Deep Sea Embers

"Snapped!"

The document in his hand was slapped on the table, and Liszt suddenly stood up from behind the desk—in fact, he almost jumped up—the defense commander of the port area stared at the subordinate in front of him: " Say it again?! What happened to Dagger Island?!"

"Dagger Island... Dagger Island has disappeared!" The soldiers who came to deliver the news stuttered a little. Obviously, even as a well-trained soldier, he couldn't control his state under such circumstances. Just now, we observed a series of explosions on Dagger Island. It is suspected that the last remaining people on the island detonated various facilities... Afterwards, the fleet performing security missions on the nearby sea watched the island quickly sink and disappear. On the sea..."

"Those fleets are not affected?" Liszt frowned immediately, feeling that something was wrong.

"No," the soldier shook his head. "Dagger Island's sinking process hardly caused any changes in the sea level. The report from the front said...that island seemed to melt silently in the sea."

Liszt's face became extremely scary, he was silent for a few seconds, and looked up at the gatekeeper who was still standing in the office: "Ms Agatha, in your knowledge, is there any known magic, miracle Or extraordinary items can cause this phenomenon?"

"No." Agatha shook her head without thinking, "An abnormal change of this scale has gone beyond the scope of spells, and should be classified as a miracle—or some kind of vision."

"...In any case, we are in serious trouble. The investigation has not yet started, and the situation on Dagger Island has not yet been clarified. The island has disappeared in the sea. The city hall will not like the news," Liszt frowned tightly, using He tapped his fingers on the table, and then seemed to think of something, and suddenly looked up at the soldier, "By the way, what's the reaction from the Sea Mist Fleet?"

"They are still in the old position and have not crossed the offshore cordon," the soldier replied immediately, "but after the disappearance of Dagger Island, two of their fast boats approached that sea area for a short time—stayed for about ten minutes, then Returned quickly."

"It sounds like they are observing the situation... It seems that this matter is also beyond their expectations," Liszt said slowly, "Damn it, it looks like we have to talk to that big pirate."

"The cathedral will also take action," Agatha continued. "Now that the exploration plan for Dagger Island is meaningless, we will turn our efforts to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the city. Now the guards have found Some clues of the Annihilation Cultists and several possible gathering points, I will personally lead the team to solve them."

"I hope you can gain something, Ms. Gatekeeper," Liszt raised his head and looked at the black-clothed priestess in front of him, "Things are getting out of control, we need assistance from the Transcendental Domain more than ever, and the investigation by the Cathedral Progress has been slow."

"We will do our best."

Agatha nodded lightly, then raised her walking stick, and paused lightly on the floor twice. With the sound of the tip of the stick hitting the ground, her figure suddenly turned into a gust of gray wind, and then circled and sank directly into the ground. into a pale crack that appeared out of nowhere on the floor.

Liszt looked at the place where Agatha disappeared. After the crack closed, he sighed, sat back on the chair heavily, and at the same time ordered the soldier: "Go out and close the door."

Next, he should write a "quick letter" to the city hall as soon as possible to explain the evil things that happened at the door of the city-state.

...

The staff of the city-state port are guiding the ships to dock. Those people wearing black or blue uniforms are standing on the concrete pier, doing their own things in the cold wind. Silent and busy.

And at a little farther away, you can see several other ships berthing. Those ships seem to have been docked here a long time ago. Only a few people can be seen on board. Their loading, unloading or supply operations have ended. Perhaps waiting for the next step of departure procedures.

Farther away from the dock area, you can see the main road leading to the city—a wide road extending to tall buildings in the distance. The gas lamps on both sides of the road have not yet been lit, but since it is approaching night, the road is not visible. There are so many pedestrians, only occasionally some carriages can be seen, hurrying across the road that is gradually dimming.

Lawrence stood on the edge of the deck, looking at the city-state buildings in the distance.

This is not the first time he has come to Frost, but it has been a few years since his last visit. The long time barrier and the decline of memory after getting old made him unable to remember what the city looked like back then. Now looking at the spiers and towers standing in the dusk in the distance, he only felt that they were very strange.

But in any case, the White Oak finally docked safely in this city-state—even though the weather was extremely bad along the way, it did not encounter any terrible conditions such as storms.

Footsteps came from behind, the old captain turned his head and saw that it was his first mate.

"The inspection is almost over," said the first mate, "Everyone asked me to ask, can you enter the city today? You will be suffocated on the boat this way."

Lawrence looked up at the sky. Although the creation of the world hadn't appeared yet, the remaining twilight in the sky was so dim that it was about to dissipate. He frowned and shook his head: "It's too late, the city has a curfew after nightfall, so it's okay to disembark now." Wherever you can go, just stay on the ship honestly—I will go to the Port Affairs Bureau to go through the remaining formalities later, and the others will go ashore tomorrow morning."

"Okay, I'll tell them the news," the first mate laughed, and then asked casually, "But you're going alone? Do you want to send two people to accompany you?"

"No, I've already seen the gate of the port office—it's right next to the pier," Lawrence waved his hand, pointing to a light not far from the shore, "you should pay attention to put everything on the ship after the inspectors at the port leave. Check all the warehouses, especially the bilge where the holy relics are kept and several sealed rooms, in case any careless guy touches the settings."

"Yes, Captain."

The first mate left, and Lawrence took a breath in the night wind. The cold wind from the northern sea poured into his lungs, making him sober up.

Then the old captain shook his head, complained a little about the bad weather here, and then walked towards the stairs not far away.

A figure was standing at the stairs, arms crossed in the dim light interlaced with lights, looking at Lawrence calmly.

Lawrence stopped hesitantly, and after a moment of recognition, he hesitated to speak: "...Martha? Why are you here?"

"If I were you, I shouldn't have any unnecessary questions at this time, but set off to leave here immediately," the female navigator with her arms folded looked at the old captain in front of her, with helplessness in her tone, "Your vigilance is lowered. Yes, Lawrence."

"Martha, I..." Lawrence took half a step forward subconsciously. He vaguely felt that something was wrong, but his throat was blocked by thousands of words, so he could only stretch out his hand slowly, "I kind of miss you...you How are you?"

But Martha didn't answer him. The female navigator just cast a calm gaze, but her gaze seemed to be focused on a farther place. Amid the gentle sea breeze and the sound of fine waves, she slowly hummed——

"Sails are hoisted, sails are hoisted, sailors away from home go on...

"Amidst the storm and noise, we are only one plank away from death.

"Fill up the spinnaker, unfurl the mainsail, let go of the cable, and hold on tight to the ship's side—we've come to the middle of the sea..."

Martha's voice was getting lower and lower, and she finally stopped. She focused her eyes on Lawrence, and said softly as if she was talking to herself: "Lawrence, be careful, you are in the middle of the sea."

Lawrence suddenly took a breath, and the cold air refreshed his mind. Then, as if he remembered something, he hurriedly stretched out his hand to his chest, and fumbled in his pocket quickly but hastily.

Martha started walking slowly towards him.

"Lawrence, why are you so old?" The female navigator stretched out her hand, her voice was hoarse and soft. She still looked young. As beautiful as in "It's been a long time, hasn't it? You're not getting any younger... neither am I..."

"Martha..." Lawrence's throat squirmed, he felt his fingers were about to touch the small bottle, but he missed it several times.

He could almost smell Martha—the familiar smell, with a hint of lemon, her favorite scent.

He touched the little bottle.

"Martha..."

He held it in his hand, but his feet were fixed on the deck as if they were rooted. He watched the person in his memory reach out to him, just like what he had seen in countless dreams. The hand carried a familiar temperature. , Touching the tip of his hair little by little, he saw the person in his memory laughing again, as if he wanted to tell himself a long-awaited longing...

"Martha, I'm sorry."

Lawrence gripped the vial tightly and poured the bitter potion into his mouth.

Martha disappeared.