Chapter 954: Chapter 147: When Lu Li Finished His Tasks and Was Led Out of the Room
Before heading to the dig site in the Tashuphik region of the Old Allen Kingdom, they had some issues to resolve.
The last time the Light Thief shrouded the world was nearly fifteen days ago. According to patterns, it will descend again soon.
Encountering eternal night while stepping foot on the Bottom of Sugla is clearly not a good thing.
Worse still, since Lu Li was freed from the underground, they haven’t encountered a fog tide. This means the fog tide, which covers them once every half month to a month, could come at any time now.
Compared to these, the prelude to the Harsh Winter Season seemed rather trivial.
Therefore, Lu Li needed to complete the trip to the Tashuphik region dig site within three days if possible.
As Andrea sailed towards the Main Affinity Continent, Lu Li had the merchants contact the City Hall of Vena Ice-Free Port to gather information on the city nearest to the dig site, Reilston City.
Soon, he got a response that Reilston City had disappeared, leaving only ruins. Furthermore, since the dig site in the Tashuphik region had been occupied by anomalies since the Weird Times, no human settlements existed nearby—at least none were discovered by Vena Ice-Free Port.
"Can’t we just go straight there?"
Compared to being slow and wasteful, which could lead to unexpected encounters, Katerina preferred directly entering the Bottom of Sugla to retrieve the shard.
"We always need a foothold."
Lu Li answered while observing the map.
The dig site in the Tashuphik region was inland, meaning they no longer had Andrea, their safe harbor.
The shortest route was from the South Coast of the Main Affinity Continent, about 70 miles west of the Seaside Town, where they could go upstream from the Heath River’s estuary. By doing so, they could reach an area within 50 miles of the Tashuphik region dig site near Reilston City.
But if the Heath River had disappeared or was too shallow, they’d have to walk from the South Coast of the Main Affinity Continent to the dig site, relying on Ophelia to avoid anomalies along the way.
Andrea sailed at full speed, breaking through the mesh of darkness and fog.
The swaying in the Captain’s Cabin, which made Puxiu reluctant to speak, would persist for a while until they reached the estuary of the Heath River.
If they didn’t slow down, they could get there before dawn.
Lu Li noted all the villages and towns that once existed along the way; these vanished or transformed into ruins could serve as their footholds in critical moments.
It was hard to say whether the wilderness or ruins were safer. If Katerina had a choice, she would choose a cave or cavern.
Andrea had once slowed down. The big sister said it sensed something on the nearby sea surface.
Lu Li examined the map. The route from the Ailen Peninsula to the South Coast of the Main Affinity Continent was a natural course without any reefs or islands.
Anything appearing on the sea surface could only be something else.
Once they avoided whatever unknown entity was on the sea surface, Andrea resumed her sailing speed.
Andrea on the sea wasn’t invincible.
The dangers in the deep sea weren’t much less than those on land; even Andrea wouldn’t casually venture into the ocean depths.
Despite Andrea’s natural advantage of being a large steel vessel, which anomalies disliked.
During the voyage, Lu Li informed Katerina and the merchants about the Bottom of Sugla.
Long ago, the Bottom of Sugla was regarded by the ancients as both a forbidden zone and an abyss.
Under the pervasive gray fog, it connected to another world. Perhaps it was the Inner World, or perhaps a surface world akin to this one. The ancients had explored it, but the Guardian’s memories were sparse, only able to piece together a fragmented outline from the few remaining shards.
The name "Bottom of Sugla" derived from a lord who called himself Socrates amidst the gray fog. He possessed wisdom and claimed that the other side of the entrance was his domain. In their exchanges, he allowed the ancients to enter the gray fog to access another world, but only the wise could comprehend its true essence, while fools would merely squander their precious time.
Due to this statement, the ancients paid a price: none of the warriors they sent into the gray fog ever returned. This is something the Guardian remembered: it included members of his family.
The King of the Ancient People was enraged and ordered the construction of fortresses around the Bottom of Sugla to prevent anyone from entering the gray fog and to guard against its encroachment.
The connection between the two worlds was thus severed. Until much later, a warrior emerged from the fog.
He said that everyone was alive; they had glimpsed the truth of the world within the fog and didn’t wish to leave. Only he chose to abandon everything he had gained and return.
The King of the Ancient People wished to communicate once more with the Lord Socrates, but it was too late. After the warrior’s return, the fog leading to the other world receded underground.
The returning warrior also hanged himself shortly afterward.
"Vulture," is how the Guardian’s lingering memories referred to that foggy world.
The King of the Ancient People declared that behind the gray fog was a vulture world. They searched for worlds invaded by anomalies, and when only ashes remained, they would launch a large-scale invasion and consume it.
But whether this was just an excuse the king made for his mistake, or the truth, has long vanished alongside the dissipated fog.
"It sounds like the ancients had a greater understanding of the worlds beyond ours?" Puxiu asked curiously.
"Yes."
The flame of humanity extinguished just as it was about to shine brilliantly; give them a few more decades, and they wouldn’t be as defeated as they are now.
"What was the hierarchy...structure...like?" As a library scholar, Ophelia wanted to know more about the story of the ancients themselves.
"I don’t know."
The Guardian’s memories were severely incomplete, and they also had no time to learn about the history of the ancients.
However, it seemed feasible to attempt to understand, as the ancients had clearly more knowledge of the worlds beyond than they did.
Lu Li had Merchant Anthony deliver a letter to Mayor Matteus, suggesting they engage scholars to excavate the history and truths of the ancients through the abilities of a linguist.
But this would have to wait until they returned from the Tashuphik region dig site with the Guardian.
Frankly speaking, the wisdom of the ancients wasn’t much different from that of humans, at least from what Lu Li gathered: once they could establish city-states at scale and possess their own language, the differences between the ancients and humans might only remain in their physical structure and thinking patterns.
Yet their physical structure became a double-edged sword for the ancients. They gained greater strength and didn’t even need external aids to combat anomalies, but it also led them to neglect external developments, focusing solely on physical prowess.
This made their thinking more inclined towards power rather than wisdom.
Thus, when the tide of anomalies swept in, they disappeared from the earth even faster than humans, with their meager strength being insignificant.
After recounting the "Bottom of Sugla" of the ancients, Andrea had already left the Ailen Peninsula and neared the South Coast of the Main Affinity Continent.
The Falling Leaves Mountain Range and the Seaside Town lay ahead in the shadowy depths.
During the calm sailing, Lu Li began to speak of another incident he knew of related to the "Tashuphik region dig site":
The story of the gray fog’s resurgence in the late stages of humanity’s Old Era.