novelraw Chapter 258: The Abyss
Chapter 258: The Abyss
Lu Li tucked the envelope securely inside his coat.
Now he had six newspapers to go through.
Anna continued to drive the carriage, enjoying the novelty of it until her enthusiasm began to wane.
Lu Li started with today's papers. The weather forecast for the coming days promised nothing but rain. The "rain of change" was most likely expected on Sunday.
Leaving the safety of the detective agency in such weather was not the best idea, but they had to be back before the day after tomorrow.
"The rain of change..."
Lu Li realized with a pang of annoyance that he had forgotten to ask what that phenomenon was back at the investigators' headquarters.
He shifted his gaze to the front page. The case of Baroness Joseph was escalating, dominating the headlines. It turned out that other notable figures and wealthy individuals were connected to the accused aristocrat. The Council of Elders had already dispatched inspectors to investigate.
The second page covered the missing ship, the Kodasserlsen. Unlike previous editions, this one briefly mentioned the Fallow Lands.
The rest of the news was mundane and held little interest.Setting the daily papers aside, Lu Li picked up the Investigator Weekly from the first of May, then put it down and took the issue from the first of June.
Skipping the two warnings at the top of the page, he began to read the main article.
[The Abyss Nightmare Incident Has Concluded]
This was the top story from the last week of June. The events had unfolded in the Fallow Lands and had global repercussions.
[At present, The Abyss has been explored to a depth of 1630 meters. The investigators' committee has decided to cease the investigation, temporarily assessing the completion rate at 163%, and has handed the case over to the Night's Watch for further action. We express our gratitude to the 63 investigators who participated: Legendary Agent 1, Legendary Agent 2 (retired), Agent Stephen (deceased), Agent Nightingale (deceased), Agent Reader, Agent Day of the Week (deceased), Senior Investigator Vincent (retired), Senior Investigator...]
[You are the heroes who protect the human world. Future generations will sing of and remember your contribution to the fate of the entire world.]
The list of deceased investigators contained thirty-two names, with seventeen retired. The losses were staggering—numbers more commonly seen among the Night's Watch. It was hard to imagine what they had faced, or what The Abyss truly was.
Lu Li would never underestimate any investigator, especially one of a higher rank.
Every senior investigator had completed at least three cases with a 100% success rate; every agent, at least six. Lu Li, who had not completed a single case and was already nearing retirement due to his low Mind Level, could not compare.
That was precisely why it was so important for him to understand what they had encountered. Ignoring the other news for now, he quickly scanned the single page of the weekly.
However, there was no continuation of the story.
To find out what had happened, he would have to look at earlier issues.
Lu Li picked up the May issue. The front page mentioned The Abyss again.
[The Abyss Explored to a Depth of 980 Meters]
[All residents within a thirty-kilometer radius have been evacuated. At the time of publication, the deepest point of exploration was reached by Agent Stephen. However, his condition deteriorated sharply after returning to the surface. Before losing consciousness, he reported that upon approaching the 1000-meter mark, he heard numerous screams from below.]
Next to the article was a grainy, black-and-white photograph. In it, several people were helping a figure with a rope tied around their waist to their feet. Behind them, on the flat terrain, was an ominous, well-sized chasm.
Lu Li's gaze swept over the blurred faces and settled on the dark opening. He stared at it in silence for a few seconds when suddenly, the surrounding light dimmed as if the flame of an oil lamp had flickered. A moment later, everything returned to normal.
However, Lu Li noticed the edge of the dark chasm distort, as if it had come alive and begun to move across the paper.
Sensing something was wrong, Lu Li looked away. Beneath the photograph, he noticed a note:
[If you notice anything unusual or feel unwell after looking at The Abyss, look away immediately.]
He looked at the photograph again. The image had returned to normal, as if what he had seen was merely a hallucination.
This article shed some light on The Abyss, but Lu Li still did not understand what it was.
He hoped the April issue of the weekly would provide more detailed information.
With that thought, Lu Li picked up the third newspaper.
[New Complex Event in the Fallow Lands: The Abyss]
The April first issue coincided with the beginning of the events.
[A new permanent event has been discovered on the Plain of Gaze (discovered by Investigator Hoarse). Agent Nightingale has accepted the assignment and departed for the investigation.]
[The depth of The Abyss is unknown, presumed to be over three hundred meters. There is no air circulation at the bottom, and contamination is present. Those near The Abyss experience an overwhelming urge to enter it.]
[The Abyss does not cause a decrease in Mind Level and is temporarily classified as a common event. Personnel from the Alliance have joined the investigation.]
[After applying standard investigative methods, Agent Nightingale descended into The Abyss on a rope.]
[The following are excerpts from a conversation with Agent Nightingale after her return to the surface.]
Agent Nightingale: "*heavy breathing* How deep did I go?"
Alliance Member: "Seventy-three meters."
Agent Nightingale: "And at what depth did I leave the marker?"
Alliance Member: "At fifty meters. Did you find anything down there?"
Agent Nightingale: "*short pause* Yes... I saw... strange cracks."
Alliance Member: "Strange cracks? In the soil?"
Agent Nightingale: "Yes, in the soil. They..."
Agent Nightingale: "*shouts* Damn it! Don't get too close! Your willpower won't hold!"
[One of the Alliance members, while pulling the rope, got too close to The Abyss and was exposed to the contaminant. He was pulled back, and everyone retreated one hundred meters from The Abyss.]
Alliance Member: "What happened next?"
Agent Nightingale: "Those cracks in the soil were packed very closely together, forming something that resembled an image."
Alliance Member: "Are you saying there are drawings on the wall at a depth of fifty meters?"
Agent Nightingale: "No, not drawings. I can tell the difference between paint and cracks in the soil. These were layers of earth forming an image."
Alliance Member: "Did the im... image affect your Mind Level in any way?"
Agent Nightingale: "No, my Mind Level is unchanged. The images were of ordinary people. They surrounded me, very realistic."
Alliance Member: "You mean 'they'?"
Agent Nightingale: "Yes, there were several figures on the walls. There might be more further down, so I continued my descent. But at seventy-three meters, the oxygen ran low, and I had to come back up."
Alliance Member: "We'll pump oxygen down there continuously."
Agent Nightingale: "You'd better hurry."
[During the second descent into The Abyss that afternoon, Agent Nightingale's rope snapped at a depth of 143 meters. The nearest investigators are already en route to the scene.]
[The event's difficulty level has been raised to "complex."]