Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 516 - Chapter 516 Chapter 517 Slumber

Chapter 516: Chapter 517: Slumber Chapter 516: Chapter 517: Slumber Colorful paper pieces whirled and soared past the rooftops of the academy, flew along the outer walls of the “High Tower” all the way to the highest observation platform, and reformed into the figure of Lucressea at the edge of the platform.

The vast observation platform was very quiet, with no one in sight.

Lucressea frowned and observed the situation at the top of the tower carefully.

Instruments specifically designed for recording various astronomical data were still running automatically, and a large-scale lens array, supported by many complex mechanical arms, pointed the observation focus towards the sky. Three sets of lenses equipped with light-filtering structures had been temporarily removed, suggesting they had been manually adjusted.

The platform was empty– the original staff perhaps evacuated urgently when the sun extinguished, but the working status of the lens apparatus indicated that someone had indeed come here during the solar eclipse and used the equipment to observe the sun.

“…Observing the sun under those circumstances was not a wise action,” Lucressea murmured to herself.

She began to search for Master Taran El’s figure near the lens apparatus when suddenly a pencil that had fallen to the ground entered her line of sight.

She immediately ran over and found the figure of the Elf scholar–Taran El–lying silently on the ground, eyes closed, seemingly in a deep state of unconsciousness.

Lucressea immediately checked on the Elf scholar’s condition, finding that his breathing was still stable, and he seemed to have no life-threatening issues, but for some reason, he had lost consciousness. Then, she waved her hand in the air–a large group of toy soldiers immediately ran out from the shadows at her feet and marched in a neat formation toward the unconscious scholar.

These toy soldiers quickly surrounded Taran El and began to crawl over his body to check it, as if inspecting a position, accompanied by rapid communication and reporting. As they moved, Lucressea’s expression gradually changed.

There were no external injuries, no physical attack, no signs of poisoning, nor traces of a Curse.

“Sea Witch” bent down, flipped open the scholar’s eyelids, and then quite unceremoniously slapped his face trying to awaken Taran El, but to no effect.

“It seems like he just fell into an unexplained deep sleep… Hmm?”

Lucressea voiced her puzzlement mid-sentence with a “Hmm.” She saw two toy soldiers move aside the hand Taran El had tightly clasped to his chest, revealing a nearly torn draft sketch.

“What’s this…”

Lucressea curiously picked up the sketch and casually spread it out, only to see it hastily drawn with a circular object that had many complex and messy lines inside. She stared at the lines for a long time but could not discern any pattern, feeling they resembled interspersed branches, or something closely arrayed.

Obviously, the person who drew these patterns did so under extremely hurried and chaotic conditions, as evident from the hesitant marks of correction on the paper, showing that the drawer was uncertain about what they saw or unable to accurately reproduce the “truth” they witnessed.

Lucressea looked solemnly at the sketch, then squinted up at the sun which had re-lit, before looking down at the pencil that had fallen nearby and the “Express” pressure pipes that led to the Academy. She quickly pieced together the events that led to the Elf scholar’s collapse here–

The scholar had rushed to the High Tower during the sun’s extinguishment, intending to observe the details of anomaly 001’s surface under conditions that no amount of light-filtering devices and lens arrays could achieve. He successfully sketched a draft, then wanted to send it to the Academy via the “Express” system immediately, but at that moment, some mysterious power “attacked” him, plunging him into a deep sleep–in his final moments of consciousness, the tightly guarded sketch proved this point…

But what exactly “attacked” him? Was it an infiltrator who had sneaked into the High Tower, or was it mental contamination triggered by observing the sun in an extinguished state?

Lucressea shook her head–it was unlikely to be an infiltrator.

The reason was simple; Taran El had not suffered further harm after losing his ability to resist, the tightly protected “draft sketch” had not been taken from his hands, and there were no signs of damage to the equipment on the High Tower–it was unlikely that any “invader” would risk a lot just to sneak into the High Tower and only make the Elf scholar sleep.

Just then, the noise of an elevator running suddenly interrupted the “Sea Witch’s” thoughts.

Following the sound, she saw the elevator doors on the side of the High Tower platform open, and several flustered scholars from the Academy of Truth rushed out.

Upon seeing the “Sea Witch” standing on top of the tower, the scholars froze for a moment.

“Taran El observed the sun in its extinguished state and has now fallen into an inexplicable deep sleep–I suggest you purify all the equipment here to prevent the lenses that once reflected the ‘true form’ of anomaly 001 from being contaminated as well,” Lucressea casually said to the scholars, theng raised the draft sketch in her hand.

“This is what he drew before he lost consciousness. I need to take it away to confirm whether it carries contamination. If there’s no issue, I’ll hand it over to you.”

As soon as the words were spoken, she seemed indifferent to the scholars’ reactions and turned to walk toward the edge of the platform. Then, with a bang, she transformed into a whirl of colorful paper scraps that rode the wind into the distance.

The scholars who had rushed to the high tower after hearing the student’s report only reacted at this moment. Watching the colorful paper scraps flying far away, someone couldn’t help but mutter softly, “This witch is really…”

“She has always been free to come and go as she pleases,” another person waved their hand dismissively, striding towards Taran El who still lay on the ground, “Let’s first take the master to a safe place.”

“She took away the materials left by Master Taran El… there won’t be any problems, will there?” A somewhat younger Human Scholar asked with concern, apparently not quite sure about the “Sea Witch.”

“Don’t worry. Although Lady Lucresia has a peculiar character and does as she pleases, she has had quite a few dealings with the Academy of Truth and the Explorers’ Association, she is considered a… friend,” a middle-aged scholar said while he bent to lift Taran El’s arm, “She is one of the finest Frontier Scholars and contamination combat experts in the world, having helped the academy handle many dangerous things. She will keep her word… God, why is he so heavy?”

“You eat junk food and stay up late without exercising every day, you’re heavy too.”

“But I’ve heard Elves have a different constitution from other races, with long lifespans and robust metabolic systems. It’s hard for you to put on fat and rarely get sick before reaching old age…”

“His talent has done everything it could, but it couldn’t withstand this…”

…

In the Plunder City-State, within a medical facility established by the government.

Heidi stood in the corridor, glanced through the glass at the patient who lay quietly in the ward, and turned to ask the government official who had brought her, “What is the patient’s condition?”

“Deeply unconscious, unable to be awoken, with no signs of external injuries or poisoning,” the official clad in a deep blue uniform immediately replied, “The patient had no pre-existing conditions before this and had not been exposed to any Magic Potions or heretical beliefs that could have led to this sort of unconsciousness.”

“You’ve done a thorough investigation, haven’t you?” Heidi commented subconsciously, then shook her head, “But I must say, I am a psychiatrist, not an internist. I specialize in solving psychological and mental issues, not comatose states. A person in a deep sleep can’t receive psychological counseling–you should be consulting with a medical doctor, shouldn’t you?”

“We’ve consulted one, Ms. Heidi. The doctor concluded that the patient’s unconsciousness is not related to any diseases,” the official shook his head, “After conducting various examinations, we suspect…”

“…I understand,” Heidi cut him off, realizing what he was implying as she nodded slightly, “You suspect it’s related to psychic contamination or mental abnormalities, correct? But you said the patient hadn’t been exposed to any sources of contamination.”

“That’s just the initial finding of our investigation, but there are many pathways to psychic contamination; it might not require the person to have actively encountered something. Perhaps they’ve coincidentally ‘understood’ some knowledge, or maybe.”

The official paused abruptly, then raised his hand and pointed upwards, a serious expression on his face.

“Or maybe it’s related to the sun’s extinguishing event before–there’s no evidence yet that the twelve hours of the sun’s outage could affect ordinary people, but perhaps you’re looking at the first ‘evidence.'”

“I understand. This falls within my scope of duty,” Heidi took a deep breath, picked up her medical bag, and walked toward the door of the ward. Before she pushed the door open, she suddenly turned back to remind, “During the treatment, do not let anyone near here, and if supernatural phenomena occur near this ward, notify the priests and guards immediately.”

“Understood, Ms. Heidi.”

Heidi nodded, pushed the door, and entered the ward.

The mixed scent of disinfectant and holy oil, along with incense, wafted into her nostrils. In the brightly lit and spacious ward, the only bed held the only patient.

Heidi silently recited the name of God of Wisdom Rahm in her mind and checked the colorful stone amulet on her wrist before she cautiously approached the bed.

A young girl with her eyes tightly shut lay there, seemingly lost in the tumult of the Dreamscape, as still as if… the link between her body and soul had been severed.

Before opening her medical bag, Heidi first habitually observed the patient’s face.

“An Elf?”