Deep Sea Embers

counterfeit.

Nemo Wilkins There was an unconcealable horror on his face.

Even the old ghost, whose mind is sometimes sober and sometimes confused, felt the horror behind this grotesque phenomenon-he kept talking about the queen and the queen's guard, with a restless look on his face, and it took a long time before he calmed down.

And after that, what Nemo felt was anger.

He couldn't accept that the "crow" who had followed him for many years died in such an unexplained way—even more he couldn't accept that the latter was made into a duplicate, and the duplicate was lying in front of him. This was obviously a tribute to the deceased. kind of insult.

"There are shadows of the Annihilation Cultists behind this incident. The guards in the city should have started a large-scale search, and it is estimated that some progress will be made soon." Duncan noticed Nemo's mood changes and said, "But even if we find Those Annihilation Cultists may not be able to solve the problem fundamentally—what is hidden behind those cultists is the source."

"Things hidden behind those cultists?" Nemo suddenly woke up from his anger, as if he suddenly thought of something, "Behind them... Could it be possible that this matter also involves the existence of gods?"

It was Fan Na who answered him: "Replicas are constantly gushing out from the deep sea, even the Frost Queen 50 years ago couldn't solve this crisis - you think this kind of thing is a group of heretics Can it be done?"

"There are clues that this matter has involved the Youshen Lord," Morris continued, "His power, and even some of his limbs, may have appeared in the real world—but don't ask about the specifics."

It is not a good thing for ordinary people to have too much contact with the information pointing to the gods.

Nemo heard a hint of warning from the old scholar's tone, he immediately came to his senses and nodded vigorously: "I understand...I won't ask any more."

He didn't want to be strangled to death in the dream by a tentacle of the Lord of the Deep when he was dreaming in the middle of the night just because he heard something he shouldn't have heard.

Fan Na bent down and inspected the body of "Crow" on the ground.

This fake is lifelike, at least from the outside, it still maintains almost the same appearance as the real one, only the dirty black "mud" is seeping out little by little around its edge, it seems that the disintegration process has just begun.

This is also the first time that Duncan has seen the process of a fake from completeness to disintegration from an onlooker's perspective, and this information is also invaluable to him.

He stretched out his hand and looked through the pocket of the "crow" coat - the previous piece of paper on which the mysterious "hyeroglyphic narrative" was transcribed was placed in this pocket.

The pocket is empty inside, and the inside is also gradually disintegrating.

Fan Na stretched out her hand, and the water vapor in the air quickly condensed into an ice blade, and a dagger appeared in her hand. She used the improvised dagger to open the clothes near the "crow"'s chest, and found that the inner layer of the clothes was strangely flocculent. , the inter-adhesive fibers and clumps are blurred together, presenting a state of fusion with the deeper flesh and skin structure.

"That piece of paper hasn't been copied...the inside of the clone is in a typical state of confusion...no blood..." Duncan muttered to himself, and then reached out to touch the black mud that was slowly wriggling on the ground next to him Substance, but saw the latter shrink suddenly, fading to the side as if alive, "...these things haven't solidified yet, but the speed of peristalsis is slowing down."

He stood up slowly, and sighed softly: "There is nothing to check, let's purify it to avoid future troubles. Fanna, you all step back."

Upon hearing this, Fanna quickly stepped back a few steps to the side. At the same time, she pulled Alice, who was still unclear, back, and old Mr. Morris also backed away.

Seeing this, Nemo and the old ghost also backed away—although they didn't know why Fanna and the others were suddenly so nervous.

Then they know.

A cluster of dark green flames suddenly appeared at Duncan's feet, and immediately afterward, the flames swooped towards the "fake" not far away as if they smelled the predators of the prey - the flames soared into the air, and the crackling sound of extraordinary firewood burning The continuous ringing sounded, and the corpse formed by the strange black mud was burned to a piece of ashes almost instantly. While the flames were burning, the gas lamps on the surrounding walls, the lanterns carried by the old ghost and Nemo seemed to be stained. Layers of green!

The whole process actually lasted less than a few seconds, but Nemo was already breaking out in a layer of cold sweat—when the flame rose into the air, great fear filled his body and mind, and he even felt that his soul was dying. He must resonate in front of the flame and ignite spontaneously, so that when the flame disappears, he even feels lucky to survive the disaster.

Duncan turned his head and looked at the people who almost hid in the corner of the other side of the corridor: "The burning is over... What are you guys doing hiding so far? Why don't you take a few steps back?"

"I have a psychological shadow on this stuff." Van Nat said bluntly.

Duncan: "..."

He stood awkwardly for a while, then touched the bandage near the tip of his nose, turned and walked further into the corridor: "Ahem, let's go, see what else is ahead."

Several people stepped up to catch up with Duncan, while Nemo looked at the burly figure walking in the front with lingering fear, and after walking a few steps, he turned back to the old ghost who was following him: "Say... Captain Tirian Will he also be afraid of his father?"

But the old ghost didn't seem to hear it. He just walked forward and looked up at the front as if distracted. It wasn't until Nemo couldn't help calling him two more times that he suddenly muttered: "Then Fire... I've seen it before..."

Nemo was stunned for a moment: "Have you seen it? You said you have seen the flame just now? Where did you see it?"

But the old ghost didn't answer again. He hung a rope and held a crowbar in his hand. He walked forward unhurriedly like a sleepwalker. Then he seemed to suddenly remember something, and he caught up and walked ahead. Duncan and Alice muttered: "The queen is ahead, hurry up, hurry up..."

Nemo looked at the back of the old ghost, scratched his hair, and couldn't help muttering: "Okay, I'm sick again..."

After an unknown period of time, the team stopped again.

There is no way ahead.

A pile of collapsed boulders and semi-molten steel wreckage completely blocked the road ahead-and it seemed that it had been blocked for half a century.

"This is the end of this corridor," Nemo said, pointing to the collapsed area in front of it. "This was blown up when the Queen's Guard retreated back then. The entire collapsed area is probably several hundred meters long, and it is impossible for anyone to pass through."

"This is the end... But we didn't find anything along the way..." Fan Na couldn't help frowning, and looked back at the direction the team came from, "I didn't even find the 'fake' movement left behind. trace."

Duncan didn't speak. He came to the collapsed ruins and carefully observed the stacked stones, cement and steel, frowning tightly, without saying a word.

Seeing this, Alice couldn't help coming over: "What are you looking for?"

"There may be gaps or tunnels," Duncan said casually, "people can't get through, but mud-like fluids can seep through small holes."

"Do you suspect... that fake first infiltrated the collapsed area in the form of a fluid 'element', and then condensed into a human form and fell down in the corridor?" Morris quickly understood what Duncan meant, but in his mind The picture he imagined made his skin crawl, "This sounds...it's really chilling."

Duncan didn't speak. He took two steps back, raised his head again, and looked at the end of the corridor that had been completely blocked.

There really are no traces here.

Along the way, I couldn't see any abnormal traces.

How on earth did that fake... show up in the hallway? Where did "The Crow" go before, and how did he get there?

...

A thin layer of mist formed on the boundless boundless sea.

A steamship with a beautiful white hull sailed in the mist, the bow piercing the mist floating on the surrounding sea, and the stern leaving a wake of small waves.

Captain Lawrence came to the deck wearing a thick coat, and looked at the misty sea in the distance, as well as the faintly undulating sea level and iceberg silhouettes in the fog.

It is daytime now, and the sun is hanging high in the sky, but the sun does not dispel the mist on the sea, nor does it dispel the chill in the sea breeze. He only feels the coldness bit by bit through the coat, as if it is about to penetrate into the bones. ——It feels like the whole body is gradually soaking into the cold sea water.

"The temperature in the north... is really not friendly to me, an old man who was born and raised in the Central Sea."

Lawrence couldn't help muttering.

His first mate, Gus, came over from the side. He was a tall and thin middle-aged man with slightly curly short brown hair. After hearing the captain's muttering, he laughed: "The weather is always like this in the cold sea." ——There is more fog than other places, and sometimes there will be fog during the day, the air is filled with chills, and there is sudden snowfall in the city-state... It is difficult for outsiders to adapt.”

"I originally planned to stay in Frost for a while, but now it seems that I should go back quickly after finishing the necessary work. If I stay here for a long time, I will definitely get sick." Captain Lawrence shook his head, "The influence of the fog is getting worse and worse. It’s too big, and we need to reconfirm the course in one hour.”

The first officer nodded immediately: "Yes, Captain, I will make arrangements in a moment."

Lawrence hummed, and then asked again: "Is there any response to the signal sent to Frost?"

"Not yet," the first mate replied, "but it's normal. The port work efficiency of the northern city-state has always been like this—wait a little closer, they have to respond to our port entry application."