Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 565

Chapter 565: Chapter 564 Quick and Hasty Exchange Chapter 565: Chapter 564 Quick and Hasty Exchange In the deepest part of Alice's Mansion, on the fringe of this eerie garden, amidst the shadows between the lush shrubs and low-growing trees, there slithered winding, bizarre tentacles as if covered in metallic fine scales, wriggling about!

Rustling noises came again from another direction, and in the corner of his eye, Duncan saw another dark-colored tentacle, akin to the limb of some soft-bodied creature, squeezing through the gaps in the bushes, shaking those twigs, rubbing against the rough soil, emitting a light, delicate sound.

That rustling, delicate noise seemed as though it was calling out.

Duncan instantly expanded his perception, cautiously monitoring any stirrings in the garden, while also locking onto the direction where one of the tentacles had just vanished, and started walking over there.

Behind him, beneath his feet, spectral flames of a ghostly green began to trail his steps, leaving behind a faint fiery path that silently spread along the ground's crevices, infiltrating deeper into the garden.

This was Alice's Mansion, most likely a crucial part of Alice's “soul”; of course, Duncan wouldn't recklessly set fire to such a place, but now that a strange presence appeared in the depths of the garden, he had to take some precautions–if there was indeed a dangerous entity that had invaded the garden, he would have to figure out a way to deal with the intruder without damaging the mansion itself.

With vigilant thoughts coursing through his mind, Duncan, guided by the rustling noise, gradually made his way away from the “sleeping dolls,” towards an edge of the mansion's garden. After passing through several shrubs and over some unnamed small trees, he noticed the light around him had dimmed; the 'graffiti sun' in the sky seemed incapable of reaching this far–between the shaded plants, it was as gloomy as dusk.

And there, in the dusk-like “sky light,” he saw a cluster of plants in front of him suddenly shake, followed by a tentacle slowly lifting from that spot, gently swaying in front of him.

Without any pretense or mystique, the tentacle seemed to deliberately invite Duncan over and now brazenly revealed itself.

Duncan stared in amazement at this mysterious and inexplicable “limb”–
The color of the tentacle was dark, its surface was detailed with fine metallic-like scales, and amidst the rough, complex protuberances, one could faintly discern pale blue lines, which felt incredibly familiar to him, as if…

Beneath the frost, within the deep sea, it was the pattern characteristic on the surface of the tentacles of ancient gods.

A limb of The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea?!

A jolt ran through Duncan's heart as he suddenly recognized the source of his familiarity; just as the idea of “The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea” flashed through his mind, the tentacle blindly swaying in midair shuddered, as if a remote, colossal consciousness had finally made a connection to this segment of limb–
It bent towards Duncan, accompanied by a peculiar, deep humming sound; the end of the tentacle slowly opened up, and an “eye” resembling an irregular crystal stone, flickering with cold blue light, emerged, “gazing” into Duncan's eyes.

“Hello, Usurper of the Flame, I have something to tell you.”

A rumbled, indistinct voice came through, as if speaking directly into his mind, devoid of any discernible emotion or gender characteristics.

Duncan startled, his brows furrowing as he stared at the tentacle before him: “The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea? The Crawling King? LH-01?”

“All are correct, but now please listen,” the tentacle trembled, seemingly enduring a load far beyond its threshold, and the voice it transmitted swiftly became deeper and more distorted. It hurried its speech, “My opportunity to communicate with you is extremely limited. I'm only conveying crucial information now, whether you understand or not, remember:
“The design life span of 'Y=#%Y=#' is only eight thousand years; now it has been overtaxed, and we have not received a signal from '*%Y=' within the deadline…

“This is the last cycle reset; 'Y=*(Y=#' will not regenerate after this cycle.

“Preserve the fallen fragments of 'Y=#&**'; if all is beyond saving, use them to extend the lifespan of each node city as much as possible, maintain survival, survival is the primary directive.

“We don't know what you can achieve, but you awoke at the end of the cycle, and that must have meaning.

“We firmly believe, you, and we, are not alone.

“All necessary information has been conveyed–if there's an opportunity, I wish to… commu… nicate… with you under more stable conditions…”

The shudder of the tentacle quickly subsided; the finely detailed metallic scales began to cover with a pale hue of decay, and Duncan could distinctly feel the fading and weakening of that voice in his mind–as unclear as the specifics and processes were, evidently, the ancient god known as “The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea” had exploited some loophole or utilized some external force to forcibly establish contact with him, and now this extremely limited connection was ending.

Duncan couldn't afford to be curious or ponder the barrage of information thrown his way. Based on rational judgment, he quickly forced himself to memorize them all, and only after the entity finished speaking did he have time to process what he had just heard.

The first thing he noted was those “noises”–while the ancient god was talking to him, several key pieces of information, likely important nouns, turned into sharp, chaotic sounds.

It was as if the “meaning” within those syllables had been filtered out by something, or perhaps the significance represented by those syllables exceeded the capacity of this exchange, so they couldn't be conveyed to him.

But now was clearly not the time to inquire in detail about those “noises.”

The whispers of the ancient god were about to fade, and the connection it had barely established with Duncan himself was down to its last thread. Duncan lifted his head and saw the tentacle's surface already covered with cracks; it might only hold on for a few more seconds.

He completed his thought in an instant, seizing this last bit of time to inquire, “If I want to find you, how should I go to the Mysterious Deep Sea?”

Going to the Mysterious Deep Sea to communicate face-to-face with the other party was undoubtedly the simplest and most effective method to resolve all questions.

The ancient god's tentacle had already slowly stiffened, and its fading fragments were falling off like dust, the powerful and indescribable will gradually withdrawing from this fragile vessel. But before completely severing the connection with the real world, it exerted all its power to cling to this last tether, casting a deep murmur into Duncan's mind–
“I do not know.”

Duncan: “…?”

He finally realized what it felt like when the people around him suffered a brain crash from something he said.

He truly didn't expect the Mysterious Saint to answer him back in this way!

However, he was only stunned for an instant before he heard another ethereal and deep murmur in his mind–
“Try capturing a few obliterated believers…”

“Ah?” Duncan didn't catch on immediately, “Aren't they your believers?”

But there was no more sound to respond to his question–the whispers the ancient god had conveyed to him finally broke off entirely. Accompanied by a series of crackling and snapping sounds, the “tentacle” that had borne too much power collapsed completely, turning into dust and debris that fell to the ground and rose up as wisps of smoke, disappearing into nothingness.

The rustling noises that surrounded the edge of the mansion's garden also ceased at the same time, and that unnormal dimness among the shadows of the trees faded away as well.

Duncan continued to stand quietly in front of the bushes for a while, until a few minutes passed, and he shook his head with a furrowed brow, waking from his contemplation.

Everything that just happened still felt like a dream, the ancient god known as the “Mysterious Saint” had just run up to him, rapidly prattled a bunch of things, and then sped away again. Such an occurrence, not to mention at Light Breeze Harbor, even if placed in the whole Endless Sea, would probably be mind-blowing.

However, having it happen right next to him… didn't seem that explosive?

Duncan turned and looked back at the lush “mansion's garden” not far away, bathed in Sky Light, and at the silver-haired doll that lay sleeping quietly in the sunlit clearing at the garden's center.

The anomaly 099, born of the Mysterious Saint's “Replication” ability, and “Alice's Mansion,” which is closely connected to Alice–in the end, this entire “mansion” itself has myriad connections to that “ancient god” in the Mysterious Deep Sea, and it might even be a deliberately crafted vessel for conveying messages to the outside world.

Therefore, at the deepest part of this garden, encountering the projected force of the Mysterious Saint doesn't seem to be an unimaginable event.

Duncan was considering something else–
The attitude, or rather the “state,” of the Mysterious Saint seemed different from what was expected; It still retained its sanity, but it appeared to be in an extremely limited state. Its attitude was friendly, not the purely destructive tendency imagined by the people.

But these “deviations” had little significance for Duncan because hardly anyone in this world has truly encountered those so-called “ancient gods.” Imagined intelligence cannot be relied upon, and “ancient gods” might manifest different aspects through different individuals' eyes. A cordial and harmless neighbor in one's own view could be unspeakably strange to others–having adapted to this world for so long, Duncan had some self-awareness in this respect.

Most importantly, there were the “messages” that the ancient god had told him.

Duncan's mind went over and over the phrases that seemed to contain a tremendous amount of information–
Something designed with a lifespan of only eight thousand years, which was now operating beyond its capability.

The “us” spoken by the Mysterious Saint seemed to have been waiting for a signal to be sent back from somewhere, but they have yet to receive that response.

It also mentioned something about a cycle reset… What did that mean?

The fact that he, a “Usurping Flame,” awoke at the end of the cycle, what did that mean?

And there was preserving the fallen fragments, to extend the lifespan of the node city…

In his contemplation, Duncan's expression gradually turned somber.

Chapter end

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