The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-587

Chapter 587: The Hidden Passageway

Hao Ren was stunned beyond word. “Your city is a spaceship?”

Shaqira and Sorma looked puzzled. The latter froze for a while before she asked, “What?”

“Don’t you know your own city?” The siren’s response surprised Hao Ren. He pointed to the nameplates on the pipe next to him. “Look at this, the Nasaton. This is obviously the naming scheme of a spacecraft. We have just passed a facility called a resonant wheel. Its written operating instructions indicate that it’s a device used to offset the changes in water pressure during the acceleration process. Besides, there is this thin pipe on your left where its sign indicates that it leads to the engine compartment—why would a city need an engine? Only vehicles have this thing.”

Shaqira froze for a long while before she came to her sense and grabbed Hao Ren’s arm suddenly. “You know the siren script? You know what these things mean? Where did you learn it from?”

Hao Ren and other people looked at each other while Y’zaks was wide-eyed. “What do you mean? Don’t you know your own language?”

Shaqira shook her head. “Nobody knows what these signs in the city mean. We might have used this written language before but for some unknown reasons it was lost. The sirens responsible for maintaining the city probably only know how to operate some key equipment. The Queen and some scholars are said to be able to recognise some of these ancient texts, but not much.”

It was much unexpected. Hao Ren felt it incredible. “I couldn’t believe it… have you not cracked your own written language for the past ten thousand years?”

“Cracked a part of it, but the grammar of these ancient texts is very unique, and it’s very difficult to understand them, especially if they are used in a jargon, they’re totally incomprehensible,” said Shaqira, looking embarrassed. “Now the language we use was reconstructed based on the ancient texts thousands of years ago. Apart from the glyphs, there’s no connection with what is written in the signs in terms of meaning, but it was good enough for daily use—only the professional scholars continue to study these symbols in the city. The ordinary sirens have no interest in them.”

“The symptoms of amnesia as a result of crossing to Earth,” Vivian said in a whisper, pulling Hao Ren’s sleeve. “There are similar phenomena in other aliens.”

Yes, this was exactly the weird condition experienced by all aliens on Earth, including the demon hunters. After they came to Earth from The Plane of Dreams, they suffered from memory loss as if it was erased from their minds. Not only had they completely forgotten their memory about The Plane of Dreams, there also existed some bizarre innate memories, such as hostility towards the otherworldlings. This kind of memory erasure seemed to be random: some races still remembered the Letta Runes, some remembered their own written language, some remembered more or less their production techniques, some were said to have degenerated into primitive animals during the mythical era. The memory erasure of each race was not the same, and what the sirens had forgotten was undoubtedly their writing and everything about the city.

It was hard to tell as to what extra memory or racial instinct they had.

No wonder they did not even know how the city was built: The city was already there before the sirens ‘got’ their memories, and Nasaton seemed to exist in the deep sea matter-of-coursely. The sirens were following some vague instincts to thrive here, fumbling with the equipment that, theoretically, they had made themselves, but otherwise they knew nothing about their homeland.

It was hard for outsiders to imagine what kind of lifestyle it was, but it was clear that they were already accustomed to it all.

“Compared with other aliens, the sirens are really the most amazing race,” Hao Ren looked at this incredible city in disbelief. After he found out the city was a spaceship, the many doubts about the city were resolved instantaneously, which included its weird, completely enclosed structure and architectural arrangement. “You actually landed on this planet with a space fortress? You know how to operate these equipment… don’t know what these written instructions mean on them? It’s incredible that you’re essentially challenging the cognitive rules of a smart race.”

Shaqira looked puzzled. “I’m not sure if this is a compliment or something else.”

“At least it’s not malicious,” Hao Ren hurriedly waved his hand. “I’ve seen many different otherworldlings. You people are the most incredible race. Obviously, your advanced technology … or advanced magic has played a big role. You people have done very well compared to other aliens on Earth.”

Hasse looked on quietly. His face showed not much animation. However, the gleaming of his eye suggested that this old demon hunter was not as calm as he pretended to be. He patted the pipeline next to him. “That is to say, Nasaton is a spaceship from an alien planet? The siren came from another planet?”

Hao Ren shrugged. “More distant than other planet … but there’s nothing wrong with your understanding.”

White Flame finally could not hold back but asked, “What about us?”

“Oh, looks like you finally believe what I said earlier,” Hao Ren laughed cheerfully. “I’ve said before that except for shamans and witches, all alien races are not indigenous to Earth. You people come from almost every corner of the universe—but now you all fight among yourselves on Earth like some headless chickens. Look at this spacecraft; do you still think that demon hunters’ killing instinct is a natural phenomenon? You’re not even sure if you and the other aliens are from the same planet, where does the sense of hostility come from?”

Hasse silently sinking into deep thoughts, and Teuton touched the metal groove around him and said, “Incredible.”

“Let’s put the problems of siren language and the otherworldlings to a side for now. How far is it the palace from here?” asked Y’zaks, suddenly interrupting the conversation.

Shaqira pointed forward. “Going along this channel until the end, turn left and you will enter a passageway that lead directly to a building next to the palace zone. However, I’m afraid that’s not as easy as it seems; there must be guards in there.”

Nangong Wuyue moved its attention away from the nearby facilities. “Let’s keep going. Time waits no one.”

With Shaqira and Sorma leading the way, they quickly swam in the direction of the passageway. Lily suddenly smelled something at the corner near the channel. “Wait, there’s someone up there!”

They hurriedly hid themselves under the main pipeline, and then a team of sirens was swimming a dozen meters above the pipeline. More than a dozen grey-eyed sirens armed with tridents escorted dozens of their compatriots, which were in mermaid form, looked weak, and trapped in bubbles.

A siren soldier seemed to have sensed something, as she looked down at the channel. Sorma quickly tightened his control over the current, and completely shrouded their breath. A moment later, the siren soldier left to keep up with the team.

Lily said, “I can fight ten!”

“But there are at least a hundred thousand of sirens controlled by the gigantic brains in the city, not to mention the mighty Queen of the Sirens.” Hao Ren smacked the back of her head and said, “Stop talking. Let’s move.”

The team moved toward the passageway again. Vivian whispered about the team she had just encountered. “The siren’s eyes have not yet completely changed their colours. This shows that their minds are relatively sound. They should be puppets responsible for patrolling the city. We’ll be in trouble if get spotted by them.”

“They were probably escorted ordinary sirens to extract their energy, or send them for brainwashing,” Nangong Sanba’s face gloomy. “I reckon there will be more sentinels; is there any other safer route?”

Shaqira shook her head. “The secret passage is the only possible way; there are sentries in other places, and even sensors.”

They proceeded ahead and encountered two patrolling soldiers on the road. However, Shaqira, who was particularly familiar with the area, and Sorma, who was good at shrouding their breath, eventually passed through without incident. They found the secret passage leading to the imperial palace area: it was beneath a metal ramp, wider than expected with several small pipes extending along the passage.

Above the entrance was a sign which read: 7th Resonance Maintenance Tunnel”.

Hao Ren followed Shaqira and swam into the passageway, but moving for quite a long distance, Sorma suddenly stopped everyone. “Wait a second! There is a sentry in front!”