The Frost Queen's plan to dive into the abyss half a century ago was to find out and solve the problem of boiling gold underground in the city-state. Consuls of all generations passed down the secrets about boiling gold, the queen, the curse, and the ancient gods of the deep sea. The power of the Holy Lord of the Deep is in the city-state.
A substantial projection was formed and penetrated into this huge hollow area... Every piece of information was shocking.
But to Duncan, the sum of these pieces of information was no more astonishing than the fact that the ancient god who invaded the city-state was a replica.
Fanna was also aware of the astonishing information contained in this sentence. The look of this inquisitor who specialized in dealing with heretics and evil spirits was extremely serious at the moment. She stared at the "giant pillar" that supported the entire cave, and after a long time she said: "
First of all, the first point is that this thing is indeed the remaining part of the 'ancient god' that invaded the city-state... and the source of this thing is still located in the deep sea below the city-state, so the 'fake' thing that Agatha just said is actually true.
Two explanations.”
"Yes, there are two explanations," Duncan nodded. "The first explanation is that the 'source' located on the seabed is genuine, so in a sense, the 'erosion body' projected by that source into the city-state can be
It is regarded as a kind of copy, that is, a fake. In the second explanation..."
He paused, looked up at the huge pillar supporting the entire cave, and exhaled after a moment.
"The second explanation is that the 'source' of the seabed is also a replica - the other Agatha touched at the last moment was not only the ancient god's tentacle in this 'cave', but also learned about the deep sea through this tentacle
However, due to limited time, she did not have time to leave too much explanation."
The scene was quiet for a while. Alice raised her head and scanned everyone with curious eyes - she didn't fully understand what everyone was talking about, but she was trying hard to listen and understand. After a long time, she finally
Tugged Duncan's arm: "Sounds scary?"
"Yes, and I can't tell whether the first possibility is scarier or the second possibility," Duncan said "scary" with a hint of smile in his eyes. He pressed Alice's hair and comforted her.
Looking at the puppet who didn't understand the situation but seemed to be nervous, "You don't have to worry so much, things won't be more troublesome than a mirror image of Frost."
"Yes, it won't be more troublesome than the mirror frost - provided that the 'source' under the sea cannot be allowed to continue to develop," Agatha said. She turned her head and "looked" into Duncan's eyes, "It's like
As you said last time, we need to explore under the frost again to see if the 'ancient god' that invaded the real world is still there..."
Duncan gave a soft "hmm". He knew that Agatha was not idle and must have started to prepare for this matter, so he did not rush him. However, at this moment, he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye.
what.
Something luminous flashed in Agatha's right hand, it seemed to be some kind of metal product.
"Agatha, what is that in your hand?"
"In my hand?" Agatha was stunned for a moment and raised her hand subconsciously. It was only then that she suddenly noticed the touch of a foreign object in her palm - cold metal, but it seemed to have been warmed by body temperature.
It was a strange-shaped brass key.
"The key..." Fanna looked at the thing in surprise, then reacted, "Ah, it's the key you mentioned just now - the key that the Archon Winston finally handed over to the other 'Agatha'
?The key left by the Frost Queen?"
Duncan's eyes changed slightly: "Show me."
"Of course." Agatha didn't hesitate and immediately handed the key to Duncan.
The key is made of brass. The handle is an "infinity" symbol made of thick material. The front end of the key has no serrations. Instead, it has a round rod structure with grooves, just like... the "clockwork key" used to wind the doll.
.
Alice came over curiously and grabbed Duncan's arm: "Let me see, let me see... ah? This is the key? Why is it different from the keys I have seen... What is this for?"
No one around said anything.
Eyes fell on Miss Doll.
"Why are you all looking at me?" Alice reacted belatedly, raising her finger and pointing at herself, "What did I mess up again?"
"You don't have any special feeling when you look at this key?" Duncan lowered his head and looked into Alice's eyes, "Such as a sense of familiarity, or an urge to touch it?"
"No..." Alice shook her head, looking confused, "I've never seen it."
Fanna on the side came over and whispered in Duncan's ear: "Captain, what do you think..."
"I remember Nina mentioned," Duncan said slowly, "that Alice has a keyhole in her back."
After hearing this, Agatha "looked" at the Gothic doll aside in surprise.
In an instant, everything seemed to be connected in series, and points across time and space were connected to form a zigzag line in this cave eroded by the ancient god.
The key left by the Frost Queen, and the doll "Anomaly 099" with the same appearance as the Frost Queen, are the two end points of this line that spans time and space.
However, under the gaze of several eyes, Alice just looked around blankly, then raised her arms and groped vigorously on her back.
"I didn't touch it," she said a little aggrieved and a little apologetic, "it was blocked by my clothes."
"Let's talk about it when we get back. We need to be cautious about this matter," Duncan said in a deep voice, breaking the somewhat solemn atmosphere in the cave. Then he looked up at Agatha, "I want to take this key away, okay?
"
"...Theoretically, this key is an inheritance from successive generations of Frost Archons, and according to Archon Winston, it also contains the 'information' left behind by the Frost Queen, but..."
Agatha paused, then shook her head slightly.
"It's all over, of course you can take it away."
"Thank you." Duncan was not more polite and directly handed the key to the pigeon on his shoulder. With a flash of green fire, Ai and the key disappeared on his shoulder. The next second, the pigeon came back.
, but the key is gone.
It has been sent to the ship and into the hands of Duncan's body.
Duncan was fiddling with the key that had just been delivered to him on the Homeless Ship. In the underground cave of the Frost City State, he looked back at the huge pillar supporting the cave, and then reached out and knocked on its hard and cold appearance.
of stones.
"It's time for us to leave," he said.
This cave is very large. Even with the assistance of spiritual fire, the area that the group has explored so far is only a small part of the cave. But for Duncan, the information collected so far is enough.
He needs time to slowly sort out and digest what he has gained here, and the subsequent exploration... can be left to Agatha and Agatha's subordinates.
After confirming that there was no ancient god pollution left in the cave, and that the cave itself had a stable support structure, Agatha could bring her men here with relative confidence.
Following the path left by the spiritual fire, the group of people safely evacuated the huge cavity, took the elevator, and returned to the upper mine passage.
On the way out of the Boiling Gold Mine, Duncan asked Agatha curiously: "What do you think of the hollow area down there?"
"Idea?" Agatha thought for a while, "I should lead the team to explore a few more times, at least to understand the surface of the cave and the situation around the huge pillar. If there are any valuable discoveries in the process, I will
I will share information with you for a while, and then..."
She stopped here and seemed to think about it very seriously before speaking slowly: "After that, I will suggest that the city-state find a way to mine the boiling gold in the cave to avoid collapse of the hollow area and avoid damaging the root."
Under the premise of "pillars", find a way to transport the boiling gold there. Of course, how to implement this part depends on the skills of the professionals in the city hall."
"Aren't you worried about the 'hidden danger' of those boiling gold?" Duncan asked casually, "After all, it may be something left by the ancient gods."
"...The city-state must first survive before it can consider anything else," Agatha shook her head slightly, "And after 'seeing' the situation in that cave, I thought of one thing."
"oh?"
"If the boiling gold under the frost is the product left after the power of the ancient gods penetrated, then what about the other city-states on the boundless sea? Is the underground of every city-state really okay?"
The scene fell silent.
"After the veins in the Queen's Era were exhausted, Frost mined boiling gold from the mirror world for fifty years - we instinctively believe that the boiling gold mined from the mirror world belongs to the mirror world just like everything else.
'Fake', but the fact is that after the mirror city-state was destroyed, the boiling gold did not disappear, and even left a new 'rich ore' in the underground cave we just discovered... The only possible explanation is that,
The 'boiling gold' generated by the ancient god's power is not 'distortion'."
"The boiling gold generated by the power of the ancient gods is not a distortion - it can only be a natural part of the world," Duncan said with deep meaning, "This sounds a bit close to the 'Holy Lord Creation' theory of those Annihilation believers.
"
"Yes, it is already deviant content." Agatha admitted calmly and frankly.
"But you don't look shaken."
Agatha stopped, she slowly raised her head, her eyes seemed to be looking through the black cloth belt, staring quietly ahead.
At the end of the passage is the underground exit of the mine, and bright sunlight is shining in from there, warm and bright.
In Agatha's perception, the whole world was still cold, as cold as a tomb.
But she knew that the sunshine was warm.
"As I just said, the city-state must first survive," the pious Priestess said softly, clasping her hands on her chest as if praying to someone, "There is only one kind of heresy in the world - the one that hinders our survival.
It’s heresy, but other than that, everything is allowed.”