Deep Sea Embers

The submersible has passed the "bottom" of the city-state, and the boundless dark water has replaced the previous vertical and rough "cliff". The beam of light from the high-power searchlight extends infinitely in the sea water, and nothing can be seen within the range of the beam of light. .

There were only occasional tiny flashes of light in the beams, floating air bubbles or some "debris" falling from the upper layer, reflecting the light in the water.

Duncan turned a crank on the console, and the sound of water filling from the direction of the ballast tank turned into a low roar. He slowed down the sinking speed of the submersible, and carefully controlled it to tilt up at an angle.

After crossing that border, he had to "turn around" and look up to observe what the base of the city-state looked like.

The beam of light slowly swept across the darkness, and something huge and suffocating emerged from the boundless body of water. An indescribable sense of oppression rushed towards the face along with the overhanging "rock formation"—even if there were no extraordinary factors to bring it. This scene is enough to make most ordinary people feel the heavy pressure on the psychological level, and even suffer mental trauma.

The "base" of the Frost City State appeared outside the porthole, like the earth hanging upside down. From the overwhelming rolling perspective, you can see countless jagged structures, like stalagmites, and like a forest of minarets, a large number of high and low In the scattered, tens of meters to hundreds of meters of raised structures, there is something like some kind of sticky substance lying between the "stalagmites".

However, amidst the shock and depression that hit his face, Duncan felt more curiosity, but it was irrepressible—he carefully manipulated this crude diving machine, but turned towards the strange and strange upside-down "jungle" drive away.

At the same time, on the Lost Home, Duncan had come to the captain's cabin, and stretched out his hand to push open the "Door of the Lost".

Zhou Ming walked into his bachelor apartment, and was not surprised to see a fully formed new collection that was emitting a faint glow on the table - the exquisite "model" of the Frost City State.

He came to the table, held the lifelike city-state model in both hands, carefully observed every detail of it, and then turned it over to examine its bottom structure.

Those dense and complex protrusions look like some kind of tentacles that have been degenerated and then arranged in a mess, or to put it more boldly - like some kind of limb.

Compared with simply using flames to perceive the underlying structure of the city-state, this "deep dive" brought Zhou Ming more details.

He slowly closed his eyes, feeling the information from another world, the vibration of the submersible, and the magnificent and shocking "scenery" slowly moving outside the porthole of the submersible.

This unremarkable steel device is passing between two "stalagmites" estimated to be one or two hundred meters long. The beams from the searchlights sweep across the jagged and protruding structures in the distance, allowing Duncan to find a safer path to walk through. .

This is a scene that has never been mentioned in the materials of the Abyss Project—neither in the information provided by Tirian nor in the files left by the city hall, there is no mention of the submersible traveling through the "hanging jungle" at the base of the city-state Condition.

Perhaps, the original pioneers focused all their attention on the deep sea and did not do such unnecessary things. Perhaps, this hideous and terrifying thing hanging upside down seemed too dangerous in the dark, so that the original submersibles They didn't choose to rush into it, or maybe...

This has been done before, but no one has been able to bring the truth of what he saw above the surface of the sea.

The beam of the searchlight swept another area in the darkness.

Something came into Duncan's field of vision.

The next second, he suddenly pulled a lever on the control console, and the impact caused by the sudden reversal of the propeller even caused a creaking noise from inside the submersible. The fragile steel spherical shell trembled in the deep water , accompanied by the terrifying sound of the mechanical structure bearing the load, it finally hovered at a position that was almost about to hit a nearby "stalagmite".

"What happened?" Agatha asked hurriedly.

She raised her head and looked in the direction of the porthole, but she only saw many shimmering lights hanging upside down outside, and in the shimmering light was a larger light body, with a hazy brilliance, unable to make out the details of its interior appearance.

Duncan didn't respond for a while, he just stared out of the porthole, staring at the one who just emerged from the darkness...

Huge, pale eyes.

One eye, wide open, is located between those tentacles-like black protruding structures. Its diameter may reach a hundred meters, so that the small submersible is like an inconspicuous stone in front of it. generally.

This eye is lifeless, as if it had died thousands of years ago, or even older, it was embedded pale and empty at the bottom of the city-state, hanging upside down outside the porthole, as if it was dying and still calmly watching the boundless world below. The deep dark seabed, and the submersible is now suspended in front of its dead pupils, accepting the gaze of this ancient decay.

"It's an eye." Duncan finally broke the silence and said softly.

He turned his head again and looked in other directions through the porthole on the other side.

The afterglow of the searchlight illuminated the surroundings, and he could see the black "stalagmites" hanging upside down in the sea water. Now, he was finally sure—these things were really limbs.

It is a tentacle that loses its vitality after mutating and degenerating.

These tentacles dangle in the sea like withered vines hanging from the ceiling of a cave.

Agatha firmly grasped the armrest. Even though her heart had stopped beating, she still felt as if something was about to burst out of her chest. When she realized what she had heard and realized the true face of the shimmering lights in front of her, she even Feeling suffocated for a long time: "You...you mean..."

"The city-state is built on some kind of huge creature," Duncan said slowly. He was also shocked by the sight in front of him, but he still tried his best to calm down and organize his thoughts, "at least... there are still some biological characteristics."

Agatha was unable to speak for a long time, and it took a long time before she sorted out the words in extreme astonishment and confusion: "Is it... dead?"

She unconsciously lowered her voice, as if she was worried that speaking too loudly would wake up the unimaginable and incomprehensible "creature".

"Should be dead," said Duncan, already carefully maneuvering the submersible, slowly away from the huge pale eye, his movements very careful - although he was almost certain that the huge creature was dead, it was still there. Some horrifying associations inevitably arise, as if once the submersible moves too much, the eye will suddenly turn around, "In theory, it should not look like this, which is not in line with biological laws...it looks It's more like a distorted corpse, or something built from a corpse..."

But Agatha didn't speak. She didn't know whether to lament that Captain Duncan was able to calmly analyze in this situation, or whether a creature capable of supporting a city-state had to "conform to the laws of biology"—huge confusion and astonishment So full of her heart that she couldn't think about these issues as usual now.

The long-established worldview is being tested.

The real appearance below the city-state is so terrifying and strange. The only safe shelter for mortals in the boundless sea is built on indescribable creatures. Under each person's feet, at the bottom of thousands of meters of rock and soil, withered Tentacles hang down into the deep sea, pale eyes overlook the abyss, and no one knows... nothing about it.

After being dazed for an unknown amount of time, Agatha finally woke up. She turned to Duncan and asked hesitantly, "Is it only Frost?"

She didn't know why she asked Captain Duncan this question, and she didn't even think about the answer she would get-it was just the great confusion that urged her to speak, even if the question was destined to be inconclusive.

But the captain answered.

"Perhaps all city-states are like this," Duncan said slowly. He recalled his "perception" of the bottom of Prand, and from another perspective, he looked at the shelves of his bachelor apartment at the same time. "Collection", "There is also a structure similar to this one under the city-state of Puland - but there are no eyes, and the corresponding position is only a bunch of deformed and swollen clumps."

Agatha subconsciously said in astonishment: "Have you sneaked under Prand?"

Duncan shook his head: "No, this is the first time I have personally dived into the deep sea, but I have other means to roughly perceive what the city-state looks like below."

While speaking, he raised his head and looked at the "jungle" hanging upside down in the darkness outside the porthole.

There is a limit to rough perception. If he hadn't come down to take a look at it himself, I'm afraid he would never have thought that those strange structures under the city-state... were indescribable corpses.

The huge pale eyeball is slowly moving away from the field of vision, and the beam of light from the searchlight is passing by the tentacles around it. However, even though the eye is gradually disappearing into the darkness, a feeling of being watched for a long time still haunts the mind. It was as if there were countless invisible tentacles wrapping around the shell of the submersible from all directions.

Even the operation of the steam core seemed to become heavy and slow.

But these are illusions - the submersible is still moving away from the "forest" and the eye smoothly, without being substantially hindered.

"We have to continue diving," Duncan turned his head and said to Agatha, "The truth about the 'base' of the city-state is just the beginning, we are stepping into the blind spot of the civilized world, and anything will happen next—you Do you still have the courage?"

Agatha also turned her head, facing Duncan's gaze calmly through the black curtain.

"I'm ready," the city-state guardian said in a calm tone, "let's continue diving."