Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 560

Chapter 560: Chapter 559: The Displaced Chapter 560: Chapter 559: The Displaced For a long time, scholars of this world had speculated about the origin of the current Deep-sea Era and the world before the Great Annihilation. They had also tried to explain the current phenomenon of historical severance, the discontinuation of artifacts, and contradictions in heritage among the City-States of the Endless Sea, just as any group forming a civilization would face history–
With history, there would be people studying it, and with people studying it, there would be attempts to explain the contradictions, guessing was never lacking. Anything that a layman could think of, professional scholars had likely thought of long before, perhaps even constructing complete theoretical models.

Indeed, scholars had numerous theoretical models that could explain the formation of the current Deep-sea Era–one of which was speculated by Duncan, and each of these models made sense.

The only problem was that none of the theoretical models had sufficient “empirical evidence” to back them up. The Great Annihilation, like a grand wall, blocked everything before that time point; no information or artifact could be passed down from before that node.

Now, Duncan believed he had found a crucial “piece of evidence” and had extracted key information sufficient to support one of the conjectures:
A fragment of some distant and alien world left after its destruction–as well as a precise description of the apocalyptic scene in the form of “memories.”

Of course, in front of a truly rigorous scholar, this solitary proof might still be inadequate and insufficient to fully and incontrovertibly explain the current state of the Deep-sea Era.

“World Amalgamation Theory…” Ted Riel murmured softly, “I know, my mentor has always been a supporter of this theory–he believes that the current Deep-sea Era is formed by a mass stacking and recombining of worlds that were originally isolated from one another, possibly caused by a catastrophe that struck several worlds simultaneously. What's called the 'Great Annihilation' was not a single disaster but a series of simultaneous disasters, which accounts for the vast contradictions in the historical records of the various races on the Endless Sea, and some ancient legends are severely torn apart…”

“This theory also explains why we completely cannot find the 'original appearance of the world' before the Great Annihilation, nor any 'ancient artifacts' that could support any kind of historical record–because those original appearances have long been reshaped, from the perspective of the timeline, 'this world' did not exist before the Great Annihilation.”

He paused, took a light breath, then continued speaking.

“The entire Endless Sea was born in the moment of the Great Annihilation, and before that moment, there was no 'Old World' that could be described and understood in its entirety, only countless fragments of old worlds piled up as 'raw materials' at the temporal node of the Great Annihilation–World Amalgamation Theory, among all the origin theories, has the best 'explanatory power,' almost explaining all the problems we face.

“But at the same time, it is also considered the most wildly speculative and hardest to prove because it fundamentally denies the idea that 'history can be traced back to its source' and attributes everything to 'it's already disappeared anyway.' Despite this, the theory is good but has few supporters; my mentor… is one of its few proponents.”

After Ted Riel spoke with a sigh, Duncan finally broke the silence, “Now, we have evidence.”

Ted Riel's gaze fell on the Longsword, and after a long pondering with a serious expression, he still shook his head: “Single evidence is no evidence–this evidence could indeed potentially support the 'World Amalgamation Theory,' but a single piece of evidence has its flaws unless we can find a second undeniable 'world fragment' that also comes from a different world than the 'piece of evidence' you hold…”
During this speech, the tone of the Truth Confidant was fraught with struggle, evidently from an emotional perspective, he hoped more than anyone that a tentative theory could be proven, hoped to finally find that “answer, ” but from a scholar's standpoint, he had to be rigorous and even show an 'unfeeling' “strictness” upon seeing the first “evidence.”

However, after his words fell, Duncan simply answered with one word: “Yes.”

Ted Riel didn't respond immediately, and even Lucresia nearby didn't catch on; after a moment, they exclaimed in unison, “You have other evidence?!”

Duncan remained silent for a couple of seconds, then turned his head with a profound gaze into Lucresia's eyes, “The Moon.”

“That 'Stone Sphere'…” Lucresia instantly realized, “You mean, it is…”
“It is another 'fragment,'” Duncan nodded gently, “It comes from another world–completely different from the homeland of this Longsword. Although I don't know what happened to it to make it appear as it is now, I am certain it is…”
He suddenly stopped, as if a force was preventing him from stating that conclusion, a storm-like force raged in his mind, intensely emotional, battling his rational part.

He instinctively rejected that conclusion.

Lucresia noticed something, she looked at her father with confusion and concern.

Duncan finally spoke, completing his sentence: “…it is the remnant of 'that world.'”
Eventually, reason overcame emotion.

Even as he articulated this conclusion, he felt an illusion of “release.”

In fact, the first time he had seen the “Moon” and discussed it with Alice back on Homeloss, he had already harbored this speculation–
Since the “Moon” appeared in this world, it was highly likely that this world was its “homeland”, severely mutated and twisted.

Yet, his homeland had no Elves or Senkin People, the legends of the Elves also did not mention humans, and the historical records of the City-States on the Endless Sea did not include the word “Earth”; the problem of “historical severance” that perplexed many scholars seemed particularly apparent in Duncan's eyes.

So… how exactly had the Endless Sea formed?

The most likely explanation was that it had its own homelands, but only partially.

To confirm this guess, one only needed to find a second fragment of another world, akin to “the Moon.”

The one thing he hadn't anticipated was that the second piece of evidence would arrive so quickly and so directly.

Ted Riel and Lucricia exchanged glances, and after a brief hesitation, they realized Duncan had no reason to deceive them about this matter.

There had already been two pieces of evidence–no wonder the once-greatest explorer was so certain, so unhesitant in declaring that the world was now made up of piled ruins.

Lucricia did not further question Duncan about how he acquired his knowledge about “the Moon.”

For she knew that the answers to these questions would ultimately point to Subspace–in whatever form, her father had completed his reshaping and transformation in “The Deepest and Darkest Place,” and every piece of knowledge and ability he now possessed, incomprehensible to her, was part of those imprints.

She shouldn't keep unraveling them.

Ted Riel, on the other hand, had been silently pondering, but suddenly, he jerked his head up as if he sensed something.

This “Truth Confidant” quickly opened the thick tome he was holding and summoned the “stethoscope” from the pages, darting in one leap to the “living metal” on the central platform.

He placed the stethoscope onto the surface of the “living metal,” his expression suddenly becoming extremely grave.

A very faint, slow heartbeat sound filled the room, each heartbeat even more delayed and weaker than the last.

“He's dying.”

Ted Riel raised his head and spoke with a complex look in his eyes.

For the first time in his life, the “Truth Confidant,” whose duty was to protect the City-State, felt an unusually complex emotion facing an “otherworldly object” that had invaded the real world.

Because he suddenly realized that this indescribable, panic-inducing thing in the marketplace was very likely an existence just like humans, Elves, or Senkin People–a “Displaced” who had arrived in the deep sea era from a great obliteration.

And unfortunately, his world had been destroyed even more thoroughly, the tiny fragments… far from sufficient to support the survival of him and his race.

The deep sea era had left no place for the homeless like him, under some yet unexplained mechanism, he had turned into this form, and now he was dying.

Nina and Sherry instinctively grasped each other's hands, not knowing what to do for a moment. Lucricia could only watch the scene with a complicated gaze, for she knew this was no longer something humans could reverse.

Amid the gradually deepening and slowing heartbeat, Duncan finally slowly stepped forward. He looked at the “living metal,” which now bore no resemblance to a human form, yet in his mind, another image emerged–
A stubborn warrior, a silent mage, forever energetic hunters and rangers, confident knights, a pessimistic necromancer, and that self-assured and proud red-haired Groska woman…

They had set out on a sunny afternoon, armed with the kingdom's finest longswords and armor, the best scrolls and sigils, carrying the king's blessings and trust, venturing into the distant wilderness together–as described in ancient poems, a band of heroes set off to save their world.

Duncan reached out gently, touching the cold, hard “steel.”

“We are all Displaced… and now, you are home.”

The deep, slow “thump” sound finally began to cease, fading after one particularly faint and delayed beat, and the room fell silent, devoid of any heartbeat.

The last heartbeat, like a sigh.

Ted Riel turned around, as if declaring to this deep sea era–
“He is dead.”

Chapter end

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