Deep Sea Embers

Counterfeit.

After learning from Duncan and others what "fake" is, and how many fakes have appeared in the city-state recently, and even its corrosive and cognitive interference properties may have covered large areas, Nemo Wilkins There was unconcealable fear on his face.

Even the old ghost, whose mind was sometimes sober and sometimes confused, felt the horror behind this weird phenomenon - he kept talking about the Queen and the Queen's Guards, with a look of restlessness on his face, and it took a long time before he calmed down.

After this, what Nemo felt was anger.

He couldn't accept that the "crow" who had been following him for many years died in such an inexplicable way - let alone that a replica of the latter was made, and this replica was lying in front of him. This was obviously a tribute to the deceased. An insult.

"There are shadows of the Annihilation Cult behind this matter. The defenders in the city should have started a large-scale search now. It is expected that there will be some progress soon," Duncan noticed Nemo's mood change and said, "But even if we find Those Annihilation Cultists may not be able to fundamentally solve the problem - what is hidden behind those cultists is the source."

"What are the things hidden behind those cultists?" Nemo suddenly woke up from his anger and seemed to suddenly think of something. "Is it possible that there is a god-level existence behind them?"

It was Fanna who answered him: "Replicas are constantly pouring out from under the deep sea. Even the Frost Queen fifty years ago was unable to solve this crisis. Do you think this kind of thing is a group of cultists?" Can it be done?"

"There are clues that this matter has involved Holy Lord Netherworld," Morris continued. "The power, or even part of the body, may have appeared in the real world - once the specific situation is known, don't ask."

It is not a good thing for ordinary people to be exposed to too much information that points to gods.

Nemo heard a hint of warning in the old scholar's tone. He immediately woke up and nodded vigorously: "I understand and I won't ask."

He didn't want to be strangled to death in his dream by one of the tentacles of Holy Lord Netherworld in the middle of the night just because he heard something he shouldn't have heard.

Vanna bent down and inspected the body of "Crow" on the ground.

This fake is lifelike. At least in appearance, it still maintains almost the same appearance as the original. Only at its edges, the dirty black "mud" is seeping out little by little, and it seems that the disintegration process has just begun.

This is also the first time that Duncan has seen the process of a fake from completeness to disintegration from a spectator's perspective. This information is also precious to him.

He stretched out his hand and flipped through the pocket of "Crow's" coat - the piece of paper that copied the mysterious "history narrative" text was placed in this pocket.

The pocket was empty and disintegrating inside.

Vanna stretched out her hand, and the water vapor in the air quickly condensed into an ice blade. A dagger appeared in her hand. She used the improvised dagger to lift open the clothes near "Crow's" chest, and found that the inner layer of the clothes had a strange fluffy shape. , the mutually adherent fibers and masses blur together, showing a state of fusion with the deeper flesh and skin structure.

"That piece of paper was not copied, and the inside of the copy showed a typical state of chaos and no blood." Duncan muttered to himself, and then reached out to touch the slowly squirming black mud material on the ground next to him, but he saw behind it. The object suddenly shrank, fading to the side as if alive, "These things have not solidified yet, but the creeping speed is slowing down."

He slowly stood up and sighed softly: "There is nothing to check. Let's purify it to eliminate future troubles. Fanna, you guys stay back."

Upon hearing this, Vanna quickly took a few steps back to the side. At the same time, she pulled Alice, who was still confused, to go back as well. Also backing away was Mr. Morris.

Nemo and the old ghost also stepped back after seeing this - although they had no idea why Vanna and the others were suddenly so nervous.

Then they found out.

A cluster of green flames suddenly appeared at Duncan's feet. Immediately afterwards, the flames swooped towards the "fake" not far away like a predator that had smelled its prey - the flames soared into the sky, the crackling sound of extraordinary firewood burning. With the continuous sound, the corpse made of strange black mud was burned to ashes almost instantly. While the flames burned, the gas lamps on the surrounding walls, the old ghost and the lantern carried by Nemo also seemed to be stained. Layers of green!

The whole process actually only lasted less than a few seconds, but Nemo was already breaking out in a cold sweat - when the flames soared into the sky, great fear filled his body and mind, and he even felt that his soul was shaking. It must resonate and ignite spontaneously in front of the flame, so that when the flame disappears, he may even feel lucky to have survived the disaster.

Duncan turned his head and looked at the few people who were almost hiding in the corner on the other side of the corridor: "The burning is over...Why are you hiding so far away? Can't you just take a few steps back?"

"I have a psychological shadow on this thing." Vannat said bluntly.

Duncan: "..."

He stood awkwardly for a while, then touched the bandage near the tip of his nose, turned around and walked deeper into the corridor: "Ahem, let's go and see what else is ahead."

Several people took steps to catch up with Duncan, while Nemo looked at the burly figure walking at the front with lingering fear. After walking a few steps, he looked back at the old ghost who was following him: "Do you think Captain Tirian will do it?" Is he also afraid of his father?"

The old ghost didn't seem to hear it. He just walked forward and looked up in front of him as if he was distracted. It wasn't until Nemo couldn't help but call him twice that he suddenly muttered incoherently: " I've seen that fire before

Nemo was stunned for a moment: "Have you seen it? You said you have seen the flames like just now? Where did you see it?"

The old ghost didn't answer again. He had a rope hanging on his body and a crowbar in his hand. He walked forward leisurely as if he was sleepwalking. Then he seemed to suddenly remember something and caught up with him. Duncan and Alice muttered: "The Queen is in front, hurry up, hurry up..."

Nemo looked at the old ghost's back, scratched his hair, and couldn't help but muttered: "Okay, I'm sick again."

After an unknown amount of time, the team stopped again.

There is no road ahead.

A pile of collapsed boulders and half-melted steel debris completely blocked the road ahead - and it looked like it had been blocked for half a century.

"This is the end of this corridor," Nemo said, pointing to the collapsed area in front. "This was blown up when the Queen's Guards retreated. The entire collapsed area is probably several hundred meters long, and it is impossible for anyone to pass through."

"This is the end, but we didn't find anything along the way." Fanna couldn't help but frown, and looked back at the direction the team came from, "We didn't even find the traces left by the movement of the 'fake'."

Duncan said nothing. He came to the collapsed ruins and carefully observed the stacked stones, cement and steel, frowning and saying nothing.

Seeing this, Alice couldn't help but come over: "What are you looking for?"

"There may be gaps or holes," Duncan said casually. "People can't get through, but mud-like fluids can seep through very small holes."

"Do you suspect that the fake first penetrated the collapse area in the form of fluid elements, and then condensed into a human form and fell down in the corridor?" Morris quickly understood what Duncan meant, but imagined in his mind The picture that appeared gave him goosebumps, "This sounds really chilling."

Duncan didn't speak. He took two steps back, raised his head again, and looked at the end of the corridor that had been completely blocked.

There really aren't any traces here.

Along the way, I couldn't see any abnormal signs.

How did the fake appear in the corridor? Where did "Crow" go before, and how did he get there?

A thin layer of mist appeared on the vast and endless sea.

A steamship with a beautiful white hull sailed in the mist. The bow penetrated the fog floating on the surrounding sea, and the stern left behind layers of fine wave wakes.

Captain Lawrence came to the deck wearing a thick coat and looked at the mist-filled sea in the distance with some trance, as well as the vaguely undulating sea horizon and iceberg silhouettes in the fog.

It was daytime now, and the sun was high in the sky. However, the sunlight did not dispel the mist on the sea, nor the chill in the sea breeze. He could only feel the coldness seeping through his coat bit by bit, as if it was drilling into his bones. ——It feels as if the whole body is gradually immersed in the cold sea water.

"The temperatures in the north are not very friendly to me, an old man who was born and raised in the Central Sea."

Lawrence couldn't help but mutter.

His first mate Gus walked over from the side. He was a tall and thin middle-aged man with short brown hair slightly curly. After hearing the captain's murmur, he laughed: "The weather in the cold sea is always like this. --There is more fog than other places, and it sometimes fogs during the day. There is a chill in the air, and there is sudden snowfall in the city-state, which makes it difficult for outsiders to adapt. "

"I originally planned to stay in Hanshuang for a longer time, but now it seems that I should go back as soon as possible after completing the necessary work. You will definitely get sick if you stay here for a long time." Captain Lawrence shook his head, "The influence of the fog is getting worse and worse. It’s too big, we need to reconfirm the heading in an hour.”

The first mate nodded immediately: "Yes, Captain, I will make arrangements in a moment."

Lawrence hummed, and then asked: "Is there a response to the signal sent to Hanshuang?"

"Not yet," the first mate replied, "But it's normal. The ports in the northern city-states have always worked like this - wait until we get closer, they will have to respond to our request for entry."