Abyssal Awakening - Chapter 916

Capítulo 916: Third Meeting

Having left the city, their next destination was the Grand Cantia. A city build in three layers and one that is home to the Nightingale family.

Every family that live in this city devote their time to Abyssal Engineering and inventions in general.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to call it the home of the inventors.

The carriage swayed as it rolled along the road, the sound of wheel to ground were their music for the trip along with the occasional groan from Alice.

Elias focused on noting down some experiment ideas while Suyin’s doll was put into sleep mode.

She herself was doing her own experiments in her lab.

In her boredom, Alice had begun counting trees.

Of course, travelling was never a real issue since she could teleport around the place. But with them now deep in enemy territory, there was no telling when they’ll suddenly be dragged into the Nightmare and have their memories manipulated.

And with her needing to maintain the portal to the memory device, using large skills was advised against.

Or at least until they’re certain of the range of the Nightmare.

Once night falls, if they’re still conscious, keeping the device connected would only be needed when they exit a city.

“We should’ve gotten some information on what kind of city Grand Cantia is.” Alice groaned.

So far, the only thing she knew was where they needed to go, the fact that it’s built on three layers and the name.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“Well considering the fact that Karina is part of the Zenia family, using the Underground services might not be a great idea. Especially since we don’t know who might be a double agent. It’s best to investigate everything ourselves.” Elias spoke up.

The strangest part of that is the fact that even after knowing Alice is part of the Zenia family, they have yet to make any moves.

It’s almost as though they’re content with leaving her be, to allow her to do whatever she wanted.

“If you wanted information about Grand Cantia you could’ve just asked me.” Suyin poked her head around the corner while mixing two agents together and giving it a light shake.

The colour immediately shifted and she had to throw it away.

Then, after a second.

*BANG!!!

Alice blinked her eyes, she could see Suyin’s lab shaking while her autonomous drones cleaned up the impact.

Lifting up her goggles, she slid over on her chair without being phased by the accident.

“It’s not a very… interesting city if I have to say so. At least that’s my impression of it. Might be different for other people.” Suyin shrugged.

She dragged over a whiteboard and made a rough diagram of the city.

An underground section, the surface, then giant buildings lifted above the surface.

“The lowest layer acts as the manufacturing plant. Everything they make is done here, giant machines that would block out the sky are hidden underground. People who work here practically never see the sky since orders are so frequent.

“There are a few Abyssal gateways here too, easy access to materials that can only be found in the Abyss. But unlike the one you saw in the previous city, these ones aren’t for commercial use. They’re only used for transportation of materials.” Suyin spoke while circling the underground section.

It was a simple drawing so Alice couldn’t really tell how big the actual place is.

“Next is the surface. Commerce, housing and testing grounds. You can’t have testing grounds below the surface since it might cause the ceiling to collapse. Explosions and so on. Schools and everything else is also done on the surface.”

Then there was the giant buildings held up in the sky via several pillars of support.

Giant towers that dwarfed the main city.

“This is what they call heaven. It’s where the rich live. Most of the inventions that are useful are sent up there. Expensive trades and so on. I’ve been there a few times but honestly, a lot of the people here are f*cking insufferable.” Suyin pulled a face of disgust.

“You’ve been there before?” Alice blinked her eyes in surprise.

She didn’t think someone like Suyin would spend her time outside of her labs voluntarily.

“Yeah it was before the time I was crowned as the best genius in the east. I was invited there as an exchange program between Extalia and Sikha. To send groups of their best students and expand their worldview.” Suyin sighed.

“Oh I remember that. It was only ever done once but there was an accident so it was never done again. It was all over the news. If I remember correctly… It happened quite long ago. Like yea-”

“It happened. That’s all that matters okay?” Suyin reached through the portal and grabbed Elias by the mouth, stopping him from finishing his sentence.

She will NOT let him reveal how long ago that was in years. All they need to know is that she is forever seventeen.

“Accident?” Alice was more curious about the accident that occurred.

“Yep. A bunch of extremists who hated the idea of mixing Abyssal energy and human technology together. They staged a terror attack on the second day of the exchange. Bombs were set up everywhere. To put it simply, all three layers collapsed and it took a while for them to clean everything up.” Suyin drew some marks across the support pillars.

Even without saying more, Alice already understood what had happened.

“Ever seen a bunch of delusional rich people thinking money can solve everything? Just throw them into a disaster and they’ll soon realise their money doesn’t do sh*t.” Suyin shrugged.

“If an attack like that happened in the past, why are they lifting everything into the air again?” Alice furrowed her brows.

“Because of the air quality amongst other things. With the manufacturing plant being underground, even with the vents pushing smoke and other gasses out, it’ll still effect the surface. While those in the air have a barrier that specifically keep out the gasses so everything they get is ‘clean’.

“Either way, if your friend is from a noble family, she’s probably living in the upper layer.”

Folding her arms, Alice recalled her interactions with Miki. Based on her personality, Alice doubted Miki would like this kind of separation. Especially when the surface is suffering from the manufacturing from underground.

But all of this was just assumptions. It’s still better to see things in person.

As they travelled along the road, the sun started to set and they quickly set up camp.

Suyin had Alice shut the portal for now since it’s probably best not to have Suyin affected by the Nightmare if it should occur.

Setting up her recording devices, she hooked Alice and Elias up to the machines while they waited for the sun to set.

[Since we’re out of the city, it shouldn’t affected us I hope. After all, leaving the city had me and Elias recoiling from the memory wipe.] Cayla furrowed her brows.

‘It’s hard to say when it comes to these things. It’s better to be safe than sorry.’ Alyss shook her head.

Then, as the sun touched the horizon line, both Alice and Elias felt a wave of dizziness. It wasn’t as strong as what it was in the city but they could definitely feel it.

The pull of the nightmare calling them to another realm.

The machines roared to live, numbers being written down as the two resisted the pull. Overhead, the moon slowly turned a deep crimson as it dyed the night sky in an ominous red.

“You’re holding on strong but the pull of the nightmare is increasing. I don’t sense anything walking around so we’re clear for that.” Suyin reported through her puppet. Unlike her time in the city, there weren’t any invisible beings walking around just yet.

And ideally, they hope it remains that way.

Elias was beginning to lose himself. His body swayed despite him trying to fight the pull of the Nightmare.

Same with Cayla as the two of them died the most.

Their connection with the realm is definitely stronger than normal.

Alyss was struggling but not to the same extent.

However, despite fighting against it, the two eventually couldn’t hold on anymore and fell asleep.

###

Blinking her eyes, Alice found herself back at the camp where she found the logs belonging to the man who lost himself to insanity. the storm outside had calmed down a little and travel shouldn’t be an issue.

Sitting by the branch, she could instinctively sense the roots connected to the branches she had already resonated with. With a single thought, she could teleport over without any issue.

However, there was one problem she hadn’t expected to see.

The woman sat opposite her.

Monika.

Their third meeting.

“Heh~ it took you a while this time. Resisting the call? I do suppose the pull is weaker when you’re out in the wild.” She smiled, crossing her legs with a knowing smile on her face.

“Are you also with the Zenia family?” Alice decided to ask straight up without any small talk.

With Karina knowing who she is, it’ll be no surprise if Monika did as well.

“Hmm~ I’m not strictly part of the family. But I also won’t deny the connection with them. Ah but don’t worry, I’m not giving them information about you. Not that it would change anything.” Monika chuckled with a wave of her hand.

“So they already know what I’m doing in the Nightmare?” Alice sighed.

“Yep. They knew the moment you stepped in here. It’s hard to disguise ones soul after all.” Monika nodded.

A silence spread between them. Alice had a frown on her face as she had been dancing in the palm of the Zenia family all this time. Yet they haven’t done anything major.

Why? What did they want her to do in the Nightmare?

The only one that could potentially tell her anything was…

“Why are you here again?”

Monika smiled a creepy smile. One that sent shivers down Alice’s spine.

“I came to give you a little prophecy.”