Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 682

Chapter 682: Chapter 679: The Signal Reappears Chapter 682: Chapter 679: The Signal Reappears A “nest” that has been hidden in the dense fog on the border, possibly operating steadily for many years–“Veil Colony”–came as a shocking revelation to everyone in attendance, outside the view of the entire civilized world, even in the blind spots of the City-State Church's surveillance.

“For years, we have been looking for those heretics' nests,” Banster said with a hoarse, ominous voice, his expression extremely serious. “Among the three main groups of heretics, the Doomsday Preachers are the 'freaks' of discontinuous timelines, the followers of the sun are the ones sheltered outside of reality by Black Sun, and only the heretics of extinction… They theoretically must have one or multiple nests located in the real world, but for many years, we haven't been able to find these nests.”

“It's unexpected that it would be hidden in such a place,” Helena nodded in agreement, “but this could explain why they've managed to evade the Church's hunt for so many years–if those heretics have truly found a way to survive in the Eternal Veil for a long time, they've obviously taken a huge step ahead of us.”

While saying this, she glanced at Rune on the other side of her: “What do you think has enabled those heretics to survive on the border?”

“'Sanctuary' might not have been built by their own strength,” Rune shook his head, “Technological development doesn't happen overnight. Even with all the forbidden knowledge that the heretics hold, they can't conjure such an advanced shelter beyond our imagination–after all, we've all dealt with them, and we know very well what those heretics are capable of. I suspect they found some sort of natural 'legacy' in the fog… after all, it's the border, anything is possible.”

He suddenly stopped, raising his head to Duncan with a grave expression, “From what you just said, it seems you haven't found the exact location of this 'nest'? Then how do you confirm its…”

“I've told you, I captured one of their ships–at my command, the ship is now returning to 'Sanctuary,' which should take a few more days,” Duncan said offhandedly, “Based on its current course, its destination should be a concealed location in the southeastern border, not too far from here… Homeloss will depart soon to rendezvous with it before the ship enters the Veil. Are you interested in joining the action?”

The bishops exchanged glances.

From Duncan's first few words, they sensed the eerie and dangerous side of this ghost ship captain, but fortunately, this dangerous power was now on “our side.”

What they needed to consider now was simply how to respond to this “invitation.”

“Southeastern border… Death Church has a fleet right in that area,” Frem suddenly spoke, after a brief pause, and then glanced at Helena, “'Tide' is also nearby, right? They should both be able to make it.”

“Yes, Deep Sea Church can dispatch the nearest fleet,” Helena quickly nodded, her eyes on Duncan, “Erasing the heretics' nest is our responsibility–and we also know how to handle the 'contamination' they leave behind.”

Several gazes fell on Banster, the black-robed elder merely nodded gravely without much expression: “I will send 'Rest' and 'No Rest' over there; they are cutting-edge battleships with powerful firepower.”

The bishops and archbishops nodded one after another, seemingly approving Banster's arrangement, but Duncan's attention still couldn't help but linger on the unique naming style of the Death Church's ships, and he couldn't resist commenting after holding back for a while: “Sounds like sister ships? Quite a unique naming…”

“Death Church has many powerful battleships that are sister formations–it's related to our faith,” Banster explained seriously, “We believe that everything in the mortal world has 'two sides,' just like life and death are opposed and accompanying.”

Duncan felt that the robed elder opposite him didn't seem to notice the thick sarcasm in his tone–but he thought it best to end the topic there.

For he feared that the other side might soon come up with something like 'Nine Generations Joy Joy'…

“Then, this matter is settled,” he nodded, somewhat abruptly bringing the conversation back on track, “I will have the Homeloss lead your fleets to the 'rendezvous point,' but I must warn you beforehand, some time has passed since I 'captured' that ship. The heretics remaining at 'Sanctuary' must have already noticed this development. They are definitely prepared–either already evacuated or set up a counterattack in the nearby waters, or possibly even the Sanctuary itself has strong combat capabilities. You must consider these risks and variables in advance.”

“Risks and variables are always essential parts of erasing wicked filth,” Banster responded indifferently, his warriors were already accustomed.

“Alright, I will now share with you some intelligence I've obtained from those heretics recently…”

Sunlight streamed through the window, softly illuminating the room with a rich scent of ointment mixed with the invigorating fragrance of incense.

Ted Riel stood in front of the window, lost in thought as he looked outside.

From this spot, he could see the massive academy ark docked along the City-State's coastline and, in another direction, the steep “shoreline” near the edge of the Fire Transmitter temple.

On the streets, citizens could still be seen heading towards the docks occasionally, people rushing together to behold the stunningly impressive church ships. The celebratory banners hung between buildings still fluttered in the morning sun, and from somewhere, colorful confetti spiraled through the wind past the window, disappearing into the distant clear sky.

People didn't know the details of this special “meeting,” didn't know what matters the representatives of the gods had gathered to discuss, and no one knew about the turmoil brought by “The Fifth Ark.” They didn't know the pontiffs had actually left the ark and headed to the Ghost Ship that had been feared and guarded against by the world for a century–for most ordinary people, these matters were too distant from their lives.

“…Ignorance is bliss sometimes.”

Ted Riel withdrew his gaze from the street and murmured to himself.

A voice almost immediately came from the bed nearby, “But it's not very fortunate for a teacher if his students are that 'blessed.'”
Ted Riel's mouth twitched as he turned to look at the scholar Taran El, who was lying in bed, “Herniated discs don't stop you from making snide comments, do they?”

“Yeah, it's my discs that are bulging, not my vocal cords…”
“…Next time you get hemorrhoids, I will make sure to eat three servings of Bay's extra spicy wraps in front of you within fifteen minutes!”

“Rahm protect us, as a distinguished Truth Confidant–can't you be a bit more gracious?” Taran El shifted on the bed, then grimaced and returned to his original position, “I'm already in this state…”
Ted Riel made no reply to the big scholar who could do nothing but lie in bed due to his spinal illness and who, out of sheer boredom, could only tease him. After a moment of silence, his gaze turned outside the window again, “I wonder what they are discussing today.”

Taran El looked up at his friend who had come to visit him, “You are a Truth Confidant–are you really completely in the dark?”

“The Pilgrimage Ark operates independently from the City-State system, as you well know,” Ted Riel shook his head, “Some matters, once they spread beyond the ark, are a contamination to the entire world–being too close to ordinary people naturally means being further from the most secretive cores.”

“…That's true,” Taran El thought for a moment and sighed, “So you, this 'important person,' just have to come and keep this sick man company while the big bosses discuss matters…”
Ted Riel gave no response, and his silence clearly bored the scholar even more–Taran El fell quiet for barely half a minute before he suddenly blurted out, “Seriously, do you think the pontiffs might end up fighting with the 'captain' on that ship…”
“What do you think? Should I pass on your questions to Rune when he comes back and let him answer you personally?”

Taran El shrugged and finally fell silent.

Just then, a somewhat hurried set of footsteps suddenly came from the corridor, interrupting the “warm and affectionate conversation” between the scholar and the confidant.

A knock sounded, accompanied by a young man's somewhat anxious voice: “Professor, there's a situation…”
Taran El recognized his student's voice and immediately said without waiting for Ted to speak, “Come in.”

The room's door was pushed open, and a clumsy young apprentice entered with a bunch of papers in his hands.

But just as he was about to speak, he saw the Truth Confidant standing in the room and suddenly stood still, forgetting his words.

Ted Riel was the first to break the silence, “Your teacher is currently battling his spinal discs, so if it's just some academic issue, ask me.”

Taran El struggled to sit up from his bed, grimacing as he turned to the nervous young apprentice standing in the middle of the room, “Joshua, calm down–what's the matter?”

“Oh… Oh!” The young apprentice finally snapped back to reality, quickly bowed to the Truth Confidant, then hurriedly ran to his teacher's bedside, “Professor, there's been a situation at the maritime research station, they received a signal, coming from the center of that 'luminous body'…”
As he spoke, he handed the long strip of paper covered with waveform diagrams to Taran El.

“This signal… it's very similar to the one that came from the luminous body during the period when the sun extinguished…”

Chapter end

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