Deep Sea Embers

As we go deeper into the interior of this "Holy Land Island", the surrounding environment becomes quieter and quieter - there is no longer the sound of wind, nor the movement of any birds or streams. A strange silence condenses in the mist. , hanging over the heads of the team.

However, this extreme quietness brings greater uneasiness to people. When the original sounds of nature have faded away, the association of "this island is alive" begins to occupy it uncontrollably. Upwind, Shirley always felt as if there were eyes on her in the fog. She felt that the island seemed to be observing and scrutinizing the uninvited guests who broke into this place, and the fog slowly wandering around the team... also seemed to be gradually being dyed. A higher level of "watcher" flavor.

And the team continued to go deeper, heading towards the "excavation place" that appeared in Shirley's mind.

After leaving the port area, there is a not very wide trail leading to the center of the island. This seems to be the path that the cultists on the island opened a long time ago - it is located between two dark rock walls. There are no instructive signs on the road, but on both sides of the road where the rock walls are connected, you can see some black stones that look like crystal clusters from time to time.

Duncan's eyes couldn't help but be attracted by those black "stone clusters" - this kind of "stone clusters" are not uncommon on the island. On the cliffs on the west side of the island, there are "growing" larger than this almost everywhere. Clusters of rocks, these things emerge from the earth and mountain walls like some kind of weird "plants", making people very curious about their formation process.

Even with Morris's erudition, it seems impossible to explain the appearance of these "stone clusters" from a purely geological perspective... But considering that the entire island is "alive" as Shirley said, what weird things appear here Things don't seem weird anymore.

Perhaps these strange-shaped stones really "grew" out of the island, like... some kind of secretion from ancient gods.

Several marines, under the command of Amber, carefully collected samples of those "stone clusters" and scraped many dark-colored powdery substances from nearby rock walls. They put these "Holy Land Island Samples" Discreetly stored in a blessed metal cylinder and kept separately by select individuals in the party.

Along the way, they were all doing similar things, and their cooperation was so familiar that it barely affected the team's forward speed. It was obviously not the first time they had done this.

"All of the 'Frontier Samples' have the potential to be useful. Some of them have incredible practical properties, and some can help us uncover the secrets of the world and enhance our understanding of extraordinary powers," Amber explained to Duncan Said, "Many people think that the 'border' is a place with nothing. They think that there is only thick fog and sea water, but in fact... entities often appear in the fog, and we have to deal with nearly double digits of entities every year. event'……"

She paused briefly before adding: "Ms. Lucretia should know this very clearly - she often cooperates with the church in the field of border exploration..."

"I heard her mention it," Duncan nodded calmly, "she said that this is the main source of funding for the Brilliant Star's activities on the border - the Institute of Truth is the most generous when it comes to acquiring border samples, while the Firebringer is always the slowest in paying. The Deep Sea Church has a good reputation in this area of ​​transactions, but the 'receipt' standards are very strict, and the review and registration process is sometimes even slower than that of the Firebringer."

Amber's face was slightly embarrassed: "...not every church is as wealthy as the Academy of Truth. They can buy more than a dozen city-states just by transferring the technology of the steam core reactor, and we also have to consider the annual Budget.”

Duncan: "...It is indeed a very practical reason."

"Have you ever felt...the surroundings seem to be colder than before?" Shirley suddenly broke the silence. She folded her arms and rubbed them while muttering, "I always feel like there is wind blowing over me, and my arms are almost frozen. …”

"Cold?" Fanna frowned when she heard this, "I don't think so...but the fog around is indeed a little thicker than before, and the road ahead is getting harder to see clearly...huh?"

Vanna stopped suddenly and stared at Shirley's arm: "Shirley, the chain on your arm..."

Shirley was stunned for a moment, then raised her arms and asked in confusion: "Ah? What's wrong with the chains?"

The sound of rattling chains echoed in the mist, and the dark thorn chains connected her arms and Agou's cervical vertebrae, as always.

Vanna's brows furrowed. She carefully looked at the black chain on Shirley's arm, and shook her head hesitantly: "...it's restored again...but just now I seemed to see the chain on your arm in a trance." It’s disconnected.”

"Ah?!" Shirley's eyes widened when she heard this, and her tone became a little panicked, "Hey... don't scare me! Did you really see it?!"

As she spoke, she quickly raised her arm, pulled the chain directly to pull Agou in front of her, and hugged the latter's big head: "Agou, do you feel it?"

"No..." Agou was also a little flustered by Fanna's words, "I must have read it wrong..."

Fanna was still frowning. Of course she knew that the scene she had just seen in a daze was a bit unbelievable, but the judge's professionalism still made her quickly raise her vigilance: "Shirley, Agou, you really don't have any Feeling strange?"

Shirley and Agou said in unison: "I don't feel anything."

"Let me check." Duncan strode over, grabbed the black chain between Shirley and Agou, and held it in front of his eyes to examine it carefully.

Shirley watched this scene nervously from the side. It took a long time before she had the courage to speak: "Is there any...is there any problem?"

A wisp of green flame flowed at Duncan's fingertips, penetrating into the gaps between the iron chains like water. After a long time, he shook his head gently: "I can't see anything."

"What will happen if the chain breaks?" Even Alice reacted at this time and asked nervously.

"I don't know... If the chains of those Annihilation Cultists and contracted demons are broken, they usually die immediately. Neither humans nor demons can survive, but my situation is different with Agou..." Shirley said in a panic. He looked up, obviously a little scared, "And it's impossible for this chain to break under normal circumstances. It's very strong... How could it be broken..."

Duncan suddenly reached out and patted Shirley on the shoulder.

Shirley raised her head in excitement and looked at the captain uneasily.

"Go back to the ship," Duncan told her.

Noticing that the other party was a little confused for a moment, Duncan continued: "The situation is a bit wrong. To be cautious, I think you should return to the Lost Home and not go further into the depths of the island."

Shirley finally reacted. She nodded with some hesitation. However, at this moment, the dog next to her suddenly stood up again. It rarely obeyed the captain's arrangement: "No, captain, I think... I It’s best for Shirley and I to continue staying on the island with you.”

Duncan frowned when he heard this: "Why?"

Agou hesitated for a moment, then spoke as if he had made up his mind: "First of all, returning to the Lost Home at this time may not be safer than staying with you."

Duncan didn't speak, but used his eyes to signal Agou to continue.

"Secondly... I'm worried that even if I leave the Holy Land Island now, it will be useless," Agou organized his words and continued, "I don't think Miss Fanna 'saw it wrong' just now, not to mention that in this environment, Even if you really saw something wrong, you must take it seriously... The situation may really be wrong. When she was in the square just now, Shirley was obviously affected by this holy island and saw many things that she shouldn't have seen. …

"According to my experience, simply choosing to leave the scene after this happens will not solve the problem. Instead, it may uncontrollably explode into a bigger trouble after a period of time - pollution follows a shadow and will grow in escape, and The solution to a problem is often only found at the source."

Shirley understood what Agou meant, and immediately looked up nervously at the mist at the end of the road: "You mean... we should continue walking in?"

"I have to move forward. If I don't understand what's going on on this island, and if I don't understand what's wrong with the chain between you and me, I won't feel at ease," Agou said in a deep voice, "And... it's like... As I just said, it might not be safe to return to the Lost Home at this time."

Shirley opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but she suddenly heard Agou's voice transmitted directly into her mind through the symbiotic chain——

"Shirley, stay with the captain - trust my judgment, it is safer to be by his side, even if you have to go to the subspace with him."

Shirley turned her head and saw Agou looking at her quietly, with blood-red light flickering in a pair of empty skeletal eyes.

Agou seemed to have a premonition of something.

As a profound demon, it occasionally has some unexplainable premonitions.

Agou was often unable to explain the specific content of this premonition to the outside world, but Shirley always believed in its judgment unconditionally.

So she nodded slowly: "Okay, let's continue going deeper."

"Are you sure?" Duncan looked at Shirley seriously, "Going deeper, there may be unforeseen circumstances."

It is certain that the danger of the environment is relative, and the safety around the captain is absolute.

For some reason, such a sentence suddenly flashed through Shirley's mind - it was not a word transmitted by Agou through spiritual contact, but more like a judgment that suddenly emerged in her own mind.

She was in a daze for a moment and nodded again: "Sure, I feel like I'm in good condition."

"...Okay," Duncan confirmed that Shirley's attitude was firm, and then looked away, but then he reached out and pressed the head of this girl who was too thin and short due to malnutrition in her childhood, and reminded her seriously, " Stay with me and stay close."

"good!"