Chapter 1 Gunfire

The roar of gunfire, the steam engine driving the heavy mechanical spider to turn its body, the six-barreled machine gun rotating and spewing angry fire tongues in all directions, sweeping like a harvest those monsters that constantly emerged from the fog, while from time to time bullets flew from those thick fogs, hitting the walker's armor and the sandbags that formed the barricades.

Among the monsters were "soldiers," fully armed soldiers, even walking mechanical spiders flowing with black mud.

And as the battle continued, these dangerous enemies were becoming more and more numerous.

"These bastards are copying us!"

A soldier with a breathing mask hid behind the barricade, frantically pulling the trigger while shouting angrily. The metal armor on his body was already scarred.

The power pipe at the joint of the armor was damaged, and hissing steam poured out of the valve. On the steam backpack behind him, one could see the emblem of the elite garrison of the Frost City-State.

"They're not just copying us," the squad commander said loudly, his voice hoarse and deep behind the breathing mask—the fog on the street was getting thicker and thicker. In order to avoid any possible toxic gases in the fog, the garrison troops entering the war zone were now wearing these daunting breathing masks. "Everything alive in the fog is an enemy, all of them are enemies!"

"I just saw a group of people running past the intersection ahead!" another soldier suddenly shouted. "They looked like armed civilians—or sailors from the ship!"

"I saw them too, very blurry, they looked like they were burning, but the fire was green!"

Hearing this, the squad commander raised his head, but the next second, a strange whistling sound suddenly came from the other side of the thick fog, carrying a sharp sound of death.

A grenade penetrated the thick fog, crossed the gap between the barricades, and fell directly at the foot of the steam walker—without any reaction time, the grenade exploded, and shrapnel bloomed like rain.

The thin metal breastplate could not withstand such a close-range fatal impact. The squad commander and his soldiers were blown away together.

After an unknown amount of time, he vaguely regained a little consciousness. In the corner of his eye, he saw the steam walker swaying and falling, its armor torn, all the power pipes spewing white mist, and the only remaining machine gun turret pouring out the last barrage as it fell.

Countless shadowy things emerged from the fog and rushed to the next intersection.

The squad commander slowly蠕动 moved his body, holding a grenade with the pin already pulled in his hand. He couldn't remember when he had gotten it—perhaps when he was blown away just now, or perhaps it was a subconscious reaction when he lost consciousness.

He felt that he had exhausted all his strength and threw the grenade into the thick fog.

But he just weakly released his hand.

The iron-gray metal cylinder slipped from his hand, making a clanging sound as it rolled on the street. Its fuse was emitting a hissing smoke, and as it rolled, it came to the side of the road and fell into a dry drain—through the darkness, into the gap, sliding through the inclined ventilation duct, falling into the age-worn underground world of the Frost City-State, making a roar in that forgotten darkness.

"Boom!"

A muffled sound came from a very distant place above, and the roof of the tunnel seemed to tremble slightly, scattering some sand and dust.

"Sailor" shrank his neck, his shriveled face with a trace of nervousness: "This place really won't collapse?!"

"It hasn't collapsed for at least the past few decades," Lawrence stepped forward, the gas lamps inlaid on the walls of the corridor on both sides emitting a faint glow, illuminating the way forward. "As a dried corpse, how can you be so timid? Your kind of 'abnormality' should be what makes others afraid, right?"

"I think... digging such a huge underground space under the city-state is scary enough!" Abnormality 077 said in a nervous tone, "What were you thinking..."

Lawrence shrugged: "How would I know, I didn't dig it."

Then he ignored the dried corpse and instead lowered his head to speak to the small mirror on his chest: "Martha, what's the situation on your side?"

"It's lively," Martha's voice came from the mirror, and in the background there seemed to be explosions and artillery fire coming from afar. "After you entered the Second Waterway, the entire mirror world went 'crazy'—all the ships inside and outside the port are firing at me."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not that easy to sink—but the bad thing is that the enemies don't seem to be that easy to sink either, they keep getting replenished from the reflections."

Lawrence was silent for a moment, then looked up at the dark and deep corridor ahead.

"How far is it from here to the deepest part?" he asked.

"Very far, but you can take a 'shortcut.'"

Lawrence frowned: "Shortcut?"

"Have you noticed the puddles on the ground? Find a road sign, and then find the puddle closest to the road sign, and look at the scenery reflected in it."

Lawrence followed Martha's instructions and came to a puddle that met the requirements, and looked down at the reflection inside.

The reflection showed a crossroads, and a plaque was nailed to the wall next to the intersection, and the words "Main Drainage Pipe of the Upper City District" could be vaguely seen.

His eyes widened, and he looked up at his side.

On the mottled plaque on the wall beside him, it was clearly written "Port Area Drainage."

Martha's voice came from the mirror: "See? The world in the mirror is discontinuous."

"...Incredible...like a dream..." Lawrence muttered to himself, and looked down at the puddle at his feet again. Even as one of the most experienced captains on the boundless sea, he had to admit that everything in this mirror city was beyond his imagination, but soon, he calmed down. "Then how should we use these 'shortcuts'?"

"You've already arrived," Martha said with a smile, "When you stay in front of this 'mirror' long enough, you've already arrived."

Lawrence was stunned and hurriedly looked up.

Before him was a crossroads, dimly flickering gas lamps inlaid on the corridor walls of the intersection. According to the plaque closest to him, the mottled words were vaguely distinguishable—Main Drainage Pipe of the Upper City District.

Abnormality 077 looked in astonishment at the suddenly changing surroundings, his eyes quickly scanning back and forth between the road signs and the reflections in the puddles. After a long time, he suddenly shouted, "Is this reasonable?!"

The surrounding sailors all looked at the dried corpse.

Lawrence didn't care about the "sailor's" reaction. He just looked thoughtfully at the dimly lit corridor ahead, and after a long time, he frowned in confusion and said to Martha, "We're already in the Second Waterway, but what about the 'helpers' you mentioned? What about those 'Queen's Guards' fighting in the Second Waterway?"

The sound of distant artillery fire came from the mirror, and Martha's voice was delayed by a few seconds before reaching Lawrence's ears: "Take the left fork, follow the red road signs all the way, and stop and wait when there's no road... They will appear, when the time comes, they will appear."

Lawrence frowned: "Time?"

"...The Queen's Guard's attack time is midnight—midnight every day. Before this time, they are invisible."

In the secret room where the underground contact station of the "Golden Flute" tavern was located, the "Old Ghost" lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.

"What time is it..."

The old man's eyes seemed a little dazed, and he mumbled as if sleepwalking. However, in the dimly lit room, the only response to him was the occasional "tick" sound from some monitoring equipment, and the faint sound of gunfire coming from who knows where.

The next second, Old Ghost suddenly widened his eyes.

Faint gunfire?

Gunfire!

The old man woke up instantly. The gunfire entered his ears, ethereal and blurred, as if separated not only by thick walls and floors, but also by decades of time—he quickly got up from the bed, and then reached out and grabbed something placed beside the bed.

It was a large wrench that he had to keep by his side even when he was sleeping.

It was his tool, and also his weapon.

"It's started... it's started... I can't sleep here... It's time to gather..."

Old Ghost muttered to himself, shakily put on his shoes, and draped the coat on the chair next to him. Then he looked up at the room where he had just been sleeping.

This was a secret room used to contact the Sea Mist Fleet. Nemo arranged for him to rest here, and to take care of the equipment here.

But the next second, Old Ghost seemed to have forgotten everything related to this room again. His eyes became cloudy again, and he looked suspiciously at the door not far away.

"Oh! The door is here!"

Old Ghost suddenly realized, a happy look on his face, and then quickly walked over and pulled open the iron door leading to the underground secret passage.

Opposite the door was a narrow and cold corridor. The lights in the corridor were flickering, interspersed with hissing sounds caused by insufficient gas supply to the gas pipes.

"The gas pipeline is not normal... is the pressure not enough... no, no, now is not the time to worry about these things..." Old Ghost looked at the lights in the corridor, muttering quickly, he took a step forward, but then seemed to suddenly remember something, and turned back to look at the secret room where he had just rested.

The room was empty.

Everyone was probably gathered in the tavern on the ground.

"Crow, I'm going out, you stay at home!"

Old Ghost shouted to the empty room, then turned around, carrying his large wrench that he never left his side, and slowly walked towards the deep and dark passage.

Walking towards the Second Waterway.

The time for the Queen's Guard to counterattack had arrived.