Ashes Of Deep Sea-Chapter 352 - 356 A Record

Chapter 352: Chapter 356 A Record

Chapter 352 -356 A Record

The personnel who were supposed to have finished their patrol and returned to the base had not come back, making Nemo feel uneasy.

“Let’s go together,” Duncan offered proactively, seeing the situation. He too was keen to explore the abandoned and mysterious “Second Waterway” to see if there were any secrets hidden within the ancient legacy left by the Frost Queen, “the more, the merrier.”

Nemo looked in surprise at the burly “Legendary Captain” standing before him, who occasionally exerted an intense pressure.

To be honest, even now, he still felt a sense of surreal haziness—the legendary “Captain Duncan” had returned from the Subspace, he had indeed heard about it, especially since the Sea Mist had recently made a special trip because of it. But having Captain Duncan right in front of him was another level of horror, akin to speaking to one’s deceased grandfather in the graveyard, a revelation so shocking it could rouse the old man from his coffin to silence him—yet it had truly happened.

However, after briefly interacting, he found that “Captain Duncan” wasn’t as terrifying as the legends suggested.

He was rational, capable of conversation, polite to others—and even had several “assistants” following him, none of whom looked like puppets controlled by some evil magic.

Now, he even voluntarily offered to help.

This momentarily overwhelmed Nemo, but he quickly nodded in agreement—instead of analyzing what mood his boss’s father might be in, the delayed return of Crow was an urgent matter.

“I’ll come too,” Old Ghost’s voice also came through now. The old man approached a nearby storage rack and rummaged through a pile of “junk” to find a safety oil lamp that could be hung on his chest and a crowbar, then picked up a rope from another shelf, slung it over his shoulder, and walked towards the door, “No one knows these paths below better than I do—if that lad really got lost at some junction, you’ll need the wisdom of an old man.”

Clearly, this sometimes-foolish, sometimes-clear-minded old man was in a good state now.

Duncan said nothing but signaled Nemo to lead the way. Thus, the group left the caretaker’s cabin, passed the spacious “crossroads” they had come through earlier, and started down a sewer branch that extended north in search of Nemo’s long-overdue subordinate.

As they moved beyond the crossroads and delved deeper into the “Second Waterway,” Duncan grew increasingly aware of the sheer magnitude of this project—and of the power the City-State had under the Frost Queen’s reign fifty years ago.

The sight was imposing: sturdy walls and towering hallways. The so-called “sewer” was almost like a grand subterranean palace. Its intricate and interwoven layout was clearly meant for more than just drainage, likely considering military, refuge, and even underground factory building operations. Above the spacious hallways, one could see a tangled network of pipes, many severely corroded, broken, or detached from long disuse, yet still hinting at the grand scale of the initial construction.

Occasionally on either side of the corridors, one could see the openings of huge pipes and rust-stained grates, with the drainage ditches on both sides long dried up—since the entire underground waterway was used only briefly and had been abandoned for years, there was little more than a stale musty smell, which was not too unpleasant.

Walking through this incredible underground facility, even the well-travelled Morris couldn’t help but marvel in amazement, yet amid his admiration, the old scholar suddenly harbored some doubts.

“Even for the future development considerations of the City-State…building such a massive underground facility seems a bit exaggerated, doesn’t it?” he couldn’t help but say, “Plaund’s sewage system is already advanced, but it pales in comparison to this—and moreover, this was built fifty years ago. Did Frost really need such a vast ‘Second Waterway’?”

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“The Queen had her own considerations, and her judgment was always correct,” Old Ghost, walking ahead, responded immediately upon hearing Morris’s doubts, “Her Majesty was a natural-born Spiritual Energy wielder. She could see things ordinary people couldn’t, even foreseeing the future of the City-State—her decisions strengthened Frost, and we believe these structures she planned will prove useful.”

Duncan’s brow furrowed suddenly.

“A natural-born Spiritual Energy wielder?” he looked at the old man carrying the rope and crowbar, “Are you saying that the Frost Queen could predict the future to some extent?”

“She said she couldn’t, but we all believed she could—how else can you explain her incredible decisions?” the old man turned around, saying with conviction, “It’s definitely true that the Queen had Transcendent senses, everyone from our time knew that.”

Duncan looked at Morris, who had a thoughtful expression and spoke in a lowered voice, “Historical records about the Frost Queen are sparse, as most of the documents were lost or deliberately concealed and altered during that rebellion, but from what I know, there are no records saying ‘the Queen was a natural-born Spiritual Energy wielder’ or ‘the Queen had prophetic abilities.’ The documents only mention that she was extremely intelligent and wielded flexible political tactics.”

Duncan listened silently, glancing at Alice obediently following at his side.

Not at all intelligent, and completely unaware of what political tactics were—she had not even learned to spell the word.

Alice noticed the captain’s gaze and immediately turned her head away, her eyes curving into a smile.

“…Records can have their inaccuracies, especially since the rebels would definitely conceal many things. I’m inclined to believe that the Frost Queen did indeed have some peculiar attributes,” Duncan retracted his gaze, and as he mentally erased Alice’s silly smile, he casually continued, “It’s just this massive ‘Second Waterway’… What was her purpose in building such an inconceivable thing?”

No one could answer Duncan’s question, but just then, Fenna suddenly noticed something unusual in the distance.

“There’s someone lying on the ground over there!” she pointed out.

Everyone followed the direction of her finger and indeed saw a figure in a blue coat lying on the ground.

The group quickly ran over, and Nemo reached down to turn the body over, revealing a pale face.

“…It’s Crow,” Nemo’s expression turned extraordinarily grim, and he punched the ground beside him, “Damn it!”

Fenna squatted down beside the already dead young man, seeming to notice something amiss about the corpse. After checking it, she suddenly frowned, “Was he… drowned?”

“…Drowned?” Morris was shocked and then noticed the corpse’s wet coat and the abnormal swelling and waterlogging of the skin. But looking around, he only saw dry ground nearby—the only wet trace was under Crow’s body.

Fenna leaned in closer, examined for a moment, then looked up, “The scent of seawater—he was drowned in the sea.”

“There’s no seawater here, not even the underground rivers nearby have saltwater,” Old Ghost joined from behind, and upon seeing the dead Crow, his already deeply wrinkled face twisted even more, “Poor lad, he must have been captured by the rebels, drowned, and then his body dumped here…”

“Whether it’s the rebels or not, dumping the body is certainly possible,” Morris said seriously, “This clearly isn’t the scene of the crime… Hmm?”

He seemed to suddenly notice something, and reached into Crow’s coat pocket, pulling out a sheet of paper that was completely soaked—previously a corner of it was sticking out, drawing his attention.

Everyone’s gaze instantly focused on the paper.

Morris, holding the exceedingly fragile, water-damaged paper, carefully unfolded it.

There were words on the paper—though they were badly blurred by the water, they were not completely faded.

By the extra light from Old Ghost’s oil lamp, Duncan tried to make out the information on it, but the content was puzzling, consisting of several disconnected sentences—

“…The forgotten kings’ council was convened again and again, the initial plan was set, most of those amongst the ashes were given sanctuary, to rise up in light and heat…

“…But the kings had their disagreements, they saw a clan hiding in the shadows…

“That abandoned one, their flesh will melt in the light, they cannot receive blessings from the reborn world. The king of this clan came to the forgotten kings’ council, asking for equal sanctuary. But their demands were harmful to the others amongst the ashes; the forgotten kings could not agree, and they were abandoned.

“They retreated into the shadows, in dark places they imprisoned themselves, yet they could not fully die. They cried out, desperately seeking the protection of their homeland, but to no avail, so they fled deeper into the darkness—they never liked the darkness, but only the darkness could spare them the world’s poison, and so they dwelt long in the dark…”

(Book recommendation time! The title is “The Apocalypse Arrives, and I Have Infinite Possibilities,” a post-apocalyptic abilities genre, Cthulhu style, single female lead, passionate leveling. Here’s a brief introduction written by the author:

Under the apocalypse, with two moons in the sky, anomalies everywhere, the protagonist possesses the Golden Finger of probability alteration, O-03—Probability Dice. Framed, he will embark on a journey of vengeance and truth-seeking.)