Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 709 - Chapter 709 Chapter 706 The Familiar Mist

Chapter 709: Chapter 706: The Familiar Mist Chapter 709: Chapter 706: The Familiar Mist Within the mist that shrouded the entire sea, resembling an endless veil, the “Tide” Vessel from the Deep Sea Church and two escort ships began entering the area illuminated by the Spiritual Fire “Torch.” Their figures gradually became clear in the mist, and the contours that originally appeared to shimmer and undulate due to the border environment also stabilized under the glow of the firelight.

For the sailors aboard Homeloss, they sensed even more pronounced changes during this process–the towering bluish-green flames seemed like a beacon bringing order. The perpetual mist of the border seas miraculously receded near that beacon, and as they drew closer to the light, the faint background noise and whispers of the surrounding environment also diminished–changes that the seasoned sailors who patrolled near the Eternal Veil had never experienced before.

On the bow deck of Homeloss, Fenna frowned slightly, tilting her head as if discerning distant sounds from the wind. She then nodded at Duncan, “Commander Sandra from Homeloss extends her greetings and respects. She is inquiring about the next course of action.”

Duncan nodded, “Wait until Rest and No Rest arrive. Then we’ll enter the thick fog. Be careful not to leave the range of the Flame Lighthouse’s illumination.”

Fenna immediately relayed the captain’s instructions to her Church brethren, while Duncan displayed a keen interest in her mode of “Psionic Communication” with nearby Deep Sea believers–a method reliant on meditation and prayer. After curiously observing for a while, he seemed to remember another matter, “Speaking of which… shouldn’t Homeloss really be fitted with a wireless radio system?”

“If you’re thinking of using it in safe waters, that would be fine. But on this border side… it’s not reliable,” Fenna replied seriously. “In the border seas, the likelihood of machines being mystically corrupted is quite high. Apart from devices like steam-powered cores, which can operate steadily thanks to strong divine blessings, everything else tends to encounter some issues. And radios are the most susceptible to malfunctions among them.”

As Fenna finished speaking, Lucrecia joined in, “Radios that are switched on can easily pick up ‘voices’ from unknown sources. Those voices can corrupt the mind, and some entities can slip through the radio into the real world, silently corrupting those devices not protected by steam–therefore, ships entering the border seas generally turn off the onboard radio, even cutting off the internal telephone lines used within the ship.”

“Entities can slip through the radio into the real world?” Duncan raised his eyebrows, seemingly finding this quite… “interesting.” “So patrol ships along the border mostly rely on this kind of ‘Psionic Communication’ like Fenna’s for contact?”

“Psychic Resonance is a ‘miracle’ bestowed by the gods,” Fenna bowed her head slightly, tracing the sigil of Storm Goddess Gomona across her chest, “Just like a steam boiler blessed by divine arts, the words sent through psychic resonance are also blessed and can avoid corruption and distortion in these chaotic border seas–of course, this doesn’t mean absolute safety. Psionic Communication can be disrupted and corrupted at times; in these boundless mists, there is no such thing as complete security.”

“I see…” Duncan nodded thoughtfully. He was absorbing these new insights about the borderland with as much curiosity and thirst for knowledge as when he first set foot on the City-State’s land. Then he turned his head to seemingly empty space and casually asked, “What about you, Agatha? Is your ‘Psionic Communication’ with Rest and No Rest the same as Fenna’s? As a ‘shadow,’ is the ‘Psionic Communication’ you establish when contacting other Death Priests different from regular ‘Psionic Communication’?”

Agatha’s hazy silhouette emerged from the deck, her ethereal voice filling the air, “As far as I can tell, there aren’t many differences. Even in this form, I can feel Bartok’s blessings as I did ‘in memory,’ and with that, I can hear the voices of other Church brethren and sisters. In fact… since arriving here, I feel the voices I hear are even clearer than ‘in memory,’ which is quite incredible.”

Agatha clearly referred to “in memory” as her life “as the gatekeeper”–although that life was false, the memories were a hundred percent reproduction of the real Agatha, making her judgments extremely valuable.

The existence of “Replication Agatha” in the border seas, listening to “Psionic Communication,” feels that the voices heard are clearer than those remembered?

This counterintuitive phenomenon led Duncan into deep thought. He had initially felt that Replication Agatha would be weaker in areas involving divine arts and miracles compared to the “original” staying in Frost. However, in these border seas… the situation seemed to be different from what he had imagined?

After all… what exactly is the inherent nature of the “Psychic Resonance” power wielded by the Four Gods Church’s clergy and the “Psionic Communication” they establish with it?

Duncan mused subconsciously, but his train of thought was soon interrupted–

“They’re coming,” the shadowy Agatha suddenly spoke, “Rest and No Rest are drawing near.”

Strident steam whistles emanated from the depths of the mist as two black armored vessels with towering bridges, small chapels at the stern, and large main guns mounted on the bows and sides of the ships, slowly emerged from the fog, accompanied by four smaller escort ships rising and falling with the mist on the sea surface.

The bright Spiritual Fire light arising from the “leading ship” illuminated the vague shapes of the vessels, and in response, the two black armored vessels sounded their steam whistles again to signal greetings, while simultaneously flashing a series of light signals.

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“Commander Paulette Ginny of the Homeloss, Commander Orlando extends his greetings and respects to you,” Agatha’s figure nodded slightly towards Duncan, “They have sent out reconnaissance boats to briefly confirm the conditions of the surrounding sea area and haven’t found traces of obliteration by believers or small islands that could serve as temporary footholds or lookout posts, yet within the Veil, the boats momentarily picked up some unusual noises, confirming that there is indeed ‘something’ in that direction.”

As Duncan listened to Agatha’s report, his expression gradually became serious, and then he let out a soft breath, his heart slowly calming down.

“Let’s set out–once more, I emphasize, do not stray beyond the range illuminated by Spiritual Fire.”

Accompanied by the battered “guide boat” starting to slowly accelerate again, this temporary “United Fleet” assembled by the Deep Sea Church, the Death Church, and the “Exiled Fleet” finally headed towards the Eternal Veil, gradually entering into the boundless deep haze.

The sky-obliterating fog rolled in like a rampart and somehow transformed into layered curtains surrounding the fleet; the sun was left behind, with sunlight fading from view, and as the mist thickened, a chaotic yet not dark “Sky Light” gradually became the dominant hue of this foggy maritime area.

Thirty minutes after entering the Veil’s boundary, the fog began to “converge” noticeably and thicken, taking on a… viscous and tangible form, like physical clumps unevenly floating in every corner of the field of vision.

Those coalescing mists seemed to flash with vague outlines, as though cautiously observing this fleet that had suddenly intruded upon the border, those unwelcome guests appearing in this part of the sea.

The deck grew quieter; even Sherry, who was usually chattering non-stop, seemed to sense the change in the atmosphere and closed her mouth cautiously, watching those “fog masses” that flowed near the ship’s side like living things, and the indistinct outlines within the mist.

“This… this stuff doesn’t quite look like the ‘fog’ I know of…” Agatha also murmured softly, “it’s also different from what we saw outside the Veil…”

“After entering the range of the Veil, the texture of the fog changes like this–as if the order between reality and illusion has been disrupted, and the pervasive fog tends to form in clumps, as if there is something intelligent around us gathering these mists…”

Lucresia spoke, standing at the edge of the deck, her fingertips lightly stirring the mist that was flowing past the ship’s side like a stream in the air.

“But in fact, they are empty inside; there’s nothing at the center of the coalesced fog masses… Don’t easily trust any entity you see in the mist, unless they’ve already shown clear signs of movement, otherwise it’s best to consider them all illusions or figments of your imagination.”

“Hey, you’re okay with just sticking your hand in there?” Sherry couldn’t help but exclaim upon seeing Lucresia’s action, “These mists look really strange!”

“The mist is very dangerous, but that doesn’t mean it’s some kind of corrosive poison–otherwise, you would have died the instant you entered the Veil,” Lucresia glanced at Sherry and shook her head, “As long as one has sufficient experience and knows the correct methods, within six nautical miles of the border is the ‘relatively safe zone’… Of course, even with the utmost caution, many have still died in this so-called ‘relatively safe zone.'”

Duncan, listening to the exchange between Lucresia and Sherry, remained silent and didn’t say a word, standing at the bow of the ship and watching the mist that kept separating and merging nearby, his expression as if deep in thought.

Lucresia noticed Duncan’s silence.

“Dad, have you thought of something?”

Duncan blinked and after a moment of hesitation, he finally murmured softly, “It looks familiar.”

Lucresia: “Familiar?”

Duncan hummed in affirmation, but his gaze still lingered on the amorphous clumps floating around; he looked at the vague outlines in the mist, the murky Sky Light of the heavens, and the occasional unusual texture revealed amidst the flowing clouds and fog, his frown growing deeper…

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