Deep Sea Embers

Lucrecia and Vanna walked on the mobile platform under the lighthouse facility. They passed through the thick fog in the night, walked through those familiar roads and covered bridges. The dim lights in the fog seemed like dim stars, and in the dim light and shadow, someone was walking near them.

A port guard with a pale face walked past Vanna. The guard was wearing a neat uniform and holding a still bright lantern in his hand. His expression was meticulous, but when two uninvited guests appeared in front of him, he ignored them.

Vanna looked at the guard with a complicated look as he walked away in the fog. After the latter's figure gradually disappeared in the thick fog, she whispered to Lucrecia: "He is not breathing."

"Yes, the one just now didn't either. Most people here are no longer breathing," Lucrecia said softly. The expression on the witch's face was shrouded in shadows. "Even a few The few who were still breathing did not respond to our arrival. "

"Everyone was in a state of - Vanna started to speak, but she suddenly got stuck halfway through her speech. It seemed that it was difficult to find a suitable word to describe her feelings. After a long time, she continued, "a state of trance and 'ignorance'. They are still maintaining their daily work here, and even do the handover of various positions meticulously, but they did not respond to us. "

Lucretia hummed lightly, but did not say anything else. Instead, she roughly judged the distribution of the surrounding facilities in the fog, and then walked towards the church at the base of the lighthouse.

The situation in the church was not much different from that outside, but there were fewer people. In addition to three or five figures who were resting and praying, there was only a priestess in a black nun's dress who was cleaning the main hall. She seemed to have a little reaction to the appearance of Vanna and Lucrecia - but it was just a moment of stopping and watching. When Vanna was about to talk to the nun, she walked away as if nothing had happened.

Lucrecia and Vanna walked directly through the main hall of the church and entered the tower connected to the lighthouse from the side door. Then they walked up the dimly lit spiral staircase. After searching several empty lounges and storage rooms, they found a half-closed door.

There was a bright light and a slight sound coming from behind the door. Vanna stepped forward and pushed open the half-closed door. She saw a small room with various devices installed inside. The smell of incense surrounded the room. A small brass incense burner was hung on a steam pipe in the center of the room, which looked as if it had just been lit.

The two bypassed the steam pipe, and almost at the same time, a figure suddenly stood up from the corner of the room and walked straight towards Lucrecia.

Lucrecia was startled by the figure who had been sitting in the corner before, and then she saw clearly that it was a middle-aged man in a priest's robe. He had no breathing or heartbeat, and he could not even detect any "breath". When he sat there, he was like a simple "object", so that even Vanna did not realize that there was a person in the room!

Then, the middle-aged priest without any breath walked around Lucrecia and Vanna expressionlessly. Under the gaze of the two, he sat down on a table at the end of the room, like a machine with a timer that went to a specific position, cleared his throat, pressed a button on the table, and held a microphone from the side to his face.

"Calling the Lost Homeland, calling the Brilliant Star, this is the border lighthouse, the current time is December 17, 1902, we are waiting for you to return. Repeat, calling the voyagers, this is the border lighthouse, the current time is we are waiting for you to return.

The middle-aged priest repeated it three times, then waited for a while, pressed the button again, and repeated the above content again. After several times, he hung up the device to monitoring mode, stood up from the table, turned around and walked to where he was sitting before.

He walked past Lucrecia and Vanna without looking away.

"This is the call we heard. "Fanna was busy watching the scene, and spoke softly after a long time. She looked at the "witch" beside her, but saw that the latter was also looking up at her. "I heard my father describe the current appearance of the Infinite Sea before, but I never fully imagined what it was like," Lucrecia said in a complicated tone, "This is more than I imagined. She repeated it several times, but in the end she couldn't find the right words to describe her feelings. "The situation in the city-state shouldn't be so bad," Fanna shook her head gently after thinking for a moment, "This lighthouse is located in the deepest part of the border. Order is the first to fade here, and it is also more susceptible to the "corruption" of the gods. The city-state side "Yes, the situation will be better, although it should get worse later," Lucrecia interrupted Fanna, her face serious, "Don't think too much now. "Yes, don't think too much now. "Fanna was shocked when she heard that, and immediately reacted and sorted out her emotions. She suppressed the associations and worries in her heart, and then she heard footsteps coming from outside the door again.

The two of them turned back subconsciously, and almost at the same time, the half-closed door was pushed open from the outside, and a man in a guard uniform appeared at the door.

Perhaps Fanna, who had come to find the middle-aged priest and had become accustomed to the "environment" here, thought so, and stepped to the side to get out of the way, but just when she did so, the black-clothed guard's face But he suddenly showed the wrong expression - he seemed to suddenly notice the two women in the room, his body shook slightly, and then, excitement and surprise appeared in his eyes.

"Your Excellency Vanna, and Ms. Lucretia!" the guard in black shouted excitedly, even rubbing his eyes in disbelief, "Is it really you? Are you back?!"

Frankly speaking, Fanna was even more confused than the guard at this moment. She was obviously stunned for two seconds before her eyes suddenly widened: "Are you still 'awake'?" ! "

"Awake?" The guard in black was stunned for a moment, but soon realized what it meant. He looked down at himself, and then at the compatriot who was resting in the corner of the room, with a complicated smile on his face. , "Yeah, I'm awake, and there are other people who are awake. Everyone should be very happy to see you.

"Are there other "awake" people?" Lucretia on the side was greatly surprised, "We came all the way.

"The proportion of people who are awake is very small. In order to make it easier to look after each other and confirm each other's status, everyone is concentrated in the internal living area under the lighthouse. We only come out when necessary to patrol various areas, replenish supplies and check whether others are awake. As for the compatriots who need help," the guard in black said calmly, "the other thing is to confirm whether you have come back."

He paused and raised his head to look at the middle-aged priest sitting in the corner of the room.

"The communication device is now occupied by 'them', and forcibly disrupting the 'daily activities' on their side will lead to more violent reactions, and sometimes even lead to madness, so we will only send people during specific 'window periods' every day" Come up, check the records of the listening antenna, and go to the top of the lighthouse to confirm if there are any ships on the sea returning from the depths of the fog. Today is my turn. but to be honest

The guardian smiled bitterly with a complicated expression, but his eyes were filled with joy: "To be honest, I didn't even expect to see you appear.

I look at the thick fog every day, but there is nothing but fog there.

"Are you all back? What's the situation like at the end of the world?"

Vanna and Lucretia looked at each other, and the latter hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly: "The situation is very complicated now, and it will take a long time to explain. Take us to your "sanctuary" first. "

"Of course," the black-clothed guard nodded immediately, "but before entering the shelter, you need to undergo a ritual inspection. I hope you understand that this is the border after all, and you are returning from the thick fog.

"After that, Helena's incarnation will personally receive you."

When Fanna heard this, she immediately showed a surprised expression: "Is the incarnation of His Majesty the Pope over here?

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‘She was originally stationed at the mobile port at the junction of the Eternal Veil and the Endless Sea, but after the situation at the lighthouse deteriorated, she came here, and the shelter also relied on her to maintain—she has always been with us. "

The black-clothed guard said, made an invitation gesture, turned around and led Vanna and Lucretia towards the door.

When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped again and turned to look at the two voyagers who had just returned from the end of the world.

The joy and excitement gradually settled in his eyes, and finally turned into a smile.

"Although the situation 'at home' is not very good now," he said solemnly, "I still welcome you home - it's been a hard journey."

Fanna smiled back: "Well, we are back.'

They returned home. Although there were some twists and turns, the returnees finally arrived at their home port safely.

After receiving the message from Lucretia again, Duncan finally felt relieved.

He and Alice are still staying on the "Temple Island" where Queen Leviathan sleeps. They have been staying on this black island for several days.

Now, the island is burning in flames that are filled with starlight, like a nebula illusion. The "fire" like the mist of light spewing out from the nebula cluster is permeating the entire black island, from every stone crevice and every piece of the island. Between the joints between the masonry, each pillar and the roof, the illusory flames soaked everything here, and even spread to the surrounding sea, spreading to the corpses of the Leviathan beasts that looked like an archipelago.

Duncan sat on a large stone on the edge of the square in front of the black temple, calmly watching the flames burn, watching it soak into the "cornerstone" of the world.

The doll Alice stood quietly behind him.