Deep Sea Embers

Shirley left with Agou, who was still a little uneasy, and Fanna and Morris also left. The captain's cabin was quiet, leaving only Duncan, Alice, and the dozing pigeon.

Alice was cleaning the furnishings and windows in the room, while Duncan sat behind the table, lost in long thought.

A creaking sound came from the table, and the goat's head slowly turned to Duncan: "Are you still thinking about the God of Wisdom, Raheem?"

"It's not the God of Wisdom—it's the gods," Duncan leaned back on the chair with a thoughtful expression on his face, "the gods... What kind of connection is there between them and this world?"

"Who knows? The classics of each sect describe them as the shapers and protectors of the earthly order, but many cultists hold the opposite view. They believe that the gods distorted the world and even stole the credit of Genesis. There is another novel explanation for what Rees saw in the "Book of Blasphemy". Might have all the right parts..."

The goat's head was chattering, and finally shook his head.

"But if you want to ask my opinion, then my opinion is...they don't seem to be of much use. They can neither make the world better nor bring any bad things."

"But for most ordinary people in this world, the protection of the gods does exist," Duncan said casually, "this protection has allowed most mortals to survive."

"Yes, alive—a way of maintaining the status quo," Goat Head said slowly, "just like the state of frost in the past fifty years, before the balance is broken, no one knows how much disaster has accumulated under the balance shadows, but at least everyone is still alive."

Duncan was noncommittal about the evaluation of the goat's head. He just thought for a while before opening his mouth thoughtfully: "As soon as Ah Gou thought about it, he came into Raheem's sight, and there are many famous "received by God" For example, the parties involved are suddenly watched in daily life, and have established a connection with the four gods... So can it be considered that: the four gods have established a set of "monitoring" or "monitoring" of all living beings in the world? Scanning' system? They confirm the operating status of the real world by perceiving certain specific nodes... Does this mean that their interference and perception of the present world are actually indirect and limited?"

"... Those orthodox sects won't like your way of describing it. It sounds like you are studying some kind of machine, and you don't have the slightest respect for the gods."

"Awe is the farthest distance from 'understanding'. I don't want to be in awe of them, I just want to understand them," Duncan said lightly, "After all, we have helped them deal with the mess twice."

...

Footsteps sounded in the long corridors of the cathedral, and the rhythmic echo seemed to strike the time deposited in this ancient building.

Agatha in a black dress walked towards the depths of the sanctuary. She did not bring any entourage with her, only her own shadow accompanied the body that had lost its vitality but was still moving. In the alcoves on both sides of the corridor, gas The light from the lamp and the candlestick intertwined, making the shadow cast on the ground dim and wobbly.

After returning to his room and closing the door, the archbishop and gatekeeper, who had been calm and calm all the way, seemed to relax suddenly, leaned back on the door panel, and let out a long sigh.

She no longer needs to breathe, but "sigh" is a manifestation of human nature, and she is still used to using this method as a "symbol" for herself to relax.

After all, she didn't want to make herself... too much like a corpse.

The order of the cathedral has been restored, and the chapels in various parts of the city-state are gradually getting back on track. The tense mood in the city continues, but after the intervention of the Sea Fog Fleet, the chaos in various places—especially the security cases— has been quickly suppressed.

On the other hand, although the distribution of supplies and the aftermath of the victims are still a mess, and the serious shortage of manpower still plagues every department, after the sea fog fleet entered the city, they "magically" came from every corner of the city-state They found a large number of professionals with administrative capabilities or understanding of the city-state’s grassroots operations, and arranged these people into the city hall. According to the feedback from the city hall, those people who were “recommended” by the sea fog fleet are doing amazing things. It only takes a few more days to get familiar with and take over the work of various departments, and the problem of insufficient manpower everywhere will be greatly alleviated.

At the same time, the public opinion preparations required for the Sea Fog Fleet to enter the city and the personal propaganda work against General Tirian Abu Nomar are also advancing, and the reorganization and reorganization of the city-state's remaining navy and the Sea Fog Fleet have also begun.

The new consul has not yet been officially inaugurated - but the city has fallen under his control with alarming speed.

This was once a development that the officials of the Frost Authority would have conceived in their nightmares, but for Frost now... this is a good thing.

Agatha could finally relax a little bit.

The body won't tire, but her spirit still needs to breathe.

After leaning against the door for a few minutes, Agatha shook her head, and slowly came to her dressing table, sat down to rest.

She was reflected in the mirror of the dressing table.

The feeling of being watched made Agatha suddenly raise her head.

There was no one else in the room, and she didn't feel any strange breath.

Yet that feeling of being watched is by no means an illusion.

The blindfolded official raised her head, carefully feeling any disturbance around her, feeling the flow of breath, her "gaze" slowly swept around, and then swept over the mirror on the dressing table.

The inanimate furnishings in the room showed various blurred and dim outlines in her vision, exuding a cold aura like a tomb.

However, in the next second, the feeling of being watched disappeared.

The figure in the mirror looked away.

Agatha in front of the dressing table stopped suddenly, but she seemed to have noticed something. After a short hesitation, she slowly raised her arm and stretched out her hand towards the mirror in front of her.

A cold and hard touch came, it was a layer of lifeless glass.

The figure in the mirror hesitated, and after hesitating for an unknown amount of time, she raised her arm and pointed her fingers over.

The feeling of touching the fingertips came suddenly, accompanied by a little temperature in the middle.

In the next instant, a new light and shadow appeared in Agatha's chaotic and dark field of vision——in the lifeless mirror, a hazy silhouette emanating from a shimmer suddenly appeared.

They faced each other quietly through the mirror, and the room fell into a brief silence.

After a long time, Agatha in front of the mirror suddenly broke the silence: "Are you there?"

There was a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"Well," a voice seemed to penetrate directly into her mind, "I am here."

"When... did you show up?"

"The key," said the voice in Agatha's head calmly, "I have been here since you got that key."

Agatha didn't speak for a while.

This feels very... weird, because she can clearly realize that the voice in her head is her own voice, and she can even feel a little emotion revealed by that voice, but she can clearly realize that, What I am talking to is another individual—it is not an illusion in my mind, it is not a personality formed by schizophrenia, and it is not some kind of "appendage" of myself.

Incredible.

"Unbelievable," she said in the mirror, "if I have to say, the symptoms are a bit like schizophrenia? But obviously not..."

"No matter how clever a psychiatrist is, I'm afraid they won't be able to solve this problem."

"Stop giving trouble to the psychiatrists in the city-state—they've been all trouble lately."

Agatha raised her hand suddenly and rubbed the space between her brows.

This feeling of talking with "another self" is unprecedented. During the conversation...she always has the illusion that she gradually can't tell which one is her "self". Although there is no cognitive confusion in fact, she can't help it Stop and collect your thoughts.

After a while, she raised her head and "looked" at herself in the mirror.

"That key... kept your soul? And then used it as a medium to send you to mine..."

She was a little stuck when it came to this, as if she didn't know how to describe her state at the moment.

The shadow in front of me... Is it in my mind, or in my perception, or... just a psychological projection?

"I don't know," came the voice in my head, "I don't know if I have a soul, I don't know the details of this process, and I don't know how the key achieves all of this—my consciousness has been going on for a long time. In a chaotic state, it’s only been two days since I woke up.”

Afterwards, the voice hesitated for a moment, and continued after a few seconds: "It seems that the key should have the power to store and transfer memories, but probably only the Frost Queen herself knows all its secrets."

"The Frost Queen..." Agatha muttered, as if talking to herself, "It seems that this situation needs to be told to the captain..."

"...But in theory, we should report to the headquarters of the Deathly Hallows first." Agatha in the mirror reminded.

Agatha in front of the mirror was slightly taken aback when she heard the words, her expression changed, and she hesitated to speak: "It seems...it is indeed the case. But the Death Temple is currently cruising at the farthest edge of civilization, and I'm afraid there may not be time Focus on this 'private event'."

Speaking of this, she paused and looked up in the mirror.

"what you think?"

Agatha in the mirror thought for a moment.

Thoughts and memories flow slowly between them, and cognition and emotion are reflected on both sides of the mirror.

A faint green fire appeared in Agatha's eyes in the mirror.

"I also feel that the captain should be told - about the mirror, he is obviously very experienced."