Chapter 109: Land of Ashes [Thanks to Senior Gray Wolf for being the leader, more updates]
Plunging the folding knife into the crack in the rock, Bologo pressed the handle of the knife hard and pried off a piece of rock. Repeated this several times, Bologo finally expanded the crack a bit, enough to allow the crack to break.
He got through.
This is the sixth day since Boluogo fell into the Great Rift. He is now cold, hungry and very tired. In order to prevent himself from falling, his body has been in a slow self-healing state. For this reason, Boluogo's ether volume has also been reduced.
A lot was consumed.
But...it's not that bad.
Boluogo was not only trying to survive, this was also a rare opportunity to observe the bottom of the great rift. After the past few days of action, he found that there was no life at all here. There were cold rocks and winter ice everywhere.
.
There were no insects living in the darkness, not even moss. The whole world was lifeless, as if a hungry monster had eaten up all life.
Boluogo continued to move forward. After crawling out of the narrow crack, the road in front of him became wider and wider, turning into endless darkness.
It still looks like what I saw before, with nothing but cold rocks filling every part of the field of vision.
Boluogo sighed deeply and continued to move forward.
The etheric vacuum envelopes the entire bottom. There is no life here, and even the light is blurry and dim, as if it has been abandoned by the entire world.
This time Boluogo had no plan. The harsh environment and his own condition were not enough to support him in escaping here, but Boluogo was unwilling to give up and moved forward stubbornly.
Boluogo has always believed in the truth that the appearance of every thing has its own meaning and reason, and the same is true for the etheric vacuum environment.
You must know that the ether is filled everywhere in the world. Under natural circumstances, it is extremely difficult for the ether vacuum to appear. When thinking of the hesitating fork in the road above, the Bureau of Order and even Opus.
Boluogo felt that this strange environment here must have been created by some kind of force. If he continued to explore, he might be able to find a way out.
"Speaking of which, Aimu, if your ether is exhausted, will you die?" Bologg asked.
"Death? I don't know," Aimu's voice was cold and without fluctuations, "I may fall into dormancy due to the loss of ether?"
"Like me?" Bologo said, "Me too, once I die, without the support of ether, I will fall into dormancy and become a corpse."
"Is that so?"
"uh-huh."
"However, I have already practiced it. You haven't experienced hibernation yet, right?" Bologo asked.
"Yes, since I woke up, I have never entered dormancy...or should I say death."
"Are you afraid of death?"
After talking about this, Aimu fell silent, as if she was thinking about something.
Death has always been a very serious issue for Aimu, and Boluogo also understands this. He can feel it from his previous chat with her, as well as his reaction when he was resurrected.
It was the first time that Bologg saw Aimu being so excited, but after thinking about it, he thought it was quite reasonable. Aimu was just a child. For her, the unknown after death was so terrifying and profound.
"Want to chat?" Boluogo said again.
"What to talk about?"
"We can talk about anything," Boluogo said, stopping and looking at the endless darkness around him. "I don't know what you think, but from a human point of view, in this kind of ghost place, we have to
Talk and chat, so that you will feel less lonely."
"alone?"
"Yes, being alone in a place like this will drive you crazy, but with two of us, we can talk about the past and the future. With three of us, we can have a bonfire and tell some bad jokes."
There was a smile in Boluogo's words, and his voice lingered and echoed in the surrounding darkness, rumbling like distant thunder, reaching into the sky.
"I'm a freak, not a common sense person, but that's how humans are.
It may be difficult for a person to survive, but as long as there is another person to communicate with and an emotional sustenance, a weak person will become strong."
Bologg struggled to walk with Aimu on his back. The ground was full of protruding rocks. Bologg felt like he was crawling among the rocks.
"If you want to know more about human beings, you should know these principles."
"Um."
Aimu responded in a low voice.
"So...if the Philosopher's Stone in the Perpetual Core is taken away, will you die?" Bologo asked.
"I don't know, but when the teacher designed it, he didn't calculate some losses. Theoretically, the operating life of the Perpetual Core is infinite, as long as the philosopher's stone is replaced every few decades." Aimu said.
"Decades? I always feel that TEDA can't live that long."
Boluogo probably understood what Teda was thinking. This design was more like comforting Aimu. She would not die so easily, but for Teda, his lifespan as a mortal was only so short. He had to either resurrect Alice or
He will die of old age. In short, it will be difficult for him to survive until Amu replaces the philosopher's stone.
"But... it's not that easy to replace the philosopher's stone." Aimu said again.
"What's wrong?"
"It's something I discovered myself... It's a secret, Borogo."
Aimu's voice finally rose and fell. She cared about this matter very much and was even willing to waste the ether to make her expression more vivid.
"Will you keep it a secret?" Aimu asked.
"Do you know? Aimu, from a human social point of view, we are already a life-long friendship, what do you think?" Boluogo asked rhetorically.
The blue halo brightened slightly, and then turned slowly. Aimu obviously couldn't understand what "fatal friendship" meant, but she could feel Boluogo's emotions from his tone.
Silence, still silence, endless silence.
"Okay, okay, I know you don't want to talk about this, but tell me something else."
Boluogo did not question Aimu too much, but tried to make the atmosphere as relaxed as possible.
At this time, Boluogo missed Palmer. Only at this time, his partner seemed to be useful. Even if no one paid attention to him, he could entertain himself and make the atmosphere relaxed.
stand up.
"When you want to say something, tell me again."
Bologg was holding a folding knife. This sharp weapon was used by Bologg as a hiking stick. The blade was full of gaps and pits.
After struggling to climb up, Boluogo began to wonder why this place was so clean.
He still remembered the mines and pipelines on the Great Rift, dumping garbage and wastewater into the rift day after day, and the toxic mist filled the air and surged up, like the end of the world.
But the bottom of this fissure is unexpectedly clean. All life is cut off, with only cold rocks as companions.
Boluogo felt vaguely uneasy. He didn't know where this uneasiness came from, but his expert instinct warned him.
After walking like this for a long time, Boluogo suddenly stopped and asked.
"Aimu, have you ever felt that the temperature nearby is rising?"
"I don't know, I turned off all perception functions." Aimu replied.
Boluogo looked around in confusion. He could clearly feel that the temperature was rising. The cold was no longer cold, but instead there was a little warmth. He moved forward vigilantly, and soon the sound of gurgling water sounded.
The ice melted and clear water flowed between the rocks. Boluogo immediately knelt down, held some in his hands, tasted it briefly, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he drank heavily.
It is one thing not to die, but another thing to be tortured by thirst.
After replenishing his water, Boluogo carried Aimu on his back again and moved forward. He began to get used to this situation and hummed to himself for fun.
The surroundings became warmer, making Bologg feel a lot more relaxed. Only at this time did Bologg realize how convenient Amu was as an alchemy doll.
Now she can be completely regarded as a pendant. Apart from being a little heavy, she basically has no shortcomings. This is much more convenient than carrying a serious wounded person.
Sometimes Boluogo also hopes that he can be like the alchemy doll, saying that by blocking certain perceptions, he can block certain perceptions, so that his life will be much more convenient.
After walking for several hours, the surrounding roads gradually opened up, and besides the cold rocks, Bologo finally saw something else.
The gray soil was mixed between the dark rocks. Boluogo stepped on the gray soil. After entering this gray area, the surroundings became completely warm, and the winter cold was completely driven away.
Boluogo found a corner on the edge, put Aimu down, and sat down against the rock wall to take a rest.
Looking at the broken watch, it should be night now. Bologger panted and regained his strength while resisting the pain in his body and the hunger in his heart.
Bologo could no longer tell whether this was physical hunger or an urge stemming from mania. The heavy hunger was like worms biting at his internal organs.
Fortunately, Boluogo has a strong willpower, and these impulses cannot affect him. He only needs to take a short rest.
"This place is really strange."
Boluogo muttered, reached out and grabbed a handful of soil and held it in his hand.
Suddenly, Boluogo was stunned. He sat up straight, carefully observed the soil in his hands, rubbed it carefully, and his eyes gradually became sharper.
"What's wrong?"
Aimu noticed something strange about Boluogo and asked.
Boluogo threw himself on the ground and dug hard with his hands, digging up layer after layer of soil, but the bottom was still gray and white.
Picking up the folding knife, Boluogo stabbed into the dug hole. When the handle of the knife was about to sink into the hole, Boluogo pulled it out. There was gray powder remaining in the gap. He stroked the blade and saw the metal.
The cold feeling is no longer there, but instead there is warmth.
He slowly raised his gaze and glanced around. The endless gray spread to the end of his sight and disappeared into the deep darkness...
"This is not dirt."
Boluogo murmured.
"This is ashes."
Endless ashes filled the bottom of the abyss.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
The saved manuscript has been reduced by one, which is very sad.