Deep Sea Embers

The terrifying "slumber" and dissipation phenomena are spreading throughout the world. From the far northern sea to the southern sea, from the foggy eastern border to the western archipelago, elves suddenly falling asleep and strange and inexplicable things have begun to appear in almost every city-state. "dissipation" phenomenon.

And the message Ted Leal sent from the depths of the Dream of the Nameless One was also spread to the entire world through the mouths of those sleeping elves.

Church bells rang. Telegraphs and psychic communications began to transmit messages between city-states. Archons and archbishops communicated the real-time situation. The joint monitoring and defense system established not long ago led by the Four Gods Church was hastily start running between.

People thought that this system would be used to monitor the deep sea below the city-state, but they did not expect that the first time it came into effect was due to an out-of-control dream.

A whirlwind composed of flying colored papers flew through the layers of vines, leaves and roofs, and swirled into the Archon's Office of the City Hall.

Consul Sarah Meyer, who was communicating with several city hall officials, immediately raised her head and looked at the "Sea Witch" who came out of the colored paper.

"It suddenly occurred to me that I should take a look at the situation in the city hall." Lucretia walked towards the large oval desk. "It seems that you are very busy."

“Between you, ma’am,” Sarah Meyer waved to the city hall officials beside her, asking them to step aside for the time being. “I heard you just came to the aid of the troubled Sheriff’s force—thank you very much for your help. help."

"What's going on now?"

"The city is in chaos. Sixteen blocks have completely lost contact. Dense vegetation has blocked all roads. A large number of residents are missing. It is difficult for security forces and guards to penetrate into those areas. The steam hub is shut down. For safety reasons, we They also shut down the gas supply to the whole city - thank God, that thing can still be turned off, but no one knows what to do tonight," Sarah Meyer said in one breath, "As for outside the city... I guess you also I know what’s happening in other places, and countless news is coming through various channels, but I’m afraid I don’t have the extra energy to pay attention to the situation in other city-states.”

"Where's the news from Ted Leal? Do you know about this?"

"Yes, I know," Sarah Meyer nodded, "First, two hours ago, the action team that Taran El participated in sent a message saying that after the action team escaped from the dream, the truth was kept secret People have not returned to the real world. Half an hour ago, I received the latest information. The Keeper of Secrets is trapped in the deepest part of the Dream of the Nameless One..."

He stopped, with an indescribably complicated expression on his face. He seemed to want to let out a long sigh, but in the end he just twitched the corners of his mouth: "Elves are proud of their long and complete inheritance. We firmly believe in those ancient legends and myths. It’s history that once existed, a symbol of our ancient civilization—and now our legends and myths are coming to kill us.”

Lucretia stared at the respected consul silently, and after a moment, she slowly spoke: "But until last night, the information we had was that Selendis wanted to protect all elves - even To this day, I still have reason to believe that this 'sanctuary' continues to be in effect, but... in an extremely dangerous way."

Sarah Mel's face twitched: "...Yes, because Selantis is crazy."

"I want to meet Taran El and the other knowledge guards who entered the Dream of the Nameless One with him," Lucretia said. "I didn't find them at the city-state university."

"They are under observation and questioning in an isolation facility. I will tell you the location..."

…

The majestic Storm Cathedral stands quietly at the highest point in Purland. The square in front of the cathedral is as lively as ever - on every open day, many citizens gather here, or enter the church to worship, or Receive blessings, healings, or simply visit facilities near the church.

Duncan, wearing a simple brown jacket and black trousers, crossed the majestic arch along with the other teams entering the church, and then walked toward the depths of the church along the path guided by Vanna in his mind.

He passed through the main hall and worship path that are open to tourists, passed through the shortcut corridor next to the sermon, and walked along a route that even many church staff were unfamiliar with.

"...You go forward through the small black door. After entering, go right. There is a fork about twenty meters away. The path on the left leads to the inner courtyard...

"This road is the quietest. When you get to the end, you can see the side door of the inner chapel. I have made an agreement with Bishop Valentine and let him wait for you in the chapel. Arrangements have been made along the way and no one will block you. The guards don't know your identity either... Yes, only Bishop Valentine knows the real situation...

"If you want to come to the cathedral again in the future, you can take this route. By the way, the room I used to rest in the cathedral is next to the chapel. You can also go... I know you won't need it..."

Listening to the voice of Miss Inquisitor in his mind, Duncan raised his eyes.

The internal chapel has arrived - this facility is not open to the public and is only used by high-ranking priests of the Deep Sea Church. A simple black wooden door stands quietly at the end of the path, and two fully armed church guards stand tall and tall. There, they looked like two gloomy sculptures.

Duncan walked toward the door.

The guard at the door didn't even move his eyes, as if he hadn't seen Duncan at all, and still maintained a serious look ahead.

This is obviously the result of advance arrangements. Duncan can almost imagine what kind of orders the guards along the way received -

A special "guest" will be visiting the cathedral today.

Don't listen, don't look, don't ask, don't think.

He smiled politely at them, then walked past the two guards and gently opened the black wooden door painted with many sacred runes.

A slight sound of waves sounded vaguely, and the moist and cold breath seemed to appear briefly, then quickly subsided. Duncan felt that he had crossed an invisible barrier, and then walked into a brightly lit spacious room.

Valentine, the supreme bishop of the city-state of Purland, was standing in the center of the room.

This old man with sparse white hair was wearing a priest's robe with a black background and gold patterns. He turned his back to the door and faced the statue of the Storm Goddess in the room, which was filled with a mysterious and holy atmosphere. He seemed to be praying devoutly. When he heard the door open, After the sound, he turned around and looked at the special "guest" standing at the door.

It could be seen that the old man seemed a little nervous - although he was trying to control it.

"Hello, Bishop Valentine, we meet again," Duncan showed a smile on his face and walked towards the other party, "But this is probably the first time for you to see my 'look'."

Valentine looked curiously at "Duncan" who walked into the room.

What he saw was just an ordinary middle-aged man wearing a simple old coat, neither tall nor strong, as if he could be seen everywhere in the city-state.

But just a second later, a strong warning from his mind urged him to shift his gaze and stop looking at the "shell" that looked like a human being.

"I know, this is the 'incarnation' you use to operate in the city-state. I heard Vana mention it," Valentin lowered his gaze slightly, "I also heard her say about the current situation. Everything you want has been Ready."

The old bishop raised his hand and pointed to a large wooden box next to the icon.

There are stored there the original materials from the construction of the Lost Home a century ago, as well as... one of the most important "samples".

Several bright candlesticks were temporarily placed around the wooden box. The phantom light rising from time to time in the candlelight flames showed that they had been blessed with blessing power. Stone slabs and iron plates could be seen on both sides of the wooden box. Sealed things like chains are obviously part of the security measures.

It seems that even after it was taken out of the seal room and placed in this chapel that was directly watched by the goddess, this box of "Shipbuilding Archives" also received full attention. Bishop Valentine was guarding here in advance, and he was probably also Just in case the contents of the box get out of hand.

"...Is it really that dangerous?" Duncan walked towards the big wooden box and couldn't help but turn around and asked, "Are these sealing measures effective?"

"It's actually useless - because this box of things has never 'moved' in the first place." Valentine said quite bluntly.

Duncan was stunned when he heard this: "Then what are you..."

"Peace of mind," Valentine said calmly, "The items in the box themselves did not change, but everyone knew that there must be a supernatural connection between them and the Lost Home, so they simply used various sealing methods—— What you see is a simplified version. In the sealing room where this wooden box was originally stored, there are many more 'security measures' than this."

Duncan was speechless.

After a moment, he shook his head, ignored the sudden awkward atmosphere, and stepped forward to open the wooden box.

The box was unlocked - the lock had been removed when it was delivered here.

"The original design blueprints, technical parameters, and engineering logs of the Lost Home - in fact, there are much more complete information, but those less relevant things have been burned to ashes in the original shipyard fire. Only These are left behind and sealed in this box..."

Valentine's voice came from the side. The old bishop came to Duncan, looked at the contents of the box and said in a deep voice.

"Of course, I guess what you really want is not just these drawings, but... that thing in the middle of the box.

"A preserved sample of the keel following the practice of building sailing ships a century ago."

Duncan's eyes were silently staring at the gray and black square wood lying in the middle of a piece of black satin.

That was a "sample" cut from the original keel material of the Lost Home.