Krafft's Anomaly Notes

Chapter 306 Collapse
With Brother Vardin here, there is no difficulty in entering the underground cemetery.

But they didn't expect that when they arrived in the evening, the deserted cemetery would actually become lively. Many people in church uniforms were anxiously walking around, some familiar, some unfamiliar, and there were also more outsiders gathered who had nothing to do with it at first glance.

They brought various tools, and after receiving symbolic blessings and a large advance payment, they uneasily entered the narrow tomb passage that was only for one person, as if the ground below suddenly became a construction site about to begin.

The church personnel who stayed behind explained the general situation to Brother Wattin.

After Father Green was transferred, all investigations into the sewers were stopped, and no further instructions were given.

The members of the Inquisition are still stationed here, and they don't know what they are doing. They are simply guarding the entrance, waiting for the final solution to be agreed upon.

As a result, they did not wait for the order to close the entrance, but they did wait for the unexpected.

The sudden shock also affected this place. Because the buildings within the field of vision were basically intact, the people staying on the ground could maintain their composure at first. However, when they found that no one below came up to ask about the situation, they realized that something was wrong and quickly sent someone to check.

For those passage tombs that were completely built into the rock formations, the damage was actually much more obvious than on the ground, and the damage became more severe as you went down.

Finally, approaching the temporary camp, as expected, we found the reason why no one came up.

Perhaps because it was abandoned after being built halfway through, and because the natural rock crevice space happened to be borrowed, the structure of the tomb passage near the temporary camp was not as complete as the one above, and a small section collapsed.

Originally, the situation was not that serious. They could still see the light on the other side and communicate with each other through the tomb passage that was not completely blocked.

The few people who were blocked were not in danger, as they only suffered minor injuries because of their timely response.

The remaining supplies in the underground camp are more than enough to last a few days, and there is still air circulation, so there is plenty of time for rescue.

The only unpleasant thing was that the gap in the connecting water channel was enlarged due to the vibration, and water flowed in through the enlarged gap, making the environment very uncomfortable. They strongly requested that the channel be cleared as soon as possible.

But the accident happened again.

No one could have imagined that a second earthquake could occur in half a day, which would be no less severe than the first.

As soon as the rescuers arrived and before they could take action, the passage suffered more serious damage. Although the collapse area did not seem to increase here, the gap in the middle was blocked.

Now the communication channels with the other side are completely cut off, and we have no idea what the situation is like there, whether there are any casualties, and how long we can last.

Those people who seemed to have no connection were temporary quarry workers, eager to dig out the passage in the shortest possible time. No one can guarantee that there will not be a third or even more shocks in the future.

At present, the countless monks are half-coaxing and half-deceiving, trying to drive those who are still hesitant into the entrance of the tomb, and they don't care about keeping secrets.

Brother Vardin arrived just in time. Someone with qualifications and experience was needed to take charge of the work and calm the crowd.

"It would be great if Green were here." Vadin sighed from the bottom of his heart. If the priest can also come back together, this mess will never happen to him.

It took him a while to figure out who was actually here now. In addition to a small number of people left behind, there were actually clergymen from nearby churches who were brought in as reinforcements. Some of the workers who were brought here were mobilized by them. The believers are partly paid by promised property.

After taking inventory, you will find that there are too many people, which cannot be used in the limited space below and affects the activities. Wadin dismissed those who still had concerns, sent the monks who had explained the situation to him back to the Tribunal to report the news, and rushed to the collapse with Kraft himself.

The condition of the tomb passage does indeed look worse than above. The part close to the ground is not obvious. If you continue down, you will see some small cracks that you have not noticed before. They are highlighted by the force transmitted in the rock layer. On the rough wall of the tomb passage Walking, it looks like the deep folds on a mummy’s face.

The remains embedded in the wall also fell out and were scattered on the ground. At first, Wading tried to avoid them, but soon he was overwhelmed by the increasing number of bones covering the road. He could only step over them with a low prayer.

Like snow formed by time and death, every time you take a step forward, the structure that once formed the human body sinks layer by layer under your feet, or more like it is slowly being dragged downwards.

The cracks in the rock wall become more severe as the depth goes deeper, and collapse is not an accident.

Continuous clanking sounds came from the front, leading them to the accident site.

More than a dozen workers were dealing with the blocked rubble in front of them, and some even used wood to temporarily build some support structures to prevent the already unstable rock top above from collapsing during work.

The people the church is looking for are all skilled workers, so there is no difficulty in dealing with these rubbles. Large stones were broken open, and small fragments were framed and carried to nearby vacant burial chambers.

In the somewhat cold temperature, the clothes on the back were still wet with sweat. If there were no clerics sitting here and repeatedly emphasizing that they would be paid afterwards, they would have immediately regretted taking this job.

The work progressed faster than expected, and the echo of stones falling and rolling on the ground could be vaguely heard.

This may be good news, indicating that the distance between the two sides is not far, maybe even just a few steps, and it won't take too long.

In order to open the road faster, they did not adopt the strategy of clearing it all, but tried to clear the rubble above first, trying to make a small hole that could be used for people to crawl through the pile of rocks.

More and more stones are being cleared, and you can even feel the airflow on both sides when you stand nearby.

The extremely subtle air flow shouldn't be so easy to detect, but it carries a strange smell mixed with water vapor and some other smells.

That kind of water vapor is different from the cliche that locals are familiar with every rainy day, but the water vapor that you will smell in the night wind blowing in your face when you stand on the banks of the Teme River at night, representing the obscure and boundless waters.

It was so rich that it precipitated from the air, causing the firelight that penetrated the gaps between the stones to pull out a slender beam of light on the opposite side of the darkness, shining on the slightly reflective wall.

"Is there anyone there?" Wading shouted to the opposite side.

No one responded. He lay down on the pile of rocks, used the scabbard to poke open the rocks in front of him, and looked inside. He found that the reflection on the walls was not evenly absorbed water vapor, but thick and sticky stuff that was slowly dripping down.

The texture is easily reminiscent of some soft-bodied creature leaving a disgusting trail as it passes by. But he couldn't think of any slugs or river snails that could grow to such an extent.

Adjusting the angle slightly, the light beam illuminated dirty puddles on the ground farther away. The deformed crate contained unused dry food and fuel. Someone had moved it here, but it was crushed by something.

The surface of the bent slats also had that thick liquid that had begun to seep into the wood, dyeing it into a corroded, mildew-like texture.

The remaining oil floated on the water, and the twisted and mixed colored oil film gave off a strange burning smell.

A nearly broken sword lay beside the puddle. Its owner might have used it to fight against something, but what was left was only a puddle of scarlet that turned black due to oxidation, like the spoiled juice squeezed out of a berry. The seed was licked and smeared.