The bottom of the lake was not as calm as the surface of the lake. Under the mirror-like surface of the lake, there was a silent but noisy world.
The lake was so deep that one could not see the bottom. There were all kinds of things under the water, including living and dead things.
There were not only schools of strange fish at the bottom of the lake, but also eerie white bones.
There were all kinds of white bones floating in the water. Some were still, some were moving — they were all creatures wandering on the edge of life and death, or perhaps they should be called dead spirits.
Some of the skeletons were still in perfect shape. When they saw Rei and the other living creatures, they seemed to have come back to life and swam towards them. However, they soon stopped moving.
They did not lose their vitality, but were blocked by the "starlight" emitted from Julius's body.
The pale green light was very weak, but it seemed to contain a great power, which blocked the school of fish and the dead spirits outside.
Rei saw all this happen. She was very surprised, but she could not make any sound in the water, so she could only let out a series of bubbles from her mouth. It looked like her words were poured into the bubbles, and then they floated up and finally burst.
Julius saw Rei's surprised expression, but he could not say anything. He could only shake his head at her, indicating that she did not need to be too surprised.
Seeing Julius's eyes, Rei did not say anything more — although she could not say anything, she could only spit out bubbles.
The bubbles and the light merged together, floated up, and finally disappeared.
The bottom of the underground lake could not be seen at all. There was only boundless darkness below.
The light on Julius's body had dissipated, leaving only the illuminating bottle that Lulunaka gave to him and Rei.
The light from the bottle could not penetrate the darkness, and could only cover them.
However, this endless journey seemed to be coming to an end.
Julius's eyes had adapted to the darkness. He vaguely saw that there seemed to be a wall in front of them.
After a while, he realized that there was no such thing as a wall in the lake. The thing in front of them should be the bottom of the lake.
He was right. Lulunaka had adjusted her body, and her head was facing up. Her feet were on the ground.
She stood below and looked up at Julius and Rei, waving at them.
Julius and Rei also adjusted their postures and landed beside Lulunaka.
When her feet finally landed on the ground, Rei felt the hard ground beneath her feet. This was not what the bottom of a lake should be like. The bottom of a lake should be even more muddy — covered with mud, and there were all kinds of aquatic plants growing in the mud, as well as fish of various sizes. There were some strange man-eating fish in the lake, but there were no plants.
Standing at the bottom of the lake was a very strange thing. It was completely different from the feeling of falling.
This feeling was as if time had slowed down. No matter what movement he made, his body was slowed down because of the existence of water.
For Rei, this wonderful feeling was perhaps accompanied by something else. She felt that her skin was strange. When she moved, the feeling of water sliding over her skin made her feel very uncomfortable.
Standing at the bottom of the lake, nothing happened.
Julius and Rei glanced at each other, and then looked at Lulunaka.
Lulunaka was looking around. No one knew what she was looking at.
When she was looking around, she noticed their gazes. She grinned at them and spat out a series of bubbles from her mouth.
It seemed that even she could not talk in the water.
There were not many things that could be seen at the bottom of the lake. Those living or dead things were floating in the water. There was nothing special down there.
If there was something special, it would be that there was a track on the hard ground.
In places like ports, there were always tracks set up for the convenience of transporting goods. Heavy goods could be pushed up on wheels, which could save a lot of manpower.
But why would there be such a track at the bottom of the lake? This was the puzzling part.
The track extended in two directions. No one knew where it led. The bottom of the lake was pitch-black. Even if there was a light, they could not see far away.
While Julius and Rei were puzzled, Lulunaka reached out her hand. Her entire right arm stretched out, making a blocking gesture.
While they were feeling even more puzzled, something strange happened.
A rumbling sound came from afar. At first, it was not obvious, but as time went by, it became clearer and clearer.
The ground was also trembling, giving people the illusion that the ground under their feet was alive, and its heartbeat was transmitted to the people standing on it.
Julius and Rei also began to look around. The sound was getting louder and louder, and it made them more and more worried.
Lulunaka still maintained her previous posture, as if she was trying to block something.
In the underwater world, sound was very vague. But this sound that was gradually approaching was different. The thing that had this sound, even if they could not see its appearance, had a strong sense of existence that made them unable to ignore it.
Because Lulunaka did not show any reaction, Julius and Rei could only restrain their emotions and not show too much panic.
After a while, the owner of the sound finally came into their sight.
In the boundless darkness, a small light appeared. This light did not belong to Lurunaka and Rei's flask, and if one paid close attention, one would notice that this light was not small at all. It was getting bigger and bigger as it approached.
With a rumbling sound, this light arrived in front of the three of them.
What appeared in front of the dumbfounded Julius and Rei was a huge, slender, long object.
This object moved on the track and stopped in front of them. The light that was approaching them came from the front of the object.
It was a huge object. In front of it, Julius and Rei were like a snake and a frog. This snake seemed to be made of steel, and its light was even more terrifying than that of a snake's eyes. This light penetrated the darkness, leaving two sword-like lights at the bottom of the lake, cutting the darkness and opening a path for it.
Lulunaka ignored Julius and Rei who were still in shock. She walked towards this' snake 'made of steel, and unexpectedly walked into its body.
On the surface, this giant snake at the bottom of the lake did have an entrance that could be entered.
However, just because there was an entrance to the steel serpent, it didn't mean that Julius and Rei were willing to go in. But Lurunaka was already waving at them, and her mouth was opening and closing. Nobody knew what she was saying.
In fact, even if they heard her, they could not understand what Lulunaka was saying.
What Lurunaka said they would never understand for the rest of their lives what it meant:
Welcome to this train. The train is about to depart. Please board.