Deep Sea Embers.

Chapter 847: Sunshine Route

Vanna stood on the highest tower of the Storm Cathedral. Through the open window, her eyes passed over the roof of the church, looking at the lights flickering in the depths of the clouds, the city buildings that were no longer the same as she remembered, and the distant sea.

The steam-powered pipes beside the spiral staircase of the tower made a slight hissing sound. The copper incense burner hung on the pipe valve, emitting wisps of smoke. The elderly Archbishop Valentine stood quietly by, his eyes pale and turbid due to the cessation of blood circulation, and he and Vanna looked into the distance.

After an unknown amount of time, Vanna finally broke the silence by whispering, "I still remember... I often stood on this tower before. Whenever night fell, I would look at every corner of Plande from here. At that time, the steam pipes would always hiss, and the smell of incense would calm me."

"It seems like it was not long ago," Archbishop Valentine said softly.

"Yes, it seems like it was not long ago," Vanna nodded gently, "The nights back then were always not peaceful. All kinds of things would emerge from the darkness and disturb the lives of ordinary people. I was full of confidence at that time, and felt that I could fight against all enemies that threatened the city-state - whether they were dark cultists or things summoned by the cultists."

The old archbishop said nothing more. He just lowered his eyes slightly and looked in the direction of the church garden. In the foggy night, vague roars and creepy chewing sounds came from that direction, as if some huge monster was trapped in the depths of the fog.

"Sister Tyene is eating again," Valentine said slowly. "At this time every day, she devours herself, and twenty-four hours later, she regenerates from the soil. There are twelve nuns and twelve priests in the garden. They linger near Sister Tyene and enter the small corridor next to the garden at certain times - the place you passed by when you took your daily walk."

Vanna sighed imperceptibly and whispered, "Will they run outside the church?"

"I've ordered the garden to be sealed off, but it doesn't matter if it's not sealed off," Valentine said. "Sister Tyene never leaves the garden, even when she's 'alive,' and those nuns and priests are not dangerous - there are shadows everywhere in the city that are more dangerous than them."

"My sword is useless." Vanna sighed.

"If there are wanderers trying to break through the high walls of the shelters, we will still need your force," Valentine shook his head. "There will be chaos of varying sizes in the city at any time. Sometimes people suddenly wake up in their homes, and sometimes blind wanderers break through the security of the safe zone. We have arranged a new 'night watch' to patrol and guard the city, but there are always times when we cannot take care of them. If you are willing, I think they will welcome you, the 'inquisitor', to come back and continue to lead them."

The old bishop paused for a moment and added, "Of course, you may need to get used to your old subordinates. Some of the Night's Watch have undergone... 'changes', which makes them look less like humans. But in this world today, having reason and humanity is already a precious thing."

"I don't mind," Vanna laughed and moved her arms slightly. "After all, it's higher than the 'manpower' on the Lost Homeland, isn't it? I'm happy to return to this familiar job - you can help me arrange it."

"That's good," Valentine also laughed, and the old man nodded. "I will gather the Night Watch at the next shift change and tell them the good news. Do you want to go back to your room and rest for a while? It's in good condition there, and someone is always cleaning it."

"Okay," Vanna said casually, but then she seemed to remember something and asked with some concern, "Is there anything I need to pay attention to?"

"Ignore the nagging of your dressing table, it's not a rational voice, and don't stare at the window for too long, it tends to grow eyes and nothing else."

"...Frankly, the situation is quite...'mild'."

Valentine shrugged helplessly, and at this moment, a glow that emerged from somewhere suddenly interrupted the words he was about to continue.

The two of them looked up in surprise at the same time, looking for the source of the glow.

There was a cold and pale light in the clouds, which was the radiance that shone from the World's Creation. As the height of the clouds had dropped, the "scar" that spanned the entire sky was now completely on the back of the clouds, and it was difficult to see clearly from the ground. Only in the brightest and thinnest gaps in the World's Creation could one occasionally see part of the structure of the crack.

And now, they saw a strange light appearing between the gaps in the clouds.

It was not a cold and pale glow, but a faint orange-yellow glow that mixed with the original light of the creation of the world, and even for a moment made people think of the long-lost...sunshine.

Fanna was a little stunned. She looked up in the direction of the Creation of the World and finally saw the huge "scar" through a crack in the low-hanging clouds. The strange orange light that reminded her of sunlight was actually emanating from the edge of the Creation of the World.

It looked... as if a strong light source was exploding "behind" the Creation of the World. That light source was blocked by the crack in the sky, so only a very small amount of residual light escaped from the edge of the crack, dimly spreading in the sky.

Valentine also had the same association instantly. The old bishop looked at the sky blankly with astonishment on his face: "What is that thing..."

Fanna did not answer the old man, and the next moment, the orange light emanating from behind the Creation of the World gradually dimmed until it was completely extinguished.

Then after a while, the orange light lit up again and filled the sky.

The invisible powerful light source flickered, like a navigation light in the night.

The whole world can see this.

Even all dimensions can see this scene.

At the end of the world, at the "border node" where the gods sleep, the dim and false sunlight once dispelled the mist, shining on the palace of Queen Leviathan, the server matrix of Pilot No. 2, the Ash Island of the Fire King, and the tomb of death.

In the deepest part of the abyss, the out-of-controlly proliferating Pilot No. 1 was slowly wriggling at the bottom of the abyss. The huge swarm of nanomachines almost filled every inch of space under the broken land. Between the countless out-of-control tentacles, the dim sunlight suddenly dispelled the darkness and shone on the dark red core of Pilot No. 1.

On the far northern ice field of the Infinite Sea, ice sculptures stood quietly beside the huge archive building. The Firebringers were frozen on the ice field. The tallest one among them was still looking towards the south before freezing.

The distant and dim "sunshine" flickered. Even after being blocked and weakened by the creation of the world, it still cast a layer of glittering glow on those frozen faces, as if it would be deeply imprinted in every pair of frozen eyeballs.

This sunlight is poisonous. To the mortal creatures in the boundless sea, bathing in such sunlight is no different than being immersed in the whispers of the Warp.

But with the barrier and weakening of the Creation of the World, its impact on the mortal world has been reduced to a minimum - even if there is still some "poison", that impact can be ignored.

What's more, the world itself is already deeply mired in distortion and twisting - in the face of the collapse of all things, the brilliance of the black sun is not much more serious than the decline of the world itself.

And so, for the first time, the exiled sun began to shine in its full glory—burning at last at last, after such a long exile, after all those sons and remnants of the sun who had craved his light but could not, had vanished into history.

The sunlight permeated the jump channel, outlining a bright and clear "light trail" in the extremely uniform gray-white background.

Duncan felt a slight shaking under his feet. Alice was fine-tuning the jump process and began to readjust the course according to the navigation signal released by the black sun.

Duncan narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the light at the end of the passage - here there was no obstruction from the Creation of the World, the sunlight came across time and space, and it even looked a little dazzling.

"I will light a lighthouse for you. In the night sky, you must sail towards the brightest direction..."

A civilization that created a Dyson sphere may not have developed to the same technological level as the "A New Hope", but they obviously already know how to make their own voices in the universe, and at least can create a signal sufficient to navigate a starship.

"I see the light. We are heading in your direction. This should shorten the distance of the Lost Homeland," Duncan said to the sunlight. He knew that the Black Sun could hear his voice in this way. "How are you doing now?"

"The burning process was so hot that I felt like I was boiling in the flames. It was painful, but it was good," Black Sun's voice trembled in the sunlight. "This was the first time in ten thousand years that I really burned. I thought I would be completely unable to endure it, but... this was good."

"In the new world, you can coexist harmoniously with your own sunshine without the pain of being burned by yourself," Duncan said with a smile on his face, "there will be a rule that allows this to happen."

“…Can you do this?”

"Yes, this is a one-time opportunity to customize a new world," Duncan said slowly, "You can even request some value-added services - such as changing your sunshine to pink."

"Ahaha, that's not necessary, but if it's okay, I do have an extra idea..."

"Oh?"

"Can you give me a few more planets? Gaseous or rocky ones are fine... It might be a very relaxing thing to observe the evolution of life on different planets."

"Okay, I'll make a note of that - this wish will come true after Alice's frying pan."

"That's a real honor."

(End of this chapter)