Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 734 - Chapter 734 Chapter 731 Before Everything Begins

Chapter 734: Chapter 731 Before Everything Begins Chapter 734: Chapter 731 Before Everything Begins The Mysterious Deep Sea seemed to quieten in that instant–the entire dimension fell into a deathly silence, even the dust floating between the float islands stilled, and for a long time, no one spoke. The only sound was that of the ancient god, mountainous in stature, patiently awaiting a response, its body flickering with dim, star-like lights.

After an uncertain amount of time had passed, Sherry’s voice finally broke the silence: “Wow…”

Duncan raised his head, looking calmly at the “mountain”: “I wish you would be more explicit–‘taking over everything,’ what do you mean by that?”

With a soft tremble in the voice, it seemed as if from the depths of the star-shaped mountain range came a profoundly human sigh, before it slowly began to speak: “Usurper of Flame, you may already know… during the so-called ‘Third Great Dusk,’ not all of my plans on the blueprint were realized–the Endless Sea is far from a perfect Shelter; in a sense, my ‘Creation’ has failed just like the efforts of the King of the Pale Giants and the Dreaming King. It’s just that… this failure was delayed for ten thousand years.”

Standing at the deepest part of the Mysterious Deep Sea, hearing an ancient god who once sculpted the cosmos admit to its failure–this was a profoundly shocking experience for Duncan, despite already possessing many clues in this regard. After hearing the words of The Saint of the Deep, he couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.

Some time passed before he finally broke the silence: “Yes, I’m aware. There are numerous clues pointing to this. I have seen the City-State mirrors located deep within the real dimension’s sea, as well as the incomplete ‘half-finished products’ in the Mysterious Deep Sea. I have also encountered the truth about the Profound Demons–in a place called Holy Land Island, I saw that hall, holding records of tens of thousands of living creatures…

“All signs suggest that the current deep sea age is really nothing more than a semblance of civilization remnants reluctantly surviving after the apocalypse, and as a ‘Shelter,’ it is brimming with flaws.”

Alice listened and murmured softly to the side: “Isn’t that a bit too harsh to say…”

“That’s pretty mild already,” Sherry also lowered her voice, whispering in reply.

Then, their whispered conversation was interrupted by a quiver from the dark mountain range: “Yes, it is full of flaws–and now this flawed Shelter is gradually reaching its limits… Usurper of Flame, how many times has the observer effect anchor destabilized?”

Duncan’s gaze immediately shifted subtly: “…Twice.”

“It is key to ensuring the various ‘ashes’ within the Shelter can remain stable, balanced, and compatible. Its illumination allows the conflicting and untranslatable world fragments, after the great eradication, to collapse into a single reality. And its failure signifies the flaws at the inception of the Shelter have accumulated to a breaking point–after it completely goes out, this clump of ‘ash’ that we’ve forcefully held together will scatter once again.”

“…So, what does this have to do with me taking over ‘all this’?” Duncan slowly began, “The Shelter is on the edge of its limit; could it be that my taking over can revitalize it?”

“By my calculations, yes.”

Hearing this, Duncan’s heart stirred. In The Saint’s quick and certain reply, he instantly realized something–this “ancient god” knew him, the “Usurper of Flame,” better than he had anticipated!

He immediately became focused, asking seriously: “Why?”

“Because you are an observer that is far more powerful and stable than the observer effect anchor,” the lights on the dark mountain range flowed and twinkled like a river of stars, as The Saint’s voice echoed through the entire dimension, “If you take over all this, your power will be enough to cover all the flaws within the Shelter–all imbalance systems will regain stability and return to the most perfect state they were in at the onset.”

“…It seems you know more about me than I do myself,” Duncan said, frowning after a moment of silence and without responding to the “invitation,” “you and the other so-called ‘ancient kings,’ you all seem to understand me better than I understand myself.”

“…We too are only guessing at your true nature from our long observations, but even after guessing for ten thousand years, we have never fully understood what you really are…” The Saint’s tone became slow and hesitant, as if deliberating and worried about something, but after a brief moment, it continued, “Usurper of Flame, do you really not know where you come from, or what your true nature is?”

Duncan did not reply immediately.

His origin and true nature… as of today, he had already garnered many clues. The information emerging from the darkness, the message sent by the end-time human civilization to the distant past, and that 0.002 second of the universe… all were revealing the truth about the individual named Zhou Ming.

But after several seconds of hesitation, he did not choose to directly answer the “ancient god” he had just met for the first time. Instead, he asked back, “I would like to know, what do you mean by ‘long observation’ you mentioned just now? You, and the other ‘ancient kings,’ when did you discover me?”

“…In the first wave of impact that came after dozens, if not hundreds, of world collisions, we saw you–you were one of the earliest among us, the Usurper of Fire.”

Duncan’s facial expression changed slightly, but in the next instant, it returned to calm.

He was one of the earliest… Long before the era of the Mysterious Deep Sea had even begun, he had come to this world, in a time far older than ten thousand years.

It wasn’t the year 1900 of the City-State era, it wasn’t the day Homeloss returned to the reality dimension, nor was it the day he, as “Zhou Ming,” pushed open that door…

He had merely awakened on that day.

Expecting it in his heart was one thing, hearing it with his ears and confirming it himself was another.

However, Duncan just stood there calmly, as if all the emotional fluctuations had already settled into the deepest parts of this shell before he lightly nodded his head, “…Continue.”

“…To this day we have not figured out what caused that collision, but what we can confirm is that only a very few ‘survivors’ emerged from that catastrophe, and those lucky–or unlucky–survivors were the so-called ‘ancient kings.’

“Our survival is the result of a series of accidents and distortions. Our essence…underwent an earth-shattering transformation after that collision when time was in chaos and space was being compressed, torn apart. We rose from the hot and chaotic ashes after the great calamity, and many perished from contamination during ‘the first contact,’ the moment we first became aware of each other’s existence. The weak, the unlucky quickly turned into new ashes amidst the ashes, and afterward, only a dozen or so figures remained, among which… were some of the names you know.

“And you, you were there from the beginning, sleeping in the depths of some ‘cocoon’ beyond our comprehension. You never woke up, nor did you have a physical form. In our observation…you were an amorphous glow, seemingly independent of everything around you, reacting not at all to the outside world–three long nights, countless assemblies, numerous world-altering events, none interfered with your existence.

“In fact, if you hadn’t started to move recently, I would have thought you would sleep forever in that intangible glow, until the world after destruction destroys once more…

“And ‘our’ ‘observation’ of you was conducted under such unresponsive circumstances… Tarrikin was the first to grasp your name, he called you ‘Usurper of Fire,’ but he remained tight-lipped about the origin of that name. Then, the navigator of Number Two to some extent understood your power or ‘trait.’ The King of the Pale Giants…he watched you in the heart of the ashes for seventy-seven revolutions of the clock, leaving only a phrase–he said he would see you again, and then until he died in the first long night, he never spoke another word again.”

The ancient god’s deep, tremulous voice echoed in the Mysterious Deep Sea, and the ancient, dim starlight sprinkled from the sky, emanating a nameless chill.

“The Usurper of Fire–we still do not understand what you truly are, but throughout the long ages before your awakening, we have been watching your sleeping ‘cocoon.’ That intangible glow revealed different truths and futures to each of us, and now, it is my turn to be the first to come into contact with you.”

Duncan did not speak for a long time.

He needed to take it slow–his chaotic thoughts were in need of sorting.

An incomprehensible “cocoon,” something intangible sleeping deeply within the “cocoon”… Was this how the “ancient kings” had always seen him?!

And those “kings” who had survived the collision with the world of the great annihilation had been watching him all this time… and they had also gained many “revelations” from this lengthy “observation”?

A strange feeling filled him, and after a long while, Duncan furrowed his brows and said, “What about you? What ‘enlightenment’ did you get from the long observation? Is it that you want me to ‘take over’ this ‘Shelter’ you’ve created today?”

Beneath the obscure starlight, the grand and solemn Star-shaped Mountain Range momentarily plunged into darkness, and then, all the lights on its surface suddenly lit up, each stream of dark blue light also began to fill up gradually, a deep rumbling emanated from deep within the range, and then before the astonished eyes of Sherry and the others, the central “peak” of that mountain range slowly parted, a flickering, dark red core rose from its deepest part, like a giant eye, calmly gazing at Duncan.

“No,” the dark red core spoke, with a rough, icy mechanical texture to its voice, “The revelation I have received is that you will ignite the entire world–all timelines, all processes of history, the light of every civilization that remains on each world, will be gathered in a cremation unprecedented in history.”