Deep Sea Embers

On the patrol ship, everyone was dumbfounded at the huge ship that suddenly rushed out of the thick fog, watching its bow that was almost twice as tall as the patrol ship almost brushing the side of the ship, watching its The mottled and rusted hull moved forward slowly. It seemed that the old and tattered flags were still hanging above the "Warrior". ... like a shroud.

The commander of the patrol ship was the first to react.

"Keep turning and speed away!" he yelled. "Don't get caught in that boat's wake!"

It is extremely dangerous to pass by a main battleship at this distance, especially for a patrol ship that is a small ship-the water flow around and behind the big ship will greatly interfere with the course of the small ship, and in the violent swing, Any touch will be fatal.

The steam core started roaring again, and the helmsman had already felt the terrifying impact of the big ship—the patrol ship's hull was swaying to one side, and he had to do his best to stabilize the ship in the irregular sea current , and accelerated away from the behemoth that was close at hand.

The helmsman's efforts were on the verge of failure.

The speed of the "Warrior" exceeded expectations, and the turbulent currents around the ship were even more weird, even beyond the experience accumulated by the helmsman over the years - he felt as if there were countless invisible ropes entangled on the bottom of the sea The rudder and bottom of the patrol boat were removed, and the small boat was dragged maliciously close to the old warship like a ghost ship.

The entire ship began to creak and creak uncomfortably, as if being violently torn apart by something invisible.

At the beginning, the patrol ship relied on the sudden turn and the full load of the engine to gain a little distance, and only lasted for a few breaths, and then the whole ship began to approach the stern of the "Warrior" at a speed visible to the naked eye. The people's field of vision zoomed in rapidly, and many swaying, terrifying figures that seemed human but not human appeared near the ship's side of the Warrior, overlooking the boat that was about to capsize with a chilling gaze.

"It's about to hit! It's about to hit!"

Someone exclaimed, and the sailors immediately ran to the nearest railing or handrail to avoid being thrown out of the ship at the moment of impact, but at the moment when the side of the patrol ship touched the stern of the Warrior— Disappeared.

The Warrior was gone, out of plain sight.

Just like a nightmare of waking up with horror, the old main battleship that was covering the sky and the sun just a second ago dissipated in front of the soldiers, leaving only the impression of terror and the emotion of fear trembling in everyone's heart. People on the bridge and deck looked at each other in blank dismay, as if they had just woken up from a big dream and didn't know where they were.

The fog dissipated, and the cool brilliance of the creation of the world sprinkled on the sea surface. The cold sea breeze woke up many people, leaving only a piece of undulating waves on the empty sea surface, as well as fragments of ice floes patrolling in the distance.

The commander of the patrol ship slowly let go of the hand holding the railing, came to the porthole, looked at the sea outside, a subordinate walked up to him, and muttered as if talking to himself: "Collective hallucination? Was that just a moment ago?" phantom?"

"...It's not a hallucination," the commander said in a low voice. He raised his hand and pointed to a guardrail outside the porthole. "Did you see it? The guardrail is broken—we just ran into it."

"Then where did it go now? The previous 'Haiyan' didn't seem to be like this... The Haiyan didn't 'disappear out of thin air' until it was completely smashed. And just now the current around us suddenly changed, and the helmsman couldn't even Control the course..."

The commander didn't speak for a while, and after a long time of contemplation, he slowly said: "Perhaps...we just sailed into some kind of gap—it wasn't the ghost ship that suddenly appeared and disappeared, but ourselves .”

An expression of astonishment and horror appeared on the faces of the subordinates, and then subconsciously looked at the distant sea and the direction of the Frost City-State, before speaking after a few seconds: "Then... have we returned to the real world now? ?”

"...Call the Sea Mist and the Frost Island at the same time," the commander pondered for a short while, and said quickly, "Based on their responses, we can judge our own state—don't get close to any ships that appear in the nearby waters until the situation is uncertain. Boat."

"yes."

...

"They encountered a battleship that sank forty years ago? Then that battleship suddenly disappeared before it was about to collide?" In the captain's room of the Seamist, Tirian leaned on his chair and listened to the first mate Aiden. After the report, he raised his eyebrows, "Now they are still patrolling the waters—because they are not sure if they have returned to the real world?"

"Yes, the commander of that patrol ship seems to have judged that they briefly sailed into an 'abnormal sea area' based on various phenomena when they encountered the 'Warrior' before, and now they are contacting the Sea Fog Fleet and Frost at the same time, trying to use this Make sure the surrounding environment is real," Aiden nodded, and then shrugged, "I think they may be a little scared and nervous."

"...No, this is the correct caution." Tirian shook his head with a serious expression, "We may not like the current Frost Navy, but we must admit that they have indeed defended the city-state for fifty years. ——In terms of experience in confronting extraordinary visions, they are not inferior to us, that commander's judgment should be correct."

Hearing what the captain said, the expression on Aiden's face finally became serious: "So...they really sailed briefly...in an 'abnormal sea area' that may overlap with the real world? And met the Warrior there? "

"Warrior... I still remember that ship. When it was first built, the queen cut the ribbon for it herself," Tirian said with emotion, "Do you remember how it sank?"

"Of course I remember, after all, it was sunk by us," First Officer Aiden nodded, "The ship underwent some transformation after being controlled by the rebels, and was then sent to destroy our 'defector fleet'. A confrontation was sunk in the frosty sea by the ambush you arranged - several rounds of shelling hit the ammunition compartment and the fuel depot successively, and it was almost broken in half."

"Yes, broken in half, but the Patrol Ship saw the Warrior as a whole ship," said Tirian, "so it's obvious—a fake like the Petrel."

"Frost has been looking for the source of those 'fakes', because they always seem to 'appear out of thin air'..." Aiden thought thoughtfully, "Could it be... a hidden overlapping space?"

"Frost should receive the news soon, and the smart people among them will analyze that possibility. As for us, we don't have to worry about them—we have our own tasks."

"Would you like to report this to the old captain?"

"Of course, he's been waiting for my news," said Tirian, pointing outside, "Go out first, close the door, and don't let anyone in."

"Yes, Captain."

...

"There is a new report from Tirian."

Frost City, located in the temporary residence on Oak Street, Duncan said to Morris and Vanna who were sitting opposite him.

Beside him, Nina was reading a history book with relish, while Shirley, who had been wandering outside with him until midnight, was already staggering sleepily.

"New situation?" Morris immediately adjusted his sitting posture, "An accident at sea?"

"A Frost patrol ship encountered a naval warship that sank forty years ago in the southwestern waters. It was suspected to be a 'fake' like the Haiyan, but no battle broke out between the two sides-after a slight collision, the 'fake' The battleship then disappeared in front of the patrol ship out of thin air. Now it is uncertain whether another new counterfeit suddenly appeared on the sea, or the patrol ship sailed into an abnormal sea area parallel to the real world for a short time——Second more likely."

"...Abnormal sea area parallel to the real world..." Morris analyzed this sentence, his expression gradually became solemn, and he raised his head, "This seems to confirm your discovery tonight..."

"Yes, another Frost in the mirror - if all the fakes, even those cultist lairs, are hidden in a 'mirror image', that would explain why the whole city couldn't be found The source of the pollution," Duncan said slowly, "there is also the 'crow' who once disappeared and returned out of thin air, a large number of replicants of unknown origin in the city-state, and the disappearance of some people... can all be explained."

Morris and Fan Na looked at each other, and they saw the same seriousness in each other's eyes.

"... I can deal with ordinary heretics and demons. No matter how strong the enemy is, I can always mobilize more manpower and firepower to deal with it, but the enemy in the mirror..." Fan Na frowned, looking a little headache, " I couldn't think of a solution for a moment... I couldn't even think of how those heretics did it."

"If this is also the authority of the Lord Youshen, then His power has obviously not only spread from the deep sea to the surface of the sea, but also spread on a large scale. This is no longer a 'small trouble' movement like making a few copies. It is." Morris also said.

The two "professionals" seemed to be in distress, and Duncan smiled when he saw this: "Actually, I have already cast a fire on the opposite side of the mirror."

Morris \u0026 Vanna: "...huh?"