Deep Sea Embers

"According to the current speed, we will arrive in the waters around Qingfeng Harbor in one day—but this is indicated by the 'sea chart'. As for whether the Lost Homeland is in this sea area, it needs to be confirmed. After all... This thing is too unbelievable.”

There was seriousness and hesitation in the tone of the goat's head, and since Duncan knew this guy, he had rarely heard it react like this.

There is no doubt that what happened to the Lost Homeland at this moment has completely exceeded the experience of this "first mate".

Duncan supported the edge of the nautical table with both hands, looking solemnly at the slowly rippling fog on the chart, and between the phantom of the Lost Country and the northern route, there was a large piece of fog floating at the moment—the It was the route that the Lost Country was supposed to pass, but it was still shrouded in fog.

"...During the twelve hours when the sun went out, we 'jumped' the entire voyage from the northern sea route to the southern waters, and even you don't know how all of this happened," Duncan raised his eyes, Looking at the goat's head on the edge of the table, "But the White Oak, which was also in the Infinity Sea during the sun-extinguishing period, did not encounter this phenomenon-they still generally maintained the correct navigation path."

"...I don't know how to explain this, Captain," Goat Head shook his head slightly, looking embarrassed, "Although both the Lost Country and the White Oak have been baptized by your flames, the distance between the two ships The difference is too great, and any difference in detail may be the cause of this phenomenon..."

Duncan didn't speak for a while, but pondered for more than ten seconds with a solemn face, and then he seemed to suddenly think of something and broke the silence: "When did the sea chart change?"

This time the goat's head replied very quickly: "Just now, when the sun was lit up again."

"Are you sure?" Duncan knew that the other party would not lie to him, but he still asked subconsciously.

"OK," the goat shook his head up and down, "I have been paying attention to all the things related to 'navigation', including the movement of the sea chart. During the time when the sun went out, the sea chart did not change at all, as if we had been standing still in the original place. land, and after the sun was re-lit, the sea chart began to show some... chaos, just like the chaos after floating from the spirit world to the real world, I thought it was just self-calibration, but I didn't expect it to re- When it stabilizes, it will show that the Lost Home has arrived near Qingfeng Harbor..."

Duncan listened carefully to Goat's Head's narration, and suddenly frowned: "In other words, this 'jump' most likely happened at the moment when the sun re-ignited..."

The goat head nodded slowly.

The entire captain's room fell into silence for a while.

Duncan didn't know what the goat's head was thinking at this moment, he only knew that his mind was full of chaotic guesses and countless questions, and all these questions seemed to revolve around a core: in the process of the sun going out and re-igniting , What happened to the boundless sea?

At first, he only thought it was a temporary darkness, just like before the sun rose more than ten minutes late. During that late sunrise, except for some people who noticed it felt nervous and panicked, the whole world seemed completely Not affected.

But soon, he discovered that the extinction of the sun had caused many things that were not right—including the interruption of communication between various city-states, and the strange "border" phenomenon observed by the White Oak.

But now, after the sun re-ignited, he discovered that the strange impact of this incident was far more than that—the entire Lost Homeland "teleported" for two-thirds of the distance, and came directly to the vicinity of Lightwind Harbor. and reported that the other city-states had no idea that the sun had gone out...

It seems that when the sun switches between "turning off" and "turning on", the whole world briefly presents a strange "appearance", with various tearing violations, and the ship Lost Homeland The "ghost ship" walking on the edge of reality briefly and soberly crossed the torn "crack".

A terrifying thought suddenly popped up in Duncan's mind—

What is the function of the sun?

Is it just to provide light and heat while suppressing the "supernatural erosion" in this world? Is it suppressing the extraordinary erosion in this world...or the world itself?

"...Captain," the voice of the goat's head suddenly came from the side, interrupting Duncan's contemplation, "what are we going to do next? If the Lost Country has really arrived near Lightwind Harbor...should I contact Lu Miss Cressia?"

"...Confirm the surrounding situation first, and don't approach the city-state rashly," Duncan thought for a while, then couldn't help but think of his previous experience in Purland and Frost, and subconsciously shook his head, "Let the Lost Country hide in the shadows and fog, Contact Lucrezia when the time is right."

The goat's head immediately lowered: "Yes, Captain."

Duncan hummed, then walked to the oval mirror in the corner of the room, reached out and tapped the mirror lightly.

A gloomy light and shadow floated in the mirror, and in the blink of an eye, Agatha dressed as a female adventurer appeared in front of him.

"I didn't expect to have such an incredible experience on the first voyage with you," Agatha sighed, "As you said, I will set off with the Lost Country, and I will witness all the unbelievable things in this world. things—my imagination before departure was still too conservative.”

"Feeling overly stimulated?"

"Fortunately, thanks to the fact that I don't have a heart that is beating at every turn," Agatha smiled. "I need to keep an eye on the changes in the spirit world, right?"

"The spirit world, and those 'reflections' that wander between the spirit world and the real world, if possible, let's pay attention to the situation below the sea surface," Duncan said, "I always feel... , The follow-up impact of this matter is not over, it is always good to be cautious."

"Understood." Agatha put away her smile and nodded solemnly, but then added, "Ah, according to the ship's rules, it should be said--yes, captain!"

The figure in the mirror gradually dissipated.

Duncan still looked solemn, meditating quietly in front of the mirror.

...

The flying colorful papers hovered over the street, passed through the gaps between the high and low roofs and the buildings, and finally flew into a building near the city-state university, and flew into the elf university scholar Taran Ayer's house. Research room.

Lucrezia's figure condensed from the colored paper.

The next second, the "Sea Witch" frowned suspiciously.

The figure of the Elven University scholar could not be seen in the research room.

"...Could it be that you're still trapped on the roof?" Lucrezia couldn't help muttering, and turned her head to look at the window that was still open not far away.

But just when she was about to fly up to the roof to check if the elf university student was still trapped on it, a sound of slightly flustered footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside, interrupting her movements .

Listening to the movement in the corridor, Lucrezia casually moved towards the door not far away.

With a "bang", the door opened suddenly, and then a shadow rushed towards the corridor along the direction of Lucrezia's finger, and there was a short scream and falling sound outside, and a moment later, a The apprentice who was dancing and desperately trying to stand up was "invited" into the room.

The apprentice came in lying down, and it looked as if he was "sliding" into the room at a height of about ten centimeters from the ground, but when he entered the room and stopped, the things that "sent" him into the room came from He swarmed out from under him - countless toy soldiers emerged from under the apprentice, and quickly formed a team on the adjacent floor, and then walked to the sound of drummers and trumpeters , neatly and quickly slipped back into the shadow beside Lucrezia.

The apprentice who was "invited" into the room looked at the running toy soldiers on the floor in horror, and then he noticed the soldiers and the owner of the shadow. He raised his head and glanced at Lucrezia who was standing by the window , and finally realized who this vaguely familiar lady was.

"Witch... Ah, Ms. Lucrecia!" The apprentice hurriedly stood up and greeted this great figure shrouded in many legends and auras, "Good afternoon..."

While speaking, the apprentice couldn't help but suddenly twisted his body - a small toy soldier crawled out of his pocket, fell to the ground and fell to pieces, but then the toy soldier regrouped and quickly He turned over and ran to his mistress, and slipped back into the shadows.

Lucrezia didn't care about the panicked disrespect of the young apprentice in front of her and the toy soldier who fell behind, but asked straight to the point: "I came to find your teacher, where did he go?"

"I'm going to look for him too," the apprentice swallowed, and quickly replied to the legendary "witch" who was "indifferent and withdrawn, good at cursing, and as capricious as the sea", "Someone saw him when the sun went out." I went to the Tower of Flowing Clouds, from... from the roof of the university..."

Lucrezia raised her eyebrows: "From the roof of the university?"

"Yes... yes, someone saw it, he seemed to be in a hurry... and he hasn't come back yet, I'm worried that something happened to him..."

"He has an accident, and he has a hundred years of frozen shoulder and cervical spondylosis to climb the roof of the university building-even as an elf, he shouldn't challenge this extreme sport," Lucrecia said casually, and immediately Then he waved his hand to the young apprentice, "I'll go and check his situation—by the way, what's your name?"

The apprentice hurriedly straightened his body: "Jo... Joshua Dino."

"Okay, I will tell your teacher and deduct three points from your study style assessment."

Joshua was stunned for a moment: "Why?"

Lucrezia's figure has already turned into colorful pieces of paper flying in all directions, and flew out of the window in a whirl, leaving only one sentence indistinctly passed into the ears of the young apprentice——

"...running is not allowed in the research building."