Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 628

Chapter 628: Chapter 627: The “Sample” That Remains to This Day Chapter 628: Chapter 627: The “Sample” That Remains to This Day A terrifying “Slumber” and disappearance phenomenon was spreading across the entire world, from the remote northern seas to the southern oceans, from the fog-enshrouded eastern frontiers to the western isles, nearly every City-State had begun to see the sudden somnolence of Elves, as well as the eerily inexplicable “disappearance” events.

And the message Ted Riel sent from the depths of The Dream of the Nameless was being spread throughout the world by those sleeping Elves.

One after another, churches sounded their bells, telegraphs and Spiritual Energy communications started passing messages between City-States, Governors and Archbishops communicated the real-time situation, and the joint surveillance defense system that had only recently been initiated by the Four Gods Church began to operate hastily.

People had thought this system would be used to monitor the deep sea beneath the City-States, but unexpectedly, its first application was due to an out-of-control Dreamscape.

A vortex composed of fluttering colorful paper slices danced through layers of winding vines, leaves and rooftops, spinning as it drilled into Governor Sala Mel's office at the city hall.

Governor Sala Mel, who was communicating with several city hall officials, immediately looked up at the “Sea Witch” emerging from the colorful papers.

“I suddenly remembered I should check on the city hall,” Lucracia approached the large, oval office desk, “It seems you are quite busy.”

“A total mess, ma'am,” Sala Mel waved her hand to dismiss the city hall officials nearby, allowing them to step back, “I've heard you've just extended a helping hand to the beleaguered security force troops–thank you very much for your help.”

“How are things now?”

“Complete chaos within the city, sixteen blocks have completely lost contact, dense vegetation has blocked all the roads, a large number of residents are missing, and it's difficult for security forces and guardians to penetrate those areas, the steam hubs have halted, and for safety reasons, we've also shut down the city's gas supply–thankfully, that thing could still be turned off, but no one knows what to do tonight,” Sala Mel said all in one breath, “As for outside the city… You must also be aware of what's happening elsewhere. Countless messages are being transmitted through various channels, but I'm afraid I don't have the spare energy to focus on other City-States' situations.”

“What about the message from Ted Riel? Do you know about this?”

“Yes, I know,” nodded Sala Mel, “First, two hours ago, the action team that Taran El participated in sent a message, saying that after the team disengaged from the Dreamscape, the Truth Confidant failed to return to the real world. Half an hour ago, I received the latest intelligence, His Excellency the Truth Confidant is trapped in the deepest part of The Dream of the Nameless…”

He stopped, his face showing an indescribable complex expression, as if he wanted to let out a long sigh, but in the end, he just twitched the corner of his mouth in a spasm-like manner: “Elves take pride in their ancient and complete heritage, we firmly believe those old legends and myths were once real history, symbols of our ancient civilization–now, our legends and myths are coming to kill us.”

Lucracia quietly observed the highly respected Governor, and after a moment, she slowly spoke: “But until last night, the intelligence we had was that Silantis wanted to Shelter all Elves–even now, I still have reason to believe that this 'Shelter' is still in effect, just… in an extremely dangerous way.”

Sala Mel's face twitched: “…Yes, because Silantis has gone mad.”

“I need to see Taran El, and the other Knowledge Guardians who entered The Dream of the Nameless with him,” said Lucracia, “I didn't find them at the City-State University.”

“They are in an isolation facility for observation and questioning, I'll give you the location…”

The majestic Storm Cathedral stood quietly at the highest terrain of Plunder, and, as usual, the square in front of the cathedral bustled with activity–on each public day, many citizens would gather here, either to worship in the cathedral or receive blessings, Treatment in nearby facilities, or to simply visit.

Duncan wore a simple brown coat and black trousers, following the group entering the cathedral for a visit, stepping through the magnificent archway, and then along the path in his mind guided by Fenna, heading deep into the cathedral.

He passed the main hall and the pilgrimage walkway open to tourists, the shortcut corridor beside the sermon, following a route unfamiliar even to many church internal staff.

“…Continue forward past that black door, turn right after you enter, about twenty meters further is a fork, the left path leads to the inner courtyard…

“This path is the quietest, follow it to the end and you'll see the side door of the inner chapel, I've spoken with Archbishop Valentin, just let him wait for you in the chapel, arrangements have been made all along the way, no one will obstruct you, and the guards along the way won't know who you are… Right, only Archbishop Valentin knows the real situation…

“If you want to visit the cathedral again in the future, you can take this path, by the way, my old room at the cathedral is right next to the chapel, you can go there too… I know you don't need it…”

Listening to the voice of the Miss Judge in his mind, Duncan looked up.

The inner chapel was before him–a facility not open to the public, used only by the high-ranking clergy of the Deep Sea Church, a simple black wooden door stood quietly at the end of the path, with two fully armored church guards standing straight as statues, as grim as dark sculptures.

Duncan approached the door.

The guards at the door didn't even shift their gaze, as if they completely failed to see Duncan, still maintaining their serious demeanor looking straight ahead.

Obviously, this was also a pre-arranged result, and Duncan could almost imagine what kind of orders the guards along the way had received–
“`
Today, a special “visitor” would visit the Cathedral.

Do not listen, do not look, do not ask, do not think.

He smiled politely at them and then walked past the two guards, gently pushing open the black wooden door adorned with many holy symbols.

A faint sound of sea waves emerged as if out of nowhere, the moist and icy breath seemed to briefly surface and then quickly faded away; Duncan felt as if he had crossed an invisible barrier, subsequently stepping into a brightly lit, spacious room.

The highest Archbishop of Plunder City-State, Valentin, stood in the center of the room.

This elderly man with sparse white hair was clad in black clerical robes with gold trim; his back was turned to the door, facing the Storm Goddess statue that emanated a mysterious and sacred atmosphere, seemingly engaged in devout prayer. It was only after hearing the sound of the door that he turned around to regard the special “visitor” at the entrance.

It was evident that the old man seemed somewhat nervous–although he was trying to control it.

“Hello, Archbishop Valentin, we meet again,” Duncan said with a hint of a smile on his face, approaching the other man, “although for you, it is probably the first time seeing me in this 'appearance'.”

Valentin curiously took in the “Duncan” who had entered the room.

All he saw was a man wearing a simple, old coat, neither tall nor strong, seemingly a common middle-aged man one could see anywhere in the City-State.

But in just one second, strong warnings of reason urged him to avert his gaze and cease scrutinizing what appeared to be a human “shell”.

“I know it's the 'incarnation' you use for moving around in the City-State, I've heard about it from Fenna,” Valentin said, slightly lowering his gaze, “I've also heard about the current situation from her, and the items you requested have been prepared.”

The old Archbishop raised a hand, pointing toward a large wooden chest beside the icon.

Stored within was original data from the construction process of the ship Homeloss a century ago, as well as… a certain most important “sample”.

Several bright candle stands had been temporarily arranged around the chest, the occasional glimmer rising from the flames of the candles indicating that they had been endowed with the power of blessings, and on both sides of the chest one could see objects like stone tablets and iron chains used for sealing, clearly another layer of safety measures.

It seemed that even after being taken from their seals and placed in this chapel directly under the gaze of the Goddess, this chest of “ship-building archives” was treated with utmost importance; perhaps Archbishop Valentin's preemptive vigil here was also to guard against the possibility of the contents of the chest getting out of control.

“…Is it really so dangerous?” Duncan walked towards the large wooden chest and couldn't help but turn to ask, “Are these sealing measures effective?”

“As a matter of fact, they're not–because this chest has never shown any signs of 'activity',” Valentin said quite frankly.

Duncan was taken aback, “Then why do all this…”

“For peace of mind,” said Valentin calmly, “the contents of the chest itself showed no signs of activity, but everyone knows there must be a supernatural connection with the Homeloss, so they decided to use all kinds of sealing methods–what you're seeing is already a simplified version. In the original chamber where this chest was stored, there were many more 'safety measures'.”

Duncan was at a loss for words.

After a moment, he shook his head, ignoring the suddenly awkward atmosphere, and stepped forward to open the chest.

The chest wasn't locked–its locks had been removed before it was brought here.

“The original design blueprints of the Homeloss, technical specifications, and the construction diary–actually, there's much more complete data, but those less relevant parts all turned to ash in the fire at the shipyard back then, only these remained, sealed in this chest…”

Valentin's voice came from beside him; the old Archbishop had come up to Duncan, peering into the chest and speaking in a somber tone.

“Of course, I guess what you really want isn't just the blueprints, but… that thing in the middle of the chest.

“The dragonbone sample, preserved according to shipbuilding traditions of a century-old sailing vessel.”

Duncan's gaze quietly settled on the grey-black square timber lying at the center of a piece of black satin.

This was a “sample” cut from the very dragonbone material of the original Homeloss.

Chapter end

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