Continuation: In this chapter, Artem and friends discovered an altar that can be used to directly communicate with the giant monster "Spring Weald" and found out the entrance to its lungs. But what they found when they arrived in its lungs is an Old World rain forest with severe flooding. Artem and Duke dived into the water to find out the reason behind the flooding but was attacked and dragged into the depths...
...
As Artem slowly woke, a mysterious feeling ran through him, as if he was freed from the weight of his body. He felt light, and the prolonged slumber provided a miraculous sense of security, just as what infants felt when they rest in the water of their mother's womb.
He slowly regained consciousness but the drowsy feeling remained.
Artem recalled the last thing that happened before passing out: He struggled to return to the surface as someone was dragging him down deeper into the water. He held out as long as he could before finally running out of air...
Did I drown?
There was no time for Artem to figure out what had happened because knowing what was going on was more important: He was completely submerged in water, however, there was not the slightest sense of grasping for air. He turned his wrist and confirmed the flow of water between his fingers. Then, his body began moving upwards as he started kicking his legs.
"Bam!" his back hit the bars of the metal cage.
The sudden pain made Artem swear out loud, but knowing that he was still alive put his mind at ease.
"Are you awake, Mr. Artem?" A familiar voice came from behind. Artem. Swimming towards the sound, Artem discovered Captain Duke and the iron bars in the water between them.
"Captain Duke, you're alive as well? Where are we..."
"We've been captured by the underwater residents."
"So that's how I passed out..."
"No, you passed out because you were holding your breath. Haven't you noticed? We can breathe in this water."
Artem suddenly understood. He was only alive because of this mysterious water. When he was a medical student, he learned that it was possible to breathe in water if enough oxygen was dissolved.
It seems their conversation warranted a response from the nearby guard. A boyish figure swam past their cage. Dressed in tights with a harpoon in his hand, he banged hard on the iron bars with the harpoon, producing strong waves that sent Artem back.
"Shut up, this isn't a place for chitchat!" The guard wasn't playing around: "Where else would you breathe, besides in the water? You fools, come take a look at this."
The guard pulled on the net in his hand. The thing he was dragging floated slowly into sight. There were white transparent sluggish worms. At least Artem thought they were worms, for he had never seen anything like them.
"Do you know where these bugs came from?"
Artem and Duke looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Hmph, useless creatures. I thought you two would know something..."
"...These are bugs?"
"I don't know, but I have to call it something." The guard suddenly remembered his position and struck the iron bars again, "Silence! Don't talk to me!"
After a brief moment of silence, Artem asked the guard, "It doesn't look like it has any internal organs. Maybe it's not a living organism?"
"It chases people as if it has eyes. Who cares if it's living or not," snorted the Guard. "When the body is split open, it releases a liquid that can dissolve people. You also can't breathe in the polluted water."
"Polluted... water...?"
Duke added coldly. "So, instead of attacking them, you built this huge underwater prison..."
"Hahaha, so you're the clever one. That fool beside you keeps asking stupid questions. Yes, two hundred layers of the prison below you are filled with these bugs." The guard's tone suddenly became serious: "We must continue building the prison to survive."
Artem tried to see the water below him. His eyesight was not as good as Duke's, but he could make out the staggering number of cages beneath him, where countless white bugs were indeed being held. However, the water was so deep that he could not see the bottom, only a deep abyss. The rising waters could have already crushed the insects near the bottom with sheer pressure, leaving only the smell of death in the abyss.
Artem seemed to understand the real cause behind the flooding in the lungs of "Spring Weald."
The constant appearance of bugs and the expansion of the prison made the water in its lungs rise higher, leaving less room for oxygen.
"This prison wasn't meant for the two of you." The guard banged on the iron bars again. "If you can help us find out where these bugs are coming from, we can let you out of here. How about it?"
"What if I told you we were actually from above the water's surface?"
(To Be Continued)