Super Righteous Player
Chapter 466 - 7: Photuris and the Deep Dive Layer_1

Chapter 466: Chapter 7: Photuris and the Deep Dive Layer_1

Some words provide comfort simply upon being heard.

Especially for those who had experienced "Nightmare: Gallery," after witnessing the tragedy of Amos, Nigel’s story struck a much deeper chord.

Both painters, both confronted with the limits of their own talents... Nigel’s talents were even far inferior to those of Amos, but in the end, the two walked entirely different paths and arrived at starkly different destinies.

"So that’s how it is..."

Annan nodded slightly, letting out a soft sigh.

He had finally understood where that strange feeling had come from.

The look in Nigel’s eyes when he saw him... or rather, the way he looked at the Paper Princess through him, always felt somewhat familiar to Annan. It was only now that he finally remembered those were the same eyes with which Kafney had first looked at him.

"You are an impressive person, Nigel."

Annan praised, "You indeed deserve the title of a master."

"It’s still early."

Nigel, however, shook his head.

Although he had dedicated all his assets to the Paper Princess, there was not a hint of regret in his eyes, nor a trace of reluctance.

In his eyes, there was only rationality and clarity, like a beacon.

"I’m only in my fifties, and the journey around the world is just beginning for me. Currently, I want to pursue the way of the Paper Princess, to pass on that love, that gratitude, that hope. That’s indeed what I want to do now.

"But I don’t dismiss the possibility that this idea might change in the future. Perhaps after traveling to a certain city, I will fall in love with it; or perhaps after visiting a certain region, I will fall in love with a girl there, and my journey will end there, choosing a peaceful and happy life.

"All these are possibilities, and I won’t argue against them; people change, and I acknowledge that. I won’t keep repeating that ideal, using it to constrain, solidify my life... until the passion fades, and only numbness remains.

"I will not do that. Because that is my ideal, not my life. I will definitely prioritize maintaining my own life, and then the ideal. I might have confused the two when I was younger, but now I see clearly."

"But as long as I still remember the current sentiment, as long as I remember the hope that the Paper Princess gave me, I think I will keep going."

The middle-aged painter scratched his fluffy and slightly unkempt hair, saying with a smile.

Neither firm nor passionate. Perhaps due to some shyness, his voice was even quieter than when chatting normally, hardly loud or forceful.

Yet in this speech, there was a convincing power.

Nigel scratched his head again, averted his gaze toward the table, and his voice became even softer, "Why am I saying all this... My apologies, Your Excellency Annan."

He was not that shy of a person.

But looking at Annan’s appearance, which was almost identical to that of the Paper Princess... he always felt an awkward emotion, similar to recounting the tale of how he pursued his first love’s mother to her daughter.

Although he was not directly involved, Annan’s relationship to the original story was very close—on the one hand, this made Nigel more willing to share his hidden tale; on the other hand, it also made him feel more embarrassed.

"It’s okay. I have learned a lot from you too."

Annan smiled gently and comforted in a soft voice, "I am very grateful to you, Your Excellency Nigel."

This was not mere politeness, but what Annan truly felt in his heart.

By the time they reached this point in their conversation, the underground train had already entered the deep dive layer, with windows and doors thoroughly sealed off.

Up until then, no new passengers had joined. There were still just the five of them, making the space seem exceptionally empty.

This was because traversing between different countries almost always involved crossing seas. If it was only a few dozen meters underground, it was simply impossible to cross national boundaries.

And if the slope was too steep, it would pose higher demands on the engine’s power.

Therefore, the Underground City adopted a spiral descent method.

After completing passenger loading at the topmost urban layer, which is the subway layer, the train spiraled down a slope inclined at about 120 to 180 degrees, descending further into the depths. After passing through the urban layer, the planting layer, and the exploration layer, it would reach the deepest layer—the deep dive layer.

The deep dive layer was completely uninhabited and inaccessible via deep wells; even the specific "route" was kept secret from other inhabitants of the Underground City. With no need to carry passengers or stop midway, the train could accelerate to its maximum speed.

The air here was toxic to ordinary people. Therefore, upon entering the deep dive layer, it was necessary to activate an isolation barrier, sealing off the carriage completely from the outside. This also allowed for a further increase in the train’s speed without the concern of outside air flipping the doors open.

"Although I’ve already seen it once,"

Lin Yiyi muttered softly, looking out the window, "it’s still so beautiful..."

Even though it was in a very deep location, there was unexpectedly light.

Of course, it wasn’t sunlight or lamp light.

It was a special kind of organism on which the Underworld depended for survival... the "light ants" created by the Mysterious Lady.

Light ants were similar in size to ordinary ants. They fed on feces and soil during their youth. After consuming a small amount of feces or a large amount of soil, they would stop feeding and emit a perpetual glow. Light ants that fed on feces shone a pure white, while the color varied depending on the soil they consumed.

After light ants died and decomposed, they would turn into a very sticky gel. When light ants and their corpses accumulated, they became a durable gemstone known as "light ant stone," capable of emitting a faint glow at night.

Depending on the different colors of light emitted by the light ants that solidified into gemstones, light ant stones would form beautiful, colorful patches of light. Light ant stone itself was one of the materials for Decree Spells, and light ants were needed by the Idol School. These were among the important exports of the Underworld.

In fact, the main source of light in the Underground Federation was light ants.

In both the urban layer and the deep dive layer, light ants attached to the walls had formed an efficient Cycle—if light ant eggs were laid near the air at the edge of the crystal wall, they would starve to death; but if laid closer to the soil end, the hatched light ants would nibble at the soil.

After ingesting soil the same volume as themselves, the light ants that shimmered faintly, along with the outer layer of crystal shell condensed by their ancestors, made up the colorful canopy overhead.

Although this light wasn’t intense... if one were to make a comparison, it was like the brightness of a cellphone screen during daylight. But as illumination for a "canopy," it was already enough. After all, the underground inhabitants had vision adept in dim light; for them, this was a world bright enough. If necessary, there were also green flames or something else to serve as a close-range light source indoors.

In the planting layer, farmers needed strong light to promote crop growth, so they would scrape out light ant eggs with something similar to a troweler, bury them in feces to produce "light ants" with intense brightness, sift them out and then smear them onto mudboards like caviar, creating a strong light source that could last for three months.

The exploration layer was the largest area, bigger than the sum of the other three places. This was the turf of The Diggers’ Council.

They were not only involved in prospecting for minerals, but also in tunneling through the ground, excavating ancient biological remains, or searching for areas suitable for living, manufacturing roads, or growing crops. To them, light ants weren’t as convenient as lanterns made with green fire.

But in the deepest deep dive layer, since the roadways weren’t as high, the same light seemed exceptionally dazzling and glittering.

It was as if they were traveling through a tunnel of time—with the train’s high speed and the colorful, hemispherical crystal tunnel, everything appeared particularly dreamlike.

Before long,

they plunged into the depths of the

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