Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 449 - Chapter 449 Chapter 450 Boiling Gold

Chapter 449: Chapter 450: Boiling Gold Chapter 449: Chapter 450: Boiling Gold A vast abyss lay at the end of this alleyway.

Fenna reached the edge of the abyss, where the alleyway abruptly ended. The ground and the ceiling seemed to have been devoured by some invisible force, disappearing ahead, and the neatly cut opposite edge was met by such a vast and empty darkness that even she, the Judge, felt an immense pressure. The instinctive fear of humans in the face of such immense dark spaces surged like a tidal wave.

Morris also arrived at the “entrance” to the abyss, raising his lantern. However, the light emitted by the specially made underground lantern seemed to be directly swallowed up–the light did not disappear, but due to the excessively vast space ahead, there was nothing on all sides to reflect it, causing the lantern’s brightness to diminish in the dark. Eventually, it only lit up a steep slope descending from the side of the pit, leaving the rest shrouded in darkness.

“This… No matter how you look at it, it couldn’t have been an original structure of the mine,” Fenna inhaled softly, turning back to look at the mine shaft that they had followed to get here, “The normal passage ends right here… This must be the ‘stone wall’ mentioned in the report.”

Morris bent down, examining a small part of the abyss’s inner wall illuminated by the lantern. “It feels like something massive once filled this space, but now that thing has vanished into thin air, leaving a huge hole.”

“The cavity is so large, it should have collapsed, but instead it has stabilized?” Duncan couldn’t help but frown, looking up into the darkness above with some worry, “If there were a collapse here, at least one-third of the Upper City District would probably be in big trouble.”

At this, he suddenly turned back to look at Agatha, “Are you all right? You’ve seemed off since we started.”

“I… can’t see the ‘abyss’ you’re describing,” Agatha spoke hesitantly, “All I see is a vast and twisted resonance, the air filled with noise. Is there really nothing ahead?”

“Nothing at all, at least not visually, and I also don’t sense any contamination left by Transcendent powers,” Fenna nodded firmly, then thoughtfully added, “But you feel something… Maybe it’s resonating with you because of what’s left behind here?”

“I don’t know,” Agatha shook her head, then turned to Duncan, “What do you think?”

“We should go in and see what’s inside.” Duncan had already made up his mind, then he gestured in the air and a ghostly green flame appeared beside him, from which a skeleton bird wrapped in fierce flames burst forth, confidently landing on his shoulder.

Ai Yi cocked his head, looking around, “Old driver coming through! Old driver coming through!”

“We can’t rule out the risk of this ‘cave’ collapsing, so take this pigeon with you,” Duncan explained, “Once inside, don’t scatter. Pay close attention to any signs of instability around you and pay attention to any noise from above. If there are signs of collapse, everyone, teleport out.”

“Yes, Captain.” “Understood.” “Okay.” “Hehe…”

Duncan tapped Alice’s head casually, then checked the terrain around the edge of the abyss again, took a deep breath, and was the first to step out into the darkness.

The others followed closely behind.

Stepping into the abyss, they encountered a rather steep slope, discontinuous, with potential drops and winding “side paths” appearing at any moment, each step had to be taken with great care. This winding and difficult path extended into the depths of darkness, as if it could lead straight to the bottom of the abyss.

The path felt like a deep impression left in the rock after long-term effects of Corrosion had subsided.

Duncan proceeded cautiously in the darkness, the green fire burning quietly and spreading at his feet, the unceasing Spiritual Fire illuminating a small area around the path and leaving a conspicuous “trail of flame” behind them. Looking back, one could see the flowing fire sketching out a pathway to the exit of the abyss, winding like thread through the darkness.

In such an enormous dark underground space, marking the path was extremely important. Though they had the pigeon as the ultimate means of evacuation, Duncan, out of caution, still left his own flames along the way–these flames also extended his perception, helping him keep abreast of the subtle changes in the cave walls.

Fenna had already formed a storm sword of Frost in her hand, holding the sword with one hand and remaining vigilant for any monsters that may lurk in the vast darkness. Alice carefully supported her head the whole way, for fear that a slip could lead to her violent death in the dark. As for Agatha, whose perception was affected by some sort of “resonance” within the cave, she relied on Fenna’s support, carefully stepping on the rugged slope.

Morris remained curious about the stones by the path as they progressed.

“These rocks are very dense… and they seem fused and compressed together,” he lifted his lamp, his eyes glinting faintly with silver light, straining to observe the distance, “If the inner walls of the cavity are all composed of these rock layers, it could explain why it remains stable after its ‘contents’ disappeared–these stones form a dense and thick ‘inner shell’ that supports the entire structure.”

He hesitated, then said with less certainty, “But merely an inner shell might not be enough, for such a large cavity, there must also be some other support.”

Fenna couldn’t help but turn her head to look at the old man, “Just how many fields do you know?”

“Mathematics, history, chemistry, mysticism, physics, a bit of geology and mining knowledge, as well as some hand-to-hand combat, firearms, mechanical, and demolition expertise,” Morris said casually, “Is there a problem?”

Fenna, wide-eyed and dumbfounded, asked, “How… how did you manage that?”

“Reading books often is the key,” Maurice replied. “It’s not strange that I know these things; after all, I am a historian.”

Fenna looked at Maurice with a peculiar gaze, thinking to herself which of the numerous disciplines he had just mentioned, apart from firearms, combat, and explosives, had anything to do with the job requirements of a “historian.” But, after hesitating for quite a while, she felt too embarrassed to voice it.

Agatha, supported by Fenna, had an even stranger expression on her face–this gatekeeper lady was once again deeply shocked by the followers of Captain Duncan. The last time she had felt something similar was when she found out that Fenna was a “sports student”…

However, Maurice himself did not seem to have this self-awareness that astonished everyone. His attention was once again drawn to the “stones” underfoot.

Under the glow of the lantern and the green fire, these stones all exhibited a faint metallic luster, and it was hard to tell if it was an illusion… but their surfaces seemed to have some special patterns.

The elderly scholar bent down, picked up a piece of broken stone, and examined it curiously.

He suddenly stopped.

Duncan also stopped and curiously looked at the stone in Maurice’s hand, “Is there a problem?”

After a few long seconds, Maurice seemed to suddenly come to a realization and slowly began to speak in a strange tone, “…It’s boiling gold.”

Agatha immediately turned around, “Boiling gold?”

“Boiling gold ore, its purity is almost to the degree that it can be directly inserted into the steam core reactor…” Maurice muttered in amazement, then quickly bent over again to pick up another piece of broken stone. After inspecting it, he squatted down and began to carefully examine every rock underneath, growing increasingly astonished, “That’s why… no wonder I thought the texture of these ‘stones’ was odd earlier, but didn’t discover it due to the dimness…”

The old scholar suddenly paused and looked up at Duncan and Agatha.

His face was incredibly astonished, yet it also faintly conveyed a thrill of a huge discovery, “It’s true, it’s boiling gold, Captain, Agatha–this entire cave is formed from boiling gold! At least its bottom is covered with ore!”

Everyone fell silent, and amidst this quiet, Duncan could clearly feel Agatha’s emotions violently fluctuating, while Fenna felt the other’s body trembling slightly.

No one understood the significance of “boiling gold” better than a Frostfolk born and bred.

“The entire place is boiling gold. We also saw remnants of boiling gold veins in the mine before,” Fenna whispered, holding Agatha’s hand, “It looks like at least for some time, Frost doesn’t have to worry anymore.”

“Yes… no need to worry anymore… there’s still boiling gold here…” Agatha murmured to herself in a complex tone, “But why, why are these things here…”

“Does the corrosion of The Saint leave behind boiling gold?” Duncan couldn’t help but frown, “If the intelligence guess isn’t wrong, then this huge cavity must have been formed this way…”

Everyone seemed to suddenly become serious so that even the usually slow-to-react Alice felt the change in the atmosphere. She couldn’t help but move closer and gently tugged on Duncan’s arm, cautiously asking, “Captain… what is boiling gold?”

Duncan: “…”

In such a solemn situation, it was indeed difficult for this simple creature to remain unshakably simple.

He sighed, “Boiling gold is the foundation of modern industry, the energy source for all steam-powered machinery–just as people need to eat, machinery needs boiling gold to operate.”

Alice listened half-understandingly and, after a while, suddenly nodded, “Oh–”

Duncan didn’t care whether the illiterate doll had truly understood. His gaze shifted once more towards the darkness ahead.

This huge underground cavity had fully piqued his curiosity.

If this entire cave was made of boiling gold with such high purity… then what could possibly be waiting for him at the deepest part of the cave?