Deep Sea Embers

There are countless threads, emerging from the sea like clumps of hair, floating weightlessly into the air - and they are growing more and more now.

Alice's eyes widened, looking at this scene in confusion and astonishment, and then, there was a flash of green fire in her eyes - the same fire flashed in Duncan's eyes, so only the puppet The visible "line" also appeared in front of Duncan's eyes.

"Are these... people from Qingfeng Port?" Alice was stunned for a long time, and finally broke the silence by muttering, "They are gone, but the thread is still there?"

Duncan did not speak. He just looked at the densely packed thin lines floating in the air with a solemn expression. Although he could not confirm it visually, he could vaguely feel that there were too many "threads" - even according to one person Five threads can be extended from the body, and the number they represent far exceeds the population of elves in Qingfeng Port. It is as if...the soul threads of elves from all over the world are gathered here.

The huge number makes these continuous lines look hazy. They flutter slightly in the wind amorphously, like a lingering mist hanging over the sea area of ​​Qingfeng Port, with a dreamlike feeling. So... wonderful.

And the creepy weirdness.

At this time, Alice had recovered from the initial fright. She curiously observed the threads on the sea, like a cat seeing countless yarn balls, showing her uncontrollable but hesitant expression. She still remembered what the captain usually told her, so she carefully put her hands away, trying not to touch any of the threads around her, but her eyes kept darting around all the time, wanting to grab it but not daring to.

Of course, this couldn't be hidden from Duncan's eyes.

"Captain, I'm just going to touch them a little bit, I won't scratch them... I want to see their 'condition'..." Noticing Duncan's gaze, Alice immediately said cautiously and stretched out her hand to make a small gesture. , to show that "a little touch" is really a "little touch".

Duncan nodded silently, while carefully paying attention to the movements of the puppet's hands.

Of course he trusted Alice - but he didn't quite trust Alice's reliability.

The doll received permission and immediately looked happy. Then he carefully stretched out his hand and touched the invisible thread closest to him.

The next second, she let out a low exclamation and quickly let go of the thread.

Duncan immediately asked about the situation: "What's wrong?"

"...Strange thing." Alice looked at the thread blankly and muttered in confusion.

Duncan frowned when he heard this: "Weird thing?"

"I don't know what it is, but it's different from the 'threads' I've come across before," Alice said hesitantly, as if trying to translate what she felt into words, "I feel A...very, very huge thing is hidden at the other end of the line, but that thing is vague and seems to be constantly changing..."

As she spoke, she raised her hand and pointed to the deepest part of the yarn-like mist.

"It seems to be hidden in there, but I can't see it."

Duncan frowned and looked at the hazy "white mist". He did not see the "strange thing" described by Alice, but he knew what the "strange thing" was.

Silantis has begun to gradually condense a mental entity into the racial consciousness of the elves.

After a slight hesitation, he reached out to a hazy thread in his field of vision and touched it cautiously.

He felt nothing - but that wasn't surprising.

After all, his ability to "see" invisible threads at this moment was only "borrowed" from Alice through the connection of flames, and of course he would not be so handy when using it.

"Goat Head," Duncan called in his heart after a moment's hesitation, "can you feel anything?"

"No," the goat-headed voice came immediately, sounding a little confused and panicked, "I'm sorry, Captain, I..."

"It's okay, it's not your fault."

Duncan interrupted the goat head's words. At the same time, he stepped to the edge of the deck and stretched out his hand toward the side of the ship.

A green spiritual fire condensed in his hand, and then fell into the sea like water. The flame spread silently on the sea, and flowed towards the floating invisible lines.

However, the next second, the flame passed through every invisible thread, and Duncan did not feel any "feedback" coming from him, as if... those threads were in a completely undisturbed dimension.

Duncan frowned and looked at this scene, but he was not too surprised. He just muttered thoughtfully: "...It seems that it is not that easy after all."

At this moment, a melodious whistle coming from the distant sea suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

Duncan immediately looked in the direction from which the voice came.

He saw a towering silhouette emerging on the distant sea accompanied by the sound of a whistle. It was as if a curtain suddenly opened between the sky and the sea. The behemoth that looked to be the size of a quarter of a city-state was there. It "popped" out of thin air and moved this way, slowing down.

Then, he gradually saw the appearance of the behemoth - its edge was as steep as a cliff, high white walls surrounded its base, and buildings of varying heights were located on the high ground within the walls. It can be seen that the bell towers, spires and high buildings, those buildings with white exterior walls and blue roofs do not have much religious atmosphere. Instead, people can't help but think of the famous city-state university in the center of Qingfeng Port City-the two are similar in style. Vaguely the same.

And around the behemoth, Duncan saw the silhouettes of other ships - all of them were cutting-edge and advanced main warships, but in front of the huge Ark ship, their silhouettes were particularly inconspicuous. Duncan had just At first I almost ignored them.

At this moment, another burst of white mist rose from the sky above the huge "mobile city". The top of the college building it carried on its back spewed out a huge stream of steam, followed by a melodious whistle. Across the distant sea, it reached Duncan's ears again.

The second whistle was a signal of some kind, vaguely friendly.

Duncan already realized what it was -

That's the Academy of Truth's "Pilgrimage Ark" and its escort fleet!

He had seen the Deep Sea Church's patrol ark before, and was deeply impressed by the huge "mobile city". He knew that the Four Gods Church had its own giant ark, and the size of all the arks was almost the same—— The behemoth that appeared on the sea in the distance was comparable in size to the "Storm Cathedral Ark" he had seen in Pland, and the architectural style of the upper floors of the ark revealed its ownership.

"Captain!!" The goat-headed voice suddenly came to mind, interrupting Duncan's thinking. There was obvious surprise and a hint of nervousness in the first mate's voice, "It's the church's patrol ark!"

"I saw it," Duncan replied calmly, "Why are you so panicked?"

"That's the church's patrol ark!" The goat head obviously didn't understand why the captain could still be so calm. "That thing is difficult to deal with - that thing is really directly protected by gods..."

"Why should I deal with it?" Duncan replied casually, "I'm not at war with the Four Gods Church."

The goat-headed voice still sounded very panicked: "But Qingfeng Port is gone! Such a big Qingfeng Port is gone now!"

Duncan felt confused: "It's not like I didn't do it."

Goat head: "..."

The poor first mate seemed to be suddenly stuck logically, and he didn't know how to continue speaking. There was only a burst of confused thoughts of unknown meaning. Duncan ignored this guy, just turned around and walked to the bridge on the stern deck, and personally Taken over the Lost Home.

The huge ghost ship came to life in an instant, and the sail of the spirit body quickly filled up out of thin air. Then the huge sail warship turned with an incredible dexterity and sailed straight towards the small city-state on the distant sea. "Pilgrimage to the Ark".

Duncan didn't hesitate at all.

The goat head was startled by the captain's unhesitating move: "Captain?"

"I came over to say hello and share the situation. They obviously didn't pass by here - it was probably the distress signal from Qingfeng Port that attracted the patrol ark from the Academy of Truth," Duncan said casually while controlling the movement of the Lost Home. , "I know what you are nervous about. Homeless has indeed had some unpleasant experiences with the four major churches in the past century, but you have to look at the problem from a developmental perspective.

"We have had a lot of dealings with several city-states and churches. I personally think that this kind of positive and positive exchanges are very effective - remember what Lucretia mentioned before? The Four Gods Church has extended its The city-state issued a notice, ordering all cities and churches to actively cooperate with the actions of the Lost Home Fleet, which shows that they have realized the enthusiasm of the Lost Home Fleet to protect the civilized world..."

The goat head was stunned for a moment by what Duncan said, but he quickly reacted and reminded worriedly: "Then...what if? We have not dealt directly with the Pilgrimage Ark of the Academy of Truth, and now The situation is still the same in Qingfeng Port. The purpose of the fleet’s arrival is unknown, so we just approach it, in case there is a misunderstanding..."

Duncan said nothing, just smiled and shook his head.

The spiritual fire burned on his body, making his body as illusory and transparent as cast by light. The Lost Home sailed through the waves in the "mist" intertwined by countless "silk threads", sailing towards the distant academy ark, and in Under the undulating sea surface, there is the hazy and illusory reflection of the Lost Home - that reflection is gradually being wrapped by the green flames, and the strands of flames are flowing and spreading in the fine waves like water, making the entire sea area Gradually it was filled with a layer of green firelight.

"If there is no misunderstanding, there is no misunderstanding. If there is a misunderstanding, it is not a misunderstanding - so in short, there is no misunderstanding."