Five Frozen Centuries

Chapter 301: Against Common Sense

Wei Huo and the others continued diving. After passing through the clouds formed by mercury, they saw a scorching red dot below them. At the same time, the surrounding temperature started rising.

Upon looking at the red dot, everyone seemed to understand why these mercury clouds existed. The red dot was obviously a huge active volcano!

Xiao Liang said, “According to the rumors, the reason Atlantis sank was because of water and fire. Firstly, the sea level rose, and secondly, there was a volcano eruption. It seems like the rumors were right.”

As they continued diving, they finally saw the bottom of the sea. There was a group of volcanoes at the bottom. There was not just a single volcanic crater below, but thousands of volcanic craters. At the center of each volcano was a scarlet line that should be flowing magma.

From this height, one could see huge red dots and curved red lines. The red lines were very dense near the red dots, but the further away a red dot was, the thinner the red lines became.

Xiao Liang said, “A long time ago, when every household on Earth was brightly lit, the Earth looked just as bright from space.”

This was a scene that only Wei Huo and Xiao Liang had seen. Before the time halt, every household would switch on its electric lights at night. The street lamps along the street would also light up. At that moment, if one looked down from space, one would see countless lights densely covering the Earth. Urban areas were densely lit, and rural areas had scarce lights.

The golden armor understood and said, “I see. Is this the country of Atlantis? They live at the bottom of the sea, draw energy from the magma, and build cities near every volcano. Towns are near the volcanic craters, but villages are far away from the volcanic craters. They are also the ones to develop the magma flow.”

At that moment, Wei Huo and the others were still 10,000 meters away from the surface of the sea. However, they still needed to continue diving. There was a group of active volcanoes under their feet, and there was a large city around each volcano. They did not know where the capital of Atlantis was, so they could only find a random city and land there.

Wei Huo said, “According to Xiao Liang, the Atlanteans are no different from us. We can land in a village first to understand the situation. At the very least, we have to understand how they communicate.”

Everyone nodded. The bottom of the sea was different from land. Humans could not speak underwater. At the same time, there was magma everywhere. The bottom of the sea was definitely filled with all sorts of water vapor and bubbles. In such an environment, human eyes should not be able to see anything.

However, when they landed in a village dozens of kilometers away from a volcano, they realized that the truth was different than they’d thought.

Wei Huo and the others searched for a red line on the edge and descended. As they got lower, the temperature kept rising. At the same time, the amount of mercury steam increased. The temperature exceeded 100 degrees, and the water was filled with steam and bubbles. It was impossible to see anything with the naked eye.

The group of people closed their eyes and used their Divine Sense to look at things. However, when they landed below 1,000 meters, the situation suddenly changed. The water vapor disappeared, and air appeared. It was as if a huge bubble had covered the world around the magma.

Everyone opened their eyes and saw a plant growing around the magma stream. The group landed beside a thin magma stream.

The magma was red in color, it flickered with red light, and it rolled downstream viscously. On both sides of the river were hard magma rocks. These rocks could resist high temperature and were formed after the magma cooled down and was compressed. However, there were countless weird plants around the river. These plants had roots there and seemed to survive by absorbing the heat of the magma.

Wei Huo and the others observed the trees closely. The trees were black in color and had no leaves. Although they looked like trees, they looked more like trees made of stone. However, everyone’s Divine Sense was very sharp. They could already feel the breathing of the trees and the oxygen they emitted.

“That’s right,” the golden armor said. “No ecosystem can do without producers and consumers. Unless the creatures in this ecosystem become self-sufficient, this group won’t survive for long in places without plants.”

Xiao Liang took out a set of scientific instruments. He then found a thick stone tree and started testing it. He was an explorer and a scientist. He had traveled all his life to satisfy his thirst for knowledge. That was why he had to study unknown new species.

The golden armor was very interested in this as well, as it understood the charm of science. Science was a way to explore the unknown. Every time it explored something unknown through science, it would feel a huge sense of accomplishment.

Of course, Wei Huo and the others were no less curious than them. They wanted to know what was going on with the stone trees as well. What was going on in the Atlantis Kingdom?

The group scanned a stone tree with their Divine Sense, tested it with a scientific device, and experimented with it. They finally figured out what was going on with the stone tree.

Xiao Liang said, “There are no leaves, and it does not photosynthesize. The roots absorb the heat of the magma directly. After it obtains heat, carbon dioxide and water will be turned into oxygen.”

The golden armor lifted its head and looked at the sky. “The density of the air is lower than that of the water and steam. Logically speaking, it should be constantly rising and enveloping all the space within the protective shield. How did the bubble that shrouds us form?”

They spent a long time taking measurements, but they had not realized how this situation, which defied common sense, had come about. However, they could not say that they had gained nothing. They had first cut down a few of these stone trees. After studying them, they had realized that these stone trees could absorb magma through their roots and transmit it through an inner conduit. As the magma contained various minerals, various stone crystals would form on the surface of the trees.

The value of this kind of tree was very high. If it was planted in an area filled with minerals, it could absorb various minerals into its body and produce crystals. It would not be rare for it to produce metal fruits like golden apples or silver bananas, provided that it was supplied with sufficient energy.

The golden armor said, “This is a mining tree! The charm of science is that it makes seemingly useless things useful. In the future, we can use this tree to modify the planet and produce oxygen. This tree is too valuable for interstellar travel!”

Xiao Liang collected many seeds of these trees because he had a plan. He was also a person who yearned for interstellar travel.