Deep Sea Embers

Devout people often waver twice. The first time is when they question their beliefs, and the second time is when they question their beliefs, but the gods still send blessings.

The noise, densely superimposed, far and near, faint but real noise, began to ring in Fanna's mind, like tinnitus, and she recalled the projection of the goddess she saw in the illusion, and The incomprehensible words the goddess said to herself, she no longer accepted all of them without thinking as before, but began to think seriously, ponder the meaning of these words, and even try to guess Gemona's... intention.

And the more she thought, the more obvious the fine noise in her head became, making it difficult for her to concentrate.

But suddenly, all the noise disappeared again, and she shook her head in a trance, but she was looking at Bishop Valentine with some concern.

"Are you okay?" the old man said with some concern.

"I'm... not bad," Fan Na tapped her forehead lightly, and then looked at the elder with some strangeness, "You too..."

"When the last bell rang, I was shaken... There is nothing to hide, after all, I don't have the perfect will like those saints who are enshrined in the temple," Valentine shook his head, frankly He said to Fan Na, "I wonder why the pollution and infiltration of those final missionaries can reach such a level, why the cathedral's shelter still can't stop the sacrifices of those sun heretics—why the crisis has spread for more than ten years, The goddess never warned us once..."

He listened, turned around, and stared quietly at the icon of Gomona, and the cold stone statue looked down on him, as silent as ever.

"When I woke up again, I was terribly ashamed. I knew that I had made the biggest mistake in "Storm Codex". I took the protection of the gods as a panacea, which shook my will, but even so, these doubts still linger. Root down, until now."

"...the enemy has infiltrated and breached the barrier from the inside. They have been planning for many years. This is a sneak attack that is difficult to resist," Fanna said calmly after a moment of silence, "Heretics always sneak in, it is not It means that the authority of the goddess can be easily subverted."

"I understand this truth," Valentine laughed, "so I said, even if I am a little shaken, I am still devout, because the goddess really protects our world, this love is real, but ...I have some extra thoughts."

"Thinking is heresy, Bishop Valentine," Fanna said with a serious face, but then she sighed, as if talking to herself, "It's the same for me."

"Then consider this a test," Valentine said softly, "for both of us."

Fan Na didn't say anything, just came to the statue of the goddess, lowered her head slightly, and prayed silently as usual.

And not long after, a burst of footsteps suddenly broke the tranquility in the Great Cathedral.

Fanna woke up from the prayer. She looked up to the direction of the sound, and saw a middle-aged priest in clerical robes walking quickly. The priest first saluted the icon, and then handed over a document Handed it to Valentine: "Archbishop, here is the report you want."

Valentine nodded his thanks, took the document, and after quickly flipping through a few pages, the expression on his face became weird.

"What's that?" Fan Na was curious when she saw it, "What's written on it?"

"...it was the initial investigation of the city-state's current situation after the disaster... from the city hall," Valentine frowned, seeming a little hesitant, but in the end he gave the document directly to Fanna, "You can read it yourself."

Fan Na took the document suspiciously, and knew what it was after seeing the beginning—the initial damage report, something she was very familiar with, including whether there were any defects and changes in various parts of the city-state after the disaster, whether there were any missing persons or The "increase" of personnel, is there any area with residual extraordinary power... the previous content is nothing, basically it means that all parts of the city-state have been reset to the state before the disaster, but the latter content made her instantly understand Bishop Valentine What's the matter with the weird look.

"...a merchant in the dock area reported that a large number of french fries disappeared mysteriously, and there was ketchup on the loss report..." The young judge raised his head with a blank expression, and looked at Valentine, who was facing the same blank expression, "...seriously ?”

"Why don't you lead the team to ask in person?" Valentine's mouth trembled. "Theoretically, no one would dare to falsify this kind of report."

Fan Na held the report in her hand, and was silent for a while.

After holding back for a long time, she finally said: "Why does this kind of content appear in such a serious report..."

Valentine was expressionless: "There is a whole squadron of guards who have been monitoring the French fries at the pier—why do you say?"

Fanna: "..."

"...All in all, the 'something' mentioned in the report is the only loss in the city-state known so far," Valentine sighed, then seemed to hesitate for a moment before looking into Vanna's eyes, " Otherwise, you can ask directly next time you meet."

Fan Na was taken aback: "Ask? Ask who?"

"...What do you think?"

Fanna: "..."

After a while, the young judge finally couldn't help but rubbed his forehead: "I feel that my thoughts are a little discontinuous. Make sure, we should discuss some serious things here, isn't that right?"

"I can't even connect." Valentine said with a straight face.

Fan Na was speechless, but a strange thought suddenly occurred to her—if this is also the "influence" of that ghost captain, then he...in a certain sense is indeed quite scary.

At this moment, another sound of footsteps suddenly came from the door, interrupting Fanna and Valentine's thoughts again—a priest walked quickly to the icon.

"The archbishop, the judge, there is news from the port area..."

The priest saluted and spoke quickly, but just in the middle of his speech, Fanna couldn't help interrupting him when she heard the word "port area": ​​"Stop, we already know about the French fries , there is no need to report it twice!"

"...French fries?" The priest was a little taken aback, looking at the usually calm and respectable judge in bewilderment, "What fries?"

"Ah... aren't you going to report on the French fries?" Fan Na was a little embarrassed when she saw the situation, and quickly coughed twice to cover it up, "I thought it was another report... Don't worry about it, just keep talking. What happened to the port area?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart: it would be better if it wasn't French fries - at least I don't have to have anything to do with that scary ghost captain anymore.

The priest who came to report nodded with a serious face: "There is news from the port area that the Seamist is applying to enter the port-Tirion Abu Nomar hopes to contact the cathedral as soon as possible. related news."

Fan Na suddenly burst into an earth-shattering cough.

The priest was taken aback by this movement: "... Your Excellency the Judge?"

"I'm fine," Fanna finally stopped coughing after a lot of effort. She felt that since the Lost Homeland had made its rounds in the city stately, this place seemed to be different everywhere. She couldn't tell. But it seems that many things around are changing—she even wants to attribute the fifteen minutes late morning sun to the ghost ship, "Sea Mist? I know we did send a ship to its owner. Had a letter, but never got around to it..."

"The Sea Mist has indeed come, and it seems that it has arrived in the waters off Pratland long before the 'disaster'," the priest nodded immediately and said, "It's just that according to the news from that ship, it encountered an unexpected accident in the eastern waters. Xiang, and a fierce battle broke out, due to power damage, it had to be overhauled, and the sailing ability was restored last night."

"A battle broke out with the Lost Home?!" Fan Na finally looked serious, realizing the importance of the matter, she turned to look at Valentine, "I have to go there myself."

"Alright," Valentine nodded immediately, "The Sea Mist is a special ship. Although it belongs to 'my own', the members on that ship are likely to cause panic among ordinary people on the pier—you bring it yourself. The team went to greet them, and it should be able to appease the emotions of ordinary people."

Fan Na agreed, and quickly left the Great Church.

The Sea Mist has arrived—although it was a little later than expected, this huge battleship shrouded in a legendary aura and frightening curse legends still arrived at the city-state of Purand that sent out the distress letter as agreed. The fearsome steel battleship is slowly approaching the trestle bridge dedicated to mooring large ships under the instructions of the dock guide, and some people who have received the news gather near the dock, looking nervously and curiously at the appearance of the giant steel beast.

Soon, the people near the pier realized that this majestic steel warship arrived at the port after a fierce battle.

It is full of scars, three of the six main guns have disappeared, and there are horrible gaps left after being directly "dug" out by something on the ship's side, and the bridge has also been destroyed by one third. Human scars spread from the side of the bridge to the main armor belt, and even near the waterline on the side of the ship, several terrifying holes could be seen.

If these damages were placed on an ordinary battleship, it would be enough to sink several times.

But the Sea Mist is still floating tenaciously on the surface of the sea. There seems to be life in the cavities in its abdomen. The soft and metallic material has already blocked the leak, and the seawater that seeps into the bottom tank is continuously being discharged. Outside the ship—the water pump of the Sea Mist has been shut down, so the sea water seeps directly from the side of the hull, as if... a person is sweating.

This is an advanced steel battleship, and it is also a cursed ship with abnormalities everywhere—everyone standing near the pier can clearly see the characteristics of the "living creature" displayed by that ship, so the onlookers There is more horror in the curiosity, and there are whispers everywhere.

It wasn't until several mighty steam walkers appeared on the pier that Fanna's tall figure made many people quiet down.