Chapter 1888 - 1887: The Reason for the Coffin of Time’s Emergence

Geslo opened the computer and looked at the password interface, remaining silent for a moment.

"Look to the right." He Ao’s voice sounded in his ear.

Geslo was slightly taken aback, somewhat puzzled, and turned his gaze to the right.

A handwritten board stood there, with the words: ’Password: Vissen Engineering Department 123’

Geslo silently withdrew his gaze and entered the password.

Accompanied by a faint flash of light, the computer entered the main interface.

The interface of this computer was not complicated, there were only some simple files and icons on the desktop.

Geslo quickly opened some of the files; most were engineering documents, showcasing the progress of the entire project, along with some contracts and agreements.

Geslo quickly read through these files and hesitantly said, "The goal of this site seems indeed not to build upwards but to excavate downwards."

He swiped through the files on the screen, "These engineering documents show they have dug fifty meters underground, surpassing the city’s underground pipeline system, and then..."

He paused slightly, "Is there an underground palace below?"

"What do you mean?" He Ao asked hoarsely.

"It seems," Geslo exited the file, quickly searched and found another related document, opened it, and rapidly browsed, "beneath Vissen, there is a buried ’city’, a complete city that is almost undamaged."

He pulled out some photos and quickly flipped through them, "From these photos, the city’s style doesn’t quite resemble the Federation’s style, likely predating the Federation."

He paused slightly, "Was this Vissen before the Federation was established?"

"Can you search for relevant content online?" He Ao asked slowly.

"I’ll try." Geslo nodded, then raised his wristband and quickly searched for information on ’ancient city’ ’Vissen’ ’underground city’.

He roughly browsed through the related information, "There aren’t any obvious clues; online information states Vissen is a new city, established roughly a hundred years post-Federation, with migrants arriving here to build the city. It is said before that, the valley was rife with eerie areas and fierce exotic beasts."

He perused the contents on his wristband, "In fact, in the three hundred years after Vissen’s establishment, the city still harbors many terrifying urban legends, likely linked to the early remnants of unexplained phenomena that hadn’t been thoroughly cleared."

He lowered the wristband, "However, since Vissen is a crucial transport hub, despite many dangers, the Federation had to establish a city here."

Transcendent power lasting three hundred years.

He Ao pondered while simultaneously asking, "What about clues concerning the underground city? Were there any discoveries when constructing the city or the sewer system?"

"Yes, the sewer construction should have involved digging down," Geslo promptly responded, starting to search.

Soon, he found some fragmented clues, "Vissen’s construction time is overly ancient, there isn’t much residual information, but here a student mentioned he saw some city construction records while browsing historical books in the library, scanned images are here,"

Geslo clicked open the scanned images and began to quickly read the contents above, "’During the sewer excavation, very few building fragments were unearthed, seeming like remnants from an ancient city. Some elderly individuals noted that, long ago, a prosperous city existed here, one day it simply vanished, and over time, people forgot this city’s existence.’

Geslo lowered his head, gazing at the scanned images where a rough diagram appeared to be drawn in doodles, along with text below, "’We continued excavating down twenty more meters but found no city-related relics; no similar building fragments were unearthed elsewhere, it seemed the city indeed vanished from the world.’

After viewing the scanned images, Geslo remarked, "It seems there is indeed a city below Vissen."

He Ao’s consciousness also swept over the scanned image, sinking into brief contemplation.

Denos’s lifetime occurred just before the Federation’s establishment.

When He Ao adventured in the Historical World with Kela, it was approximately two hundred plus years before the Federation’s establishment.

By Denos’s era, Kela had been ruling Xiqilelan for around a hundred years.

Several years before Denos entered sleep, he heard news of a new city being established to the east, likely the then-new Dawn City, when the Federation was yet to be founded.

If Kovotra was destroyed on the day Denos succumbed to slumber, that’d be over eight hundred years ago.

Vissen was established a hundred years post-Federation, which is over six hundred years ago.

A span of two hundred years.

Given the Federation’s productivity level back then, two hundred years could mean several generations passing, so ordinary people forgetting Kovotra’s existence is understandable.

But did the Federation truly forget Kovotra?

There were witnesses to Kovotra back then, some are still alive, like Ai Luoti.

The Julia Family was a crucial Kovotra partner; it’s unlikely they disclosed no information after joining the Federation.

The Federation established a new city atop Kovotra’s ruins; besides its location as a commercial route nexus, perhaps there were other influences.

"It’s a pity," Geslo continued to peruse his wristband findings and looked back at the computer’s files, "If those initial city-builders had delved deeper, perhaps they’d have unearthed the buried city underneath."

Maybe it wasn’t about not digging deep but someone prevented them from doing so.

He Ao contemplated slightly.

If Vissen experienced unexplained phenomena in its first three hundred years, it indicates some incomprehensible high-level power encircled Kovotra within five hundred years of its demise.

Excavating Kovotra back then might have ruined the entire city construction plan.

If so, the Federation, or rather, the Federation’s high echelon at that time, must have been aware of Kovotra’s existence and even the risks it posed.

Yet assessing such obvious eerie risks outside their expertise would suggest deficiencies among the Federation’s Angels.

Did they know how Kovotra was destroyed?

Knowing there’s a problem doesn’t mean knowing the source.

Perhaps an underground visit is required for answers.

"What’s their current excavation situation?" He Ao asked softly.

Upon hearing He Ao’s voice, Geslo swiftly navigated through several files, "The underground palace or that underground city appears unburied, having space enough to traverse, though lacking oxygen. They’ve already established a downward passage, constructed an elevator, and are creating further access routes."

Geslo switched documents and found a feasibility statement, "This document seems to be used by the project developer to attract investment. The developer has cited many literary sources to prove that beneath Vissen, there might indeed exist some ancient city housing numerous artifacts and treasures. Seems like an old hand at grave robbing."

"Did they dig up anything?" He Ao asked.

"Seems like they did. I vaguely recall seeing something," Geslo quickly searched and found another document, opened it, and said, "Found it. This document states they unearthed some gold and silver artifacts, and other antiques from the Era of the Great Cataclysm. The most important item is..."

He slowly scrolled down the document, "a pitch-black, intricately patterned coffin. Even the most advanced equipment couldn’t sample it or detect its composition. This coffin might be an Extraordinary Artifact..."

Geslo continued to read the coffin’s description, "Everyone who has come into contact with the coffin fell into a coma and turned to dust by the next day. However, if they don’t touch it directly, they remain unaffected, which is why they always use a mechanical arm to transport the coffin,"

Seeing this, Geslo clicked his tongue, "Looks like they’ve dug out something terrifying. These grave robbers always manage to uncover something dreadful. There might be an old mummy in the coffin, ready to push open the coffin lid anytime."

He Ao: ...

"Let me see where this thing went," Geslo continued scrolling, "It was bought by someone? Who’s so bold to buy something this terrifying?"

"Are there any relevant communications records available?" He Ao asked.

"Let me check the emails," Geslo opened the desktop email client, "Official transactions like this should be archived in emails, but I don’t have the password to this email..."

He suddenly paused.

Because the email suddenly entered the login interface and logged in automatically within his field of view.

Geslo quickly entered the keyword ’coffin’ in the email search.

Soon, a contact named ’Collector’ popped up.

Geslo clicked on this contact and checked the historical emails.

"This is an old client," he browsed briefly and found this collector had numerous emails, not only about the coffin, "Seems like they’ve bought quite a lot from here."

Geslo opened the most recent few emails, browsing them quickly.

"That coffin seems to have been sold to this ’Collector’, for a price of 900,000 federal coins," he slowly relayed the email content, "It was transported by an entrusted caravan heading toward the South. A 30% deposit was first paid, and upon reaching Twilight City, the collector’s people would take over, continue transportation, and make the next 50% payment. After confirming the goods, they’ll pay the remaining 20%. The collector is quite cautious."

Geslo flipped through the emails, "Seems like they bought a lot of this stuff, fearing they’d get caught and face everything at once."

After reading all the emails related to the coffin from the collector, he exited out, searched ’coffin’ again, "I thought there was another email here not from the collector."

Anke clicked on an email and examined the sender’s history of communications.

The sender of this email is named ’Will’, with very few historical emails.

The initial email was in a questioning tone, asking the computer’s owner, ’Where did the coffin go?’

In the later emails, ’Will’ insisted the coffin must be produced, or the computer’s owner couldn’t bear the consequences.

In the follow-up, the computer owner shared the caravan’s address with ’Will’.

"This guy’s tone sounds like someone from the City Cabinet," Geslo muttered, he opened his wristband and searched the name, "Found it, not a cabinet member, but a Senator from Vissen."

He put down the wristband and glanced back at the document, "Seems like this guy is the developer’s behind-the-scenes ’investor’?"

By this time, He Ao had already pieced together the sequence of events.

The developer of this site is a merchant specializing in grave digs and antique trafficking.

He somehow learned about the underground city in Vissen, possibly finding snippets in literature and decided to try his luck.

He really dug it up, retrieved the Coffin of Time from the underground city, and sold it to a ’Collector’ for just ninety thousand.

From this action, he appears to have little knowledge about the Coffin of Time.

But later, the Senator backing him found him, demanding the Coffin of Time.

Unable to hold up against pressure, he sold out the caravan to the collector.

The elite mercenary squad that attacked the caravan was likely sent by that Senator to intercept the caravan and seize the Coffin of Time.

Subsequently, He Ao woke up, and Anke appeared.

Seems like the Senator knows something about the Coffin of Time’s secrets.

The Witch Sect seems to know a bit about the secrets too, as Ai Luoti fled with only Vissen in her mind.

So, it appears, Vissen is indeed a pivotal location.

"Where is their elevator, can we go underground and see?" He Ao directly asked.

"Let me check," Geslo quickly flipped through and found an engineering diagram, "It’s just outside this building. I’ll go check it out right away."

He immediately shut down the computer, opened the window, and climbed out, quickly approaching a stack of steel scaffoldings.

Some workers seemed to be constructing something nearby, but they didn’t bother with Geslo, allowing him to pass.

Until Geslo walked deep into the steel scaffolding and arrived in front of the elevator.

A hat-wearing man sitting in front of the elevator came over; he seemed to be a security guard, barring Geslo, "This is not a construction area, go over there."

But before he finished speaking, Geslo slipped past him, a slender needle popped from his palm and pierced into the man’s body.

The man stiffened and fainted backward.

Geslo held onto him and laid him onto a nearby chair.

"You carry anesthetics with you?" He Ao asked curiously.

"Sometimes this works way better than a gun," Geslo chuckled, put away the anesthetic needle, walked to the elevator, and pressed the button.

Clang—

With a gentle chime, the deep elevator opened slowly.