed of this kind of rock layer, it might explain why it can remain stable even after its 'contents' disappear – these stones form a dense and thick 'inner shell,' supporting the entire structure."

He hesitated, then said uncertainly, "But an inner shell alone is probably not enough. Such a large cavity should have other supports in the middle."

Vanna couldn't help but glance at the old gentleman. "How many fields of knowledge do you actually understand?"

"Mathematics, history, chemistry, occultism, physics, a little bit of geology and mining knowledge, and some knowledge of combat, firearms, mechanics, and demolition," Morris said casually. "Is there a problem?"

Vanna was dumbfounded. "How… how did you manage that?"

"Just read more books," Morris said. "It's not strange that I understand these things. I am a historian, after all."

Vanna looked at Morris with a strange expression, thinking that, of all the subjects he'd just mentioned, none of them, except for firearms, combat, and demolition, had anything to do with the needs of a "historian," but she hesitated for a long time before deciding not to say it.

Agatha, supported by Vanna, had an even stranger expression on her face – the Gatekeeper was once again deeply shocked by the followers around Captain Duncan, and the last time she had a similar feeling was when she learned that Vanna was a "sports student"…

But Morris himself was obviously unaware of the amazement he had caused. His attention had once again been drawn to the "stones" under his feet.

In the light of the lantern and the green fire, the surfaces of these stones had a slight metallic luster, and, perhaps it was just an illusion… there seemed to be some special patterns on their surface.

The old scholar bent down, picked up a piece of gravel, and examined it curiously.

He suddenly stopped.

Duncan also stopped and looked curiously at the stone in Morris's hand. "Is there a problem?"

After several seconds, Morris seemed to suddenly react, and slowly opened his mouth with an odd tone: "…It's feijin."

Agatha immediately turned her head. "Feijin?"

"Feijin (boiling gold) ore, almost pure enough to be directly stuffed into a steam core reactor…" Morris murmured in astonishment, then quickly bent down and picked up another piece of gravel, examining it. Then, he simply squatted down, carefully examining every rock under his feet. The more he examined, the more shocked he became. "This is too… No wonder, no wonder I felt that the texture of these 'stones' was strange just now, but I couldn't see it because it was too dark…"

The old scholar suddenly stopped and looked up at Duncan and Agatha.

The expression on his face was strangely astonished, yet faintly excited by some great discovery. "It is feijin (boiling gold), Captain, Agatha – this entire cave is formed of feijin (boiling gold)! At least the bottom of it is covered in ore!"

Everyone fell silent, and in that silence, Duncan could clearly feel Agatha's emotions fluctuating violently, and Vanna even felt her body trembling slightly.

No one understood the meaning of "feijin (boiling gold)" better than a native of Frost.

"This place is all feijin (boiling gold). We saw the remaining feijin (boiling gold) veins in the mine tunnels before," Vanna said softly, holding Agatha's hand. "It seems that Frost won't have to worry too much for at least a while."

"Yes… no need to worry… there's feijin (boiling gold) here…" Agatha murmured to herself, her tone strangely complex. "But why, why are these things here…"

"Does the erosion of the Abyss Lord leave behind feijin (boiling gold)?" Duncan couldn't help frowning. "If our inferences based on the information are correct, this great void should have come about this way…"

Everyone suddenly seemed to become serious, so much so that even the usually slow-witted Alice sensed the change in atmosphere. The doll girl couldn't help but reach out and gently tugged at Duncan's arm, carefully asking, "Captain… what is feijin (boiling gold)?"

Duncan: "…"

In such a serious situation, it was truly remarkable that this憨憨 (hān hān, silly person) was still a steadfast憨憨 (hān hān, silly person).

He sighed. "Feijin (boiling gold) is the foundation of modern industry, the energy source for all steam-powered machinery – just as people need to eat, machines need feijin (boiling gold) to run."

Alice listened, half understanding, and nodded after a long while. "Oh—"

Duncan didn't care whether the illiterate doll really understood. His gaze was once again cast into the depths of the darkness ahead.

This huge underground void had completely piqued his curiosity.

If this entire cave was composed of extremely pure feijin (boiling gold)… then what would be waiting for him at the deepest point of this cave?

(End of Chapter)