Cold, suffocating, boundless darkness.
The despair that once dragged the girl into the abyss was replaying in her fate once more.
Just like...
yesterday once more.
The girl was falling toward the abyss at the sea's bottom.
And this wasn't the first time.
Back then, she was still young. In such a desperate situation, she could only submit to fate's will.
But now, the duet of storm and waves still made her struggles seem pale and feeble.
"...Gurgle."
A stream of bubbles escaped her lips, rising futilely toward the unreachable sea surface.
'So tired...
No, I must return...
There are unfinished matters, unfulfilled promises. I must...'
Seawater carrying a biting cold flooded her senses. Her vision gradually blurred, the last shred of light vanishing completely.
The only thing clear was the thick, ink-like darkness, almost tangible.
Yet, in her daze, Phoebe felt something grab her hand. The warmth transmitted from that palm carried an indescribable gentleness, like the wind that had saved her in the past, lighting a final glimmer in this deep despair.
Summoning the last of her strength, she opened her eyes.
Amidst the endless seawater, just before losing consciousness completely, she finally saw his face clearly.
Mr. Ray.
The girl softly uttered this name in her heart.
...
...
Ray tightly grasped the girl's wrist, struggling fiercely to swim upward.
But the underwater currents felt like countless invisible tentacles, not only hindering his ascent but dragging both of them deeper into the darkness.
'This damned Dark Tide... sooner or later, I'll settle this score with you!'
Of course, the prerequisite for settling scores was, they could leave this sea area alive.
Ray gritted his teeth, pulling Phoebe with all his might as he fought upward.
Just then, from the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a vivid crimson figure in the dim seawater, especially eye-catching.
Wait, that figure...
Is it Phrolova?!
Did she fall into the water too?
Without a moment's hesitation, before he could even think, his body had instinctively turned, swimming toward that crimson figure.
Just as his fingertips were about to touch her,
A terrifying suction force suddenly came from the abyss below, making him brush past her by a hair's breadth.
'No! Something's at the bottom—!'
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the violent underwater currents completely swallowed him, dragging him toward the endless abyss...
...
...
Huff—
It was like suddenly lighting a bright lamp in the thick darkness.
Ray abruptly opened his eyes, sitting up from the cold, damp cave floor, greedily inhaling a breath of air, though it carried a heavy, damp, decaying odor.
"I'm alive?"
He quickly checked himself over. Apart from soaked clothes, he seemed mostly unharmed.
Right, what about Phoebe and Phrolova?
He immediately stood and looked around, soon spotting the two girls' figures not far away.
"Phrolova, wake up."
Ray hurried to Phrolova's side, gently shaking her shoulders, but she showed no reaction.
Could it be drowning?
The thought made his heart tighten.
Emergency aid was needed immediately!
Time was critical. Ray hesitated no longer, kneeling beside her and placing his hands, one over the other, on the girl's chest.
However, the moment he prepared to apply pressure, he clearly felt a cold gaze locking onto him.
His movements froze. Looking down, he met Phrolova's eyes, which had opened at some unknown time, and then glanced at his hand still pressed against her chest, feeling somewhat awkward.
"If I say... I was saving you, would you believe me?"
"Before explaining the circumstances, could you first remove your hand from my body?" Phrolova said coldly. "Just how many times are you going to touch me?"
"Sorry, forgot." Ray immediately raised both hands, adopting an innocent posture, then remembered something more important. "Oh, right, Phoebe!"
Phoebe lay not far away.
But her condition was clearly much worse than theirs.
"Phoebe? Phoebe! Wake up!"
Ray lightly patted her cheeks, shook her shoulders, but got no response.
When he placed his fingers under her nose, his heart sank abruptly,
No breath.
A chill instantly shot up his spine.
Phrolova stood up and came to Phoebe's side, lightly pressing her fingers against Phoebe's neck. After a moment, she withdrew her hand, her voice still calm but carrying undeniable gravity. "The pulse is very weak. She might not last much longer."
Hearing this, Ray didn't hesitate for a second. He immediately placed his hands, one over the other, on Phoebe's chest and began rhythmically performing CPR.
After completing a set of chest compressions, he didn't hesitate to lean down, breathing air into the girl's cold lips mouth-to-mouth.
As for the sensation?
What other sensation could there be now?
Only one thought occupied Ray's mind, he had to bring her back.
Phrolova stood quietly to the side, watching Ray exerting all his efforts in the rescue. Her fingertips unconsciously lightly touched her own lips, and a completely unrealistic thought suddenly popped into her head.
'I just...
If I had pretended not to wake... would it have been...?'
She jolted back to reality, shaking her head gently as if to shake this absurd thought from her mind.
Right now, the most crucial thing is the 'Black Shore,' fulfilling the promise I made to them.
As for him...
One day, he'll give me the explanation I deserve.
A few minutes later, Phoebe coughed a few times abruptly, slowly opening her eyes. Her voice was faint as gossamer:
"Mr. Ray..."
"Miss Phrolova..."
"Have we... reached the underworld?"
"Phoebe? Thank goodness, you're finally awake." Ray looked at the girl's gradually regaining color, letting out a long sigh of relief. "The effort wasn't in vain. Thanks to the company's regular first-aid training sessions."
Mainly because overtime was so brutal; the company was afraid someone might really collapse and die on the spot. This was at least an emergency measure.
Otherwise, by the time the ambulance arrived, the person would already be cold.
"We're still alive?" Phoebe rubbed her throbbing temples, sitting up unsteadily. "Where is this...?"
Ray shook his head. He had already been in this cave when he woke up.
"Not sure," Phrolova stared into the darkness deep within the cave. "But I can sense... Dark Tide power surging ahead. This place is likely the core remnant of the Dark Tide."
"Then how do we get out?"
"Who knows?" Phrolova said, turning her head slightly to look at Ray, a faint, elusive smile touching the corner of her mouth. "Perhaps... if we completely eliminate this remnant, the path will naturally appear? Or perhaps we could ignore such a disaster and find another way out. What do you think?"
Phrolova understood him too well. Even with lost memories, that obsession engraved into his soul had never changed.
"It seems this is the only way left."
Ray took a deep breath, his figure disappearing into the dark cave ahead.