Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 401 - Chapter 401 Chapter 405 Collision and Awakening

Chapter 401: Chapter 405 Collision and Awakening Chapter 401: Chapter 405 Collision and Awakening Fog was everywhere, as if the entire world had been submerged into the depths of a turbid, ash-white fluid. Everything within sight lost its edge in this fog; distant cities and nearby roads… all became ambiguously unclear.

Merely spending some time underground, the scenery above had completely transformed into an unrecognizable visage.

Returning in haste to the surface from the second waterway, Agatha stood at the exit of the transit station, somewhat stunned by the state of the streets. Now, not a single pedestrian could be seen on the road. Beneath the dense fog, even the nearby streetlights were reduced to vague halos floating in mid-air. Apart from that, there were only a few dark red lights slowly moving in the fog, interspersed with the sound of steam mechanisms operating–those were the warning lights on the heads of steam-powered walking machines flashing.

“The City-State Guards and the security officer troops have rushed to every intersection. Movement between city districts is strictly forbidden, and all civilian vehicles are prohibited from the roads,” a priest who came to meet Agatha reported, “Most of the night-time Shelters are already at capacity. We have no choice but to collaborate with security authorities to divert the populace to churches, warehouses, and the nearest subway stations.”

Saying this, the priest paused for a moment and let out a deep sigh.

“Ah… many more people could have been arranged to take refuge in places like the library, but areas where books are stored are now starting to show signs of Corrosion. All the archives have been sealed off… The rise of the fog coincided with shift changes in most factories across the City-State, leaving too many people far from home.”

Agatha did not respond but slowly withdrew her gaze from the street corner and thoughtfully lifted her head to look at the sky.

Thick clouds and the city’s inner mists obscured the sky, making the Sky Light as dim as dusk, and amidst that chaotic and unclear dome, there was no sign of the sun.

“It’s daytime…” she murmured softly.

“Yes, it is daytime, but this strange fog might be disrupting the sun’s influence,” the priest said, his expression solemn with a hint of nervousness, “The Corrosion appearing in the library is because of this…”

“Nothing could disrupt the sun’s influence during the day–as long as ‘Phenomenon 001’ hangs in the sky, even if clouds block the sunlight and the city is as dark as night, the sun’s influence wouldn’t diminish,” Agatha gently shook her head, “In my judgement, this thick fog is not the cause. It might merely be a ‘phenomenon’ triggered by a greater crisis… How are things on the mountain?”

“The Cathedral is now crammed with people,” the priest quickly reported. Meanwhile, several steam-powered walking machines with flashing warning lights clattered to an open space near the transit station’s exit, and among them was a vehicle bearing the church’s flag, “Your ride is here. We’ll head back up the mountain first and discuss on the way.”

Agatha and the priest climbed into the vehicle. The steam-powered walking machines projected powerful lights into the thick fog, barely illuminating the path. The vehicle started up and headed towards the Cathedral at the mountain’s peak, much slower than the normal speed.

“When the fog descended, many worshippers and tourists were stranded on the mountain. The Cathedral sheltered everyone it could, and those who couldn’t fit were arranged to stay in the adjacent old cathedral museum. The city hall also set up a Shelter, ensuring that no one was left outside,” the priest continued to report while in the car, “Archbishop Ivan has managed to stabilize the situation, and has prevented panic from spreading within the church. He has been using Spiritual Energy communication to maintain contact with churches throughout the City-State, and so far, there have been no pollution incidents caused by mass panic…”

A deep mechanical roar from outside the car window drew Agatha’s attention in its direction.

She saw several long aerial guide rails extending from above the mountain road through the thick fog and toward the distance. Towering support pillars, like giants, held up the tracks, and a dark freight container hung on one of the rails, thundering into the depths of the fog. The red warning lights around the freight container flickered ceaselessly like many eyes in the mist.

That was the transportation system of the Boiling Gold Mines. The unrefined boiling gold mined from the depths was carried through those massive containers and mountain tracks to the crushing, sorting factories, and the great furnaces at the foot of the mountain.

“… Is the mine track still operational?” Agatha turned her head in surprise to the priest sitting beside her, “Haven’t the workers gone to take refuge?”

At the same time, her mind flashed back to a scene she had recently seen deep underground, the ancient mine tunnel that had been exhausted decades ago.

“The workers must have taken refuge,” the priest looked just as surprised when he saw the train of containers on the track but still answered affirmatively, “The Mining Cathedral has confirmed it. What’s being transported now might be the last batch of raw ores from the mining zone, likely arranged automatically by the sorting machines–As you know, the unrefined boiling gold ores in the storage area will be dispatched after a while, as set in the preprogrammed paper tapes. The machines will just follow the…”

An unsettling roar suddenly came from the other side of the fog, interrupting the priest’s confident words. Everyone’s gaze instantly turned towards the direction of the sound, but they could only see another dark freight cabin hurtling on the same track overhead, speeding past the mountain path.

“We’re about to collide!!”

The priest barely had time to cry out in alarm before the earth-shattering collision occurred. Two cargo compartments smashed into each other on the overhead railway, unleashing a terrifying boom and explosion. The side panels of the cargo compartments were torn apart, and the faintly golden-tinged ore showered down the hillside like a torrential downpour. Following this, as the two cargo compartments swayed violently on the track, the drive wheels and auxiliary wheels fell off, the axles broke, and the unrecognizable carriages, belching sparks and thick smoke, plummeted into the valley.

A piece of wreckage nearly grazed the roof of the cart Agatha was riding in, crashing heavily beside the road.

Before the people in the cart could react, another grating, utterly terrifying sound of metal tearing apart came from above.

The overhead railway, having suffered a severe impact, twisted and deformed. Sparks flew from the top of one of the iron towers holding up the tracks, and steel beams and cables snapped with a popping sound. Then, a whole section of the track came crashing down from above!

“Quick, get out of the way!”

The priest in the cart immediately shouted in alarm. But before he could finish, the convoy had already begun to evade the falling debris–with several steam-powered walkers scattering, and the steam cars in the middle of the convoy suddenly accelerating forward. Seconds of heart-stopping terror later, a terrifying boom echoed from behind Agatha.

She turned her head and saw the broken track had already smashed onto the mountain road, completely destroying the thoroughfare. Two steam walkers were blocked on the other side of the fallen debris, fortunately unharmed–they moved their long mechanical limbs, beginning to climb the mountainside. White, high-pressure steam gushed from the gaps in their armor plates, merging with the dense fog surrounding them.

“Walkers number two and four can’t get through. They’re probably trying to climb to the trail above to find a detour back to the cathedral. We don’t need to wait for them,” Agatha glanced back, quickly assessed the situation, and instructed, “Keep moving.”

“That was a close call…” The priest beside her couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, “It almost smashed right onto us.”

But Agatha didn’t speak for a moment.

Was that an accident? Or… malice?

Why was there a cargo carriage traveling in the opposite direction on the mining railway, which was supposed to be a one-way route?

The miners would have taken shelter by this time, and the operators of the railway system were theoretically supposed to take refuge after setting up the last train… The cargo carriage’s final step onto the railway has a safety lock, and if there are other cargo compartments on the tracks, it would not depart… A difference engine controls this process, and a normally functioning difference engine doesn’t make mistakes. The gears and levers would faithfully execute the program set on the punched tape, and there’s no hesitation in the interlocking of metal.

“The differential engine in the mine might have malfunctioned…” Agatha muttered as if talking to herself.

And the problems might not be only with the mine’s differential engine–if the Library could experience nefarious Corrosion even in broad daylight, then the spread and urgency of this anomaly would exceed everyone’s imagination.

…

The distant sound of alarm bells wafted into her ears, while disorderly cold wind roamed freely through the vacant graveyard, the dense fog obscuring everything in sight. In this impenetrable mist, there seemed to be countless deep whispers overlapping and echoing, as if the restlessness of the deceased was stirring.

The sound of a gun’s safety being released broke the silence in the graveyard; the feeble glow of a lantern dispersed the shadows amidst the fog. A stooped old man gripped his trusty double-barreled shotgun, standing on the path like a vigilant sentry, staring intently at the neatly arranged coffins in the mist.

The murmurs were just an illusion, at least for now. The coffins still lay obediently on the mortuary tablets, and the people inside also lay there quietly–yet the eerie atmosphere in the air was not lost on the old soldier.

He knew something was happening, and there was no way this graveyard was going to remain calm today–among the “guests” he was “taking care of,” some were starting to awaken.