Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 774

Chapter 774: Chapter 771 Lei Nora's “Journey Chapter 774: Chapter 771 Lei Nora's “Journey “The 'Nest' fell into silence for a moment, even the trembling among the stars that seemed to never cease suddenly calmed down–Lei Nora saw the humanoid entity in front of her appear to enter a state of stillness because of her words, until after a long while, the still field of starlight suddenly began to swell and pulsate again.

“Only one lantern?” What else is around the lantern? Where exactly might it be?” Zhou Ming stared into the Frost Queen's eyes and asked quickly.

“There's only one lantern, hanging on a broken plank of wood, nothing else–it's floating in the dense fog,” Lei Nora responded immediately, “As for its location…it's right next to your 'palace,' very close, almost next to it…”
She suddenly stopped speaking, as if recalling more details, reorganized her thoughts, and then continued: “The lantern wasn't very bright, it shouldn't have cast a long light in the fog, but as soon as I arrived at this place, I saw it. I steered my 'drifting house' towards it, it took a long time to finally reach here–it felt as if… the light from the lantern wasn't affected by distance or fog. Once it was lit in this place, its light could definitely be seen from any point in this thick fog.”

Listening to her description, Zhou Ming involuntarily fell into contemplation, and Lei Nora then promptly added: “Of course, these are all my subjective speculations–you should know, many things here are…'not quite right,' and I think it's hard for me to judge whether what I see or feel is real or not.”

“I understand,” Zhou Ming said softly. Then, as if struck by a thought, he suddenly stood up and strode to a desk not far away.

Lei Nora remained on the sofa, motionless out of caution–in her eyes, that writhing mass of starlight extended in another direction, seemingly 'moving' to a location in the distance in a way that defied rational judgement, and then it remained there.

She did not understand what he was doing.

Zhou Ming pulled a sheet of paper from the edge of the desk and took up a pencil, sketching rapidly–he drew a lantern, classical in design, made of brass, and tried his best to replicate its details from the one that hung in the captain's quarters of the Homeloss.

After a while, he brought the drawing back in front of Lei Nora, presenting the image on the paper: “Is this the kind of lantern you're talking about?”

The humanoid mass of starlight opened its limbs, the countless eyes at the ends of the limbs focused together and projected an ethereal image in front of them, the silhouette of the lantern.

Lei Nora tensed up instantly, since in most cases, what high-dimensional beings casually showed to mortals could instantly kill those rash onlookers, even well-trained scholars– but soon, she realized she hadn't fallen into madness.

The eyes focused together only showed a mild gaze, waiting for her response patiently and amicably–it seemed that she had completely 'adapted' to these starlights.

“…Quite similar,” Lei Nora steadied herself and scrutinized the illusionary image, “I can't remember the details clearly, but it's at least seventy to eighty percent similar.”

Hearing this answer, Zhou Ming let out a small sigh, affirming the guess in his mind.

It was “his” lantern–Duncan Ebnomal had reached this place in the final voyage of 1800, leaving a 'mark' like a burning lamp.

Thoughts churned in his mind, and for a long time, Zhou Ming did not speak; he pondered and a myriad of vague associations slowly emerged.

A lantern in the fog… if viewed symbolically, aside from 'illumination,' its meaning is often 'guidance.'
For ships lost in the thick fog, a penetrating light represented the correct course–at least, it signified the path to safety and shelter.

His cottage was situated deep within the fog; this place could be the borderlands or perhaps even further than the borderlands, where the path to the world of order is hidden in chaos…
The lantern here established a 'linkage,' spatially pointing towards the Endless Sea, towards Homeloss, and temporally… toward the day Homeloss returned to the real world, towards the time when the Endless Sea would meet its end.

Zhou Ming contemplated, his gaze flickering amidst his thoughts.

After many experiences, he had imperceptibly grasped many of the 'deep-seated rules' of this world, among which the most important was the surprising role of 'information' in the operation of all things.

And clearly, the 'captain' who had reached the endpoint of the world had also touched upon this domain–it seemed that during Homeloss's ultimate voyage, “he” had learned many truths.

Zhou Ming turned back, silently staring at the apartment door.

As he watched, the door seemed to open, and the pitch-black fog outside churned and undulated–the other side of the fog was Homeloss, the captain's quarters of Homeloss, the wall that abutted the 'Door of the Displaced.'
It was the place where the lantern hung.

“”
Indeed, it hung right in front of his own door, where it had always been.

Zhou Ming blinked, as the imagined scenes dissipated from his mind, and that door remained properly closed, waiting for its master to open it and return.

Lei Nora cautiously maintained silence. She couldn't discern human expressions from that bundle of starlight, but she could feel that this entity was engaged in some very important thinking–her thoughts stirred ripples through the chaos, a solemn and blurred howling echoing incessantly in every direction. She recalled the training she had received since childhood, striving not to listen, think about, or understand those voices echoing in her ears.

She had to prevent her own mind from “melting” into the other's cognitive processes, to avoid becoming a fleeting thought of the other.

Fortunately, the terrifying contemplation finally came to an end–the deep howling around her gradually calmed, and the bundle of starlight looked at her gently once more.

“Sorry, I got a bit distracted,” Zhou Ming said politely, “Now, let's talk about some of your other adventures, I'm quite interested in them.”

Lei Nora immediately felt relieved–it was indeed easier for her to “speak” than to “listen” to the voice of this entity.

“…After detaching from that place, I wasn't very good at controlling my 'drifting house' at first, so I drifted with the flow for a long time–in fact, I suspect the time I experienced was much longer than what you know because I encountered many strange phenomena related to timelines…”
This time, Zhou Ming did not interrupt the “Frost Queen's” narration. He listened patiently and with interest, while Lei Nora recounted the many unimaginable experiences she had had since gaining her freedom.

Honestly, most of those experiences during her journey were of little reference for the issues Zhou Ming currently faced and needed to resolve; they were mostly strange landscapes or wonderful phenomena one could witness in the Spirit Realm–mere unimaginable and adventurous journeys for Lei Nora, which she, as ruler of the Frost City-State, could never have imagined nor experienced.

The “Queen Her Majesty” had her wish granted, becoming a traveler, witnessing countless landscapes throughout her long journey.

Then, Lei Nora finally brought up the last “chaos stream” she encountered and the process of arriving in this dense fog.

“…I encountered the chaos stream after I left Subspace. I was carefully skimming over the upper layers of the Mysterious Deep Sea; you know, the 'dome' with the stagnant starlight,” she said as she reminisced, “Then, suddenly, a surge burst from the depths of the Mysterious Deep Sea, as if it was targeting me specifically, pushing me 'out'. After that was a long period of losing control, and by the time I managed to stop at least temporarily, I was already here.”

Zhou Ming pondered thoughtfully.

“…Could it be The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea?” he said in a low voice, frowning as he thought, “That doesn't seem right either… There must be a reason…”
“The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea?” Lei Nora, hearing his muttering, suddenly widened her eyes in astonishment, “Do you mean that The Saint of the Mysterious Deep Sea created that surge and deliberately sent me here?”

“…It's just a rough guess,” Zhou Ming shook his head. Knowing there was no answer for the time being, he didn't dwell on the question, “Let's not talk about that. Tell me about this… 'fog.' Do you know what this place is?”

Lei Nora fell silent at his words and only after half a minute did she nod her head complexly.

“At first I wasn't sure, but after staying in this dense fog for a while, I started to see some… 'phantoms,' and knowledge seemed to emerge out of nowhere into my mind,” she whispered, “This is the end of the world; I saw here… The shadow of the demise of all things.”

“You should feel fortunate that you found this place guided by that lamp and stopped outside my cabin,” Zhou Ming said seriously, “It's good that you didn't continue to drift deeper into this dense fog–otherwise, you probably would never have been able to return.”

Even the daring “Frost Queen” couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear at that moment.

She realized that, in the past period, she had been like a boat without power, rapidly rushing towards the end of the rapids, and it was only at the last moment before plunging into The Abyss that she was fortuitously stopped by the only “stone” in the rapids.

Though she nearly shattered to pieces against that very “stone.”

After a few seconds of silence, her face displayed a hesitant look again, and she couldn't help but mutter, “Actually… I did overshoot a little…”
Zhou Ming was startled, and took a moment to respond, “Hm?”

“…After arriving at your palace following the 'light,' I tried to communicate with this large 'entity,' but there was no response at the time–instead, a shadow burst out of your 'palace.' That shadow was an indescribable mass. It crashed into my 'drifting house,' causing it to lose control again, and I was pushed deeper into the fog, but fortunately, it wasn't too severe…”
Zhou Ming's expression suddenly became a little complex.

Chapter end

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