Deep Sea Embers

Captains who sail on the boundless sea, especially those who use modern technology to navigate, are of course no strangers to the "stars" - the vast starry sky that freezes between the deep sea and the spirit world can provide extremely accurate navigation for ships. Navigation can still guide the correct course even when the ship is caught in an abnormal sea area, and can even guide the lost people caught in some "vision" to get out of danger and return to reality.

Of course, there are also other professions that deal with the "starry sky". Scholars will study it in order to decipher the deep mysteries of the world. Fortune-tellers will observe it to speculate on the fate of all things in the world. Some secret associations even regard the starry sky as a Sources of knowledge and enlightenment, they will use the dangerous method of wandering on the edge of reason to spy on the starry sky, hoping to master the secrets about demons without falling into the deep - these dangerous associations often become the food of deep demons in the end , or become potential "allies" of the Annihilation Cultists, so these secret associations are often the targets of the city-state churches and authorities - but in any case, the occupations that are most closely related to the "starry sky" and most frequently use various spiritual world lenses , are still the captains of the infinite sea.

Lawrence has spent half his life wandering in this sea full of malice, and of course knows many things related to the starry sky, including the method of observing the starry sky and the dangers to face.

He buried his head deeply into the sunken area of ​​the lens of the spiritual world—of course, one should bow his head when looking at the stars, this is common sense—then he began to softly chant the name of the god he believed in, making this name match the one that the pastor had imposed on him just now. Blessings resonate.

As the mysterious power gradually diffused, his own spirituality and faith gradually increased, he first heard a subtle sound, as if water was gathering in a basin, and approaching himself - he smelled the slightly salty sea water breath, and went down In a second, he felt that his entire face had been submerged in water.

Novice navigators who observe the starry sky for the first time are prone to panic at this time. The illusion of "soaking in water and suffocating" will shake their minds, and then let unnecessary shadows enter their minds. Therefore, newbies' first stargazing must Someone is there to assist, and the main task of the assistant is to drag the newcomer navigator away from the spirit world lens before it mutates into a pile of wriggling pieces of meat. This "adaptation" process often lasts for several weeks.

But that's not a problem for Lawrence at all.

He knew that the "sea water" that submerged him was the power of the storm goddess Gamona—the god would not harm his followers, and now he could open his eyes.

Lawrence slowly opened his eyes.

Starlight and endless darkness filled his eyes at the same time.

He looked down and saw the endless darkness, the endless deep and dark space, and the chaotic wave light surged at the edge of the space, which was a little projection of the spirit world in the deep layer of the world, and in the darkness, there were countless constant There are also dense point-like rays of light, they converge into large and small clusters or flocculent structures, some are like clouds, some are like eddies, and some are like rivers, these endless spots of light spectacularly cover the old captain's body. The field of vision outlines a certain... mysterious picture that has not yet been recognized by mortals.

And in the depths of the starry sky like a magnificent curtain, in the gaps between some "groups" of light spots, you can vaguely see some chaotic shadows that are different from the darkness, they seem to be floating in the depths of the starlight. There are broken lands distributed radially in the distance, and there are pale and pale "rivers" lying between each other. Just looking at it can make people dizzy and frightened.

That is the "deep" deeper than the spirit world, and it is the terrifying homeland of the deep demons—the deep deep sea.

The starry sky is a veil floating between the deep sea and the spirit world.

Lawrence carefully controlled his sight, not letting himself stare too much into the depths, so as not to attract the attention of those chaotic and ignorant demons. At the same time, he concentrated his mind and began to find his position in the starry sky.

He found it, a dim projection, like a wandering soul, floating somewhere among the stars.

Lawrence stared at the projection, carefully screened it for a long time, and suddenly couldn't help frowning.

His own location...is just off the coast of Frost?

The old captain froze in his heart, and began to grope and move his hands. He touched the control lever on the side of the lens device, and carefully adjusted the machine. Many small lenses on the side of the cylindrical machine immediately began to operate, and began to adjust the "starry sky" in Lawrence's field of vision. viewing angle.

After confirming again and again, he found that he was indeed in the sea near Frost—he had already reached the position where he could see Frost's main island.

At this moment, Lawrence felt a blur in front of his eyes.

The starry sky filled with countless dots of light flickered for a moment, then suddenly became pitch black, and then returned to normal.

Lawrenceton was surprised, and instinctively wanted to adjust the control lever again to reset the perspective, but years of experience made him stop this instinct abruptly, and suddenly raised his head.

The flickering of the starry sky may be a malfunction of the spirit world lens—no matter what the reason is, as long as any abnormal phenomenon occurs during the stargazing process, one must immediately break away from the gaze.

This is a security system summed up by countless ancestors.

Lawrence rubbed the space between his brows, raised his hand and glanced at the watch on his wrist, only to find that a few minutes had passed.

He began to check the entire lens device, preparing to conduct another observation after troubleshooting and confirming safety.

But just as he was about to disassemble the casing of the machine, a knock on the door suddenly interrupted his actions.

"Captain!" The first mate's voice came from outside the door, "Captain, have you finished observing? We have received the signal!"

Lawrence frowned slightly. After hesitating for a while, he put down the work at hand and walked quickly to the door. After opening the door, he saw the first officer standing at the door.

"We have received Frost's reply." The first officer glanced at the situation in the stargazing room first, and after roughly confirming that there was no abnormality in the room, he set his sights on Lawrence. "The offshore passage and port entry permits have been issued."

Lawrence frowned slightly, feeling a little strange in his heart for some reason, thinking of the incongruity he found in the stargazing room just now, he asked with a serious expression: "Have you seen Frost Island?"

"It can be confirmed visually," the first officer nodded. "The fog on the sea has cleared, and our course has deviated slightly, a very slight deviation—but it has been recalibrated."

Lawrence looked back at the stargazing room with a serious expression on his face.

"Captain?" The first mate finally noticed the strangeness in the old captain's expression, and his expression became tense, "Did you find anything?"

"There was something wrong with the stargazing room just now... and according to the observation results, we should have arrived at Frost's offshore sea long ago, and there is no such thing as being obstructed by fog or route deviation and not being able to see Frost," Lawrence said in a low voice, "You arrange The mechanic checks the spirit world lens group to see if there is a problem with the equipment, and I will go up to see the situation."

"Yes, Captain."

Lawrence quickly left the bilge, walked through the cabins of the White Oak along the stairs and corridors, and soon came to the upper deck.

He did not return to the bridge, but directly stood on the bow deck and watched the situation in the distance.

A large city-state is just in front of the White Oak. The coastal buildings and port facilities of the city-state are clearly visible. The fog has dissipated, and the gentle waves are slowly undulating on the sea surface. It illuminates the sea and city-states in the distance.

It does look like Frost, without any abnormality.

Lawrence frowned and looked up at the sky again.

Apart from more clouds, there is nothing unusual.

After a while, he left the deck and returned to the bridge. At the same time, the sailors standing in front of the telegraph just received another welcome message from Frost Harbor.

Lawrence looked at the note recorded by the sailor——

"The port is open, welcome to Frost."

Lawrence blinked, and suddenly felt that he might be a little too nervous-the glitch of the spirit world lens and the fog entrenched in the sea before magnified his nervousness, but in fact, everything here is obviously normal.

"We dock."

"Yes, Captain."

...

Duncan and his party left the "Second Waterway" and said goodbye to Nemo in the secret passage leading to the Second Waterway.

They searched the collapsed and blocked corridor for a long time before, and finally found no clues, neither found more "mud", nor found any pores or traces of "mud" seeping into the corridor.

Of course, the mysterious place that the "crow" had strayed into was not found either.

The thread seems to be broken.

"The old ghost and I will bury the crow well. Please tell Captain Tirian that the crow died like a true warrior—he was a proud member of the Mist Fleet."

In the secret passage, Nemo took off the hat on his head, bowed slightly in front of Duncan and said.

"I'll tell him," Duncan looked at Mr. "Informant" in front of him, and said in a very solemn tone, "Also, the investigation of this matter is not over yet."

Nemo looked up, meeting Duncan's gaze.

"The crow left a very important message. He has definitely been somewhere, and it is impossible for the 'fake' to appear in the second waterway out of thin air," Duncan said slowly, "I will continue to investigate, if necessary Under the circumstances - I will check every brick, every brick, every grass and soil of this city-state."