Deep Sea Embers

Duncan noticed something strange about the old elf in front of him, and noticed that the other person's body was translucent as if he would disappear from the world at any time.

The change in Duncan's eyes obviously also fell on the other person's eyes.

"As you can see, Mr. Captain, some interesting changes are taking place in me," Lu En laughed frankly, even raising his hand to show his most transparent palm, "A powerful force is trying to destroy me. Take it to Him."

Duncan's expression suddenly changed slightly: "The power of Silantis - I didn't expect that you, the 'Pope', would also be affected."

"After all, I am also an elf. It seems that something rooted deep in the soul of our race does not care whether I am a 'pope' or not," Rune said calmly, "I feel that powerful invitation - Silanti Si is calling all elves to return to the mother tree."

Duncan frowned, and he discovered something was wrong: "But you are sane - this is different from what I know about other elves."

"Because I won't go." Rune said with a gentle smile.

Duncan: "...?"

"As a 'Pope', there should always be something special about it. At least for a period of time, I can refuse Selendis's 'invitation'," Rune said, looking up behind Duncan, "Mr. Captain , Do you mind if I come on board to talk? I have some information about the current situation."

Duncan did not refuse, but nodded after a few seconds of silence. At the same time, he took two steps to the side and looked calmly into the old man's eyes: "If your teachings don't mind you setting foot on a warship of shadow, Words about the boat.”

"The scriptures come from God," Lu En said unhurriedly. He walked past the end of the trestle and stepped onto the deck of the Lost Home without a care, and then continued, "But it is people who explain it - When I have a meeting with the bishops later, I can just make up my mind."

The corner of Duncan's mouth suddenly trembled, and he suddenly realized that the Pope seemed a little different from what he had imagined. Then he noticed that the entourage brought by Lu En were all stopped on the trestle, and they seemed to have no intention of following him to the ship. , which surprised him: "Aren't these followers and guards coming with you? Are you going to get on the boat alone?"

At this time, Lu En had already walked out for several steps. Hearing this, he looked back and said, "They won't follow, because there are some things that it's better for fewer people to know about."

The old man didn't seem worried at all, and seeing how calm his attitude was, Duncan certainly didn't have any objections. He waved to those who stayed on the trestle, turned around and walked to Lu En - but he was crossing When they were on the deck, he couldn't help but ask one more question: "You came here alone, don't you worry about safety if you don't bring any guards at all?"

Lu En raised his head and glanced at Duncan: "If you are really malicious, can just a few guards ensure my safety on the Homeless Ship?"

Duncan thought about it seriously and answered calmly: "It should be difficult for them to ensure their own safety."

"That's alright - I'm a pragmatic person, and this is the most basic ethics as a scholar." Lu En said casually, and then continued to walk towards the captain's cabin under the leadership of Duncan.

On the way, Duncan gave the "Pope" an overview of the current situation, including the "disappearance" of Qingfeng Port and the current situation in the city-state.

When he was about to reach the stern deck, Luen stopped. He raised his head and looked over the side of the Lost Home to the vast sea on the other side of the ship.

That's where Breeze Harbor once stood.

But now there is only a piece of sea water that gradually glows with golden light under the setting sun, and a luminous geometric object floating quietly on the sea surface in the distance.

Duncan could still see invisible threads floating in the sky that were as dense as hair, but in Rune's eyes, the sea was completely empty.

"It was already like this when I came here," Duncan noticed Lu En's gaze and said casually, "You shouldn't think that I lost it, right?"

"...Some people did think so when we first arrived in this sea area. If Banster was here, they would think so even more." Rune hesitated for a moment and spoke in a strange tone, "But please understand, a It’s really unbelievable that the city-state disappeared out of thin air, and the Homeless Ship is still at the scene - even if we know that this matter is related to the ‘Dream of the Unknown’, some people will inevitably have wild imaginations.”

Duncan didn't say anything, he just stepped forward and opened the door to the captain's cabin as an invitation.

With obvious curiosity, Luen followed Duncan into this unknown and mysterious place that is filled with countless strange legends and shrouded in terror.

"The captain is back!" Alice, who was waiting in the captain's cabin, was the first to greet him. She ran towards Duncan happily, but then stopped, "...who is this old man?"

Lu En looked at the doll that suddenly appeared in front of him in astonishment.

But he quickly reacted and checked the number in his mind: "If I guessed correctly, this is Miss Alice?"

"Yes," Alice nodded slightly, looking at the strange old man who just walked in with curiosity, "Who are you?"

"Servant of the God of Wisdom," Rune said with a polite smile on his face, "Just call me Rune."

"He is Maurice's teacher." Duncan added casually - he knew Alice would understand this better.

"Oh! Mr. Morris's teacher! That should be pretty awesome," Alice understood immediately, and then ran to the small tea stove in a familiar manner, "Then I'll make tea!"

Rune watched in amazement as this terrifying doll, which was marked as "out of control" in the official files, was busy in the room, and looked at the various furnishings in the captain's cabin with some curiosity, but suddenly, a kind of A strange sense of voyeurism caught his attention. He subconsciously turned his gaze, only to see a dark wooden goat head sitting quietly on the navigation table in the center of the room - that strange "sculpture" was staring at him. , The eyes are as hollow and deep as if they were carved from obsidian, reflecting a somewhat strange glimmer in the gaze.

Lu En seemed to be stunned for a moment. He stood there fixedly, staring at the strange black "wooden sculpture" without blinking.

After an unknown amount of time, the goat's head finally moved - it suddenly said: "What are you looking at? Have you never seen any handicrafts?"

Lu En seemed to suddenly wake up from a dream. The moment the goat head finished speaking, he suddenly let out a low exclamation, then quickly turned his eyes away, and then he avoided talking to the "wood carving" on the table. "Looking at each other, he held the table with his hands and looked up at Duncan: "She saw it!"

Duncan reacted instantly: "Silantis?"

"Yes, Silendis saw it. I... don't know how to describe this feeling, but just now, I felt Silendis's 'eyes' suddenly focused on me, and she looked through my eyes. Here, she...I don't understand what she conveys, confusion, fear, anger...countless confusing emotions..."

He suddenly stopped and waved his hands twice in front of his eyes, as if he wanted to expel some invisible interference from his mind. Duncan noticed that his body had become a little more transparent in the past few seconds, but Soon, the old elf returned to "stability" - he raised his head, and the chaos in his eyes gradually turned into clarity: "She has left temporarily, but I don't know how long she can hold her back - Captain Duncan, time is longer than mine." My expectations are limited, so listen to me first.”

Rune seemed to have used an unimaginable will power to forcefully expel the part of Silendis in his mind. Then he sat down at the navigation table and spoke quickly -

"Sylantis is calling the elves all over the world. This call is rooted in the depths of our souls, and while being affected by this power, I also touched part of her thinking.

"I saw... there was a doomsday, a thing that destroyed everything, which was strongly imprinted in the depths of her memory. This doomsday led to her gradual loss of control... fear, anger, and a sense of powerlessness over her own destruction, these Things have been sleeping deep in her consciousness for a long time, and now she is gradually waking up, so those sleeping fears and memories of the doomsday are also waking up, but this is not the whole reason..."

He stopped, as if it took a lot of effort to stabilize his thinking again. After resting for a few seconds, he continued to speak: "In her anger, I also felt a strong intensity directed at us 'elves'. Emotions, very strange, very confusing, accompanied by a strong sense of tearing... I felt a strong will to protect. She ordered the elves to return to the World Tree to receive some kind of 'shelter', but at the same time, she was against this kind of 'Protect' felt huge resistance, even...frightened, as if she was treating us as some kind of..."

Lu En paused for a longer time this time, as if trying to find a suitable word to describe the strong emotions he "touched" from Selendis. After opening his mouth several times, he finally spoke again: "Someone A…specious monster…”

He slowly turned his head and looked at somewhere outside the window - that was the sea where Qingfeng Harbor disappeared.

Theoretically, he couldn't see Qingfeng Harbor, let alone those invisible threads floating on the sea.

But he still looked over there steadily, as if there was some invisible call ringing in his mind, making the old elf look at the "World Tree" that only existed in the memory of the race.

"I can feel..." Lu En seemed to have fallen into sleep and spoke softly, "She went crazy in this tearing feeling, but... but there is still...

"It seems that there is something else. On the 'other side' of that doomsday, there seems to be another existence that has fallen into madness... and is calling me vaguely..."

There was a "crash" and the sound of something falling to the ground came from the direction of the small tea stove.

Alice raised her head and stared out of the window in horror.

"Captain! Those lines are moving!"