Deep Sea Embers

Sarah Meyer didn't care about his breakfast now.

This former legendary explorer who has experienced countless strange phenomena in the boundless sea, faced many challenges of corruption and death, and carved out a city-state at the end of the storm rarely showed an uneasy expression. He sat on his seat. His brows were furrowed, and a long-lost shadow of uneasiness was spreading in his heart.

He is familiar with this feeling of uneasiness - this is the warning that his intuition sends to himself when a huge and strange danger that is difficult for human intelligence to understand and confront is gradually approaching.

He did not doubt Lucretia's story.

Because this is not the first time he has dealt with this "sea witch" - although there are countless ocean captains and frontier explorers who regard this witch as one of the shadows on the endless sea, and are extremely aware of her weird temperament and dangerous power. Fearful, but Sarah Meir knew very well that the "Sea Witch" was ultimately on the side of mortals.

The restaurant was quiet for a long time, and Sarah Mel finally ended his contemplation. He raised his head: "So far, no one has reported anything strange last night - whether it is the local elven residents or the alien sojourners. No one noticed the dream you mentioned."

"According to what my father saw, the abnormalities in the neighborhoods were very obvious and large-scale. If some urban areas are still in a normal state, then it is impossible for residents in those 'normal' urban areas not to notice the abnormalities in neighboring blocks. situation, so the only explanation is that last night... the entire Qingfeng Port fell into a dream."

Lucretia's last words made Sarah Meyer feel an indescribable chill, but reason still made him subconsciously think about the logical inconsistencies in all this: "You mentioned that reality The urban buildings in the world were once covered or even parasitized by the 'eroding entities' that spread out from the dream. There were huge plants that penetrated the buildings and roads? Didn't this leave any traces?"

"No trace was left, and reality returned to its original state before the sun rose."

Sarah Mel listened, frowning and remaining silent, seeming to be lost in thought again.

"What did you think of?" Lucretia asked curiously.

"...Perhaps I should send someone to check the readings of gas meters and electric meters in the city, as well as the operation of factories at night," Sarah Meyer said while thinking, "The city-state is not static at night. Many round-the-clock functions ensure the operation of the city, such as the three pillars of gas, electricity and steam, which have corresponding night monitoring and patrol personnel...

"So this raises a question: Where did these people go when the dream came? What was the state of the machines they were supposed to control? In addition, there are also vigil scholars from various colleges, many of whom need to record periodically My working status..."

Sarah Mel said, stopped to think for a moment, and then continued: "In addition, we must also find a way to determine the extent of the coverage of this anomaly, whether it is limited to the main island of Qingfeng Port, or whether it has spread to the patrols in the offshore waters. The fleet has even spread to the 'Falling Object'..."

As the consul spoke, he stood up from behind the table and walked around the table, stopping from time to time to think seriously.

He seemed to have completely forgotten that there was a "sea witch" on the scene.

Lucretia was not surprised by this. She knew that the consul was first an outstanding adventurer (although not as good as his father) before becoming the ruler of the city-state, and an outstanding adventurer was Know how to deal with all kinds of extraordinary phenomena.

Light Wind Port can prosper in the place closest to the border sea to this day. There is no doubt about the ability of this governor.

The things her father told her have been finished - Lucretia stood up without disturbing Mr. Archon, who was already deep in thought. She glanced at the table in front of her, picked up an unopened bottle of mulled wine, and then The figure suddenly turned into flying pieces of colored paper, swirling across the roof and disappearing into the room.

After another while, Sarah Meyer suddenly reacted, turned around and said hurriedly: "Ah, I'm sorry, I was distracted, Ms. Lucretia, would you like to stay for something to eat..."

He stared blankly at the empty chair across the table and the place where he had kept his collection of fine wine just now - it was also empty now.

"...Again?!"

…

"Has the number of barrels changed?" In the captain's room, after hearing Alice rushing to report the situation to him, Duncan couldn't help but confirm again in surprise.

"Yes, yes!" Alice nodded repeatedly, "I counted them several times! I must have counted correctly! And I definitely remembered correctly. I moved those buckets myself."

Of course Alice wouldn't lie. As for getting the quantity wrong...she probably wouldn't make a mistake on such a simple thing.

After pondering for a while, Duncan stood up from behind the navigation table: "Take me over and have a look."

Alice responded without hesitation: "Okay!"

The goat's head on the edge of the navigation table moved. It turned its head in the direction of Duncan, with a slight hesitation in its tone: "Captain, then I..."

"You continue to be at the helm," Duncan said immediately. Then he paused and added, "Don't worry about other things. Just like I said just now, leave it to me."

"Yes, Captain."

Under the guidance of Alice, Duncan soon arrived at the place where the kippers were stored.

Of course, the place has long since returned to normal. The twelve wooden barrels are neatly arranged against the wall, looking like nothing more and nothing less.

Duncan still had a serious expression, his eyes scanning the entire cabin.

Wherever his eyes went, wisps of green flames flickered in the air like phantoms, wandering quietly between the gaps between the floor and the walls. The whole room seemed to be shrouded in a layer of intertwined spiritual flames. In the illusory mist, switching between the spiritual world and reality.

He is exploring whether there are any remaining "traces" here, whether anything that does not belong to the Lost Home has entered here.

The situation reported by Alice may not sound like a big deal. On a ghost ship full of strange things, a barrel that is not on the "list" is obviously not worth such a fuss, but Duncan has no intention of relaxing at all.

Because on the boundless sea, no matter how small the abnormality is, we must face it with caution - especially on the Lost Home, especially at this time.

Duncan had already smelled something amiss from last night's incident. Today's exchange with Goat Head and Agatha's report made him increasingly aware of one thing -

There seems to be something wrong with this ship.

It was not out of his control, but Duncan always felt that there were some "details" on the ship that he was unfamiliar with and didn't understand.

Either, some of the hidden secrets of the Lost Home are gradually being revealed to me, or, some parts of the ship are really gradually getting out of the control of me, the "captain".

Under the spreading spiritual flames, Duncan felt that the connection between himself and the Lost Home was gradually strengthening, and every detail of the ship began to be reflected in his mind - the deck, the mast, the sails. , the complex winches and cables, the cabins below decks, and the hazy and chaotic part soaked in the boundless sea.

This was not the first time he had done this, and of course he was no stranger to this feeling. After quickly adapting his senses, he allowed his perception to integrate with the ship, and continued to move towards the Lost Home. Spreading deep.

There was nothing out of the ordinary in the cabin where the galley was located, and everything in the nearby cabins and deeper levels was also normal.

Wisps of light soaked into the depths of the Lost Home, flowing throughout the ship like some kind of signal flow. They finally converged in the captain's cabin, converging on a striking "focus".

That's where the goat's head is, the control center of the ship at the moment.

Duncan's "eyesight" stayed on that focus for a long time.

Everything seems normal.

Duncan slowly withdrew his "sight" - but he left a little flame in the deepest part of the darkness.

At the same time, in the process of withdrawing his "eyes" on the entire ship, he also continued to leave "fire" and let them stay everywhere in the Lost Home.

Alice looked at the captain without blinking with a little worry. After a long time, she saw Duncan's eyes move, so she quickly stepped forward and said, "Captain, captain, how are you? Did you find anything?" "

"There's nothing unusual on the ship - don't worry," Duncan slowly smiled and stretched out his hand to press Alice's hair, "There may be some 'small problems' such as space misalignment or light and shadow confusion. I will take care of it. .”

Alice didn't actually understand, but she still nodded half-understanding: "Ah...oh."

Duncan briefly comforted the doll lady and then looked to the side not far away.

On a pillar two meters away, an oil lamp with a glass shade hung. Now the surface of the lamp shade was quietly showing the light and shadow intertwined with shadows and fog, and Agatha's figure appeared in the glass. .

"Pay attention to the reflection in the spirit world," Duncan nodded to her. "If something 'crosses the line', don't deal with it without authorization. Let me know as soon as possible and I will come back immediately."

Agatha lowered her head: "I understand, Captain."

Alice's eyes flickered between Duncan and Agatha. After looking around for a few times, she finally couldn't help but break the silence: "Then we still want to go to the city?"

"The influence of the Dream of the Nameless One is spreading in Breeze Port. I guess to solve the problem, we have to look for clues in the city-state first," Duncan nodded, "And I still have many questions that I want to verify in the city-state... Are you going to stay on the ship? Or come with me?"

Alice thought for a while, then looked back at the familiar "friends" in the kitchen. After a brief hesitation, she turned her head and showed a bright smile.

"Let's go to the city-state together!"