Deep Sea Embers

The God of Death is dead - yes, of course Duncan knows, not just the God of Death, but also the Goddess of Storm, the God of Eternal Fire, the God of Wisdom, and even every ancient god who has ever left a name in history or who has not left a name. Including the evil gods, every ancient king was dead.

As early as the day of the Great Annihilation, when thousands of worlds suddenly turned into hot and chaotic ashes, all the gods died, and all that was left was their decaying bodies. It’s just old world “inertia”.

But the moment the tall gatekeeper in front of him said the words "Death is dead", Duncan realized that the other person was referring to something else - not the "gods are dead" as he knew it, but "the gods are dead" as he knew it. It refers to something that just happened.

Not only Duncan, but Agatha on the side also quickly thought of this, and the expression on her face quickly changed from confusion to confusion: "What happened?"

The tall gatekeeper turned around silently and took another step towards the distant wasteland. After a few seconds, his voice came slowly: "To gain time."

,

The world is cooling, and it's not just the fire that's cooling—it's something intrinsic, originating from the bedrock of the world, that's dissipating, as if the last warm breath is irretrievably leaving the throat of a dying person.

Now, the undead have begun to walk around in the streets. The cold flames can no longer dispel the coldness of the world. The sea has long been stagnant, and the memory of the past time is dissipating from everyone's mind, or distorted into grotesque, Broken yet imperceptible pieces.

From remote Faelon to prosperous Pland, from Frost to Breezeport, from Moko to the broken and continuous islands in the eastern sea,

In every known place, "cooling" and "weirdness" are spreading like an unstoppable frost, gradually covering every civilization light.

Tirian came to the tallest lighthouse in the southeast of Frost. From the observation deck, he looked at the dark sea outside the city-state. He saw the large fleet pulling the sun slowly approaching the shore. The cargo ships loaded with grease, cloth and food Docked at the dock, heavy loading machinery was running back and forth in the dark, unloading materials from the cabin and installing them. The dead were busy on the dock. The undead sailors of the Sea Fog Fleet were now surrounded by many "similar" people. Death Households who don't know it are operating tireless machinery, following the orders issued by the city hall, and maintaining the city's functions as always.

On the other side of the city, you can see the towering chimneys and the brightest factory towers - the power plant is operating as usual, the steam hub emits a low roar, and huge pipes extend from the factory, like Blood vessels continue to branch and spread into the entire city, providing power and safety to people living in this city.

In those factories, the huge steam core has actually cooled down. Even if more boiling gold catalysts are inserted, the flames in the container cannot be warmed up again - but the cold reactors still scream and the steam flows continuously. , the power surges in the pipeline,

The "breath" and "blood" required for the city's operation are still rushing through the pipeline network, non-stop.

In this way, the gas lamps in the city are still bright, the factories are still brightly lit, and the machinery is running continuously. The guards are still patrolling every street and alley dutifully, guarding against all extraordinary phenomena that do not conform to the "natural rules", and maintaining public security. Officials maintain order in the city at night, help citizens who are in trouble, and deal with the number of public security cases that have gradually increased due to pressure.

Yes, order is still in operation, and the lights of civilization have not been extinguished. However, Tirian can still smell the cold, slightly rancid smell that is constantly permeating the air, as if coming from the depths of the city. Everywhere, from the bottom of the endless sea, from every breeze, every inch of sky, and even the smell that permeates every particle of dust.

Something is gradually collapsing, and the world's sinking is passing a "critical point." There are still many impressions of the past in his mind. He can sense that the whole world is very wrong now, and it is getting more and more wrong. His father mentioned However, this world will try to "correct" the errors that have occurred during execution, but there is a limit to this kind of correction, and now it is probably approaching this limit very quickly.

There was a sudden ripple in the bottom of his heart. Tirian felt a familiar breath approaching and immediately looked away from the distance.

"Father," he turned around and looked at the burly figure covered in bandages and wearing a dark coat, "Why are you here?"

"The cemetery no longer needs to be guarded. My incarnation now has a lot of free time," Duncan said, strolling to Tirian's side. His eyes crossed the night and looked in the direction Tirian was looking just now, "There is what idea?"

"The time is near, isn't it?" Tirian looked at the night with complicated eyes, "I originally thought that the 'time' you reminded me would have to wait for at least a while. "

The father was silent for a few seconds and then suddenly said: "—The God of Death is dead."

Tirian was a little confused for a moment, but he didn't seem to realize the meaning of this sentence.

The world is collapsing faster than we imagine, and its self-correction doesn't guarantee that all asylum residents will be 'alive' - or in other words, 'alive' - a high-load unit, as maintaining' "The conditions required for life are complex and sophisticated, and it is difficult for current shelters to fully provide such survival conditions."

Duncan spoke in a low voice. He looked into the distance, but his eyes seemed to be focused on another, more distant place, looking at somewhere at the end of the world.

“This is the truth behind the ‘resurrection of the dead’ in various city-states and the no longer being born of newborns in various city-states a while ago - Bartok ended the death mechanism of this world ahead of schedule.

His original rotten program actually hasn't reached this stage yet.

“Now, shelters don’t need additional support for live executions.

"At the same time, the shutdown of the death mechanism also ensures that most people in this world can 'survive' as much as possible during the gradual collapse of shelters, even in twisted and grotesque postures, in the form of undead, even if Even if it is temporary, it can still survive.

"This is Bartók's time to buy the world."

Tirian listened dumbly. He seemed to want to say something, but in the confusion and shock, he couldn't think of how to say it.

The father's low and hoarse voice came again - "But this is probably the last time the Four Gods can fight for this sanctuary."

Tirian finally spoke subconsciously: "Why?"

"Because the shutdown of the death mechanism itself is also a heavy blow to the sanctuary. After it, the countdown will officially come to an end, and all order will enter the accelerated distortion stage, and the world's 'correction mechanism' will no longer work - and this is why , more and more people will begin to notice the distortions and distortions that were originally hidden from cognition. "

Duncan turned his head and stared deeply at Tirian. Tirian stood there testifying. The huge information washed over the mind of the "Iron Lieutenant General". There was a storm in his heart, and some things had been forgotten by his subconscious. Or the "details" that have been ignored come up like a sudden shadow in a nightmare!

He was thinking hard, understanding the astonishing information his father suddenly told him, and understanding the current situation of the world. After an unknown amount of time, he felt that the tearing dizziness in his head gradually faded away, and reason reappeared in him. From the bottom of my heart.

"So" he opened his mouth and hesitated, "ordinary people will soon..."

"You are influenced by me and can detect many things in advance. As time goes by, as the world's distortion and distortion increase and the shelter's correction mechanism completely fails, more and more people will notice it like you. The anomalies in this world - not all, it depends on the strength of the mind, the level of inspiration, and some -: 'luck'.

"For those who cannot be awakened, they will continue to maintain their daily lives in darkness and distortion. Even if that life gradually turns into a weird and terrifying state, they will not feel that anything has changed in the world.

But things will get ugly for those who wake up Tirian, so be prepared—and other city-states must be prepared too.

"The last and greatest chaos of the old world is coming."

Duncan and Agatha have been trekking on this "trail" for a long time, and they don't know when the weird black and white grass around them gradually disappeared, replaced by endless pale or dark gravel. As well as the sparse and withered plants that were occasionally visible in the gravel beach, the dusk-like glow that permeated the entire wilderness gradually faded away, and the quiet night once again dominated the wilderness.

Agatha whispered to Duncan that this was the next stage of the "Path of No Return", a gesture deep in the wilderness of death - after passing through the dusk that represents the "afterglow of life", the quiet night would welcome the arrival of the dead, all over the place. The endless wasteland of gravel will erase the deceased's last trace of nostalgia for the world. As long as you successfully walk through this place, you will find the "door".

But now these symbols and programs related to the "mechanism of death" have no meaning.

Duncan looked up into the distance. In the deepest part of the night, there seemed to be something very large standing vaguely in the center of the wilderness.

And in the corner of his eye, he finally saw other figures.

They were the "gatekeepers" dressed in black robes, as if they were still shrouded in the dim light of dusk.

One after another, the gatekeepers walked silently on this boundless wasteland, heading in a common direction in silence, heading for the funeral.