A cold wind whooshed through the air, carrying seawater and rain that had fallen from some distant height and slapping them against the reef. Spray streamed down the slanted rock faces in layers, like a waterfall feeding into a rushing subterranean river.
Lying prone on the ground, the white-haired boy's eyelashes trembled slightly before he opened his eyes. Clear, waterlike radiance lit within them, followed by specks of silver starlight. The two entwined into a silver-cyan glow that flowed through his pupils.
Ian swiftly Awakened from his brief daze. He rose to his feet and silently surveyed his surroundings.
The air was thick with moisture, and a vast white fog completely shrouded the area, making it seem as though he stood among the clouds.
But the boy knew perfectly well that he was underground.
Deep, deep underground—beneath even the sea abyss.
Buzz...
A bright pale-blue arc flashed overhead, illuminating everything around him. Ian raised his head. The exceedingly dense psionic field was like Sighing Cliff; even the friction of tiny clouds of mist could cause electrical discharges, producing lightning within the fog.
And by the light cast by that lightning, he could confirm that he was inside a vast cluster of underwater karst caves.
He could vaguely make out a wet cave wall... and at distant forks, several branching tunnel entrances. Their depths were unfathomable, and who knew where they led.
"Looks like we got separated."
After examining the area carefully and having the Silver Chip gather information on his surroundings, Ian was not worried. Instead, he smiled. "Not a big problem. I'm already inside the ruins."
He remembered clearly that not long ago, the South Sea Anomaly had split the sea and earth apart, opening an incomparably enormous hollow in the crust. It swallowed half the ocean like a