The Mine

The heartbeat at the cave entrance grew louder and louder.

The sound was deep and rhythmic, like the heart of some enormous creature beating, each beat causing the ground beneath one's feet to tremble slightly.

Lu Yuan stood at the cave entrance, looking into the darkness before him.

Rusty rails stretched out from deep within the mine, clearly unused for a long time.

The wooden supporting structure was largely rotten, covered with tentacles of varying thickness that spread like blood vessels across the rock face.

The sunlight outside only penetrates a few meters.

Then came pure darkness.

The air was damp and filled with a smell that was a mixture of decay and the stench of the sea.

"Ignite it," Marcus ordered.

One of the Born took out Alchemy Lamp from his robes, turned on the valve, and a ghostly blue Flame lit up, illuminating an area of several meters ahead.

Wherever the light reached, the tentacles seemed startled, slowly wriggling and retreating into the darkness.

They seem to be avoiding the light source, but more like they are retreating, letting the visitors into the cave.

"I'll go in first." Marcus didn't care about any of that and stepped into the cave first.

His mechanical eyes flashed red, the sound of Gear turning was exceptionally clear in the silence, and steam spewed out from the gaps in his body, condensing into White Mist at the entrance of the cave.

The Born followed closely behind, their black robes silent, their bird-beak masks gleaming coldly in the blue firelight.

The Judge has officially begun his work; the joints of his armor begin to shimmer faintly as he carries his heavy body forward.

Philip pressed his hand to the Holy Emblem on his chest and whispered a prayer. A pale golden light enveloped him, forming a faint barrier. Two Deacon followed behind him, holding Holy Water, their expressions solemn.

Alice gripped her warhammer tightly, moved to Lu Yuan's side, and scanned their surroundings warily.

"Are you done? If you are, stay close to me." Alice lowered her voice. "If things get complicated, remember not to look back, just retreat. I might not be able to protect you. You have Time Bestower, so you should be able to protect yourself."

Lu Yuan nodded, his hand already reaching for the Time Bestower in his robes.

Gray silently approached Lu Yuan, his hand resting on the palm-sized dagger at his waist. Ed and Leonard walked on either side of the group, wary of any potential threats.

[Environmental Perception: Detecting large-scale Source of Pollution; continued investigation will lead to a loss of rationality...]

The grayish-white text appeared before his eyes, and Lu Yuan's brows furrowed slightly.

This time, the warning no longer causes a decrease in sanity, but rather a direct impairment, indicating that the source of the Strange Dream is approaching.

The team moved forward along the railway tracks; it was indeed a mine.

Or rather, it used to be.

Scattered Ore dotted the cave walls.

That familiar Deep Blue, illuminated by the Alchemy Lamp, emitted a faint, shimmering glow, like twinkling stars.

Lu Yuan recognized these Ore. The "Deep Blue" brought back by the Iron Whale was also some kind of strange secretion, but now it seemed that it might have Transcendence the level of strangeness...

And now, they are walking through these channels secreted by "He".

"Continue," Marcus's voice came from ahead.

The group did not stop.

After descending several hundred meters down the mine shaft, the Ore on the surrounding rock walls began to increase.

From the initial scattered dots, to groups of three or five, and then to densely packed clusters together.

Bathed in the glow of the deep blue Flame, they resembled a vast, starry sky.

The blue light grew brighter and brighter, to the point that it was almost blinding.

"Turn off the lights," Marcus ordered upon seeing this.

The Born put away the Alchemy Lamp, but instead of dimming, the light in the mine became even clearer.

The blue light emanating from the Ore enveloped everything, casting an eerie glow on everyone's faces.

Marcus's half-mechanical face gleamed coldly in the blue light, while his human eye shone with an indescribable brilliance.

Is it greed? Or fanaticism?

Lu Yuan couldn't figure out what Marcus's purpose was, or even what the Ascension Society's elaborate scheme was all about.

But it must be inextricably linked to the source of the Strange Dream.

As they continued deeper, the tentacles hidden beneath the surrounding rock walls grew even thicker.

It started out as thick as a finger, and now it's as thick as an adult's arm.

They spread out from the cracks in the Ore, extending deeper into the cave along the walls, like the veins of some giant creature. Some tentacles even intertwined with the Ore, making it impossible to tell what was hidden at the cave entrance.

My heartbeat grew louder.

Not just sound.

Lu Yuan could feel a clear vibration beneath his feet.

Each "thump" sound caused the ground to tremble slightly, as if the entire mine was breathing in rhythm with that sound.

No.

It doesn't look like it.

It's just breathing.

This mine shaft is alive.

[Sanity: -1.-1...58/70]

As the number of "Deep Blue" characters increases, so does rationality, with dense, gray-white warning text constantly appearing.

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, suppressing his unease, and ignored the words.

Moreover, the headache started again, and the images from the Strange Dream kept flashing back, forcing Lu Yuan to drink another bottle of Intermediate Holy Water.

[Sanity: +7...65/70]

A sense of clarity washed over Lu Yuan, and he felt a little better.

"The reserves far exceed expectations," Marcus's voice suddenly rang out.

Lu Yuan looked up and saw Marcus stopped in front of him, the red light in his mechanical eyes flashing wildly.

A hint of barely concealed excitement appeared on that half-human face.

"It seems the intelligence was accurate," Marcus said in a low voice, his voice trembling slightly.

Alice frowned, her voice low and serious. "Something's not right here."

"My sixth sense hasn't stopped since I came in." Alice paused, looking at the surrounding "Deep Blue" glow. "Danger. It's everywhere."

Philip, who was at the very back, remained silent, his hand resting on the Holy Emblem, his lips moving slightly.

Only then did he speak:

"The Angel's gaze... still cannot reach this place."

His voice was calm, but Lu Yuan could hear the gravity in it.

As Priest in the church, Philip had a certain connection with the Angel.

But here, that connection seems to have been severed?

A place even Angel cannot see.

What exactly is hidden?

But Marcus, the leader, didn't stop, and none of them intended to go back. Everyone who came here had mentally prepared themselves for the worst on the Abyss Hunter.

The group continued deeper into the area, three hundred meters, four hundred meters, and after an unknown amount of time, everyone began to feel unwell in this dreamlike and eerie place. During this time, a church Deacon even drank two bottles of Holy Water.

Finally, the mine shaft began to widen.

From initially only being able to accommodate three or four people side by side, it can now be used by Judge without any hindrance.

Further ahead, the space continues to expand.

Lu Yuan looked up, and the Dome had disappeared.

There was only endless darkness overhead; the blue light couldn't reach there, as if it were an entrance to the void.

The ground beneath my feet had changed; it was no longer rough rock, but completely covered with Ore, and a faint pulsation could be felt when I stepped on it.