Chapter 1 Madmen Embrace Madness as Their End – The Annihilation Heretics Following the Deep-Sea Lord Embraced Their Deaths in the Most Chilling Way

With the ritual utterly ruined, the remaining Annihilation cultists chose to sacrifice themselves en masse in a desperate attempt to complete the mirroring of the Mirror City.

Even with Lawrence's lifetime of experience on the seas, he had never witnessed such a terrifying, such a maddening sight—

Hundreds of Annihilation cultists rushed ecstatically towards a pool of churning sludge. They melted and disintegrated in the sludge, yet they were ecstatic. The Deep-Sea Demons symbiotic with them severed their chains with howls and violently detonated themselves around the "pool." The foul smoke and corrupting aura even impeded the Queen's Guard's advance. A massive canopy of thorny vines rose from the center of the sludge pool, its size rapidly increasing with the cultists' frenzied sacrifices, covering the entire hall in the blink of an eye.

"I have understood!"

A crazed roar came from within the canopy, the sound seemingly layered with a thousand voices.

"We have understood!"

Countless cultists who threw themselves into the sludge also shouted, their voices shaking the Second Waterway.

"I will execute!" "We will execute!"

"Fulfill the Creator's blueprint!" "Fulfill the Creator's blueprint!"

Boom!

Raging flames rose and spread throughout the hall, engulfing the thorny canopy almost instantly. Lawrence only had time to look up before he saw the canopy rapidly disintegrate and collapse in the ghostly flames, turning into scattered gray-black dust that fell down. Even the pool of black sludge in the center of the hall was ignited by the flames. In the rising spirit fire, the sludge's churning quickly slowed and gradually turned into barren, scorched earth.

The last batch of cultists who threw themselves into the sludge turned to ashes directly in the flames.

However, the tremors in the Second Waterway did not cease, and the howling sound echoing through the sewers still lingered. The frantic shouts of those mad cultists during their sacrifices echoed like ghosts in this underground space, chilling to the bone.

Lawrence looked around in bewilderment and confusion, still somewhat unable to grasp the situation. He subconsciously opened his mouth: "Did we make it? The ritual wasn't completed, right..."

"The cultists seem to be all dead... That 'tree' is burned down too..." Abnormal 077 said nervously, looking uneasily at the place, "But I feel like..."

"Not yet."

A voice mixed with the sound of flames crackling suddenly rang out not far away, interrupting the exchange between Lawrence and the "sailor."

Lawrence immediately looked up.

Agatha was also turning her gaze towards this group of "strangers" who came to help.

She was still standing there, maintaining the posture of being burned by flames. Compared to when she first entered this Mirror City, she had completely transformed into another appearance—

Her black robe had turned into tattered rags, draped over her body like a mendicant's tatters. Her body was like a fragmented doll, with shocking scars and even cracks visible everywhere. Her blood had long since drained away. Now, only green fire flowed like water from those wounds. Her eyes had been burned away by the Pyromancer's flames, leaving only empty sockets.

However, in those empty eye sockets, two of the brightest flames were dancing—she had lost the eyes of her flesh, but she had gained another, unimaginable perspective.

She could see that the energy in the hall was still flowing, and even the energy of the entire Mirror City was flowing. She could see that some extremely large structure ran through the entire city and was still lifting the city up, towards the real world.

Agatha took a step forward—ethereal flames spread out beneath her feet, scorching the floor with a squeaking sound. She reached out and grasped a thorn that stretched out from the sludge pool, exerting a slight force.

That section of "thorn" had been dried by the ethereal flames and was easily crushed into fragments by her. However, in the scattered fragments, there were still specks of light flowing.

"The mirror is still ascending..." she said, as if talking to herself, yet also as if reporting to someone, "The heretics here are all dead, but the things they left behind are still operating... This Mirror City is alive, and it's heading towards reality on its own... I'm sorry, I don't know how to stop it."

Lawrence walked over, looking curiously at Agatha: "Who are you talking to..."

Before he could finish speaking, a violent shaking and a rumbling sound from overhead interrupted him. He and the sailors looked up in panic, and a scene they would never forget in their lives was reflected in everyone's eyes—

The hall was shaking violently, and the rock, cement, steel, and soil of unknown thickness above the hall suddenly took on a transparent texture. In the suddenly transparent strata, he clearly saw the layers upon layers of structures above his head!

Drainage channels, power pipes, steam transport systems, subways, and even the mountains, streets, buildings, and churches above... the entire Frost City-State!

He saw Frost, separated by thick strata, saw Frost in the real world. He saw the city was shrouded in thick fog, and countless monsters were still attacking everything in the city in the fog. The City-State Guard and the Guardian Forces were desperately fighting the monsters. Darkness was spreading in the city, and fear was brewing in every corner…

Blood, smoke, death.

"Oh... I think we're in big trouble..." Abnormal 077, like the others, looked up, muttering to himself after a long while, "Or maybe the people above us are in big trouble..."

Lawrence was startled awake. He realized what was about to happen—although the cultists were all dead, their sacrificial ritual at the last moment had succeeded. This Mirror City had gained the characteristic of independent existence and was still ascending according to some "blueprint." And if all of this continued, Frost in the real world would definitely not survive!

"It can't be stopped?!" He widened his eyes and turned to Agatha, shouting, "We're about to overlap with the real world!"

Agatha simply turned her head in silence, her gaze filled with flames falling on Lawrence.

She didn't speak, but a calm and dignified voice directly rang out in Lawrence's mind: "Don't worry, this is just one part of solving the problem."

Lawrence was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized where the voice in his mind came from. The muscles all over his body visibly tensed up: "Captain... Captain!"

"Relax, and—hold on tight later."

Lawrence widened his eyes in confusion.

At the same time, on the real world side.

The roaring of artillery fire still echoed across the vast and endless sea. The remaining city-state navy of Frost was still desperately resisting the "ghosts" that kept emerging from the thick fog.

As time passed, the number of ghost ships emerging from the fog not only did not decrease, but continued to increase.

"Unidentified ships approaching on the port side! It's a fast gunboat... Close-in weapons system, prepare to fire!"

"A Frost Navy frigate has sunk in the nearby waters, hull number s-30, removed from the identification list!"

"Fire on the stern deck! Damage control, damage control!"

The shouts of giving orders, the roaring of the main guns firing, the explosions, the loud sound of water hitting the hull, all the sounds were mixed together, brewing a doomsday-like atmosphere.

Tirion stood on the bridge of the Sea Fog, his hands propped on the railing in front of him, his eyes fixed on the distant sea, his face gloomy as if brewing a storm.

The battle had been going on for a long, long time, but there was still no hope of victory in sight. Ghostly enemy ships were still constantly pouring out of the thick fog around the city-state, and the blockade of the entire sea area had not been lifted.

The Undead Sailors felt no fatigue, but this continuous, high-intensity battle was still constantly consuming the Sea Fog Fleet's power—the Sea Fog's own repair capabilities were nearing their limit. Now, even the fire on the deck could not be extinguished, and it could only rely on the damage control team to run around. The Sea Crow had just withdrawn from the battle a few minutes ago and was currently dragging its crippled body towards Frost Island.

Even the Sea Fog Fleet was in this situation, let alone the Frost Navy composed of humans.

Just from the situation heard on the radio, it could be judged that the Frost Navy's situation was not good—their fatigue had reached its limit, and the damage and casualties of each warship had reached a precarious state.

Ironically, almost everyone in the Sea Fog Fleet had been mocking and cursing that navy almost every day for the past half century, but now, almost every member of the Sea Fog Fleet hoped that those humans could hold on a little longer, hoped that they could survive a little longer.

A thunderous roar came from afar, and a huge flash of light appeared in the thick fog. Then, that huge flash of light turned into continuous fire and a series of explosions.

Tirion subconsciously looked in that direction and immediately ordered the communications officer to find out what those explosions were all about. After some confusion, the first mate, Aiden, brought bad news.

"The Frost Navy's main battleship, 'Lord Blucher,' suffered severe damage to its steam core, and the reactor detonated. It is sinking."

Tirion didn't speak, just slowly closed his eyes.

Lord Blucher—the Sea Fog had dealt with it several times in the past two years. The commander of that ship was a very traditional Frost person.

A good man, a good ship.

But goodbye forever.

"Write it down, maybe there will be a chance to mourn in the future," Tirion opened his eyes and slowly shook his head, "We don't have any now..."

Before he could finish speaking, the change in the scenery outside the porthole suddenly interrupted his next words.

He looked at the window in surprise, and the first mate and many people on the bridge also looked at the window subconsciously.

The fog on the sea... was dissipating.

(End of this chapter)