Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 139 The Brilliant Star
Is it bad enough to have a Homeless in this world...

In the divination room illuminated by dim candlelight, Lucrezia sat quietly on a high-backed chair covered with velvet cushions. She stared at the crystal ball on the table, but for some reason, a long time came to her mind. The previous thing, that afternoon a century ago...

The figure that was already slightly blurred in her memory was standing on the deck, against the sun that was gradually sinking to the horizon, the tall body seemed to have turned into a swaying and illusory flame in the setting sun, using a style that she had never seen before. The low, depressed tone she heard told her:

"Our world is just a pile of fading embers..."

Up to now, of course she knew that her father had been infected with madness at that time, and would soon abandon humanity completely and choose to actively embrace the "blessing" of the subspace, but she still thought from time to time, if that day she could Talk to your father more, ask about the meaning of that sentence, ask what your father saw at the border of the world, will things develop differently afterwards?

Perhaps the end of madness is inevitable for her father, and perhaps the birth of the Lost Homeland is an "established fact" engraved in the long river of time, and no one can change it, but at the very least, she will know how it all happened, know Where should I go to find the truth - instead of being like now, I can only control a cursed ship, wandering in vain in this border area where even the inspectors of the Holy See do not want to go deep...

"Lucrecia, are you still listening?"

Tirian's voice suddenly came from the crystal ball, and the young lady sitting in a daze at the table suddenly woke up. Lucrezia shook her head and temporarily put aside the chaotic thoughts in her mind.

"Brother," she looked at Tirian in the crystal ball, her tone became a little serious, "Do you still remember what your father said before sailing to the border for the last time? That time he didn't let us follow..."

"Of course I remember," Tirian nodded, "He said he had found clues to the anomalous 000, and he was going to find 'a good medicine to heal the world'. He not only rejected the two of us, but also rejected several other ships. The escort followed—and after he and the Lost Home returned, both he and the ship were different."

"Yes, all the crew members on the Lost Country stopped talking, as if they were cursed with silence, but my father was still able to communicate with us soberly at that time, he said he didn't find the abnormal 000, and then said that even if the abnormal 000 Existence, that is not the origin of the distortion of the world, the so-called good medicine did not exist in the first place - since then, until the day when he told us on the deck in the sunset that 'the world is a embers', he never Revealed anything about that trip to the frontier..."

Tirian in the crystal ball did not speak for a while. After being silent for an unknown period of time, Lucrecia spoke again: "After that, I had special contact with the Holy See fleet patrolling near the border, including the fire spreader, the deep sea The priests, the scholars of the Academy of Truth, and even the group of despondent Death Cultists, I asked them about the anomaly 000, but they all said that it is impossible for the anomaly or vision numbered zero to exist..."

"I've also inquired about it," said Tirian in a deep voice, "I got the same reply as you... There are no anomalies and anomalies numbered zero in the world. —

"The original list from the Mausoleum of the Unknown King already listed all the numbers, and the undiscovered or unformed anomalies and visions have their own vacancies to be filled, even the 'mycelium bottle' and 'fungus island' 'The anomalies and anomalies that evolved in the course of history have also found the positions planned in advance afterwards, but at the beginning of the entire table, there is no zero position at all...

"That's why I said that my father was probably abnormal before he set off for the border. It is impossible for him not to know this information."

Speaking of this, Tirian suddenly stopped, and then looked up at Lucrecia in the crystal ball, his expression became extremely serious: "Why did you suddenly bring up this topic? We haven't talked about this for half a century. What are you going to do?"

"...Don't worry, I won't plunge headfirst into that majestic fog wall like my father did," Lucrezia seldom showed any expression on her face, but she still smiled this time, "I'm looking for what my father left behind." Clues, but definitely not to follow his old path."

Tirian was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly: "...That's good."

Lucrezia didn't speak for a while. The two brothers and sisters who were separated by a long distance and rarely got together in the past century had their own concerns. The siren sounded, and Lucrezia suddenly broke the silence: "Are you really going to Prand? Because of the 'invitation' from the consul?"

"'Invitation' is not important, I don't care about the security of that city-state, but the consul said in the letter that the Lost Country has reappeared in the real world, and it is true, I have to go and see the situation," Tirian said with a serious face, "That ship has not been seen for almost half a century, and it is really suspicious that it reappeared now."

Lucrezia thought for a while and asked: "You encountered the Lost Home once half a century ago, I remember you were still in Frost at that time... what you saw at that time was really the Lost Home number?"

"...It's true, it's hard to believe, but it's the Lost Country," said Tirian in a low voice, "and I don't even remember the position of every mast and the distribution of every set of cables. "

"Then... was it really 'Father' who stood on the boat at that time?"

Tirian lowered his head slightly, his face hidden in the shadows: "...it's him, although I'd rather it wasn't him."

Lucrezia looked at her brother in the crystal ball, hesitated for a moment before speaking softly: "Be careful, if that's really him, you will be in danger."

"I know," Tirian sighed softly, "It's already a frantic ghost that has been completely distorted by the warp, I won't take it lightly..."

Lucrezia shook her head expressionlessly: "No, what I mean is, if that's really my father, he saw you transforming the Sea Mist into a big iron lump, and he would definitely do it worse than half a century ago. ruthless."

Tirian was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes widened: "What do you mean? This is an effective modernization! What's wrong with steam boilers and rapid-fire guns! And you have the nerve to say that I—— I still have some of them. , even if your ship has a deck now, it is still a bright star back then..."

The crystal ball went out.

Lucrezia let out a sigh of relief and got up from the chair.

The elder brother is still very energetic, full of energy after a little stimulation, and maintains a strong curiosity about modern things, which is very good.

In the long eternal life, the most feared thing is the decline of the spirit and the decay of the soul.

A burst of light footsteps came from the darkness, accompanied by the friction sound of mechanical mechanisms and clockwork. Lucrezia looked around and saw a clockwork puppet with a female appearance walking towards her. ——The puppet is six points similar to her own appearance, but the whole body is covered with obvious riveting and mechanical joint structures, and the outer shell made of fine steel and ceramics is made into the appearance of a maid skirt. Under the bright light, it looked somewhat eerie and terrifying.

The puppet walked all the way, and the clockwork behind her kept making slight clicking sounds. She came to Lucrezia and offered the black tea in her hand, her jointed mouth clicked, making a slightly stiff and dull sound Female voice: "Mistress, please have some tea."

"Thank you," Lucrezia took the teacup and asked casually, "Luni, where are we now?"

The clockwork puppet named Luni replied: "The Brilliant Star has just passed the 'Foghorn Island' and is currently sailing on the edge of the eternal veil. Would you like to enjoy the view from the window?"

"...Open the dome." Lucrezia took a sip of black tea and put the teacup back on the tray in Luni's hand. "It's dawn, I should bask in the sun."

"Yes, mistress."

Luni lowered her head slightly and stepped back.

And at the same time as the clockwork puppet's voice fell, a slight vibration suddenly came from the entire "divination room"!

The creaking sound of the mechanical device running continuously, the humming and creaking sound of the giant clockwork and the magic unit running together seemed to form a concerto movement. Driven by countless gears and slideways, the walls of the room began to move towards The surroundings receded and unfolded, and the originally dimly lit room was instantly illuminated by the sun—under the sun, the entire room slowly bloomed like a mechanical flower, and finally bloomed into a stage-like appearance.

This is the upper deck of the Brilliant Star. The room where the "Sea Witch" Lucrezia lives blooms into a towering stage at the front of the deck, and around this blooming mechanical flower, you can see the lights of the Brilliant Star. The whole picture——

The ship was suddenly split in two.

The front half of the ship has been completely remodeled, with countless runes and magic creations all over the hull, making it look more like a huge magic mechanism than a ship, with various The strange materials collected from the border area or the sea reconstruct the deck structure of the ship, making everything in sight faintly grotesque and psychedelic, as if there are never-ending magic rituals in those dense magic circles run between and crystal;

But in the second half of the ship, it has a completely different appearance—there, half of the ship's hull is translucent like a ghost, and the stern of the Brilliant Star is covered by a phantom tulle. In the floating mirage, one can vaguely see that part of the structure still maintains the original appearance of the ship——

A sailing warship built a century ago, the style of the "Lost Homeland" is vaguely similar.

(End of this chapter)