Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 791: The Rotten Future

In the boundless and empty chaos, the deformed and distorted sun burned quietly, and the flesh and blood under the false corona accumulated into chilling "stars", and it was completely unrecognizable what the accumulations should have looked like.

Black Sun, Creeping Sun Disc, Real Sun God... Behind so many names, what exactly should it be and what did it used to be?

Is it the star that was once enveloped by the Dyson sphere? Is it the civilization that built that Dyson sphere? Or is it "evidence" that all those things once existed?
The Black Sun seems to be the most special "ancient god" Duncan has ever encountered in this world. It is a huge mixture, a creation of a glorious civilization, a star that shelters civilization, and that civilization itself. Together, they have accumulated and mutated into its current appearance. This may be one of the reasons why its "decay" process is faster than that of other ancient gods.

Its "essence" was falling apart from the very beginning.

Duncan still did not agree to the ancient god's request, because he still had concerns about this deformed star - he could feel that the Black Sun seemed to be hiding many secrets. This ancient god who seemed to be "exiled" outside the boundless sea... seemed to know a lot of information that even the four gods did not know, which was very suspicious.

However, the other party was obviously not ready to reveal these secrets now, so Duncan had no intention of asking further questions. Just as Black Sun himself said - although the end of the world is near, they still have a little time to consider, weigh the pros and cons, and establish the necessary understanding and trust.

"I can't promise you yet," Duncan said, telling the other party his thoughts. "I still don't know you well enough, and more importantly... I'm still not completely sure about the plan to reshape the world. At least before I'm sure of these, I can't make any promises to you."

"I understand." A low, layered tremor came from the interior of the Black Sun. "Then go and verify your plan and find your way... You will eventually come to me. I have confidence in this."

Duncan raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything else. He was just a little curious: "Will you keep this 'projection' here forever? If I want to find you, can I just come here?"

"It is difficult for me to enter the inner layer of the shelter with my power, and even if I force my way in, it will endanger the mortal world. But here, my activities are not restricted, and I don't have to worry about anything," Black Sun explained patiently. "I will leave this projection behind, and as long as you are still at the 'border', you can call me at any time... I can hear you."

Duncan nodded gently: "Okay, I understand."

In the boundless chaos, the black sun trembled slightly and then became quiet. Although Duncan had not yet agreed to its request, it seemed that this was the result it wanted - the tentacles burned by the corona curled up quietly, and the huge single eye drooped slightly, slowly being wrapped by flesh and blood for one third. This seemed to be a "resting" posture.

"It's so quiet..." Just when Duncan thought that the conversation was over, he suddenly heard the deformed sun muttering to itself like a dream, "I feel like I haven't felt this kind of 'quiet' for a long, long time... Even the scorching heat of the flames seems to have become something I can bear."

Duncan was stunned for a moment, and soon understood what the other party meant by "silence". He looked at it with a complicated expression: "...Now you can't hear the voices of those who prayed and sacrificed to you."

“Yes, I can’t hear them anymore, as if they had never existed,” Black Sun said softly, “This… should be the result I have been expecting.”

Duncan tried to discern the emotions from the other person's tone. He wanted to know whether Black Sun was relaxed or felt a little sad when he said these words, but in the end he couldn't discern anything from the overly calm voice.

He just had a better understanding and thought about the "corruption" of gods.

"...When the 'rot' reaches its final stage, what will happen?" He suddenly asked, "Will you disappear? Or will you fall into a state where...although you exist, you can no longer establish a 'connection' with everything? Just like you said...forgotten by the world?"

"I don't know, because no ancient god has ever entered the final stage of decay, and no one knows what will happen then," Black Sun said slowly, "but it is foreseeable that the world in the shelter will continue to 'slide' in this process...

"Long ago, we used our knowledge and memories to create the 'materials' used to build shelters from the burning ashes of the Great Annihilation. However, the shelters built with these 'materials' will sooner or later collapse with the 'corruption' of the gods - that is when we gradually forget everything about the old world and when we gradually decay away.

"One day, the ocean will forget what waves look like, life will forget how to die, fire will not remember how to burn, the wind will stop flowing, and clouds will fall from the sky to the sea... Even if the 'sun' built by Pilot No. 1 rises again in the sky, it cannot stop the collapse of the foundation of the world..."

Duncan listened quietly to what Black Sun said, but in his mind he recalled the palace on the Black Stone Island and the Queen Leviathan who died quietly in the palace.

In order to prevent her "decay" from spreading to the real dimension, she imprisoned her "death" in the time stream within the palace... However, even this "imprisonment" has now come to an end.

"This sounds like an ending as bleak as the end of fire," Duncan said with a hint of emotion.

"The end of time is always dim, just like the most brilliant stars will eventually cool down and die," Black Sun said softly, "Not to mention that since the day this Sanctuary World was born, the 'rot' of the gods has been accompanying its entire history. There have always been things peeling off from the real dimension, and who can notice... that they have disappeared."

Duncan listened silently, and suddenly his heart skipped a beat. He noticed the last sentence the other party said: "...What does this mean?"

Black Sun was silent for a few seconds, then slowly asked, "Do you remember how many intelligent races there are in the Infinite Ocean?"

Duncan was startled when he heard this. He didn't know why his mind was dazed for a moment, but he still spoke subconsciously: "I remember there were four races..."

He stopped suddenly.

"Which four?" Black Sun asked in a low and calm voice.

Duncan did not answer. He had already understood what had happened. A huge shock echoed in his heart, and for a moment he did not know how to start.

After a brief silence, Black Sun's voice remained calm: "You still remember that they existed, but you don't know who they are or what they look like. I also remember that they existed, but I can't remember what they looked like... because those who should have remembered them have forgotten them in the slow but irresistible "rot", and in the end, the world "corrected" this result... at the cost of the operating life of the shelter.

"Fire Usurper, this is what has been happening in our world. It has happened before and it is still happening now. The disappearance of the 'Black Sun' from the eyes of the world is just a trivial part of this repetitive process of collapse.

"There's nothing to be sad about. Death and oblivion are always like this."

……

With the creaking sound of door hinges turning, the door leading to the outside of Alice's mansion gradually closed, and the false but brilliant sunlight was blocked outside the door, as if it had never existed from the beginning.

On both sides of the hall, the tall and narrow glass windows seemed to be covered with a layer of black stains, and thorny shadows were entangled and blocked the windows. Through those windows, no shadow of the sunlight could be seen at all - as if the sunlight was just a "concept" shining on the door, and it would only appear outside the building when the door of the mansion was opened.

Duncan returned to the dim hall and stood silently in this overly quiet building for a long time before he let out a sigh of relief.

Alice stood quietly beside him. Miss Doll looked at this side with some worry, and then looked back at the direction of the door a little nervously.

She seemed to have a lot of questions in her mind, but she didn't know what to ask specifically.

"I didn't understand what you were talking about with that 'Black Sun'," she scratched her head and said honestly, "but from your expression... it seems that the topic is quite serious and heavy."

Duncan looked back at the doll lady, and after a moment, his tense expression suddenly relaxed a little.

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand," he smiled and reached out to touch Alice's hair, "These are all things I should consider."

"Oh," Alice nodded, but then she had a new question, "Then will you agree to what the Black Sun told you about... the location of the new world or something."

Although she couldn't understand most of the communication between the captain and Black Sun, she understood at least one part, which was that Black Sun seemed to have something to ask of the captain.

Duncan fell silent. Under the clear gaze of Miss Doll, he thought seriously.

"I don't know yet, but I'm very interested in the evidence it holds about the 'New World'," he said slowly, "and I'm also very concerned about another thing..."

Alice tilted her head. "Another thing?"

"Black Sun, where exactly is its true form hidden?" Duncan gently reached out his hand and straightened Alice's head, which was tilting. "I'm becoming more and more curious about this."

Alice listened with a vague understanding: "Then...we should go find its true form?"

"No," Duncan smiled and shook his head, "That's for the future. We still have work to do now."

"Business?"

Duncan's expression was subtle: "...Analysis route, have you forgotten?"

"Well, I forgot!"

(End of this chapter)