Companion? Envoy? Enemy? (cont.)

"Shouldn't this be considered etiquette among you Land-Dweller?"

"... Land-Dweller?"

"They live on Terra... Of course, perhaps you've already given this land a new name."

Heratia's tone was calm, and Maria realized why the two people next to her had been so surprised.

According to Gladiia, the Aegir were actually very resistant to contact with the land.

This is related to their race, lifestyle, and other things.

In fact, most of the Aegir possessed an almost collective arrogance towards the land.

They believed that people on land were too backward and barbaric.

That's why the two people behind Heratia were so surprised.

They had just assumed that Maria's ability to move in the deep sea was due to some special technological device; their astonishment was limited to the fact that their own kind had secretly developed such terrifying technology.

But... after learning that Maria was Land-Dweller, they were even more astonished.

Can land-dwelling people move freely at depths of over 10,000 meters in the ocean?

If you combine any two of these three pieces of information, they might have a slight chance of believing them.

But when these three points are combined, they can't understand it.

They painstakingly developed their civilization, boasting that they had surpassed Land-Dweller by thousands of years. But looking back, they realized that this group, whom they had regarded as no different from wild beasts, had already begun to explore territories that they had never even begun to explore.

The underwater fishman shared interstellar spaceship technology with you...

The absurdity made them all feel somewhat ridiculous!

Of course, their astonishment was beyond words.

Heratia had no intention of telling anyone.

She simply blinked and then smiled at Maria.

"Although I'm very curious, I think the first question I should ask is, why are you here? If it's for a vacation, a place 10,000 meters underwater might not be a very nice place."

Heratia was clearly different in personality from the two people behind her.

She appeared more lively and playful, and her words didn't give the impression that she was testing anyone.

"It was just due to some accidents."

Maria shook her head slightly.

In fact, her appearance here was quite unexpected.

After all, the ability to travel through time was something she and the Doll had inherited from Little Regret, and the ability to rewind time was something they had acquired by using their own abilities.

When multiple skills that are not yet fully mastered are used simultaneously, it is indeed difficult to control.

Even with Doll, it's difficult to keep track of both time and place at the same time.

Achieving a reasonably good result is already commendable.

"Unexpected?"

Malitus, standing nearby, frowned.

But Heratia reached out and blocked his and Maria's path before they could, her distinctive face not even turning around, just silently staring at Maria with a smile on her face.

"That was indeed a surprising accident."

With that, she turned slightly and led Maria away from the login point, heading deeper into the road.

It's worth mentioning that, although Gladiia has also said that Aegir's technology is far superior to that of land, the submarine itself still has a rather oppressive design.

The corridor was truly only wide enough for one person, and not very high either. When you looked up, you could see all sorts of ingredients hanging above. The cold, white walls looked particularly oppressive, and Maria would unconsciously frown with every movement.

She really didn't like the cramped environment.

After the operation, Heratia didn't sit idle; instead, she took the initiative to explain their purpose.

"We are preparing for our third Mantle Exploration... The main purpose is to confirm the composition of nearby resources and whether there is an environment suitable for building new habitable zones... However, these are only secondary objectives."

Heratia smiled, her tone somewhat ambiguous.

But Maria astutely grasped another key word.

"The third... Mantle Exploration?"

"Yes, the third time."

Heratia didn't know what Maria was really concerned about, so she just gave a casual reply.

But Maria frowned.

According to Gladiia, an accident occurred after the fourth Mantle Exploration, and it was after the fourth exploration that the first Seaborn appeared in the sight of the Aegir.

In other words, it may be a long time before the Deep Sea Hunters Project is launched and implemented.

Did the Doll get the time and place completely wrong?

Maria blinked, but didn't say anything more.

Meanwhile, Malitus and the others frowned.

"Command..."

They looked at Heratia, seemingly somewhat displeased.

Putting everything else aside, the Mantle Exploration Project is currently a key project among the many research projects undertaken by the Aegir.

Is it really appropriate to tell this to this complete Land-Dweller...?

"So what do you think I should do?"

Heratia remained calm in the face of her subordinates' doubts; she simply closed her eyes slightly and looked at the two people present.

Maria has already shown them her special qualities... Whatever method she used to survive at a depth of 10,000 meters underwater, her existence is extremely valuable for research... This means they cannot simply leave Maria behind.

But... it would be extremely wasteful to send Maria back to her original city-state.

After all, they had been preparing for this Mantle Exploration for nearly three years.

Going back like this would be a huge loss.

Since Maria is destined to follow them, it's better to be upfront about it than to keep it a secret and make everyone uneasy. This way, they'll have a better chance of gaining each other's approval.

"This..."

After hearing Heratia's explanation, both of them paused for a moment.

They exchanged a glance and then nodded to Heratia at the same time.

Heratia smiled at Maria.

"Let's go?"

Soon, Heratia led Maria to a room that was no more than ten square meters in size.

The space is small, but in a place like a submarine, having a private space is already a very rare thing.

Heratia smiled at Maria's puzzlement.

"This is my room... and it will be your room from now on. I'm sorry, as a guest, we should give you special treatment, but the truth is, we really don't have much extra space to use."

"As I just said, this mantle exploration is extremely important for us, so we might need you to stay with us a little longer."

Heratia blinked, her gaze questioning, as if asking Maria if she minded sharing a bed with her.

Maria didn't say much, she just nodded.

Heratia laughed too.

"It would be best if you could accept it..."

"Now that you're going to live here, I'll take you to see other places..."

Heratia smiled at Maria as she spoke, then turned and walked away.

After Maria caught up, Malitus exchanged a glance.

They could all see the doubt in each other's eyes, but there was nothing they could do. Heratia was now the commander of their team. As her subordinates, they could usually argue with her, but once they set sail... her words were absolute orders!

Therefore, they could only wonder...

Soon, a month had passed in a tug-of-war between them.

During this month, Maria spent most of her time in her room, reading the books that Heratia had brought, except for the first few days when she would occasionally take a closer look at the submarine she lived in.

But this behavior was actually just to dispel other people's concerns.

During her observations over the first few days, Maria could clearly sense that, apart from Heratia, the other Aegir all harbored a sense of unfamiliar wariness towards Maria.

This is not about Maria's identity or origin, but more about the perception that formed spontaneously.

After all, for these workers in specialized operations, any unexpected factor could be the cause of an accident.

Maria, on the other hand, embodies almost all the most worrying aspects: her mysterious origins, unclear motives, and unknown strength. How can others trust Maria with peace of mind?

Maria was aware of this, so she rarely went out.

But at the same time, she was also thinking.

Consider why Heratia believed in herself so much.

Is it simply about dealing with someone who's easygoing?

Maria felt that things weren't that simple.

And it was at this juncture that the mantle exploration team finally arrived at its destination...

An ancient relic, a civilization that has stood still for countless years...

The black exploration submarine looked like a giant and its little bird in front of it.

Its overall shape is a unique circle, like an ancient castle that has been forgotten. The well-preserved ground reflects a unique pale blue glow... It looks like some kind of mechanical creation.

And within these ruins, large amounts of bubbles occasionally emerge from one of the corners, swirling and rising towards the water's surface.

Those were machines that had not yet received the stop order, carrying out commands that had spanned millions of years.

"Is this... your destination?"

Maria then arrived in the command room.

But unlike the admiring and amazed looks from the others, Maria's gaze was more subdued.

She gazed at the ancient ruins, her eyes thoughtful.

"To be precise, it's just a preliminary destination."

Heratia was the first Aegir to recover from her shock.

She still had a smile on her face, but it wasn't a very genuine smile.

"Although we had suspected that there were relics of Precursor Civilization here, we really didn't expect that after so many years, it would still be here, let alone that it would still be functioning."

As she spoke, her eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked somewhat worried.

Meanwhile, Malitus's face was visibly filled with excitement.

"As expected, the Precursor Civilization did not completely perish. This place displays typical architectural aesthetics left over from the late stages of the Precursor Civilization... They were not wiped out in that great catastrophe!"

As he spoke, he kept moving closer to the edge of the submarine, trying to get a clearer picture of everything around him.

He was so excited that he was trembling all over, and his breathing became noticeably disordered.

But no one paid attention to his loss of composure; everyone was staring in awe at the architecture.

Beautiful geometric lines make up everything in this city, from the decorative pillars and urban planning to even the machinery that occasionally reveals a corner of its massive body, all exuding a rational aesthetic.

Just looking at it is enough to make those mechanical fanatics jump for joy and bite their hands in excitement.

For Malitus, however, the existence of these things held a different and more unique meaning.

"They are so beautiful..."

The soft words revealed an almost pathological obsession.

Maria glanced at it a few times before looking away.