Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 443 - Chapter 443 Chapter 444 Fishing Petting Dogs Feeding Pigeons

Chapter 443: Chapter 444: Fishing, Petting Dogs, Feeding Pigeons Chapter 443: Chapter 444: Fishing, Petting Dogs, Feeding Pigeons The morning light was a soft glimmer as the anomaly 001, locked within dual Rune Circles, gradually rose from the distant horizon. Amidst the spreading rosy glow, the massive sails of the Ghost Ship floated on the endless calm sea, its form slowly being coated in a layer of radiance in the early morning.

In the far reaches of the sea where the horizon met the sky, through the subtle morning mist, one could vaguely make out the silhouette of the Frost City-State–the city’s wounds and the sorrow and joy of countless people all blurred into a hazy mist at this distance, as if dissolving in the sunlight.

Duncan sat quietly at the edge of the ship’s bow, a fishing rod propped up beside him. He watched the fishing line reflect the sunlight against the morning sky, occasionally lifting his gaze to peer in the direction of the Frost City-State.

At this hour, most parts of the city still lay in tranquility. He needn’t spare too much thought for his avatar within the City-State and could finally indulge in the comfort aboard the ship.

The pigeon Ai Yi paced back and forth on a large wooden barrel beside him. On the barrel’s lid, a pile of french fries had been placed – brought from the Frost City-State. Unlike the fries from Proland, the Frostfolk would add some special spices during frying to give them a salty fragrance. Ai Yi seemed quite satisfied with this, occasionally lifting its head to glance at its master fishing or to look out at the distant sea, spending the rest of the time pecking at its food supply greedily.

Next to Duncan, on another somewhat shorter barrel, Sherry was furiously scribbling away, her expression as tormented as if facing an arduous foe in battle.

The dog lay quietly by Sherry’s side, holding a book titled “Modern Geometry” between its paws, while the deck next to it was piled with draft papers marked with symbols and shapes.

Feeling the tranquility of the moment, Duncan couldn’t help but curl up the corners of his mouth, the gloom that had built up in his heart dissipating bit by bit.

But evidently, not everyone on the scene was enjoying this “tranquility.”

“Why does Nina get to sleep in the cabin while I have to wake up early and rush to do homework here…” Sherry couldn’t help muttering bitterly, her expression so distressed that it seemed to drip with gloom, “If I’d known that I’d only be doing homework back on the ship, I might as well have stayed in the city – at least I could have gone shopping from time to time…”

“There’s not much to enjoy in Frost nowadays, and in the foreseeable future, life in that city isn’t going to be comfortable,” Duncan remarked lightly, “Also, stop complaining about the homework, it’s your own fault the stray dogs ate it.”

Sherry looked up, aggrieved, “Then why doesn’t Nina have to make up for it?”

“Everyone knows she must have finished it already. Morris will just test her with a comprehensive test to check her self-study progress,” Duncan glanced at Sherry, “Nina is not like you; she doesn’t need someone to spur her on.”

Sherry shrank her neck, “Then… then is there a possibility that I might actually have already written…”

Duncan, expressionless, asked, “How do you spell the plural of ‘pebble’?”

“I haven’t memorized that yet…”

“That was on page two of your previous homework. You’re telling me you haven’t finished two pages?”

Sherry’s expression froze, and she fell silent. Then the girl heaved a long sigh and lowered her head to continue her deadly struggle with the spelling assignment.

Duncan shook his head with a smile, then his gaze involuntarily fell on the dog beside him. The latter had now temporarily set the book aside and was using its paws to scribble auxiliary lines on the draft paper with a pencil.

The scrutiny made the dog’s soul tremble suddenly, its head involuntarily jerking, causing the auxiliary line to warp.

“Captain… Captain?” The dog nervously raised its head, trying to avoid Duncan’s gaze without actually turning its head, causing it to swing continuously.

Duncan reached out to pat the dog’s homely skeletal head, his expression somewhat ambiguous, and after a few seconds couldn’t help saying, “Isn’t your study progress a bit too rapid? I feel like you’ll be able to keep up with Morris’s lessons soon.”

“Ah? I don’t feel it,” the dog said, taken aback, the red light in its hollow eye sockets flickering as if a bit dazed, “I just find this stuff pretty interesting… Is there a problem with rapid progress?”

Duncan thought for a moment, then shook his head with a smile, “Never mind, no problem at all. It’s always good to learn more–this way, averaging with Sherry, at least neither of you would be completely illiterate.”

The dog uttered a confused “Oh” while Duncan exhaled slowly, turning back to look at the still motionless fishing rod.

Not a single fish had been caught that morning.

“The aftermath of the great battle has likely made fishing in the surrounding seas futile for the time being,” he sighed with regret as he slowly began to pack up his fishing gear. “All that commotion has even driven the deep-sea offspring away from these parts, huh…”

Upon hearing this, Sherry couldn’t help but lift her head, “Does that mean we’re leaving this area? When will you bring Mr. Morris and Fenna over from the city?”

Duncan ceased reeling in his fishing rod and turned to look at Sherry, “Did I ever say that everything concerning the Frost had come to an absolute end?”

“Ah?” Sherry was a bit confused, “Hasn’t it all been dealt with? And you even recommended Mr. Tyrion to City Hall. I thought you were leaving the rest for him to wrap up.”

“Indeed, I plan to leave all the trouble within the city to him–but there are things even the Mist Fleet can’t handle,” Duncan said casually as he continued packing, “Those things, I must deal with personally. Until they’re dealt with, the Homeloss had better not stray too far from here.”

Sherry was still not catching on, “Something the Mist Fleet can’t handle? What could that be…”

Duncan lowered his eyelids and glanced at her faintly, “Where did the mirror frost come from?”

Sherry thought for a moment and spoke with uncertainty, “Is it… something the Heretics summoned from the deep sea?”

“Close enough. Summoned from the deep sea–the mirror frost is a ‘product,’ something transformed into existence. Everything we destroyed in that process, including the sacrificial site deep within the mirror frost, was essentially just the ‘summons’ themselves. If there are summons, then there must be a source of the summons.”

Sherry finally began to understand, and her eyes gradually filled with shock.

“Are you saying… whatever’s at the bottom of the sea is still there?!”

“If I’m not mistaken, everything near the surface, whether those fakes or the Frost City-State itself, is essentially just an extension and projection of power, like an infinitely expanding plant from below. In the recent brutal battle of the Frost, we merely eradicated the overgrown crown of that out-of-control plant. But its roots are still there,” Duncan spoke with a calm expression, “Don’t forget, it took several submersibles thrown into the sea by the Frost Queen herself just to barely make contact with the entity’s true form–that power has an ‘entity’ in the deep sea.”

Sherry couldn’t sit still any longer; she nearly leaped to her feet, “What? So we have to dive deep into the sea to fight that thing? Otherwise, won’t it just create another mirror image soon?!”

“Soon? Not exactly,” Duncan laughed and shook his head, “Things aren’t as serious as you imagine. Even if the entity remains, it must have sustained heavy damage. I’ve almost completely incinerated its extensions. What’s left… after the loss of the Heretics’ ritual support, is likely in a state of dormancy or hibernation, and even if truly left alone, it might take another half-century before causing any more problems.”

He suddenly stopped speaking and reached out into the air next to him.

“You agree, don’t you, Agatha?”

A tuft of ghostly green fire ignited at Duncan’s fingertips and quickly jumped and expanded in the air, forming a vortex-like curtain. Within the blazing curtain stood a blind priestess in a black dress, with her eyes covered, standing in a prayer-like posture with her hands clasped before her chest.

Sherry and Ah Gou stared blankly at the scene.

“Yes, this is precisely what we are concerned about,” Agatha lifted her head, her voice sounding magnetic and ethereal, “Everyone aware of the true extent of the Abyssal Plan worries the same–we’ve only destroyed the ‘products’ that appeared on the surface but lacked the strength to annihilate the ‘entity’ that may still be dormant deep within the sea.”

“We can’t possibly leave it for another fifty years and then repeat the Frost defense battle when the next crisis arises,” Duncan said, “I wouldn’t mind lending a hand each time, but wars always bring about many unnecessary casualties.”

“Currently, the Frost likely lacks the resources to create another submersible like before,” Agatha said after a moment of silence, “It’s not just about the submersible itself, but also the other necessary equipment, data, personnel, resources… All those are beyond what a recovering Frost can provide.”

“Let’s start preparing as soon as possible then, get your City Hall to think of something,” Duncan spoke indifferently, “If all else fails, prepare an iron coffin that can be detonated in the deep sea, put a corpse inside, and I can use it as a medium to check the situation on the sea bottom. Although my temporary incarnation can only bear limited power, as long as I establish a stable channel, I should be able to spread the flames down to the sea floor.”

(It’s time to recommend a book–“The Barrier of Light,” by Pandas Wrestle. Here’s the author’s own endorsement:

A Transcendent awakening, the edifice wavers.

Flesh is frail–how then to soar?

The story begins with the reception of a ruler bearing the truth.)