Chapter 1284: A Single Move Sets the Whole Chain in Motion

Inside the Sea Witch outpost monitoring the Deep Blue Network, the soldiers on duty rushed out of their rooms, gathering curiously around the freshly retrieved black cube. One sea witch with neat, short silver-white hair poked the cube—still warm and recently extinguished—with her trident, then flicked the tip of her tail at the proudly beaming Caroline. Her voice was tinged with envy: “You’re amazing. Out of the four cubes, you pulled up three of them…”

Caroline puffed up her chest and wagged her tail with pride. “Of course! My haul rate’s off the charts!”

“No one really knows what these things are for,” another sea witch circled the cubes, then rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Last time, a few witches the Queen sent came with a bunch of equipment, scanned all the cubes, and left. No idea if they’ve figured anything out these past couple of days…”

“Research conclusions don’t come that fast,” Vera shook her head. “But I heard the Queen’s taking this seriously. She immediately contacted our land allies—who also have no clue what these things are.”

“Whatever it is, someone’s definitely stirring the pot,” Caroline said, hefting her trident with a serious nod. “These perfectly square things couldn’t have just grown inside the Deep Blue Network. Someone must have thrown them in…”

The surrounding sea witches murmured in agreement.

Only Vera frowned slightly, as if puzzled by something. “But why didn’t the witches just take the cubes back for study? Why travel all the way from Antavien to the Boundless Sea to collect data? And why did they specifically tell us to keep the cubes here at the outpost, not to bring them into the material world…”

“Who knows,” Caroline shrugged, clearly unconcerned. “They said it’s a technical issue, so it must be. We’re just soldiers—we watch the show. If anyone dares to cause trouble here, we’ll just cut them down.”

Vera sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes I envy your simple, straightforward outlook on life…”

…

In the Antavien’s tech sector, the Tide Laboratory was brightly lit.

Deepwater technicians from the “Knowledge Inner Ring” bustled about, surrounded by research equipment and workstations that bore a distinct deep-sea aesthetic, completely different from land-based styles. The spacious room resembled a fan-shaped shell. The eldest sea witch, Hecate, swished her long tail as she moved from the research terminal to the analyzer at the room’s center—a large device embedded directly into the floor. Its layered, shell-like metal base was studded with softly glowing spheres, like giant pearls scattered between shells. Above this “pearl array,” a massive, crystal-clear “sphere of pure water” floated midair, several meters in diameter. Inside the transparent water, a projection was clearly visible.

The image showed an extraordinarily complex cube, its internal structure meticulously unfolded layer by layer. Three-dimensional runes stacked atop one another, intricate magical conduits crisscrossing through the core, and artificial crystals embedded at key nodes were all clearly marked and color-coded with translucent lines. Numerous points of light moved through the schematic, demonstrating the possible energy flows and logical pathways the lab’s analysis system had deduced.

This was the strange cube the sea witch sentinels had “fished” from the Deep Blue Stream. Although the retrieval process inevitably damaged each cube, scans revealed they all shared the same internal structure, with damage varying from sample to sample. By piecing together multiple specimens, the deepwater technicians had successfully reconstructed the cube’s complete structure as it would be under normal conditions.

Hecate studied the projection intently, then thoughtfully reached out and gestured in the air outside the sphere of pure water. The image began to rotate and zoom, the dissected internal components spreading apart to present a clearer, more intuitive view before the “Deep Sea Witch.”

“You’ve been staring at these schematics nonstop for days, Hecate,” a deep-sea witch with a golden-red tail swam over. Her voice was soft and husky, calm and gentle. “I can tell this has really caught your attention.”

“Have you ever seen anything like this, Kretina?” Hecate turned, her expression serious. “The three-dimensional layering of runes, the complex conduction mechanisms woven between them… Even though our understanding of ‘magic’ is still rudimentary, the craftsmanship behind this surpasses anything we know from land civilizations.”

Kretina looked up, studying the cube’s disassembled projection carefully. “We’ve been on this planet for nearly a million years. We’ve recorded most of the technologies created by land civilizations as they rose and fell. But I’ve never seen anything like this… I don’t understand its principles, but I can tell this isn’t something land civilizations have ever made—or could make now. And I don’t mean the craftsmanship itself…”

“Exactly. The craftsmanship isn’t advanced; it’s within the capabilities of this current civilization. But the principles behind it are complex and profound. It feels like an advanced guide is teaching primitives how to assemble a machine from stones and sticks—and somehow, it actually worked,” Hecate said, shaking her head. “The manufacturing process is a clear weak point. Even our modern factories could shrink these cubes to a tenth of their size.”

“But we still don’t know what these cubes are for,” Kretina flicked her tail, bubbles swirling in the lab. “The only thing certain is that deep inside, there’s a structure for long-distance communication, independent of the cube’s energy cycle. Even if the cube stops functioning, the transmitter keeps running. This suggests there are many more cubes hidden in the Deep Blue Network, possibly communicating with each other to form a vast network with a specific function—or maybe there’s an even higher command center.”

Hecate manipulated the projection, quickly reassembling the cube’s schematic. It zoomed out and multiplied, forming a massive network diagram tracing the Deep Blue Network’s spread across the planet. “Maybe both are true. These cubes form a network in the stream, while someone or some faction hides in the real world, secretly controlling them to cause trouble. What do our allies call those suspicious groups again? Oh, right—the ‘Blame Everything Society’…”

“…I think King Gawain Cecil said that’s not an official name… but whatever,” Kretina replied casually. “Anyway, the communication system inside these cubes is still active, and it looks like the only way to disable it is to smash the entire cube to pieces. So for now, it’s best to leave these ‘stone lumps’ in the Boundless Sea. The interference from the elemental water world should disrupt the controllers’ positioning—at least for a while, they won’t be able to figure out what’s going on.”

Hecate gave a soft hum, lost in thought. After a moment, she broke the silence. “Have our allies in Cecil responded?”

“They’ve received our intelligence and the cube scans, but I suspect they’re just as baffled about the cubes’ principles and purpose,” Kretina said, shaking her head. “Still, we’ve uncovered a crucial lead. Our allies are pleased, and so is the Queen. The sea witches haven’t had the chance to ‘work with friends’ like this in many years.”

“…Is that so,” Hecate said quietly, her face thoughtful and nostalgic. After a long pause, she murmured, “Let’s just hope these ‘friends’ don’t disappear as casually as before… Silent goodbyes and friendships cut off abruptly are always heartbreaking.”

…

In a large laboratory at the Arcane Energy Research Institute in Cecil City, the atmosphere was heavy.

The magical network terminal hummed steadily, projecting a clear hologram from a high-precision crystal. The lab’s heat exchange system blew a warm, comfortable breeze, maintaining a cozy environment. Yet, staring at the eerie cube in the hologram, Hetty instinctively felt a chill gathering nearby.

This was something sent by their allies deep beneath the ocean—mysterious objects their sentinels had accidentally “fished” from the Deep Blue Network in the elemental realm.

An artificial creation no one recognized, with a bizarrely complex structure and unknown purpose. The sea witches’ advanced technology had scanned its interior thoroughly, but beyond recognizing the shadow of advanced tech behind it, no one could understand how it worked or what it could do.

The only certainty was that there was indeed something fishy in the Deep Blue Network—someone had tampered with the planet-wide “power system.” And this conspiracy was still unfolding!

“I and my assistants have analyzed all the schematics the sea witches sent,” Jenny, the head of the Rune Research Institute, stood beside Hetty. The “Grant Runemaster” had her hair tied back, dressed in a white uniform, holding a clipboard filled with calculations and rune array diagrams. Her expression was grave. “We found the runes optimized to the extreme, incorporating many advanced designs we hadn’t even considered. These runes are the ones we know, but arranged so complexly their function is a mystery. I suspect these individual cubes aren’t complete—they’re components of a larger system, and it hasn’t been fully activated yet.”

Hetty nodded slightly. Though she couldn’t keep up with the latest tech, as a mage she wasn’t a clueless bureaucrat. Jenny’s explanation made sense. “So, once activated, these things might look very different… Their internal structure could ‘evolve’ progressively under remote commands?”

Jenny nodded softly. “That’s a possibility.”

“What do you think?” Hetty turned to Rebecca, standing nearby.

Rebecca clenched her fist without hesitation. “It’s definitely the work of the End of All Things Society!”

Hetty furrowed her brow ever so slightly. “We all think the same way—now the key question is what to do next.”

“I’m thinking we need more big explosions. Blow up everything the End of All Things leaves behind, send it all sky-high!”

“…Right, expecting you to think beyond the technical stuff was my mistake,” Hetty immediately covered her forehead with her hand. “Strategic planning like this isn’t really your responsibility.”

Rebecca blinked up at Hetty. Though her aunt’s reaction wasn’t exactly encouraging, her expression remained serious. “Auntie, am I wrong? We don’t understand what these cubes are for, nor why the End of All Things is dumping them into the Deep Blue Network. They’re definitely not trying to clog the world’s sewers. So doesn’t that leave us with only one option?”

Hetty was momentarily taken aback. She hadn’t expected Rebecca’s seemingly offhand remark to actually show some thought. She couldn’t help but look at her niece a little longer. “So, what’s your plan?”

“…I don’t really have a plan. Like you said, big-picture strategy isn’t my forte. That’s for you, the ancestors, and the generals to work out in detail,” Rebecca said clearly. “What I do understand is this: we need to make as many powerful explosives as possible and prepare everything we can. Since we can’t figure out what the enemy’s up to, why bother? Better to just have tens of thousands of tons of bombs ready in advance—can’t hurt, right?”

As she spoke, Rebecca nodded firmly, as if to underline her point. Quietly, she resolved to fast-track the final testing of the supercritical accelerator cannon and the infernal combustion bombs, then find a way to install them on Project 115…

“You…” Hetty looked at Rebecca, briefly surprised, then finally cracked a small smile. She quickly cleared her throat and resumed her serious tone. “Rebecca has a point. His Majesty is currently exploring the borders of the Divine Realm and can’t be reached for now, but we can’t just sit idle… I need to contact Aldern and the Elven King’s City immediately.”

…

The massive ancient spaceship was approaching a place known as the “Mother Port.”

The voyagers who set out long ago hadn’t left just a single cruiser in this “deep sea” — there was also a so-called “Mother Port”!

Gawain instantly deciphered the fragmented characters’ hidden message. At that moment, Amber, hanging from his arm, finally broke the tense silence with a worried voice: “Did the ship just shake? Is it about to blow up or something?!”

Gawain silently glanced sideways, then gently lifted Amber off his arm and set her aside.

“It’s not about to blow,” he said in a low voice. “I’m afraid we’ve reached the ‘final stop’… This ship needs to dock.”

“Dock?” Victoria’s eyes widened slightly.

Gawain nodded softly, took one last look at the hall bathed in warning lights, and stepped toward the exit. “We’re going back the way we came—maybe the greatest secret here is waiting for us just ahead.”

(End of chapter)