Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 716: The Interweaving of Reality and Illusion

Descending from the entrance, they encountered a constricted, low-angled slope. The rough, unmistakable signs of human excavation marked the surrounding rock walls. These initial signs of human work were evident, but as they progressed about twelve meters forward, the pathway began to expand, transforming into a wider and less steep route.

A dim, eerie green light, reminiscent of firelight, flickered among the rocks, faintly illuminating the path that lay ahead. Duncan’s brow creased in concentration as he peered into the corridor that stretched into the enveloping darkness.

“Could it be that those cultists managed to carve out this passage after the sun’s disappearance?” he wondered aloud, turning to Shirley for confirmation, “To think they could excavate such an extensive tunnel in such a brief period!”

“No, their work was limited to just breaking through at the entrance and at the very bottom,” Shirley responded, shaking her head in negation, “The section of the tunnel we’re in seems to have been here long before…”

“A pre-existing tunnel beneath this so-called ‘Holy Island’?” Morris interjected, his expression turning into a frown. He approached the front rock wall and meticulously examined the stones and the ground beneath them. After a moment of thoughtful analysis, he shared, “This indicates that before these cultists discovered this site, someone or something else had already been carving out this space…”

His voice trailed off, his brow knitting together in a mixture of confusion and revelation. After a brief pause, he slowly lifted his gaze, looking towards the path illuminated by the greenish glow.

“No, this doesn’t appear to be the work of humans… This ‘pre-existing passage’ seems to have been formed by something entirely different…”

At this, Duncan stepped closer, curiosity piqued: “What have you found?”

Morris gestured towards the rock layers around them, “Observe these smooth, wave-like faults and the evenly spaced, ring-like patterns… They don’t seem to be the result of human intervention.”

Duncan’s attention was drawn to the unusual features on the rock walls that Morris had pointed out. The corridor ahead had walls that were unusually smooth, composed of black and gray stones that appeared sharply cut, presenting an almost fluid continuity. Every few meters, protruding ring-like structures encircled the corridor. The ground beneath was exceptionally level and smooth, with stones of varying sizes that seemed deliberately sculpted and tightly interlocked along the slope—clearly not the handiwork of the cultists’ tools or dark magic, nor an excavation effort by any prior group.

Such sophisticated underground excavation and construction techniques were unheard of, even in the advanced city-states of their time.

Morris gently ran his fingers over the smooth, flat surfaces of the rock walls, murmuring to himself, “It’s as if we’re traversing the interior of an immense pipe…”

In the depths of the large caverns beneath Frost, there were certain areas that bore a striking resemblance to the ones they were currently traversing. Recalling his past experiences, Duncan shared in a soft, contemplative tone, “The scholars from various city-states were baffled by these smooth, flat faults when they encountered them. They couldn’t determine their formation, merely attributing them to ‘erosion cavities’ left behind after the retreat of the Nether Lord’s flesh.” He paused, his gaze wandering over their current surroundings, “But this Holy Island… it’s believed to be an integral part of the Nether Lord. So why would these same ‘erosion cavities’ exist here?”

While listening to the exchange between Morris and the captain, a sudden, unconventional thought struck Shirley, leading her to venture a guess, “…Could this place possibly be the rectum of the Nether Lord?”

Unable to hide his disbelief, Duncan shot her a stern look, “Wouldn’t it be more realistic to assume it’s some sort of blood vessel?!”

Sensing the gravity of her statement, Shirley instinctively recoiled, scratching her head to casually steer the conversation elsewhere, “Ah, blood vessels… that seems quite possible too, heh…”

But Duncan didn’t linger on the argument with Shirley. Instead, his mind raced with a new train of thought, furrowing his brow in deep contemplation.

Blood vessels… Internal pathways?

Suppose this Holy Island was indeed, as Shirley suggested, a fragment of the ancient god’s flesh. Could it be possible that there were actual “blood vessels” and “nerves” woven within this segment of flesh? And if that were the case, might they manifest as the “corridor” they were currently navigating?

As these thoughts took shape, Duncan suddenly realized that Alice, the usually chatty doll girl who accompanied him on his explorations, had been unusually silent.

“Alice,” he said, his voice tinged with unease, turning to the doll who seemed lost in thought beside him, “What’s on your mind?”

It took calling her name twice for Alice to snap back to reality, her head whipping around, “Oh… Uh? What did you say, captain?”

“I was asking about your thoughts—you seemed quite preoccupied,” Duncan inquired, a slight crease of concern forming on his brow as he peered into Alice’s eyes, “Did you notice or hear something unusual again?”

Alice glanced around, her expression one of confusion and caution. After a brief pause, she hesitantly shared with Duncan, “I haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary… But ever since we started walking here, there’s this very familiar sensation I can’t shake off.”

Both Duncan and Morris echoed in unison, intrigued, “A familiar feeling?”

“Yes, it’s familiar and oddly comforting, like…” Alice searched for the right words, taking a moment before she found them, “Like lying in my wooden box.”

She then gestured towards the deeper, shadowy part of the corridor, “And in that direction, there’s an even stronger sense of familiarity. It’s as if… I’ve been to this place a long time ago, or… as if I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in this place…”

As Alice relayed her eerie feelings about the corridor, Duncan’s face became etched with gravity. After a brief pause, he gave a slight nod, signaling his decision, “We’ll keep moving deeper. Alice, Shirley, Dog – inform me immediately if you encounter anything strange, whether you see or hear it.”

The group proceeded further into the enigmatic corridor with heightened vigilance, enveloped by a growing sense of caution.

While the green hue of Duncan’s flame slowly consumed the narrow corridor, time seemed to blur as they moved forward until the ghost captain noticed a dramatic change in their surroundings. The corridor had opened up into a vast underground cavern. The once narrow passageways flanking them had transformed into wide rock walls, and the ceiling soared to tens of meters above them. This abrupt expansion plunged them momentarily into darkness, but within seconds, the dim green firelight caught up, spreading across the ground and revealing the cavern’s grandeur.

Shirley’s gaze swept upwards in awe at the cavernous space, which resembled an enormous assembly hall. Even though she had glimpsed it in a vision, the sheer scale of the cavern left her momentarily speechless, eliciting a surprised exclamation, “…Holy shit…”

Duncan, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, mused aloud, “…I’m starting to think bringing Vanna here might be feasible. There seems to be enough room for her to take flight…”

Meanwhile, Morris was quietly absorbed in the cavern’s mysterious aura. He moved forward cautiously, guided by the spirit fire, scrutinizing the surroundings. Suddenly, he halted in front of a section of the rock wall, declaring, “There’s something here!”

Duncan quickly joined him, and they were greeted by a bas-relief carved into the dark stone. It depicted a creature with robust limbs and a slender body, crawling vividly across the wall.

Shirley and Dog, catching up, peered at the bas-relief alongside Duncan. After a moment of observation, Shirley murmured, “…Is this a dark hound?”

“It seems… yes,” Dog replied, his tone laced with uncertainty, “But it’s not quite like me… This one appears more flesh-like, and its body proportions differ…”

Before he could finish, Morris’s voice echoed from further ahead, “There’s more over here!”

Guided by Morris, Duncan encountered another bas-relief. This one unmistakably portrayed a creature akin to a jellyfish floating mid-air. Unlike the ethereal nature of smoke and dust, this entity had a tangible form, with more intricate tentacle structures and what seemed to be eye-like organs on its ‘head’.

Duncan slowly lifted his gaze. In the cavern, illuminated by the spirit fire, more bas-reliefs dimly lined the rock walls, seemingly stretching endlessly into the distance.

He furrowed his brow slightly and stepped towards another bas-relief.

Suddenly, a flickering light caught the edge of his vision, causing Duncan to halt abruptly.

Almost simultaneously, the light and shadows in front of him shifted dramatically.

As Duncan gazed upon the scene, reality seemed to fracture, dissolving into an array of light and shadow. With its ancient, enigmatic bas-reliefs, the dark cavern began to disintegrate silently before his eyes. In mere moments, these collapsing fragments of light and shadow swirled and ascended, reconfiguring and illuminating a breathtaking sight.

Before him, in a silent but powerful “roar,” a vast hall materialized. It appeared boundless, reassembling piece by piece in Duncan’s vision. He observed a floor made of a silver-gray material, its nature unknown to him, extending endlessly. Across this expanse, dark blue patterns glowed mysteriously, weaving across the surface. Above, a brightly lit dome stretched out, with massive pipes and cables entangled like an intricate network of nerves and blood vessels.

Within this hall stood numerous cylindrical platforms, each emitting a soft glow. Above these platforms hovered an invisible force field, seemingly containing various entities motionless within its grasp — creatures resembling strong-limbed hunting dogs, predatory beasts, an array of birds, and many other creatures that Duncan couldn’t quite discern or see clearly.

The light and shadows in front of him flickered intermittently, the lights within the hall dimming and then flaring up again. In an instant, Duncan’s senses were tricked into seeing the dark cavern again, with the neatly arranged bas-reliefs on its walls.

But in the very next second, the dim cavern image collapsed once more, reverting to the form of the hall. At the far end stood something colossal, a structure that resembled a huge machine or some kind of terminal, surrounded by an array of tubes. Complex prismatic structures were entwined within these tubes, pulsating with a metallic luster and black mud. On the central prism, lights flickered intermittently, and what seemed like a holographic projection floated in front of it, displaying rows of characters that were constantly refreshing.

The characters were unfamiliar to Duncan, a script he didn’t recognize — yet, somehow, just by glancing at them, their meaning seemed to be directly imprinted into his mind—

“…New Hope… main system offline…

“LH-01, Navigator One, ecological reconstruction host… status abnormal.

“LH-02, Navigator Two, data and control main host… status abnormal.

“LH-03, Navigator Three, navigation host… offline.

“The spacecraft has disintegrated…”