Deep Sea Embers

Once again, the sun went out in front of Duncan and others.

It happened all of a sudden. Along with a strange low noise, the surface of the sun, which was about to drop from the sea level, suddenly lost all its brilliance and turned into a terrifying black hole, while the surface of the sun surrounding it The two rune rings seemed to be still shining in the sun, turning into two dazzling bright edges around the black hole - the limited light diffused from the edge of the extinguished sun, leaving a layer of chaos between the sky and the sea. The dim light made the sky appear even more terrifying and strange.

As the sun goes out, the boundless sea in the distance has fallen into darkness. Only the "luminous geometry" located near Qingfeng Port is still emitting the same "sunlight" as always, maintaining basic lighting in the limited sea area - those along the The light escaping from the sea became the only reassuring thing under the strange "night".

Shirley was completely confused. She stared into the distance for a long time and couldn't hold back the next sentence. However, Nina next to her had already reacted and reached out to pat her friend's shoulder: "Don't panic, it's definitely not something you want to do." You said it was destroyed..."

"Nonsense! Of course I know!" Shirley almost jumped up, and then immediately set her sights on Duncan not far away, "Captain, what should I do?"

"Qingfeng Port is still there, and the Pilgrimage Ark is also there..." Duncan did not answer Shirley, but immediately looked in the direction of Qingfeng Port. Enshrouded in the light of the luminous geometry, he carefully distinguished the distant sea surface. The scene - from here you can clearly see the coastline of Qingfeng Port and the outline of the Storm Cathedral docked near the city-state. The other three pilgrim arks cannot be seen completely due to the viewing angle, but it is obvious that they all stay in their original position. land.

"...This is 'the sun goes out'..." Lu En muttered to himself. After the initial shock, he finally realized, "This really happened..."

Banster stared intently at the terrifying black hole hovering above the sea level in the distance, with a low and gloomy voice: "The breath of the spiritual world began to stir, but the creation of the world did not appear in advance."

Duncan looked at the popes: "I remember you mentioned that the last time the sun went out, the four arks on patrol didn't notice it?"

"Yes," Lu En nodded, "According to what you guys said, we stayed in the 12 hours of 'disappearance' along with the whole world, and directly 'skipped' the sun's extinction. Incident - if it weren't for the subsequent reports from Breezeport, Frostbite, and Pland, we wouldn't have known what happened."

Duncan nodded slowly, still looking at the city in the distance: "But now you have seen it, your patrol ark is also there, and everyone has seen it."

"What's the principle behind this?" Lu En thought subconsciously. He looked at the huge luminous geometry on the nearby sea and gradually became thoughtful, "It's because the four patrol arks are now within the protection range of 'that thing' ?”

"It may indeed have something to do with that weird luminous geometry - Plande, Frost and Breeze Harbor. Each city-state that maintains its 'existence' during the extinguishing of the sun has its own particularity, and the biggest feature of Breeze Harbor is It is always bathed in this weird 'sunlight'," Duncan nodded, "But now is not the time to discuss this, you'd better confirm the situation of the four arks - In addition, Lucy, you can contact us now Coming to the city?"

"There is a radio on the Brilliant Star, and it has been contacted by Breeze Port now," Lucretia nodded immediately, "The city-state has sounded an emergency alarm, and the security forces and knowledge guards are starting to maintain order. In a short time You shouldn’t have to worry.”

"There is no need to worry about order, but panic is definitely inevitable - and the panic this time will be different from the last time," Fanna on the side couldn't help but muttered, "After all, it wasn't long after the sun went out last time. , is the outbreak of the 'Dream of the Nameless One'..."

Her words silenced the deck, and everyone looked at each other in the dim light with subtle, serious or uneasy expressions on their faces.

The four popes quickly took action. They quickly contacted their respective patrol arks and confirmed the situation on the ark. While remotely commanding the priests staying on the ark to maintain order, monitor and collect intelligence, they also ordered their respective Ark sent some priests into Qingfeng Port to help control the security in the city and calm the nervousness of the residents.

At the same time, Duncan and his team came to the central deck area and found the bishops who were in some confusion.

These bishops who were arranged to leave early after the meeting had unforgettable memories in the past few minutes - they finally adapted to the bizarre and strange environment on the Lost Home, and adapted to the various harmonies on the ship. "Living creatures" and questionable "rules", after the meeting, they came to the deck to have some snacks and enjoy the sea breeze to relax their nerves. But just after relaxing for a while - bang, the sun went out.

No one said anything to them.

Thanks to the emergency "training" they received before boarding the ship and the "common sense teachings" they heard after boarding the ship, at least half of the bishops subconsciously wondered whether this could be considered something that could be observed on the Lost Home after seeing the sun go out. When Duncan led a large group of people to the central deck area, several bishops were still discussing the "natural phenomenon" - the main topic of discussion was that it got dark very early on the Lost Home.

Fortunately, after a flurry of communication and explanations from all parties, everyone realized the situation at hand and quickly restored order from the initial chaos.

Under the dim sky and the faint "sunlight" that diffused from the distance, the Lost Home and the Brilliant Star accelerated their speed again and sailed towards the coastline of Qingfeng Port.

…

On the semi-permanent floating island research station located next to the luminous geometry, Ted Leal and several scholars were standing in the observation room on the upper floor of the facility, guarding a radio device solemnly - there was a message coming from the radio is the latest situation in the city-state.

The sun went out, causing a short-term panic in the city. Then the security forces and guards quickly controlled the order. Currently, all major areas in the city have entered a state of martial law. The main roads are blocked, all shelters are open, and the gas lamps are turned on in advance. From now on, the bells of the college are floating over the city.

No extraordinary pollution has been found to have invaded the city, and no reports of people suffering from mental pollution or mental transformation have been received from various places.

The good news is that this is not the first time that Qingfeng Port has faced "sun out". People are no longer as unprepared as last time, causing many unnecessary losses in chaos and disorder.

The bad news is that the terrible Dream of the Nameless Man incident occurred after the last "Sun Goes Out". The terrifying shadow left by this incident still lingers in the city-state. Although the order in the city has quickly stabilized, people are still panicking. And fear is secretly growing - everyone is worried about what will happen after the sun goes out this time.

Ted Leal knows that this kind of widespread fear is the most difficult thing. It cannot be controlled and cannot be ignored. It will develop like an undercurrent until the crisis ends or evolves into another huge trouble. .

But there is more than one problem.

Ted Leal frowned and looked at a machine at the end of the room.

A recorder was running creakingly. Precision gears and connecting rods drove the steel needle to move quickly left and right on the slide rail. A long paper tape was being continuously spit out from the recorder. The paper tape The black lines on it tremble, outlining information that humans cannot understand.

The sending period is twelve seconds, repeated three times, followed by an interval of thirty seconds, and then appears again.

Connected to that recorder was a complex optical instrument located in front of the observation window at the end of the room.

“The light signal released by the luminous body continues, and is significantly strengthened at the moment when the sun goes out—it has now exceeded the highest value in historical records,” a scholar said next to Ted Leal, “In addition, A backup device set up at the upper observation station suddenly received a very weak signal just now, and the content of the signal is consistent with what we received here - the backup device pointed at the extinguished sun."

"...This is obviously a complete system, the sun, and the luminous geometric objects that fell into the world. There is still some connection between them," another scholar couldn't help but said, "Although they appear to be Already separated..."

"There is still no progress in deciphering. It would be great if some new information could appear in these signals, which could at least be used for cross-reference."

"Just now, news came from the high tower in the city. It has been confirmed that the sun is no longer moving. It is stagnant near the sea level and has not continued to fall at all in the past half hour..."

"Will no one go to the tower to observe the sun again?!"

"No, it is recorded automatically by the instrument, and the data is read indirectly by personnel - since the last incident, the college has strictly prohibited anyone from observing the sun under such circumstances..."

Ted Leal listened to the discussions around him, frowning and remaining silent. After thinking for a long time, he suddenly raised his head: "I have to return to the city-state."

"...Indeed, you need to go back and maintain order," a scholar said immediately. "Leave it to us here. No matter what happens, the observatory will continue to operate and we will not miss any data."

Ted Leal glanced at these scholars who were very prestigious and trustworthy in the professional field, nodded silently, and then opened his "Book of Miracles" that recorded many spells and knowledge.

He opened the part of the book where the "door" was recorded and tapped on the page with his finger.

An illusory door then emerged from the book, quickly took shape in the air in front of him, and opened silently.

He took a breath and stepped towards the door.

Boundless darkness and chaos enveloped his perception——

He did not arrive at Breeze Harbor.