Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 837: Clouds Fall
When that day comes, 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 into the sea - that is the final curtain of the world's sinking, the exiled, from outside the world, watching the existence of this shelter with cold eyes, and so seeing through the future of all things.

All over the world, clouds are falling from the sky - or, strictly speaking, a certain "layer" that includes the "element" of "cloud layer" is simultaneously lowering its altitude from the sky.

The descending clouds were like another flowing sea, gradually closing in the sky above the world. Some of the low-hanging parts extended to the ground or the sea surface, turning into a hazy curtain like mist, while more structures floated hundreds or even dozens of meters above people's heads. The layers of the sky stopped at this height and continued the extremely slow "descent" process that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Fram stood in the ice field under the night sky, looking up at the sky with rolling clouds. It was so close now, separated by a thin layer of fog, as if he could touch the magnificent clouds as long as he raised his hand. The cold light of the Creation of the World diffused through the gaps between the clouds, coating the curtain with a layer of mercury. To be honest... it was beautiful.

It is so magnificent that it is breathtaking and makes one's soul tremble slightly.

Priestess Delis stood beside Fram, looking up at the wonder in the sky with the Pope. They had been staring at it for a long time, and so were many people on the ice field. All of them seemed to be grabbed by the neck by some invisible force, maintaining the same posture, stiff on the ice field as if frozen. But suddenly, many people began to react, looking around in panic, and many eyes were focused on Fram.

"Your Holiness..." Delis finally broke the silence, her voice hoarse, "Next..."

"Keep doing our work," Frame's voice boomed, his voice as calm as ever, echoing across the plain. "Build archives, move artifacts, preserve our legacy - while this world lasts, our work is not done."

The Pope's voice was steady and powerful, like a huge rock standing on an ice field, suppressing the fluctuations in everyone's hearts. The Fire Bearers were silent for a moment, then lowered their heads. They no longer paid attention to the changes in the sky, but continued to work on building the archives.

Frame exhaled slightly at a moment when no one noticed. As his heart beat weaker and weaker, he looked into the distance again, toward the flowing clouds.

Against the extreme gray-white background, the huge hull of the Lost Homeland is floating quietly in the "jump channel". Due to the lack of reference elements, the ship seems to be completely still in the center of the channel, but Duncan is very clear that he and his ship are speeding at a speed far beyond human imagination.

The Lost Homeland has crossed the end of the world. In a sense, it has truly "left the Infinite Sea" - left the small protective cage built by the ancient kings. Outside this seemingly peaceful passage is a place where order has ceased to exist... a burning and chaotic cemetery of ashes after the destruction of all worlds.

Duncan felt that the connection between himself and the Boundless Sea was gradually weakening. On the second day when Alice took the helm and controlled the Lost Homeland towards the "Sea of ​​Ashes", he could hardly hear the voices transmitted by his two "incarnations". Until now, he could only keep those incarnations awake for a short period of time every day - and could only perform limited actions during the awake period.

There are many reasons for the weakening of this connection. On the one hand, it is because his own "change" is further deepening. On the other hand, the actual "distance" between the Lost Homeland and those incarnations is lengthening. The remaining reason... may be related to the Sea of ​​Ashes mentioned by Lenora and the special environment in the Sea of ​​Ashes.

The only good news was that the "enhanced mark" he had left on Nina and the others specifically for maintaining contact in such situations was still effective. Because the function of the mark was extremely specialized and simple, it was not affected much by the above changes, and he was still able to contact his crew members.

After completing today's routine inspection, Duncan was strolling on the Lost Homeland. He walked through the empty corridors, passed the quiet stairs, and came to the empty deck - Alice was at the stern at this time, steering the ship. Without the company of the doll, the ship in front of him seemed to have completely returned to its appearance when he first arrived here.

There was no one everywhere and everything was quiet. This was the scene he saw when he pushed open the door of the lost home for the first time.

Of course, things have changed a bit - back then there wasn't as much noise in his mind as there is now.

"Hey, Captain, let me tell you, we took away a lot of good things from that lighthouse! That woman named Helena was so nice, she let me move everything in the warehouse, and I found a lot of beautiful skirts... I don't know why a person like her would collect beautiful skirts... It's a pity that I can't wear them, they are two sizes too big..."

The uncultured and rude voice belonged to Shirley.

"Uncle Duncan, everything is fine here. Nello and I have become good friends. I even sewed a little dress for her... You must take good care of yourself on the boat. You must also eat on time when Alice is at the helm. I left a lot of biscuits and jam in the kitchen..."

This sensible and gentle voice belongs to Nina.

"Captain, I haven't been lazy these past two days. Miss Lucrecia can testify that I have already started helping her crew members clean the decks and corridors. I haven't been so diligent even when I was on the White Oak..."

This hoarse voice belongs to a sailor.

"Dad, don't listen to his nonsense. He was forced to work by Luni. He slept in the warehouse all day long and even tried to seduce my servants to sleep with him. Luni couldn't stand it... This guy even asked me to pay him a daily wage on the grounds that his work on the Brilliant Star was not part of the contract!"

This resentful voice belonged to Lucrecia.

Duncan stopped on the middle deck, listening to the noisy noises in his mind with some helplessness, and finally couldn't help but said: "It sounds like it's quite lively there."

"With Shirley here, the place is as lively as a battlefield," Lucrecia's resentful voice sounded in Duncan's mind, "She can also instigate others to make trouble with her. Yesterday, she even tricked Neelu into crawling into the bedside table. I had to tear down the whole cabinet to rescue the little girl! How can you tolerate this normally?"

"I think it's fine normally," Duncan thought for a moment and said seriously, "The boat is too quiet, so a little bit of liveliness is good - of course this might be a bit too stimulating for you."

Lucrecia sighed: "Alas, the most exciting thing is the movement of Miss Vanna's morning exercise... Of course, I can't say which one is more exciting, that or Nina's surprises."

Listening to his daughter's resentful chatter, Duncan pulled the corners of his mouth subtly. Thinking back, he had to admit that the chaos on the Lost Hometown seemed to be a bit serious...

Then, a short while later, he heard Morris' voice again.

"Captain, how's the situation over there?"

"The Lost Homeland is still in the 'channel,'" Duncan raised his head and glanced at the situation outside the ship's side. "To be honest, it's hard for me to analyze where the ship is from the perspective of 'distance' or 'route'. Even Alice herself can't be sure - but one thing is certain, we are moving closer to the coordinate signal sent by Lenora, and Alice can still feel it."

"...I never thought that the person who usually looked the least reliable on the ship would be doing the most important thing now," Shirley couldn't help but mutter, "In the end, it turned out that she was the one who accompanied you to the end of the world..."

As soon as Shirley finished speaking, everyone else fell silent. After two or three seconds, Duncan heard Shirley's loud chatter: "Hey, why are you guys reacting like that? Alice isn't as reliable as me! I'm usually so honest and obedient... Nina, don't turn your head away!"

Duncan simply ignored what Shirley was saying.

"What's the situation on the vast sea?"

There was silence on the other side for two or three seconds, and then Morris' voice came: "As we reported earlier today, the clouds have fallen from the sky - now the entire vast sea is covered with a thin layer of 'fog', and above the fog are low-pressure clouds... Frankly speaking, if you don't know what this scene means, it is indeed a magnificent spectacle."

"The good news is that apart from the lowering of the cloud cover, nothing worse has happened. At least the ship's navigation has not been affected," Vanna's voice came next. "We are now sailing in the direction of Plande. Miss Lucrecia plans to send us there first, and then she will return to Breeze Harbor with the Brilliant Star and stay there until the end.

“In addition, we have also contacted Mr. Tirian. After arriving in the central sea, a ‘Sun Fleet’ will depart from Plunder and head north. Miss Agatha will transfer to that ship to Frost.

"As for the 'sailor', Captain Lawrence who stayed in Phaeren has also made arrangements. He will contact the administrators of the city-state union later - if the union can still operate normally by then - and then send the sailor to Phaeren, where he will meet up with the White Oak.

"And if the operation of the city-state union has run into problems by then, the White Oak will go to Plande in person to pick up the sailors."

Vanna paused for a few seconds before continuing to speak slowly -

"Captain, please rest assured that we will do a good job and will not let you down."

(End of this chapter)