Deep Sea Embers

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

Agatha's voice broke the calm: but it was obvious that the matter was not over.

The old bishop didn't speak, so Agatha asked again: In your opinion, do the strange things that frequently appear in the city-state and the shadow of Dagger Island also be part of the Frost Queen's calculations?

The queen is not a god. She may have predicted in advance that there would be rebels 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 was still recalling I remember the details of that year, but it was probably too long ago, and many of the details were actually blurred. I actually can’t remember what the Queen told me that night. During the funeral ceremony, she seemed to She kept talking to me, but you know, a ceremony requires a lot of concentration and inhaling incense beforehand. I really can't remember what she told me.

Having said this, he paused and spread his hands helplessly: Under normal circumstances, there would be no exchange of ritual experiences between the deceased lying on the platform and the priest who performed the ceremony.

Agatha was silent, thinking quietly for a moment before suddenly speaking: Can you tell me about the situation back then? What else did you see in that church before the Qianyuan Project was completely ended?

In my impression, it snowed heavily that day just like this year, and for a long time, the snowfall of various sizes almost never stopped, and the snow often covered the streets around the chapel, making it difficult to People couldn't see the boundaries of the road clearly, so there were a lot more people falling. Bishop Ivan recalled quietly, and his low and dull voice seemed to draw people's imagination directly to the cold winter half a century ago. People who had fallen injuries often came to the church to seek help—because the neighborhood clinic was full at the time.

At that time, the Qianyuan Plan had caused a lot of uneasiness in the city. It was not a taboo topic like it is today. Although the core part was classified, most people knew about the existence of such a plan to explore the sea, so they People who come to the church often tell me about the strange things they see...

Weird thing? Agatha couldn't help but speak.

Yes, strange things. Some people said they saw lights appearing in houses that had been uninhabited for a long time. Some people said that their familiar neighbors suddenly changed their appearance when they went out one day. Some people said they saw the gate of the cemetery opened in the middle of the night and they were buried during the day. People walked out of the cemetery openly at night - there were all such horror and bizarre stories, day and night. Since the most evil thing in the city-state at that time was the Abyss Plan, people regarded all these abnormal stories as All the phenomena were attributed to the Hidden Abyss Project, and then... they began to be attributed to the Frost Queen.

The people who were buried in the cemetery walked out gracefully. Agatha suddenly frowned while listening to the old bishop's story, as if thinking of the present moment, and the lights appearing in uninhabited houses. This sounded 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 the difference from back then is that you saw tangible evidence and even collected evidence that was suspected of being an element. But back then, there were only all kinds of rumors in the city--people came to follow you every day. I said they had encountered something strange, but the guards sent out everywhere, but they all came to nothing.

All in vain? Agatha asked.

Yes, of course, when we receive reports from residents, we must send people to investigate. Even half a century ago, we had these rigorous procedures. I sent many people to investigate those scary stories. The gatekeepers of the cathedral back then were even like you. We personally conducted an investigation, but we found nothing. Apart from the nervous citizens, everything in the city-state was actually normal - but in contrast, the Qianyuan Project's testing site was gradually completely sealed off. All the terrible things happened inside the lockdown.

As for what happened there...you've no doubt seen it in the archives - it keeps coming out

The replica submersible that appeared, the unregistered strangers, and the explorers who died in the deep sea.

Agatha was silent for a moment, thoughts racing in her mind. For some reason, she always felt that she smelled a hint of disobedience in the old bishop's story, a hint of something amiss that had not been noticed for half a century.

In other words, although the Qianyuan Project caused panic, in fact all the abnormal events were concentrated in the test site, and the city-state was actually operating as usual - although everyone was under great psychological pressure, and the city's operation was also affected by the Queen's Difficulties have arisen with the extreme decree, and abnormal incidents have been reported continuously. However, from the perspective of extraordinary power, the pollution from the deep sea has never actually overflowed the blockade?

At least that's how I remember it. The old bishop nodded slightly, but then the conversation changed. Of course, even so, I'm not defending the Frost Queen back then. Even if everything in the city-state was really normal, she The Qianyuan Plan has stretched Hanshuang's economy and everyone's nerves to the critical point. Even if the Qianyuan Plan has always been under her control and has never gone out of control, the rebellion is bound to happen.

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

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

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

This is also mentioned in the report letter you brought - it is suspected that the Annihilation cultists in Frost City have communicated with the power of the deep sea through some secret rituals, causing deep sea pollution to directly spill over to the city-state, so we should find ways to find those evil spirits. A place where believers perform rituals.

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

At least everything mentioned in the report letter now has evidence that it is true. Even the parts that cannot be confirmed for the time being are logically established. Bishop Ivan nodded. Of course, I can’t say for sure when writing the letter. Whether that existence can be trusted - the extraordinary moods and anger of the superiors and the perspective of looking at the world are different from those of ordinary people, so we can never get along with them based on human emotional logic.

All I can say is that when they temporarily show neutrality or friendliness, we can cooperate with them or even actively cooperate. But when they suddenly find it boring and are ready to turn their backs, we don’t have to be confused or surprised. We need to know this. The only superior beings in the world who can truly be trusted and loyal to are the Four Gods. All others are neither enemies nor allies.

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

The next time the visitor shows up, I will try to reach out to him and find out his current attitude.

So much the better. Bishop Ivan nodded and said.

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

So now, there is only one last difficult puzzle left.

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

The content of the entire letter is easy to understand, but only the last part, whether it is the cemetery caretaker who originally received the letter, or the current Bishop Agatha and Ivan, have difficulty understanding its deep meaning.

The two spokesmen representing the highest will of the church in the city-state came together, and the three eyes exposed under the bandage stared at the end of the letter.

The mysterious visitor left a mystery in his secret letter.

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

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

Maybe you can ask a fortune teller to deduce it, or ask someone from the mathematical field to

Experts in the field of occultism come to calculate together - it may be a secret number pointing to the future of the city-state.

Makes sense.

On the edge of Uptown, at No. 44 Oak Street, next to Fireplace Street, Duncan stood in front of the narrow window at the end of the corridor on the second floor, looking at the gradually falling night.

After a while, he suddenly turned his head and looked at Fanna who was in a daze next to him: Do you think they are paying now?

Fanna woke up from her distraction and looked confused: Ah...ah?

You go to the bank for me tomorrow to see if they have paid the money, Duncan said seriously, I left an anonymous account number in that report letter, which I use specifically to receive the report bonus.

Fanna: Huh?