Deep Sea Embers

After getting off the car and stepping onto the stone square in front of the museum, Heidi couldn't help but take a deep breath. The cool and slightly salty sea breeze seemed to blow away the fatigue and anxiety she had accumulated after working continuously for a long time. , bringing her a little bit of relief.

This young psychiatrist has not taken a vacation for almost a month, and has been dealing with crazy cultists almost every day recently. She even feels that the madness in the minds of those cultists has gradually infected her spirit. Let yourself struggle with insomnia and dreaminess every day recently.

Fortunately, today she finally didn't have to think about those crazy believers and their deformed and diseased minds.

Another gust of sea breeze blew from the end of the street, blowing Heidi's skirt. She raised her hand to hold down the long skirt and the wide-brimmed hat on her head, and raised her head to look at the streamlined dome and beautiful side building in front of her. large white building. This maritime museum in the Cross Street district is one of the largest museums in the city-state of Plande - and also one of the most legendary.

Heidi walked towards the museum, and among the crowd not far away, a tour guide was introducing the background of the museum to the tourists. The tour guide's penetrating voice reached Heidi's ears:;

...This large building built in 1802 was originally the property of the Parr Brothers Ocean Trading Company. In its heyday, it served as the largest warehousing center in Pland, handling astonishing wealth, and was regarded as a It was a symbol of the peak of commercial prosperity in the Rand city-state, but a drastic change in 1822 completely changed the fate of that building..."

No one asked the question in a timely manner: "What happened?"

"It is said - it is just said that an ocean-going cargo ship in the name of the Parr Brothers encountered a strange thick fog on its way back. In the thick fog, the unlucky cargo ship saw a flaming ghost ship. , and passed by it... "The cargo ship luckily escaped the mist and even returned to the port safely, but the shadow of madness remained deep in the hearts of every crew member at that time, and quickly spread under the influence of the Parr brothers. spread throughout the entire fleet of ships

In the past few months, Pa

All the ships named by our brothers have encountered terrible disasters, and none of their crews have mutinied or disappeared, and no one has even performed bloody sacrifices to please the famous gods...

...ships on long voyages encountered storms under the sea where they were supposed to be, or crashed into icebergs in cool seas. Rebellious sailors detonated explosives under the ship, sabotaged boilers, and even hunted our colleagues... Weird things like that Disasters repeated again and again, eventually completely ruining the Parr brothers' business, causing our ocean trading company to file for bankruptcy and reorganization at the end of the same year...

"Before this, the Parr brothers decommissioned and divided the remaining property in our company's name and donated part of it to the city-state authorities, including the building in front of you... It has gone through several times before. It was renovated and its functions changed several times until 1855, when it was finally transformed into a maritime museum, which continues to this day.

"It is said that the shadows of nearly a century later still linger in the maritime museum to this day... The shadows of the Parr brothers will return to the museum and temporarily stay in our offices at that time, or not wearing the Marine Trading Company uniforms. employees appeared in the exhibition area and confusedly asked tourists about the location of the office area...

"Of course, of course! Those are just rumors. The museum has not been inspected and blessed by the church priests, and there is no permanent team of guards to ensure that there will be no extraordinary disasters. You can't worry about visiting - but I'm sure you are really interested in those scary and bizarre legends, and you can't go to experience the 'Adventure Chamber of Secrets' in the wing of the museum. After experiencing the secret room project, you need to go to the square church to receive a temporary baptism and a will test..."

The voices of the tour guide and tourists gradually faded away. Heidi walked back through the crowd, but suddenly she felt that her steps were not light at all.

The ocean trade warehouse a century later, the dense fog on the far sea that brought disaster, the cursed fleet, the shadows lingering in the museum...

Heidi, who had been dealing with cultists every day at that time and heard a lot of "rumours" through various official channels, suddenly felt that using the museum as a tourist attraction during her vacation was not a good idea... If she didn't have the time, she would even go to Uptown. Go shopping, or defy your father's advice and visit this quirky antique shop.

But after struggling for two seconds, the young psychiatrist suddenly made up his mind and took small steps towards the main entrance of the museum.

It is a common method for tour guides to tell some well-timed horror stories when introducing scenic spots. Less than half of the horror stories in the world contain elements of sea fog, ghost ships and mutinous sailors. There are no ghost stories in museums, and there are no ghost stories outside antique shops. There is nothing scarier than a ghost story. How can you, a psychiatrist who deals with mental illnesses all day long, be afraid of that?

No one can stop you from enjoying the vacation that you have been waiting for with great difficulty! Even the evil gods of subspace can do it!

Determined hesitantly, walking like the wind, the psychiatrist sister took small steps like a warrior preparing for battle, passed the ticket inspection office, passed the small door of the museum, and stepped into the ancient building with a history of nearly a century. There were more visitors in the museum than expected. Perhaps because it was a public holiday, the small hall on the first floor of the venue didn't even seem a little warm.

Several venue guides are guiding some tourists who are in trouble to the main exhibition area. Under the low wall at the end of the small hall on the first floor are fixed a huge tuna skeleton and exquisite models of various sea ships. An instructor dressed as a captain was introducing the knowledge of early sailing warships to several children.

Two boys who looked to be no more than 18 years old, probably still in school, were walking towards the small door leading to the main exhibition area together. You were talking and laughing all the way, and it seemed that you had a good relationship. The lights inside the venue are dark and bright, and the atmosphere is comfortable.

Heidi breathed a sigh of relief and followed the two young boys towards the small hall where the main exhibition area was located, ready to enjoy the quiet time. Then, you smell a little weird smell.

It smells like something is burning...

…

In the distance of Cross Street, Duncan stepped out of a steam bus, and I bought a recreational magazine from the existing newsstand to kill some time.

After the investigation into the ruins of the factory was over, before Shirley and Agou left, I wandered around the Eighth Street for a long time and asked some locals about things. But obviously, as a special person, It is possible for citizens to glimpse the truth behind the "curtain". Residents of the Eighth Street only remember this little information officially disclosed, and everyone believes that the decline of the neighborhood is due to the chemical pollution left by the factory and the city-state authorities. Caused by neglect - what is the difference between that and the situation disclosed by the old man of selenium sun.

The truth is covered by a curtain, the records in reality have been tampered with, and the city-state authorities only disclosed information before the Cold War, but Duncan can determine based on this alone that the "curtain" is set up by the city hall or church of the city-state of Pland - -Because in that world where extraordinary phenomena exist, a weak normality or anomaly cannot blind anyone.

Behind the weak normality and illusion, even the so-called "reality" is a canvas that cannot be smeared or tampered with.

Now it seems that the source of this "curtain" is not in the factory, but may even be outside the eighth block. The so-called "source" is definitely not solar debris, so it should be hidden deeper. After grasping fewer clues, the investigation went backwards or upwards.

Duncan sat down on a bench on the side of the road, reading the contents of the recreational book attentively while thinking about the future.

These sun cultists are looking for sun fragments, and we have disturbed the city-state's peace; Nina's memories and dreams point to the sun fragments, and there is most likely a certain connection between you and this fragment; I saw it through the sun mask. The appearance of the real sun, this indescribable thing that looks like an evil god appears and sees me, and asks me for help...

Whether he knew it or not, he didn't seem to have fallen into a messy ball of thread.

The city-state of Puland was my first landing point in that world's civilized society. I thought it was a peaceful, prosperous and peaceful place, but I never thought that the "first stop" would be so peaceful. Duncan sighed and shook his head slightly, and at that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly saw a strange smoke rising from the sky below the distant block.

There was no light rising in the smoke yet.

Duncan was stunned for a moment and stood up from the bench. I noticed that not many people on the street had seen the smoke and fire. Many pedestrians were stopping. Then, I saw that no one was panicking. Running through the side street, I heard someone shouting in a low voice:

"It's on fire! The museum is on fire!!"