Deep Sea Embers

Wrapped in pale dust and smoke, the whirlwind gradually disappeared from Duncan's vision.

Agatha left.

"I always feel that... she has changed a lot compared to before," Fanna broke her silence until the last wisp of gray wind disappeared into the air, "especially those words she said at the end—it was by no means like It's what the former 'gatekeepers' would have said."

"Experience will change a person, especially everything she has experienced," Duncan said lightly, "On the other hand, the role she now assumes is not just a 'gatekeeper', which is destined for her to have changed."

Fan Na was a little curious: "You don't seem to be worried?"

"Because she hasn't wavered—people who have fully realized it will be more determined," Duncan said casually, "She is rational, and she won't take any paranoid or even wrong paths because of the pressure of the city-state's survival. Her last few words The words may not be so pious, but at least they are sober."

Fan Na didn't respond for a while, but Duncan turned his head and looked at the young judge meaningfully: "It's not Agatha that you're worried about, is it?"

"...My faith does not allow me to lie." After a short silence, Fan Na finally sighed softly, "Yes, I am worried about my state. From Agatha, I see the same wavering of faith , The self who behaved rebelliously."

Duncan didn't speak, just quietly waiting for the other party to continue talking.

"...I used to think that all the problems could be solved head-on by maintaining a firm belief and an unflinching fighting spirit. The gods have determined the order of the world's operation, and we are like gears, and we can operate within the framework with peace of mind. But the reality Yes... the order is as fragile as the foam in the sea. Simple faith and fighting spirit cannot save our city-state. Our understanding of the world that we have built for a long time is being tested...

"The 'sun' is not eternal, and the 'boiling gold' that supports the development of modern civilization may be the product of ancient gods. The gods can't always protect the city-state. Under the deep sea is an unknown darkness that cannot be described and explained by any religious scriptures. ——Your appearance has subverted my understanding of the subspace in the past twenty years."

"The last one, I suggest that you still have reservations - you are right about the other ones," Duncan shook his head, and said unhurriedly, "Humans' cognition of the world is inherently one-sided. At the beginning, we should not think that there is a set of simple and eternal "logic" that can roughly explain everything in the world. Perhaps this simple and eternal "truth" itself exists, but it is by no means available to human beings at this stage. If we understand something, then on this basis, 'the subversion of the world view' should be an indispensable link in the progress of civilization."

Listening to Duncan's words, Fan Na subconsciously fell into thinking, her expression gradually became complicated, and after a while, she said as if she was talking to herself: "Then where are the gods?"

"I don't know, because I haven't dealt with them directly, maybe I have seen them from a distance, but that is not enough for me to make a conclusion about them," Duncan said frankly, "But I admit two things First, the four gods do exist in this world, at least as an objective individual, and second... They have sheltered and guided the civilized world to a certain extent so far. "

The expression on Fan Na's face was a bit astonished for a moment, because in her more than 20 years of life so far, this is the first time she heard someone use this kind of method that does not contain any kind of good, evil and reverence, like judging objects. Evaluating the four gods—this evaluation method is without awe, it can be called arrogant, but when an existence returned from the subspace uttered them, Fan Na only felt that...

These words are cold and precise, like some kind of ruler to measure the world.

At this moment, Duncan's voice interrupted Fan Na's thinking: "Fan Na, don't think about it too much, you still believe in Ge Mona, don't you?"

"Yes, my belief is the same." Fan Na said immediately.

"That's right, your beliefs are the same, and Agatha still believes in Bartok—and your respective gods have not abandoned you because of your changes in thinking, and their blessings are still the same, which shows that your thinking at the moment is also different. Did not deviate from them," Duncan said seriously, "Thinking does not necessarily lead to heresy, and the same is true for questioning. After thinking and questioning, you still choose to believe. This is a true believer——

"Keep an appropriate and healthy belief, and at the same time maintain an appropriate and healthy doubt, try to understand the world, accept that it is not the same as you imagined, accept the narrowness and bias of your own cognition, and accept your own wavering - to say a word To be honest, Gomona can accept you praying to Him on the Lost Home, what else can you not accept?"

Fan Na was startled, but then raised her head subconsciously, looked towards the direction of the upper city, and looked towards the silent cathedral at the highest point of Frost.

Agatha must have returned to the temple through "Grey Wind" at this moment - she will return to her prayer room, and then continue to think about the cooperation with "Shadow of Warp" in front of Bartok's icon ? Will she continue to ponder the future of the city-state and conclude that "to prevent survival is heresy, and otherwise everything is allowed"?

After a long time, she withdrew her gaze from far away and muttered to herself: "...the Lord doesn't care?"

"I don't know, but if it's me, I don't care," Duncan shrugged, "And from the current indications, the God of Death and the Goddess of Storms really don't care—what they care about may be something else. "

Fan Na was lost in thought, and Morris, who was still silent at the side, couldn't help sighing softly: "I didn't expect you to have such deep thinking in the field of belief... I thought you were not interested in these things."

"How come, I've always been interested in any theory that tries to explain the world," Duncan said with a serious expression. "For example, now, I'm going to learn about another 'faith' that tries to explain the world."

Seeing the blank expressions on the faces of Fanna and Morris (except for Alice, she didn't understand), Duncan smiled: "Don't worry about things in the city-state for the time being, and it's time to read the book of 'Profanity' next." Book' up."

...

Shirley fell asleep--while writing the fourth oral math card.

The sound of the chain shaking slightly sounded in the cabin. Agou cautiously supported the black chain next to him with one paw. While standing up his upper body, he held the blanket in his mouth and put it on Xue Li, and then used the other paw to pull it at will. Tap the mental arithmetic cards on the table a few times to keep them from getting wet with Shirley's saliva.

When tidying up, Ah Gou glanced at the cards full of simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and his movements paused slightly: "...how many of them are correct?"

It muttered something in surprise, turned its head subconsciously, and saw Xue Li adjusted her prone position again in her sleep, muttering vaguely in sleep, and a thin line of glistening saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth.

"...Let's say I did it seriously."

Agou shook his head and lay down again. Then he collected himself, seemed to be hesitant and weighed it up, and then stretched out his paws, and pulled a book from the pile of books that belonged to him on the floor.

The cover of the book is unremarkable, just a paperback textbook that can be bought in any city-state, with the words "Algebraic Computation" printed on it.

Agou lowered his head, and the bloody red eyes flickered on and off. He quietly stared at the book in front of his paws, and slowly opened its cover after a long time.

But then, it suddenly raised its head and quickly looked around the room.

Everything on the bookshelves stacked with books is normal, and there is peace in the dark corner of the room. The sunlight is pouring into the room through the window, and the sound of the waves outside the window is soft and soothing.

"...Okay, the environment is safe, the interference factors are excluded, the book type is still mathematics...try again...the third test."

Agou grunted, finally lowered his head, and began to concentrate on reading the contents of the book.

Understand those formulas, memorize those symbols, deduce those numbers, and try to understand the operation of the world from the knowledge and wisdom of the predecessors.

It was difficult at first, because there were always some distracting thoughts and concerns about the surrounding environment that interfered with the thinking process, but soon, Dog's thoughts calmed down - as always, mathematics always helps him to focus and let him Get lost in thought.

Symbols and numbers are combined in the mind, and the cognition of the world gradually fills the mind. Agou is concentrating on learning, and gradually, it feels as if a...

school buddy.

someone is reading with it;

who is thinking with it;

There are beings watching here curiously, a glance without good or evil.

Agou tilted his head.

Under the white book paper, in the gaps between the words, in the city of knowledge outlined by symbols and lines, a red light source is surrounded by countless flickering, matrix-like light spots, watching it like eyes.

Agou was stunned.

It also looked at the red light.

It couldn't help but stare at the red light.

It even felt that it was moving forward——actively approaching the flickering matrix of light dots.

However, this feeling only appeared for a moment.

In the next second, a sudden force from the symbiotic chain "pulls" it back, making it free from the illusion of being attracted.

"Fuck..."

Agou suddenly let out an exclamation, waking up from the short-lived phantom, and the next second, it instinctively looked at the black chain around its neck.

At the last moment, it was the force from the chain that pulled it back—Shirley, obviously.

However, the chains still fell loosely on the ground, not taut at all.

At the other end of the chain was Shirley who was still lying on the table and sleeping in the dark.

She never woke up.