Deep Sea Embers

In the dark coffin, the old bishop who was wrapped in bandages like a mummy finally revealed the secret he had kept for half a century, and after that, there was a long period of silence.

Agatha's voice broke the calm: "But obviously, this matter is not over."

The old bishop didn't speak, so Agatha asked again: "In your opinion... are the abnormalities that frequently appear in the city-state and the shadow of Dagger Island... also included in the Frost Queen's calculations?"

"The queen is not a god. She may have predicted in advance that there would be a rebel army to stop her 'crazy' move, but it is impossible to predict what will happen here half a century later," Bishop Ivan shook his head, he still He was recalling the details of those years, but probably because the time was too long, many details were actually blurred, "I actually can't remember what the queen said to me that night, during the funeral ceremony , she seems to have been talking to me, but you know, performing a ceremony requires a high degree of concentration, and inhaling incense in advance, I... really can't remember what she said to me."

Speaking of this, he paused, and spread his hands helplessly: "Under normal circumstances, there would be no ritual experience of being exchanged between the 'dead' lying on the platform and the priest performing the ceremony."

Agatha was silent, and after thinking for a moment, she suddenly said: "Can you tell me about the situation back then? Before the Abyss Project was completely over... What else did you see in that church? "

"...In my impression, it snowed heavily on that day just like this year, and for a long time, the snowfalls, large and small, almost never stopped, and the snow often covered the roads in the neighborhood around the chapel It makes people unable to see clearly the boundary of the road, and there are many more wrestlers," Bishop Ivan recalled quietly, his low and dull voice seemed to be able to directly draw people's imagination to the events of half a century ago. During that cold winter, “people who had fallen often went to the church for help—because the neighborhood clinic was full at that time.

"At that time, the Abyss Project had caused a lot of anxiety in the city. It was not a taboo topic like it is today. Although the core part was classified, most people knew that there was such a 'exploring the sea' project, so People who came to the church often mentioned to me the 'strange things' in their eyes..."

"Strange thing?" Agatha couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, it's a strange thing. Some people said that they saw lights in houses that had been unoccupied for a long time. Some people said that their familiar neighbors suddenly changed their appearance one day when they went out. The people who were buried came out of the cemetery generously at night-there were all such horror and bizarre stories, all day and night, and since the most evil thing in the city-state at that time was the plan to dive into the abyss, people put all these strange stories Normal phenomena are all attributed to the Abyss Project, and then...they began to be attributed to the Frost Queen."

"The people who were buried in the cemetery came out generously," Agatha frowned suddenly when she heard the old bishop's narration, as if thinking of the present, "There are also lights in uninhabited houses. ...it sounds like..."

"Sounds a lot like the forged corpse in Cemetery No. 3, and the room you saw at 42 Hearth Street, right?" The old bishop said slowly, "But it's different from back then. Real evidence, even collected evidence of suspected 'element', and there were only various gossips in the city-state back then-people came to me every day to tell me what weird things they encountered, but the guards were everywhere. Sent out, but they all rushed to nothing.”

"All in vain?" Agatha asked.

"Yes, of course we have to send people to investigate when we receive reports from residents. Even half a century ago, we had these rigorous procedures. I sent many people to investigate those horror stories. The gatekeepers of the cathedral back then were even like you. We also conducted an investigation in person, but we found nothing. Except for the nervous citizens, everything in the city-state is actually normal-but in contrast, the testing ground of the Abyss Project has gradually been completely sealed off. , all terrible things happened inside the blockade.

"As for what happened there...you must have seen it in the archives—the replica submersibles that keep appearing, the unregistered strangers, and the explorers who died in the deep sea."

Agatha fell silent for a while, and her thoughts changed rapidly. For some reason, she always felt that she could smell a bit of incongruity from the old bishop's narration, a bit... something that no one had noticed for half a century.

"That is to say, although the Abyss Project caused panic back then, in fact all the abnormal events were only concentrated in the test field, and the city-state actually operated as usual-although everyone was under a lot of psychological pressure, and the operation of the city was also due to The queen’s extreme decree has encountered difficulties, and people have been reporting abnormal events, but from the perspective of extraordinary power, the ‘pollution’ from the deep sea has never overflowed the blockade line of the year?”

"... At least that's how I remember it," the old bishop nodded slightly, but then changed the topic, "Of course, even so, I'm not trying to defend the Frost Queen back then, even if the city-state really Everything is normal, and her Qianyuan plan has stretched Frost's economy and everyone's nerves to a critical point. Even if the Qianyuan plan is really always under her control and never gets out of control, that rebellion... uprising, It was bound to happen.”

But Agatha didn't seem to pay attention to what the old bishop said at the end. She just thought for a while, then shook her head: "Let's focus on the present, Bishop Ivan, about the current situation in the city and our With this report letter in hand, I want to know what you think."

"You found traces of the Annihilation Cultist in the city, and there is evidence that they are behind the push. This is actually a good thing. The most terrifying thing when extraordinary pollution occurs is not that the enemy has been found, but that the enemy has not been found."

Bishop Ivan spoke slowly, and raised the letter in his hand again.

"This report letter you brought also mentioned this point - it is suspected that the Annihilation Cultists in Frost City communicated with the power of the deep sea through some kind of secret ritual, causing the pollution of the deep sea to directly spill over to the city-state, so we should find a way to find those A place where cultists hold rituals."

Agatha stared at the old bishop's eye exposed outside the bandage: "Do you think...the 'visitor' who wrote this report letter can be trusted?"

"At least everything mentioned in the report letter now has evidence to show that it is true, even the part that cannot be proven for the time being is logically established," Bishop Ivan nodded, "Of course, I can't Assert whether the existence who wrote the letter can be trusted - the superordinate's extraordinary emotions and perspectives on the world are different from ordinary people, so we can never get along with them with human emotional logic.

"I can only say that when they temporarily show neutrality or friendliness, we can cooperate with them or even take the initiative to cooperate, but when they suddenly find it boring and ready to turn their faces, we don't have to have doubts and surprises, It needs to be known that the only truly reliable and loyal high-ranking extraordinary in this world are the four gods, and everything else is neither an enemy nor an ally."

The words of the old bishop contained more than half a century of wisdom. Even though they were equal in status, Agatha lowered her head slightly with respect.

"The next time that visitor reappears, I will try to contact him proactively to see his current attitude."

"This is the best." Bishop Ivan nodded.

Agatha thought for a while, then looked at the letter that was currently in the hands of the old bishop.

"Then now, there is only one last puzzle left."

Following her gaze, Bishop Ivan's gaze also fell on the last part of the report letter.

The content of the whole letter is easy to understand, but only the last part, whether it is the cemetery guard who first received the letter, or the current Bishop Agatha and Ivan, it is difficult to understand the deep meaning.

The two spokespersons representing the highest will of the church in the city-state got together, and the three eyes exposed under the bandages were staring at the end of the letter.

The nameless mysterious visitor has left a riddle in his secret letter.

"...What exactly does this string of numbers mean?" Bishop Ivan asked hesitantly.

Agatha shook her head slowly: "I don't understand either."

"...Maybe you can find a fortune-teller to deduce it, or invite experts in the field of mathematics and mysticism to jointly calculate it-it may be a secret number pointing to the future of the city-state."

"Makes sense."

...

On the edge of Uptown, at 44 Oak Street next to Hearth Avenue, Duncan stood in front of the narrow window at the end of the corridor on the second floor, looking out at the gradually falling night.

After a while, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Fan Na who was beside him in a daze: "Do you think they paid at this time?"

Fan Na woke up from the distraction, with a confused face: "Ah...ah?"

"You go to the bank for me tomorrow to see if they have made a payment," Duncan said seriously, "I left an anonymous account in that report letter, which I used exclusively to receive report bonuses."

Fan Na: "...Huh?"