[{"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-264":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},2283742,4467,"Chapter 264","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-264",264,"\u003Cp>The first line of defense behind the door was quickly identified: several long ropes tied with jingling bells, crisscrossing at various heights from near the ceiling down to just below the knees, blocking anything that might pass through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This seemed to be a transitional corridor, with structures inconsistent with sewer design extending sideways, carved through the original side walls and rebuilt with smaller, more obviously man-made bricks into new cellar-like compartments.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These expanded spaces were occupied by temporary wooden racks and large cylindrical containers; the smell of grease was thick enough to make one nauseous, while transparent, thin refractive colors streamed down the glossy surfaces and merged into the ripples of water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thick ropes connected unstable wooden supports, passed through several simple pulley systems, and extended to the second door at the end of this corridor, where a faint glow emanated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The team shut all lantern hinges, plunging themselves into greasy darkness, and crept slowly toward the light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They heard the cultivator ahead freeze abruptly, as if startled, splashing a small patch of water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft soon learned the source of the shock—cold liquid dripped onto his face, as if something above were drooling, but closer inspection revealed it was merely condensed water droplets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Drops fell sparsely yet continuously from cracks between the rock and brick, their origin unknown.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Faint, hushed voices emerged from the light, deliberately lowered so not even a whisper’s echo might cross the two stone doors and reach the deeper waterways.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cultivators slipped one by one into the shadows behind the door, listening to the voices. Though indistinct, they discerned two differing pitches—complaining about the cursed sewer and their watch duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They spoke almost without subject, exchanging mutual hatred for this assignment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The crossbowman edged toward the stone doorway, listened a moment, then stepped decisively inside, taking two paces forward to clear space for those behind while aiming at his predicted target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He did not fire immediately but chose instead to wait a moment. Green slipped through the gap, then accelerated into a sprint, moving as light and swift as a black raven skimming the water’s surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The inevitable splash finally drew attention; the guard huddled within the light’s range noticed his companion’s startled cry and turned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A streak of black flashed at the edge of his vision, and his sight was swiftly engulfed by a looming figure; before his fear-stiffened throat could issue a warning, the blade thrust from a cunning angle beneath the robe, silencing any outcry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other man, the winch crossbow’s devastating power—achieved at the cost of minutes to reload—was fully evident: entering the face, exiting the temple, destroying consciousness in an instant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft retracted his hand crossbow. “Looks like I’m not needed for now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’d better figure out where we are quickly,” Green added a final stab to the motionless target, wiping the blade’s blood on the man’s clothes. “These posts have shifts.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The team finally had time to observe their surroundings—they had moved from the unchanging sewer into a place with more human presence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a small stone chamber with six walls; water flowed from gate openings in the corners, channeled through gutters to converge in a central cistern, then diverted into the sewer, leaving several patches of dry ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ropes seen earlier led here, converging on a counterweight mechanism beside the guard—pull the trigger, and the heavy object suspended above would drop, releasing stored potential energy to yank the ropes and topple the wooden racks holding the oil barrels in the preceding corridor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the door leading to the waterway, the chamber held a second, smaller archway, just wide enough for one person, beyond which lay a staircase ascending; its striated surface revealed it had been carved by quarrying techniques.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this place had clearly undergone special repairs: the walls had been smoothed and leveled, bearing faint traces of ancient carvings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The craftsmanship reflected an early era’s crude understanding of human anatomy—figures had disproportionate head-to-body ratios, their short, stubby hands holding flags, trays, and what appeared to be ritual objects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The already ancient and rough carvings had been violently defaced; several sections had been forcibly chiseled away, leaving damage marks towering above the height of ordinary figures.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They stood in what resembled a stepped theater; the figures had been carved in tiered rows from high to low, like a frozen, massive group portrait pressed onto the walls, all facing outward with blank stares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Water continued to drip from above, making them feel as if they were performing a dull play in the rain before a silent, motionless audience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The expressionless, blurred carvings pressed shoulder to shoulder, their sightless eyes offering unfocused stares.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon closer inspection, the figures were diverse: besides indistinguishable common garments, some wore armor, clustered around the areas that had been gouged out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft’s knowledge of his kingdom’s history was too limited to recognize anything unusual—he was about to act swiftly when he noticed Green studying a figure positioned slightly differently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It stood in the upper right corner of one wall, wearing a tall pointed hat, flanked symmetrically by attendants holding trays, with figures behind raising banners—clearly of some status. To Kraft, it might have been a noble, but without any heraldic symbols, it was unidentifiable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who is this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m not sure,” Green hesitated, then opened his lantern hinge and stepped onto the staircase. “This shouldn’t be possible—at least it makes no sense... no, maybe it isn’t impossible, but it has nothing to do with now—I swear.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, if you say so,” Kraft shrugged, wisely dropping the line of questioning, and gave the chamber one final scan, searching for any detail he might have missed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, his and Green’s historical knowledge were comparable; he shouldn’t have overlooked anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He found no further clues on the walls, but noticed the room’s only blind spot—the cistern. Its water was unusually clear, unlike the waste-laden effluent of the city, prompting a different thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why is water always seeping here?” He cupped a falling droplet in his palm; improved lighting revealed the liquid was surprisingly clean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one could answer. Though no part of the sewer was dry, this place was unnaturally damp—as if a vast body of water loomed above, exerting immense pressure that continuously forced moisture deep into the earth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kraft called out to Green, crouched beside the pool, and leaned in for a closer look.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The water’s clarity was sufficient to reveal the pool’s bottom, two arms’ depth down, was not empty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dense hexagonal stone carvings clustered upward, forming a hemispherical carapace, edged with short, fractal-like filamentous curves; webbed structures rose from the silt, as if about to stir the water and surface.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carving was so lifelike it seemed the artisan had received a revelation far beyond their age, extracting a living creature from the stone itself.\u003C\u002Fp>",1133,"2026-06-20T02:15:56.940Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","1b02f7b3b91e4aac6c5979b73cab34a289fdc96cc5e0396c225c9648e116c451","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-265","notes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-chapter-263",406,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fnotes-on-kraft-anomalous-studies-cover.jpg"]