The oceans around Atlantis were silent that night.
Far beneath the dark waters of the Bermuda Triangle, the hidden civilization glowed like a submerged cosmos while giant streams of blue energy flowed silently between floating districts beneath the sea.
Inside the highest observatory chamber of Atlantis, Dilli stood alone before a massive transparent wall overlooking the endless abyss outside.
Far below, colossal CosOcean mining fleets moved through the darkness like mechanical gods excavating the ocean floor.
Shakthi entered quietly carrying several research reports before stopping beside him.
For a few moments, she simply watched him silently.
Then she finally asked the question that had been troubling everyone.
"Dilli…"
He turned slightly.
"What exactly are you searching for?"
The room became still.
Behind them, Betal and Veda also looked toward Dilli carefully.
Because the scale of CosOcean's expansion had become frightening even for them. Entire oceans were being mapped molecule by molecule. Unknown trenches were excavated continuously. Ancient seabeds were being stripped apart searching for something none of them fully understood.
Shakthi folded her arms lightly.
"This isn't just about minerals anymore."
Her voice softened.
"You're looking for something specific."
Dilli remained silent for several moments.
Then slowly—
He walked toward the center holographic table.
With a movement of his hand, the chamber darkened.
Ancient images began appearing around them.
Warriors.
Kings.
Armies.
Humans from different ages of history.
The projections rotated silently through the air.
Dilli's voice echoed calmly.
"During my years of martial training…"
His eyes remained fixed upon the holograms.
"…I realized something disturbing."
A massive projection appeared of ancient Indian warriors carrying gigantic bows and armor.
"Humanity is becoming weaker."
Silence filled the chamber.
Shakthi blinked.
Betal narrowed his eyes.
But Veda immediately began processing historical references.
Dilli continued walking slowly through the holographic images.
"Fifty years ago…"
A black-and-white projection appeared of farmers carrying massive paddy sacks across fields.
"…ordinary men routinely carried hundred-kilogram loads on their shoulders."
Another image appeared.
Ancient soldiers marching endlessly through harsh terrain carrying armor, swords, shields, provisions, and supplies themselves.
"No vehicles."
"No advanced support systems."
"Yet they crossed entire continents."
The holograms shifted again.
Roman legions.
Indian warriors.
Mongol cavalry.
Samurai.
Spartan soldiers.
Viking raiders.
Every civilization.
Every era.
Every projection showed something terrifyingly similar.
Physical capability beyond modern standards.
Dilli's eyes darkened slightly.
"Ancient battlefield weapons alone would be nearly impossible for average modern humans to wield effectively."
A gigantic ancient mace appeared rotating through the chamber.
Then enormous war bows.
Heavy armor.
Massive swords.
Ancient siege equipment.
"Yet men fought wearing these for days."
Shakthi slowly frowned now.
When Dilli spoke further—
Even she began feeling unsettled.
"Modern humans struggle sitting for eight hours without physical exhaustion."
The holograms shifted toward modern society.
Screens.
Offices.
Vehicles.
Processed food.
Polluted cities.
Artificial lifestyles.
Dilli's voice became colder.
"But our ancestors built civilizations using their bodies."
Another image appeared.
Ancient Indian temple construction.
Gigantic stone structures moved without modern machinery.
Thousands of tons lifted manually.
Pyramids.
Fortresses.
Monolithic temples.
Massive cities.
Betal finally spoke quietly.
"You think humans physically declined over time."
Dilli looked toward him directly.
"No."
Then softly—
"I know we did."
The chamber fell silent again.
Veda's eyes illuminated brighter now while massive biological data streams began appearing across the holographic displays automatically.
Dilli continued.
"During my martial training…"
His fists slowly tightened.
"…I kept encountering limits that ancient humans described as normal."
Images from ancient scriptures emerged now.
Descriptions of warriors with impossible endurance.
Sages surviving extreme climates.
Kings fighting for days.
Yogis controlling heartbeat and breath.
Gigantic bows requiring monstrous strength.
Shakthi crossed her arms slowly.
"But mythology exaggerates things."
Dilli nodded slightly.
"Yes."
Then he enlarged ancient skeletal studies recovered from archaeological records.
"But biology doesn't."
The chamber became quieter.
Comparative anatomical structures appeared.
Bone density.
Muscle attachment strength.
Joint thickness.
Lung capacity estimations.
Ancient human remains consistently showed stronger skeletal reinforcement than modern averages.
Veda finally spoke.
"Analysis confirms partial validity."
Everyone turned toward him.
The supreme intelligence projected thousands of data comparisons instantly.
"Historical human populations possessed significantly greater physical resilience under harsh environmental conditions."
Shakthi blinked.
"…Wait. Seriously?"
Veda continued calmly.
"Ancient populations demonstrate superior natural endurance adaptation, muscular density, pain tolerance, and metabolic efficiency compared to modern sedentary averages."
Betal slowly folded his arms.
"So humanity really became weaker."
Dilli's gaze returned toward the oceans outside Atlantis.
"Not just physically."
The holograms shifted again.
Human attention spans.
Mental resilience.
Emotional endurance.
Environmental adaptation.
Immune responses.
Everything showed gradual decline.
"Something changed."
Lightning-like currents flashed through the ocean outside.
"The Earth itself changed."
Those words made even Betal silent.
Dilli enlarged atmospheric models across different historical eras.
Ancient oxygen density estimates.
Magnetic field variations.
Oceanic mineral compositions.
Solar radiation fluctuations.
Unknown atmospheric trace elements.
"The human body evolved according to Earth's original conditions."
His voice deepened.
"But over thousands of years…"
He looked toward the holographic Earth slowly rotating before them.
"…the environment changed."
Shakthi whispered quietly—
"And humanity changed with it."
Dilli nodded once.
"The surface world lost something."
Silence.
Heavy.
Almost frightening.
Dilli walked toward the transparent wall overlooking the endless black Atlantic.
"And I believe the oceans still remember."
Far below them, gigantic mining fleets continued moving through the abyss searching endlessly beneath the sea.
"The deepest oceans remained untouched while civilizations above collapsed repeatedly."
His reflection appeared against the dark waters.
"If traces of Earth's original atmospheric balance… ancient minerals… biological catalysts… or forgotten environmental systems still exist anywhere…"
He slowly turned toward them.
"…they would exist beneath the oceans."
For several moments—
Nobody spoke.
Not Shakthi.
Not Betal.
Not even Veda.
Because suddenly—
Dilli's obsession no longer sounded insane.
It sounded terrifyingly possible.
Betal finally broke the silence quietly.
"You think humanity wasn't supposed to become this weak."
Dilli looked toward him calmly.
"I think humanity forgot what it once was."
The observatory chamber remained frozen in silence while beyond the transparent walls of Atlantis, the endless oceans stretched into darkness like an ancient living memory.
And somewhere beneath those waters—
The answers Dilli sought might still be waiting.