Chapter 190 Submersible

Under Duncan's slightly clumsy and cautious control, the submersible slowly adjusted its heading.

The "foundation" beneath Frost City, like a boundless and strangely rugged underwater cliff, moved slowly in the dim seawater outside the porthole.

The sunlight from the surface above had faded, leaving only the beams of light from the three large searchlights in front of the submersible. These beams cast huge patches of light on the surface of the "cliff," and beyond the patches of light lay an unknown darkness.

Low humming sounds and the hissing of certain valves automatically adjusting the air pressure occasionally reached their ears, and these monotonous and lifeless sounds only intensified a sense of… loneliness.

It was the loneliness of an individual separated from the group, of a mind distanced from the realm of civilization, the unease of gradually sinking into a boundless darkness, enveloped by endless seawater.

Agatha fell silent. She stood in front of the porthole, "staring" in one direction for a long time. After who knows how long, she softly broke the silence, "All the light is fading… but I can still 'see' the city's foundation. It still emits a very, very faint light. It's the only thing I can see in the darkness."

The world she observed was clearly different from the vision 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 be how we observe the world," Duncan said in a slow voice, as if blending into the surrounding hum of machinery. "The world is like a sea, and if we consider the entire civilization as a whole, we are like navigating in this boundless abyss.

"Unknown darkness covers the entire world. We carefully peer at the scenery that occasionally emerges from the darkness from the lights of civilization, and try to deduce and piece together the outline of the entire world from those fleeting images. However, we almost never have the opportunity 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 may just be a tentacle extending from some mythical beast—beyond the faint light is the unknown, and within the faint light is only a fragmented impression of the truth presented to us in a specific location and at a specific time.

"And it is in this cautious navigation that some people accidentally glimpse the parts outside the light, and they go mad. Some people try to expand that light, and we call them pioneers—in many cases, there is not even a clear boundary between these pioneers and madmen. As for the majority, they gather inside the 'civilization' ark, gathered in the limited light that is enough to illuminate their feet, heads lowered, carefully restraining their vision.

"They are called 'ordinary people.'

"The known and measurable world brings them a precious sense of security, and they can no longer cast their eyes on the darkness outside the ark… but it is these ordinary people, who account for the largest proportion, weak and powerless, who maintain the operation of the entire ark, and even support those pioneers and madmen."

The sound of seawater being injected into the ballast tank came from below. The submersible slowly adjusted its angle and began to accelerate its descent. Outside the front observation window, within the range of the searchlight, the uneven cliff continued to rise—the next second, the scenery in the light patch might turn into a vacant dark body of water, but maybe not.

Duncan retracted his gaze and looked around himself.

The interior lighting shone down from above, and everything inside the submersible was bathed in light. After staring at the darkness outside for too long, looking back at this comfortable cabin did give one a sense of heartfelt relief.

But the occasional "creaking" sound from somewhere in the hull constantly reminded the people in the crew compartment that this comfortable and bright cabin was only separated from the billions of tons of seawater outside by a fragile spherical steel plate.

This fragile spherical steel plate was something that countless "ordinary people" had hammered and forged bit by bit. Those craftsmen, who might never take half a step out of the city in their entire lives, used their skills and wisdom to send this simple submersible into the endless abyss beneath the city.

Agatha was silent for a long time, then softly spoke, "Actually… I occasionally feel fortunate that my eyes can now see more than ordinary people. Like you said, we are all navigating in a boundless 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 sea, a slightly further gaze is insignificant," Duncan said softly, but then his tone changed, "But for us who are navigating in the darkness, even being able to see one meter further is extraordinarily meaningful."

He casually turned off the main lighting in the cabin, leaving only the necessary lights on the console.

The submersible darkened, but with the change in contrast, the beams of light from the high-power searchlights outside the porthole seemed even brighter. Within the range of that light patch, the details on the surface of the "cliff" became clearer.

"The world you describe is almost despairing, but your attitude seems eternally optimistic," Agatha said. "This makes me… a little surprised."

"I described a despairing world to you because this world is already so bad. My attitude is optimistic because I am an optimistic person," Duncan said casually. "We cannot change this world, but 'attitude' belongs to us."

"I didn't expect you to be this kind of person, and I didn't expect you to be so sentimental," Agatha's face seemed to show a hint of a smile. "Ah, yes, I always forget that you were originally the greatest explorer in this world."

Duncan just smiled and didn't respond. His gaze fell on the porthole, carefully observing the "cliff" that was gradually rising, using the beams of light from the searchlights.

The texture looked like stone, and the surface was covered with parasites similar to seaweed and coral.

But such a vertical structure, such a regular "foundation," didn't seem like something formed naturally.

He carefully controlled the submersible forward, hovering at a very close distance, and then somewhat clumsily found a control lever on the console, releasing the robotic arm located directly in front of the submersible.

In the light, the robotic arm slowly unfolded, and its sharp tip touched the "cliff" in front, gently tapping and scraping it.

Some debris slowly fell in the water.

But the inside of the debris seemed to be a harder structure.

"I've always been curious about one thing," Duncan suddenly broke the silence. "For so many years, so many cities, there has never been a shortage of deep digging—whether it's mining, building underground facilities, or purely research… has no one ever dug through this 'foundation'?"

Agatha was stunned for a moment. The question seemed a little out of the blue to her, but after a brief thought, she shook her head. "As far as I know… there has never been such a 'dig through' situation. Because the underground is dangerous. The lower you go below sea level, the higher the probability of aberrations appearing in the darkness. Even with the protection of steam and fire, mental pollution and bizarre accidents in the mines happen every year, let alone digging deep with the crazy idea of 'drilling through the city.' And…"

She paused, organized her memories, and then said, "And even if someone really had this crazy idea and dug deep, it seems no one has ever succeeded. I heard that the Academy of Truth made an attempt in this regard, and their conclusion was… when digging to a certain depth, the drill just couldn't go down anymore. The deeper you go, the harder it gets, until the hardest and most advanced drills break."

"The deeper you go, the harder it gets?" Duncan frowned, turning his head to look at the robotic arm outside the porthole that was tapping on the "cliff." It had already knocked off some attachments, and after those loose debris fell off, the inner layer of the cliff revealed a darker, denser structure.

It was impossible to tell whether it was rock or metal.

But there seemed to be vaguely regular patterns on its surface, just like… the crisscrossing grooves of some kind of creature's skin.

Duncan controlled the robotic arm, trying to scrape off some samples from that black, dense structure, but to no avail.

The robotic arm's power was insufficient, and the black substance was harder than expected… some kind of "bottom shell"?

Various speculations arose in Duncan's mind, and even some bold exploration plans emerged, but in the end, he tried to suppress this curiosity and began to control the submersible to continue moving into the deep sea.

After all, exploring the "huge unknown entity" directly beneath Frost City was his primary goal for this trip. Without knowing if there would be a second deep dive opportunity, he couldn't waste the submersible's valuable endurance halfway.

With the noise from the ballast tank, the submersible continued to descend.

After who knows how long, they finally crossed the "fault line" under the city's foundation.

Very suddenly, the "cliff" within the range of the searchlights came to an abrupt end. The huge patch of light was as if suddenly swallowed by darkness, and the boundless dark water rushed towards them.

No matter how strong the searchlights were, they couldn't find a target to illuminate in such a vast and boundless sea—Duncan could only see the hazy boundaries of light and shadow extending outside the porthole, but whether inside or outside the light, he couldn't see any reference objects.

This feeling of being deeply trapped in a vast darkness and constantly sinking was far greater than facing that strange large hollow deep in the Boiling Gold Mine.

Agatha also gripped the handrail in front of her a little nervously.

The last glimmer of light in her "vision" disappeared.

(End of Chapter)