Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

"Faster." Vadin lowered his voice subconsciously.

But this is of no use. The clanking sound cannot be covered up at all. If there is something nearby, whether it is a human or a ghost, it should be attracted.

There was no sound on the other side, which could only mean that everything had ended long ago and they had arrived too late.

After a long wait that seemed to have lasted a whole year, a passage was finally cleared in the rubble for people to climb through. Wadding climbed in first, followed by Kraft.

The top is less than four fingers away from the back, and there are sharp-edged stones below the chest and abdomen. You need to use your arms to support your body slightly, and at the same time tilt your head to prevent scratching your chin.

Only about two meters away, Wading's breathing in front of him became heavy. The flat space gave people the illusion of being suffocated at any time, so he instinctively began to take deep breaths to calm down the feeling of suffocation.

However, expanding the chest further compresses the space for movement. When taking a deep breath, it will be difficult to pass through any narrow places, and the rock edges will hit the undulating ribs.

The main light source is only the unstable illumination from the torch behind him. After being blocked by obstacles, his figure looks like he is crawling between the upper and lower jaws full of molars, and there is a bottomless throat in front of him.

"Relax, control your breathing, you can get through." Sensing that the person in front was breathing heavily and gradually stopping, Craft could easily guess the situation.

He also feels the same way about claustrophobia induced by environmental and psychological pressure, but he has long been used to it. Compared with the extreme sense of confinement that cuts off his mental senses, it is now almost like walking in the corridor, and it is difficult to make waves.

"Stop for a moment, calm down, breathe in through your nose, that's it, hold on."

Wadin was not a fool. After receiving the reminder, he quickly calmed down his breathing and adjusted himself. After thanking him in a low voice, he put the sword hanging on his waist that got stuck from time to time in front of him and continued to crawl.

The only thing they could bring with them was sidearms. Fortunately, there were sufficient supplies on the opposite side.

The total distance was only five steps, and it took nearly ten minutes to crawl over. Craft doubted that if they really encountered something on the other side, they would have a chance to crawl back.

But that thing must have really left. Until they got out of the gap and stepped carefully into the dirty puddle, there was no more alarming sound.

Only when you get into the water vapor here do you really realize how dense it is. It's not just a state caused by humidity, but the kind of vastness you feel when you're on the verge of a large body of water.

The almost solid water mist blocks the lighting, covering things outside the light path.

Collecting torches from the broken boxes, dipping them in oil and burning them, the whole scene was lit up before your eyes.

A sticky trail mixed with a touch of reddish brown wandered through the passage, and the runes meandered like strokes and disappeared at the entrance to the stone chamber on the left side in front.

Overall, it was cleaner than expected. There was basically no large blood stains, and there were no obvious signs of fighting. The residents carrying supplies were wiped out without much resistance.

Just like the unseen waters that exist only in imagination, it stretches out its flexible and slender mouthparts, penetrates into the shelter that people think is safe, and sweeps it away and licks it away.

The two looked at each other, and Kraft read what Wardin meant:

Continue to go?

He nodded, avoiding the suspicious slime and peering into the stone chamber that had served as a temporary camp.

The water accumulation inside was even more serious, and a rippling shallow water had formed, soaking in the empty coffin and various debris, and erasing most of the traces.

The standing water came from a crack leading to the sewer. It can no longer be called a crack. The earthquake severely damaged the stone wall on the side of the sewer, expanding the crack into a large hole for normal walking, and water poured into the room through it.

The situation at that time was probably in a hurry. Freshly unpacked food, a little firewood, and replaced boots were all floating around, and there was only time to hurriedly move other things first.

This also directly led to the neglect of incoming dangers, and preparation in advance was basically useless.

"Do you think you can still find them?"

"The likelihood is low."

Kraft used a more polite expression. In fact, disappearance should be equated with death. This is not just being picked up by a wild beast, but being able to be rescued by following the traces.

To be more pessimistic, the possibility of even finding remains is very small. Most of those people have become an integral part of something.

But the relatively small amount of blood loss seemed to make Brother Wading still have some illusions.

They passed through the hole created by the earthquake and entered the sewer by stepping on the current. The vaulted structure of the cave roof is relatively stable and remains largely intact with incredible quality. It was simply designed for this purpose.

Even so, the visible misalignment of masonry indicates that the life of this ancient project is nearing its end.

The two continued walking down, waiting for the roar of the giant well to swallow up other sounds.

However, the roaring sound of falling water never came, and was replaced by a more spacious and distant sound.

After walking out of the tunnel and standing where the hall should be, the sunken ladder-like structure and the giant hexagonal well have disappeared. Only a slope made of disintegrated boulders is left in the field of vision, paving downwards at a steep angle, pointing deeper. Invisible space.

The bottom of this majestic structure is actually mostly empty, and it has reconnected with the outside world after being destroyed.

The thick mist comes from here, evaporating from below and blown in by unknown air currents.

Kraft picked up a piece of gravel at his feet and threw it down.

It jumped and collided in the darkness outside the field of vision, making either harsh or crisp noises, ending with a distant muffled sound of smashing into the water surface, and there was no echo from beginning to end.

It was impossible to estimate the range at all, at least much larger than this hall, and beyond the distance that sound waves could return.

In addition to the sparse small waterfalls, another lighter but much more rhythmic sound could be heard. It was the wide water surface being pushed steadily and smashed on the rocks.

The water body slapped the embankment composed of irregular ruins, poured into the jagged and disordered gaps, and competed with the gas in it for space, producing a hoarse whimper like playing a primitive bone instrument.

Perhaps it was just caused by mental tension and imagination. Through the heavy fog, it seemed that there were changing light spots of light for a few seconds, accompanied by the sound of water splashing like a big fish jumping up, and then quickly disappeared.

The two stopped here. Going down was a completely unknown area, which was no longer suitable for rash entry.

Before, Kraft had always wondered why there was such a huge amount of water displacement around Dunling, which was not diverted into the river but went underground. How much water storage capacity could be needed to accommodate it and prevent it from overflowing? Now he knew what was going on. "Do you need to prepare something before coming?" Seeing that the professor was thoughtful, Wadin asked. "Can you move a boat down?" "Why? Where is that?" "A lake, an underground lake." Standing at the entrance formed by the collapse, the waters that had not seen the sun for tens of millions of years revealed a corner to them. It had been buried under the city for too long, and it was like amniotic fluid, nurturing something that was growing stronger and stronger.