Deep Sea Embers

The journey to the death node seems to be coming to an end. In the extremely uniform gray-white background outside the ship's side, some extremely difficult-to-detect black lines have begun to appear faintly. There are physical structures appearing in the distance, and on the Lost Home. The front of the Brilliant Star is slowly expanding.

But for some reason, this scene that he had seen more than once made Duncan feel particularly lonely and long.

He stood quietly on the bow of the Lost Home, waiting for the moment when the jump stopped. The sound of footsteps came from behind him, and he knew who was approaching without looking back.

"Lucy," Duncan whispered, "we're almost there."

"I know," Lucretia came to Duncan and looked at the slowly changing landscape in the distance with her father, "The last node, right, and then any section of the journey back to where the Storm Goddess sleeps. All journeys must come to an end.”

"I'm sorry, I have to set off alone again," Duncan sighed softly. Although he knew that he was only occupying an "incarnation", at this moment, in front of Lucretia, he still couldn't help but have many complexities in his heart. emotions, and how many of those emotions came from "Duncan Abnomar", he couldn't tell clearly, "I promised you before."

Before he finished speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by Lucretia: "You have fulfilled your promise and took me with you when you went to the end of the world."

The Sea Witch said, turning her head to look at Duncan with eyes as quiet as a pool of water, her expression looked extremely serious, but after two or three seconds, she suddenly laughed again: "What do you think will happen? I want to act like an ignorant person. Crying like a little girl, holding you back from doing important things? Or scolding you angrily at this time, making you embark on such an important journey with regret and frustration? Do you want to put an end to my bad mood at this moment? "

Looking at the "witch" smiling in front of him, Duncan suddenly felt that he didn't know what to say, so he could only smile helplessly and spread his hands.

"I am no longer a child, father," Lucretia took a slow breath, with a calm smile on her face, and looked seriously into Duncan's eyes, "No matter what I do, I can't stop you from taking over. The decision has been made, and I can't find a better and feasible alternative to solve the problem for you. The most suitable choice is to keep smiling at this moment. This is what you taught me. "

"I don't remember." Duncan said very honestly. He must smile every time he said goodbye," Lucretia said softly with the memory, "This way, if we can never see each other again, then at least we can remember each other. When we see each other, the last scene in our mind is a bright smile.

Duncan did not speak. He did not ask ignorantly at this moment. A century ago, when the Lost Home decided to sail to the eternal curtain, Lucretia and Tirian said goodbye to the captain of the Lost Home for the last time. What a sight.

Lucretia suddenly raised her hand after a moment of silence and looked at Duncan steadily.

"What?" Duncan looked at the other party with some confusion.

‘High fives. Lucretia said and Duncan frowned subconsciously: "High five?" "

“Promise me you’ll come back and give me a high five.

The sea witch said calmly. She raised her head and looked at the tall figure standing on the bow of the ship. The slowly moving black lines gradually expanded in the distant background, and her father's figure seemed to be gradually melting into the changing scenery. In the light and shadow, in a daze, she seemed to see that afternoon again when even the sunshine had faded. On the pier, her father stood in front of the gangplank leading to the Lost Home, looking at her like a speechless sculpture.

"High five, promise me and my brother that you will come back safely." That's what she said at that time. She was still very young at that time, and she was not yet a "sea witch" at that time. She couldn't remember whether she had any traces on her face at that time. With a smile on his face - most likely without it, because at that time, I was far from as mature and hard-yellow as I am today. In the memory, the tall figure finally turned around and left in silence.

The warm touch and "pop" awakened Lucrecia from the faded memory - she saw her father smiling and covering her palm with his broad palm.

Just like what my father did every time he and his brother went out when they were young.

Then, the floating black light and shadow in the distance suddenly expanded, occupying the entire field of vision outside the Homeless Ship and the Brilliant Star. The gray-white background channel collapsed silently, and a distorted sound was transmitted into everyone's mind. : "The jump has stopped."

A colorless vast wilderness composed entirely of different gradients of black and white and gray came into the eyes of Lucretia and Duncan. There was no coastline and no sea. There was only wild wilderness here, with black and white weeds growing wildly on the wilderness. It rises and falls in the wind, but makes no sound, like a dead wave.

The Lost Home and the Brilliant Star sailed on the undulating grass waves, gliding silently through the wilderness of death shrouded in eternal night.

The night seems to have lasted forever, and the sun will really never rise again.

Standing next to the big bonfire of the Firebringer Ark, Frame once again looked back in the direction from which the Ark fleet came. Looking back at the boundaries of the civilized world, he could still only see the endless darkness and the coldness of the creation of the world. The pale brilliance shone on the mirror-like sea, as if the whole world had always been like this from the infinite past to the infinite future. He withdrew his gaze and continued to pray under the light of the big bonfire.

The cold wind from the northern sea howled in his ears, accompanied by the low noise from the giant steam engines deep in the Ark. Occasionally, he could hear a shattering loud noise or a thunderous continuous roar from the distance. That was the terrifying sound made when the ice was crushed by the giant ice-breaking mechanism in front of the Ark.

The Fire Carrier Ark is sailing further north. It has already crossed a series of "extreme northern city-states" including Frost, and now officially enters the permanently frozen sea area that was previously regarded as the "end of civilization". Here, the endless ice The layers replaced the sea, seeming to extend to the end of the world in the darkness. The hazy and undulating mist entrenched in the depths of the ice sheet, rising up and connecting to the sky. In the skylight shed by the creation of the world, everything was filled with a layer of strangeness. And the uniform silver glow even looks quite "bright"

After an unknown amount of time, Frame finally opened his eyes from prayer. He frowned slightly and sensed something, while a vague phantom split from the shadows beside him, got up and walked towards the magnificent bonfire in front of him. .

As the historical clone disappeared into the flames, he nodded slightly and raised his hand to summon a fire attendant who was always waiting aside.

Whispering instructions.

The attendant took the order and left. After a while, a low mechanical roar came from the depths of the Firebringer Ark. This extremely huge engineering creation slowly and carefully adjusted its course, and at the same time reset the execution of the ice-breaking mechanism ahead. Way, continue to drive deeper into the ice sheet.

The distant sound of ice breaking was mixed with some disturbing sharp noises.

A priestess wearing a black robe and a veil appeared near the big bonfire and quickly came behind Frame: "Under the Pope's crown, a drive shaft of the ice-breaking mechanism has broken."

"Can it still be used?

"The power has dropped by 30%, but it is still usable," the priestess said quickly, "but the Mechanicus Priest warned that the breakage of the first drive shaft will trigger a chain reaction soon, and other drive shafts may be damaged in the next five years. If a problem occurs within seven days, the ice-breaking mechanism will be useless. "

"It doesn't matter, it can still be used for the time being. It was originally a temporary addition to the Ark. After all, this ship was not designed to sail on the ice sea from the beginning," Frame said, slowly shaking it. Shaking his head, "Don't worry, we're almost there. "

The priestess turned her head and looked at the big burning bonfire in front of the Pope.

"Is the 'direction' guided by the Lord right here?"

"Yes," Frame nodded slightly, "The Lord told me in the vision of fire that this is the focus of the historical line in the real dimension. The most important documents and archives must be sent here. This is where to leave The key to 'trace'. Unfortunately, the Lord's voice is very vague and I can't fully understand what the 'trace' is, but there is only one thing that is certain that it is very important. "

The priestess did not ask any more questions, but lowered her head and prayed devoutly in front of the big bonfire - she did not expect to hear any response from the flames, because since a long time ago, the only vague whispers of the Lord were Only the Pope can hear it, but "prayer" has become a part of the lifestyle of ordinary priests like her, and she is used to doing it even if there is no response.

The wind on the ice sea is biting and cold, and the chill that can almost freeze the blood can no longer be blocked by thick clothes or magic. But unknowingly, the priests on this ark have also begun to adapt to the cold here. The priests and sailors who had temporarily recovered from the cold due to low temperatures have gradually recovered recently, which is somewhat of a good thing.

The prayer ended, and the priestess opened her eyes. The cold wind poured into her flesh and blood, freezing her blood flow and heartbeat, but she still got a little relief from the prayer. "I will inform the mechanics on the ship and let them do their best." It is possible to extend the remaining life of the ice-breaking mechanism and try to keep those hydraulic hammers until they reach the 'focus.' But if the ice-breaking mechanism really can't hold on, we can only use explosives, and we have a lot of explosives in reserve. "

Um. Frame nodded slightly.

The priestess bowed slightly and backed away, preparing to leave, but before leaving, she still looked up at the big bonfire and couldn't help but murmured softly, "This fire is really cold."