Above The Sky
Chapter 261 - 261 249 Ruins of Ice Abyss 23

261: Chapter 249: Ruins of Ice Abyss (2/3) 261: Chapter 249: Ruins of Ice Abyss (2/3) Walking on the Ice Abyss actually posed considerable difficulty, even for a Sublimator, and although it could not be described as a struggle, it was hard enough.

Descending from the hillock to the flat ice fields below, the wind and snow still raged on but were noticeably milder compared to the higher elevations.

Unlike the surrounding ice cliffs and countless ravines and valleys, the ice fields, made of pure ice crust, had a lower and flatter terrain.

Due to the subzero temperatures, ordinary ice was as hard as steel.

However, it was strange that on such flat and sturdy ice fields, there were occasional holes and even many large ice pits that led directly to the dark depths below.

At first glance, one might not notice anything, but the more one stared into their depth, the more one would feel dizzy and bewildered.

No one could understand how these holes were formed or why they were so smoothly polished.

If one were to fall into them, Ian, with his Fairy Wings, might handle it, but Yisen Gard and Master Gossay would certainly be doomed—Ian wouldn’t be able to climb out of such slick and solid ice holes while carrying someone.

But during their dangerous crossing of this ice field, Yisen Gard reported some unexpected intelligence to Ian, something even he hadn’t noticed.

“You mean to say that beneath these glaciers, there is some huge steel structure releasing heat…

and those pits on the ice field are formed by the hot air released from the steel structure?”

Ian didn’t doubt Yisen.

Throughout their journey, he had seen Yisen grow stronger visibly—the little lord from the Ellen Family had become tough enough and had enough willpower to push his strength into battle as Ian’s comrade, rather than a protected burden.

But when Ian seriously extended his Foresight View and added the perception from the Silver Chip, he was astonished to discover that indeed, at least twelve hundred meters below the glacier, there was the massive structure as Yisen Gard had described!

“I’m not lying!

That steel structure is really bizarre, each one is square like a giant coffin, emitting boiling heat, and it looks quite terrifying…”

Initially, Yisen Gard was somewhat proud, but his voice faded, becoming increasingly uneasy: “This place is really odd, Ian, Teacher Gossay now lacks the instinctive protection of Origin Quality, and relying on potions all the time isn’t a solution… Shall we leave here quickly?”

Yisen Gard had relied on the instinctive heat detection of his Bloodline to notice the subtle temperature changes below the glacier.

Although Ian could also sense it, it was only the minor fluctuations on the Silver Chip, within the normal margin of error.

The range of the Foresight View was quite limited; he needed to use a focused approach to barely sense the huge steel structure beneath the glacier’s bottom.

“They’re just heat exchangers, which is nothing strange in itself; it’s just one more piece of evidence supporting my hypothesis,” Ian thought.

Considering this, Ian concentrated on the ice beneath his feet—apparently, the Ruins of Ice Abyss at this location was once a massive natural subterranean cavity, transformed into a giant cooling reservoir by the pre-modern civilization.

But suddenly one day, the cooling water that should have come from the fusion power station stopped coming, and ordinary water from seawater back-flooding began to freeze here, forming the Ice Abyss…

until today.

Even so, some of the cooling structures were still operating.

The iron conducted heat, causing hot air to continually surge upwards from the bottom of the ice layer into the Ice Abyss, forming wind and snow, melting and solidifying the Ice Abyss again, and creating those profound ice holes and caverns.

After realizing this, Ian nodded—Yisen Gard’s suggestion wasn’t wrong.

For the safety of both Master Gossay and himself, leaving this place was the wise choice.

If everything was as he suspected, the formation of the Ice Abyss’s unique cliffs and rugged ice walls might be due to the periodic collapses and ruptures of the ice fields, intermittently melting and solidifying.

There might exist places of eternal ice, but what of it?

They weren’t planning to settle here.

And it was when Ian complimented Yisen Gard and instructed him to report any abnormal situations like the one they had encountered at the earliest opportunity.

Suddenly, both of them heard it—the deep expanse of the ice fields was echoing with a series of violent explosions.

“…the sound of Alchemical Cannons?”

Both were taken aback, exchanging looks, and then, with determination, they quickly made their way toward the origin of the explosions without a word.

Even among the sounds of Alchemical Cannons, there were differences, and they could discern that the barrage of cannon fire consisted of two types.

One was the latest model Alchemical Cannon from the Central Empire…

and the other.

Was the standard-issue cannon used by the pirates—Canaan Moore model!

But, before Ian and Yisen Gard could rush over and puzzle out why the cannons of the Empire and Canaan Moore would be firing in unison, seemingly in a combined assault against an enemy.

Ian was the first to see, not too far away on a snow dune, the indistinct figures of two dark spots scrambling to escape.

“Take care of Master Gossay—I’ll check out the situation.”

Ian handed over the care of Master Gossay on his back to Yisen Gard, who readily agreed, “Be careful.”

And as Ian accelerated, invoking the power of Fairy Wings to soar over the long distance and land directly in front of the two fleeing figures, the people who were running did not even entertain the idea of attacking, instead somersaulting and looking towards the ‘monster’ that had suddenly descended upon them in terror.

However, upon seeing Ian’s face and ascertaining he was no illusion, they immediately came forward, exclaiming with relief.

“Guide!” “Guide, you’re actually still alive?”

Aside from the merchants in Harrison Port and South Ridge cities, the only others who would call Ian a guide were members of the exploration teams.

“Blue Sail?

And you…

aren’t you Yisen’s guard?”

Ian took a clear look and to his surprise, realized they were indeed acquaintances—one was a gaunt member of the exploration team who served as the leader of the shellfish gathering crew on the exploration ship, the first to discover the Glinting Crystal Clam, and the other was straightforwardly one of the two Sublimator guards of Yisen Gard.

Both were covered in frosty bloodstains and had numerous wounds, but thankfully had not been infected by the Brain-Eating Parasite, as such minor injuries were a trivial matter for Sublimators.

“What happened, is there not a battle going on over there?”

Ian didn’t lower his weapon, still gripping his Heavy Abyss Iron Sword tightly, asking the two with furrowed brows.

Although they were unaware of Ian’s feats of killing the Great Shaman in armor after leaving the exploration ship with Yisen Gard, they did know that the youth before them was no weakling.

Especially the latter, Yisen Gard’s guard, who was very aware that Ian was a ‘genius’ capable of slaying all natives with an Ordinary Fine Iron Longsword amidst an entire Firearms Brigade.

So, to keep their temporary ally from doing anything foolish during this operation, he took the initiative to summarily explain the current situation.