Heart of Dreams (Part 2)

The Fourth Layer of the Abyss Ruins is known as the Sea of Corpses.

According to the Rabbit Girl's description, the Fourth Layer of water occupies more than 90% of the area, and the remaining 10% consists of various kinds of skeletons.

The Sea of Corpses is home to various carnivorous fish with teeth capable of biting through ordinary iron and poisonous flesh.

The former explains their danger.

The latter means that they cannot be directly consumed by humans.

To reach the next level, one must go to the Steel Base around the Black Pillar in the center of the Fourth Layer, where the passages leading to the Fifth Layer were built by the Abyss People over generations.

"However, to reach the Fourth Layer, one must pass through the outer Waterfall at the edge of the Third Layer. Therefore, after reaching the next level, one is on the edge and must go to the Heart Talent proceed to the Fifth Layer."

The Rabbit Girl was in tears. "Under these circumstances, Na took Namiki with her and followed the Exploration Team, going up the outer Waterfall of the Third Layer to the Fourth Layer."

At the very edge of the Fourth Layer, there is a three-meter-long circular stone platform that protrudes, providing us with a place to stand.

But the moment we fell into the Sea of Corpses, we alerted the carnivorous fish, resulting in the loss of five of our companions...

The Fourth Layer has a diameter of 150 kilometers, and we need to traverse a distance of about 70 kilometers to reach the Steel Base built near the Lord.

However, besides carnivorous fish, there are other creatures in the Sea of Corpses, some of which are so powerful that they can destroy nearby mountains with a single blow.

At that time, a Soul Master from outside came to explore. He seemed to have reached the Soul Saint stage as described by Soul Master from the outside world. However, without being able to use Soul Skill, it took him nearly half a year to collect enough floating skeletons from the Sea of Corpses and make a sturdy enough raft before he could go to the Steel Base on the Fourth Layer.

Meanwhile, the expedition team that Na and Namiki belonged to had quite a few people, but none of them had the strength of Soul Saint, and their food was gradually running out.

The Ascension Curse on the Fourth Layer causes excruciating pain and bleeding from all seven orifices; therefore, once you reach the Fourth Layer, it is virtually impossible to ascend further...

A team that cannot return, but cannot reach a lower level in a short time, will slowly run out of food and drinking water.

What will they eat then?

Cannibalism!

Zhou Qing's heart sank, and he and the others came up with this answer.

"Without food, people began to starve to death, until the leader himself broke the rules and began to eat Namiki's Child— "

The Rabbit Girl looked sad. "Namiki, who had merged with the Heart of Dreams, became Fallen One. She doesn't need to eat and can survive by directly absorbing energy from the air. The energy she needs to give birth to her child also comes from the outside world."

"At first, some people couldn't adapt, but hunger drives people crazy, and they don't care about anything else. Everyone, including Na, joined the ranks of those who ate Namiki's children."

"After all, Namiki's Child doesn't look human, and might not even be human at all..."

Guilt?

Have no choice?

Grief?

The Rabbit Girl has forgotten what she felt and what reasons she gave when she ate Namiki's child as Namich.

But the only things she remembered were Namiki's sense of responsibility to contribute to the team, the joy of giving birth to her child, and the sorrow of her child's death... Especially after going to the Fourth Layer, Namiki also had to endure the pain of her child being eaten by other members of the team.

"In the end, Namiki, in her long and painful ordeal, became a breeding machine, giving birth to a child every day. She would be happy at the birth of her child, but also saddened by knowing the child's fate... Perhaps it was Namich who led her into the Abyss of the Fourth Layer. If Namich had left her on the Third Layer, perhaps this would not have happened."

The Rabbit Girl's eyes were already red, but the smile on her face remained unchanged, as if this was the form of her mutated facial muscles. No matter how sad she was, she could not truly cry and could only maintain a smile.

Zhou Qing didn't ask about what happened next. At this moment, he felt quite heavy-hearted and couldn't objectively view the issue from God's eye view.

Xiao Wu and Romantina both had their heads down.

Although they were not familiar with the Rabbit Girl, having only known her for about an hour, they connected her with the Rabbit Girl, Na, and the environment of the Abyss Ruins.

Who is right?

Who's wrong?

Nobody can say for sure.

"This Abyss is simply hell. If I had known about this before, my first thought would probably have been to destroy this place no matter how much we had to sacrifice." Tang San closed his eyes and sighed softly, but he didn't have that thought now.

After all, this Abyss contains many resources, and it is also an ancient ruin. Perhaps we can obtain ancient Soul Tool and use them to gain insights into other areas.

Moreover, from the perspective of humanity itself, this Abyss Ruins has never intentionally harmed humans; it is only by exploring it that humans must accept its invisible test.

The Ascension Curse is essentially just a peculiar environmental Aura Field generated under the special conditions of this Abyss Ruins.

The only test that the Abyss Ruins pose to Explorer is this one thing. The others, such as the natural environment of each level, ferocious beasts, poisonous insects and snakes, are just difficulties that humans need to overcome to grow and develop.

In this respect, it is actually no different from the history of human development in the Douluo Continent.

However, under these invisible tests, people's hearts will gradually shift. Some will stay firm in their goals, some will give up, some will want to move forward with the help of others, and some will want to help others... and so on.

The Exploration Team that Na and the Rabbit Girl were part of were all good people and kind-hearted individuals at first. However, in the harsh environment, it was understandable that they abandoned their basic human principles in order to survive. It was just that as third parties who were listening, they found it difficult to accept both physically and psychologically.

"Such a thing cannot happen among us." Zhou Qing looked at Tang San, Xiao Wu, Romantina, and Wang Sheng, his voice deeper than ever before.

"Um."

All four nodded solemnly.

They knew that Zhou Qing was not referring to their performance after they went to the Fourth Layer, but rather to the entire force, including themselves, built around the Holy Soul Village area.

At this moment, Riko stepped forward, hugged the Rabbit Girl, patted her shoulder, and hummed a tune:

"Dark sky hangs low ~and high~"

"Bright stars follow in ~the sky~"

"Fireflies!"

"Fiy in~the sky~"

The soothing melody made the Rabbit Girl hug Riko, rest her head on Riko's shoulder, and sob loudly like a little girl who had wronged her father.

The melody of this song surprised Tang San, Xiao Wu, Romantina, and Wang Sheng. Unlike the light and loud folk songs of Holy Soul Village, this song was quite soothing, as if lulling a child to sleep, yet it also carried a strange, faint trace of sadness...