Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 746 The sky is getting dark

Agatha from the Frost City State is here - accompanied by the familiar gray wind, the Priestess who is also the archbishop of the city state appears in front of Duncan and Alice, and bows her head to Duncan: "Good night, nice to see you. I can handle this matter myself.”

Duncan raised his head and glanced in the direction of the sea: "Strictly speaking, it's still dusk."

"Twilight will last for a long time, but people still have to move according to the 'normal' rhythm of life," Agatha said, and nodded gently to Alice next to her, "Long time no see, Miss Alice."

"Uh...hey! Long time no see!" Alice took a moment to respond before she responded. She scratched her hair in embarrassment, "There is also an Agatha on the boat. I didn't realize it for a moment."

When Agatha heard this, a smile appeared on her lips. Even though her eyes were covered with black cloth, her warm gaze seemed to fall on Alice: "On the ship... how is she doing recently?"

"Okay! I chase Shirley through the mirror every day to do her homework, or she comes out when it's foggy to scare people - even though she said she just came out for a walk," Alice said quickly, with a smile on her face. With a happy expression, "Everyone likes her very much, only Shirley is a little afraid of her..."

Agatha listened silently to these descriptions of Miss Doll. Her expression was a little surprised at first, but gradually turned into a smile. After a while, she nodded gently and said to herself: "So it turns out that That’s right…sounds good.”

At this time, Tirian on the side finally found an opportunity and took a step forward: "Has the cathedral made arrangements for the vigil?"

"I came here after handling this matter, don't worry, we have enough manpower," Agatha said casually, but then she couldn't help but frown slightly and stepped back calmly, "... Your Majesty the Consul, you... have a bad stomach?"

Tirian was startled when he heard this, and then he understood what was going on. Even as a "Lieutenant General of Steel", he felt a little uneasy at this time. The corner of his mouth trembled slightly, but he quickly reacted and raised his finger to point at his father's hand. Paper bag inside: "...Would you like to try some potato pancakes?"

Agatha didn't know why the topic suddenly jumped to this. She glanced at the thing in Duncan's hand doubtfully, and the latter immediately raised his hand: "Made by Alice herself - Breeze Harbor flavor."

"...No need to," Agatha took half a step back as soon as she heard the words "Qingfeng Harbor", but then seemed to realize that this was a bit rude, and added, "This body It is no longer alive and can no longer enjoy the food in this world, thank you for your kindness.”

Duncan glanced at Agatha's body that was full of cracks and fragmented like a broken doll. He knew that the other party was telling the truth, so he could only shrug with regret and stuffed a bag of potato pancakes directly into Tirian's arms: "Then Just take it all - go back and eat slowly."

Tirian accepted the gift from his father with a dull expression, and his eyes silently scanned the several figures present: a corpse, an undead man, a doll, and the third one was his father - and he was also a corpse.

The Iron Lieutenant General finally realized belatedly that he was the only unlucky guy with a high number of people at the scene...

Duncan didn't pay attention to Tirian's suddenly subtle expression. After finally giving away the bag of things, he clapped his hands and turned to look at the magnificent planet next to him that was still floating quietly above the beach.

"This is just the beginning," he said to Agatha. "In the following days, more and more sun fragments will fall on the boundless sea, and there will be various 'lost stars' inside them. Core - and in the long night that follows, these sun fragments may be the only guarantee for the safety of many city-states."

Hearing Duncan's words, Agatha's expression quickly turned serious: "...So, the disintegration of the sun is inevitable, is that right?"

"Yes, although this sounds bad, it is indeed inevitable and will accelerate." Duncan nodded slightly. "Next, I will contact the Popes of the Four Gods to remind them to pay attention to those who have fallen. Luminous body on the endless sea and recover it in time.”

Tirian and Agatha fell silent at the same time.

In the days that followed, the world didn't know how many more sunrises it would see - the long night was about to fall, and even Tirian felt a little suffocated in the face of this fact.

While feeling this suffocation, Tirian immediately thought of something more.

He raised his head in deep thought and looked at Duncan: "...You just said that these falling debris may be the only guarantee for the safety of many city-states?"

"Fanna has received the revelation from the Storm Goddess, and I have also received information from the Holy Lord Yousu. According to the experience of Qingfeng Port, these sun fragments can indeed exert the same effect as Vision 001 in a small area. The 'protection' power," Duncan nodded slightly, "They cannot appease a large area of ​​​​the sea, but they can at least protect a city-state."

Tirian's expression gradually became heavy, and after a while, he softly said to himself: "...is it enough?"

His soft whisper fell on everyone's ears. Alice's expression was a little confused. Aiden and Agatha obviously realized what Tirian's "is it enough?" was referring to. Their expressions suddenly changed slightly and turned into dignified.

Duncan nodded slowly.

"I understand what you mean," he said in a deep voice, "Frankly speaking, no one knows how many fragments there will be by then, let alone whether they will be enough... But if there is no strong constraint, then even if there are enough fragments If there is too much, there will never be enough.”

"The Church will intervene, and our patrol fleets are spread across all shipping routes," Agatha said after a brief thought. "If the Church's fleet is not enough, the Frost Navy is also reliable." "But this is also the most optimistic scenario - frankly "I'm not used to facing the future with an overly optimistic attitude, especially when human nature needs to be tested." Tirian shook his head, "What if there are differences even in the church? When night falls, all tests will be unlimited. Zoom in...even the most loyal and upright people have their own positions."

Then they fell silent, and the atmosphere was a little depressing for a while.

Alice was still looking at this scene with some confusion. She looked at Tirian and Agatha, then looked up at the captain, and finally couldn't help but said: "What are you talking about?"

Duncan didn't answer, just raised his hand and gently pressed Alice's hair.

"We are worried that the sun fragments will not be enough to protect all city-states, or someone will want to occupy more 'sunshine'," Aiden said from the side. "After all... this is for survival."

In such a straightforward explanation, Alice finally understood what everyone was discussing.

The doll's eyes widened and she seemed a little at a loss - this was something she had never thought about before, a problem she had never faced before.

Tirian lowered his head and glanced at the paper bag in his hand with a complicated expression: "...By then, a northerner will really never be able to eat potato cakes from Breeze Port again."

Duncan shook his head and said softly to Alice: "Don't think about it, this is not something you have to consider. There have always been bad places in this world, and it's not just like this today."

After hearing the captain's words, Alice seemed to suddenly think of something and immediately raised her head: "Then... you will take action then, right? Just like what happened with Purander and Frost..."

Duncan did not answer, but Agatha quickly responded: "Yes - the Homeless Fleet, if you add your power, it will be easier to restrain various city-states and maintain basic order after nightfall, at least... not It will make the worst happen..."

Duncan still didn't answer, he just remained silent and noncommittal.

His reaction made Tirian realize something: "Aren't you going to take action?"

"No, I'm thinking about other things." Duncan shook his head slightly.

He turned around and stared quietly at the "lost star" floating in the sky. No one knew what he was thinking about in his silence at this moment. Even Tirian did not have the courage to speak at this time, and it was not until a long time later that he , Duncan withdrew his gaze and broke the silence softly: "If the worst day comes, I may need to do something that only I can do - it will probably take me far away, and it may take a long time."

At this moment, Tirian seemed to vaguely notice something, some kind of... intuitive omen that made him feel a hazy light and shadow shaking at the edge of his vision. For a very brief moment, he felt that his father's figure seemed to be standing on a It was a place so far away that he could never reach it. Even though they were so close now, there was some kind of invisible curtain that was gradually closing, as if to separate them in two time and space.

That invisible curtain... seemed to be filled with starlight.

But this feeling was fleeting, and Tirian felt that his thinking was interrupted for half a beat. When he tried to recall what he had just felt, there was only an endless emptiness left.

Duncan turned his head, and the only eyes exposed on his bandaged face contained a calm gaze.

"Don't worry too much. Even in the worst and worst situations, there will be a flame that lights up the world again. Difficult days are always temporary."

My father's words seemed to have a deeper meaning.

But Tirian didn't have the chance to ask more - a rising spiritual flame suddenly appeared on the beach, gradually outlining a vortex.

The father was ready to leave.

"I still have a lot to do," Duncan waved to Tirian, Aiden and Agatha. He stepped towards the flame and said at the same time, "put more energy into dealing with the coming night. Don’t think too much about it – besides, don’t worry about the cemetery area.”

The flames rose up, then shot into the sky like a retrograde meteor, quickly disappearing from Tirian and Agatha's sight.

(End of this chapter)