204 - The Flooded Passage

The equipment requested from Crossroads arrived at Underpass two days later, carried by a convoy of workers and guarded by a team of experienced Awakeners. Along with diving suits, reinforced breathing apparatus, and long-range sensors, Ara received a compact device capable of measuring mana pressure underwater. It would not reveal everything beyond the collapsed passage, but it could help the expedition distinguish a natural current from the regulator's energy channels.

Commander Varik had also recovered several records from the old mining archives. Most were damaged, and the surviving descriptions were brief, but one map showed a service tunnel running north of the abandoned mines before turning east beneath a ridge. A maintenance note marked the route as closed after repeated flooding, with the bypass mechanism left in an unknown state.

"The old miners didn't abandon the regulator itself," Varik explained as the team studied the map. "They closed the service tunnel because water entered the lower works faster than they could remove it. The northern route was already difficult to maintain, and the flooding made it too dangerous."

"Then our best approach is from the opposite side of the flooded section," Subin said. "If the old map is accurate, we can reach the bypass without disturbing the collapse."

Ara traced the route with her finger. "The tunnel should emerge near a natural reservoir north of the ridge. We'll need to cross an exposed stretch of mining territory, then descend through an old drainage shaft. If the shaft is still open, we can reach the bypass chamber from above."

Varik agreed to provide two local guides, while Sel assigned a small Crossroads survey crew to operate the equipment. Subin's combat group would protect them, but the expedition's priority remained the same: locate the bypass, inspect its condition, and restore the regulator only if they could do so without increasing pressure elsewhere.

Yerin joined Subin near the settlement gate as the convoy prepared to leave. She checked the seals on her equipment before securing her spear across her back.

"An underwater expedition with a level 263 creature somewhere nearby," she said. "You do realize that most people would consider this a good reason to stay on dry land."

"Most people aren't trying to repair an underground regulator."

"That's your defense?"

"It's the reason we're going."

She gave him an amused look, then tightened the strap on her pack. "At least you don't pretend the creature won't be dangerous."

Subin's expression became more serious. "It was injured when we last saw it. That doesn't make it harmless, and it doesn't mean it will attack us. We'll keep our distance unless it leaves us no choice."

The group departed through the northern mining district, following the old service road beyond the familiar tunnels. The landscape gradually changed from worked stone to natural underground formations. Black ridges rose around a shallow basin, where clear water collected beneath a ceiling of crystal-bearing rock. Several abandoned buildings stood along the shore, their foundations cracked and their equipment long since removed.

The drainage shaft lay behind one of these buildings, partly concealed by mineral growth. One of the guides recognized the old markings above its entrance and confirmed that the miners had once used it to reach lower maintenance chambers. The team secured ropes, lowered sensors, and tested the air before descending.

The shaft opened into a broad tunnel that sloped toward the reservoir. Water covered the floor, but it remained shallow enough for the group to move without diving. The walls carried the familiar metal channels, and the mana readings gradually strengthened as they approached the regulator's northern branch.

Ara stopped beside a junction where three channels met. "This is the right route. The main channel continues south toward the regulator, while the bypass runs beneath the reservoir. The third line appears to be a drainage system."

"Can you tell whether the bypass is blocked?" Subin asked.

"Not from here. The signal becomes distorted farther ahead."

They continued until the tunnel ended at a submerged opening. Beyond it, the floor dropped sharply, and the water deepened into a narrow passage between two rock walls. The team prepared their diving equipment while the survey crew anchored a guide line to the stone.

Subin checked the others before entering. The suits restricted movement, but everyone had practiced with the equipment, and the breathing apparatus was designed to support prolonged underwater work. Yerin adjusted her spear harness so it would not catch on the walls, while Jae-hyun and Liu Wei secured compact weapons that could be handled in the confined passage.

Once the group entered the water, the noise of the outside world disappeared. Their lamps illuminated a corridor of dark stone, with pale metal strips running along the floor. The current pulled steadily toward the lower passage, carrying small particles of crystal dust through the water.

Ara led them toward the stronger sensor signal. After several minutes, the corridor widened into a submerged chamber where the metal channels converged around a circular mechanism embedded in the floor. Its outer ring was still intact, but a thick deposit of black mineral had accumulated across one side, preventing the inner components from turning.

The bypass mechanism had not been destroyed. It had simply become obstructed.

Ara inspected the readings and signaled that the chamber was stable enough to approach. The engineers fixed small lamps around the mechanism, revealing a set of movable plates arranged like overlapping segments of a wheel. Each plate contained a narrow groove intended to carry mana toward the next section.

Subin examined the black deposit. It was dense and brittle, likely formed over many years as minerals accumulated in the moving water. Cutting it carelessly could damage the plates beneath.

He drew Simple Edge and made a shallow test cut along the deposit's outer edge. The blade removed a thin strip without touching the mechanism. Satisfied, he worked methodically around the obstruction, cutting the mineral into smaller pieces that the engineers could remove by hand.

The work proceeded slowly, but the mechanism began to emerge. Beneath the deposit, the plates were worn yet largely intact. One segment had shifted out of alignment, while another was jammed against the surrounding frame.

Ara compared the mechanism with the recovered diagram. "The outer plates guide the flow. The inner ring controls how much energy enters the bypass. If we can free the ring and realign the damaged segment, the system should operate again."

"Should?" Jae-hyun signaled through the suit's communication unit.

"We're working with incomplete records. I prefer honest uncertainty to a confident mistake."

Subin focused on the shifted plate. Its edge had been forced beneath the frame, and attempting to pull it free could crack the mechanism. He studied the contact points, then made two narrow cuts in the mineral deposits holding it in place. The plate loosened enough for the engineers to guide it back into position.

When the inner ring finally moved, a pulse of mana passed through the bypass. The water stirred, and the sensor readings rose sharply before settling into a steady pattern.

Ara signaled for everyone to retreat to the chamber entrance. They waited while she monitored the channels, ready to shut down the mechanism if the pressure continued increasing.

Instead, the readings began to balance. Energy that had previously accumulated around the regulator's main outlet now flowed through the northern bypass, spreading the load across both routes.

The old system was working again.

A sudden movement disturbed the water beyond the chamber.

Subin turned toward the darkness just as a large shape passed between the distant rock walls. His lamp caught the outline of a heavily armored body, a thick tail, and a damaged forelimb that hung lower than the other. The creature disappeared behind a ridge before the team could get a clear view.

Ara checked the sensor. "Large organism, moving away from the chamber. The mana readings match the signature we recorded before."

The Abyssal Stone Reaver was still alive.

Its injured forelimb had not recovered completely, and it moved with a slight imbalance, but it was navigating the submerged passage without obvious difficulty. It did not turn toward the expedition or approach the newly activated bypass. Instead, it continued along the deeper channel, following the flow away from the maintenance chamber.

Subin kept his sword ready until the creature vanished from the sensors. He felt no need to pursue it. The team had entered the passage to restore the regulator, and the Reaver had given them no reason to abandon that objective.

"Don't follow it," he signaled. "We finish the inspection and return."

Ara recorded the creature's direction of travel and compared it with the channel map. Its route appeared to lead toward a large cavity farther north, beyond the section covered by the old mining records. The current there was stronger, suggesting that the cavity might connect to a wider underground water system.

They continued the survey for another twenty minutes, inspecting the remaining plates and confirming that the bypass remained stable. The engineers found no further obstruction, though the outer mechanism would need periodic maintenance to prevent mineral deposits from building up again.

When the team returned to the drainage shaft, Ara had enough data to make a useful assessment. The northern bypass was active, the main outlet was no longer carrying the entire load, and the pressure around the regulator had fallen to a safer level. The system was not fully restored, but its most immediate failure risk had been reduced.

Back in Underpass, Varik received the report with visible relief. The northern mines would remain closed to ordinary traffic until the survey crew completed a more detailed map, but the settlement no longer needed to fear an uncontrolled buildup around the regulator.

"And the creature?" Varik asked.

"Alive, injured, and moving deeper into the flooded network," Subin answered. "It didn't attack us. We shouldn't assume it will remain passive, but there's no reason to hunt it."

Varik accepted the distinction. He ordered the guards to keep the mining entrances secured and instructed the engineers to inspect the bypass at regular intervals. Crossroads would retain a copy of the survey, while Underpass kept control of the territory and its maintenance decisions.

That evening, Subin reviewed the new map with Ara. The bypass extended farther north than they had expected, and the sensor data suggested that the underground reservoir was only one part of a much larger water system. The newly restored channel might eventually help them map that system, but there was no need to push deeper before the current work had been documented properly.

Yerin joined them after finishing her equipment check.

"So we repaired the bypass, avoided fighting the Stone Reaver, and returned without anyone being injured," she said. "By your standards, that sounds like a successful expedition."

"It was."

"No grand battle, no dramatic sword technique, and no monster trophy."

"We're repairing infrastructure, not collecting trophies."

She smiled. "I suppose that's progress."

Subin looked at the map again. The Abyssal Stone Reaver remained somewhere beyond the flooded passage, injured but alive, while the northern bypass carried mana through a route that had been blocked for years. Their next step would be to extend the survey toward the reservoir and determine how far the underground water system reached.

For now, the regulator was stable, Underpass was safer, and the expedition had gained something more valuable than another monster's corpse: a working route into a part of the Great Passage that had remained inaccessible for generations.