The city-state floats rootlessly on the boundless sea. Under the 850-meter-thick base is a seemingly endless dark deep water. The deeper you dive into the sea, the more incomprehensible noises you hear and the more incomprehensible lights and shadows you see. The first explorer who crossed the thousand-meter-deep water fell into madness after rushing to the surface frantically, and the only words he left for the world were -

“We all died there.”

This is what happened to the Frost City-State's "Abyss Project" from its inception to its gradual going astray.

Duncan fell into a brief moment of contemplation. He suddenly realized that even if he did not go deep into the spirit world and the abyss, there were still many dangers and strange things hidden in the boundless sea in the "real dimension" of this world. After a brief moment of contemplation, he suddenly asked:

"What happened to the explorer?"

"He died very quickly - the rapid ascent and decompression took his life. He screamed and yelled for a while before dying of a vascular embolism. At least that was the practical reason."

"Only one person in a submersible?" Duncan asked again.

"It can only accommodate one person. Of course, this will increase the mental pressure on the explorer, but it is also a helpless move. On the one hand, the technology at that time was limited. On the other hand, this kind of exploration is not suitable for multiple people to travel together. Deep in the sea, it is difficult to be sure that your companion will be replaced by something in the next second, and it is also difficult to be sure whether the sound you hear is real. So it is better to dive alone. At least there is no doubt that there are other people in the submersible."

"The deep sea, darkness, loneliness, and facing the strange and unknown waters away from the civilized world may all be the reasons that led to the explorer's madness." Duncan shook his head slowly, "But this is not important. The important thing is... this is still not enough to explain why the Abyss Project later became an extremely taboo topic."

He looked into Tirian's eyes and continued, "So far, what you have described is just an expedition that went wrong. Similar expeditions take place every year. The Academy of Truth even actively invests and encourages scholars and explorers to do these things. There is no taboo about this, and it should not be related to the Lost Homeland."

"...Yes, if the plan had stopped at one thousand meters, the things that happened later would not have happened." Tirian shook his head and sighed in the memory, "After the accident of the No. 3 submersible, Her Majesty Lenora once ordered a temporary suspension of exploration, but something happened a few days later, which made the situation... gradually weird."

Duncan frowned: "One thing?"

"At the edge of the temporarily blocked test sea area, the No. 3 submersible rushed to the surface."

Duncan was stunned for a moment, then he reacted: "The second No. 3 submersible?!"

"Yes, the second one," Tirian nodded. "It rushed up in front of the naval soldiers and began to flash light signals that they needed help to open the hatch. Although the well-trained soldiers were confused for a while, they quickly towed the submersible to the work platform according to standard procedures and aimed at its hatch with 27 rifles, two rapid-fire cannons and a flamethrower. Then a brave priest stepped forward, sprinkled holy water and opened the door lock."

Tirian paused, then spoke slowly: "The hatch opened, and a human who looked like an explorer walked out."

Duncan's face was gloomy: "Very similar?"

"The facial features are similar, but their heights and weights are different. He was wearing a Frost Navy uniform, but there were many problems with the details of the clothes. More importantly... the person who walked out of the submersible only moved around on land for a short while before dying. He didn't even have time to leave a word. After the soldiers undressed him, they found that his flesh and blood seemed to be 'grown' together with the clothes, and there were incomprehensible wounds of various sizes on his body.

"After that, doctors and scholars from the church jointly examined the body. The Frost Queen also seemed to have personally visited the autopsy site, but the conclusion of the examination was not announced. Or rather, before they could announce anything, the third 'Submersible No. 3' appeared."

At this time, even Alice, who had been silent but only listening intently, couldn't help but speak: "There's a third one?!"

Tirian glanced at Alice subconsciously, with a strange expression on his face. He seemed not used to a person who looked exactly like the Frost Queen standing here and making a fuss. But he quickly adjusted his expression and nodded gently: "The third one, and more than three - after that, every twenty-four or forty-eight hours, a 'Submersible No. 3' will emerge from there..."

Alice was surprised to hear this strange and bizarre "story". She thought about it and suddenly said, "So, you just need to wait there and you will have a constant supply of submersibles? By the way, is that thing called 'submersible' also valuable? Is it more valuable than the cultists?"

Tirian was still immersed in the memories of the past a second ago, but at this moment, Miss Doll interrupted his train of thought. He opened his mouth for a long time without regaining his composure: "This... We didn't think about this at all..."

"Don't pay attention to her. Her thinking is different from that of ordinary people." Duncan glanced at Alice and said to Tirian with a serious expression, "Go on, what happened next?"

Tirian came back to his senses, sorted out his thoughts and continued, "After the third submersible came up, it also sent out a light signal requesting to open the hatch. This time the soldiers had some experience, so they dragged the submersible to a more tightly protected area, and the priests set up a lot of supernatural protection in advance before opening the hatch. And this time... a swollen and deformed humanoid monster that no longer looked like an 'explorer' came out.

“That monster also couldn’t survive in the air for more than three minutes.

"What emerged from the fourth submersible was a squirming mass of flesh, and this time not even the outline of a human could be discerned.

"After the hatch of the fifth submersible was opened, nothing came out - the soldiers on the scene went forward to check and saw only a pool of suspicious dark red mud in the cockpit, which showed a weak sign of life.

"There were only a few black fibrous dried objects in the sixth submersible. They looked like unformed nerve structures or dried blood vessel specimens..."

As Tirian continued to speak, Duncan's expression became more and more serious. Even Alice beside him seemed to notice the change in atmosphere and sat up straight.

In this increasingly serious and solemn atmosphere, Tirian slowly said:

"The seventh submersible, and the last one I know of, is empty."

"Empty?" Duncan raised his eyebrows slightly, then shook his head. "That makes me even more uneasy."

"Yes, it's empty, so it's even more disturbing. This matter has completely gotten out of control, and we must find a way to end it," Tirian said in a deep voice, "But fortunately, the 'Submersible No. 4' is finally completed - it was originally the successor of the Submersible No. 3. After the 'One Thousand Meters' incident, the plan was suspended and its construction work was also suspended. But as one 'Submersible No. 3' surfaced one after another, the Queen ordered the assembly of the 'Submersible No. 4' to be completed as quickly as possible, and decided to use it to figure out what happened under a thousand meters deep."

Tirian paused, as if there were some omissions in his memory. He organized his words and continued slowly: "I can't remember the details of the No. 4 submersible. It was completed in a hurry, and the Frost Navy was only responsible for part of it. I only know that it is larger than the No. 3, can accommodate three people, and has a sample chamber - the scholars originally planned to use it to collect specimens from the deep sea, if there are specimens to collect.

"The day after the seventh 'Submersible No. 3' appeared, the Submersible No. 4 built by the Frost City-State was thrown into the sea. Inside it sat a scholar, an officer, and a powerful priest. At this time, we could no longer consider the hidden dangers of 'multi-person exploration'. Doing everything possible to prevent the eighth 'Submersible No. 3' from appearing was the top priority.

"Submersible No. 4 continued to descend and soon reached a depth of one thousand meters. The priests in the submersible relied on psychic power to maintain contact with the surface of the sea. Perhaps because the new submersible had stronger performance, they had a smooth journey and confirmed the scene of the city-state's 'base' observed by the previous explorers. But soon, the contact began to become intermittent. After the depth reached one thousand meters, the small church on the platform on the sea surface could hardly hear any sound from the deep sea.

"But fifteen minutes after the communication was interrupted, the priest on duty in the chapel suddenly heard the sound from the deep sea again. They first heard a scream, which was made by the priest. The priest screamed in a very terrified tone to remind others, saying: 'Don't look! Don't think!' Then, the voice of the officer was heard, which was a roar, and then, there was a deafening roar."

Tirian raised his head and looked Duncan in the eyes.

"Submersible No. 4 detonated the explosives," the big pirate said slowly, "They filled the sample chamber with high-energy explosives to deal with the 'ultimate dangerous situation'.

"Then, everything was over. Submersible No. 4 never surfaced again, and no more 'Submersible No. 3' appeared in public sight."