The fog has gradually invaded the Second Waterway. The hazy and chaotic fog floats like a veil near the ceiling of the sewer corridor, giving people the feeling that the deep and heavy roofs have disappeared and the Second Waterway is being gradually swallowed up by the "sky".

The short old man wrapped in an old coat was walking quickly in the strange and silent sewer corridor - decades of time had eroded his body, and he had not been able to move so quickly in the past many years. However, for some reason, today, at this moment, he felt his body light again, as if youth had returned to this body, and the soreness in the joints and the weakness in the muscles had disappeared.

He walked faster and faster, and the large wrench in his hand was no longer as heavy as it had been at the beginning. He quickly passed through the corridors and forks in his memory, running persistently towards a direction that he could no longer remember but was extremely familiar with.

He had to catch up with the main force because the time for assembly was approaching.

A collapsed rubble suddenly blocked the old ghost's way.

"No way... No way?" The old man stopped, looking at the collapsed rocks in front of him in astonishment and muttering to himself. The chaotic memories were reorganized randomly in his mind, trying to explain the existence of this collapsed area. He seemed to recall something -

Oh, it was explosives. The guards retreated through the connecting shaft and detonated the explosives buried in the corridor, thus blocking the rebels who entered the sewers...

But no, not entirely. This collapsed area seemed to not only block the rebels. Many years ago, when the young soldier ignited the explosives... the corridor collapsed, blocking something else...

The old ghost stood blankly in front of the blocked corridor, then bent down and hit the stone in front of him with a large wrench in his hand, mumbling vaguely.

This road should be accessible, it must be accessible, otherwise I won’t be able to reach the gathering place, but it has collapsed, what should I do? A wrench can’t fix the collapsed stone…

A hazy mist suddenly appeared in the field of vision. The old ghost who was hammering stones looked up blankly and subconsciously took a half step back. He saw wisps of mist escaping from the cracks between the stone piles, slowly filling the entire corridor and filling his field of vision.

He heard distant whispers and roars in the fog, and then there seemed to be a hoarse voice shouting - "Does this make sense?!"

But no one appeared in the fog. As the fog drifted, the old ghost only saw the collapsed rubble blocking the road in front of him suddenly disappear.

The corridor that was originally blocked has become a thoroughfare again. The gas lamp embedded in the opposite wall emits a dim light. In the depths of the chaotic corridor, one can vaguely see black mud that seems to have dried up for decades, sleeping quietly in the equally dry drainage ditch.

"The road is open... it's good as long as the road is open..."

The old ghost's mind was in a daze for a moment, as if he was trying to think about why the collapsed rocks suddenly disappeared, but soon, this doubt disappeared in his confused and entangled memory. He stepped forward without hesitation and stepped into the corridor shrouded in darkness.

※※※

Agatha suddenly raised her head, and the guards, priests, and nuns following her stopped immediately. Everyone was on edge, guarding against any movement in the fog.

"Did you hear any footsteps?" Agatha suddenly broke the silence after two or three seconds. "Footsteps other than ours."

"Yes," the accompanying nun nodded gently, "Just a moment ago, very slight, but very close, just like..."

"It's as close as if it's overlapping with us." Agatha said with a serious expression, while at the same time, her eyes slowly swept across the mine tunnel next to her.

This is already deep in the boiling gold mine. Following the direction pointed out by "Sergeant Brad", Agatha and her team arrived at the mine tunnel from the only passage in this direction. Even at such a deep place, the fog was still everywhere.

The lighting system was still working normally. The dim light illuminated the supports in the mine tunnel and the track structure underfoot. And in the interweaving of the dim light and shadow, there seemed to be some strange scene.

Agatha saw two identical support pillars appear on the opposite side wall - the two support pillars were like mirror images from the surface texture to the location of the stains.

In another direction, she saw several criss-crossing beams piled together, and the intersections seemed to be fused together.

The accompanying priest in the team raised his lantern and came to one of the strange supporting structures. He observed it nervously and whispered, "Gatekeeper..."

"I see," Agatha interrupted the pastor, her tone still calm, "It is obvious that the space where the 'fake' is located is overlapping with our real world."

"The space where the fake is located?" a guard repeated subconsciously.

Agatha was silent for a moment, as if she felt the annoying trance again. Then she raised her hand and rubbed her forehead. "Yes, all the fakes should come from an abnormal time and space. Now all kinds of evidence show that this abnormal time and space is gradually getting closer to our real world. Maybe... maybe we can call it a 'mirror'..."

There was a hint of hesitation in her tone, as if some knowledge had naturally emerged in her mind. She spoke these information subconsciously, and suddenly she felt something strange coming from her body——

Cold, boundlessly cold, as if one were in an extremely cold corridor, and the blood in one's veins had long since lost its heat.

But the next second, the strange feeling disappeared, and the illusion of being in a cold and lonely corridor also vanished. She was in a trance for a moment, and saw that her loyal subordinates were still around her, and the light of lanterns and gas lamps quickly dispelled the chill that remained in her consciousness.

"…Is it because there is not enough time…or is it because it is too close…" Agatha muttered to herself subconsciously.

The subordinates nearby did not hear her muttering.

A guard soldier was holding up a lantern and looking around, when he suddenly seemed to discover something: "There's a person lying over here!"

Agatha quickly came to her senses, her face straightened, and she quickly walked to the place where the warrior had found her.

A warrior wearing the equipment of the city-state's elite guard fell in the mine tunnel and seemed to have been dead for a long time.

He was wearing a black combat coat, a metal breastplate and steam-powered arm guards, a steam backpack on his back and a thick breathing mask on his face.

Agatha bent down, wiped the blood on the nameplate on the warrior's chest with her fingers, and stared at the name quietly for a few seconds.

"It's Sergeant Blade," she said softly, breaking the silence.

"The blood is red, and the body shows no signs of disintegration or melting," the accompanying priest said nearby. "This is the real deal."

Agatha was silent for a moment.

The situation was just as she had judged. A real Sergeant Brad fell in the mine tunnel, and his replica appeared in front of the church troops who were exploring the mine under the influence of thick fog - the fake was false, and the intelligence was real.

“There are dead bodies here too!”

Soon, another guard warrior who was exploring forward raised his lantern high and called out from a distance.

More bodies appeared in the following mine tunnels.

Agatha quickly led the team forward and found more and more dead bodies deep in the mine - they were all elite guards of the city-state and trusted warriors of Governor Winston.

The causes of death vary, including trauma caused by sharp blades, blunt injuries caused by heavy force, and even gunshot wounds.

Near these corpses, Agatha and her men also found dried black mud. If the mud were put together to form a human being, the number would probably far exceed the number of guards who died in the battle.

"... a long and fierce battle. The troops encountered an enemy with far more numbers than themselves in the mine tunnel, and they continued to advance hundreds of meters during the battle... Most of the soldiers had run out of bullets, and in the end they fought with bayonets and steam gloves."

Agatha examined the nearest bodies and made judgments based on the traces left on the bodies and the situation at the scene. At the same time, she felt an increasingly strong sense of uneasiness in her heart.

There are many fallen soldiers, and the team led by Archon Winston is obviously in a bad situation. This battle may have broken out several hours ago - so much time has passed, is the Archon still alive?

As if in response to her uneasiness, a guardian warrior who was leading the way in front of the team suddenly stopped.

"Gatekeeper, there is no way forward!"

"There is no road ahead?" Agatha was startled and immediately stood up and walked forward.

Just as the guard said.

The team arrived at the end of the mine tunnel, but there was only a flat, solid wall in front of them, and no way to go.

But this is clearly not normal.

Agatha quickly looked back in the direction she came from and saw the dead guardsmen lying quietly in the darkness, and among these corpses, there was no sign of Archon Winston.

"Perhaps after discovering that this road was blocked, the Archon led his team in another direction..." the accompanying priest speculated.

"There is only one way out," Agatha immediately shook her head, "and based on the traces left at the scene, I don't think Governor Winston has a chance to find another way out with his remaining guards."

The pastor frowned: "But this place is blocked..."

Agatha ignored it and turned around, slowly walking towards the flat, solid wall.

After a slight hesitation, she reached out her hand and tried to touch the wall.

Her fingers sank right into it.