Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 465

Chapter 465: Chapter 466: Summoning Chapter 465: Chapter 466: Summoning “The situation is just like this, Fenna, what do you think?”

On the deck of the Homeloss, Duncan spoke to Fenna who was holding a Sea Breath Wood amulet she was carving.

Fenna listened to Duncan recount the problems encountered by the White Oak and the captain's plans for the future. It took her a long time to process before she finally reacted. She tossed the newly carved amulet into a barrel and looked up, “You mean, that I should vouch for White Oak in my capacity as a saint, and then issue a permit that allows the mutated ship to return to a legal identity as a Judge?”

“It seems feasible procedurally,” Duncan said earnestly, “after all, you truly are a saint of the Storm Goddess–and also the Judge of Prand.”

“But my position as a Judge has been revoked…”

Duncan waved his hand dismissively, “Wasn't that arranged privately by your pope? Your official public identity hasn't changed.”

Fenna paused again–the straightforward lady seemed not yet accustomed to Duncan's way of thinking. “Exploiting loopholes in the rules” was something she had never considered in her many years as a Judge. Instinctively, she felt something wasn't right, but couldn't articulate what it was, and could only hesitantly say: “Procedurally… I'm not sure if it's right, but…”

Duncan interrupted Fenna's hesitation with a stern look, “White Oak needs to return to a legal status, and the Exiled Fleet needs to re-establish contact with the civilized world. You wouldn't want us to forever be a shadow looming over the world–the neutralization of the once-threatening Exiled Fleet is a good thing, and as a saint of the Storm Goddess, you should actively push this forward, don't you think?”

Fenna suddenly became still, her expression solemn as she fell into thought. After some time, she looked up into Duncan's eyes, “Your tone sounds like when you normally bamboozle Alice.”

“You are not Alice–Alice would've believed me after the first sentence.”

Fenna: “…”

“But the principle is the same, White Oak truly needs your help right now,” Duncan continued with composure, “And from a practical standpoint, having an additional controllable and powerful Transcendent exploration ship is not a bad thing for the City-States–certainly better than letting this ship become a wandering shadow in the Endless Sea.”

“I…”

Fenna opened her mouth as if about to say something, but at that moment, a distant and ethereal ringing of a bell suddenly echoed in her mind, interrupting her.

She looked up, subconsciously listening to the direction of the ringing, as the special rhythm of the bell tolled as if resonating within her own soul. Duncan's voice of concern seemed to come from the other side of a thick curtain, “What happened?”

“The Swift Bell… The cathedral is summoning saints from every land, it seems to be news about the Tomb of the Nameless King…” Fenna murmured in bewilderment, her voice tinged with disbelief, “Why can I still hear this summons…”

Duncan raised an eyebrow, “Is that strange? You are still a saint of the Deep Sea Church.”

“But I thought…” Fenna frowned, “I thought that after boarding the Homeloss, they would no longer call upon me.”

Duncan's eyes twitched, catching the suggestion of “getting on board with the wrong crowd” from her tone, but he quickly disguised the change in his expression and said indifferently, “Don't think too much about it. Since it's the cathedral's summons, you should head to the prayer room. It'll be good timing if you get a chance to meet with Empress Helena, and you can inquire about issuing the pass for White Oak.”

Fenna's expression revealed a hint of uncertainty, but this time she managed to control her impulse to question and, urged by the persistent ringing in her mind, she quickly nodded to Duncan and then turned to stride briskly toward the ship's hold.

There were many empty holds on the Homeloss, and with the captain's permission, one had been transformed into a prayer room by Fenna–though she had never tried before, theoretically, she should be able to respond to the Spiritual Energy communication and go to the “congregation space”.

Fenna left, and only after her figure disappeared behind the large door of the hold did Duncan withdraw his gaze.

He looked towards the direction where Fenna had vanished, then turned to look at Alice who had come back with him to the Homeloss and was now preparing to wash the deck with a large bucket of water not far away; he sighed softly after a long while, “Ah… she's become harder to convince.”

After the sigh, he bent down and picked up the Sea Breath Wood amulet that Fenna had just carved from a barrel beside him.

The amulet was not too exquisite, but was obviously crafted with care. Duncan stood at the edge of the deck, toying with the small wooden piece while waiting for Fenna to return.

Theoretically, it shouldn't take too long.

And during this idle wait, he also slowly organized the intelligence gathered during this period, especially the information recently obtained on the White Oak.

The vast shadow beneath the Deep Sea, the “hybrid” known as Martha, and… the transformation that occurred on that hybrid's body.

Duncan envisioned the fluctuating shadow coalescing and stabilizing into “Martha”, and before that scene, the 'fish' vision that had appeared before his eyes.

He turned his head, looking towards the gently undulating sea in the distance.

The sea was profound, waves like curtains.

The sea's surface seemed to veil all secrets, hiding the truth beneath. When the fishing line was cast, no one knew what would bite.

And what he had hooked was a “fish”.

A solemn look slowly settled in Duncan's eyes. He lowered his head to glance at the wave amulet in his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then threw the amulet back in the barrel, picking up a piece of wood that was plain and uncarved.

He examined the wood seriously for a long time before finally speaking in a slow and solemn tone, “This is a piece of bread.”

Wood remained wood, no transformation had occurred.

Duncan stared at the piece of wood for a long while, tugged at the corner of his mouth, looked up to confirm there was no one around, and casually tossed the wood back to its original spot.

“It seems it's not that simple… So what exactly is the principle…”

At the same time, below the deck of the Homeloss, in a private cabin, Fenna had already rapidly set up the “site” for the ritual.

She locked the cabin door, turned around, and looked at the ritual space she had arranged.

Under normal circumstances, to respond to the call of a gathering, one must use the “Tide Chamber” specially constructed within the church to form a Spiritual Energy channel. However, this was clearly not feasible on a ship with limited conditions–she could only place her frequently used prayer books on the nearby ground to act as an anchor point for the “sacred ground,” then she lit a large candlestick in the center of the room to serve as the ritual fire basin. She had also found holy oil and fragrances purchased from the City-State to serve as offerings to enhance the ritual–a barely sufficient collection of elements to open a Spiritual Energy channel.

To be honest, the conditions were very improvised, even a bit disrespectful to the Goddess–but there was no better alternative.

The sound of the bell continued in her mind, urging her over and over, as if it would keep ringing until she responded.

“… I hope the Goddess doesn't blame me… If I had known earlier, at least I should have prepared some higher quality holy oil.”

Fenna muttered to herself, finally making up her mind, and added drops of holy oil and fragrance into the candlestick.

In the flames that surged violently, she took a deep breath and settled her spirit…

It was as if an ancient, dim sky enveloped the vast gathering area, chaotic light streams emerged and roamed atop countless stately pillars, and hazy figures started to materialize one after another on the broken plaza between them.

Only after all the figures were in place did Fenna's spiritual projection arrive belatedly.

Mild dizziness and sensory detachment made her stand still for a few seconds. After initially adjusting, she looked down to check on her status and the silhouettes of those figures nearby.

“Turned out quite smoothly…”

She murmured in surprise.

Without the use of the Tide Chamber but proceeding with a makeshift altar on the Homeloss and a candlestick as the ritual fire basin, she hadn't held much hope for the success of these operations. Yet, to her surprise, it worked on the first attempt.

A figure approached from the side, interrupting Fenna's thoughts.

She lifted her head and, from the familiar silhouette and presence, recognized the owner of the figure–it was Valentin, the Bishop, whom she had not seen for a long time.

“Fenna, you finally arrived!” The old Bishop's voice carried a hint of the joy of a long-awaited reunion, “I didn't expect you to really make it…”
“I also… didn't expect,” Fenna's tone held a touch of embarrassment, “Has everyone been waiting long? I had limited conditions here and prepared the ritual in a hurry, it took quite some time…”
“No worries, for some reason His Holiness the Pope also arrived very late today, and he is not here yet,” Valentin immediately said, then leaned closer and lowered his voice, “Where are you right now? Still 'on board'?”

“… Yes, 'on board,' I've just left Frost,” Fenna glanced around and likewise lowered her voice, “I was talking to the 'captain' just ten minutes ago.”

“… He really let you set up a prayer room on the ship?” The Bishop's tone was incredulous, “And you can even open a Spiritual Energy channel from the ship? Did you find a powerful Sacred Relic?”

“Just a rudimentary ritual space,” Fenna said, her voice tinged with embarrassment, “I didn't expect it to succeed either…”
“Rudimentary ritual space?” Valentin questioned, but before he could continue, a rumble from the center of the plaza interrupted what he was about to say.

Accompanied by a thunderous boom, the ancient, stately Tomb of the Nameless King rose slowly from the ground in the center of the plaza, and the assembled saints in various parts of the gathering quieted down as their gazes unanimously fell upon the grey-white, pyramid-shaped structure.

Fenna also instinctively looked toward the building, toward the heavy doors in front of the pyramid.

The door opened slowly, and shrouded, mummified guardians of the tomb, seemingly between life and death, stepped out from within.

A stirring ran through Fenna's heart, and then she saw the towering guardian walking straight toward her.

A slight commotion arose in the gathering area.

For the third time, the tomb guardian selected the same “listener.”

However, for some reason, Fenna felt a sense of anticipation… relief. She turned her head, helplessly spread her hands to Valentin's ethereal image, then stepped forward, waiting for the guardian to approach.

That life-and-death behemoth strode up to Fenna, its murky yellow eyes casting down their gaze.

“Good afternoon, please follow me.”

Chapter end

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