Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 613

Chapter 613: Chapter 612: The Sun That Cannot Be Taken Away Chapter 613: Chapter 612: The Sun That Cannot Be Taken Away Fenna felt her brain wasn't quite enough.

She was no stranger to this feeling of mental insufficiency–during her student days, she always felt this way when Mr. Morris lectured, but ever since she'd successfully replaced much of her brain's function with muscle during puberty, she hadn't felt this way in many years.

Now, the familiar feeling returned.

She looked at the “glowing orb” in the giant's hand and blinked several times before she understood the meaning of the words and the object in the literal and rational sense, but her emotional part was still bewildered–was this… the sun that once was in this world?

“Would you like to touch it?” The giant looked at Fenna's rigid demeanor, smiled kindly, and moved the “sun” a bit closer to her, “It's not hot anymore.”

Fenna found this statement more bizarre than ever, unsure of how to react.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she, as if by some ghostly intervention, reached out her hand–filled with a feeling she couldn't quite explain, she curiously touched the glowing orb in the giant's hand.

It was only the size of a fist–a human fist, while in the giant's hand, it looked merely like a tiny, exquisitely crafted bead. The surface of this bead seemed to have numerous intricate structures in operation, with fine flames surging, bright and dark areas alternating, and occasionally strands of hair-like light rising and then falling back to the surface.

It felt slightly warm, like water slightly hotter than body temperature.

Fenna was a bit dazed; she thought of the sun she knew–rising every day from the sea level, with its splendid dual Rune Circle, bringing light and warmth to the entire world, an astonishing “miracle,” an ancient and magnificent “vision.”

Meanwhile, she also remembered the captain telling her of another appearance of the sun, more splendid and colossal–just recently, the captain began trying to impart some Subspace-derived knowledge to his followers, which included concepts of stars and the universe.

Honestly, Fenna hadn't understood much of the captain's teachings; even Mr. Morris and Miss Lukrecia seemed not to fully comprehend it, but Fenna understood one thing clearly… Whatever the sun was, it shouldn't be a tiny sphere the size of a fist.

The warm “little sun” left her hand.

The giant sat at the edge of the crater, placed the “sun” in the palm of his hand, and rested his hand on his legs. His gaze dropped, as if immersed in memories and thought, and it took a long time before he spoke softly, “They were full of wisdom, adept at using various methods to explain the workings of the world. Despite being naturally weak, they could rely on 'science' to combat things much stronger than themselves. I always thought, if they were still here, if they had developed to this day, maybe they could explain what this 'sun' is all about…

“But when it fell, the world was already silent, the last person had turned into that tower, those wise minds and inventive insights had disappeared from this world–and I, I cannot comprehend this matter.”

Fenna was silent for a long while, but she wasn't just being silent–she was relaying the events here to the captain.

She told the captain–she might have found the “sun” mentioned by the Heretics at their gathering.

It was in the hands of this self-proclaimed deity of a giant, and it looked… truly “takeable,” with just one hand.

The giant seemed not to mind Fenna's silence or her conscious-level communication with some unknown existence. Memories shrouded this lonely, ancient god; he stared long at the small “star” in his hand, once shining upon this world, upon his mortal subjects. After a long time, he muttered to himself, “I have always been pondering, pondering what exactly destroyed this place… It didn't happen in an instant, traveler, it was a long process.”

“A process?” Fenna immediately seized on this word.

The giant nodded, speaking from his memories, “At first, there were abnormal phenomena that couldn't be explained by existing knowledge; clouds would disappear and reappear suddenly, unexplained flashes occurred in the atmosphere, the weather went awry, plants no longer grew normally;
“Then, the abnormalities began to affect deeper, more unsettling realms–gravity was changing, fractures appeared in the flow of time across different places;
“During this process, we observed that increasingly intense red light, like a crack, seeping in from beyond the heavens, as if fixed in the sky and covering our world, distorting the distant starlight, some kind of… 'deformation' corroded the world, and everyone was helpless against it.

“The archives were established during that time.”

The giant suddenly stopped speaking, looking towards that high tower, perhaps unaccustomed to interacting with people, he always did this, getting lost in thought or distracted mid-sentence, but soon, he continued,
“The long process had a rapid end, when the archives were destroyed, I briefly felt… something 'touching' our world, that thing took a long time to approach, causing the prolonged doomsday in its approach, and its ultimate 'touch' was the arrival and end of destruction, yet even after a long time, I still haven't figured out what that 'thing' was.”

“You said you felt something 'touching' this world?” Fenna widened her eyes, unconsciously using a respectful tone while talking to the giant, “You really didn't 'see' what that thing was?”

The giant recalled earnestly and showed a trace of apology to Fenna, “Sorry, traveler, I can see that you care deeply about this, but what I have told you is all I know.”

Fenna pursed her lips, having to suppress the regret in her heart, then turned her gaze back to the “little sun” in the giant's hand.

We cannot allow this object to truly fall into the hands of the descendants and remnants of the Black Sun.

After much hesitation, she finally decided to be a bit more open and honest.

“There are people with ill intentions, who have already set their eyes on the 'Sun' in your hands… I don't know if they will find this place, nor how to explain their origins to you, but…”

She had only spoken halfway when the giant lifted his hand again, placing the “luminous sphere” in front of her, “Do you want to take it away?”

The giant spoke in a gentle tone, a smile gracing his face.

Fenna was stunned for a moment, but quickly waved her hands, “No, that's not what I meant, you might have misunderstood…”

“It's okay, traveler,” the giant interrupted Fenna again, still speaking in that calm, friendly tone, “I can feel your goodwill, and also… I think you might not be able to take it from my hands.”

Fenna paused slightly, and upon realizing that the giant was not joking, she tentatively reached out her hand towards the glowing sphere–not to touch it, but to try to lift it.

The warm sensation came again, and Fenna felt like she was grasping something solid, yet as soon as she tried to exert force, the sensation suddenly disappeared.

The sphere turned into an illusion, passing through her palm.

She looked bewilderedly at the Sun that she couldn't lift.

“From some point onwards, it has become a part of me,” the voice of the giant came from beside her, “Perhaps it was the day I picked it up… An illusion picked up another illusion, and they could never be separated.

“Traveler, if you can't take it with you, then it seems those ill-intentioned people you mentioned will not be able to either.”

The giant stood up from the ground.

He brushed off the dust from his robe, carefully tucked the “Sun” close to him, then bent down to pick up his enormous staff, “We should be going, traveler.”

Fenna instinctively asked, “Where are we going?”

“To roam the world, there are many things here, although they no longer bear their original appearances, but I would like to tell you their past stories and forms,” the giant turned his head, looking towards the distant sands, “You can also tell me along the way, what the origins of those 'ill-intentioned people' are–this world has been dead for many years, it has been too long since I've spoken with anyone, this is my first time hearing… news of an Outsider.”

He paused, lowered his head to look at Fenna, “I had almost forgotten what curiosity was, thank you for reminding me.”

“Shouldn't we take a look down there?” Fenna pointed towards the tower at the center of the large crater, “I thought…”

“There's nothing left to see there, what you see here is all there is,” the giant shook his head, already turning and walking towards the distance, “Let's go, it's about to get dark, the day and night here always change swiftly, but perhaps we can reach another ruin before dusk–where you could once gaze upon the sea.”

Listening to the giant's words, Fenna looked back once at the “tower,” silently bidding it farewell, then turned and followed the giant, who had already walked several meters ahead.

Duncan sat behind the chart table, maintaining the same posture for a long time before he finally sighed deeply.

Fenna had found the “Sun,” in a very… inconceivable state.

But, for some reason, after hearing Fenna's report, aside from initial surprise and confusion, he felt no other emotions; even the surprise faded quickly, leaving only a sense of… “So that's how it is.”

Perhaps because he had personally seen the ten-meter-diameter “Moon,” or perhaps because he had already witnessed a “Sunbeam” that could jump across the deck, having lived in this bizarre, twisted world for so long, his capacity to accept had been fully honed.

So there remained only one issue–
Fenna could not take the “Sun” with her.

This was somewhat disconcerting.

Chapter end

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