In the depths of the sea, undercurrents surged.
In the dead silence of the darkness, only the ticking of instrunts could be heard through the headset; the overhead light, swinging with the movent of his head, slowly swept around.
It could only cast a fleeting patch of greyish-white light.
Nothing was visible.
In a trance, it seed as though strange illusions jumped out from the waves, but when he focused and looked closely, they disappeared without a trace. Only the vast, empty darkness remained.
The descent continued.
As if heading towards Hell.
Within the face mask, only heavy breathing could be heard.
"Number Fourteen, report depth status."
"Current depth seven. Stabilization valve operating smoothly. All normal."
"And the coordinates?"
"Coordinates show no drift."
"Maintain speed. Next, you'll rendezvous with Number Twelve and assist him with the frawork installation."
"Understood."
"Report briefly every minute. The command center will monitor your ntal state at all tis. Rember, do not converse with anything that shouldn't be here. Understand?"
"Understood."
Number Fourteen took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind, then slowly followed the rope toward another beam of light. The two figures collided in the deep sea, then bounced apart.
The figure opposite reached out and grabbed him.
"Are you from the Legion? That's rare..." A youthful voice ca over the radio. "I thought another Scholar would co to assist . What should I call you?"
"Tony," Number Fourteen said. "Just call Tony."
"Alright, Tony, I am..."
"Don't say your na," Tony interrupted. "Just pick a codena. That's enough. We're below standard operational depth here; don't reveal any personal information."
"...Uh, okay." The Scholar on the other side seed to shrug through his diving suit. "Then call Mr. Serious, because I'm very serious."
Damn, another stupid rookie.
Tony rolled his eyes and touched the strap at his waist, where a handgun was holstered.
After Alchemy modifications, it could barely be used at this depth, and its effective range was quite limited. It was generally called the 'Everybody's Happiness Gun,' aning that if a rookie was about to cause so fatal trouble, or was on the verge of it, one should quickly seize the opportunity to make him 'happy.'
That way, everyone else could return alive and continue being happy.
"Where's the gear?" he asked.
"Below." Mr. Serious pointed to the rope supporting them and the heavy object suspended beneath it.
"Don't be nervous." As if thinking Tony was afraid, Mr. Serious said casually, "It's a simple job. You keep watch, I'll go down and press the start button, and that's it. I really don't know why such a simple task requires two people."
Because if you die, I have to replace you and keep working, you idiot.
Tony sighed, switched channels, and asked Command directly, "Are you serious? Pairing with this dunce?"
"Circumstances are limited. He only recently beca a Scholar. You'll have to guide him," a gentle female voice comforted. "It's a minor task. Let him get acclimated first."
"Seriously, Miss Ai, I was just spouting nonsense when I was drunk last ti. Please don't take it to heart."
"Hm? What did you say?" the person in Command asked, puzzled. "You don't think I heard so nasty rumor and am deliberately giving you a hard ti, do you?"
"..."
Tony said no more. Swallowing his exasperation, he sighed heavily and reported, "Number Fourteen, status report complete. Over."
"Wish you a smooth journey."
With a farewell that could almost be called gentle, the command center's channel disconnected.
Tony was switched back to the original channel, forced to continue enduring Mr. Serious's incessant chatter.
Damn it! Are you a chatterbox, man? Please, just stop talking, will you...
Fortunately, every descent has an end.
A heavy thud echoed from below, audible through his helt.
They'd hit bottom.
Imdiately after, the huge cargo container shattered, heavy steel plates scattering in all directions, revealing the massive instrunt within. Blinding lights flared from it, illuminating the grim scene around them.
It was the ruins of a city.
A city that had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
It was as if not much ti had passed: the colors on the billboards hadn't completely faded, and the streets were still cluttered with abandoned cars.
Behind the shattered windows of a supermarket, food sealed in packaging floated in the water, suspended in the silent darkness.
"This is Stone City?"
Mr. Serious clicked his tongue in amazent. "It looks no different from the Current Circumstances. At least the modernized parts were done quite well. When I was first conscripted into the vanguard, I didn't even know it had sunk. Do you have any news?"
Tony took a deep breath, barely suppressing the urge to voice his thoughts. News? Yeah, that your esteed mother just exploded! For God's sake, man, can you stop the fucking sightseeing, turn on the machine, and let's get out of here already?
As if hearing Tony's prayers, after what felt like an eternity of babbling, Mr. Serious finally managed to activate the instrunt in the deep sea.
As successive green indicator lights illuminated, the heavy steel column at the top of the machine slowly rose. Then, with a tremor that shook the seabed, it drove deep into the rock below.
Fixing complete. Imdiately, radar-like ripples burst forth from it, spreading out. These ripples t shockwaves from other directions and began rapidly transmitting signals to the research vessel above.
Then ca a seemingly endless wait.
Bored out of his mind, he could only listen to the incessant noise from his companion.
He felt like having a smoke. If he couldn't light a cigarette, lighting up that noise source next to him would do just fine.
"Number Fourteen, report your status. Your partner just said you haven't spoken for a while."
"All normal. My teammate... um, is a bit too eager to show off." He sighed. "Damn my luck. If only I drank less, I wouldn't have ended up in this ss."
"We have a job for you," Command said. "We're about to conduct Source Substance activation experints on this area to trace Stone City's Spirituality transformations before it sank. The Spirituality Mirror will be assigned to you for active observation."
"No problem."
He took a habitual deep breath and imdiately felt a coolness on his forehead, as if sothing was continuously pouring into his brain, causing him to tremble violently.
When he opened his eyes, his pupils, behind the faceplate of his helt, shot out beams of almost tangible light. As his gaze swept around, this fierce light pierced the dim depths of the sea.
Under the active observation of that light, the entire silent ruins of Stone City suddenly stirred. Countless scattered Source Substances rose from it, outlining final trajectories and contours.
The Yin Soul of this city awakened, revealing the final scene before its obliteration.
Amidst the countless surging trajectories, three entirely distinct outlines suddenly expanded rapidly, overlapping each other and enveloping the entirety of Stone City.
Sharp inhales of breath were heard from Command.
"What's going on?" Tony asked, enduring the excruciating pain in his forehead. "Are there any results?"
"Yes."
After a long, stunned silence, the lead analyst Scholar's expression twitched. "At the very least, it proves the sinking of Stone City was definitely no accident..."
"Please, don't beat around the bush. Be straightforward."
"..."
After a brief silence, the voice continued, "Through the Spirituality Mirror's observations, we've found traces left by the leader of Green Day... those outlines in your observation that look like beacon fires? Those are the Engraved marks his Soul left in the Border."
Tony was stunned for a mont. "You an those Green Day psychos were behind this?"
"No..."
After a long silence, a sigh ca from the other end. "Besides that, do you see that layer of Engraved marks covering the entire urban area like dark clouds? If I'm not mistaken, that should be the unique trace of the Elent of Destruction, the Man in Grey."
"What the hell?"
Tony's voice involuntarily jumped an octave in disbelief. "Green Day and the Elent of Destruction are colluding?"
"Actually... based on my guess, they were probably just passing through." The lead analyst Scholar in Command said in a strained voice, "The true cause of Stone City's destruction should be the third trajectory... You should be able to see it with your naked eye, right below you..."
Of course, Tony could see it.
It was the trace left by sothing unbelievably massive that had passed by.
A viscous, purplish-red substance covered almost the entire seabed, making it writhe like internal organs. Outlines as vast as mountain ranges were imprinted on the city's remains; even the depths of Hell couldn't erase the evidence of its passage.
Countless illusory flesh buds sprouted from the Source Substance, thrashing wildly, so almost brushing past his faceplate as they flew by.
He staggered back a few steps, nearly toppling over in the deep sea.
"You're fucking... kidding ..."
Tony no longer knew if he was lucid or if he'd been ensnared by hallucinations.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
What in the world is this? A nightmare?
"This is what truly destroyed Stone City's foundational structure."
Over the radio, the voice trembled slightly. "That thing... it's too vast. When it didn't deliberately restrain its Power, rely passing by was enough to completely warp Stone City's foundational structure... Such a profound outline... it must be at least a Ruler Level Owner of the Great Mob. But that's precisely why it's so baffling."
"What's so baffling?" Tony retorted irritably. "That it went out for a al instead of ordering takeout?"
"No, Tony. It's far more extre than that."
After a long silence on the channel, the voice said softly, "It wasn't going out to eat. It was fleeing for its life. It was already wounded... 'dying' would be more accurate. It was... on its last breath..."
Dead silence descended. No one spoke.
Only Tony felt a persistent ringing in his head, like sharp, mocking laughter shouting in his ear:
"Idiot, idiot, idiot..."
He'd always thought he'd figured out the problem, but he actually hadn't. Now, though, he knew the real problem had finally arrived.
But he wasn't sure he could handle this one.
A 'Ruler' that could destroy Stone City just by passing by... what could have forced it into such a desperate state?
It didn't take a genius to figure it out.
Motherfucker, we've got a fucking huge problem!
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