Deep Sea Embers

A bird?

Duncan has indeed thought about where to start explaining to people the truth about the "Great Annihilation" and the current status of the Deep Sea Age. After all, the collision and "incompatibility" of the world are such abstract concepts, and not everyone can do it in a short time. Nei understood all this, but he never expected that Lu En would start this topic from a seemingly ordinary bird.

He raised his head and found that Morris beside him looked thoughtful when he saw the "crazy bird".

Lu En placed the bird on the table in front of him under the curious gazes. His voice was smooth and clear, like a patient tutor in class, explaining the world to the bishops present. The ultimate truth——

"The black-feathered puffin may be one of the oldest and most widely distributed birds in the world. They live on the coasts of stable city-states, but also on remote islands with dangerous environments. They even live on some islands listed as Explorers have also discovered traces of the existence of these little birds in the terrifying sea area of ​​​​"anomalies"... But just from the perspective of physiological structure and living habits, the black-feathered short-beaked puffins are not special at all. Just a tenacious bird, nothing more.

"It wasn't until 1723 that scholars suddenly came up with a very interesting, or creative idea - those animals that live in this world with humans, but have different ways of perception from humans, what they see as 'all things' What does it look like?

"The person who originally proposed this idea was the famous scholar of the Academy of Truth, Hypa Strum. He suddenly came up with this idea while playing with his pet dog at home - he looked into the eyes of his pet dog and suddenly thought When I think about the different eye and brain structures between this animal and humans, I think that such a special set of senses will inevitably recognize and understand the surrounding environment in a wonderful and different way from humans. When this curiosity is strong When he couldn't restrain himself anymore, he designed the famous 'Hippa Experiment'——

"With the help of a series of complex occult means, he connected his senses to animals, and the initial test was conducted between him and his pet dog.

"The first experiment failed, and the dog nearly died during the experiment - subsequent examinations revealed that the dog was under tremendous mental stress at the moment the connection was established, which was completely beyond the limits of an animal.

"So Hypa Strum designed a second test. This time, he decided to choose a slightly 'lower' creature with a simpler brain structure - he only needed to share the perception of this creature, not I hope that the latter will die early in the experiment because their brain is too complex and cannot withstand the pressure. The final selection... is the black-feathered short-beaked puffin.

“One afternoon in August 1726, Hypa Strum completed all the preparations. He placed the bird in a special cage so that the bird could see the sky outside, while he lay in the cage. On the experimental bed next to it - the ceremony started.

"An hour later, Hypa Strum died. A terrifying scream and a weird roar shattered all the windows in the laboratory. The scholar's collapsed soul when he died caused a howl in the spiritual world, followed by twelve Assistants and apprentices were traumatized by the howling.

"Compared with many experimental accidents or extraordinary disasters that have caused more serious consequences, the personal injuries caused by the 'Hippa Incident' were not serious. However, some of the... chilling things revealed in this experimental accident The 'fact' has left a long-lasting shadow in the academic world, so much so that since that experiment, all attempts to establish shared perception between different species have been listed as absolute taboos——

"This is the 'fact' revealed in that experimental accident."

As Lu En said, he reached into his robe and took out something - it seemed to be just a folded, ordinary-looking piece of paper.

He opened the paper - dense patterns appeared in Duncan's eyes.

"People found a torn record next to Haipa's body. The body had been severely distorted when it was discovered, and the flesh and blood all over the body had been distorted into a terrifying form as if it had been contaminated by ancient gods. And this The record was tightly held in the scholar's only right hand that still retained human form - the investigators judged that this should be something hastily drawn by the scholar's last sanity when he quickly fell into madness...

"Please rest assured that this is just a 'copy' copied from the information. The contaminating parts have been removed and everyone can watch it safely."

Lu En raised the piece of paper and showed it to everyone in the venue.

What's up there? What did Hypa Strum see before she died?

Frankly speaking, even Duncan couldn't associate those abstract and chaotic lines with the "Hippa Experiment" mentioned by Rune. He only saw a lot of curved lines that seemed to be convulsing madly, and trembling shadows covered a series of inexplicable... On the geometric pattern, there are countless structures that look like eyes or weird hollows all over the paper. The first impression you get when you look at it is that it's just weird and confusing.

The hall fell into silence. The "Hippa Incident" is not a secret, but not everyone understands these matters in the professional field like scholars. Many bishops from the Church of Deep Sea, Death and Firebringer are indeed the first time. Hearing the details, the strange and suspicious parts of the incident left everyone in deep thought.

"This is what Hypa Strum saw through the 'shared senses' when he was dying," Rune's voice rang out in the silent venue, "What you see is the black feather short The 'world' as seen by the kissing puffin - the stacked curves that seem to be trembling at the edge are Hypa Strum herself."

There was a buzz of discussion all around. The bishops sitting on the edge of the hall were talking in low voices. Some people looked at the seemingly puzzled bird that was still placed on the table with astonishment or thoughtful eyes. An ordinary black seabird.

The "crazy bird" seemed to be frightened. It jumped in the cage and flapped its wings, making a series of crisp and high-pitched calls.

Luen put the black cloth back on the cage.

"This is what has happened in our world, and what is still happening in the 'underlying essence' of everything." He raised his head and swept his eyes calmly across the hall, "The essence of 'pollution' originates from everything. The 'incompatibility' of one thing from our perspective is fatal pollution and erosion from another perspective, or another set of 'rules'..."

In the following period of time, Rune recounted everything he saw in the deepest part of the Nameless One's Dream.

About the nature of the Great Annihilation, about the truth about the collision of worlds, about the reasons behind the many pollution and erosion phenomena in today's deep sea era, and about the "eternal conflicts" that still remain in the underlying laws of the world.

"... On the day of the Great Annihilation, many worlds 'collided' with each other. We still don't know what the cause of this collision was, but the result... was a conflict that spanned many civilizations, many races, and many worlds. In the 'Hippa incident', in this collision, every world is each other's 'Crazy Bird' and each other's 'Hippa Strum'. From the perspective of the 'basic rules of the world', it cannot be The unnamed pollution has eroded and distorted everything, and all the old order has disappeared, but the survivors..."

Lu En stopped, stood up slowly, and looked around at everyone here.

"We, everything around us, and even the entire Deep Sea Age are the scream of Hypa Strum's death. This scream is still echoing today, but it is nearing its end."

The old man breathed out softly and slowly sat back in his seat.

"I'm done, is there anyone else who needs to add?"

He said, his eyes falling on Duncan opposite.

"What you said is very complete," Duncan said, "About the Great Annihilation, that's all we know so far - let's talk about the gods next, conjectures about the nature of the gods, and what you have been doing recently. , which is what I care about most.”

The surrounding bishops seemed to be in a slight commotion again. The four popes sitting across the table briefly exchanged glances after Duncan finished speaking. Soon, the commotion calmed down. The man in simple robes with skin like rocks The "Pope the Fire Bearer", who was as gray as white and extremely tall, nodded slightly.

"Based on the existing clues, the gods should represent the powerful or special individuals that remain after the destruction of each world in the Great Annihilation - like the 'scorched core' after burning, carrying the... afterglow of a world .”

Frame spoke in a low voice, and at the same time raised his hand to outline the Fire Bearer's emblem on his chest, as if he was repenting for his offensive behavior of "judging the gods" at the moment, but he continued to speak - —

"...The Great Annihilation destroyed everything in the old world. Strictly speaking, the gods did not survive that disaster. And regarding this...in fact, we have been aware of it a long time ago."

Hearing Frame's words, Duncan's eyes widened slightly in an instant: "Have you noticed this before?"

At the same time, he also noticed the expressions of astonishment that appeared on the faces of Morris and Vanna next to him - obviously, even as saints, this was the first time they heard such words from the Pope.

This is a "secret" limited to the interior of the "Pilgrimage Ark"!

Frame nodded slightly.

"Yes, we have noticed it for a long time - but we didn't know the reason until now.

"The gods are dead and have begun to enter the 'corruption stage'... But only a few church leaders who patrol the border with the Pilgrimage Ark know this truth, and the other truth is..."

Frame paused briefly, raised his head, and looked into Duncan's eyes.

"The Pilgrimage Ark was created to delay the 'corruption' of the gods - and today, this 'delay' has basically reached its limit.

"The 'filth' produced by the corruption of the gods... is about to be infiltrated into the world."