Chapter 16 He Didn't Even Consider This Question

Tirian took a few seconds to notice Duncan's passing reference to a "one-sided acquaintance" with the Frost Queen, and his astonishment was evident.

Duncan wasn't surprised by the reaction. He simply shook his head gently. "My 'meeting' with her was… unique. It wasn't within the normal timeline. You could understand it as me having intervened in a crack in history, seeing Lei Nora from the perspective of an observer—while in normal history, I had no contact with that Frost Queen."

Tirian frowned, as if trying to understand the profound words. Then his eyes flickered slightly, and he gathered all his emotions, looking up at Duncan. "Why are you interested in the Frost Queen? Is it because of that 'one-sided acquaintance'? Or is it… because of this doll calling herself 'Alice'? What did she tell you?"

"Alice doesn't know anything about the Frost Queen. Her memory is as pure as a blank sheet of paper," Duncan said calmly. "I'm interested in the Frost Queen because everyone says the Frost Rebellion was due to Lei Nora's conspiracy with the Ghost Ship being exposed—don't you think it's normal for me to be interested after hearing that rumor?"

"... Conspiracy with the Ghost Ship," Tirian's voice was low, his eyelids drooping, making it impossible to see his current emotions. "Yes, that's how they framed Her Majesty Lei Nora."

"Judging by your reaction, it really was a fabricated charge," Duncan's voice came from the mirror. "So, the Frost Rebellion was a complete conspiracy, and the charges against Lei Nora were completely unfounded?"

As he spoke, he observed Tirian's reaction.

But Tirian didn't answer him immediately. Instead, he frowned slightly and asked, "Does this truth matter to you?"

"Yes," Duncan said with a serious face. "After all, from a certain perspective, I'm half involved."

Tirian was visibly stunned, seemingly unable to refute his father's answer. Then he sighed helplessly with a smile, shaking his head. "The rebellion did involve a conspiracy, but if you have to say it, the name used by the rebels wasn't entirely fabricated…"

"Exploring the deep sea?" Duncan frowned. "Is he referring to the Spirit Realm, the Abyss, and the Subspace? But it's definitely not just research in those areas. It should also involve something 'forbidden,' right? Although that's indeed very safe, research in that area of ​​mysticism has always been legally carried out in various city-states. The Academy of Truth even has dedicated research groups..."

But beneath the impassioned exterior, waves were constantly rising in his heart.

Tirian spoke, shaking his head gently.

"Oh? All the information has been destroyed?" This time, Duncan seemed a little surprised. He had thought this matter might be confidential, but he hadn't expected it to be covered up so extremely. "Even all the people who knew about it are dead?"

"Back then, the rebels had also prepared a series of follow-up propaganda campaigns targeting the 'Sub-Abyssal Project,' intending to publicize the matter extensively without revealing those forbidden elements, in order to completely erase the Frost Queen's influence in the Northern Sea and emphasize the justice of the rebellion. But after the Great Cliff Collapse, those propaganda plans were immediately abandoned—just like you said, we firmly believed that even the name 'Sub-Abyssal Project' had been contaminated by curses, so we simply destroyed all information related to this project, including its name."

Tirian suddenly raised his head in astonishment.

"Oh?"

"I'm not referring to the 'deep sea' in the mystical sense," Tirian shook his head gently. "I'm talking about the deep sea in the true sense, the deep sea in the natural realm—one that is right in front of all of us, yet everyone pretends not to see it, doesn't touch it, and doesn't dare to touch it."

Tirian's expression was serious. After a long silence, he finally opened his mouth slowly and deliberately, "Simply put, it's an exploration project—but unlike those explorers who explore new sea routes on the border of civilization, the Sub-Abyssal Project explores the deep sea."

"But Her Majesty Lei Nora told me that this issue is very important, as important as the secrets of the 'Spirit Realm,' the 'Abyss,' and the 'Subspace.' It's right under our feet, under the city-states and the surface of the sea, in our real world, there is such a vast unknown area, and I am a person full of exploration spirit. I cannot accept that such a large area within my rule is shrouded in the unknown." "This forbidden project was contaminated with too many curses, Subspace, and mental pollution-related things, so that even the rebels back then did not dare to talk about the information they found."

"The Frost Queen never colluded with the Ghost Ship, but I did… conduct research in some forbidden areas. Once these research plans are made public, even without a rebellion, it would be difficult for me to remain in the position of ruler of the city-state."

"That's why I'm especially curious… through what channels did you learn about the 'Sub-Abyssal Project'?"

Duncan's eyes were deep. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly said, "It's called the 'Sub-Abyssal Project,' right?"

Tirian finally stopped avoiding the question and looked directly into Duncan's eyes. After hearing this half-century-old project from the other party's mouth, the thoughts in his heart were difficult to calm. For a moment, he even really believed that there was some kind of "collusion" between the Frost Queen and the Ghost Ship.

"But in fact, the name of this project was made public only once—this was at the final execution ground, when the rebels said these words in order to announce the Frost Queen's crimes. And on this day, the Sea Cliff of the city-state experienced an unprecedented terrifying collapse. The entire Sea Cliff, along with one-seventh of the city, fell into the boundless sea. Everyone who heard the words 'Sub-Abyssal Project' was spared no one, and they all turned into the souls of the dead in the deep sea."

The Frost Queen had never considered this question, because she had a preconceived "common sense." You naturally think that under the city-state there must be a geological structure rising from the sea, such as submarine mountains or uplifted volcanoes, and further down, of course, there should be things like the seabed. But at this time, I vaguely recalled all kinds of knowledge I had come into contact with since I came to this world, but found… that humans have never had research on the underwater world beyond two hundred meters!

Tirian said, suddenly asking a question, "Father, have you ever thought about this question, what does it look like under your city-state, under those sea islands that carry the entire civilization today...?"

"But all the information related to the Sub-Abyssal Project has been destroyed, and even the insiders who revealed that project back then were purged and executed within the rebel army..." Tirian said incredulously, "Everyone firmly believes that the name of this project itself is still contaminated by curses, and the last people who knew about it back then have all passed away..."

"I know much more than you think," Duncan said calmly.

"I said, I have 'observed' some things in the cracks of history," Duncan said frankly, and asked again, "So, what exactly is the Sub-Abyssal Project? Why is this project so secret and taboo, and even he… when mentioning it, there seems to be a trace of fear remaining?"

He really hadn't considered this question, or rather… he hadn't even realized before that this wasn't a question that needed to be considered!

In this world, people are still accustomed to using terms such as "Spirit Realm," "Abyssal Sea," and "Subspace" to refer to the "depth" of the world, and this structural model can indeed explain the way this world operates to a certain extent. But in fact, this model is only based on the interpretation of "mystical concepts." Strictly speaking, it only describes the "dimensional" structure of this world, rather than the "physical structure" of the real world!

What Tirian is talking about at this moment is obviously not this dimensional model based on mystical concepts. He is referring to the physical concept, the body of water from the surface of the sea downwards.

Duncan didn't speak.

Tirian was somewhat convinced that you understood the situation back then better than anyone else, and naturally knew the reason why this project was buried. But after a moment of silence, he still slowly opened his mouth:

"Obviously, you haven't considered that question either," Tirian's voice suddenly came, interrupting Duncan's thoughts, "And after knowing the Frost Queen, you have never considered this question—the Boundless Sea covers the entire world, our city-states are isolated islands floating on the sea, the protection of the gods has laid a solid foundation for the real world, and the illumination of Anomaly 001 has brought us safe and stable daylight, as for what is under the water..."

Why pay attention? Spirit Realm, Abyss, Subspace... these 'dimensional' 'deep sea areas' are not enough to give us a headache."

Corresponding to the classic model of "Reality-Spirit Realm-Abyss-Subspace," the "deep sea" in Tirian's mouth is actually on the first level of the model: the reality dimension. However, it is not the "deep sea" that is only on the first level, but it seems to be a complete blank in human cognition.