Deep Sea Embers

A dull thunder suddenly sounded over Phaelun - a few minutes later, heavy rain fell from the sky, covering this small city-state located in the southwest sea like a hazy curtain.

The "light burst" that briefly passed through the sky had disappeared on the distant sea level. The residents of the city were still nervously guessing where the huge luminous objects falling from the sky had landed. Now this sudden rainfall seemed like It turned into an even more disturbing omen - in the rain, the already dark night was filled with denser darkness, and the pale creation of the world turned into a huge mouth that seemed to be constantly wriggling and trembling in the clouds. The wind whimpered in the streets and alleys, and the rolled up raindrops slapped on the windows, layer upon layer, making people feel upset.

Lawrence walked through the lobby of the hotel and saw many people who were stranded in the hotel gathered near the windows. They were discussing in low voices the flashes of light that streaked across the sky, the heavy rain outside, and the patrol of the guards who had just left. The team, the warm fireplace crackling not far away, and the bright electric lights like warriors standing vigil against the vast night outside the window - on this disturbing rainy night, fire and light support the increasingly fragile safety barrier in people's hearts.

"It's just ordinary rain..." A soft voice came from the small mirror on the chest, and Martha whispered to Lawrence, "I confirmed it in the spirit world, nothing will happen."

Lawrence nodded slightly. He looked out the window and saw the rain curtain blurring the scenery on the street. The water flowed down along the glass, outlining twisted light and shadow. Martha's figure appeared on the window, facing her. He flashed a smile.

"I just jumped to the White Oak through the mirror. Everything on the ship is fine, don't worry."

"Thank you for your hard work," Lawrence muttered softly, in a voice that could not be heard by others, "Be careful when entering the spirit world, this world is no longer safe."

"I know," Martha nodded, and continued, "In addition, I noticed that several ships at the military port suddenly left and disappeared into the northeastern night at full speed. Two of them were equipped with large winches and Construction vessel with towing arm.”

"They went to recover the 'falling objects'. It seems that a luminous object fell near Faelun," Lawrence quickly reacted, "... I hope everything goes well."

Martha nodded slightly, and then her figure gradually disappeared from the window - hazy rain curtains and water flow filled Lawrence's vision again.

The old captain looked outside in a daze for a while, then turned and left the lobby of the small hotel.

He walked through the stairs and corridors and returned to his temporary residence upstairs. He took out the key and opened the wooden door with mottled paint.

But the moment he entered the house, his movements suddenly stopped.

In the night, a shriveled figure was sitting crookedly on a chair in the room. The dim light of the street lamp spilled into the room from the window and shone on the uninvited guest. He heard the sound of opening the door and slowly turned his head. , the withered face like a skeleton showed a chilling smile: "Ah... Captain, you are back."

The strong smell of alcohol hit his face.

Lawrence raised his hand and turned on the light in the room. The bright light dispelled the night and made the ugly mummy not look so weird and scary. He frowned and looked at the other person with a serious expression: "'Sailor'? You are not here." Stay in my room, why are you here?"

"Captain..." The sailor tilted his head, and his whole head drooped as if it was about to be torn from his neck. He held a huge wine bottle in one hand and took a big gulp of the wine down his throat. It flowed freely along the hole in his chest and the slit on his neck, and fell on the floor in a trickle, "I found this in my room - don't get me wrong, I didn't steal it... I didn't steal it from you. , I understand the rules. If you steal something from the captain, you will be hanged on the mast..."

Seeing the other person's appearance, Lawrence subconsciously felt angry, but then he felt something was wrong. He frowned and approached the mummy, and glanced at the bottle in the other person's hand: "What did you give me again?" 'Possessed'?"

As he spoke, he raised his arm slightly, and a translucent spiritual flame jumped and rose at his fingertips.

However, the "sailor" who usually jumped up when he saw the spiritual fire did not react so much this time. The mummy just put the wine bottle on the table aside and looked at the flames on the old captain's fingertips with some dullness. , it took several seconds before he slowly raised his head: "Captain, I'm fine, I just remembered something."

Lawrence frowned, and while staring at Abnormal 077, who seemed to be in a bit of a bad state, he slowly spoke: "...Remember something?"

"I used to seem like I was really a human being." The mummy stretched out his hand to prop up his body, as if he wanted to adjust his sitting posture. He tried a few times but failed. "We went to a place far, far away, and then... It took me a long, long time to return to this damn boundless sea..."

…

Frame woke up from his routine meditation, and the illusion of flames made his mind tingle.

The Sen'jin pope, who was like a little giant, suddenly opened his eyes and saw that he was still kneeling in the prayer room, with flames burning in the brazier in front of him.

The shadow of the illusion still seems to remain in the constantly moving firelight, and it gradually collapses as time goes by.

The fire bringer pope gradually frowned. He stared at the brazier for a while, suddenly realized something, stood up suddenly and walked towards the door.

The pope's sudden appearance startled the priests waiting outside the prayer room. One of the priests on duty, wearing a black and red robe, immediately stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm going to the archives," Frame said without looking back. "Others don't need to follow. Pay attention to guarding the bonfire of the commemorative pillar."

The priests on duty looked at each other.

At this moment, Frame had already strode through the corridor outside the prayer room - after leaving the inner temple, his figure suddenly turned into a stream of flowing firelight, which illuminated the countless candlesticks, braziers and bonfires in the temple. Jumping between piles, he passed through the entire upper level of the Ark almost in the blink of an eye, all the way to the building at the core of the entire Firebringer Ark.

Located under the "Big Bonfire" and protected by a thick boulder dome, the "Archives" stores and records countless historical books and precious stone tablets.

The archives are brightly lit, and rows of neatly arranged shelves are displayed in this huge hall like a giant wall. These shelves, which are stronger and heavier than any conventional bookshelves, are placed on long rails. A traction mechanism is hidden inside, driven by a steam engine, to allow the bookshelves to move between the internal library and the external reading room at any time.

However, Frame's target is not the towering bookshelves, but the "secret rooms" deeper in the archives.

He went straight through all the bookshelves and tracks, and came to the stone wall at the end of the hall - two Fire Keeper knights wearing heavy armor and holding flame-shaped swords blocked his way.

"The secret chamber has been sealed," the knight said. His voice sounded low and muffled under the thick mask. Even though the Pope was standing in front of him, he still performed his duties meticulously. "May I ask why you are here? ?”

"I need to read the slates left by past popes," Frame said solemnly, "I suspect that a historical line penetration event occurred."

There was a slight friction and collision of joints under the knight's armor.

"...Era range?" Another knight asked.

"The New City State was between 1600 and 1755," Frame said.

The two knights looked at each other, and each took half a step to the side. At the same time, they lifted the flame-shaped sword in their hands and placed it above the two grooves on the ground in front of the stone wall. One of them looked at Frame cautiously: "Please confirm the current time."

"January 22, 1902 in the new city-state calendar."

The flame-shaped sword was inserted into the groove on the ground, and accompanied by a roar of machine operation, the stone wall slowly retreated.

"It has been confirmed that January 22nd, 1902 in the new city-state calendar," the Fire Keeper Knight said solemnly, "Please return before the end of today. I wish you peace."

…

"We lost contact with the Sea Song." The middle-aged man in the deep sea priest robe lowered his head in front of Helena, with uneasiness and frustration in his tone. "They continued to operate intermittently and temporarily after crossing the 6 nautical mile critical line. The lighthouse maintained communication for an hour, then lost all contact."

Then the priest paused and added: "After the psychic communication failed, we took the risk and turned on the radio, but still did not receive a signal from the Sea Song."

After a brief silence, Helena nodded slowly.

"Back off."

"Yes, Pope."

The middle-aged priest bowed and exited the room, and the place became quiet again.

After a long time, Helena stood up from her seat. She slowly came to the icon of the storm goddess Gemona, threw a sea breath wood amulet into the brazier at the foot of the icon, and then raised her head and stared at this statue. A goddess covered in gauze.

The goddess's face is hidden under the black veil, like the unpredictable waves and destiny.

"...The pioneers we sent to find you have disappeared. Have they arrived in your country safely? Or...have they been lost in the vast nothingness outside the world?"

The goddess remained silent, not even the gentle sound of the waves came.

After an unknown amount of time passed like this, Helena finally let out a sigh. Then she retracted her gaze from the icon and lowered her head to stare at the burning brazier in front of her.

"Runen, the advance fleet sent by the Deep Sea Church outside the border has lost contact," she whispered to the brazier, "Do you want to continue to implement the plan?"

"Continue," Luen's voice rang out from the flames. "The 'Mathematical Law' has completed preparations and will leave port in twenty-four hours for the southern border - we have detected a stronger signal in this direction. Maybe it will be smoother than Sea Song."

Helena listened, nodded slightly, and then pondered for a moment: "Over there at Banster..."

Just in the middle of her words, she was interrupted by a sudden crackling sound from the brazier.

Her eyes widened unexpectedly - Frame's voice suddenly sounded from the fire: "Sorry to interrupt you, I brought you an important piece of information related to the Sea Song."

"Frem?" Helena said in surprise, then reacted, "You mean Sea Song? Do you have news about Sea Song?!"

"Yes," the flames crackled, and Frame's voice seemed a little distorted, "the Sea Song has returned."

"The Sea Song has returned?" Helena couldn't hide her surprise. "When? How could I..."

"December 1675." Frame said calmly.