Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 393

Chapter 393: 397 Chapter City Hall Chapter 393: 397 Chapter City Hall It had snowed.

Clear weather appeared not to have lasted long before another snowfall visited Frost, starting from the morning. The gloomy clouds hovered over the City-State like lead weights, and the disorderly cold winds blew incessantly across the streets. As noon approached, snowflakes began to swirl down from the Upper City District to the Lower City District–every tower and alley was shrouded in blurry, swirling snowflakes.

The sudden snowfall made the streets significantly quieter.

The sound of a steam car braking broke the quiet in the snowy streets. A dark gray car stopped at the city hall entrance, the door opened, and Agatha, dressed in black, stepped out and walked toward the large, dignified building toned in light gray.

She looked up at the towering main building of the city hall–a classical building inherited from the era of monarchs still exuding the grandeur of the past age. Its towering pillars, archways, and continuously undulating roof structure looked imposing at any time. Although its name had changed from “Winter Court” to the present “City Hall,” its status in the City-State had never changed.

It stood as one of the “dual poles of authority” in the City-State, along with the distant Silent Sanctum, both guarding this city of molten gold–architecture is a history book built of stone where the flowing and changing powers and figures within are merely rows of text on the pages. Whether it was the era of the queens or the present Governor system, both were ultimately records turned past in the book of history…

Agatha suddenly frowned and raised her hand to gently press her temple.

She realized that she had drifted off again, spawning many sentiments like a sentimental poet–she had been like this frequently these days, for some reason engulfed by random thoughts, or feeling inexplicably restless.

This was not a good sign; as the gatekeeper of the City-State, her mental state had to be highly controlled. “Drifting off” was a situation to be avoided as much as possible.

Footsteps from the direction of the door interrupted Agatha's mental activities, and she looked up to see a senior secretary dressed in a deep blue coat approaching her.

“Miss Agatha,” the young man serving as the Governor's assistant came before her and bowed respectfully, “the Governor has been informed of your visit and is waiting for you in the dome office.”

“It's good to forego formalities,” Agatha nodded, “lead the way.”

On the top floor of the city hall, in a large office with a domed ceiling, Winston, the current Governor of Frost City-State, sat behind a large, curved desk.

He was a slightly stout tall man dressed in an imposing bright blue coat decorated with medals and sashes, and perhaps managing a declining City-State had been too draining because his hair had thinned to a precarious state–forcing him to wear a curly wig to cover his scalp. As Agatha entered the domed office, the Governor was fiddling with an intricate brass mechanical device on his desk.

The complex mechanical device looked like some miniature model; its closely interlocking gears and linkage structures were exquisite like artwork and emitted crisp sounds from time to time under the Governor's fiddling.

“I hadn't expected you to find time to tinker with mechanical models amidst such busy administrative duties,” Agatha's voice came from in front of the desk, “I thought the current situation in the City-State would have been enough to keep you overwhelmingly busy.”

“This is not just any mechanical model, this is the next generation mining car traction mechanism–it saves thirty percent of power and is more reliable and durable than the previous generation,” Governor Winston looked up seriously and said, “one problem follows another in the City-State, but we cannot cease to live and develop because of it.”

Agatha made no comment.

Governor Winston had a passion for mechanics and engineering technology. Having served as Governor for twelve years, he had devoted most of his energy to supporting and promoting the engineering design studios and machinery factories. The Governor had ambitious ideas, hoping to solve the City-State's current predicament through technological breakthroughs–including upgrading old facilities and seeking new economic drivers, but how to put it…
Only time could tell how good the idea was, how strong the confidence was, and how plentiful the efforts were–the reality was fraught with difficulties.

“Technological advancements have allowed us to renovate mine facilities within an acceptable cost range, and these more practical new machines can also be exported to other City-States–Frost must not always depend on selling boiling gold just to survive,” Winston noticed that the gatekeeper's reaction was moderate, so he couldn't help but elaborate, “The boiling gold mine is the basis of Frost's survival, but relying solely on this one industry is too fragile…”

“I'm not an official in the economic or technological fields,” Agatha had to remind him subtly.

“Oh, okay, I overlooked that,” Winston raised his hand and set aside the machine model on the desk as he looked up at Agatha, “Then let's talk about business, Ms. Agatha, regarding the exploration of the second water channel, you seem to have something to say?”

“The exploration squads encountered troubles beneath the central shaft in Zone Two,” Agatha said straightforwardly, “That passage near the bottom of the boiling gold mine, part of its pipeline was modified, but the door leading to the next section was sealed–I had instructed the exploration squad that they could use force to break the barriers in the second water channel, but my people reported seeing City Hall's lead seals and plaques on the door.”

“… City Hall's lead seals and plaques?” Winston was clearly taken aback, his surprised facial expression seemed genuine, “Are you sure?”

Observing the expression on the Governor's face, Agatha spoke softly after a long while, “It seems you know nothing about it.”

“That is the second water route which was abandoned half a century ago–It was last used during the era when the Frost Queen ruled the City-State!” Winston raised both hands, his expression somewhat exaggerated, “Even if there are any lead seals and plaques below, they must be from the Queen's era; how could there be anything left by City Hall–Ms. Agatha, do you think I secretly sealed that door? What would be the point? To store treasures in the depths of the earth?”

“… You indeed have no reason to do that,” Agatha nodded slightly, “If you really wanted to store any treasures, any place within the City-State would be more reliable than the out-of-control second water route.”

“I don't want to hear you seriously consider such a thing,” Winston waved his hand, but his expression had turned serious, “Doesn't the plaque have a date and names of responsible persons? Standard plaques have such information; you should be able to easily determine who locked up the door from that.”

“Unfortunately, all the text is damaged and hard to distinguish, both the plaque and the lead seal were severely corroded– in fact, even the door itself is extremely frail–we suspect the acidic environment near the mine has caused accelerated aging of the metals,” Agatha shook her head, “We can only confirm that the door was indeed locked up by City Hall–the Queen's era wouldn't have that kind of standard form of lead seal.”

Winstair stood up, his expression slightly irritable as he paced back and forth behind the large curved desk, and after a long time, he murmured, “If it truly was left by City Hall, it could only have been a long time ago–perhaps even after the first or second City Hall following the end of the Queen's era…”
“It seems your predecessors did not hand over all the documents to their successors,” Agatha said.

“It's also possible that some of the documents were lost or damaged due to the chaos in the early days,” Winstair waved his hand, “But regardless, the existence of an area in the deep underground of the city's central region, sealed off by the command of City Hall and being part of the second water route, is very abnormal… Ms. Agatha, this must be thoroughly investigated.”

“Of course, it is my duty,” Agatha nodded, her expression slightly relaxed, “Although I didn't get the answers I wanted, having your support is just as good–the exploration will continue, and I will try to figure out what lies behind that door as soon as possible, and the Church will communicate with City Hall in a timely manner on any new developments.”

“That's best.” Winston nodded.

The atmosphere in the dome office relaxed slightly.

“Then I won't bother you any longer,” Agatha said, “There are many matters in the second water route that require my personal supervision.”

She politely bid farewell to the Governor and then turned and left the dome office.

The gatekeeper's figure disappeared from the room, leaving only the sound of the cane and heel tapping on the floor gradually receding, Winston sighed softly after a long while and then frowned with some confusion.

“… Ms. Agatha didn't use 'Grey Wind' to travel today…” The slightly corpulent middle-aged Governor raised his head, looking in the direction Agatha had left, and murmured quietly, “Does she also normally walk in and out through the door?”

Chapter end

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