Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 708 “Rough Blank”

The fleet sailed at a low speed in the condensed fog, and the hazy shadows of the ships looked at each other, like a group of huge ghosts rising and falling in the sea of ​​fog.

Inside the Eternal Veil, the power of the fog is far greater than outside the barrier. As the fleet continues to deepen, the surrounding fog becomes increasingly difficult to dispel. Even with the blazing "spiritual fire lighthouse" shining on the entire fleet, There is still a thin mist that continues to spread from the edge of the sea, shrouding every ship and flowing on the deck - the all-pervasive fog even begins to gradually seep into the cabin and float around the sailors.

Commander Sandra of the Tide stood on the command seat in the bridge, frowning slightly, looking solemnly at the slowly flowing thin mist around her.

He is a tall man with dark skin and striking short platinum hair. The storm tattoo on his left cheek shows that he was once an ascetic who was promoted because he completed all his ascetic vows. , was blessed, and became a formidable border commander, but now, the border commander does not look optimistic.

"How far have we advanced?"

Sandra turned her head and suddenly asked a technical priest beside her.

"We are approaching the six nautical mile boundary - there is still the last nautical mile," the gray-haired technical priest, wearing a robe decorated with thunder and gears, quickly replied, "Our speed is very slow, but no matter how slow we are, we will soon reach there. It’s the ‘limit’.”

Sandra nodded, but her expression became more solemn.

Six nautical miles... The "lighthouse" in the distance still shows no sign of stopping. It is still leading the entire fleet to slowly sail deeper into the thick fog. This shows that the so-called "holy land" is still located in deeper waters. However, If this continues, the fleet will cross that "taboo".

Six nautical miles away is the "absolute limit" of the lights of civilization. Once you cross there, the last trace of order on the boundless sea will be gone, even if the saints and the pope come in person.

The order issued by the Storm Cathedral to the Tide was to fully cooperate with the Homeless's actions here, but this did not include crossing the "six nautical mile boundary."

Sandra frowned and looked into the depths of the mist in the distance.

Those Annihilation Cultists haven't appeared yet... This is not consistent with common sense.

With only such a narrow "safe sea area" for activities at the border, it would be difficult for such a large fleet to hide, not to mention the blazing "flame lighthouse" standing in the fog. The believers are hiding nearby, so they must have discovered this menacing combined fleet - whether it is a head-on attack or an ambush and sneak attack, this sea area should not be so "quiet". It is as quiet as... There are no cultists here at all.

Have they all escaped?

A very bold idea suddenly came to Sandra's mind, and she began to think deeply.

Those cultists should have known that their secrets were exposed a long time ago - after their bloody and evil "sacrificial ship" was captured by Captain Duncan, they did have enough time to escape from this place, but The crux of the matter is...

As a group of fanatical pagans, would they really abandon the "Holy Land" out of fear?

There may be some escapees, but based on Sandra’s experience in dealing with cultists for so many years, more fanatical pagans will definitely stay and use all despicable and terrifying methods and powers to fight to the death against the church—— Those madmen whose brains have been completely corrupted by blasphemous thoughts have always been willing to sacrifice their lives for their "beliefs".

Some tiny noises passed into Sandra's ears, which sounded like sharp but not obvious tinnitus. Along with the tinnitus, there were also outline shadows that suddenly began to shake at the edges of her vision.

Sandra frowned and glanced down at the railing in front of her. She saw colorful colors blooming under the railing. Grease-like "droplets" were condensing in the color and falling on the floor drop by drop. .

It is a common auditory and visual hallucination in the border waters - but compared to the "depth" where the fleet is currently, this level of auditory and visual hallucinations is already very mild.

This should be due to the power of the huge "flame lighthouse".

"Let the ship's church light incense, ring the prayer bells, and pressurize the steam pipes," Sandra looked up at the green flame lighthouse in the fog ahead, and casually ordered, "Alert several other ships , pay attention to the mental state of the crew."

……

The commander of the Rest, Polekny, glanced at her right hand, which was wearing a long black glove, and slowly made a fist. When she opened her palm again, the blurry eyeballs that had appeared in her palm at some point had disappeared.

The Priestess with dark golden curly hair raised her head and whispered softly: "The world in front of us is becoming more and more unreal..."

"At present, everyone's minds are not affected. Mild auditory hallucinations and visual hallucinations can still be overcome and distinguished by reason," a junior priest said next to Polekny. "The Tide just sent a message about similar hallucinations. It is also spreading over there, but the 'contamination level' remains at a low level."

"Hallucinations with obvious weirdness are not scary. What's scary are those things that seem to be in line with our common sense and feel extremely normal." Polekina shook her head, "Or... what's scary is when When everything feels normal around us.”

"We have entered the depths of the Veil, which is almost the ultimate distance in history," the junior priest said cautiously. "Previously, the Deep Sea Church relied on the deployment of a large number of mobile lighthouses and temporary churches, and the distance forward within the Veil was only six nautical miles..." Poleginny did not speak, but looked out the porthole of the bridge. Through the distant and hazy fog, she saw a green flame rising into the sky, illuminating the entire sea area, and slightly magnified in her field of vision. .

After a moment, she suddenly broke the silence softly: "Slow down..."

……

Under Duncan's order, the blazing "guide ship" that looked like a huge torch began to slow down slowly and approached the Lost Home.

The combined fleet following this "lighthouse" also responded immediately and began to adjust its formation while shrinking the formation.

Fanna stood on the high platform at the stern of the ship, looking at the sea where the fleet was gathering.

Frankly speaking, forming a dense formation in dangerous sea areas where enemies may be lurking is not a good idea. This will probably make many real naval experts scream sharply - but in this dangerous and strange border, many things are not The method is to follow "common sense".

Compared with the artillery fire coming from a distance, the risk of getting lost in the thick fog after dispersing the formation is obviously greater - not to mention that the biggest risk here is not the ships getting lost in the fog, but the ships that get lost and come back.

However, after driving nervously and cautiously all the way, the combined fleet did not encounter any "artillery fire" - only fog, endless fog accompanied them.

"Where have all those cultists gone?" Fanna couldn't help but frown and muttered in a low voice.

Footsteps came from behind, and Duncan's voice followed: "How likely are they to run away collectively? If they really want to run away, they have enough time to escape these days."

"I don't think that group of lunatics will give up their holy land easily - even if you come in person, there will definitely be extreme fanatics who want to live and die with the holy land," Vanna said, shaking her head, "Their words and deeds may be blasphemous and crazy. , but in terms of 'piety', I still agree."

"...According to the feedback from the 'guiding ship', this place should be near the Holy Land, and its desire to 'go home' points to this sea area," Duncan said slowly, walking to the edge of the deck and looking at Looking at the "quiet sea" in the distance that seemed particularly calm and unique to the border waters, "I'm really curious now... how did those group of Annihilation cultists discover the so-called 'Holy Land' here, and how did they find it here?" Those who have settled down, I haven't seen anything... Could it be that their blind faith really got some 'guidance'?"

After Duncan finished speaking, Vanna opened her mouth, as if she wanted to say something, but the moment she was about to speak, a slight "dong dong" sound suddenly came from outside the ship's side, interrupting the conversation between her and the captain. conversation between.

It sounded like something was floating over and hitting the shell of the Lost Home.

Duncan looked at Vanna for a moment, then quickly walked towards the location where the impact came from, and looked down.

On the sea surface, which is as calm as a mirror and has a texture like oil, a dark figure is floating beside the hull of the Lost Home. The sea at the border is calm and calm, but the thing floating on the water seems to be being invisible. The waves of water hit the wooden planks of the ship's hull one after another, and in the ups and downs, its outline clearly appeared in front of Duncan and Vanna——

It was a dark human figure!

The moment he saw the thing, Duncan's eyes changed slightly, and then he waved his hand in the air: "Pull that thing up!"

A flash of green fire flashed by, and the flaming skeleton bird swooped down from the nearby mast, suddenly passed over the sea, and then returned to the deck almost in the blink of an eye.

After a while, everyone on the Homeless Ship gathered together after hearing the news.

The "humanoid" that Ai salvaged was lying motionless on the deck.

It was a pitch-black humanoid object about 1.8 meters tall, but it only had the general outline of a person, no facial features, no hair, and even no details of hands and feet. It gave the impression... as if it was created in the process of kneading a clay doll. The "rough blank".

Several eyes fell on Duncan in unison, and the latter nodded slowly after inspecting the black mud "rough material" with a solemn expression.

“…It’s indeed those things in the Frost Deep Sea.

"They are 'mortals' who are in a semi-finished state during the creation of the world by Holy Lord Netherworld."

(End of this chapter)