Chapter 1 The Unknown Deep

The winch rotated, the steel cable tautened, and the metal "iron cage" made creaking noises as it descended. Darkness permeated outside the cage, while dim gas lamps embedded in the shaft walls dispelled the darkness deep in the mine, bringing a limited but necessary sense of security.

Agatha stood at the edge of the elevator, her "gaze" passing through the railing and towards the constantly descending shaft. A night-like black cloth covered her eyes, obscuring most of her expressions, making it almost impossible to guess what she was thinking.

"It's so deep here..." A voice suddenly broke the silence in the elevator. Alice stood nervously behind Duncan, looking up at the gas lamps that kept rising along the shaft walls, and said a little fearfully, "I feel like we're about to pass through the city-state and fall into the sea..."

"The continuous descent can create such an illusion," Maurice's voice came from a corner of the iron cage. The old scholar was curiously observing the internal structure of the large elevator, without even turning his head, "In fact, we should have only descended two or three hundred meters."

"Oh—" Alice drawled, not sure if she could understand how deep "two or three hundred meters" actually was. Anyway, the doll's face showed an expression of "that sounds amazing."

Duncan didn't pay attention to the conversation between Alice and Maurice. He strode to Agatha's side, who was standing silently at the edge of the car, and turned to look at this "gatekeeper": "You seem preoccupied."

"...I just can't help but have many thoughts after going down the well," Agatha said after a two-second silence, her tone complex. "It is said... 'another me' was standing in this position, leading the members of the exploration team into the depths of the Boiling Gold Mine from this shaft..."

Her voice was hoarse, with a hint of hesitation.

"'She' at that time... seemed to have realized the truth about herself. According to the details described by the several guardians who went down the well with her at the time, she had an unusually resolute attitude at that time, but no one knew why..."

"If that 'fake' really restored most of your thoughts and memories, then it's not unimaginable that she could perceive her true situation," Duncan said lightly. "Even a copy can possess a tenacious will and a noble spirit."

Agatha didn't speak for a while, seemingly immersed in complex and heavy thoughts. After a long time, she suddenly broke the silence: "I'm just thinking... what she was thinking at that time, and what she was recalling... Did she ever feel fear, or regret? She has my memories, but only a few days of real life. About all this... would she resent it?"

Duncan turned his head and quietly stared at Agatha.

After a moment of watching, he slowly said, "If it were you, would you resent it, or regret your decision?"

"No."

"Obviously, neither would she."

"But..." Agatha then said, "But... I think I would still have some regrets. When dying in the darkness, I would think of the city-state in the sun, and the familiar people and things in the city. If I were a copy, I would also regret that I couldn't cross Bartok's gate, because I don't know if I have a soul, I..."

She stopped, took a light breath, and seemed to be a little sad: "Yes, if it were me, I would feel regret."

Duncan looked at her. After a long time, he withdrew his gaze and turned to look at the dimness rising around him and the lights in the dimness: "So, she would too."

Agatha was silent for a moment, as if talking to herself, or softly asking: "What will we see down there..."

"I don't know, that's why we need to come down to confirm the situation." Duncan said, looking back at the figures in the car—Alice, Maurice, and Vanna, who was standing in the middle of the elevator with her arms folded, closing her eyes to rest. Besides these three, plus Agatha and himself, there was no one else here.

"You didn't bring any subordinates, you only called us, is it out of caution?"

"I don't know what will happen below. It may be the pollution left by the ancient gods, or it may be the spreading 'truth'. In an unknown situation, bringing ordinary guardians and priests will only increase the uncontrollability," Agatha said frankly. "You and your followers are obviously not afraid of these."

Duncan smiled as he listened, and didn't say anything.

At this moment, the speed of the car's descent began to slow down rapidly. Accompanied by the creaking of the automatic mechanism and the final clanging sound of the "iron cage" touching the bottom, the elevator finally arrived at the bottom of the mine.

"We're here," Agatha raised her head, glanced at the situation outside, took the lead in opening the gate and walking out, while subconsciously reminding the people behind her, "Be careful, this place has only been initially cleaned—the emergency response personnel evacuated a few hours ago. What we are going to next is the true 'unknown darkness'."

As she spoke, she suddenly stopped and turned to Duncan with some embarrassment: "Of course, these reminders may be a bit superfluous for you..."

Duncan waved his hand, indicating that he didn't mind, and at the same time took another look at the situation deep in the alleyway—only a few gas lamps released dim light in the darkness, making the alleyway ahead even more shadowy, suspicious piles were everywhere, surrounded by an uneasy and eerie atmosphere. It couldn't be said to be a reassuring scene.

"We shouldn't have let Nina go back to the ship so early," he said casually, "If she were here, she'd be perfect for such a dark place."

"Maybe she would be startled by something in the dark, and a sneeze of several thousand degrees would blow up the entire mine," Maurice couldn't help but mutter, "I don't recommend you take Nina in any dark and small space—she's still young, and easily startled."

Duncan shrugged: "Children always have to grow up, she's almost graduating from high school."

The expression on Maurice's face froze for a moment, his mouth twitched several times before he opened his mouth, carefully choosing his words: "Captain, under normal circumstances, high school graduates would choose to celebrate their adulthood with a party or a trip, rather than exploring in a mine that has been eroded by ancient gods as a 'graduation gift'..."

Duncan laughed happily, then seemed to remember something and suddenly turned his head and asked Vanna, "How did you spend your seventeenth birthday?"

He just asked casually, wanting to have a reference when celebrating Nina or Shirley's coming-of-age day in the future.

Vanna didn't expect the focus of the topic to suddenly fall on her. The beautiful and valiant woman was stunned, and a little embarrassment quickly appeared on her face, and then she muttered softly as she stepped forward, "...preparing for the make-up exams for the delayed school year..."

Duncan: "..."

The atmosphere seemed a little awkward, Duncan could only spread his hands helplessly. Agatha, who was walking in front, suddenly turned her head, seemingly casting an unbelievable "gaze."

"What's wrong?" Duncan asked casually.

"...No matter how many times I see it, I feel that the way you get along with your followers is really amazing. You, who have regained humanity, are completely different from the you in the legends of the past century—I think I can understand a little why Captain Lawrence of the White Oak and his men are such an interesting group of people."

Duncan didn't react to the first few words, but his expression immediately became subtle when he heard the latter. As soon as Agatha finished speaking, he said, "I emphasize again, although everyone on the White Oak can be considered my subordinates, I'm really not familiar with them..."

Agatha nodded: "Yes, you are not familiar with them—you have emphasized it before."

Duncan didn't hear any serious attitude from the other party's tone, and could only sigh helplessly: "How was it finally resolved? I mean Lawrence's 'list of goods'."

"Frost needs supplies now, and we will never violate the contract—since the goods have arrived, of course we will pay the bill," Agatha said, but shook her head again, "But only part of it can be paid."

"Oh?"

"The most critical 'cargo', Anomaly 077, is out of control and cannot be delivered," Agatha explained. "The contract requires the White Oak to deliver the sealed 'sailor' to Frost's Holy Relic Hall, not a lively and kicking corpse..."

"But then again, that corpse himself seemed to hope to be 'delivered'. When he heard that the list of goods to be handed over to Frost included himself, he almost cried with joy—unfortunately, we don't know how to deal with an anomaly that is in a long-term uncontrolled state and cannot be sealed again. It's better to hand him over to you to deal with it yourself."

"Anomalies that are out of control for a long time..."

Duncan muttered subconsciously, turning his head to look beside him.

Alice also turned her head, and when she found the captain was looking at her, the doll lady's face immediately showed a happy look: "Hehe..."

Duncan sighed: "Well, I do have some experience."

Agatha also subconsciously looked at Alice, her face seeming to reveal some complex expressions.

To this day, she had learned from Duncan the true identity of this "doll lady", and as a native of Frost, she of course knew how special it was for "Anomaly 099" to be swaggering around in Frost City.

She had countless questions to ask, and strong curiosity and inexplicable anxiety stirred restlessly in her already cooled chest—but facing Captain Duncan, who didn't seem to care about anything, she never found a chance to speak.

"I want to..."

Agatha seemed to have finally made up her mind. She broke the silence, but just as she was about to ask some questions about Alice, a sudden palpitation made her stop abruptly again.

Almost at the same time, everyone in the team stopped.

Agatha turned her head and looked at the deepest part of this deep and long alleyway, and under the thick black cloth, her vision that had been sublimated in flames was shaking, trembling, and twisting, as if invisible winds were blowing head-on, and countless chaotic voices were mixed in that invisible wind, impacting her perception.

She felt her mind was being disturbed. The huge presence in the depths of the alley... no, strictly speaking, it should be the remnants left by some huge presence, was resonating with her reason. She couldn't "see" what was there, but she could feel... in that vast and unparalleled echo, there was a faint echo.

That faint echo was softly calling her to go over.

"What's... over there?"

The blind goddess official asked, she subconsciously stretched out her hand, seemingly wanting to stabilize her somewhat shaky body.

A slightly wide hand, but one that could clearly feel the female lines, stretched out from the side—Vanna reached out and helped Agatha, and looked up at the vast darkness at the end of the alley.

"It seems to be a hollow," Vanna said in a low voice, with a hint of tension in her tone, "A huge... hollow."