Chapter 145: They’re Soldiers
As they walked deeper into the excavated area, something caught Grim’s attention—a warm, golden light emanating from what appeared to be a tunnel entrance carved into the side of a massive structure. Unlike the cold blue bioluminescence they’d grown accustomed to in the depths, this light was inviting, almost beckoning.
"There," Grim pointed toward the glowing entrance. "That light—it’s different from anything else down here."
"It’s warm," Lin observed. "I can feel the heat from here. Weird, most walkways and entrances in the North Sea aren’t covered in water. It’s open, but this tunnel is full of water."
The tunnel entrance was large enough for them to swim through comfortably.
"Should we trust it?" Suanni asked. "In a place like this, light could be a trap as easily as salvation."
"Jiaolong’s trail leads this way," Xu Wu observed, noting disturbed sediment and recent tool marks around the tunnel entrance. "He’s been through here multiple times."
Ao Shun noticed some carvings in the wall surrounding the entrance of the tunnel. He studied the carvings around the entrance. He traced his finger along the carvings before speaking. "These symbols... they’re from the old texts. This tunnel leads to the true heart of the city."
They entered the tunnel in single file, swimming through water that grew progressively warmer and clearer as they followed the golden light deeper. The carved walls told an increasingly complex story—scenes of great cooperation between species, massive construction projects, and what appeared to be some kind of golden age of prosperity and knowledge.
The tunnel curved gently downward and forward, and after what felt like swimming for miles, they began to see the source of the golden light ahead. The tunnel opened into something so vast and magnificent that it left them stunned in silence.