Deep Sea Embers

The Sea Fog Fleet is here, and it's all out.

For the entire past half century, this famous cursed fleet has always been a sharp blade hanging over the heads of the Frost People—it is the legacy of the Frost Queen, and it is the eternal treasure after the great rebellion half a century ago. A shadow that does not dissipate, it stands like an iceberg on the cold sea, and the elusive mind of the immortal pirate general is hidden in the cold and hard shell.

Whenever it was mentioned, the people of Frost City could not help lowering their voices.

Almost everyone who knows history knows that the success of the Frost Rebellion half a century ago, and the reason why the rebel army gathered by the mob was able to defeat the most powerful Queen's Fleet in history, did not rely on any "justice" at all. " and "blessing" - the most important reason for their victory was that the Queen's strongest main fleet was not on Frost Island at all.

No one knows why the Sea Mist Fleet left in the first place, just like no one knows what the Frost Queen learned from the deep sea. People only know one thing - to this day, that fleet is still flying under the queen's command. Nominal action.

For half a century, the powerful sea fog fleet has been wandering in this northern sea like a ghost. It is not that there are no city-states trying to destroy or recover this fleet, but they have never succeeded. On the other hand, although the curse of the undead master Warships run rampant in the cold sea, but most of the time the ships that encounter them only need to pay money to avoid disasters. Compared with the losses caused by the frontal battle with the Sea Fog Fleet, this "buying money" is more like a sum of money. Benevolent and cost-effective taxes—the northern city-states would rather spend money to buy peace than take the risk to repay the debts of the Frost People half a century ago.

But the Frost people themselves know that the Sea Fog Fleet will return one day. This is like a curse, and it has even become a "legendary prophecy" that many Frost people have been obsessed with since childhood——

As long as the flag of the Sea Mist Fleet is still flying, the Frost Queen's rule over this city-state will not end. As long as the engines of the Sea Mist are still running, the liquidation of the great rebellion half a century ago will come to this city sooner or later.

The influence of the curse and the word of mouth of the legend is far-reaching. The icy shadow of the Sea Fog Fleet has become more and more terrifying under the blessing of the legend year after year. Even well-trained professional soldiers cannot ignore it. this pressure.

Liszt's fingers holding the document were slightly hard, and the joints were a little white.

And as his words fell, a strange and unspeakable silence enveloped the entire pier.

The defense commander knew that the information about the Sea Fog Fleet did not need to be kept secret—that huge fleet sailed openly beside Frost, and it was still approaching Frost Island and Dagger Island until now. When the sun rises tomorrow, residents who live near the coastline only need to open their windows, pick up binoculars and look southeast, and they will be able to see the hazy shadows of ships—the news will soon spread throughout the entire world. The city-state is gone.

"Sea Fog Fleet... the sudden appearance of the Sea Fog Fleet, will it have something to do with the incident on Dagger Island?" said a trusted officer, "Will it have something to do with the sudden appearance of the 'Haiyan'?"

"I'd rather they be related, so that we only need to face at least one problem," Liszt gritted his teeth, "but what's worse is that these are two problems..."

The tone of another trusted officer was a little nervous: "The Sea Mist Fleet will take advantage of the fire? When Frost Island is threatened by unknown forces..."

"It's too early to make any judgments. Executing orders is the top priority," Liszt interrupted his subordinates' random thinking, and said quickly, "Immediately arrange blockades and report to the surrounding city-states and ships on the route. The martial law signal is issued, and all coastal defense artillery positions are on standby... We may be in big trouble."

...

The hinterland of the Frost City-State is just like the layout of most maritime city-states. The majestic and towering cathedral stands at the highest and most central place in the city-state.

The locals call it the Cathedral of Silence, or simply the "cathedral".

It is an ancient and majestic building, the whole body is almost entirely made of gray-black bricks, and various minarets and slender buildings form its body. Whenever there is heavy snow in winter, these layers The stacked minarets look hazy against the background of snow in the sky, pointing to the sky like tombstones and black swords in the fog.

Foreigners who have just come to the Frost City-state see this church, and they often feel that the church is too gloomy and oppressive at first, and even think it is a bit scary, but for the Frost people who almost believe in Bartok, the god of death, In other words, this black cathedral has only majesty and sanctity.

The local people firmly believe that the spiers of the church are bridges between the realm of death and the world, and when the snow falls, the messengers of the god of death will hide between the spiers and roofs, using their eyes to see everything Keep an eye on the city-state, and guide those lost and wandering souls back to their resting place in time.

Therefore, the Frost people regard the first day of heavy snowfall as "the day when the long-lost souls go on the road". leave a wide enough path for the long-lived souls to make their way to the Cathedral of Silence in time.

Today is the day of heavy snow.

The surrounding cemeteries are closed, and the cathedral no longer accepts ordinary people except clergy. Even the sound of snowflakes falling from the treetops can be heard very clearly.

Agatha, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and dressed in black, walked through the atrium gate of the church, entered the audience hall, and then walked deeper, finally arriving at the contemplation church where the bishop was.

Like Purand, Frost has two supreme church spokesmen—the "gatekeeper" is the defender of the city-state's security and is mainly responsible for secular affairs, while the city-state bishop is mainly responsible for clerical work and communication with the upper-level theocratic forces.

Inside the Meditation Sanctuary, the candles flickered in the densely arranged alcoves on the walls on both sides. The pale light emitted by countless candles made the room quite bright. At the end of the sanctuary was a high stone platform, but the high platform But there are no icons or seats on it, only a black coffin with a simple appearance.

That's where the city-state bishops are.

Agatha stepped to the high platform, looked down, and said, "I'm back."

There was silence in the coffin.

Agatha waited patiently for a few seconds, then raised her voice again: "Bishop Ivan, have you heard the news that the Sea Fog Fleet has appeared?"

There was still no movement in the coffin.

Agatha frowned, looked up and looked around, after a little hesitation, she finally raised her cane and tapped beside the coffin: "Are you there?"

After knocking three times in a row, a hoarse old voice finally came out of the coffin: "Yes, stop knocking and respect the old man."

Agatha put away her cane: "...did you fall asleep while meditating and praying to the God of Death?"

"I was too absorbed in meditation to hear the voice of the world."

"But your snoring can pass through the coffin boards to the world."

"Huh? Such a big commotion?"

Agatha sighed: "You really fell asleep, Bishop."

The voice in the coffin suddenly became quiet, and after a few seconds, there was a slight friction sound to break the silence. The dark coffin lid slid slightly to the side, but there was only a gap, the old and hoarse voice Then it became clearer: "Your heart is very disturbed, Agatha, it seems that the situation in the city-state is not good."

"On the way back to the cathedral, I received the news that the sea fog fleet is approaching the city-state," Agatha said slowly, "I'm afraid this news will soon..."

"The matter of the Sea Fog Fleet should be handed over to the navy and the people in the city hall. What you care about is the balance of the extraordinary realm and the tranquility in the city-state," said the bishop of Frost City, Ivan Lomonso, from the coffin Come on, "Let's talk about the situation in the city-state first."

Agatha nodded when she heard the words, put the news of the Fog Fleet aside for the time being, and then her expression became serious.

"A new site contaminated by 'Elements' appeared at 42 Hearth Street. Judging from various signs, a fake composed of 'Elements' lived in that building for a long time, until the previous It disintegrated and disappeared shortly after, and a civilian who was obviously disturbed by cognition was also found at the scene..."

"Cognitive interference?" Bishop Ivan interrupted Agatha's narration, "What kind of cognitive interference?"

Agatha organized the language, and said: "After consulting the population registration information of the local neighborhood, we found that the 'real body' of the fake had actually died in a shipwreck six years ago, but the fact is that during the fake activities During this period... the female apprentice who lived with her never noticed this obvious anomaly, even until the fake disintegrated and disappeared, and investigators entered the scene, she still thought her teacher was resting upstairs."

Agatha paused when she said this, and then continued: "And...we have discovered more than that."

"More than these?"

"A third-party force—unidentified, but extremely powerful, they seem to be investigating the matter of the element. Their fighters killed two powerful heretic priests in a nearby alley. Investigators searched the building before the squad of elite guardians arrived - unfortunately, we found nothing, not even a clue as to where this third party force came from."

There was silence in the coffin, and the silence lasted for an unknown amount of time before Ivan's voice sounded again: "Is there any other news?"

"Yes," Agatha took a light breath, "Do you still remember the 'visitor' who appeared in Cemetery No. 3?"

"... He appeared again?!"

"Yes, it appeared again, and more than that, He also left behind a...'report letter'."