Exploration Complete

"Alive..." Ivette's delicate brows drew together slightly as she sank into thought.

From the maintenance records she had seen earlier, she already knew that the Abyss Base's central control AI was called the "Firefly Core."

So the meaning here was obvious: the Abyss Base's AI had come alive and become a life-form with self-awareness.

But even so, there were still two possibilities.

One was the kind of "coming alive" based on an AI crisis, something commonly seen in science fiction.

The other was a "coming alive" more in line with an apocalyptic scenario: becoming a half-mechanical Mutant.

Compared to the former, Ivette felt the latter was somewhat more likely.

That came from certain explanations she had read in a book before. She did not know whether there was truly any relevant literature, but they had sounded rather convincing.

Those explanations stated that self-awareness was formed through the fusion of the "body," "spirit body," and "memory body." None could be absent; without any one of them, self-awareness in the conventional sense could neither arise nor be maintained.

Of these, the most crucial component, the "spirit body," was essentially a high-density aggregation of vast numbers of Soul Runes. From the perspective of Rune Studies, there was no difference between souls, matter, and elements.

According to the Origin Civilization's understanding of the world, there was currently only one way to obtain "Soul Runes": through the unique conversion ability of the biological organ known as the "brain."

But that did not mean only creatures with brains possessed spirit bodies. After death, Soul Runes did not disappear; instead, they dispersed and flowed into nature.

Plants, microorganisms, and other brainless life-forms could not produce Soul Runes themselves, but their bodies could serve as vessels. They could thus draw some Soul Runes from nature and incorporate them into themselves for storage.

This was what gave rise to so-called "spirituality," and it was also the foundation of the belief that all things possessed spirits.

Thus, backed by this theory, governments in every country imposed special requirements on high-end AI chips such as the Mind Core. They required super corporations like Sky Dome Technology to install "spirit-cleansing" modules that automatically removed Soul Runes during production, preventing excessive Soul Rune accumulation within Mind Cores and the emergence of even faint spirituality.

But honestly, this was merely a measure meant to reassure the public. According to research and testing by multiple parties, the various materials used in Mind Cores had extremely weak capacities for carrying Soul Runes and could practically be regarded as insulators.

When they were already insulators and also had regularly monitored spirit-cleansing functions, if a Mind Core could still come alive, then the grand edifice of Origin Civilization's Rune Studies would probably be overshadowed by another enormous dark cloud.

Because the logs had decayed so extensively, aside from that bizarre record suggesting the central control AI possessed self-awareness, Ivette saw no more useful written information afterward.

And considering that the Eternal Life Project within the Abyss Base had continued to advance in an orderly fashion for nearly twenty years afterward, this perhaps indicated that the Firefly Core's "coming alive" had not caused particularly serious consequences and had already been resolved.

After putting the log materials back, Ivette and Rosaline wandered around the twelfth underground level for a while longer. Finding no new information, they continued downward to the thirteenth underground level, which seemed to be the Abyss Base's final floor.

Upon arriving on that level, Ivette saw a proper noun that made her gaze sharpen slightly, thanks to a plaque whose lettering remained clear.

Abyss of Divine Erosion.

This was where the "Divine Molt" had been stored!

There were not even any Magic Light Vines on this floor. After pushing open the door, which had already been left ajar, the two of them used Illumination Magic to see a huge metal chamber stretching before them, with everything visible at a glance.

Likewise, there was very little in this large room. Only a display stand sat in the center, enclosed beneath a glass cover like a museum exhibit.

Yet completely contrary to what Lady Ethelyn's last letter had described, the glass cover was now shattered, and the display stand was empty. The so-called "Divine Molt" had long since vanished without a trace.

Both Ivette and Rosaline were somewhat disappointed by this result, but neither was surprised.

So many years had passed. Even the survivors hiding behind the door had mutated. Even if it had originally been here, it would certainly have disappeared later. For all they knew, it had ended up in some Mutant's stomach.

But...

Unwilling to leave just like that, Ivette and Rosaline circled the edge of the Abyss of Divine Erosion, searching for any new discoveries.

And it was precisely this cautious act that led Ivette to find something: a hidden little door.

It was the same color as the surrounding metal walls, and without examining it up close, it truly could not have been spotted right away.

Beyond the small door was a tiny metal room. It was completely empty, save for something on the floor that resembled a manhole cover.

But this could not possibly be some escape passage. Otherwise, it was hard to imagine that Lady Ethelyn would not have known about it.

A moment later, Rosaline used the mechanical mechanism to unscrew the valve and saw the scene beneath it.

—It really was an escape route. But it led to a smooth rock face outside the mountain, with a bottomless abyss below. Unless one had flying equipment, there was nothing to do besides catch some wind. Worth mentioning was that the walls here had all been carved from granite. Reasonably speaking, that was likely because this place reached the bottom of Crater Lake.

The two could only return in disappointment.

But as they were leaving, Ivette noticed a line of engraved words on the back of the little door.

"Well of Eternal Night."

Though she did not know whether there was any special meaning behind it, she thought she would probably never return here for the rest of her life.

After completing their second exploration of the Abyss Base, Ivette felt as though some knot in her heart had suddenly come undone over the following days. She became much more relaxed and no longer dwelled on certain matters.

Of course, the truth of the apocalypse, the truth of the Divine Molt, and many answers buried beneath the dust of history still awaited exploration. But those were matters one could only learn through fate, so she could simply wait quietly instead of forcing herself to do anything.

Rosaline, meanwhile, was simply immersed in the joy of exploration and had a wonderful time.

In addition, because the Magic Light Vines were so beautiful, she brought quite a few back from the Abyss Base. These convenient plants grew naturally without care and could provide light in dark places, making them excellent night-lights.

Thus...

With no particular goals or pressures remaining, life at the manor returned to peace once again.

Ivette still regularly taught Rosaline Rune Studies, improving her understanding and application of rune knowledge.

Rosaline, in turn, taught her teacher swordsmanship and the use of cold weapons. Although these techniques could not be applied rigidly to tentacle attacks and required some additional adaptations, they were certainly suitable for building a solid foundation.

Moreover, Rosaline gradually discovered something that made her very happy: her teacher's progress in hand-to-hand combat was truly a little slow. Ivette seemed to have very poor aptitude for it, even a little clumsy.

But that was not schadenfreude, nor was she mocking her.

On one hand, she thought her clumsy teacher was simply adorable. On the other, she believed that if her teacher was less gifted, then Rosaline would have more time to teach her and more time to admire her teacher's cold yet earnest, awkward yet adorable appearance. Wasn't that simply wonderful?

Of course!

She would absolutely never say such slightly rebellious little thoughts aloud.