Deep Sea Embers

Frost, the southern port, and the confidential facilities deep underground, irrelevant personnel have evacuated the scene, and Agatha and Tirian are waiting for Duncan's arrival.

And behind them, there is the huge machine secretly built by the former city hall—the oval pressure chamber is firmly fixed between the beams by steel cables, and the light shines from the ceiling, shining on the metal of the submersible. On the shell, the latter glowed with a cold and silent glow.

Silence enveloped the hall, and after a tense wait lasted for a moment, Agatha suddenly raised her head, breaking the silence with an ethereal and hoarse voice like a ghost: "He is here."

After the words fell, she opened her hands in the air, and a blazing green flame rose from the scars and cracks all over her body. Its posture was like embracing a round of the sun. In front of Agatha, a dark green flame suddenly appeared It burned in the air, and then condensed into a rotating door of flames. Ai in the form of a skeleton flew out of the door first, and then, a burly figure in a black coat and wrapped in bandages walked out of the door.

Tirian bowed to the figure in salute, and at the same time stepped back half a step to the side: "Father."

Agatha put her hands away, and at the same time restrained the flames on her body, and lowered her head slightly with her hands folded in front of her chest in prayer: "Sorry, I still need you to come in person."

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, this avatar has nothing to do. It is more efficient to come to see the scene in person than to listen to the report." Duncan waved his hand, passed Tirian and Agatha, and his eyes fell on the one behind them. On the huge machine, "...is that it?"

"Yes," Agatha nodded lightly, "The legacy left by Consul Winston—maybe it also embodies the hard work of other former consuls. According to the current inspection conclusion, this submersible is close to completion, and In good shape."

Duncan gave a soft "um", but didn't continue to speak. He just stood there quietly, as if watching a frozen history, without saying a word for a long time.

The dusty history is also watching him, and the time embodies the ambitions and lonely pursuits that are unknown today. Under the interlaced lights, in this almost dusty hall, all the fear and courage of mortals are forged in this cold in the steel.

Duncan could almost hear the obsession and roar cast in the steel.

He took a few steps forward, came to the edge of the guardrail, stretched out his hand to touch the cold and hard shell of the submersible, and in the depths of his lifeless body... as if there was a faint throbbing, and then, this feeling Fleeting.

But this fleeting feeling still gave Duncan a kind of familiarity, he recalled, and found the source of this familiarity:

That was when he first set foot on the surface of Purland and stood in front of Nina as "Uncle Duncan", and Nina came running with a smile on her face and opened her hands to him; I found the silver brooch on the ship, and heard the name "Lucrecia" from other people - at that time, the tiny nostalgia and memories surged from the bottom of my heart, as if it survived to the end in a body, but A little bit of humanity that can never be completely dissipated.

Duncan withdrew his arm, lowered his head and looked at his palm thoughtfully, as if he was staring at the former owner of this body. After a long time, he said softly: "Ah, you know about this..."

Tirian's voice came from the side: "Father? What did you say?"

"Nothing," Duncan turned around. "Is this submersible usable now?"

"This..." Tirian said with a hint of embarrassment in his tone, "We have carefully checked the facilities here and the state of the submersible. The main structure of the submersible itself is intact, but there are two problems. The first is this It seems that all the original technicians of the facility have been sacrificed, and the materials and equipment left in the outer hall have been seriously damaged. This problem is easy to solve. Some 'old guys' from the Sea Fog Fleet should be able to handle this thing—after all, it It was built based on the blueprint left by the Frost Queen, and the second problem is more troublesome..."

Tirian paused when he said this, and organized his language before continuing: "According to the preliminary inspection, we found that this submersible is very different from the one used in the past. It does not actually rely on the air pump on the surface, but uses the built-in oxygen. bottle for oxygen supply, but we only found the place to install the oxygen bottle, but not the corresponding gas bottle—maybe this part has not been manufactured yet, which is why Ms. Agatha said it was 'close to completion' just now. It may take a long time to temporarily manufacture an oxygen supply system suitable for this submersible."

Duncan turned his head and gave Tirian a quiet look.

Tirian was a little nervous: "Father?"

"I don't need to breathe," Duncan said, looking into Tyrian's eyes. "Is there a problem now?"

Tirian: "..."

The new Frost Consul was stunned for a moment, and then he suddenly realized that an embarrassment appeared on his face, and then he nodded hurriedly: "Ah, then there is no problem..."

"The entire Sea Fog Fleet can't find a few who can breathe, but you yourself are entangled in this issue. It seems that the recent incidents have really made you dizzy." Duncan shook his head, "Okay, since there is no The problem is to prepare as soon as possible, and make this submersible ready in the shortest possible time, this is one of the things I care about most in Frost."

Tirian straightened his body in an instant. Even though he hadn't heard an order from his father for a century, he still tensed his muscles reflexively: "Yes! Father!"

Then Tirian departed—to complete his father's orders as quickly as possible.

Duncan turned around and observed the strange-looking diving equipment for a while, and then noticed that Agatha was still standing there, and looked... a bit hesitant to speak.

Duncan turned his head and glanced at Agatha and her shadow on the ground beside him, then he nodded: "You can speak now, now we are the only ones here—tell me, what's the situation? Which of you will speak first?"

Agatha was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly realized: "You... have already found out?"

"There are two shadows in the firelight. Although one of them is trying to hide it, the flames on your body are from me. This kind of concealment seems to me a bit... clumsy," Duncan turned around, his eyes full of With a little gentleness, "I found out when I just came here, but you didn't want to say it just now, so I didn't ask."

"I just think that this matter should not be known to General Tirian for the time being."

As Agatha said, she slowly took two steps to the side.

Her shadow stayed where it was.

The next second, the shadow left on the ground suddenly shook, and then, a vague and illusory figure who could vaguely see the former gatekeeper's attire stood up from the shadow, and slightly bent towards Duncan. At the waist, a hoarse voice almost identical to Agatha's voice sounded: "Nice to meet you, Duncan...Captain."

"This should be the first time I've seen you," Duncan looked at the blurred and shaking phantom with a hint of surprise, and after a few seconds of curiosity, he suddenly raised his head to look at Agatha not far away, "Has she always been this vague?"

"When in the mirror, it will be very clear, but there is no mirror here," Agatha immediately explained, "Also, according to our tests, 'she' also becomes blurred when she feels tense, and the more tense, the more blurred , now... she is a little nervous in front of you."

"...It's amazing," Duncan felt more and more unbelievable. He looked at the phantom, and even though he had discovered the existence of the other party just now, he couldn't help being surprised at the moment, "I thought you had disappeared into the darkness——Agatha Read the memory that remained when you dissipated."

"I did dissipate for a while, but eventually returned to this world," said the hazy shadow, "I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain this process, when I realized my existence again, I was already a mirror The reflection in the..."

Agatha on the side immediately said: "We suspect that it has something to do with the 'key', but there is no evidence."

"key?"

"That brass key," Agatha nodded, "according to the vague impression of 'she', 'she' reappeared in this world when I got that brass key— Maybe that key not only has the power to store information, but also can preserve memory, personality and even soul to a certain extent. When the conditions are right, the preserved memory and soul can be 'reshaped' in some form..."

Duncan listened quietly, and did not speak immediately.

The key left by Frost Queen Leigh Nora is now on the Lost Home, in the hands of his "main body". Out of prudence, he has not tried to use that key on Alice until now, but Now it seems... this caution may be correct!

Agatha touched the key, and the "fake Agatha" who also held the key returned to this world. What if the key is used on Alice? what happens?

That key...would it be possible to preserve the memory, or even the soul, of the Frost Queen, Leh Nora?

Frost consuls of all ages were constantly affected by the brass key in the process of contacting it. They passively learned the truth of the Qianyuan plan, passively took over the "inheritance" of the Frost Queen, and even interfered with themselves by the Queen's will. All along, this "influence" has been simply and roughly interpreted as "the curse of the Frost Queen", and what happened to Agatha now... made Duncan realize the possibility behind the key.

Reminiscent of the identical appearance of Alice and the Frost Queen, this possibility points to a more disturbing direction-the doll is a container, and the key stores the soul, and the combination of the two is the Frost Queen. Queen of Frost.

Duncan remained silent, but sighed softly in his heart.

He understood why Agatha didn't mention this matter in front of Tirian just now.

But then, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Alice as a puppet, and the brass key "capable of storing souls"...is it really the means of resurrecting the Frost Queen? Things can be so simple?