Deep Sea Embers

On the way back to the cathedral, Agatha was very preoccupied.

It is good news for her to clarify the correctness of the "Second Waterway" exploration direction, but the identity of the mysterious existence is still shrouded in mystery, which makes her feel uneasy anyway—of course , now it can be confirmed that that existence has a friendly attitude towards the Frost City-State, but as the leader of the city-state's defenders, she has to look at things in the long run.

It is not unreasonable for any high-ranking transcendent to watch the world. In a sense, their "watching" itself is a disturbance with substantial influence. The mysterious "visitor" still wants to watch here how long? What kind of long-term effect will his long stay here have on Frost? Would the people living in the city-state change under this influence? Does the being himself know this effect? Or...he didn't care about it?

The small steam core let out a deep and powerful roar, and the vehicles driven by the mechanical mechanism drove through the ancient streets of the city-state.

The subordinate's voice came from the front driver's seat: "My lord, do you want to return directly to the cathedral?"

Agatha raised her head, looked through the car window, and looked in the direction of the cathedral.

The Great Cathedral of Silence silently overlooked the entire city-state as usual.

In the center of Frostbite is a mountain, a roughly conical mountain, towering high in the heart of the city-state, and below it is the boiling gold mine that brought endless wealth to the city, while the Cathedral of Silence and the City Hall are located on the top of the mountain. Mountain Top——Two large buildings stand side by side on the highest point of the city-state, and they can be seen no matter where they are in the city.

See at least one of them.

The cathedral is majestic and majestic, and it looks quite holy against the background of the sky. The city hall opposite it is actually a rather magnificent building-in the Queen's era half a century ago, it was actually a palace. According to official records, Its name is "Winter King's Court", but more people will directly call it the Queen's Palace.

In the era when it was already considered taboo, the Winter King's Court and the Cathedral of Silence overlooked the city-state like a pair of twins, and the classical stories full of fantasy depicted them as two guardian forces with symbolic meanings—the guardian of the church. Watching the night of the city, the royal family guards the day of the city, and the two sides support and support each other.

But in fact the situation is similar today, the earthly power represented by the Guildhall still guards the city - it's just that the queen's time is over.

Agatha was a little distracted. She unconsciously stared at the mountain, the mountain she had seen countless times, and the two buildings on the mountain like a crown. She saw them as if standing on the mountain. The giant beasts on the top of the mountain, and the large and small houses and factories along the mountain are like the blood overflowing from the giant beasts, winding and flowing along the mountain.

She felt her eyeballs sting a little.

"Gatekeeper, shall we return to the cathedral?"

The subordinate's voice came from the front row again, and Agatha suddenly woke up from her distraction. She blinked her eyes, and felt that there was still a slight buzzing in her ears, but in the next second, the residual buzzing and The memory of just a moment ago quietly disappeared together.

"No, go to the sewage treatment center first," Agatha shook her head, "The 'fake' that disappeared in the bathroom is really worrying, I have to confirm it with my own eyes."

"yes."

The steam core sounded cheerfully again, the car turned a beautiful arc at the intersection, and drove on the road to the sewage treatment center.

...

The sky is covered with thick clouds, and the dim light of the sky floats weakly in the clouds, making it appear chaotic and unclear. In the distance is the endless sea water and some mist floating on the sea surface.

Lawrence stood on the bow of the White Oak, frowning and looking at the distant scenery——this scenery has not changed for a long time.

He turned his head again, and saw that the sea in the other direction was only a boundless sea, and he could not see other ships, let alone a certain city-state.

The cold wind blew across the deck, curling the corners of his clothes and the white hair at the sideburns. Lawrence's brows had not been relaxed for a long time.

"How long have we been away from Frost?" He suddenly turned his head and asked the first officer standing beside him.

"It's been a day and a night, Captain," said the mate at once, "and we've been at full speed."

"Something's not right...why do I always feel like I'm still spinning in the same place..." Lawrence looked up solemnly, looked up at the chaotic sky above, and then seemed to suddenly think of something, "Can the wireless telegraph receive signals from nearby city-states or ports? "

"Yes," the first officer nodded, with a rather serious expression on his face, "but there is and only a signal from Frost."

Lawrence took a light breath: "What about the content?"

"Welcome message," the first mate said slowly, "'The port is open, welcome to Frost', I received this message over and over again."

Lawrence frowned and remained silent, while the first mate muttered after a moment of silence, "It's as if...we're still circling Frost."

"Obviously, we are trapped in this sea area," Lawrence said in a low voice, "how is the atmosphere on board now?"

"Everyone has already noticed that something is wrong, but everyone is still calm." The first officer glanced back at the direction of the deck, and he could see some sailors busy with their own affairs at their posts, "It's all good——we It's not that I haven't experienced 'strange things' in the infinite sea, but everyone believes that you can take everyone out, so no one bothers."

Lawrence didn't speak, but raised his head and looked at the chaotic sky again.

The first mate noticed the captain's strange movement, and couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking at?"

"I..." Lawrence rubbed his forehead, feeling a little dazed in his mind for some reason, as if he had forgotten something important, "I'm thinking about the course."

"course?"

"Yes, heading," Lawrence closed his eyes forcefully and then opened them again, while thinking about what he had forgotten, he said as if talking to himself, "Do you feel...we seem to have forgotten something? Our current The heading...does it need to be calibrated?"

The first officer was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said, "Calibrate the course? You mean the stargazing room? The navigator..."

"Wait, no, it's not the stargazing room," Lawrence interrupted the first mate suddenly, as if waking up from a long dream, "The stargazing room is used to calibrate the course under special circumstances, because it It is polluted and cannot be used frequently. There should be a simpler, more versatile, and safer method. During the day, there should be such a method to confirm the direction of the ship..."

Lawrence spoke faster and faster, and then he seemed to think of something, and suddenly turned around and ran towards the direction of the captain's cabin.

The first mate was confused, but still instinctively followed the captain's footsteps, he followed Lawrence back to the captain's cabin, and then saw the latter rummaging through the room, and finally couldn't help but ask: "What are you looking for? "

"Some kind of instrument, used during the day, to calibrate the course..." Lawrence said quickly while rummaging through his room, and a strong impression came back to his mind bit by bit, and he felt that he If you want to remember, you need to know what you are looking for... Suddenly, his eyes fell on the table not far away.

A small instrument lay there, consisting of a telescope tube and some odd graduated scales.

Lawrence walked over slowly, picked up the small instrument with some doubts, and struggled to recall its function.

After a while, he thoughtfully took the small instrument and left the room, and came to the deck outside. Under the inexplicable gaze of the first officer, he raised the instrument, placed it in front of his eyes, and pointed it at the sky.

"Captain, what are you doing?" the first mate asked curiously.

Lawrence slowly lowered the instrument.

There seemed to be a faint green flash in his eyes, but not only he himself didn't notice it, even the first officer standing opposite didn't notice it.

The old captain's face was full of confusion and astonishment - he and the first officer looked at each other for a few seconds, and then said slowly in a hoarse voice: "Do you remember... there is a glowing and hot thing in the sky, it is accurate and Floats right above us on time and can be used to help the ship calibrate its course during the daytime..."

The first officer slowly opened his eyes wide, and it seemed that some memories or impressions were awakening in his mind.

Lawrence turned his head again, looking at the chaotic cloud layer and the hazy cloud behind it, unable to see the source of skylight—the light seemed to spread evenly that day, and there was no clear, strong light body in the cloud layer at all. signs of presence.

He withdrew his gaze and looked straight at his first mate: "Where did the sun go?"

But the first mate could only repeat the captain's words blankly: "...Where did the sun go?"

"It's not a trek, it's not a mystical lock, it's not a cyclic anomaly..." Lawrence muttered softly, "The White Oak as a whole has entered an abnormal space..."

The first officer slowly raised his head, looking at the vast sea outside the ship, with dazed and frightened eyes.

But suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something.

A piece of land appeared on the sea.

It is a small island.