Deep Sea Embers

Agatha took out the report letter—this letter, which looks to be written on the most common letter paper, is covered with an envelope produced by a small factory in Frost, and even the ink is obviously ordinary. Cemetery No. 3 was delivered to her. To be honest, if she didn’t know that the old guard would not make such a joke with her, Agatha would never believe that this thing came from an indescribable high-ranking extraordinary existence. .

She couldn't even perceive any supernatural power from this letter - but after doing a few simple tests, she had confirmed that this thing was indeed from the superior superhuman hand.

There was a sound of clothes rubbing in the dark coffin, and the heavy coffin lid was finally slowly opened. Accompanied by a strange smell of incense, a mummy-like body wrapped in bandages slowly got up from inside.

This is Ivan, the bishop of the Frost City--he lost his complete body due to an accident many years ago, but Bartok's mighty power has kept his life alive to this day. Most of the time, he has to stay in the In the "coffin" of the Meditation Church, he will only appear in the public eye when major sacraments are held, but even so, he is still the most popular and trusted bishop in the history of Frost.

The bishop's achievements and profound knowledge in the extraordinary field are beyond doubt.

He sat up in the coffin, took the "report letter" handed over by Agatha, stared at the letter for a long time with the only left eye exposed outside the bandage, and remained silent for a long time.

Agatha couldn't help breaking the silence: "You..."

The well-informed and knowledgeable archbishop said in a muffled voice, "I'll take it easy."

Agatha waited for a while, then asked again: "Have you recovered yet?"

"...Are you sure this is it?" Bishop Ivan raised his head, his slightly yellow eyes were filled with confusion, "Have you..."

"It does look ordinary—but when I tried to observe the words on the letter through the perspective of the spirit world, I lost fifteen minutes of memory on the spot," Agatha knew what the bishop wanted to say, her expression was serious Nodded, "It is entwined with unimaginable power, this plain appearance...maybe just the unique taste of that visitor."

Bishop Ivan was silent for a moment, seeming to be slowing down, and then slowly opened his mouth: "The contents mentioned in this letter... are disturbing, you have already seen the 'Petrel', and if the statement in the letter is true , the Haiyan is just the beginning, and even the out-of-control of Dagger Island is just the beginning... Whether it is the cultists in the city or the pollution caused by the 'element', whether it is the return of the 'Petrel' or the anomaly on Dagger Island, everything They all point to the deep sea, to the abyss project half a century ago."

"I have issued a warning to the city hall and applied for access to the secret files that have been sealed for half a century. I will go to the church library in the future. In addition, I have arranged manpower to strengthen the search of the city to arrest those hiding The heretics are hidden," Agatha said, "but that's not enough, we must at least confirm what's going on on Dagger Island—the bigger source of pollution seems to be on that island."

Bishop Ivan thought for a while, and sighed softly: "If everything points to the Abyss Plan...the Sea Fog Fleet that appeared near Frost at the moment seems to be able to explain it."

"...Do you think that all of this was part of the Frost Queen's plan back then?" Agatha frowned, "It's because of what orders she left for that 'Vice Admiral of Steel' back then, so the Sea Mist Fleet Will it show up today?"

"I'm not sure," Bishop Ivan shook his head, and then suddenly looked up into Agatha's eyes, "Agatha, in your perception, what does the Frost Queen look like?"

Agatha hesitated for a moment, and said while thinking: "A once great ruler was infected and bewitched by the power of the deep sea after a brief glorious reign, and degenerated into a dangerous 'mad king', because she Frost has established a connection with the horrors in the deep sea, and even after half a century, her terrible plan still needs to be completely sealed up and forbidden to be known by any ordinary person—her life is both tragic and dangerous.”

"It's a standard answer—as a young generation, and you have enough access to some materials from half a century ago, your summary is pretty good," Bishop Ivan nodded, but then changed the subject, "But you Didn't really go through that."

Agatha did not speak, but quietly looked at the archbishop in front of her.

"I experienced it—that year, I was twenty-six years old, and I was an ordinary bishop in the small church in the dock area, you know? That small church is next to the test site of the Abyss Project, and I even gave Some soldiers and officers held a blessing ceremony, and I later learned that those soldiers and officers came to the church to receive blessings because they had to come into contact with the 'submersible'."

Bishop Ivan spoke slowly, his voice was low and slow, as if a tributary trickled out of the river of memories, those long-standing things that cannot be told to ordinary people, narrated little by little from under the overlapping bandages out.

"After the rebel army broke through the palace, most of the materials related to the Qianyuan Project were sealed up. Coupled with the panic effect caused by the collapse of the sea cliff that occurred at the beheading site, the relevant materials of the Qianyuan Project were destroyed. Seven seven eight eight, so even for a 'gatekeeper' with authority like you, the information that can be accessed is actually only the most superficial part of it-if I tell you now, in fact, the Queen of Frost was in front of the city guard before the attack. I came to that little church overnight and asked me to hold a funeral ceremony for her... What do you think?"

Agatha's eyes widened suddenly.

"She's been called the 'mad king' - indeed, she's been acting like a 'mad' really for the last few months, going on and on while the whole plan has spiraled out of control and people are missing, dying, and going crazy every day. Promoting the project, even closing the palace, shutting up the ministers who were willing to speak in the end, ordering the military police to blockade the port, and arresting those who wanted to escape from the frost... With these actions first, the rebel army behind will be a matter of course, she is doomed May die well in her queen's place...

"But even so, I don't think she's ever been 'crazy' at all...she's sober, even..."

Bishop Ivan stopped suddenly, as if his mind was overwhelmed by recalling those long-ago events, or maybe he was looking for a suitable language to describe the weirdness he felt back then. After a few seconds, he finally He continued: "Even, it's like the only person who is still awake in the entire city-state."

Agatha leaned forward unknowingly: "Why do you say that?"

"She walked into the church without any entourage, her eyes were clear, as if she had already known her own destiny, she came to Bartok's icon, lit incense for herself, and then came over and patted me on the shoulder—— like this."

Bishop Ivan raised his arms, as if restoring the scene half a century ago.

"She patted me and said: 'Wake up, you're the only one in town with your eyes open - come and do something for me, I'm dying.'"

Agatha felt that her breathing was suddenly not smooth, as if she had apnea in a half-dream, and in the next moment, she couldn't help reaching out to support her forehead, feeling her heart was pounding, she didn't know what to do What kind of reaction, after a few seconds of silence, I can only ask myself the most direct confusion: "You are the only one in the whole city who still has your eyes open... What does this sentence mean?"

"I haven't quite figured it out yet," Bishop Ivan sighed, his voice muffled under the bandages, "she asked me to wake up—but I stayed awake, and after that, she Didn't explain anything to me, just told me to follow orders...she lay on the mortuary table like a dead person, and then...I gave her a funeral ceremony."

"How can a living person hold a funeral ceremony?" Agatha stared incredulously, "Your ceremony...is it really completed?"

"Of course a living person cannot hold a funeral ceremony—I just followed her instructions to complete the entire process. Of course, nothing happened after the ceremony." Bishop Ivan shook his head, "I think the ceremony is meaningless , but the Frost Queen seems to have achieved her goal, she left just like that, and told me one thing before she left..."

"one thing?"

"She told me not to tell anything about that night, otherwise the rebel army would definitely kill me-when she said this, it was twenty-four years before the first city-state guards attacked the arsenal Hour."

Agatha fell silent, and after an unknown amount of time, she finally spoke in a low voice: "You never told me this..."

"I never told anyone," Bishop Ivan said lightly, "I was just a little bishop at that time."

"But you later became the bishop of the city-state, and no one can judge you for the 'involvement' of that year. This secret..."

"I plan to take this secret into the grave, why did I tell it?" Bishop Ivan raised his head, his cloudy and yellowed left eye quietly stared at Agatha's, "I know this is a big deal—the Queen Knowing the actions of the rebel army, and even accepting their own death, this fact can shock many people... But apart from the shock itself, it has no meaning. The Abyss plan will still be blocked, and the stable order of the city-state will be It is the most important thing for the vast majority of citizens, no one will care what a queen who has been executed thinks and does in the end, and there is a more important reason..."

Bishop Ivan paused for a moment and exhaled lightly.

"A more important reason - the Abyss Project is over, the Queen's Era is over, everything is settled, at least... I have always thought so for the past fifty years."