If there is one deepest point in the Earth's ocean, it must be the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

This well-known seabed feature is a subduction zone between the Pacific and Philippine plates, close to Guam and the Bismarck Islands. At sea level, the Mariana Trench is more than 10,911 meters deep, much higher than the height of Mount Everest.

In 1379, the Americans Donald Walsh and Jacques Piccard piloted the Bathyssy submarine USS Trieste to the bottom of the Mariana Trench after several hours of diving. At this point, the tremendous water pressure cracked the foot-thick quartz glass in the viewing window.

But the bottom of the trench was not empty, and the two turned on the searchlight, and a strange deep-sea fish swam near the submarine, and there were transparent shrimp on the diatom mud wasteland at the bottom of the trench.

The ocean of Attas, at its peak, was larger and bluer than the oceans on Earth. In the Azure Age, the whole world was almost a water balloon, and even in the coral city of the halfling, there were waterways that replaced the streets. Now, the oceans have dried up completely, and the blue world is gone.

Since the ocean has long since disappeared, it is difficult for Muhati to determine where the sea level once was. He could only estimate that the rift in front of him was probably deeper than the Mariana Trench, and it was difficult to estimate how deep it was.

During previous hurricanes crossing the Salt Sea, they had to throw off most of their ballast to rise to higher altitudes. For future journeys, they had to descend to the surface, replenish a part of the ballast.

The old man, Khwarazmi, wanted to descend to the bottom of this rift valley in order to "take a look." Muhadi himself is not without his own thoughts, what does the bottom of the deepest trench look like? Satili has nothing to do with this, and Muscle Daddy is against needless adventures, but Camilla surprisingly expresses her desire to check it out. The female druid professes to want to collect the remains of ancient deep-sea creatures, which helps her to understand the theory of evolution more deeply.

Khwarazmi turned off his quirky machine, and the manned balloon began to slowly descend.

"I don't think it's going to be good for us to go on like this. "Muscle Daddy's face was full of sorrow, looking at the deep rift. "Maybe there's a lot of toxic gas gathered down here, and if we get contaminated with it, we'll lose our lives?"

"So you're scared?" Amal teased him.

"What!" the muscular daddy blew his beard and glared, "I never knew what it meant to be afraid! If you are too scared to go down, I will go down by myself." ”

"How did you come up when you went down alone?" the thief asked him.

"I grabbed myself by the collar in one hand and pulled myself up. ”

The Psychic Warlock looked into the distance, and there was an irregularity on the white salt field, which seemed to be the bones of a whale. As the balloon slowly descended, the thing grew larger and larger, and it became clear to Muhathir that it was the wreck of a ship.

It's huge, comparable to a giant oil tanker on Earth. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, the Psychic Warlock would never have believed that he could build such a large ship without a metal keel. Half of it was buried in the salt plain, but only half of it was exposed, and it was enough to sigh.

Think of what was once a thriving maritime trade route, but now a lifeless dead place, and nothing more vagaries than this.

The rift valley on the submarine plain grew wider and wider, until it took up most of his vision. It is no exaggeration to say that this crack in the earth is like the mouth of a giant beast, ready to choose people to devour at any time.

There is no trace of life on the salt plains, which is to be expected. No footprints, no skeletons, no scavenging birds that occasionally fly in the sky and weeds that stubbornly burrow out of the ground. There are only a few wind stones on the ground of Shiobara, and there is a long trail behind it, which is left by the traces left by the wind.

The balloon descended to a level level with the Salt Sea Plain, and then officially entered the former trench.

Khwarazmi carefully manipulated the balloon, keeping him in the middle of the rift, lest a sudden wind sweep them up against the cliffs on either side. This is not difficult because the former trench is so large that it is far wider than the Great Rift Valley on Earth. The balloon floated in the middle, several palesans from either side.

As she continued to descend, Khorezmi manipulated the balloon to approach one of the cliffs for ease of observation. Because the trench was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, this meant that the following operations had to be carried out with extra care.

On this side of the cliff, there are many caves, of various sizes and irregular arrangements, with a radius of about twenty to forty feet. As soon as Muscle Daddy saw these caves, he exclaimed, "I bet this must be the lair of ancient monsters." When the ocean was still alive, they lurked in these holes, and whoever passed by was dragged into the holes and eaten. ”

"You're going to lose the bet, and I think that's the result of erosion. Amal disagreed.

"You're so sure, then you should go and take a look. Muscle Daddy retorted to him. "I'll tie a rope around your waist and pull you back when the time comes. ”

"Whoever proposes, who gives evidence. The thief grinned. "You said that there were monsters there, so you should go and see if there are really bones left by monsters there. ”

Muscle Daddy shrugged. "You said no, then you should go and see if there are really no bones left by monsters there!"

"Are you afraid, my good warrior?" the thief didn't seem to worry about provoking the other party at all, perhaps he just wanted to provoke the other party and have some fun. "To prove your mettle, you have to go over and have a look. ”

"Muscle Daddy never 'has to' do anything!" Muscle Daddy squeaked his lips. "The word 'must' is for you weak people, do whatever I want!"

Their argument attracted more attention, with the Psychic and the Druid glancing sideways, and even Satili clearing her throat to express her opinion. "No offense, brave warrior. Her voice was as sweet as a clear spring. "But if according to William of Occam, don't add entities if you don't have to. It was further developed by the ** teacher Hitchens as the Sharpens razor (hitnetbsp; razor) theory, anything that is not supported by evidence can be disproved without the need for evidence. ”

"If we follow the indirect approach of these two mages, then it is better for us to cautiously support Amal's opinion before we have made observations on the ground. The Coral Witch finished her words.

"Why should I believe in a dead man's theory?" dismisses Muscle Daddy. "Are you right, Psionic Kid?" he tried to pull the Psychic Warlock to his side.

"Hmm......" The question was acute, even though Muscle Daddy didn't realize it. The psychic mancer considered it carefully before answering, "I support Satili on this particular issue, let's assume that there are no monsters living in those caves until we actually have bones." ”

"But I disagree with the philosophical theories of Occam's razor and Hitchens' razor. ”

"I didn't have to guess to know you would say that," Camila said with a look on her face that she had anticipated. "You are a god slave, and admitting these two theories will collapse your own philosophical system. ”

But God does exist. The Coral Witch defended Muhadi. "They used to live in Attas, and everyone in the world is accustomed to their existence. It wasn't until the Battle of Purification that they were hunted down. We, the Guardian Mage, have kept a lot of ancient documents and ancient relics, and the evidence is as much as a grain of sand. ”

"You may be very powerful, and you have a good personal relationship with Lord Muhadi. The female druid shook her head and said. "But you're getting two things wrong. First, those ancient creatures were not gods. Yes, they are powerful and long-lived, but they have nothing to do with the philosophical concept of the One True God. Second, the gods that the psychic believed to exist were gods in the philosophical sense, not beasts that the ancients thought were gods. ”

"The primordial warlocks like to call those elven gods and dwarven gods beasts. Sadiri frowned. "Do you support the Primordial Warlock?"

"I support the struggle for survival by any means. The female druid did not hesitate to express her position. "Nature has no morals and does not believe in tears. ”

"Very sharp view. Coral Witch said. "Let's agree that we don't agree with each other. She didn't want to dwell on the other side over the issue.

"By the way," Camila smiled slightly as she felt like she had won a game. "I don't support the razor theory. It is not self-consistent in explaining the phenomenon of altruism in evolution. What about you, Lord Muhadi, why do you not accept them?"

"'Anything that is not supported by evidence can be overturned without evidence,'" Muhadi repeated on one side of Hitchens's razor. "According to this principle, is not the razor itself also overthrown? It is logically inconsistent. ”

"Clever point. Sadiri seemed surprised to hear Muhathir speak from this perspective. "I can see you're a good thinker, maybe you should consider becoming a mage, I can teach you. ”

Me, a mage, Muhadi said, "Maybe later, Sadiri. Even if you're as strong as you, you probably won't be able to teach me magic in the Salt Sea. ”

"Then let's go out of the Salt Sea and discuss this again, in a word?"

"It's a deal. The Psychic Warlock said.

At this point, Muscle Daddy is angry that everyone is not supporting him in the argument. Eventually, he pestered Muhadi, finally allowing the Psychic Warlock to show off his abilities and observe the inside of the caves. The result of this was unexpected, there were really bones of ancient creatures in it, although the weathering was already very strict, but it was still faintly recognizable.

It resembled the Neptune Rex of the White Age, with a skull more than nine feet long, and empty eye sockets as big as plates. It is impossible to imagine what a terrible predator they were when they were still alive.

The muscular daddy was very excited, and kept saying that the psychic warlock was only a mouthful, and as a result, they all made jokes. Only his muscular daddy has a unique eye and a wide range of knowledge.

The balloon descended further, and the sky darkened.

The rift is so deep that the sun can't reach its bottom except at noon. Now they had only dropped half of their height, and when they finally landed on the ground, it was undoubtedly pitch black, and they couldn't see their fingers.

However, in this Jedi of life, there is an unexpected wonder.

On the cliff on the side of the balloon, many shell-like structures appeared. It is said to be shell-shaped, but it is much larger than a real shell, the largest one is hundreds of feet, and the smaller one is dozens of feet. They clung to the cliff as if they were covered with something.

"What a big shell!" said Muscle Daddy. "Maybe there's a huge pearl in there! At that scale, I'd say they're bigger than a human head!"

"Shellfish can't live at such depths on the ocean floor. Camila was also interested in observing the strange structures. "Where we are now, if you convert it to the Blue Age, is 20,000 feet below sea level. ”

"And what is this, Mistress Camilla?" Amar interjected, "I haven't seen anything like it. ”

"It's man-made. After observing for a while, the female druid affirmed. "Those shell-like structures are a kind of house, and the ruins we see now are the ruins of an ancient city. ”

"It's as if it's true. Muscle Daddy turned his head and whispered to the Psychic Warlock, "Who will live in the water? Aren't they afraid that someone will come and steal their water?"

"In the blue era, water was not valuable. The Psychic said.

"That's not possible. "Muscle daddy thinks strictly. "How do you make a fire when you live underwater? Maybe they don't eat cooked food? That's not going to work, pooping in the toilet, and thinking about whether the poop will float into the kitchen. ”

"Mistress Camilla is glaring at you viciously," Muhati told Muscle Daddy. "I guess she'll want to give you a good explanation. ”

"I have great doubts about the need for us to take this barbarian with us. The female druid ignored the two men and said to Satilly. "He eats more than anyone else, but he can do very little. ”

"I don't see any barbarians among us. Coral Witch said softly. "Can you explain who you're referring to?"

"Did you see her expression? Muscle Daddy made a funny gesture. "Oh my God!"

"Just call me Camilla, don't call me heaven. Camila turned her head suddenly. "These are the places where sea elves live. What you just said only revealed your own ignorance. ”

"What are sea elves?" Muhadi was curious.

"Biochemical products of the late Teal Age, when the Half-Elves used their biotechnology to create many new races, many of which were the ancestors of today's Athas races and monsters. Camila doesn't bother with Muscle Daddy anymore. "The sea elves later became extinct, but they left a lot of records. They live in this shell-like structure in the deep sea, and they drink blood, and they are very primitive. ”

"It's strange that halflings would create these aliens. The Psychic Warlock said. "Aren't they worried about being replaced? ”

"They have no choice but to fight the Psionic Empire. ”

After this episode, and about two more hourglasses, the manned balloon landed at the bottom of the deep rift.

Khorezmi's delicate manipulation made it possible for them to land at the bottom at noon. Sunlight pours down from the zenith so that it doesn't make it dark.

It is more than 30,000 feet deep from the sea level in the blue age. The ground here is a dull white, and the soles of their feet are thick layers of salt, which make a subtle noise when they step on them.

Muhati raised his head and looked up, tens of thousands of years ago, those halfling people who drove the big ship to ride the wind and waves, would they have imagined that one day the sea beneath them would be steamed?

"I'll stay here with the balloon and get some rest. "Khwarazmi finally doesn't have to continue driving, he said to everyone. "Look around, and if you come across a suitable ballast, collect it. ”

Muhati wandered around the valley floor alone, and went to see something interesting. There was something interesting at the bottom of this ancient trench, and he found the bones of a dragon, half-buried in the salt plain. There was a stone the size of a palm, and the surface was swarthy and smooth. The Psychic Warlock held it in his hand and observed it for a long time before he determined that it was a piece of ambergris, a fossil of whale poop.

After walking for a while, he almost screamed in surprise.

In front of him was a spring, an eight-foot-wide pool, hidden in the shadow of the edge of the cliff. In the middle of the spring, bubbling and bubbling.

This is amazing, the psychic thought as he walked. Could this be the remnants of the ancient sea?

As soon as he got closer, he smelled a pungent temperature. In psionic synaesthesia, the smell is like a harsh tenor, and like a kitsch color, which makes people immediately aware of the danger.

Instead of water, sulfuric acid flowed in the pool.

Muhadi heard that in Eritrea on Earth, there is a miraculous sulphuric acid spring. Often there are weak places in the earth's crust, where the liquid is strong and can corrode metals. He didn't expect that he would actually see such a strange scene in Artas.

Near the hole of this sulphuric acid spring, there is a long string of barnacle-like things. The psychic sorcerer thought that this should be some kind of life form, and it was worth studying to be able to survive in such a place. He focused, showed an ability that endured elemental damage, and then reached out and broke off a large yellow block of salt with barnacles attached to it from near the spring.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Muhati picked up a few more larger stones and walked back.

The others were also returning one after another at this time, and the flowers were a little denser, and the things they had collected were almost able to make up for the loss of ballast, and they were very satisfied, and nodded again and again.

"You old thing. "Muscle Daddy said him. "It's not bad, but the time is not very accurate. ”

"Why can't I pinch it accurately?" asked Khwarazmi.

"I wanted to turn around a little longer, but you don't know what I've seen, an ancient shipwreck. Muscle Daddy shrugged. "It turned out to be dark so quickly. If only you had left us here at noon. ”

"When I landed, it was noon!"

"Why did it get dark so quickly that day!" Muscle Daddy cocked up a finger.

He was right, the angle of the sun hadn't shifted much, but the sky suddenly darkened.

Muhadi looked up and was shocked.

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