Chapter 462.
Chapter 462 Confluence
Layers and layers of blockade deep underground, hidden facilities that led straight to the sea, huge projects that no one knew about, secrets buried between countless truths and lies – half a century of concealment, once hopes and promises, fears and taboos that stretch to this day.
All of these, now gathered in front of Agatha, cast in cold metal, hanging silently between the interlocking beams like skeletons, like solidified and then re-run the years—.
A submersible built in secret by the authorities of the city-state.
Agatha stood silently in front of the massive, muted machine, gazing at the pile of steel through the thick black band of cloth, an unspoken pressure seeming to be leaping at the edges of her perceptions, and it was a long time before she spoke to break the silence – a raspy note in her voice: “How did you find it? ”
“There was a great deal of luck involved,” Tirian said, “I’m sure there are only a handful of people who know anything about this even among Consul Winston’s cronies, and most of them may have died in the final defense, but after taking over the work of the town hall, I noticed a number of …… less-than-normal flows of money and people, and they all point to a ‘non-public scientific research program’ within this port.”
He said, turning his head and looking over at the behemoth hanging between the steel girders.
“There’s not much to say about the rest, and given that South Harbor had fallen completely, we let loose on a major search of the place – and found a suspicious warehouse, a suspicious shaft, a suspicious underground facility, and a suspicious submersible. ”
Tirion’s face was light and breezy as he talked about all this, but even as a mere spectator, Agatha couldn’t help but marvel at this “Iron Lieutenant General’s” ability – he had taken over and learned everything about Frost so quickly, which was not at all like what a person who had been far away from the city-state for half a century could do. He had taken over and learned everything about Frost so quickly, which was not at all like something a person who had been away from the city-state for half a century could do.
Such a classified facility was not something that could be easily found with a few clues.
It was as if he had never left Frost.
“Is this machine …… working now?” After a short silence, Agatha couldn’t help but ask.
“It needs to be checked,” Tirian shook his head, “although this submersible was built based on the blueprints left by the Frost Queen, it uses many more recent and even modern technologies, and there are also many above ground devices used to support the operation of the submersible in this facility, such as the air pumps, the steel cables and the communications equipment, and we’ll have to figure out the status and function of these devices.
“The bad news is that I’m afraid the people who knew the details of these technologies are all gone – died in the previous Frost Defense Battle. At the time we found this underground facility, it was locked from the inside, and the people inside seemed to be trying to keep the monsters in containment, but unfortunately …… they didn’t realize how big that disaster was.”
Tirian shook his head lightly as he spoke.
“But there is good news,” he raised his hand and pointed around, “the submersible is intact, including everything in this hall.”
Agatha didn’t say anything, just raised her head in silence and turned back to the direction she had come from.
The heavy, slightly twisted and distorted door stood silently in her chaotic vision, the outline of a palm print faintly outlined in the blood on the door, the life in the blood had died, yet the outline still glowed faintly in her vision.
Tirian’s voice came from the sidelines, interrupting Agatha’s thoughts, “Next, I’ll try to find someone in the know about this secret program – perhaps not all of the techs stayed at this facility at the time, but if we really can’t find any surviving techs, it’s up to some of the old timers in the Sea Mist fleet to take a chance. of some of the old timers take their chances.”
Agatha frowned in confusion, “The Sea Mist Fleet?”
A small smile appeared on Tirian’s face, “It’s the ones that were involved in the Submarine program back in the day, they’ll be amazed after seeing this submersible.”
Agatha fell silent.
Thousands of emotions rose and fell in her heart, she didn’t know whether she should lament this cycle of history or be glad that in the underworld, everything was returning to the bearing it should be in.
On the side of Tirian also fell silent, this steel lieutenant general gradually collected the smile on his face, and instead slowly swept through the hall with a silent and solemn gaze, and finally, his gaze stopped on the door that led to the direction of the elevator.
He nodded his head gently, as if to honor this unknown act of foolishness and feat.
……
The sea breeze was gentle, and the breaking waves rolled in.
The surging power output from the steam core drove the ship beneath his feet, and the cold sea breeze blowing in his face dispelled the distractions in his mind as Lawrence stood on the high foredeck of the White Oak, clad in his captain’s overcoat, which he had been wearing for many years, and gazed out over the sea in the distance.
However, the old captain’s heart was not at all as calm as he appeared to be at the moment.
A gentle female voice came from the small mirror hanging on his chest, “Getting nervous?”
“That nervousness hasn’t lessened since we left the Frost,” Lawrence smacked his lips, “After all, it’s about taking the initiative to ‘meet’ that ship- -For a hundred years, captains on the Boundless Sea have been running away from that ship, and we’re actively approaching it, something the guys at the Explorer’s Guild are going to think I’m crazy about.”
“There aren’t many captains on the Boundless Sea who aren’t crazy – and you’re going to be the most strikingly legendary of those crazy captains,” Martha’s tone was tinged with amusement, “Doesn’t that give you a slight incentive to think about it? ” Lawrence sighed, “Do you think it would be comforting to tell a man about to be sent to the gallows that the noose for him is the prettiest of all the ropes – that he could even be given a bow?”
Martha in the mirror opened her mouth as if she was just about to speak, but a hoarse and raucous voice suddenly came from the flagpole not far away, “Yes! As long as the noose works, you can tie me in a bow, not to mention a bow!”
Lawrence’s mouth quivered, and he turned his head to look at the direction from which the voice came – on the high flagpole at the bow of the ship, a noose was hanging down, and Abnormality 077 was hanging himself on that noose, swinging around with the swaying of the ship, which looked evil and bizarre.
“You’re not going to come down yet?” Lawrence looked at the dryad hanging from the flagpole without a care in the world, “You’ve been hanging there all day.”
“Just in case it suddenly works, I think I’ve developed a bit of drowsiness just now,” yelled the dryad that had hung itself from the flagpole with a noose, “I’ll hang for a little while longer – you all but promised me that I could give myself a choice of place to sleep.”
“…… I did promise you that you could choose a place for yourself to rest without disturbing the others, but at the time you didn’t say you were going to hang yourself from the flagpole,” Lawrence glared, “I’d advise you to give it up, your sealing methods have obviously failed – reporting honestly to the Lost Country with me is your only option.”
The dryad hanging from the flagpole let out an exaggerated wail at once, but Lawrence was in no mood to pay any more attention to the fellow, but instead lowered his head again and said to the small mirror on his chest, “Do you think it’s going to go well?”
“Why ask me?”
“Your instincts have always been sharp – you were also the one responsible for deciding the day of each trip out of the harbor back then.”
“Do you even remember that ……” Martha said with an exclamation in her voice, then she smiled softly, “Don’t worry so much about it, haven’t you already accepted your new identity as a member of the Lost Country Fleet? And it’s not like this is your first meeting with that ship.”
“Reason enough – but the nerves are real too,” Lawrence sighed, subconsciously straightening his collar again, “Besides, my last meeting with that ship wasn’t at all worth memories, and that scene would be a nightmare on any captain.”
“Think on it, at least this time the Lost Country won’t come crashing straight through at you ……”
A creaking, toothsome noise came out of nowhere, interrupting Martha’s later words.
In the next second, Lawrence realized that layers and layers of ghostly green flames emerged out of thin air around the White Oak under his feet, followed by the loud roar of the engines and the violent swaying brought about by the sudden turn of the rudder!
In the blink of an eye, the sea, which was still calm, changed its appearance, and countless horrible shadows, black as ink, like strands of hair, suddenly appeared on the blue sea, and the sunlight in the sky dimmed and became illusory, and thick clouds and fog descended from the sky like a giant curtain, and the whole ocean was polluted by the “strands of hair”, and became pitch-black. The whole ocean was also polluted by the “hair” and became pitch-black.
The dry body hanging on the flagpole screamed almost instantly.
In the midst of the screams of the dryads and the shouts of the sailors, Lawrence realized that the White Oak had been dragged into the spirit world by some powerful force – a towering, flaming shadow of a ship bursting out of the fog ahead with a terrifying roar and a sudden surge of wind and waves!
The Lost Country appeared.
Like a blazing cliff, it crushed towards this side in an overwhelming manner.
Abnormality 077’s scream resounded through almost the entire ocean, “It’s crashing over, it’s crashing over! Damn it, it’s still crashing over! I’m not playing anymore! I want to go home! Put me down! I want to go home! Ah…”
Then, the bow of the Lost Country came to a sudden stop amidst the ear-splitting screams of the Sailor – less than half a meter away from the White Oak’s bow side, in an unbelievable manner.
Lawrence stood frozen at the bow, and only after a long time did his eyes roll back, and then he tilted his head up in a stupor, looking at the phantom ship that towered over him in the blazing flames.
The horrible scene in his memory met with reality, and once more he was in this position, and once more he witnessed the apocalyptic landscape.
The Lost Country was here.
A tall figure appeared in his field of vision – Duncan Ebnomar, the eternal master of the Lost Country, stood high on the side of the ship, looking down on this side.
It was the second time that Lawrence had come face to face with this legendary being.
Then he heard the other man speak, and the voice was low, as if it were a mighty thunderclap-
“Lawrence, what the devil is moving on your ship?”
(End of chapter)