The Frost Queen's Abyss Project half a century ago was intended to identify and resolve the boiling gold problem beneath the city-state. Successive archons passed down the secrets about boiling gold, the queen, the curse, and the ancient gods of the deep sea. The power of the Deep Lord formed a substantial projection in the city-state and penetrated this huge hollow area... Every piece of information was shocking.
But for Duncan, all these pieces of information combined are not as shocking as the fact that "the ancient god that invaded the city-state is a replica."
Fanna also realized the shocking information contained in this sentence. This inquisitor who specialized in dealing with heretics and evil spirits looked extremely serious at the moment. She stared at the "huge pillar" that supported the entire cave for a long time before she spoke: "First of all, this thing is indeed the remnant of the 'ancient god' that invaded the city-state... and the source of this thing is still in the deep sea below the city-state, so there are actually two explanations for the 'fake' that Agatha just mentioned."
"Yes, there are two explanations," Duncan nodded. "The first explanation is that the 'source' at the bottom of the sea is the real thing. So in a sense, the 'erosion body' projected from that source into the city-state can be regarded as a replica, or a fake. As for the second explanation..."
He paused, looked up at the huge pillar that supported the entire cave, and exhaled after a moment.
"The second explanation is that the 'source' at the bottom of the sea is also a replica - the other Agatha touched at the last moment, not only the ancient god tentacle in this 'cave', but also learned the truth of the deep sea through this tentacle. However, due to limited time, she did not have time to leave too many explanations."
The scene was quiet for a while. Alice raised her head and looked at everyone with curiosity. She didn't fully understand what everyone was talking about, but she tried hard to listen and understand. After a long time, she tugged at Duncan's arm and said, "Does it sound a little scary?"
"Yes, and it's hard to say whether the first possibility is more frightening or the second one." Duncan said "frightening" with a hint of smile in his eyes. He stroked Alice's hair, comforting the puppet who seemed to be nervous even though he didn't understand the situation. "You don't have to worry so much. Things won't be more troublesome than a mirror image of Frost."
"Yes, it won't be more troublesome than the Mirror Frost - provided that we can't allow the 'source' at the bottom of the sea to continue to develop," Agatha said. She turned her head and "looked" into Duncan's eyes. "Like you said last time, we need to explore under the frost again to see if the 'ancient god' that invaded the real world is still there..."
Duncan hummed softly. He knew that Agatha was not idle and must have started preparing for this matter, so he did not urge her. However, at this moment, he suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye.
Something glowing flashed in Agatha's right hand, and it seemed to be some kind of metal product.
"Agatha, what is that in your hand?"
"In my hand?" Agatha was stunned and raised her hand subconsciously. It was not until this moment that she suddenly noticed the touch of a foreign object in the palm of her hand - cold metal, but it seemed to have been slightly warmed by body temperature.
It was a brass key of a peculiar shape.
"The key..." Vanna looked at the thing in surprise, and then reacted, "Ah, it's the key you mentioned just now - the key that Archon Winston finally handed over to the other 'Agatha'? The key left by the Frost Queen?"
Duncan's eyes changed slightly: "Let me see."
"Of course." Agatha handed the key to Duncan without hesitation.
The key is made of brass, and the handle is made of a thick "infinity" symbol. The front end of the key has no serrations, but instead a round rod structure with grooves, just like... a "windup key" used to wind up a doll.
Alice came over curiously and held Duncan's arm: "Let me see... Huh? Is this a key? Why is it different from the keys I've seen before... What is it used for?"
No one around said anything.
All eyes fell on Miss Doll.
"Why are you all looking at me?" Alice realized it belatedly and pointed at herself. "What did I screw up again?"
"You don't have any special feelings when you look at this key?" Duncan lowered his head and looked into Alice's eyes. "Like a sense of familiarity, or an urge to touch it?"
"No..." Alice shook her head, looking confused, "I haven't seen it."
Vanna came over and whispered in Duncan's ear: "Captain, what do you think..."
"I remember Nina mentioned," Duncan said slowly, "there is a keyhole on Alice's back."
Upon hearing this, Agatha "looked" at the Gothic doll beside her in surprise.
In an instant, it seemed as if everything was connected together, points across time and space, connected into a zigzag line in this cave eroded by the ancient gods.
The key left by the Frost Queen and the doll "Anomaly 099" who looks exactly like the Frost Queen are the two endpoints of this line that spans time and space.
However, under the gazes of several people, Alice just looked around blankly, then raised her arms and groped her back hard.
"I didn't touch it," she said a little aggrieved and apologetic, "It was blocked by the clothes."
"Let's talk about this later. We need to be cautious about this matter," Duncan said in a deep voice, breaking the heavy atmosphere in the cave. He then looked up at Agatha and said, "I want to take this key. Is that okay?"
"...In theory, this key is a legacy passed down by successive Frost Archons. According to Archon Winston, it also contains the 'information' left by the Frost Queen. However..."
Agatha paused, then shook her head slightly.
"It's all in the past, of course you can take it."
"Thank you." Duncan didn't say anything more and handed the key directly to the pigeon on his shoulder. With a flash of green fire, Ai and the key disappeared from his shoulder together. The next second, the pigeon came back, but the key was gone.
It had been delivered to the ship, to Duncan's real body.
Duncan was fiddling with the key that had just been delivered to him on the Lost Homeland. In the underground cave of the Frost City, he looked back at the giant pillar supporting the cave, then reached out and knocked on the hard and cold stone on its surface.
"It's time for us to leave," he said.
This cave is very large. Even with the help of the spiritual fire, the area the group has explored so far is only a small part of the cave. But for Duncan, the information collected so far is enough.
He needs time to slowly sort out and digest what he has gained here, and the subsequent exploration... can be left to Agatha and her subordinates.
After confirming that there was no remaining contamination from the ancient gods in the cave and that the cave itself had a solid supporting structure, Agatha could bring her troops here with relative peace of mind.
Following the path left by the spiritual fire, the group safely evacuated the huge cave and took the elevator back to the mine passage on the upper level.
On the way out of the Boiling Gold Mine, Duncan curiously asked Agatha: "What do you think of the hollow area below?"
"I think?" Agatha thought for a moment. "I should lead the team to explore a few more times, at least to understand the situation on the surface of the cave and around the huge pillar. If there are any valuable discoveries in the process, I will share the information with you as soon as possible. As for the future..."
She paused here, as if she had thought about it seriously, and then slowly spoke: "After that, I will suggest that the city-state find a way to mine the boiling gold in the cave, and find a way to transport the boiling gold out without collapsing the hollow area and destroying the 'pillar'. Of course, how to implement this part depends on the skills of the professionals in the city hall."
"Aren't you worried about the 'hidden dangers' of the boiling gold?" Duncan asked casually, "After all, it might be something left behind by the ancient gods."
"…The city-state must survive first, and then consider other things." Agatha shook her head slightly, "and after 'seeing' the situation in that cave, I thought of one thing."
"oh?"
"If the boiling gold under the Frost Ground is the product left behind by the invasion of the power of the Ancient Gods, then what about the other city-states on the Infinite Sea? Are the undergrounds of every city-state... really flawless?"
The scene fell silent.
"After the mines dried up during the Queen's era, Frost continued to mine boiling gold from the Mirror World for another fifty years. We instinctively believed that the boiling gold mined from the Mirror World was a 'fake' like everything else in the Mirror World. But the fact is that after the destruction of the Mirror City-State, the boiling gold did not disappear. There was even a new 'rich mine' left in the underground cave we just discovered... The only possible explanation is that the 'boiling gold' generated by the power of the Ancient Gods is not 'distorted'."
"The boiling gold generated by the power of the Ancient Gods is not a distortion - it can only be a natural part of the world," Duncan said meaningfully, "This sounds a bit close to the 'Holy Creation' theory of the Annihilation Cultists."
"Yes, it is already heretical." Agatha admitted calmly and frankly.
"But you don't look shaken."
Agatha stopped, she slowly raised her head, her eyes seemed to be looking through the black cloth, quietly staring ahead.
At the end of the passage is the above-ground exit of the mine, and bright sunlight is pouring in from there, warm and bright.
In Agatha's perception, the whole world was still cold, as cold as a grave.
But she knew the sunshine was warm.
"Like I said just now, the city-state must first survive," the pious priestess said softly, clasping her hands on her chest as if praying to someone, "There is only one kind of heresy in the world - heresy is what hinders our survival. Other than that, everything is allowed."