The Bottom of the Mirror
Long Tian sank to the vicinity of the paved surface, stopping a few feet away from the circular depression, the area illuminated by the light layer of his Dragon Shadow. The depression was larger in diameter than he had expected, about two arm spans wide, with smooth edges and a uniformly curved transition, as if it had been carefully polished. He ran his fingertip along the edge of the depression; the touch was smooth, without seams or scratches. The central area of the depression was covered by a thin layer of sediment, lighter in color, like a shell formed after long sedimentation. He gently brushed away the sediment with his finger, revealing a dark metallic surface, much darker than the surrounding stone, like an old mirror that had been covered for a long time.
He floated above the depression, channeling the energy of the Origin Return Pearl downwards. Upon contact with the metal surface, a fine, luminous line began to appear. This line slowly emerged along an arc, like a visible path left by an internally activated energy structure during continuous conduction. It gradually spread along the arc until it completed a full circle, forming a complete, circular path of light that drew a continuously glowing boundary on the dark metal surface. He withdrew his hand, remaining motionless. The halo shone in the continued darkness, like a fixed illumination marker.
He stood up and swam a distance further along the edge of the paved surface. As he moved, the light illuminated more areas, and at the edge of the paved surface, he saw a narrow gap, like a seam between paving slabs. The gap was uniform in width, without any filler, and similar gaps were arranged at intervals. The gaps extended in a straight line, and after extending for a certain distance, they intersected at right angles with another gap, forming a neat grid-like division, as if the paved surface had been divided into several uniformly sized units.
He returned to the halo and re-examined the surrounding paving, noting that the halo was positioned precisely at the intersection of a cross. Each of the four paving units around the halo had a shallow groove near its edge, extending about a hand's width outwards before narrowing into a thin line that continued outwards along the paving surface, merging with other shallow grooves further away. He swam a short distance along the direction of one of these grooves, observing that it extended for about ten feet before joining the other grooves, forming an arrangement aligned with the grid pattern of the paving surface.
He surfaced to catch his breath, clung to the gunwale, climbed aboard, and wiped the water from his face. He then said, "On the underwater surface, there's a circular metal disc, positioned precisely at the intersection of a cross. The edge of the disc is already glowing. Guide grooves extend from the surface around the disc, as if guiding the flow of water or energy. The size and position of the disc match the size and position of the disc on the sealed floor of the base chamber—it seems to be part of the same system, but distributed in different locations."
The man at the stern, crouching by the gunwale, listened but didn't respond immediately. He stared at the area below the water illuminated by the Dragon Shadow. After a while, he stood up, returned to the helm, and reeled in the anchor cable, allowing the boat to drift slowly with the current for a short distance. It stopped at the other edge of the paved surface, used a probe to measure the water depth, and then retracted the probe to confirm its location.
"You said the plank surface is at the intersection of the cross lines—on this paving surface, there's more than one such cross line. If every intersection has a plank surface, then this paving surface might not just be a single structure; it could be a net."
Long Tian sat on the deck for a while, replaying the words of the man at the stern in his mind. Then, he took out the silk map from the cabin and unfolded it, drawing a rough grid on the paved surface. He drew a small circle at each possible intersection. After drawing all the circles, he found that they formed a layout covering the entire paved surface. The spacing and angles between each circle were consistent, as if it had been uniformly planned. He put down his pen, held the map up to the sunlight, and added a few more guide lines. The direction of the guide lines corresponded to his... The shallow channels he had seen earlier all pointed in the same direction, as if marking the connecting paths between the circles on a map. He put the map away, walked back to the ship's side, squatted down, and dipped his hand into the water, retracing the path he had just swum along to channel the aura of the Origin Return Pearl. The aura spread along the edge of the halo on the first disc, then traveled along the direction of the shallow channel to the nearby intersection. Upon touching that intersection, the surface of the disc lit up with the same brightness as the first halo. The shallow channels between the two discs were simultaneously illuminated, forming a continuous band of light from one disc to another.
He withdrew his hand, squatted by the gunwale, and flicked the water droplets from his palm. He watched as the band of light below the water's surface brightened for a while, then gradually dimmed, before returning to normal. He sat by the gunwale for a moment, mentally marking the connection between the two discs, then stood up, straightened his coat, and walked to the stern. The people at the stern were tidying up the probes. He glanced at the band of light below the water, then looked at Long Tian. "Next one, and the next one after that... soon we'll know where this whole net points when it's connected." Long Tian crouched down at the stern and drew a simple grid on the deck with his finger, marking the direction of the connection and the spacing between the plates he had just sensed. Then he looked up at the area below the water. He followed that direction for a while, then stood up, walked to the bow, and sat down again. Yu Jin followed and sat down on the deck next to him. The faint light from the dark gray bead shone through Yu Jin's collar, temporarily resembling a nightlight fixed to the deck surface in the twilight, maintaining its brightness amidst the changing light and shadow around the ship.