Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 482

Chapter 482: Chapter 483: Frost Queen Chapter 482: Chapter 483: Frost Queen In the center of that magnificent bed, the “room's master” who had just awakened was leaning against a pillow, sizing up Duncan, the uninvited guest, with curious eyes. Her silver-white long hair and purple pupils were strikingly familiar.

Duncan subconsciously called out the name “Alice”–a deep, raspy voice, resembling a somber resonance, directly emanated from the chest of his body.

However, immediately after, he slightly furrowed his brow, shook off the initial surprise and shock, and looked thoughtfully at the lady,
She was not Alice–even though they looked identical, their temperaments were completely different, and more importantly… Alice would not appear in this place, so the greater possibility was…

“Lei Nora,” Duncan guessed the identity of the woman before him, and with a questioning look in his eyes, he slowly began, “Frost Queen?”

“It seems a long time since I've heard that title,” the lady who had just awakened smiled. She adjusted her position on the bed, curiosity gleaming in her eyes, “Who are you? How did you enter this room without opening that door?”

“Door?” Duncan's brow furrowed again after hearing the word “door,” his curiosity piqued, “What door?”

The lady did not speak but merely raised her hand and pointed not far off to the side.

Following the direction of her pointing, Duncan saw a closed door engraved with intricate patterns–it was clearly the bedroom's main door.

“The only ones who could be here are either the servants of this mansion or guests with a key. You are clearly not one of the mansion's servants, but you do not have a key either.”

Duncan's heart skipped a beat–Key! She had just mentioned a key!

“The key you mentioned, is it a brass key used for winding up a doll?” He turned back, his tone calm, masking all fluctuations of emotion, “Are you really the Frost Queen Lei Nora?”

“I truly am,” Lei Nora smiled and shook her head gently, “but you still haven't answered my question–who are you?”

Duncan collected the emotional fluctuations in his eyes, swiftly organizing his thoughts while speaking unhurriedly: “…You can call me Duncan.”

He merely mentioned his first name without bringing up his more renowned surname. Upon hearing it, Lei Nora's eyes widened momentarily, then a more delighted smile appeared on her face, “Ah, so it's you–the legendary Captain Duncan. It makes more sense for you to enter this room, but… I really didn't expect you to be in this form.”

Duncan was momentarily startled, then looked down at his own body.

It was still that extremely bizarre black human body, like a “rough draft” the creator had not managed to finesse details on while creating mankind, this abstract appearance was far from “friendly-looking.”

“This is just a temporary incarnation,” he explained a bit awkwardly, thereafter noticing a slight incongruity in her demeanor, “You don't seem very surprised? Did you already know I would come?”

“I didn't know, but I lost the ability to be surprised many years ago,” Lei Nora said calmly. “If you always see too many things that you shouldn't, come to know the strange and bizarre postures of this world, continuously experience death before it arrives, and find yourself trapped in dreams before falling asleep, you too would eventually lose that ability…”
She smiled lightly, her tone as casual as if discussing the weather, “Even though there are still unpredictable things in the world, numbness will make you face everything unexpected with equanimity.”

Duncan looked into Lei Nora's eyes, recalling various pieces of information related to this Frost Queen under her tranquil demeanor–
It was said that Lei Nora was a natural spiritual energy user, her innate talent allowing communication with a multitude of unseen entities. It was said she could even foresee the future and intuit the truth spontaneously…
Organizing this information, there was no change in Duncan's expression. He casually walked to a corner of the room, pulled a chair to the front of the large bed, and sat down, looking earnestly into the eyes of the Frost Queen, “I have many questions, and I hope you can answer them.”

“I also have many questions,” Lei Nora said with a smile, “It's been a long time since I had a conversation with someone, and a visitor is truly precious to me–so if you are willing to answer my questions, I am more than willing to answer yours.”

“Good, then I will be straightforward,” Duncan began. “What exactly is this place? Why are you here?”

“Ah, starting with such a difficult question…” Lei Nora frowned slightly, seemingly struggling to organize her thoughts properly before slowly beginning, “To explain it in simpler terms, this place is a 'drifting spot'–it's not a specific location, but a 'junction' of many places. Do you see the darkness at the end of this room? The scenery outside there sometimes changes–under the right conditions, it can connect to the appropriate 'place'. However, for me,its only function is to connect my dreams to the deep sea beneath the Frost.”

“Do you need me to explain what the deep sea beneath Frost means?”

“No,” Duncan shook his head, “just continue, why are you here?”

“Alright, it seems you already know what exists in the deep sea,” Lei Nora sighed lightly, “I am here to embrace a Dreamscape, ensuring that the entity within the deep sea continues to slumber.”

Duncan's expression turned serious, “The Saint?”

“…It seems you know more than I expected,” Lei Nora quietly looked at Duncan, “But you are mistaken, although it indeed originates from the Crawling King, that existence in the deep sea is not the true Saint. Strictly speaking, it is merely a Replication.”

Instantly, Duncan recalled a phrase he had seen in that eerie “Dark Space”–The cluster controllers have begun to replicate themselves.

The enormous “pillar” in the deep sea was indeed not the actual Saint but a replica that had inexplicably appeared in the real world.

So, the most accurate situation would be… The replica of the ancient god penetrated the City-State Original Blueprint in the deep sea, and its scattered power triggered a series of subsequent events? And the source of all this… was due to the Saint's complete loss of control?

Could it be assumed that before this replica appeared in the real world, the Saint had not lost control? Its condition had been deteriorating over the long years to its current state?

If this line of thought were extended further… What about the other deities? If the “Evil God” perceived by the world actually deteriorated steadily from stability to a state of uncontrol, then what about the “Four Gods” in the mortal world? Would they lose control, or… have they already begun to gradually lose control?

Duncan thought of Prand and Frost's successive disasters under the protection of the Storm Goddess and the God of Death, and the malfunctioning Anomaly 001… This obvious, large scale system breakdown… Could this be a manifestation of the entire world “losing control”?

His unresolved speculations were confirmed, a flurry of chaotic thoughts instantaneously flooded his mind, and Duncan swiftly linked them to the series of events that had unfolded on the Endless Sea.

Just then, Lei Nora's voice came from the opposite side, interrupting his brainstorming, “Now it's my turn to ask a question.”

Duncan quickly composed his thoughts and replied, “Ask.”

“How did you get here?” Lei Nora's gaze carried a hint of curiosity.

“In the deep sea beneath Frost–I found that 'replica' and at its fracture point, discovered an 'entrance' that led me here,” Duncan did not conceal the truth, “As for how I got to such deep depths… I traveled using a submersible from Frost City-State.”

“Submersible?” Lei Nora furrowed her eyebrows, but soon she seemed to have guessed something, “Ah, it seems they indeed secretly built a new one…”

“You knew that the 'rebel government' would build new submersibles after your… death?” Duncan was somewhat surprised, “As far as I know, the 'Abyssal Plan' was the source of that rebellion, and they used it as a pretext to… 'execute' you.”

“They would,” Lei Nora simply smiled, “because they are Frostfolk.”

Duncan fell silent for a moment, just quietly observing the former queen.

The latter continued calmly, “Frostfolk will never die silently and docilely, when the darkest times come, we will burn everything for survival. So when my Abyssal Plan spiraled out of control and the City-State faced a survival crisis, there were bound to be insurgents who would rise up to overthrow me to ensure the survival of more people. And when they uncovered the secrets of the deep sea, they too would build submersibles like I did, attempting to solve the problem.

“They would improve the machines, slow down the plans, and learn from my radical lessons, trying to do it all in a more gentle and harmless way. And if they still failed, new insurgents would appear, successors would behead the inept, and then try a different approach… continuing to challenge the cold darkness of the deep sea.”

“This will continue until the last of the Frostfolk dies, or this darkness dissipates.”

She raised her head, calmly looking into Duncan's eyes–upon his eerie and crude body, only his eyes shone with a glint of humanity.

“I just didn't expect that the one coming down in the submersible would be… the legendary Captain Duncan, and moreover, a Duncan who has clearly regained his sanity. It seems my successors are even more extreme than I was?”

“…They failed,” Duncan was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head lightly, “A disaster destroyed the City-State government, and they failed to restart the Abyssal Plan before things went out of control–the only good news is, the disaster eventually subsided, and that submersible was found as 'spoils of war' after the situation calmed down.”

Chapter end

Report