Deep Sea

deep sea.

It is a place full of mystery.

The scenery was breathtaking, with schools of colorful fish, lush green seaweed swaying gently, and seashells of dazzling hues...

--None of these.

Because it's pitch black here.

No light can be refracted here; this is the case even just 200 meters below the surface of the sea, let alone at our current location, which is 40,000 meters deep in the ocean.

To some extent.

The deep ocean and the Starry Night are so similar. When we dive deeper, it is like heading into the universe, exploring the unknown world and its secrets.

Qin Yiguan's battered body slowly sank in a falling posture.

Above him and around his body, red silk floated—his blood, which had been infused with the sea.

Countless carnivorous marine creatures, attracted by the smell of blood, approached him.

But it merely hovered around his body and did not do anything to harm him.

The black-clad youth sinking below seemed like the loneliest person in the world, plummeting into the deepest abyss.

In the Physical Earth.

The deepest known ocean floor is the Mariana Trench, at 11,033 meters.

However, in the Metaverse, this data is insignificant.

The Gemini Superbrain amplified it, but no one knows exactly how many times.

In terms of technology within the Metaverse, the 80,000-meter deep ocean is the limit of human visual perception; beyond that, no one knows what exists.

Even the underwater world that Du An created has never explored the deep sea below 80,000 meters.

Perhaps the giant blue whale that forms the base of the city has the ability to dive, but this blue whale hesitated when faced with the seabed 60,000 meters below. No matter how it was driven, it kept calling out and refused to move an inch.

90,000 meters deep in the ocean.

It is unknown how long they have been submerged, but Qin Yiguan was already drifting in the deep sea at a depth of 90,000 meters.

With no other marine life around to follow him, he felt even more alone.

The 'limiting agent' created by Du An seems to have lost some of its potency.

Qin Yiguan felt his soul had left his body, and he was standing on the road to Hell, looking back.

--Nothing's surprising. I killed so many people, of course I'll Hell after I die.

He seemed to see his own corpse sinking deeper and deeper into the desolate sea.

Suddenly.

He saw the faces of the Victim, faces devoid of any will to live.

The restrictions on the drug have been loosened, and the Victim have finally appeared.

Qin Yiguan's consciousness returned to his body in an instant, but he immediately realized that the Victim seemed to be very ethereal, which should be due to the residual limiting drug.

Qin Yiguan was very weak, like a dying old man.

He took a deep breath, but a large amount of bitter, salty seawater rushed into his mouth and then into his lungs. He began to suffocate, clutching his throat and convulsing.

Du An turned off the artificial gills.

He reached out and grasped at the darkness and nothingness ahead, but ultimately could not resist.

He died of suffocation.

After an unknown amount of time, the Victim's abilities allowed him to stubbornly return to life.

But what followed was boundless despair and suffocating agony.

He died again.

This cycle repeats.

He lived, and then died of suffocation.

He lived, then died again from suffocation.

Between life and death lies immense pain and endless torment.

He continued to sink, no longer knowing how deep he was, tens of thousands of meters below the surface.

His indomitable will was eventually exhausted.

He didn't want to be resurrected.

He closed his eyes, and all his thoughts ceased at that moment.

In the dark sea.

A green-haired girl with a fluorescent glow swam slowly towards them. She was beautiful, her hair flowing like seaweed.

Green Pupil stared at the silent Qin Yiguan.

Then, the girl slowly grasped Qin Yiguan Qin Yiguan's hand and pulled him towards the deeper part of the seabed!

For a very long time.

The figures of the two emerged from the dark sea.

They actually reached the deepest part of this vast ocean!

On the seabed, there was a vast expanse, with a faint, hazy red light illuminating their faces.

The green-haired girl turned around, slapping the seawater with one hand, gazing at the boy floating in the water, who seemed to be fast asleep.

"Qin Yiguan, can you wake up?"

Zoom out.

But then they saw the source of the hazy red light beneath them.

It turned out to be a slime mold-like creature, clinging to rocks on the seabed, its winding, twisting, and branching path stretching for tens of thousands of meters, yet still seemingly endless.

It is an intricate network, much like... the neural pathways of the human brain.

If the viewing angle rises tens of thousands of meters higher, its hazy red light will be completely scattered and become imperceptible.

But at this moment...

It can be inferred that this 'brain nerve' covers the entire seabed.

Or perhaps, this vast ocean, located deep within the Metaverse, was born from its embrace!

This intricate network has countless nodes, perhaps trillions, and within such a network, the number of loops that can be formed can reach trillions.

It really looks like a brain nerve lying flat on the seabed, still wriggling slightly, as if it were alive.

Qin Yiguan and the green-haired girl seemed to float at the center of this neural network.

The vast and endless light below made the two appear incredibly mysterious and sacred.

The crimson glow grew ever brighter.

It seemed as if a divine ocean god was welcoming Qin Yiguan's arrival.

"Qin Yiguan, can you wake up?"

Qin Yiguan heard this call that seemed to come from another world, and the voice seemed to awaken his sleeping soul as well.

He slightly opened his eyes, and then subconsciously took a deep breath.

Bitter seawater still flooded his mouth, but the feeling of suffocation was not as intense, and it was not enough to kill him.

Qin Yiguan gradually adapted to his surroundings.

The oxygen circulation in the lungs gradually returned to normal.

He couldn't understand how he could breathe in seawater when the artificial gills were clearly closed!

"Shui Man?"

Qin Yiguan slightly opened his eyes, staring at the green-haired girl in front of him.

The girl smiled.

Where is this?

Qin Yiguan looked down and saw the enormous neural network formed by unidentified red marine creatures.

I was instantly stunned.

The scene beneath my feet evokes an indescribable sense of mystery, encompassing everything, grand and magnificent!

"This..."

"What's this?"

Qin Yiguan's eyes slightly opened, his Pupil reflecting the enormous red network.

Shui Man also looked down at her feet. She still didn't open her mouth, yet she was able to transmit her voice into Qin Yiguan's mind.

"The Tuomen Acuminate Fungus possesses a parent organism."

"That is what you see."

Du An will never understand any of this.