Deep Sea Embers

As the air rushed out of the pipe, a loud and melodious whistle came from the upper level of the Ark of the Academy of Truth. The Lost Home once again docked at the steam machinery dock at the end of the Ark's coastline. Knowledge guards and scholars wearing dark blue robes appeared on the On the trestle, they were preparing to welcome back their Pope.

Duncan saw Rune who had just come out of the captain's cabin on the stern deck.

This short, fat elf old man had been staying in the captain's cabin and had a long chat with the "Creator" of their race. Duncan didn't know what the other party was talking about with the goat head. He only knew that when Rune came from When the captain walked out of the cabin, the expression on his face looked a little confused.

There is also a calmness like letting your mind go.

He came to the "Pope of Truth" and greeted him several times before the latter finally woke up from the daze and confusion.

"Your church ship is already waiting nearby," Duncan raised his finger and pointed to the giant ark outside the ship that looked like a small city-state. "The scholars and guards are here to take you back."

Lu En raised his head and took a look, then nodded belatedly: "Oh... yes, it's time to go back."

Seeing the reaction of the old elf, Duncan couldn't help but be a little confused: "What have you been talking about with Sasluoka? You were not in this state when you first got on the ship..."

"We talked about...a lot of things," Lu En hesitated, as if he didn't know where to start. "A lot of things."

Duncan frowned and vaguely reacted: "It seems that you have seen the first mate's normal appearance."

Lu En suddenly became excited, as if he had truly come back to his senses. He raised his head and glanced at Duncan, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "...Why does he talk so much?"

"I'm even more surprised that He spoke so little when he was in mythical form," Duncan laughed, with a bit of joy in his smile. "What you see now is His character when he was on my ship - strictly speaking. In other words, it was His character when he was the 'goat-head'."

Lu En opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know where to start. After holding it in for a long time, he suddenly laughed in relief: "...There's nothing wrong with it. He seems to like it very much."

There was silence on the deck for a while, and no one seemed to pay any attention to the patrolling ark waiting for the Pope's return. After an unknown amount of time, Duncan broke the silence: "How do you plan to deal with the 'truth' of this incident? Especially about Sasha Sloka’s part.”

"Most of the content will be limited to the high-level knowledge of the Four Gods Church. Just like all extraordinary events that point to the gods, we will block the news, deal with the aftermath, and carefully evaluate the long-term impact of this incident on the real world, and on the elf society. Word……"

Lu En paused here, thinking, and then shook his head slightly after a moment.

"The ancient times have passed. The legend...let it continue to sleep in the legend. This is also what 'He' means."

"That's good. I don't like trouble," Duncan nodded, then changed the subject, "But there is one thing I need to remind you - this is the third city-state."

Lu En immediately understood what Duncan meant, and his expression became solemn.

"Plande, Frost, Qingfeng Port...the causes and processes of each incident seem to be different. Each one seems to be just a 'special disaster' that is independent of each other. The biggest black hand behind each incident seems to be that Helping cultists, but a group of cultists alone cannot move the most basic order of the world," Duncan said seriously. "What is really shown behind these incidents is that the 'foundation' of the world is shaking - I want to know , whether the Four Gods Church can do anything about this, what do you know, and what kind of response plan do you have."

Lu En remained silent with a sinking face, and after a long time he nodded slightly.

"I understand what you mean... Now I have confirmed your position. At least in my personal judgment, it is indeed time to abandon suspicion and further cooperate."

Duncan looked at him: "But you also have to consider the reactions of the other Three Gods Church, right?"

"Not only considering their reaction...but also the reaction of the gods," Lu En said calmly, "I will discuss this matter with the other three popes as soon as possible. No matter what the result is, I will give you an answer—— Likewise, no matter what the outcome is, at least the Academy of Truth will give its utmost trust and cooperation to the Lost Home Fleet from now on."

Duncan nodded, knowing that this was the biggest promise the other party could give him at this stage.

At this moment, Lu En seemed to think of something again, and suddenly said: "There is another thing - I have heard about Miss Vanna's experience in this incident, and I think... at least the Fire Bearer should Will come to you soon."

"Firebringer?" Duncan frowned and reacted immediately.

He turned around and looked at the other side of the deck - Vanna was leaning on the pillar beside the ship and blowing the sea breeze. She seemed to be concentrating with her eyes closed, but Duncan's attention was not on her, but on the of the same thing.

It was a huge, weird cane like a tree trunk. The end of the cane swelled like a strangely shaped boulder. The body of the cane was straight and rough. The entire cane was covered with carvings that looked like mysterious symbols.

It was left to Vanna by the giant named "Tarrijin" - even if the dream of the Nameless One completely dissipated, this cane still remained, and together with the strange "mini sun", it returned to reality with the Lost Home. world.

"Eternal Burning Fire, Tarijn, the god who brings fire," Rune said quietly, "The 'giant' Miss Vanna saw in the dream of the Nameless One should have been in the process of two worlds colliding with each other. , a phantom remains in Silantis's memory in the form of 'reverberation', but even if it is a phantom, it is the phantom of the ancient god. What he left behind now crosses the boundary between dreams and reality.

"That cane...if I'm not mistaken, it should be the 'Anniversary Pillar' enshrined by the Fire Bearers - there is a 'device' that looks almost exactly like it on Frame's Pilgrimage Ark, which is regarded as It is the core of the Pilgrimage Ark, but its size is much larger than that 'walking stick'. I have seen it, and it looks more like a huge monument...

"And the 'Chronology Pillar' built on the Fire Bearer's Ark is actually a 'replica' made according to the description in the Holy Scriptures. For a long time, the real 'Chronology Pillar' has only existed in legends."

Duncan thought thoughtfully: "In other words, the cane brought back by Vanna is the 'genuine' one described in the holy book."

"It can only be said that it is the closest to the 'authentic' product known so far," Lu En said very seriously. "Perhaps there is no real 'authentic product' in this world anymore - the Great Annihilation ended everything, and we moved from the Deep Sea Age to Going back to the source, the limit that can be reached is only to be infinitely close to the so-called 'genuine' product."

"Anyway, it seems that the 'cane' is of great significance to the fire bearers," Duncan nodded slightly, "Do you think they will take away the cane, is that what you mean?"

"I'm not sure. Frame is a kind and fair person. He never forces others to do anything, nor does he take things that don't belong to him, but... you know, after all, that is the record left by the eternal burning fire. Pillar, its meaning is too special for both the Firebringer sect and the Sen'jin people."

Duncan did not speak, but quietly stared at the "cane" currently placed next to Vanna, thinking in silence.

For some reason, he thought of the long sword that had been thrown into the sky.

He gave the long sword to the research institution in Qingfeng Port, because to him, the only thing that mattered was the "information" about another world behind the sword, and he did not care about the extraordinary item itself. Not a professional researcher.

Similarly, the cane actually doesn't mean much to him, even if it was once held in the hands of the Eternal Burning Fire Tower Ruijin - Duncan is only interested in the "truth" and "knowledge" of the Great Annihilation. , after getting this part of the information, he didn't care about anything else.

There are many otherworldly things in this world, but to Duncan, most of them are worthless—not yet worthy of a spot on the Lost Home.

But the problem this time is that the cane was left to Vanna by Tarijin.

He must respect his crew.

"Personally, I don't mind handing over the staff to the Firebringer. After all, just like the "Poem of Horo-Dazor" in your hand means to the elves, the 'Chronicle' is indeed a cultural relic of the Sen'jin people - But I have to consider Vanna’s thoughts,” he said calmly, “Since you already know Vanna’s experience, you should know that she cherishes that cane.”

He paused and said to Luen seriously: "That's the relic of her 'friend' - I'm not as kind and fair as Frame in your mouth, I protect my shortcomings."

"...I understand your attitude," Luen nodded seriously, "I will convey these words to Frame and ask him to consider this matter carefully - to prevent both parties from being embarrassed by then."

Duncan nodded slightly: "This is best."

The melodious and loud whistle sounded again, and a large cloud-like cloud of steam rose above the Academy Ark.

Rune said goodbye to everyone on the Lost Home, and then as Duncan and others watched, the old elf stepped onto the trestle back to the Ark.

The mechanical trestle driven by the huge steam engine slowly retracted, and then the entire deformable dock mechanism was shrunk into the "coastal structure" on the side of the Ark amidst a series of heavy mechanical operations. This is equivalent to a "church" of a small city-state. "The giant ship" made a low roar and gradually separated from the Lost Home.

But Duncan knew that the Ark would not return to the border immediately - Luen revealed his next arrangements. The Pilgrimage Ark would stay in Qingfeng Port for a while to assist the city-state that had "awakened from its big dream". A series of aftermath matters.

But that has nothing to do with Lost Home.

Now, Duncan has to deal with another matter that requires "aftermath".

He came to the captain's cabin at the stern of the ship and pushed the door open.