Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 779

Chapter 779: Chapter 776 Cold Night Chapter 779: Chapter 776 Cold Night Under the dim light of an oil lamp, Heidi gently placed the piece of paper containing news from afar on the table. The living room was quiet, the warm light of the lamp and her mother's gentle gaze accompanying her.

She knew about the voyage of the “Homeloss” this time–her father always wrote back, and his recent letters had mentioned many things related to the frontier. She knew the captain had to undertake a great voyage, knew her father would set out with him to the distant frontier–but when she officially heard the news through the channels of the City-State, a different kind of feeling rose in her heart.

It was as if something that had only ever been a vague concept suddenly became tangible, and she looked at the brief words and suddenly realized–ah, they had truly set out.

Her father, her best friend, had embarked on a journey to the end of the world during this long night.

“They will be safe,” her mother's voice came from beside her, pulling Heidi from her slight distraction. The old woman's tone was calm, just like many years ago on a stormy night, “Don't worry so much, Heidi.”

Heidi turned her head somewhat blankly, “Because… that powerful captain?”

“Because of your father–he always comes back safe,” her mother said with a gentle smile, as if lost in memories, “He has done many daring things, far beyond what you can imagine, but he always comes home in the end, to tell me about those incredible experiences… This time he will come back too, with tales from the ends of the earth, and you will hear an incredible story from him, just like I did back then.”

Heidi quietly listened. After a moment of silence, she suddenly spoke softly, “Father, and Fenna… they are doing something very great, aren't they?”

“Yes, very great–heading to the unknown is always something great.”

“What should I do now?”

“Now you should put on a warm coat, then go out, go to the gathering place, and tell our neighbors the latest news. They are still waiting for news about the power generators and food supplies,” her mother said slowly, “Tell the common people who can't read, let them be at ease, dispel the tension and fear spreading among them; don't let the night overwhelm them, fight against this long night–fulfill the oath you made at the academy, and then come back safely, I will have your favorite mushroom vegetable soup ready.”

Her mother slowly stood up, set aside her needlework, and came forward to fix her daughter's hair, “Heidi, these are also very great things.”

Feeling her mother's fingers pass through her hair, Heidi hesitated for a moment and then gently nodded. Her gaze swept over the “newspaper” on the table, imprinting the news on her mind once again.

Far away in the northern seas, a layer of uniform and thin pale golden “sunlight” gently covered the sea under the night sky. A massive Luminous Geometric Body floated like a crystal-cast hill on the Endless Sea, with large and small battleships slowly patrolling around the boundaries of the sunlit area, like hungry fish circling around food.

Solenna from Cold Harbor stood grimly on the bridge, looking through the wide windows at the sea surface bathed in thin sunlight. At the end of that sea, he could vaguely see the silhouettes of two small speedboats sweeping past the front of the fleet–like cautious tentacles, neither too close nor adequately manifesting their presence.

Those were the forward warships of the Murphy Navy, probing the borders of the Frost Navy.

Several other warships flying black flags were slowly cruising nearby the Frost Navy and Murphy Navy, their black flags with the triangular “The Gate of Death” insignia fluttering high in the thin “sunlight”, barely discernible through binoculars.

The main cannons of the warships had been unveiled–all of them.

The priests on those ecclesiastical warships must be feeling overwhelmed at this moment–Solenna suddenly thought, and briefly experienced a flicker of guilt.

That bit of guilt quickly dissipated amidst his ironclad resolve.

At that moment, the communication deck received an external radio signal. Moments later, the radio operator looked up at Solenna, “Commander, we received a contact from 'The Mourner', they hope we and the forward units of the Murphy Navy each retreat five nautical miles, to move out of the danger zone.”

“Tell them again, let the other side retreat first,” Solenna said without hesitation, “and reiterate to them that Cold Harbor needs that 'sunlight' now–this is not a negotiation, this is a notice, a result, a fact that must be achieved; no matter what, the Frost Navy will not leave this area until this goal is reached.”

A chill permeated the bridge, as if the cold wind had seeped through the cabin doors, slowly circulating around.

The radio operator immediately took the order, but just as he was about to respond to the church warship serving as the “mediation fleet” flagship, another signal came through on the public radio channel.

“… Commander, it's a contact from Murphy.”

Solenna frowned, and after a brief silence of a second or two, he stepped over to the communication deck, placing the headset against his ear.

A not unfamiliar middle-aged man's voice entered my ears, “Solenna, I know you'll listen in person–listen, I know about Cold Harbor, but things are worse in Morphis now. Something's trying to land on our coasts; our forces have repelled them many times, but they keep surging from the sea… we need sunlight, even if it's just to temporarily curb the 'mutations' in the surrounding seas…”

“Far-view Cliff disappeared twelve hours ago,” Solenna said calmly, “as if it were cleanly sliced off from the island.”

Silence suddenly fell on the radio.

“Cold Harbor needs sunlight–our city is gradually vanishing into the night,” Solenna slowly began. He felt his blood slowly growing cold as if a faint breeze was lingering on the bridge, but he couldn't pay attention to this subtle change, “Hobo, we've known each other for many years. You know what's going to happen next.”

Silence ensued on the other side of the radio for a long time, finally broken by an angry roar, “Your nephew is still in Morphis! He's also a member of the coastal defense!”

“… Cold Harbor will remember him.”

Solenna took off the handset and heavily placed it on the radio hook.

In the cold air, he slowly exhaled and looked up at his subordinates, who were awaiting orders.

“…Do not accidentally hit the church's warships,” he said calmly, “focus fire on the 'Harp,' their command center should be on that ship.”

“Yes!”

The naval officers on the bridge immediately took orders and the operators began the predetermined processes–but the next second, a short cry interrupted everyone's busy actions.

A sailor who touched the control handle was instantly frostbitten, his hand almost immediately frozen to the metal pole, tearing off a small piece of already stiffened flesh in panic.

Only at this moment did everyone realize the cold that had long soaked the entire bridge–their thoughts struggled to function in their semi-frozen state, the terrible chill almost piercing everyone's flesh and bones. A layer of frost fog mixed with ice crystals appeared out of thin air from all directions, almost instantly, covering nearly all the instruments and controls on the bridge with a thin layer of ice!

Solenna finally reacted. He sprinted towards his captain's seat, preparing to sound the alarm for the entire fleet–however, just two steps out, a bony yet iron-hard arm blocked his path.

The frost fog, dense with tiny ice crystals, spread around. An incomplete “corpse” stood in front of him, wearing the Frost Navy uniform, yet its upper and lower halves were severed as if by cannon fire. It slowly twisted its head towards Solenna, its skull-like face slowly formed a slight smile, “Good afternoon, sir, you need to calm down…”

Solenna stood rigidly next to the captain's seat, his eyes slowly shifting sideways. He saw one “corpse” after another emerging from the ubiquitous frost fog, taking control of his subordinates–the undead had already taken over the bridge.

In the corner of his eye, he also saw a large swath of white mist suddenly surging on the nearby sea surface.

The cold fog on the sea surface condensed, and the solid ice almost instantly covered the sea area where both sides faced off. Amidst the glaciers that continuously undulated, broke, and gathered like living creatures, a huge warship and a dozen smaller vessels emerged from the sea like ghostly reflections in the ice crystals. The cold seawater cascaded down the sides of those warships like a waterfall while the numerous gun ports on their decks rotated, aiming at every ship in the area.

The screeching noise of metal warping and deforming entered Solenna's ears.

He slowly turned his head towards the source of the noise.

Nearby, a metal wall was warping and deforming, the center of the steel plate seemingly melting, showing an incredible fluidity, and then those flowing parts piled up to form a stern face with an eyepatch.

“Solenna, long time no see.”

“Captain Tyrion… or should I call you Governor?” Solenna tensed up, keeping an eye on the movements on the nearby sea surface while speaking in a low voice, “This is indeed on a grand scale.”

“I rarely go all out when dealing with the navies of different City-States–mostly because I don't want things to become too stiff,” the steel face spoke, “However, it seems… the atmosphere here is already very tense today.”

Solenna didn't respond. During a few seconds of silence, he monitored the situation from the direction of the Morphis Navy.

There was no movement from there–clearly, the undead had also taken control of the opposing flagship.

Chapter end

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