Chapter 434 The Black Stone Valley

After passing through a long slope and a town with no living people left, only many rough human figures inlaid in the ground and mountain walls, the exploration team entered a valley filled with strange black stones.

The entrance to this valley was hidden, concealed in a large patch of tangled "plant" remains that resembled thorns, but the information in Shirley's "memory" clearly indicated the specific location of the entrance.

The black rocks in the valley were jagged and rugged, presenting an unsettlingly strange and complex appearance. They didn't seem to be the result of natural weathering, but they were clearly not man-made carvings either.

They were more like many deformed freaks struggling to be "born" from the earth and cliffs, only to suddenly turn into stone in the final step of their growth. On some of the black strange stones, one could even see almost fully formed claws, tentacles, and even the structures of eyes, nostrils, and mouths. After noticing these details, even a seasoned Inquisitor like Vanna couldn't help but frown. A sense of eerie horror seemed to seep into her bones, making her extra vigilant.

And the flowing mist, all-pervasive, also filled this quiet valley.

"These stones give me the feeling that they are alive..." a space marine wearing a black cloak and the triangular emblem of the God of Death whispered, "Some kind of living thing, locked in these black shells... I always feel like they will move at any moment."

"Control your imagination and don't casually conjure up such impressions in your mind," the Death God priest from the Unrepose, who had barely spoken since landing on the island, immediately interrupted his subordinate's murmur.

Duncan glanced at this taciturn God of Death priest—he was a tall, bald man, wearing a black robe, and all exposed skin was covered with complex and dense black rune tattoos. These dense runes even covered his eyelids, making the priest look strange, gloomy, and horrifying.

Probably due to the awkwardness that still existed between the Church of Death and the *Silvanus*, this leading priest didn't communicate much with Duncan on the way, but after noticing the latter's gaze, the strange-looking bald man turned his face and nodded politely: "Is there anything you want to ask?"

"I remember your name is Norn," Duncan said with a nod, "After the Frost incident ended, a large number of 'originium' samples collected from the Frost pipeline system were sent to the headquarters of the Church of Death. Are you aware of this?"

"I had close contact with those samples," Norn replied casually, "I have a deep impression."

"What do you think of these 'traces' on this island?"

"... Similar origin, but it feels different," Norn thought for a moment. Although his expression was slightly unnatural when answering Duncan's question, he still opened his mouth earnestly, "The 'samples' sent from Frost were a disgusting and cold substance. They were completely in a state of 'stasis,' with no further changes occurring, but here..."

He paused and picked up a small stone from the ground beside him.

"Others may not be able to see it on the surface, but I can feel it... it is still 'operating' inside, still undergoing slow 'changes'. This feeling is difficult to describe. It is a 'feeling' that only we believers of the God of Death can produce. If I had to say it... just like Miss Shirley said, this whole island is 'alive,' even if it has calmed down again now, every part of it is still 'alive,' just living in a state close to death."

Duncan nodded lightly, and didn't speak for a moment.

According to existing intelligence, the entire island was transformed by the power of the Sacred Lord of the Abyss, and according to the information Shirley saw from those "illusions," it could even be regarded as a piece of "flesh and blood" detached from the Sacred Lord of the Abyss—if it was really the flesh and blood of an ancient god, then it didn't seem unimaginable that it would still be active even after being separated from the main body for thousands of years.

The only thing that felt incredible was... it would actually evolve into this appearance on the edge of reality—trees, stones, soil, streams flowing through mountain streams, and various resources and minerals that could be collected on the island.

Those Annihilation cultists even used the resources on the island to build towns and docks.

This made Duncan think—what kind of "individual" is the so-called "Sacred Lord of the Abyss"? Before becoming the "ancient god" of the Deep Sea Era, what was the essence of this "Navigator Unit 01" coded Lh-01?

And what about the "God of Wisdom, Raheem," who also has the Lh code and should be called "Navigator Unit 02"? He seemed to be completely different from the Sacred Lord of the Abyss in terms of both power and "form"... What is the essence of this difference? Why is there such a difference between Lh-01 and Lh-02?

For some reason, Duncan always felt that he was still missing something. In addition to the two codes Lh-01 and Lh-02, there seemed to be a question he had never paid attention to...

But his thoughts didn't continue.

Shirley, who was leading the way in front, suddenly slowed down.

"... I 'saw' this place," she blinked, standing in an open space covered with gravel, looking around at the misty valley, recalling the scenes she had seen from the chaotic illusions before, "Those cultists all gathered in this open space. When the sun went out, they gathered here and shouted and screamed, thinking they were 'enlightened'... The excavation point of those morons should be nearby... This was originally a closed-off place. I don't know why they never dared to approach it, but when the sun went out, their minds were not normal, and they were not afraid..."

Amber, standing near Shirley, frowned slightly.

The goddess priest turned her head slightly and looked at Vanna: "... I seemed to hear Miss Shirley naturally say very rude words just now..."

"You just noticed?" Vanna was surprised, "She's always been like this."

Amber: "...?"

Shirley didn't care about the conversation of the people next to her at all. Her attention seemed to be completely attracted by the fragments of memory that kept appearing in her mind and the familiarity brought by the valley in front of her. She took two steps forward, and her blood-red glowing eyes slowly swept across the surrounding mist, and soon she sensed a familiar aura coming from the front.

The aura of the abyss.

"This way," she blinked, her eyes recovered, and she immediately pointed to a narrow entrance between the cliffs in front, "They dug down from here!"

It was a crack that could probably accommodate two people entering side by side. It seemed to be a natural fissure in the canyon, but in its depths, there were traces of artificial excavation and expansion. There were also some mining tools scattered around the entrance, but the users of the tools had obviously been swallowed up by the surrounding rocks and soil—those excavation marks were the last proof that they had lived in this world.

"... It's narrow below, and the situation is unclear. It's best not to all go in," Amber poked her head in and quickly retreated, turning her head and said to the others, "I suggest most people camp around the entrance, and a few elites go down to see the situation."

"I'll take someone down first," Duncan said casually, "Alice, Shirley, A Gou... and Morris, you guys come down with me, Vanna, you, Amber, and Norn set up camp outside and monitor the situation on the island."

His arrangement made sense—first of all, one of the purposes of his coming to this holy island was to confirm what kind of connection existed between Alice and the Sacred Lord of the Abyss, so naturally he had to bring the doll, and Shirley and A Gou were guides after going down, Morris was knowledgeable, and he was a mystic explorer himself, and this kind of exploration was his specialty.

But obviously Vanna had other ideas: "Don't you need to bring me along? You might encounter enemies below, you need some combat power..."

"You might encounter enemies outside too," Duncan said, then poked his head and took a look at the low and narrow space inside the crack, turned his head and looked at Vanna seriously, "And it's very low below, you can't jump."

Vanna was stunned when she heard this, and it took two or three seconds to react, and she was a little embarrassed: "... I don't only know that one move..."

But she just mumbled this sentence, and soon nodded: "Then I understand, we will stay here to set up camp and simply search the situation in other areas of the valley at the same time."

Duncan nodded slightly: "Yes, very good, pay attention to maintaining contact, and call my name immediately if you encounter any situation."

"Yes, Captain."

After that, Duncan led Morris, Alice, Shirley, and A Gou towards the dark entrance that seemed to be sloping towards the depths.

Vanna watched the figures disappear into the darkness, and saw a faint green light appear in the depths of the passage, then she breathed a slight sigh of relief, then turned her head and saw Amber standing beside her, staring straight at her with a subtle expression on her face.

Vanna was suddenly a little awkward: "... What are you looking at me for?"

Amber thought for a while, but couldn't help it: "... Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you call the goddess's name immediately if you encounter a situation?"

Vanna's expression froze: "..."

Miss Inquisitor fell into thought.

But soon she reacted, looking at the young junior in front of her with a serious face: "You can call both of them together."

This time it was Amber's turn to freeze: "... Is that okay?"

"Yes."

"... Does the goddess allow it?"

Vanna looked pious: "I asked, and She didn't object."

Amber continued to freeze: "...?"

Norn stood beside the two, with no expression on his face throughout (mainly because his face was covered with paint and he couldn't see his expression), and after a long time, he stretched out his hand and silently outlined the triangular emblem representing the God of Death in front of his chest, letting out a long sigh that no one noticed.

At the same time, in that narrow passage that was constantly sloping downwards, Shirley and A Gou were carefully advancing together.

The faint green flames slowly spread on the rock walls on both sides, illuminating the way forward. Shirley held the chain connecting her and A Gou with one hand, and held the cold and smooth stone beside the road with the other, with a nervous expression on her face.

A faint blood-colored light was floating in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)