Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 476

Chapter 476: Chapter 477: Submarine Cruise Chapter 476: Chapter 477: Submarine Cruise Under Duncan's somewhat unfamiliar and cautious control, the submersible slowly adjusted its heading.

The “foundation” beneath Frost City-State was like a wide, unbounded yet rough and bizarre cliff in the sea, slowly moving through the dim sea water outside the portholes.

The sunlight that fell from the sea surface above had faded, leaving only the beams of light from the three sets of large searchlights in front of the submersible. Those beams cast huge spots of light on the “cliff” face, and beyond the illuminated spots lay unknown darkness.

The low buzzing sound and the hissing noise of certain valves automatically adjusting the pressure occasionally reached the ears, and these monotonous and lifeless sounds only made one feel even more… isolated.

It was the loneliness that comes from an individual straying far from the group, from the mind wandering beyond the frontiers of civilization. It was the unease of sinking into boundless darkness, of being enveloped by the infinite sea.

Agatha grew quiet, she stood in front of the porthole, staring in one direction outside for a long time before she softly broke the silence, “All the light is fading… but I can still 'see' the foundation of the City-State, it's still emitting a very faint light, the only thing I can see in the darkness.”

Clearly, the world she observed was different from that of 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 this may just be the way we observe the world,” Duncan said in a low tone, as if blending with the hum of the surrounding machinery, “The worldly sea, and if we consider the entire civilization as a whole, then we are like diving in such an endless abyss.

“The unknown darkness covers the whole world, and we carefully peek at the landscapes that emerge from the darkness from the lights of civilization. We try to guess and piece together the outlines of the whole world from those fleeting images, but we almost never have the chance to truly understand the whole truth behind those lights and shadows–
“Behind a small fallen leaf may lie an entire forest, behind a stubborn rock stands a whole mountain, a vine that flashes in the light might just be a tendril extended by some mythological beast–beyond the faint light lies the unknown, and within the faint light is merely a partial impression of the truth given to us at a specific location, at a specific time.

“And it is in such cautious diving that some people accidentally glimpse something beyond the lights, and they go mad, some people try to extend that light, and we call them pioneers–in many cases, there is not even a clear boundary between these pioneers and the madmen. As for most people, they gather inside the 'ark' of 'civilization,' gathering within the limited but sufficient light to illuminate their footsteps, bowing their heads, carefully narrowing their sights.

“They are called 'ordinary people.'
“The world that is known and measurable gives them precious security, and they can no longer cast their gaze into the darkness outside the ark… but it is these most numerous, weak and powerless ordinary people who keep the entire ark running, even supporting those pioneers and madmen.”

The sound of seawater being injected into the ballast tanks came from below, and the submersible adjusted its angle slightly, beginning to dive faster. In the area illuminated by the searchlights in front of the observation window, the rugged cliff continued to rise–next second, the scenery in the light spot might turn into an empty dark body of water, or it might not.

Duncan withdrew his gaze, glancing around himself.

The cabin lighting was spilling from above, and everything inside the submersible bathed in the light. After staring into the darkness outside for too long, looking back at this comfortable cabin really did bring a sense of visceral relief.

But the occasional “creaking” sound from somewhere in the hull kept reminding the people inside the cabin that between this comfortable and bright cabin and the billions of tons of ocean outside was just a layer of fragile spherical shell steel.

This fragile spherical shell was crafted bit by bit by countless “ordinary people,” those craftsmen who might never step halfway out of the City-State in their entire lives, with their skills and wisdom, sent this rudimentary submersible into the endless abyss beneath the City-State.

After a long silence, Agatha spoke softly, “Actually… I sometimes feel fortunate that my eyes can see more than ordinary people can now, just like you said, we are all diving in an endless 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 further vision seems meaningless…”

“Yes, for this boundless ocean, a slightly further gaze is trivial,” Duncan said softly, but then his tone shifted, “But for us who are diving in the dark, being able to see even a meter further is extraordinary.”

He casually turned off the main lighting in the cabin, leaving only the essential lights on the dashboard.

The submersible grew dim inside, yet with the change in light contrast, the high-power searchlight beams outside the porthole seemed even brighter, and the details on the surface of the “cliff” within the lit spots became clearer.

“The world you describe is almost desperate, but your attitude seems always optimistic,” Agatha said, “That surprises me… a bit.”

“I described to you a desperate world because it is inherently so wretched, and my optimism stems from being an optimistic person by nature,” Duncan said casually, “We can't change the world, but 'attitude' is our own to control.”

“I never expected you to have such a personality, let alone be so sentimental,” Agatha said with a hint of a smile on her face, “Yes, I always forget that you were the greatest explorer in this world.”

Duncan just smiled without responding, his gaze fixed on something outside the viewport, carefully observing the “cliff” that was gradually rising, illuminated by the beams from the searchlights.

It looked like stone, but was covered with parasitic organisms resembling seaweed and coral.

Such a vertical structure, with such a regular “base,” however, seemed unlikely to have formed naturally.

He maneuvered the submersible cautiously forward, stopping at a very close distance, then, a bit awkwardly, found a control lever on the dashboard and released the mechanical arm situated at the front of the submersible.

In the light, the mechanical arm slowly unfolded, its sharp end touching the “cliff” ahead, and gently tapping and scraping.

Some fragments slowly fell through the water.

But it seemed there was an even harder structure within the fragments.

“I've always been curious about something,” Duncan suddenly broke the silence, “with so many years, so many City-States, there's never been a shortage of digging deep into the ground–be it for mining, constructing underground facilities, or simply for research… Has no one ever dug through this 'base'?”

Agatha was momentarily taken aback by the abrupt question, but after a short contemplation, she shook her head: “To my knowledge… there's never been a case of 'digging through.' Because the subterranean is dangerous, the deeper you go below sea level, the higher the likelihood of anomalies emerging in the darkness. Even with steam and flame protection, mines suffer from spiritual contamination and strange accidents every year, not to mention the mad idea of 'piercing through a City-State' to dig deeper. And furthermore…”

She paused, sorting through her memories before continuing, “And even if someone did dig with such madness, it seems no one ever succeeded. I heard that the Academy of Truth tried it, and their conclusion was… as they dug to a certain depth, the drills couldn't proceed, the deeper they went, the harder it became until even the hardest, most advanced drills broke.”

“Harder as it goes down?” Duncan furrowed his brows and turned his head to look at the mechanical hand outside the viewport tapping on the “cliff.” It had knocked off some accretions, and after the loose fragments fell away, an even darker and denser structure was revealed within the wall of the cliff.

It was indistinguishable whether it was rock or metal.

But there seemed to be regular patterns on its surface, almost like… the crisscrossing grooves of some biological entity's skin.

Duncan controlled the mechanical arm, striving to scrape off some samples from the layer of dark, dense material, but to no avail.

The power of the mechanical arm was insufficient, and the black material was harder than expected… some kind of “shell”?

All sorts of speculations floated in Duncan's mind, even some bold exploration plans arose, but eventually he forcefully suppressed his curiosity and started maneuvering the submersible further into the deep sea.

After all, his primary objective for this journey was to explore the “vast unknown entity” beneath Frost, and given the uncertainty of another deep dive opportunity, he couldn't afford to waste the submersible's valuable battery life midway.

Amidst the noise from the ballast tanks, the submersible continued to descend.

Some time later, they finally crossed the “fault line” beneath the base of the City-State.

Quite abruptly, the “cliff” within the range of the searchlight ceased, and the vast patch of light was abruptly consumed by darkness, as an endless expanse of dark water rushed toward them.

Even the strongest searchlight couldn't find a target to illuminate in such a vast and boundless sea–Duncan could only see a hazy boundary of light extending outside the viewport, but whether inside or outside the light, not a single point of reference was visible.

The oppressive sensation of sinking into vast darkness surpassed even facing that eerie great void deep within the boiling gold mines.

Agatha too tightened her grip on the handrail before her a bit nervously.

The last bit of light in her “vision” had disappeared.

Chapter end

Report