Deep Sea Embers

However, the warm touch still lingers on the temples, and the slightly lemony scent still lingers in the nose - she seems to have never been there, but she has never left.

Lawrence felt his fingers trembling a little. He lowered his head and tried several times to put the small bottle cap back on. It took him a long time to put it back in his pocket. He felt his heart pounding. Beating—even when there was a big storm, his heart had never beat like this.

Reason came belatedly, like waking up from a long dream. He realized that he had just brushed against madness, and even almost fell into a state of continuous delusion. For a captain who had been wandering on the boundless sea for most of his life, once If he fell into this state, it would be impossible to regain his sanity, but at this moment, he had neither the joy of surviving the disaster nor the lingering fear of facing madness.

He only felt a kind of indifferent sadness and regret.

And this indifferent sadness and regret is a warning sign - it means that deep down in his heart, he is no longer resistant to "madness" itself.

Lawrence took a deep breath and tried his best to get rid of the thoughts that were tangled up in his mind. He glanced around him and saw that the White Oak was at his feet, and there was a boatload of people waiting for him to take them back to Pland. .

Now is not the time to descend into madness.

"It's really time for me to retire." The old captain sighed and slowly walked towards the stairs in front of him, but he suddenly stopped after taking a few steps, with a slightly solemn expression on his face.

He recalled the scene when "Martha" appeared just now - even though he knew that this kind of "memory" was dangerous and might lead to the other party appearing again, he couldn't help but recall it, because he suddenly realized that just now Some of the words "Martha" said to herself are very concerning: "Lawrence, be careful, you have come to the middle of the sea."

"If I were you, I shouldn't have any unnecessary questions at this time, but leave here immediately. Your vigilance will be lowered..."

Lawrence subconsciously repeated these two sentences in his mind. Even though he knew that it was an hallucination caused by his confused memory and cognitive turmoil, he could not help but regard these two sentences as some kind of warning sign - Martha might be It doesn't exist, but do you feel some kind of danger deep in your gut? Are these two sentences a warning from your subconscious mind?

The old captain looked around and carefully observed the "White Oak" again. Everything he saw was normal. Then he raised his head and looked at the Frost City State next to him.

Everything is normal in Frost City. The nearby port area looks calm and peaceful. The city area not far away has begun to light up. Farther away, the high sea cliff overlooks the sea, appearing in the dim skylight. A strong and powerful outline.

But a faint sense of dissonance rose up, as unstoppable as the tide gradually rising in his heart. As this sense of discord appeared, Lawrence suddenly heard the gentle sound of waves coming from his ears - just overlapping. Among the sounds of the waves surrounding the White Oak, he could not distinguish it at first, but soon he realized that the sound was coming directly from his mind.

Is the sound of waves a warning? Is the blessing of the storm goddess Gemona taking effect? !

Lawrence's eyes narrowed, and he immediately gave up his plan to go to the shore. He suddenly turned around and rushed towards the bridge. The cold night wind whizzed past his ears, stimulating his nerves like a knife blade.

"Captain?" The first mate on duty on the bridge looked shocked when he saw Lawrence suddenly appearing. He stood up from his chair and walked quickly to the captain, "Aren't you going to the shore..."

"The situation has changed," Lawrence said quickly, "I feel something is wrong. How long have we been docked here? Has anyone sneaked ashore?"

"No," the first mate said immediately, "you have ordered everyone to stay on the ship, and everyone is quite honest. Besides, we have been docked here for a few hours."

"As long as no one comes ashore," Lawrence nodded quickly, then glanced in the direction of the bridge, "Light the steam core and let's leave this port."

"Ah?" The first mate didn't react for a moment, "Leave this port? We just..."

Lawrence interrupted him before the other party finished speaking: "There's something wrong with this place. I can't tell, but I feel very bad. Do you remember that there was a problem in the observatory room before? And earlier, we couldn't contact Hanshuang. From that point on, everyone's guard was down, something was affecting us all."

He spoke quickly, and at the same time, he also knew how abnormal the order he gave was - except for a little intuitive violation, he had no evidence to prove the correctness of his order, and the White Oak had just experienced On a long voyage, both people and machines needed repairs at this time. In this case, his departure order seemed like nonsense.

What's more, departure needs to be coordinated with the port. Re-igniting the steam core without reporting is a serious violation of regulations. He must bear responsibility for his decision.

But severe warning signs were beating in his heart, and the sound of the waves was getting stronger and stronger echoing in his mind. Gemona's blessing was warning him not to continue to have contact with the "port", even if he said a word more.

The first mate stared at the captain in front of him steadily. After nearly half a minute, he suddenly stood up straight and said loudly: "Yes, captain!"

On a ship, the captain's word is law.

An insane captain can lead to the death of the entire ship - but more likely than not, an experienced captain will save the entire ship from crisis.

The order was quickly issued to the entire ship, and the confused sailors were urged to take action, and they were soon ready to set sail again with a conditioned reflex.

The new boiling gold catalyst penetrated the steam core, and the low mechanical vibrations awoke in the depths of the White Oak. The sailors quietly removed the fixed ropes on the ship's side and retracted the gangplank to the deck. Lawrence stood on the bridge. , carefully observing the movement on the pier through the wide glass boat-

Some figures were moving on the pier. Under the dim gas light, those figures were blurry and unreal. Some loading and unloading vehicles passed by a little further away, leaving long and thick shadows on the road.

They seemed completely oblivious to the fact that a ship had rekindled its steam core in the night, and no "thing" suddenly appeared to intercept the White Oak, which was preparing to leave secretly.

The situation was better than expected. In Lawrence's worst guess, he was even worried that the moment the steam core was re-ignited, hundreds of sea monsters would suddenly appear in the surrounding seawater and destroy the white oak. No. dragged directly into the water.

"Keep the lights on and don't blow the whistle," Lawrence said quickly to the first officer next to him, then walked to the bridge and took over the steering wheel with his own hands. "I'm at the helm myself - the boiler maintains high pressure and is ready to overload at any time. Prepare."

"Yes, Captain."

Although there were still doubts in their hearts, everyone on the ship carried out the old captain's orders without hesitation. Lawrence could feel that the steel beast under his feet was slowly moving.

The entire ship maintained a blackout state, and the propellers under the water began to rotate. The White Oak was gradually leaving the port, and the sound of the water being stirred was heard. Everyone became nervous, and everyone looked at the main building next to them. A city-state shrouded in darkness.

Lawrence felt his palms were sweaty.

But there was still no unusual reaction from the city-state - even though the White Oak's unusual movements could no longer be concealed, no one came to check the situation.

He looked at the radio communication station next to him. The telegraph machine was as silent as death.

In theory, an emergency call from the Port Bureau should have been made at this time, and the port officials on duty would have questioned the reason for the White Oak's sudden departure—but nothing happened.

This strengthened Lawrence's confidence and made him think that his judgment was correct.

There is definitely something wrong with this place!

The power of the steam core increased by one level, and the speed of the propeller gradually increased. The White Oak left the dock area faster and faster, and the open sea began to appear directly in front of the bridge, with sparkling waves on the water.

Lawrence took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the steering wheel: "Raise to full speed!"

A gray wind swept through the courtyard and condensed into shape in the vestibule of the cathedral. Agatha's figure stepped out of the gray wind. She quickly passed through the porch and hall and came to the "underworld" where the city-state bishop Ivan was. "Thinking of the Holy Temple".

The icon of Bartok, the God of Death, stood quietly at the end of the church. The dark coffin lay horizontally on the platform at the foot of the icon. The lid of the coffin was opened, but Bishop Ivan, who usually rested in the coffin, was Standing aside, looking up in Agatha's direction.

The bishop, who was covered with bandages like a mummy, with only one eye exposed, was wearing a black robe with gold edges today, holding a tin staff in his hand. After Agatha approached, he took the initiative to speak: "I have heard that About Dagger Island."

"I see that you are going to chair the meeting in person," Agatha nodded, but she was a little worried, "Can you handle it?"

Bishop Ivan raised his hand, and there seemed to be gray-white mist slowly floating out from the gap in the bandage.

"As long as your body and will can hold on, it will be fine."

/

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