Deep Sea Embers

Blind fools wandered outside the power plant in a trance. The low roar of the port's power facilities came from the thick fog. The cold steam core ran hollowly. The steam itself had become part of the distorted vision, and the shelter of the flame had also disappeared.

But "shelter" itself is no longer dispensable in today's world. The boundaries between "normal" and "abnormal" have long been blurred. When all minds fall with the world, "sanity" has become the only thing in the eyes of the world. Madmen and pollution—Now, madmen gather inside the high walls and build their last refuge, watching cowardly as the outside world gradually falls into darkness.

"We will prepare sufficient supplies for the Brilliant Star," Helena stood on a platform high above the power plant and said to Vanna and Lucretia who were standing aside, "You can transfer to the western dock. The shore - that side is one of the external channels we can control at present. "

“Can this ‘lighthouse’ still provide supplies now? Lucretia looked at the female pope with some surprise, "Do you have so many resources?" "

"Yes, there is no shortage of supplies. This may not be in line with your first impression of this place," Helena smiled, "But in fact, the 'operation' of the entire world continues, and the production of various major supplies , transportation, and even commercial activities in the city-state. Every half month, a cargo ship full of supplies sails from the border base to replenish the lighthouse with fuel and other things.

Those compatriots who fell into a trance will carry out the handover as usual, and we "awakened ones" will use the permits dug out from the old files to transfer some of the materials to another warehouse. Using the same method, we can also Call the many amenities found here. "

She turned her head and looked at the vast platform outside the power plant.

"Yes, this world is still executing, and every part is executing along the old trajectory in a trance, just like a big ship that has collapsed internally, still drifting along the original trajectory driven by inertia. On the sea, those of us who wake up on the ship cannot repair the ship, but at least we can all sail with it until it capsizes." "

Vanna and Lucretia didn't speak for a while, and they didn't know how to speak.

This world is completely unfamiliar to them.

But Helena obviously didn't care about this. She just waved her hand and continued: "Thank you very much for telling me what happened at the end of the world. In this way, those of us waiting on the big ship will finally know What's going on outside? Now waiting at least has meaning, instead of just lingering.

"The Lost Home is still sailing to the end of the world, isn't it?"

"Yes, the captain and Alice are staying at the end of the world, and they are still moving further away," Vanna said softly, "The captain is preparing for the new world. When everything is ready, you can just blink your eyes." . "

"Okay, then I won't delay your next journey," Helena's incarnation turned her head and breathed softly, "I'll arrange the supplies, and someone will take you two back to the dock.

She stopped suddenly, stared into Vanna's eyes steadily, and spoke after a long time.

"Vanna, have a safe journey - see you in the new world."

Fanna nodded solemnly: "Yes, Your Majesty the Pope, see you in the new world."

.

The howling wind has stopped at some point, and now only the pure and ultimate "cold" remains on this ice sheet.

The cold penetrates flesh and blood, soaks into bone marrow, and freezes souls. However, the fire bearers in this cold wind have long forgotten the warmth of "fire".

The undead people trekked on the ice field, and in the cold night, the lanterns on their chests continued to fly, becoming a slightly flickering and squirming line deep in the ice field.

Frame stood on a hastily built platform, looking at the ice in the distance. At the end of his field of vision, the majestic silhouette of the church ark was standing silently in the distance. The lights on the ark outlined a twinkling tower in the night. The "mountain" of light is made up of lanterns,

Dots of light flowed between the "mountain" and the ice at his feet, going back and forth incessantly and tirelessly.

After the ice-breaking device became completely unusable, the Fire Bearers used the explosives carried by the ship to break through the next section of ice. After the explosives were used up, Ark used its own surging power and strong armor to break through another section of the ice. road, and after that, its power system finally stopped completely - even though the steam core was still whistling hollowly and the air flow in the pipes was surging, the giant ship still stopped between the ice and stopped at its destination. the last stretch of road ahead.

But fortunately, it is not far from the final "focus", and it is even within the scope of influence of the focus. At this moment, the last "archive" of civilization is being established in this ice sheet. Footsteps sounded from the side, and the veiled man The priestess stepped onto the platform, stopped beside Frame, and bent down slightly: "Eleven more people have been 'awakened'. They have been placed in the camp and are currently receiving psychological comfort and counseling."

Frame nodded slightly: "Well, how are they doing?"

'It's better than the last batch,' the priestess replied. 'It is useful to continuously convey some hints and reminders to people in the 'trance' state in advance, so that after they 'wake up', most people will wake up almost immediately. Recognize that this is a 'state of affairs' that is still under control and seek help from the nearest contact person so these experiences can be conveyed to the city-state side. "

Frame nodded slightly and said nothing more, but just raised his head and quietly stared at the archives under construction.

The construction machinery transported from the Ark is busy on the ice sheet, and a group of simple, even ugly buildings has begun to take shape.

Compared with the majestic Ark Ship and the simple and solemn ship-based church, those buildings that are almost the same as rough factories have no aesthetic value at all, because they have only one design goal - to strive to complete the mission in the shortest possible time. In an unfamiliar environment, a storage space as sturdy as possible was built.

A slight murmur came from beside him: "Does this really make sense?"

Frame turned his head and looked at the priestess standing beside him.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Pope, I haven't wavered, I just" the priestess shook her head and explained, "I just thought of recent things - more and more people are waking up from the trance", among them Many, the last memories even go back to the day when I first set out. Many people asked me what happened along the way and many questions.

"I understand what you want to say, Delis," Frame gently interrupted the priestess' explanation, while his eyes still stayed on the "construction site", "Many people believe that as long as people remain , which means that everything has been preserved, because civilization is originally created by people. People can create civilization once and rebuild it countless times. I understand, yes, and I also recognize the pope as the messenger of fire. I understand better than many people how civilizations are built and endure."

He paused for a moment and continued softly: "Civilization without people is meaningless, but Delise, and the second half of the sentence - the same is true for people without civilization.

"Civilization is indeed more than those cold stones and books, more than those dumb carvings, music scores and handicrafts. Those things are only the carriers and expressions of civilization, not abstract civilization itself. These are all correct, but -

Civilization needs a carrier and evidence.

'It is stupid to cling to the 'carrier' and abandon the 'essence'. It is also stupid to only know the essence and think that there is no need for a carrier. Without a carrier and evidence, no matter how glorious the memory is, it will always be eroded over time, eroded before people have time to rebuild civilization. And even if we don’t consider Delis from this perspective, we still need to leave some evidence so that future generations many years later can understand what happened in this world.

‘One of the significances of cultural relics and archeology lies in this ‘information’.

The veiled priestess faced Frame's gaze calmly. Her once bright eyes had become cloudy and dark many days ago, but now these cloudy eyes were still firm.

"I understand. I will tell others your warning as well."

Frame nodded.

And a thin layer of "fog" quietly appeared around them without knowing when.

Priestess Delis raised her head in surprise and looked at the white mist floating around.

After entering the ice field, they had not seen "fog" for a long time.

Although the end of the field of vision is the majestic fog wall of Eternal Veil, but unlike other border seas, there is almost no fog on this ice sheet.

"The weather has changed." She raised her hand and touched the disembodied fog. "Is there also fog on the ice sheet?" "

Frame frowned. He looked up at the sky, looking at the strands of white that were constantly floating and flowing like fluids.

It took a moment to finally react.

"No, this is not fog," he said suddenly, with surprise in his voice.

"This is a cloud!"

"Cloud?" The priestess confirmed, as if she thought about it before remembering what "cloud" meant. Then her eyes widened in shock, "The cloud fell from the sky?"

"It's because the height of the clouds is lowering," Frame said solemnly, but he soon realized that this statement didn't seem to make any difference, so he added, "All the clouds are falling simultaneously, not so much that they are 'Fall'" down, it's more like

He stopped, and Delis had already understood what he meant. The priestess blinked, with a hint of uneasiness in her tone: "The sky itself is getting lower.