Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 662: The location of the “home port”
The cage is located in a specially reinforced cabin. The narrow, humid and stuffy cabin is divided into more than a dozen large and small cages by iron bars, and the "sacrifice" is imprisoned in them.

Walking into a place like this would never bring a good experience - even Lucretia would frown slightly when she stepped into this prison.

When Duncan arrived here, the victims who were originally in cages had been moved to an open space at the end of the cabin - the environment here was relatively better, and it was next to the vent, and it looked like it should be a guard A place for a short stay.

There was an unpleasant smell in the air, which was the smell emitted when blood and rotten flesh gradually decayed. Dirty blood stains could be seen in the iron cages on both sides. Some of the traces were obviously left recently. A variety of "processing tools" used for bleeding, skinning and puncturing were hung on the walls and pillars between the iron cages, exuding an unpleasant smell.

Duncan passed these iron cages and torture instruments, and led by Lucretia directly to the end of the cabin, looking at the surviving victims.

This caused some commotion - a tall figure whose whole body was burning with spiritual flames walked into the cabin. It looked like an evil spirit had broken into the real dimension. The surviving "sacrifice" suddenly exclaimed and tried to They tried to escape backwards, but they were too weak to even stand up and run away, so after a struggle they could only huddle in the corner leaning on each other, looking at the people standing in the flames with frightened eyes. The "evil spirit".

Duncan felt helpless about this - of course he knew that his current state was quite scary, but he relied on the "artificial beacon" made by Lucretia to "descend" to the ship this time. In order to fit in with the beacon, He must maintain this spiritual form.

But soon, he discovered that not everyone seemed to be shrieking and running away - there was a thin and small figure still staying in the same place.

It was a little girl who looked to be only seven or eight years old. Her clothes were ragged and scarred, and her face was covered with blood. She sat quietly on the floor, looking up at Duncan and Lucretia, with eyes filled with tears. I can't tell what the emotion is.

Duncan was a little curious. He bent down in front of the child and looked into his eyes: "Aren't you afraid?"

However, the child didn't react at all, and even her eyes didn't change. She just stared at Duncan blankly, her somewhat dazed eyes reflecting the glow of the green flames in front of her.

"I have inquired about the fact that those cultists 'sacrificialized' her parents in front of this child, and she became like this after that," Lucretia walked over from the side and whispered behind Duncan, "That's It was a long time ago – she’s been on this ship for a year.”

"The Witch of the Sea" paused, then continued: "...Children are special and precious 'ceremonial materials', especially for Annihilation cultists, who will keep children in the most important ritual occasions."

Duncan didn't speak. He had his back turned to Lucretia, so the latter didn't know what his father's expression was after hearing this - but there was a green flame slowly spreading deep in the cabin, starting to crackling sound.

After a few seconds, Duncan reached out his hand, and the illusory spirit pressed on the child's head and gently touched her hair.

"You'll be fine."

Then Duncan stood up and turned around slightly: "Lucy, do you have candy with you?"

Lucretia was startled for a moment, then shook her head apologetically: "...No, I only carry some potions with me for daily use...Ah, there are cookies, cookies baked by Luni."

As she spoke, she quickly took out a few biscuits from her arms, looked up at her father, then stepped forward and put the biscuits into the child's hand.

The little girl finally had some reaction. She looked down at the food in her hand and began to instinctively stuff it into her mouth, eating quietly and quickly.

"Eating" was one of the few instincts she had left after "living" on this ship for a year.

After a while, two more shriveled and thin figures crawled out from the corner, almost crawling in front of Duncan, lowering their heads and kissing the place where he had just stepped.

Duncan raised his head and stared at the fearful, confused, or numb eyes of those in the dark corners. After a long time, he suddenly asked softly: "Are there any living believers on the ship?"

"They've all been killed," Lucretia replied. "According to your 'standard', except for that 'saint', none of the other Annihilation cultists need to be left alive."

"Well, very good," Duncan nodded slowly, and then ordered, "Let your group of servants get some food and water, and let these people regain some strength first."

Lucretia lowered her head: "Okay."

Duncan and Lucretia then left this extremely unpleasant cabin - and a moment later they were on the deck.This "resurrected" ship is still sailing straight towards the "Holy Land" - sailing on the sea in a terrifying attitude of being torn apart.

Its entire rear half was almost torn into pieces, with huge cracks all over the deck and hull. The big explosion caused the broken wreckage to present a horrific scene like blooming. Countless scattered fragments still stayed in the place just after the explosion. The position where it happened was in a strange and still position relative to the entire ship. The green flames were burning quietly among all the fragments and cracks, as if the entire ship was "solidified" at the moment of disintegration and would be destroyed. permanently imprinted on the ship.

Vision 001 is gradually rising to a high point in the sky, but layers of fog appear on the nearby sea. The fog rises from around the ship, and then merges in the sky. The sun shines through the layers of fog, It presents a weak and hazy texture.

"...The breath of the spiritual world is rising, and the 'changes' on this ship seem to have attracted those shadows lingering on the border of reality." Lucretia glanced at the strange fog appearing on the surrounding sea area, and frowned slightly Wrinkled, "This is a 'wild sea' far away from the main shipping routes. The surrounding space is not as stable as near the city-state."

"Will they cause trouble?"

"No," Lucretia thought for a moment and shook her head, "Your power controls this ship. Those shadows dare not really get close, but it seems that the ordinary people on the ship really need to be moved away as soon as possible - —Their mental state is already very bad and may undergo transformation under the influence of the spiritual environment.”

"After that, I will ask Ai to open a door and help you teleport those people to Breeze Harbor." Duncan nodded, and then suddenly asked, "Also, can you tell where this ship is heading?"

"The stargazing room has been destroyed in the big explosion, and the exact direction cannot be determined, but according to Rabbi's general induction in the spiritual world, it should be heading towards the southeastern 'border'."

Duncan turned his head instantly: "Border?"

"Yes," Lucretia nodded and said, "I am as surprised as you, but there are no other city-states or islands in this direction. This ship is now 'returning' in a straight line under your order. So its only possible destination...is the 'curtain' at the border."

The "home port" of this ship...is actually towards the border?
Are there any unexplored islands near the fog called the "Eternal Veil"?Or...the target of this ship is simply the fog! ?

Seemingly seeing the surprise and confusion in Duncan's heart, Lucretia took the initiative to speak: "The Church of the Four Gods has always had several standing fleets patrolling the borders of the entire civilized world. Near the 'curtain', all islands They have all been discovered, and all footholds are under the control of the church, so the only explanation is that the ship's destination is inside the fog, where there is a vacuum of vision for the church."

Duncan frowned, still feeling incredible: "...They opened up a secret route under the nose of the church?"

"It is not difficult to pass through the church blockade at the border or bypass the patrol route of the Ark Fleet. After all, the border is so long, and it is impossible for the church to keep every inch of the curtain under its gaze. The main purpose of the patrol fleet's existence is from the very beginning. It's not about intercepting passing illegal ships, but monitoring changes in the border fog," Lucretia explained. "Between the patrol fleets, there is enough time and space to open up a number of 'secret routes.' If you want to, you can reach the Eternal Veil without anyone noticing."

She paused and her tone became unusually serious.

"So compared to the existence of the 'secret route', what is really incredible is that the ship's 'home port' may be located inside the fog."

Duncan understood what Lucretia meant.

In the long "border" waters, it is not difficult to avoid the church's eyes. What is really difficult is to survive in the fog after avoiding the church's eyes.

The huge fog wall of the "Eternal Curtain" is the end of the civilized world. Since records were recorded in the Deep Sea Age, "stay away from that thick fog" has always been an iron rule in the hearts of all adventurers.

And when Lucretia was discussing this matter with him at the moment, there was an additional layer of complex emotions in it - the "accident" of the Lost Home 100 years ago happened when Duncan Abnomar insisted on going his own way through the thick fog. happened after that.

What's in that thick fog?Is there an end to the thick fog?Is there a broader world beyond the dense fog? What did the Lost Home found deep in the thick fog 100 years ago?
These questions have long lingered in the minds of Duncan Abnomar's son and daughter, and even now, even after "Duncan" and the Homeless "returned" to this world together, these questions have always lingered like dark clouds. Lucretia's head.

In a sense, this cloud even hangs over the entire world.

A dignified and complicated look gradually appeared in his eyes. Duncan turned around and slowly came to the end of the bow deck. He held his hands on the guardrail and stared at the mist-filled sea in the distance.

Now, the ship is sailing at full speed towards that dark cloud.

(End of this chapter)