In the damp and cold corridor of the second waterway, the gatekeeper strides into the darker depths.

The black clothes of the defenders of the city-state have long been tattered, the combat canes made of special technology have been scarred, the pain and exhaustion seem to have turned into some kind of distant hallucination, and only the echo of the hollow echo in the depths of the earth can be heard.

The blood seemed to be running out, but the heart was still beating, death was so imminent, and when I breathed, I could feel the coldness of the world of the dead—in this dark and lonely corridor, there were no comrades, and I hadn't seen the enemy for a long time.

But there was still something that accompanied Agatha, and at the end of this death journey, there was a flame that was not very bright, but slightly warm.

Agatha's left hand rested on her chest, carefully guarding the cluster of "tinder" that danced out of thin air, the faint green of the flame illuminating her jaw and a small stretch of the corridor around her, and she felt, and even enjoyed, the warmth of the tinder—for she could feel that the road ahead was getting colder.

Or, perhaps, it was her own body that was cold.

"I've crossed the intersection of Uptown and am approaching the branch corridor around the boiling gold mine······ Agatha whispered to the flame, she looked up and swept her gaze over a plaque on the wall in front of her, mottled with the old nameplate that read the city street corresponding to the sewer - it would help her determine where she was now, "There are few enemies on this road, but the road is getting harder and harder, there is a kind of ...... The suffocating cold is slowing me down."

A majestic and deep voice sounded directly in her heart: "Perhaps, those cultists have given up using their minions to delay you... … They're focusing on the last moments."

"How's it going out there?"

"There was a heavy fog, fog covering the city-state, the city-state guards were maintaining order and urging the inhabitants to go home, and squads of guards could already be seen at some intersections—they were carrying lanterns for night patrols, because the fog was blocking the power of the sun," said Agatha's majestic voice in the back of her heart, "Around the city-state, the sea is also fogging, and the coverage may extend hundreds of nautical miles."

「…… The heretics have acted," Agatha whispered, "perhaps my actions have stimulated them to do it sooner......

"You don't seem to be doing well."

"I may be a little badly wounded," Agatha continued as she walked forward, feeling her breathing a little heavy, but her mind clearer than ever, "but don't worry about me, I'm ready to die—I'll send your tinder to their lair, one way or another."

"I'd rather see you alive to complete this mission, Agatha - though you're a messenger of death, you don't have to be in such a hurry to report to Bartók. By the way, I'm suddenly a little curious about this, for you priests of the god of death, 'death is a thing...... Is it a demotion or a promotion?"

Agatha paused for a moment, and tugged at the corners of her mouth: "Your sense of humor really surprised me - I'm sorry, I can't really answer this question, I'm afraid that the priests of death throughout the ages have not thought about it, and if there is a chance later... … I'll think about it.

"Okay, I wish you found the answer."

The voice in her head fell silent for a moment, and Agatha breathed a sigh of relief—I don't know if it was an illusion, but she suddenly felt that her breathing was not as hard and tired as it had just been, and even her steps became a little lighter.

She glanced at the tinder she was holding in her left hand, carefully shielded it, and strode across another intersection.

A stream of water overflowed from a nearby drainage channel, creating a small pool of stagnant water on the ground that reflected the dimly lit waterway dome.

Agatha stepped over the stagnant water, the calm surface of the water rippling in layers—the abruptly shattered reflection reflected a figure in a black trench coat, wrapped in a ritual bandage, and holding a tin cane.

The figure walked in the direction Agatha had come, and for a brief moment they met each other.

Agatha stopped abruptly and looked at herself with some confusion

There was a small patch of stagnant water, and the surface of the water, disturbed by her footsteps, was still rippling.

In the turbulent and broken water, the reflection of the moment was no longer visible, but Agatha always felt as if she had just seen something.

It was a figure, like her own, but not quite like it—the figure was dressed in tattered black, covered in scarred clothes, and looked as if it had been through one battle after another, and the direction it was traveling was the depths of the second waterway.

That's where I just left.

Probably stopped a little suddenly, and the voice of his subordinate came from behind him: "Gatekeeper? What's going on?"

"That stagnant ······" Agatha turned her head and pointed not far away, "Was it there just now?" Did you see any strange sights inside?"

"Stagnant water?" The subordinate glanced back, his expression a little puzzled, "It was there just now... …… But I don't see anything strange."

Agatha did not speak, but suddenly fell silent, staring at the still shaking water for a long time, and it was only after a long time that there was a hint of solemnity and contemplation in her eyes.

"Did you see anything?" The subordinates couldn't help but be a little worried.

Agatha was silent for a moment before shaking her head slightly: "Don't worry, everything is fine, everything is ...... It's all good."

The subordinate was obviously still a little puzzled, but in the face of the solemn look of his superior, he still restrained his excessive curiosity, and changed the topic in time: "What did you just find on the other side of that door? I feel like your face is always very serious when you come back......

The chaotic thoughts in her mind quickly converged, and Agatha looked up in the direction she had come—the gate to the abandoned mine had disappeared on the other side of the road, but she still remembered her discovery in the dark mine clearly.

She didn't spend much time exploring the mine, but after confirming her discovery, she returned to the second waterway, and hurried her team back to the colony - out of the necessary caution, she had not revealed to her men what she had found behind the door.

Even now, she didn't know how to explain the overly terrifying and bizarre ...... "conjecture" to the black-clad guards in front of her.

After a brief hesitation, she turned around and continued walking in the direction of the colony.

After walking for a while, she suddenly whispered as if to herself, "Frost····· What do you use to survive?"

"What do you live on?" The subordinate was slightly stunned, didn't react for a while, and only hesitated after a few seconds before he spoke, "You mean······ What is the economic source of the city-state? Boiling gold business?"

"Boiling gold is the blood of frost, and the mine is the heart of the city-state... …· Agatha muttered softly to herself, saying something that confused the black-clad guards, "We didn't seem to think that this heart would stop beating......

Another black-clothed guard couldn't help but step forward, with a hint of nervousness on his face: "You ......"

Agatha raised her hand slightly, interrupting her subordinates.

"Don't think about it yet, it's not for sure, I did see something on the other side of that door, but whether I can reveal it to you will need to be discussed with the archbishop."

She had calmed down from her previous restlessness.

I may have been too nervous, it was just a depleted abandoned mine, and for an old mine shaft that had been mined for many years, it was not surprising that one or two mines had dried up, and the subsequent lockdown decision of the city-state town hall was most likely due to something else—some kind of pollution that once existed, but now faded, is the most likely scenario.

Jumping to conclusions is a big no-no in investigations.

Agatha shook her head, but she couldn't help but think of the moment she had just seen in the stagnant water.

The one who walked against himself in the reflection, the blood-stained ...... of battle.

Agatha closed her eyes slightly, the knuckles of her cane turning slightly white from the exertion, but after a moment, she reopened her eyes and looked ahead, her face calm.

I still have a lot to do.

In silence, Agatha led the Guardian team back to their stronghold at the Underground Crossroads, where she noticed that something seemed strange about her surroundings.

A slight tension hung over the colony, a priest who looked like he had just come down the shaft was nervously talking to the head of the garrison of the colony, and several steam walkers that had set off to clear the fork in the road had been summoned back in advance, and seemed to be preparing to return to the surface by elevator.

Agatha quickly stepped forward, and before she could ask, the black-clad guard commander in charge of the stronghold here had already spoken: "Your Excellency, Gatekeeper, something is wrong on the surface."

Agatha frowned, "What's the situation?"

"The fog, a very large and strange thick fog, has covered the entire city-state and the surrounding seas, and the sky is not even visible to the sun," the commander quickly reported, "There are also evil things in the library and archives, and although they have been suppressed by the scholars on duty, panic and chaos are spreading in the city - the archbishop has sent someone down, please go back immediately!"