Deep Sea Embers

The paper was crumpled, and many places had been contaminated by gray-black "mud". The writing on it was blurred and missing, but after Morris carefully handled it, many of the words on it were restored to a state that could barely be read.

"Brown Scott" recorded the strange changes that happened to him in the last stage of his consciousness: "...around four o'clock in the morning, twelve hours after the door was locked, the tinnitus became more and more intense and... The paroxysmal dizziness seriously affects my movements. I can only write something when my condition is better. There seems to be bleeding under the skin, and I can see inexplicable bruises...

"At half past six, my internal organs seemed to be tumbling, as if the structure of the body had lost order, and each had its own thoughts wandering around the body. I felt no pain, and even the dizziness was much weaker... The fear began to subside, and became more and more intense. Clear memories appear in my mind...

"Around seven o'clock, I clearly recalled the details of my death, and became more and more convinced that my real self was actually dead long ago. My left leg was inexplicably fractured - it may be that a section of bone in the middle suddenly dissolved and disappeared.

.

"At 8:15, the left leg began to dissolve. First, the skin cracked on its own, and then the internal tissue flowed out like some kind of gray-black liquid. Those separated liquid substances seemed to have their own life, squirming on the floor, and even Climbing up the wall... I was once worried whether the wooden boards I nailed to the window could block these weird and terrifying substances, but later I found that they gradually lost their activity after leaving the body, and even when they remained active, they seemed to be Consciously avoid the sun... This may be very important information, and I hereby record it...

"...The heart stopped beating, but the consciousness still continued. I could feel that this body no longer operated according to the abnormal human physiological mechanism. I tried to open a wound. There was no blood in the wound, only a gray-black viscous substance. It flows out quickly... What kind of material is this body made of at this moment?

"The whole upper body began to condense. It took some effort to fix myself in one position and continue to write these words - I can't feel any pain now, I'm not breathing, my heartbeat has stopped long ago, and I can hear a buzzing noise. , as if the substances that make up itself are resonating... More and more viscous substances leave the body, making the room a mess...

"... I hope Garoni will not be frightened when she cleans the room... Although when I wrote this name, I could hardly recall Garoni's appearance in my mind.

"At half past ten, the thing I was most worried about happened. My vision was rapidly weakening and the environment was rapidly darkening. I had to fumble around the edges of the paper to make the writing on it as clear as possible...

Of course Morris saw this scene, but he said nothing and just took one last look at the table next to him.

"...How to deal with things here?" The old scholar raised his head and looked at the captain, "The traces in the room, the information left by Brown, and...Garoni on the first floor."

"Perhaps we should finally give the cultists here a little 'Homeless' shock," he said softly, rubbing his fingers at the same time, and a small cluster of green flames fell from his fingertips and fell silently. On the ground, it quickly melted into the air and disappeared.

"...Primary element," Duncan raised his head, "The local church in Frost is studying this substance. They believe that the sticky substance left after the deep sea replica disintegrates is very close in nature to the 'original element' mentioned by the Annihilation Cult. white,."

Duncan didn't speak for a while. Listening to the old scholar's narration, Duncan was silent for a few seconds and then raised his head: "A large amount of gush... from the deep sea?"

"So, there must be a larger cult stronghold, a hidden place where large-scale rituals can be held, enough for them to continuously mobilize the power in the deep sea to create replicas of the city-state, and even invade Dagger Island." Duncan said slowly , and raised his head at the same time, looking around the room - the only window in the room was nailed shut with wooden boards, and the roof, walls and ground were covered with lifeless dried "mud". All traces here seemed to be silently telling a thrilling experience. Death and confrontation.

Morris was startled for a moment, but now he was more or less used to the captain's situation of getting new clues from nowhere, so he was not curious to pursue them.

Asked about the source of this information, he just thought for a short time and said: "...I know that 'Yuansu', this term, if you want to study the historical origins of cultists, you can't get around their magical things. "

It's a bit blurry and jagged there, and the boundary between paper and mud seems to disappear, even partially fused.

I don’t know whether the consciousness of the recorder finally reached the end, or whether he was unable to write the correct words on paper when he lost most of his perception. In the end, the dead man left only an abrupt ending to the world. punctuation.

"Maybe another hour passed,"

"... Even for a powerful city-state, it is not a trivial matter to build a submersible that can travel to and from the thousand-meter-deep sea. At the very least, this is not something that a group of cultists can master," Morris said in thought, "But they can guide the power of the deep sea through some indirect rituals, or communicate with certain existences in the deep sea."

"The cognitive interference Garoni suffered is obviously not over yet. After the replica in this building disappeared, she still showed no signs of regaining consciousness. She even believed that her teacher was resting in the room, which shows that interference occurred. The source of this is not her teacher, but something that is still active and hidden deep in the city-state. She will not truly recover until that source is eliminated. "

Morris' expression froze: "What do you mean..."

Duncan paused.

The text breaks off here.

Morris noticed Duncan's behavior: "Did you find anything?"

"And... I'm not sure how many 'Brown Scotts' and how many 'Garonis' there are outside this city-state.

Duncan did not answer immediately. He just got closer to the solidified "mud" and observed their edges thoughtfully. Then he picked up the last record left by Brown Scott and studied on his own. The edge of the paper where it had been completely saturated with mud.

Speaking of this, she frowned slightly and seemed to think of more.

That was the place where Brown Scott "worked" for the last time - maybe it was just a short-lived replica, but when this body that was constantly collapsing and disintegrating was sitting at the desk writing, it still had a noble soul.

"No, I mourned for him once," Morris shook his head slightly, "I just didn't expect to see his academic records again three years later... These materials are very useful, right?"

"I couldn't confirm the time now. It was probably between eleven and twelve o'clock. I heard a sharp and weird sound. The sound lasted for about two minutes. Then all the discomfort began to subside, and the perception of the remaining parts of the body also weakened rapidly. I can vaguely feel the part below my chest falling...

He paused, as if sorting out the information in his mind, and continued after a moment: "Just like the Sun Cultists firmly believe that the ancient real sun will save the world sooner or later, the Annihilation Cultists also have similar 'salvation prophecies,' and they preach that at some point in the future One day, the Holy Lord of the Deep will wake up from his slumber, and in his rage destroy this world that has been distorted and deceived by the gods. Representing the 'real world, the Deep Sea will rise from the depths of the world and become a paradise for mortals to live in again. , and when this day comes, there will first be elements pouring out in large numbers. The elements are the cornerstone of the world and the blueprint of all things. They will cover all things and restore the world to its true appearance..."

Morris was silent and didn't make any sound for a long time. After an unknown amount of time, he softly spoke to himself: "Ah, it is indeed my handwriting."

"We have got enough clues, let's leave the rest to the Frost Man," Duncan said lightly. "Keep the room as it is, leave this letter in a conspicuous place on the table, and prepare a report letter. As for Ga Ronnie..."

"Do you need some time alone?"

Duncan glanced at the old gentleman calmly and said, "I can wait for you outside."

In his perception, the Lost Home was sailing towards Dagger Island and Frost Island.

"Rumors of the return of the dead are circulating in the city, but at the same time, completely opposite news reaches Tirian," Duncan glanced at Maurice

, "This city-state is probably infiltrated into a sieve by replicas and cognitive interference phenomena."

"I am becoming more and more interested in these Annihilation Cults, but rather than their so-called 'salvation prophecies,' I am more curious about how they have established contact with the place a thousand meters deep under the frost," Duncan Shaking his head, "The replica comes from the deep sea, as does the Obsidian and the submersible on Dagger Island, but a group of godly Annihilation cultists...how do you think they came into contact with the power under thousands of meters of water? "