Ashes Of Deep Sea-Chapter 250 - 254 Perhaps Not Over Yet
Chapter 250: Chapter 254 Perhaps Not Over Yet
By this point, Duncan had finally unraveled the history of the “Project Abyss” that had been shrouded in dust for half a century. He knew why it was considered taboo and even why the rebels—who had incited the Frost Rebellion—were deeply terrified of it—they had every reason to be afraid.
Although the whole affair transpired within the bounds of reality, when things began to spiral out of control, it clearly transcended the order of the real world. Beneath the deep sea… there lay a terror utterly unknown, and till the end, no one understood what it was. People kept falling into madness, and the project hastened forth as if sliding into the Abyss.
The endless deep dives, the increasingly pervasive eerie atmosphere, coupled with the Frost Queen’s almost reclusive behavior in her later years… Frankly, even Duncan, faced with this series of facts, would instinctively think that Lei Nora had indeed been bewitched and controlled by something, even suspecting that “Frost Queen” was colluding with Subspace.
In such a case, it’s not to mention that within Frost itself, there were opponents to the queen lurking; not to mention the many City-States in Chill Sea harboring ill intents towards the Frost Queen’s rule. Even if the situation in the north had originally been stable, over time, undercurrents would begin to stir.
But Terence always stressed that Lei Nora had never been influenced by anything. He firmly believed that the Frost Queen remained lucid until the very end and had always protected the City-State until the last.
Duncan couldn’t say whether Terence’s judgment was correct, but he was inclined to believe it because… he had also seen that “Frost Queen” in fragments of history.
...
She once lucidly pleaded with him “not to contaminate history.”
At least from that single encounter, the Frost Queen of those days did not seem like a terrifying madwoman controlled by Subspace.
But it was precisely because of this that Duncan was all the more curious—he couldn’t understand what kind of motivation would lead a lucid ruler of a City-State to make those reclusive and extreme decisions. To push forward with the project at all costs, even knowing there were issues with Project Abyss. And for what reasons did she keep all secrets locked within her heart, remaining silent even before her most trusted Naval Commander?
After much contemplation, Duncan realized that all questions ultimately pointed to one thing: What “secrets” did the Frost Queen come to understand in the depths of the sea?
“…After the great Frost Rebellion, have you never returned to that City-State?” Duncan lifted his head and asked Terence.
“No, Her Majesty Lei Nora had ordered me to take my direct troops and leave Frost. By that time, the rebels had already conspired with other northern City-States and had amassed an entire fleet in the outer seas,” Terence said with a particularly somber tone, clearly an era he was reluctant to revisit, “…But if I had disobeyed and stayed, Frost would have had one more force that remained loyal to the queen, and those rebels wouldn’t have been able to breach the port’s defenses so easily…”
“So there are rumors in later times that you had taken part in the rebellion, even suggesting you were the one who let the rebels into Frost,” Duncan said, shaking his head. “Have you ever thought about why the Frost Queen gave that order, didn’t she have any other instructions for you?”
“…I’ve been perplexed by this for many years,” Terence candidly spoke, “The queen didn’t instruct anything else, just ordered me to leave with the troops. I thought that maybe she wanted to preserve a force for vengeance in the future, but… it made no sense, she forbade us from returning to the City-State, but with rebels occupying it, how could we seek revenge without returning?”
“You could have attacked the rebels’ fleets off the coast, intercepted all merchants going in and out of Frost; you did that for many years.”
“Yes, that’s the only thing I could think of doing at the time, and it was also the only way for the Mist Fleet to survive… We didn’t even have a home port then,” Terence shook his head, “but now we’ve gradually stopped those pillaging acts.”
“Why?”
“…Because the last rebel leader also died, death by old age,” Terence said with a bitter smile, spreading his hands, “We always used every means to capture those rebel leaders, hanged them on the mast, and then threw their bodies onto merchant ships heading to Frost. So, they learned and simply holed up in the City-State, not leaving the city for decades. I could only watch helplessly as they died peaceful deaths, until all who partook in the rebellion left this world.”
Duncan did not speak for a time, lost in thought for a long while before suddenly saying, “The soldiers under your command, they are all ‘the living dead,’ correct?”
“Yes, it’s a well-known fact,” Terence responded offhand.
“They also either directly or indirectly participated in ‘Project Abyss’?”
“I was involved in the project, they were my direct troops, so of course they were involved,” Terence rattled off, then frowned slightly, “What are you thinking?”
“You participated in the Submerged Abyss Project, yet unlike others involved in the latter stages who became mad and bizarre, after ‘one thousand meters,’ the Frost Queen had a dispute with you and excluded you from the project. And on the eve of the rebellion, your queen specifically ordered you to lead your direct troops away from Frost…”
Duncan pondered as he spoke slowly, and his gaze finally settled on Tyrion, his voice deep, “You’re right, the Frost Queen probably did intend to leave a force behind, but it seems that she didn’t do so for the sake of vengeance…”
Tyrion slowly showed a look of astonishment. However, before he could ask further questions, the figure in the mirror gently shook its head, “Don’t ask me, I am even less clear about things you cannot understand yourself—I’m just a bystander, sharing my own thoughts.”
Afterward, a brief silence fell in the room. It was quite some time before Duncan’s voice was heard again, “Tyrion, our conversation has been long enough.”
The deep-thinking pirate unconsciously looked up, surprised at the sight of his father in the mirror. It was as if only at this moment had he suddenly realized something, a complex look of shock appearing in his eyes.
He seemed to have just realized how much he had discussed with the other party, that he had unwittingly become completely accustomed to the atmosphere of their conversation—even a century earlier, he rarely had such long conversations with his father. As for the faint vigilance he had felt upon awakening here… it had vanished clean away without him knowing when.
“I…” He subconsciously wanted to say something, but then a sharp pain on his forehead made him involuntarily touch it, “Ah, that’s painfully sharp…”
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“…The child acted without moderation, I hope you won’t hold it against her,” Duncan’s voice rang out from the mirror, “Do you need an ointment?”
“No… there’s no need,” said Tyrion, waving his hand with a somewhat strange expression. He couldn’t help but recall the last scene he remembered before arriving here, that peculiar little girl, and the thing that flew towards him… like a dog, and then he suddenly realized, “Wait, I remember now, that wasn’t a dog; it was an Abyssal Hound!”
He looked toward the mirror, disbelief in his eyes, “Is that also one of your subordinates now? A… Heretic Cultist?”
He hesitated a bit when saying “Heretic Cultist,” obviously unsure of Sherry’s true identity—after all, he had seen creatures known as Heretic Cultists before, but he had never encountered one whirling a contract devil their way…
“She is indeed doing some tasks for me,” said Duncan with an ambiguous smile, “but if you have a chance to see her again, I advise you not to mention the term ‘Heretic Cultist’ in her presence. She really dislikes it.”
Tyrion muttered a confused acknowledgment, then subconsciously looked around, his gaze finally landing on Alice, who seemed to have started to wander off in her thoughts.
Alice quickly came back to reality, looking at Tyrion with curiosity, “Why are you looking at me?”
“It’s nothing,” Tyrion averted his gaze, hiding whatever complex emotions lay behind it. Finally, he looked at the mirror still burning with flames and asked with some uncertainty, “So now… may I leave?”
“Would you like to stay for dinner?”
Tyrion quickly gestured with his hand, “Ah… no, that won’t be necessary…”
“Hmm, then I will arrange my messenger to send you…” Duncan in the mirror nodded, but suddenly furrowed his brow as if something occurred to him, “Wait, something just crossed my mind.”
Tyrion instinctively tensed up, “Something?”
“To be precise, it’s two doubts about one matter,” Duncan’s expression became serious again as he focused on Tyrion, “Do you remember mentioning the successive ‘Replications’ that surfaced from Submersible No. 3?”
“Of course,” Tyrion nodded, “Including the first original and the subsequent six replications, a total of seven ‘Submersible No. 3’ surfaced.”
“I have two questions,” Duncan collected his thoughts before slowly continuing, “First, was the first submersible that surfaced actually the original?
“Second, was the seventh submersible that surfaced really empty?”
