Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 495

Chapter 495: Chapter 496: Duncan's Bold Idea Chapter 495: Chapter 496: Duncan's Bold Idea The green fire flickered, illuminating the ship's cabin, and the distant sound of the waves gradually seemed to come from a misty and dim dreamscape. Those secrets from the Endless Deep Sea, from the dark and icy realm, started to creep into everyone's minds like a spine-chilling shadow.

All of humanity's only sanctuaries on the Endless Sea were built atop the indescribable carcasses of massive beasts–withered tentacles hung from the base of the City-States, and pale, horrifying eyes stared out into the abyss of the sea.

The denizens of this world are all the Saint's offspring, the flesh and blood of ancient gods constructed all of creation. What happened in Frost was not an invasion but an “awakening” of the ancient gods from their own creations;
The Four Deities may not represent a stable order and could potentially fall into disarray. A similar “loss of control” might have occurred more than once in this world. If there are Four Deities protecting us now, it might be simply because they are the last of the lucid deities remaining;
The catastrophe in Frost will not be the last. As the condition of the Saint continues to deteriorate, and as the flaws in the “Genesis Blueprint” grow over time, a similar “awakening” is likely to occur all over the world. Erroneous replicas of the ancient gods would burrow out from the depths of the sea, emerge from the depths of the City-States, and even… from within every mortal.

Duncan relayed, in a calm and composed tone, what he knew from the deep sea and what he deduced from the available information to his followers.

Afterwards, a prolonged silence fell over the cabin.

Even the thick-headed Alice and carefree Sherry quieted down and realized the gravity of the situation… probably.

After a long while, Fenna was the first to break the silence. Taking a deep breath, with a gloominess that seemed to gather a dark cloud, she said, “If you hadn't told me these with your own voice, I would have considered every word of this intelligence as nothing but the mad babble of a Doomsday Preacher…”

“Not even the most delirious Doomsday Preacher could concoct something of this caliber,” Morris slowly spoke, lifting his pipe to his mouth, only to find that the tobacco within had somehow gone out. He placed it back down with a wry smile, “Ah, right, the Doomsday Preacher, and those who deal with the Frost Queen–among the craziest things in this world, is that there are actually people among the Subspace believers who can remain sober…”

Tyrion furrowed his brow, after a long silence he couldn't resist looking up, “Father, is all this information true?”

He immediately felt he'd asked a foolish question, but at that moment, the question seemed so necessary–the thought was likely on the mind of everyone seated at the long table.

“This is, at least, what I have seen and heard,” Duncan replied lightly, “Of course, one-sided information could be misleading, and even the clearest of clues can be interpreted in multiple ways.

“Besides, the Frost Queen may not be telling the whole truth, and even if she is, she herself could be mistaken–we can only deduce what's closest to the truth based on the information we have at this stage.”

“The possibility that is closest to the truth at this stage…” Tyrion repeated softly, then asked, “Did the Queen mention any signs that might precede a 'godly awakening' like what happened in Frost in other City-States?”

“No,” Duncan shook his head, “She couldn't confirm what the mechanism of this 'awakening' is. Perhaps the only way is to enter the Mysterious Deep Sea and verify the status of the Saint directly.”

As his words fell, several gazes in the room immediately turned to the dog cowering and hiding in a corner.

“Don't look at me!” the dog practically leaped to its feet, its large head swinging back and forth, “It's not feasible, I can't get anywhere near the Saint, much less take people inside…”

“But you can open the 'gateway' to the Mysterious Deep Sea and even carry Sherry through the passageway to escape,” Duncan said earnestly, looking at the sole Profound Demon present, “You've also said before that the Abyssal Hounds were a breed of demons born near the Saint, and your 'home' is right beside the Saint.”

“That's a shallow passageway, you can only skim through the very edge of the Mysterious Deep Sea with it; it's meant for escaping,” the dog said, seeing everyone staring at him, he hesitated for two seconds before spilling all the secrets–secrets that he and Sherry had relied on for survival for many years, “The Mysterious Deep Sea is more complex and strange than you can imagine. It is not a single entity; the 'areas' within it are not continuously connected…

“You can gaze from the Shallow Zone into the Deep Zone, but without the right means, you could spend ten thousand years and still not 'reach' your destination. In that place, 'distance' is an illusion and 'movement' is also an illusion…

“I've been 'exiled' by the Mysterious Deep Sea, although the specifics are unclear, perhaps because I 'grew a heart.' For many years now, I haven't been able to open the passage that leads to the Saint. On the other hand, I'm also very unwelcome… by the 'locals' over there, even merely skimming through the safe zones of the Shallow Zone would bring countless demons to attack…

“And besides, even disregarding these factors, I can't just casually take 'people' over there. Profound Demons can only carry their bonded symbionts through the passageway–I can take Sherry, but nobody else.”

A Dog rambled on for quite a while before cautiously observing the reactions of those around him–especially Duncan's. Shrinking his neck, he added, “I'm not making excuses, Captain. As you've heard, there are indeed many difficulties.”

However, Duncan wasn't annoyed by the multitude of difficulties A Dog had complained about. He simply pondered for a while and then spoke thoughtfully, “Are you suggesting that the space in the Mysterious Deep Sea is discontinuous?”

“…One could probably understand it that way,” A Dog considered and nodded, “I can't explain the specifics–lately, I've been studying 'Three Hypotheses on Asymmetric Space-Time' written by Professor Brundell. Perhaps I could explain it more clearly to you after I finish.”

Duncan wasn't concerned with the latter part of A Dog's statement, continuing to think and asking another question, “But I remember you once mentioned that during the years Homeloss completely lost control, it had crashed through the entire Mysterious Deep Sea.”

The expression on A Dog's face (though abstract) changed in an instant, and its entire frame became rigid with a creaking halt.

Thinking that A Dog hadn't recalled the details, Duncan casually added more, “You said it fell from the real world into Subspace, then surfaced from Subspace. It oscillated back and forth, traveling through various realms, breaking through the entire Spirit Realm and Mysterious Deep Sea each time–in this process, didn't it essentially break through the 'spatial fault lines' within the Mysterious Deep Sea?”

This time, not only A Dog's abstract expression changed, but the faces of everyone in the cabin also became animated–a chilling mood enveloped every person, including Lucresia on the other side of the Crystal Ball.

“Capt… Captain!” A Dog's croaky voice finally made a sound, all its bones trembling, “Don't say such terrifying things… You're not seriously planning to… to crash…”

“Father, please be cautious,” even Lucresia, who had been mostly silent and seemed quite distant, couldn't help breaking the silence. She looked nervously at Duncan on the side of the Crystal Ball, as if afraid that her father would revert to that bloodless, tearless, terrifying “deity” in the next second, “It's not a good idea to let Homeloss return to its uncontrollable state to smash open the gates of the Mysterious Deep Sea, even as a 'scientific project'… That would be far too radical.”

Duncan hadn't expected his bold idea to elicit such a strong reaction from the others, and he shook his head, “Rest assured, I'm not about to undertake such an extreme 'test'–I've always been a prudent person.”

The people visibly relaxed.

But Duncan then shifted the conversation, adding, “However, even from a cautious perspective, this 'old event' provides me with an idea–the certain properties of Homeloss can ignore the spatial fault lines in the Mysterious Deep Sea. I'll conduct some research based on this, to see if we can safely open the gates to that place…”

Everyone's hearts immediately tensed up again…

But at least this time, no one raised the strong objections they had before, only Morris and Lucresia, as scholars, reiterated the importance of “safety” and “caution”. It was evident from their demeanor that they were still worried the Captain might one day, on a whim, drive Homeloss straight down into the Mysterious Deep Sea…

Fortunately, Duncan quickly moved on to the next topic.

“Besides the state of the Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea, what I'm more concerned about now is something else,” he stroked his chin, thinking aloud, “Those Doomsday Preachers–strictly speaking, those rational Doomsday Preachers whose mode of operation is entirely opposite to that of the 'Heretics'.”

He turned his head, his gaze landing on Tyrion.

“You've mentioned to Fenna that three Doomsday Preachers visited Homeloss and conversed with me the whole night?”

Tyrion immediately bowed slightly, his expression seemingly embarrassed, “Yes, Father. At that time, I wasn't able to confirm your… 'state', so I discussed some of your 'old affairs' with Miss Fenna.”

“That's alright,” Duncan waved his hand, “I don't remember many things from back then, so it's actually good that you remember.”

He subtly reiterated the issue of his “amnesia” due to the influence of Subspace while checking the reactions of Tyrion and Lucresia, then continued, “What I mean to say is, I have a premonition that we are inevitably going to deal with those 'rational Doomsday Preachers' again.”

Morris asked reflexively, “Why do you think so?”

“Because they seem intent on participating in influential 'historical events',” Duncan adjusted his sitting position and spoke slowly, “and the commotion caused by Homeloss… is becoming ever greater.”

Chapter end

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