[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies":3,"chapter-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-117":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Notes on Kraft Anomalous Studies",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2283595,4467,"Chapter 117: Emerald in the Rock","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-117",117,"\u003Cp>They were leaving that gray-white hell; the weeks of weary, dusty yellow had never looked so lovely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ominous, weathered-bone color faded gradually—undoubtedly a good omen—but the length of this transitional stretch exceeded William’s imagination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In memory, the descent had taken only a moment, yet the gray-white had instantly consumed the entire cave wall; now, the return took far longer, and stubborn, hairlike white specks remained clearly visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These irregular patches spread upward like stains, as if seeking to assimilate and expand their territory; he even suspected that, on some invisible trend, the gray-white was rising, and would one day reach the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It evoked faded tinea, eroding surrounding healthy skin; this land was already beyond cure, and no one knew when the rot would spread from within to the surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though he knew he would never see that day, the thought sent a chill through him and deepened his fear of the land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He quickened his pace, drawing close to Kraft. To conserve torchlight, they had agreed to light only one at a time; now it was Kraft’s turn to lead with the flame, but his condition was far from good, and he had little energy to notice whether William kept up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as white nearly vanished from sight, the two reached another dead end of chaotic rock folds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wait, let me rest a bit.” Kraft handed the torch to William, then sat against the vertically wrinkled rock, shifting uncomfortably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pressed his knuckles against his temple, slightly easing the furrowed wrinkles; his headache had improved subjectively compared to before, but a rough spot on his back irritated him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He reached for the slightly protruding spot, and his palm felt a texture unlike the surrounding rock—not a curved stone surface, but a gritty, prickly granulation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s this?” Kraft sat up to look behind him; it was a third color, apart from gray-white and dusty yellow—a faint, fragmented green, scattered like tiny crystalline dots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Too minute to be easily seen in torchlight, they resembled quartz grains in granite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a thing was rare; green, a vivid and soothing color, was hard to overlook.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Could it be some mineral?” William leaned close to the granules, rubbing them with his fingers, then licking the rock dust on his skin. “It’s not something commonly traded—I’d recognize it if I had. Come to think of it, the taste is familiar, but I can’t quite place it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I advise you to quit tasting rocks. One day, it’ll get you killed.” The action, more jarring than the pain, severely disrupted Kraft’s recovery; his face twisted in disgust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I live through today, I’ll remember.” William brushed the dust off his hands, chose another spot to lean against, and immediately spotted another similar emerald-green speck near his foot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He casually stepped over it, blotting it from view—out of sight, out of mind. By now, William had ruled out several gemstones he knew. Besides, they might not see tomorrow’s sun; who cared about a mineral with no collection value?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Rest while you can. Forget about this.” He raised the torch to take over watch duty, letting Kraft rest as fully as possible in the limited time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The latter had been moving nonstop under intense strain, yet showed no sign of reaching his limit. Such unyielding mental resilience was like a man who’d lost half his blood and still bounced around, declaring he could endure another bloodletting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To William, the facts were simply unreasonable: Kraft’s condition was visibly improving. He quickly released his fingers from massaging his temples, his scattered gaze refocusing; before William had even caught his breath, Kraft grasped something inside his sleeve.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The next stretch is above us—we’ll return to the surface.” He seized William’s hand and pulled the captain upright with ample strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This time, William learned his lesson: as the sensation of falling backward surged, he shut his eyes immediately, avoiding visual disorientation, and waited in place while Kraft relit the torch to illuminate a stable environment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were back. Though William saw no visual distinction, returning to the normal world brought him profound comfort, a sense of homecoming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet as they advanced, the surroundings grew stranger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The previously unnoticed specks of green on the cave walls multiplied, forming distinct angular blocks. Like sugar cubes rolled in dust, their edges glowed with the bright, crystalline hue as the light shifted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Green reflections flared in sequence as the torch passed, darting like needlepoints from the edges of vision, flickering erratically. As the tunnel merged with another ascending passage, the green grew denser, consistent with the rich mineral traits of southern hills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cave-diggers had not passed straight through this area but had crashed directly into this mineral vein, expanding into a twisted, intestinal-like parallel transition zone before drilling back into the depths, leaving behind a space that looked ready to collapse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deep fissures crisscrossed the walls, forming a spiderweb of cracks; fallen rock fragments littered the ground, their broken surfaces revealing abundant emerald-green crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Navigating here required careful footing to avoid cuts from sharp edges, and to prevent slipping into piles of shattered rock studded with crystalline spikes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>William picked up a fragment to examine it. This gemlike mineral was brittle and soft, often fractured or crushed into pale green powder, which crumbled away as he lifted it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The green crystals did not match any major minerals he had transported before, but the powder unexpectedly stirred a memory—he had encountered it somewhere before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He brought it to his nose; the dust made him flinch, triggering several sneezes, but he detected no scent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Kraft ahead was occupied, William scraped a layer of powder from the crystal surface and, out of curiosity, licked it with his tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>【By the way, the best app for audiobooks right now is Yeguo Reading. Download the latest version at .yeguoyuedu.】\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a time-tested method. After all, minerals take many forms, and different extraction methods yield wildly varied results; having an extra identification method beyond appearance and texture was crucial. Experts often had some ability to make preliminary judgments by taste, regardless of accuracy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, you shouldn’t do this on the ice plains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Pah!” William spat out the mineral powder. A faintly bitter taste, dissolving into saliva with a faint metallic tang—yes, he had tasted it before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he tried to recall, he climbed upward along the partially collapsed cave. Then Kraft suddenly stopped, bending to pick up something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t look. I’ve seen this mineral before—give me a moment, I’ll remember.” William stepped forward and took the object from his hand; its surface was smooth and curved, nothing like the feel of ore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though shattered beyond recognition, it was clearly out of place among the rock—made of fired clay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its uniform thickness and curved fragments suggested it came from a larger whole, likely a man-made object. He stared at Kraft in disbelief. “Pottery shard?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft nodded. “Good craftsmanship. Not something meant for holding water.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What does that mean?” William couldn’t grasp why a well-made pottery piece would appear here; instinct had already leapt ahead to a sinister suspicion—finding something unexpected here could never be good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He soon had no more questions. Not far ahead, a bizarre pottery relic lay before them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had fallen from a charred stone base; at least a third was shattered outright, and the rest had been crushed further by falling rocks, reduced from “a piece” to “a pile.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the remnants, it had once held a large bulbous body and a long… neck? The hollow cylindrical fragment on the ground was part of that neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Considering its original shape, aside from size, it bore an uncanny resemblance to Father Adrian’s curved alembic—its strange structure could not have been for ordinary domestic use.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the two approached, a sharp cracking sound erupted under their boots. Kraft lifted his foot to inspect the sole and realized it wasn’t mineral grit, but another kind of debris, hidden beneath accumulated dust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pried off a small fragment lodged in his sole, tearing the skin of his fingertip. “Glass?!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1341,"2026-06-20T02:15:55.761Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","715efd3e56981a2e7255cad5f04a8eb8b33092c4f1cd1679c8e44b221baf5828","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-118","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-116",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]