The Nine-Headed Bird, the faith of the ancient Xiang Kingdom. Only the queen could wear related garments and accessories.
Law had once seen the Nine-Headed Bird accessory of a Xiang Kingdom queen at the appreciation fair hosted by Clover and had also read about it in ancient texts.
"The Nine-Headed Bird... Could it be the Nine-Headed Bird recorded in Xiang Kingdom's ancient texts?"
Salin loved ancient texts and had read many, including those from the Xiang Kingdom. So upon hearing [Nine-Headed Bird], she quickly made the association.
However, her knowledge came solely from books, and she had never seen a depiction of the Nine-Headed Bird. She only knew that the divine creature revered in the ancient Xiang Kingdom was a phoenix with nine heads.
Legend said the Nine-Headed Bird was a real divine creature, massive enough to blot out the sun and moon. Its tail resembled willow catkins, and when it soared, it emitted a seven-colored light. Wherever it went, rainbows filled the sky.
The credibility of these written records was low because the descriptions of the Nine-Headed Bird seemed exaggerated.
"The resemblance is high. It should indeed be the Nine-Headed Bird, the divine creature of faith in the Xiang Kingdom." Law examined the pattern closely and reached a near-certain conclusion.
Based on differing artistic styles, the Nine-Headed Bird on the wall was actually somewhat different from the patterns handed down in the Xiang Kingdom. But the overall likeness was strong, plus both shared the feature of nine bird heads.
Unless something unexpected, they likely originated from the same source.
However, this was the Dark Waters. Leaving aside why there were ruins here, just considering the Nine-Headed Bird, how could ruins here possibly be connected to the ancient Xiang Kingdom of the Six Continents? They were worlds apart.
Was there a connection between the two?
"This..."
Salin's mouth hung open, feeling incredible.
If this were the waters of the Six Continents, it might be different. But this was the Dark Waters, a journey of at least two months from the Six Continents' waters.
Law glanced at the disbelieving Salin. Honestly, even he himself was reluctant to believe it. But the evidence was right before his eyes, so he had to believe it.
"Generally speaking, exaggerated accounts in ancient texts are mostly myths. But the records about the Nine-Headed Bird are strange. Regardless of which version of the book, they all share a common point: there are many words emphasizing reality and eyewitness accounts."
"This could be interpreted as the people of the ancient Xiang Kingdom being fanatically devoted to their faith in the Nine-Headed Bird, hence imagining it as real, not a fabricated myth."
"But what if the Nine-Headed Bird truly existed and came from the Dark Continent?"
After hearing Law's words, Salin frowned and said, "But what connection is there between them?"
"Don't forget, the human ancestors of the Six Continents came from the Dark Continent. If the Nine-Headed Bird is a creature of the Dark Continent, then even if these ruins aren't connected to the ancient Xiang Kingdom, it wouldn't prevent them from sharing a common faith or culture."
Law's eyes gleamed as he stared at the Nine-Headed Bird mural, saying in a strange tone, "After all, the area of the Dark Continent is truly beyond words. It wouldn't be strange for human settlements to exist north and south."
Hearing this, Salin fell silent, staring blankly at the mural on the wall.
Suddenly, she felt a strong desire to see the Nine-Headed Bird with her own eyes on the Dark Continent.
Not the textual description from ancient books, but the real thing.
Inside the Shell Room.
The turtle was leisurely feeding, and for the moment, no sea creatures were attacking. The surrounding sea had fallen into a deathly silence again.
Sheila came to Ging's side, gazing at the light emitted by the light algae within the ruins, and whispered, "I wonder what Law and Salin found in the ruins?"
Ging glanced at her sideways and smiled, "You really wanted to go with them, didn't you?"
"Yes, very much so."
Sheila answered without hesitation.
As a professional explorer, many of her behavioral patterns resembled Ging's, but her essence was more like Salin's.
Both wanted to see some of the strange existencesand scenes recorded in books in the real world.
"I understand how you feel." Ging withdrew his gaze from Sheila and returned to watching the light from the ruins.
Although Law and Salin would bring back their discoveries from the ruins, personally exploring and being told about it afterwards were completely different.
If he didn't have to stay here for support, he would have insisted on going into the ruins.
Sheila didn't reply, also silently watching the light from the ruins.
After a long while, Sheila and Ging suddenly noticed the light from the ruins was rising and heading in their direction.
"They're coming back."
Sheila said, slightly excited.
"Hmm."
Ging nodded. Although he could use his ability to pull Law and Salin into the game space and then release the space to achieve instant teleportation, he didn't think it was necessary, so he didn't use it.
Their words were heard by others in the room, who all gathered near the semi-transparent shell offering a view of the ruins, watching the rising light sphere.
Under everyone's gaze, Law and Salin returned to the shell room.
"How was the harvest? Was it a human ruin?"
As soon as Law and Salin returned, Ging immediately posed two questions.
"We didn't find much, but it's basically confirmed to be a site left behind by humans."
Law answered Ging, then had Kuro take things out from his space.
They were the glass fragment, architectural debris, and the wall with the damaged Nine-Headed Bird mural.
These items had already had the seawater extracted by Law's En, appearing very dry, not as if they'd just been pulled from the sea.
"A human site..."
Ging's eyes flashed, utterly unable to comprehend how there could be human ruins on the seabed of the Dark Waters.
"You were gone so long just for these things?" Shiro casually tapped the glass fragment with his pipe, producing a crisp sound.
"Don't mess around. You might break it," Tonpa saw Shiro's action and quickly warned.
"It's fine. This thing's hardness isn't inferior to stone, it won't break that easily."
Law patted the glass fragment and continued, "Apart from these, we didn't find any human-related utensils. The only useful clue is this mural."
Saying this, Law pointed at the wall he'd brought back.
"Is that a bird? So many bird heads?"
Uvogin leaned in for a look, full of curiosity.
"What is this?" Machi looked at Law.
"The Nine-Headed Bird."
Law replied, then explained the related information about the Nine-Headed Bird.
Immediately, everyone in the room wore looks of astonishment.
Before they could digest this information, the room suddenly began shaking violently.
Law and Ging reacted quickly, steadying themselves while also protecting the ruin debris and glass fragment.
"Did more sea creatures get attracted by the blood scent?" Someone asked.
"It's not sea creatures." Tonpa pressed himself against the wall.
"What then?" Shiro instinctively asked.
"I-It should be an earthquake."
Tonpa pressed against the shell wall, looking at the seabed under the light. Countless bubbles were rising from the seabed.
The others also noticed the disturbance outside.
"It's cracking!" Buhara saw the shaking seabed developing numerous fissures. Those bubbles were emerging from the cracks.
As soon as he finished speaking, the seabed's shaking seemed to intensify. The fissures rapidly expanded, forming chasmlike openings.
As the openings widened, the sea creature carcasses began to tilt. Over half of the human ruins crumbled and fell into the chasms. Seawater also poured into the openings, creating undersea waterfalls.
The turtle could no longer focus on feeding. It quickly raised itself, distancing from the seabed.