Chapter 404 – Depleted Truth

Chapter 404 – The Truth of Depletion

Leading a small group of heavily armed guardsmen, Agatha left the advancing stronghold established by the Church forces, passing through several fences improvised by improvised fortifications and firing positions, and then through an intersection illuminated by gas lamps, before finally arriving at the deepest part of a branching corridor.

The gas lamps embedded in the walls hissed slightly, and the ancient piping system supplied unstable air, making the light seem a bit shaky and dim, and under the not-so-bright light, a dark and heavy alloy door could be seen standing silently at the end of the corridor.

The sound of the cane and the heel of the shoe knocking on the ground echoed hollowly in the corridor, Agatha came to the front of the gate – perhaps because too much time had passed, the sealing of the gate had actually gone wrong, a narrow gap could be seen between the two gates, and the lead block that was originally sealed on the latch seemed to have suffered from an unknown impact, with visible signs of stretching and tearing in the middle. obvious signs of stretching and tearing.

On the nameplate on the side of the gate, the steel seal of the Frost City Hall can be seen.

This is what the Exploration Unit found deep underground, the strange gate in the center of the Second Waterway that she mentioned to Consul Winston.

The City Hall had sealed off the place, and the Consul herself knew nothing of the gate’s existence – information relating to the gate had been lost, and it probably dated back to the chaotic times just after the Queen’s era, when the turmoil had caused the gate and the secrets behind it to be lost in the memories of the people.

Could this be the lair behind which the Annihilationists are hiding? Or the mystery that the Frost Queen, Rae Nora, had left for the world?
Agatha reached out her hand and gently touched the rough and heavy alloy door panel, the touch from her fingertips somehow seemed a bit dull and numb, only the coldness was exceptionally clear.

“Going to open this door?” A black-robed guard took a half step forward and asked, “The permission from the Consul’s side has already come down ……”

“Mr. Winston did give the permission, but this kind of door that has been dusty in the darkness for years can’t be opened hastily,” Agatha shook her head gently, “There might be something dangerous sealed behind it – I’ll go across first to check the the situation.”

The nearby guardsmen immediately understood their officer’s intentions and stepped back.

Agatha, on the other hand, raised her head and looked towards the crack between the two door panels, then reached forward.

Nothing happened, and she frowned in confusion.

A black-clad guard looked over curiously, “Is something wrong?”

“…… No, there’s no problem.” Agatha shook her head, then focused her attention once more.

A wind finally swirled around the clearing, and her figure transformed into a gray mist in the wind, this gray wind hovered in front of the gate twice, then drilled into the narrow gap.

“Stand guard in place and wait for the gatekeeper to return.”

The captain of the black-clad guards confirmed that Agatha had passed through the gate, sighed in relief, and began ordering his team to set up guard positions in the corridor.

On the other side, the grayish whirlwind entered a dimly lit space after passing through the gap in the gate, and after the wind hovered for a moment, Agatha’s figure coalesced out of it.

The gatekeeper looked back, glanced at the gate he had come through, and then looked down to confirm the situation on his body, and subconsciously frowned.

Why …… does the divine art that he has gotten used to using on weekdays feel a little raw when he uses it today? Even the body’s own response speed seemed a few points slower?
After a moment of confusion, Agatha shook her head and temporarily returned her attention to the business at hand.

She looked around, the lamp on her waist emitted a dim light that dispelled the lingering darkness of the place, and there seemed to be many foolish things lurking in the shadows in all directions, but when she gazed, all those darknesses quieted down again.

A damp, dank passageway with bare dirt and metallic glowing stones could still be seen in all directions, and in the not-so-bright glow of the lamps, the beams and pillars used to support the passageway could be seen even more, as well as some of the miscellaneous items scattered alongside the piles of nearby stones.

Agatha frowned as she judged that the scene here did not look like part of the second waterway – normal sewer corridors were not of this structure, and the space behind this gate …… looked more like a long abandoned mine tunnel.

A mine tunnel?

Agatha lifted her head and looked thoughtfully at the damp, dark, rocky roof above her, while her gaze seemed to pierce through the thick rock and dirt, all the way up to the layers and layers of passages, shafts, machinery and ramps.

The boiling gold mine shafts.

This second waterway is located in the center of the city-state, and its underground branches crisscross from the perimeter of the Boiling Gold Mineshaft, a significant portion of the sewers were even originally part of the mine’s drainage system in the Queen’s time, and the closest of these passages …… may indeed be separated by only a door.

She walked slowly forward along the mine tunnel, while more and more doubts kept flooding her mind.

This was just a mine tunnel, and it didn’t even look like it had been completely engulfed and twisted by the darkness yet, for zeolite was originally a metal with holy properties, and the trace amounts of zeolite contained in the rock and dirt were enough to resist erosion like lamplight and steam – why would such a mine tunnel be solemnly blocked off by so much as a single gate?

It was blocked off underground, and even the current generation of consuls didn’t know of its existence – if it was really the first generation of the city hall after the end of the Queen’s era that ordered the blockade in the first place, then what was so special about this place that it should make them so nervous?

And why is this mine tunnel apparently abandoned ……? It’s clearly not contaminated, there are no monsters here, no illusions, and no ……

Boiling Gold. Agatha suddenly stopped, her eyes sweeping over the excavation levels below the ramps on both sides of the mine tunnel, and she finally gradually realized the source of the sense of dissonance she had always felt.

There was no boiling gold here.

……

Inside the domed office on the uppermost floor of City Hall, once the Queen’s Palace, the blonde, blue-coated Consul Winston slowly fiddled with the delicate machinery in his hands.

A slight clicking sound came from the brass-made model of the machinery in his hands as gears and connecting rods turned, each meshing and rotating with a precise and icy beauty.

The creations of wisdom, the crystallization of engineering, the fruits of civilization – the spinning gears were the medals and ribbons of mortal civilization.

Winston placed the mechanical model in front of his body, unconcernedly wiping a piece of oil near the base of the model with the decorative ribbon outside of his clothes, and after wiping it clean, he gently nodded his head, with a satisfied admiration on his face like admiring a work of art.

“Boiling gold is the blood of frost, mining machinery is the heart that pumps blood ……”

As if talking to himself, and as if speaking to the delicate little machine in front of him, Winston cooed softly while fiddling with the tiny brass gears with his fingers.

“Fifty years …… are really like a dream ……”

He rose slowly and paced toward the windowsill.

Outside the wide glass window was the thick fog that filled the city, and in the rising and dazzling fog, all the buildings and roads blurred their outlines and boundaries, as if they were going to melt into this city-state, even the lofty and tall church across the open space had become a hazy, indistinct shadow in the fog, and those forested towers and spires were like giants suffocating and dying in the fog.

Winston’s expression was calm as he gazed at the fog outside the window, and he could hear the police bells coming from across the square, as well as the sounds of the city hall guards and the sheriff’s troops assembling and dispatching in the square.

Such a big and weird fog would of course alert the city hall, and even without an order from himself as the consul, the city-state’s guard forces would act first according to the predetermined procedures – yet maintaining order in the fog might just be the easiest part of the next step.

Winston stood in front of the window for a moment and turned to a short distance away.

A small round table sat near the window sill, with wisps of fog seeping through the cracks and floating around it, and in the smoke-like fog he saw two things sitting on that table.

One, a pile of papers that had yellowed and become brittle, and the other, a beautifully crafted revolver.

The documents were written and crafted in a classical format, with beautifully intricate printed lace visible around the edges of the fine paper, carrying with it an elegant ambiance that was unique to the Queen’s time.

Early Warning of Depletion of Boiling Gold Pit, Report of Investigation of Anomalous Passage, Analysis of Results of Examination of Samples from the Pit ……

Most of the documents have read signatures dated between 1840 and 1845.

The approver’s inscription is Rae Nora.

The revolver is from Consul Winston’s personal collection, a twelve-year-old classic that is still sturdy and reliable even today, with well-maintained grips and barrels that are oiled and gleaming, and looks as if it could have been in service for another twelve years – or more.

Winston’s eyes swept over the papers, finally landing on the revolver.

He reached down and picked up the heavy steel, feeling its cold touch as he opened and inspected the gun’s cartridge nest, and snapped and pushed it back into place.

Slowly his right hand lifted and the barrel, once well cared for by its owner, rested against his temple.

A few seconds later, the gun was lowered.

“That’s a good position, let’s use it afterward.” Winston said softly, then checked the safety of the gun and placed the revolver properly in the holster on his belt.

Sharp footsteps came down the hallway.

“Your Excellency the Consul, the fog in the city is getting worse ……”

“I know, I’m coming.”

(End of chapter)