Deep Sea Embers

For Qingfeng Port, which had just woken up safely from a nightmare, the collective visit of the four Pilgrimage Arks was like another bizarre but weird dream - things happened so suddenly that even the scholars and ruling officials of the Academy of Truth It seemed that the officials did not receive the news until the Ark was about to arrive, so that until the Storm Cathedral of the Deep Sea Church appeared on the sea level, the citizens of Qingfeng Port still felt a sense of unreality.

The church ship of the Four Gods has really arrived.

In addition to the "Academy Ark" that has been docked next to the Breeze Port since the "Dream of the Nameless One" incident, the first to arrive was the temple of the storm goddess Gemona - the Storm Cathedral arrived in the early morning of this day. , when the brilliant light wheel of Vision 001 pierced the sky, this huge pilgrim temple emerged from the condensed fog on the sea level. It and its escort formation approached from the west of the city-state, and when the morning bell rang The third time we docked on the coastline.

After that, the Firebringer's church ship arrived. The "Firebringer's Temple" appeared on the sea with the gradually rising brilliance of Vision 001, like the light of the scorching sun falling into the world. It emerged from a blazing sun Sailed out of the illusion and docked between the Cathedral of Storms and the Ark of the Academy.

The church ship of Bartok, the God of Death, arrived last. The "Cathedral of Death" emerged from the dark fog with the solemn ringing of bells. Its huge shadow grew and grew in the fog, like a huge cemetery. The Kingdom of the Dead entered the human world, and it and its two escort sister ships - the "Bi Mu" and the "Bi Mu" - docked next to the Cathedral of Storms.

The four church arks, which were as huge as small city-states, almost "surrounded" Qingfeng Port. If some escort ships had not been left on the nearby sea in advance, their escort fleets could almost crowd the entire coastline of Qingfeng Port - -If you had a pair of short-sighted and astigmatic eyes looking down from the air at this time, you might even confuse Qingfeng Harbor with the Pilgrimage Ark next to it, and see them as a huge, continuous cross-shaped island.

The city-state city hall issued a temporary order for port blockade and offshore navigation ban in the morning, and the Academy of Truth announced that the four major churches would temporarily hold a "special closed-door meeting" in Qingfeng Port.

Afterwards, citizens watching the excitement gathered near various ports, vying to occupy favorable positions, hoping to catch a glimpse of the majestic appearance of the church ship - after all, the church ark spent most of its time cruising in secret routes on the boundless sea. It is rare for people to see them, and this time they not only appeared in the city-state, but even four arks appeared together. This is a sight that even long-lived elves may not see several times in their lives.

On the tallest tower of City College near the western coast, Duncan was standing on the terrace looking towards the coastline.

There was nothing to do anyway, so he just watched the church ships of various churches appear one by one - it was quite a spectacular sight.

"You Church Arks really all have unique skills." He sighed casually.

"To make such a huge 'ship' move quickly on the sea, it is not enough to rely solely on the power of the steam engine," Ted Leal and Duncan stood on the balcony of the tower to enjoy the wind. Hearing this, he explained, "Every time Each cathedral ark is both a ship and an 'extraordinary object' - those huge churches and colleges are not just decorations, they introduce the power of the gods into the real dimension, making the ark itself present various incredible properties, such as in the storm Travel at high speed, shuttle through mist and fire, or become invisible to the eyes of the world, calming the storm on the sea..."

Duncan turned his head curiously: "Then what kind of 'miracle' does the academy ship of the Academy of Truth rely on to achieve fast sailing?"

"...Excellent engineering skills, built 260 engine sets, powerful and powerful."

Duncan: "...?"

"Making machinery operate, making theories come true, making paradoxes come into effect is in itself part of Lachem's 'miracle'," Ted Leal obviously saw the subtle expression on Duncan's face and couldn't help but laugh. "The same engine set cannot be started on other cathedral ships. If it doesn't explode on the spot, it's already a sign of excellence in their craftsmanship."

"...the 'miracle' of the gods is truly incredible."

Duncan shook his head with a subtle expression, and after sighing in a low voice, he turned his gaze and landed on the distant coastline.

He has seen the "Cathedral of Storms" of the Church of the Deep Sea and the "Academy Ark" of the Academy of Truth, but the "Cathedral of Death" of the God of Death and the "Temple of the Flame Bearer" of eternal burning fire are still the first. The second time I saw it, just like the other two church ships, these two pilgrim arks also have distinctive characteristics——

The Temple of the Fire Bearer gives people a simple and solemn feeling. The huge ark base is dotted with gray-white stone buildings at random heights. Those solemn and mysterious-looking buildings are completely different from the common contemporary city-state styles, and more like The "ancient temple" was directly restored from some historical paintings. The most eye-catching structure is a huge high platform in the center of the building complex - solemn stone pillars surround the platform, and the top of the high platform is surrounded by a raging flame, with the center of the flames burning. Another strange-shaped "giant pillar" can be seen. The shape of the giant pillar is very similar to the "cane" Vanna got from Tarijin. It is obviously the "chronological pillar" enshrined by the fire bearers.

The "Temple of Death" is much more gloomy. Gothic buildings with mainly black colors are the most common "landscape" on the ark. Its core facility is a dark temple that looks like a great pyramid. The temple is located in the center of the ark. On the high ground, surrounded by tall towers, it exuded a gloomy atmosphere like a tomb - the first time he saw it, Duncan understood why many people simply called the Death's Pilgrimage Ark a "necropolis". It's really similar.

No matter which ark it was above, Duncan saw the illusory projection floating in the air that ordinary people could not see with the naked eye, like a spirit body.

He raised his head and stared at those "spirit bodies floating in the world" with a sinking face.

Illusory limbs like smoke and tentacles filled out from the projections of those spiritual bodies, floating silently over the entire Qingfeng Port, like chaotic dead souls, they did not interfere with each other, But occasionally there will be some illusory "tentacles" that suddenly extend from their own "subjects" to touch the tentacles extended by other arks——

Duncan noticed this "contact", and he instinctively sensed that this hasty contact... seemed not to be a coincidence, but more like a deliberate decision.

He even felt that the touch on his wrist was almost like... a high-five.

Some "spirit bodies" that diffused from the port drifted near the college tower and wandered around the terrace.

Duncan hesitated for a moment, looked back at Ted Leal, who didn't seem to be paying attention, and then quietly rubbed his fingers.

A wisp of illusory spiritual flame emerged in the air, and quietly touched the "Ark Spirits" that were wandering in the air and invisible to the naked eye.

In his careful perception, he touched the... "thoughts" flowing between those "spirits".

Some weird and low noises echoed in Duncan's mind, and then, understandable information actually appeared in those weird and low noises. He heard non-human whispers trembling in space and time... They In "Exchange"!

The tremor spread into the depths of his consciousness——

"...The weather is nice."

"It's okay, it's really hot here."

"It's better than the north. My wrists are frozen and hard..."

"Didn't all your wrists fall off a long time ago?"

"Phantom limb."

"What are they going to talk about today?"

"I didn't know - I just woke up."

"...Huh? I just woke up too. What on earth are they going to talk about today?"

"...Don't ask, I just woke up."

Duncan: "...?"

Ted Leal finally noticed Duncan's suddenly subtle expression, and even noticed the faint flash of illusory flames in the air. The Keeper of the Truth suddenly became nervous: "What happened?"

It was okay if he didn't ask, but the expression on Duncan's face became more subtle when he asked.

But before the Keeper of the Truth was so nervous that he suffered from gastrointestinal discomfort again, Duncan finally tried to control his completely uneasy expression, and at the same time suppressed the extremely weird feeling in his mind to the side - he tried his best to maintain a calm expression and looked up Ted Leal glanced at him: "...can the arks talk to each other?"

"Between the arks? Conversation?" Ted Leal was stunned when he heard this, "What does this mean?"

The expression on the secret keeper's face didn't seem to be fake. Duncan knew at a glance that this was probably another special "secret" that only the core knew. Thinking that even Vanna didn't know many secrets of the Cathedral of Storms, he waved his hand decisively: "If you don't know, that's okay."

Ted Leal instinctively wanted to ask something else, but the moment before he spoke, a warning sign suddenly emerged from the bottom of his heart.

He wisely kept his mouth shut.

Duncan changed the topic at the right time: "The Ark of the Four Gods has gathered. Where exactly is the gathering place? In Qingfeng Port City?"

Ted Leal shook his head and explained patiently: "Lightwind Harbor is not suitable for holding a rally - on the one hand, this kind of rally may affect ordinary people in the city-state, and on the other hand, the event of this rally Suddenly, the city-state had not made any preparations, and there were also confidentiality considerations.

"The message I received is to wait for notification, because the matter we are going to discuss this time is directly related to the Great Annihilation and has already touched upon the foundation of the world. This means that even a casual word spoken by someone in the gathering may cause unforeseen consequences. As a result, even His Majesty the Pope must carefully consider the location of the gathering——

"They are communicating with God through spiritual echoes on their respective arks and seeking enlightenment. The final gathering place should be chosen from among the four arks."

Duncan waved his hands indifferently after hearing this: "Okay, then I will wait patiently. I hope it won't take too long."

Ted Leal nodded, but in the next second, the truth keeper suddenly frowned - he seemed to hear a voice coming from afar, and the expression on his face instantly became strange.

"What's wrong?" Duncan noticed this change and asked curiously.

Ted Leal was silent for a few seconds, with a hint of confusion in his expression: "...in the Fifth Ark..."