Deep Sea Embers

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There is fog everywhere, and the whole world seems to have been sunk into the depths of a pool of chaotic gray-white fluid. Everything in sight has blurred boundaries in this fog. The city in the distance, the road nearby... ·Everything becomes ambiguous.

After just being active underground for a while, the scene on the surface completely changed into something he didn't recognize.

Agatha, who hurriedly returned to the surface from the Second Waterway, stood at the exit of the traffic station and looked at the situation on the street with some surprise. Now there were no pedestrians on the road at all. Under the thick fog, even the nearby street lights were left. A hazy glow floating in the air. In addition, you can only see some dark red lights moving slowly in the fog, mixed with the sound of the steam engine operating - that is The warning light above the steam walker flashed.

"City-state guards and security forces have rushed to various intersections. The movement of people between various urban areas is now strictly prohibited, and private vehicles are prohibited from taking to the road. People who failed to return home in time have been arranged to take shelter nearby," a church pastor who came to respond told Agatha Report reported, "Most night shelters are already full and we can only cooperate with the security department to divert people to churches, warehouses and the nearest subway station."

At this point, the pastor paused and sighed heavily.

"Sigh... Originally, more people could have arranged to take refuge in places like libraries, but now the places where books are stored are beginning to show signs of erosion, and all the book stacks have been blocked... The time when the fog rises happens to be in the city-state. During shift changes in most factories in China, too many people are away from home.”

Agatha didn't respond, but slowly looked away from the street, looking up at the sky thoughtfully.

Thick clouds and fog in the city-state obscured the sky. The sky was as dim as dusk, and in the chaotic and unclear sky, no shadow of the sun could be seen.

"It's daytime now..." she said softly. "Yes, it's daytime now, but this weird fog may have interfered with the power of the sun," the priest said with a solemn expression and a hint of nervousness. "The erosion in the library is because of this..."

"Nothing can interfere with the power of the sun during the day - as long as Vision 001 hangs in the sky, even if the clouds block the sun and the whole city is as dark as night, the power of the sun will not be weakened," Agatha shook her head slightly. , "In my judgment, this thick fog is not the cause. It may just be a phenomenon caused by a greater crisis... What is the situation on the mountain?"

"The cathedral is full of people now," the priest said quickly, and at the same time, several steam walkers with warning lights on came to the open space near the exit of the transportation station, and between the walkers, It was a car with a church flag hanging on it. "The car to pick you up is here. Let's go back to the mountain first and talk about it on the way."

Agatha and the priest got into the car, and the steam walker shined a powerful light into the thick fog. On the barely illuminated road, the vehicle started and headed for the cathedral on the top of the mountain at a speed much slower than normal.

"When it was foggy, there were still many prayers and tourists stranded on the mountain. The cathedral tried its best to shelter everyone. Those who couldn't be admitted were arranged to be in the old church museum next to it. Shelters were also arranged at the city hall. So, people are not left outside." In the car, the pastor continued to report the situation to Agatha, "Archbishop Ivan has stabilized the situation and did not let panic spread in the church. He has been in the church since just now. Use psychic communication to keep in touch with churches across the city-state. So far, there has been no pollution caused by mass panic..."

A low mechanical roar came from the car window, and Agatha turned her head to look in the direction of the sound.

She saw several long aerial guide rails extending from the top of the mountain road, passing through the thick fog, pointing into the distance. The towering support towers held up the rails like giants, and there was a dark warehouse hanging on one of the rails. It roared towards the depths of the thick fog, and the red warning lights around the warehouse were like many eyes, flashing in the fog.

That is the transportation system of the boiling gold mine. The raw boiling gold ore mined from the mine will be transported to the crushing and sorting plants and large furnaces at the foot of the mountain through those huge cargo boxes and mountain tracks.

"...The mine track is still running?" Agatha was surprised

He turned his head and looked at the priest beside him, "Didn't the workers go to seek refuge?"

At the same time, what emerged in her mind was the scene she saw deep underground not long ago, the ancient mine tunnel that had dried up decades ago.

"The workers must have gone to seek refuge," the pastor seemed surprised when he saw the rail cargo box, but still replied firmly, "The mine church has confirmed it. What passes now may be the last one sent up from the excavation area. A batch of raw ore should be automatically arranged by the difference machine - you know, the mined boiling gold raw ore will be sent away after staying in the storage area for a period of time. The machine will only follow the settings set on the program tape. …”

A disturbing roar suddenly came from the other side of the dense fog, interrupting the pastor's sworn words. Everyone's eyes instantly looked towards the direction of the sound, only to see another dark warehouse car coming from The other end of the aerial track was coming quickly - it was on the same track as the cargo warehouse that had just passed over the mountain road.

"It's about to hit!!"

The priest only had time to scream, and the earth-shattering impact had already occurred. The two cargo warehouses collided violently on the aerial track, making a terrifying roar and explosion. The side cover of the cargo warehouse was torn off, and the ore shimmering with light golden luster was like a torrential rain. Then, as the two rows of cargo warehouses swayed violently on the track, the power wheels and auxiliary wheels fell off, the wheel axles broke, and the unrecognizable car fell into the valley with flashing sparks and thick smoke.

A piece of debris falling from the sky almost scraped the roof of the car Agatha was riding in and hit the roadside hard.

Before the people in the car could react, another heartbreaking and extremely terrifying sound of tearing metal came from high in the sky again.

The aerial track that had withstood the violent impact was twisting and deforming. Sparks flew from the top of one of the iron towers supporting the track. The tight steel beams and steel cables cracked and broke. Then a whole section of the track was smashed directly from above. Falling!

"Get out of the way!"

The priest in the car immediately exclaimed loudly, and before he spoke, the convoy had already begun to avoid the falling objects from the sky - several steam walkers immediately dispersed, and the steam car in the center of the team suddenly accelerated forward, in a thrilling A few seconds later, a terrifying roar came from behind Agatha.

She turned around and saw that the broken track had hit the mountain road, completely destroying the main road. The two steam walkers were blocked opposite the falling object. Fortunately, they were not injured - they were moving forward for a long time. The mechanical limbs began to climb the nearby mountain, and white high-pressure steam spurted out from the gaps in the armor plates, blending into the surrounding thick fog.

"Walkers No. 2 and 4 can't get through. They should be preparing to climb up the path above and take a detour back to the cathedral. We don't have to wait for them." Agatha looked back, quickly judged and ordered, " Keep going."

"A critical moment..." The pastor on the side couldn't help but wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, "I almost hit my head."

Agatha didn't speak for a while.

Was that an accident just now? Or...malice?

Why is there a row of warehouse cars traveling in the opposite direction on a mine track that is supposed to be used for one-way bicycle traffic?

The workers in the mine have all gone to take refuge at this time, and the operator of the track system will theoretically go to take shelter after setting up the last train... The last step of the warehouse hanging on the track has a safety lock, if there are other warehouses on the track , it will never start... The difference engine controls this process, and a normally operating difference engine will not make mistakes. The gears and levers will faithfully execute the program set on the punched paper tape, and the metal There is no wavering between the engagements.

"There may be something wrong with the difference engine in the mine," Agatha said as if talking to herself.

And the problem may not be limited to the difference engine of the mine - if evil worship can occur in the library in broad daylight, then the coverage and urgency of this mutation will be beyond everyone's imagination.

The ringing of alarm bells on the distant streets came to my ears vaguely, the chaotic cold wind moved wantonly through the empty cemetery, and the thick fog shrouded everything in sight, and in this unbreakable fog, there seemed to be countless The low murmurs are overlapping and echoing, like the restless restlessness of the dead.

The sound of the gun safety opening broke the calm in the cemetery, and the faint light of a lantern dispersed the shadows in the fog. The old man with a stooped back held the loyal and reliable double-barreled shotgun tightly, standing like an alert sentry. On the trail, I stared at the neatly arranged coffins in the fog.

The muttering was just an illusion, at least for now. The coffins were still sitting on the morgue, and the people in the coffins were still lying down. However, the strange atmosphere in the air could not hide from the veteran's perception.

He knew that something was happening, and it was absolutely impossible for this cemetery to settle down today - some of the "residents" he was "taking care of" were gradually waking up. \u003c!--over--\u003e