Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 448 - Chapter 448 Chapter 449 Experience

Chapter 448: Chapter 449 “Experience Chapter 448: Chapter 449 “Experience The winch rotated, the steel cable was taut, and the metal “iron cage” kept squeaking as it descended, while darkness spread outside of it. A dim yellow gas lamp embedded in the side wall of the shaft dispelled the darkness from the depths of the mine, bringing a limited and necessary sense of security.

Agatha stood on the edge of the elevator, her “gaze” peering through the railing towards the shaft that extended downwards; the night-curtain-like darkness covered her eyes, hiding most of her facial expressions, making it nearly impossible to guess what she was thinking at the moment.

“This place is so deep…” A voice suddenly shattered the calm inside the elevator. Alice stood nervously behind Duncan, looking up at the gas lamps ascending along the shaft walls, and spoke with a bit of fear, “I feel like we’re about to go through the City-State and drop into the sea…”

“The continuous descent can create that illusion,” Morris’s voice came from a corner of the iron cage. The old scholar was curiously observing the interior structure of the large elevator without turning his head, “Actually, we should just have descended two to three hundred meters.”

“Oh–” Alice’s voice drew out. Whether or not she understood the concept of “two to three hundred meters” was unclear, but her doll-like face revealed an expression that suggested, “That sounds impressive.”

Duncan was not paying attention to the conversation between Alice and Morris. He stepped forward to Agatha, who was silently standing at the edge of the cage, turned his head, and looked at this “gatekeeper”: “You seem preoccupied with heavy thoughts.”

“…Just that many thoughts have been unavoidably surfacing since we descended,” Agatha paused for two seconds, then began with a complex tone, “It is said… ‘another me’ was standing right here, leading the members of the exploration team down this shaft into the depths of the Boiling Gold mine…”

Her voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of hesitation.

“‘She’ at that time… seemed to have realized the truth about herself. According to the details described by a few guardians who went down with her at the time, she had an odd sense of determination, yet no one knew why…”

“If that ‘replica’ had mostly restored your thinking and memories, then her awareness of her real situation isn’t unimaginable,” Duncan spoke indifferently, “Even a Replication can possess a firm will and a pure soul.”

Agatha remained silent for a while, seemingly immersed in tangled and heavy thoughts. After a long pause, she suddenly broke the silence: “I’m just wondering… what exactly was she thinking at that time, and what was she recalling… Did she also experience fear, or regret? She had my memories but only a few days of real life, towards all of this… did she harbor any resentment?”

Duncan turned his head, quietly observing Agatha.

After a brief gaze, he finally spoke slowly, “If it was you, would you harbor resentment, or regret your decisions?”

“I would not.”

“Clearly, she wouldn’t either.”

“But…” Agatha continued, “But… I think I would still have some regrets. When dying in the dark, I would remember the City-State under the sun, recall the familiar people and things in the city. If I were a replica, I’d regret not being able to cross Bartok’s gate because I wouldn’t know if I had a soul, I…”

She stopped, took a gentle breath, her tone seemed to carry a touch of sorrow: “Yes, if it were me, I would feel regret.”

Duncan watched her for a long time before he withdrew his gaze, turned to look at the continual rise of the dimness and the dim lights within it: “So, she would too.”

Agatha fell silent for a moment, as if talking to herself, or quietly asking: “What are we going to see down there…”

“I don’t know either; that’s why we need to go down to check,” Duncan said, turning to look at the few figures in the cage–Alice, Morris, and Fenna, who was standing in the middle of the elevator, arms crossed and eyes closed, resting. Besides the three of them, plus Agatha and himself, there was no one else.

“You didn’t bring any subordinates, just us–is it out of caution?”

“I don’t know what will happen below. It could be contamination left by ancient gods; it could be the spread of ‘truth.’ In the face of the unknown, bringing ordinary guardians and priests only increases uncontrollable variables,” Agatha said straightforwardly, “You and your followers clearly aren’t afraid of these things.”

Duncan smiled upon hearing this, not saying much.

Just then, the descent of the cage began to slow down rapidly, accompanied by the squeaking of the automaton mechanism and the final clanging sound of the “iron cage” hitting the bottom, the elevator finally reached the bottom of the mine.

“We’re here,” Agatha lifted her head, glanced outside, and was the first to open the gate and walk out, reminding the people behind her subconsciously as she went, “Be careful, this area has only been preliminarily cleared–the emergency response personnel withdrew a few hours ago. What we’re heading towards is the truly ‘unknown depths.'”

Saying so, she suddenly stopped, turned her head, and spoke somewhat awkwardly to Duncan: “Of course, these reminders might seem superfluous to you…”

Duncan waved his hand to indicate he didn’t mind, while also taking a glance at the conditions in the depths of the corridor–the sparse gas lamps released a dim light in the darkness, making the path ahead murky and shadowy, with suspicious accumulations everywhere, complemented by an unsettling and eerie ambiance. This was hardly a scene that offered any reassurance.

“I shouldn’t have let Nina go back to the ship so early,” he said offhandedly, “With the darkness here, she’d be just right.”

“Or maybe she’d get frightened by something in the dark and sneeze a few thousand degrees’ worth of fire that blows up the entire mine shaft,” Morris couldn’t help but murmur, “I don’t suggest you bring Nina into any dark and tight spaces–she’s still young and easily startled.”

Duncan shrugged, “Kids have to grow up, she’s almost high school graduate.”

Morris’s expression stiffened for a moment, and his mouth twitched several times before he carefully chose his words: “Captain, under normal circumstances, a child graduating from high school would choose to celebrate their coming-of-age with a party or a trip, not an adventure in a mine affected by ancient god Corrosion as a ‘graduation gift’…”

Duncan smiled cheerfully and then, as if recalling something, suddenly turned his head and asked Fenna another question, “How did you spend your coming-of-age ceremony at seventeen?”

He had asked casually, thinking of using it as a reference for when he would one day celebrate the coming-of-age ceremonies for Nina or Sherry.

Fenna, however, did not expect the focus of the conversation to land so suddenly on herself. The pretty young warrior was momentarily stunned, her face quickly showing a touch of embarrassment before she softly muttered while marching on, “…was preparing to retake a postponed end-of-year exam…”

Duncan: “…”

The atmosphere seemed a bit awkward. Duncan could only spread his hands helplessly. Agatha, walking in front, suddenly turned back, apparently casting an incredulous “glance.”

“What’s up?” Duncan asked offhandedly.

“…No matter how many times I see it, I find the way you interact with your followers truly fascinating. The you who regained your humanity is the complete opposite of the legendary figure you were said to be over the past century–I think I can partly understand why Captain Lawrence of the White Oak and his men were such an interesting bunch.”

Listening to the initial part of her statement, Duncan had no particular reaction, but upon hearing the rest, his expression subtly changed, and he immediately responded after Agatha finished speaking, “I want to emphasize again, although all members of the White Oak are my subordinates, I’m really not familiar with them…”

Agatha nodded, “Yes, you and they are not familiar–you’ve stressed that before.”

Duncan heard not a hint of seriousness in her tone and could only sigh helplessly, “How was it resolved in the end? I’m referring to Lawrence’s ‘cargo manifest.'”

“Frost is in need of supplies, and we never break a contract–the goods have arrived, so of course, the latter part is payment,” Agatha said, then shook her head, “although we can only pay a part of it.”

“Oh?”

“The most critical ‘cargo’, anomaly 077, has lost control and cannot be delivered,” Agatha explained, “The contract stipulated that the White Oak was to deliver the sealed ‘sailor’ to the Frost Sacred Relic Hall, not a lively walking corpse…

“But then again, the corpse itself seemed quite eager to be ‘delivered.’ When he heard that the cargo list to Frost included himself, he almost cried with joy–unfortunately, we don’t know how to deal with an anomaly in a prolonged state of uncontrol and which cannot be sealed again. It’s better to leave him for you to handle personally.”

“A long-term uncontrolled anomaly…”

Duncan muttered subconsciously and turned his head to glance at the person beside him.

Alice also turned around and found the captain looking at her. The doll miss’s face immediately showed a pleased expression, “Hehe…”

Duncan exhaled, “Well, I do have some experience.”

Agatha instinctively looked at Alice, her face revealing a complex expression.

As of today, she had learned from Duncan the true identity of the “doll miss” and, as a native Frostfolk, she understood how extraordinary it was for “anomaly 099” to be freely active within the City-State of Frost.

She had countless questions she wanted to ask, her strong curiosity and inexplicable restlessness stirring within her cooled chest–yet facing Captain Duncan, who seemed not to care much about anything, she never found the opportunity to speak.

“I think…”

Agatha seemed to have finally made up her mind. She broke the silence, but just as she was about to inquire about Alice, a sudden palpitation halted her.

At almost the same time, everyone in the team stopped in their tracks.

Agatha turned her head toward the deepest part of the long, profound alley, and under the cover of thick black cloth, her vision–already sublimated in flame–shook, trembled, and distorted, as though buffeted by invisible winds and countless, chaotic voices within them, assaulting her senses.

She felt her mind being disturbed, the remnants of a vast presence at the end of the alley…no, strictly speaking, the echoes of a vast presence resonating with her reason. Unable to “see” exactly what was there, she could feel…the enormous, unmatched resonance with a faint echo within.

That faint echo was softly calling her over.

“What’s over there?”

The blind priestess asked, instinctively stretching out her hand as if to steady her somewhat wavering body.

A somewhat large but clearly feminine hand reached out from the side–Fenna helped to steady Agatha and looked up toward the vast darkness at the end of the alley.

“It seems like a void,” Fenna said quietly, her voice tinged with a bit of nervousness, “a huge… void.”

(Recommendation time, from the toad’s new book “Dragon-riding Son-in-law,” classical immortals, the old favorite flavor, the seedlings are tender, take a gulp, pay respect to the heavens.)