Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 738 - Chapter 738 Chapter 735 The Quiet Changes

Chapter 738: Chapter 735: The Quiet Changes Chapter 738: Chapter 735: The Quiet Changes The stars’ cold, hollow projections raced across the edge of my vision as the navigation mainframe–Alice–calculated the return route. Sherry, who had reverted back to human form, and A-dog gazed out trance-like at the floating lights beyond the flames, both silent for a long time.

After a very long time, Duncan’s voice suddenly reached her ears, “What are you thinking about?”

Sherry was startled, then she blinked her eyes–the ones filled with a faint, blood-red glow, representing the Profound Demons — and muttered softly, “I just suddenly remembered… I always thought The Saint was a fearsome Evil God… out-of-control mad, the very bad sort…”

Duncan looked at Sherry for a few seconds, then averted his gaze, “If you faced him alone today, it would have been as you said; your mind couldn’t comprehend or handle his voice, and you would have seen his out-of-control madness–same with other ‘deities.’ After all, The Saint you ‘observed’ today was actually through my perspective.”

“Mm, I know–A-dog had explained it to me before, after your encounter with the Four Deity Pontiffs, a cognitive shift… right?”

Duncan nodded and remained silent until, after about a dozen seconds, he suddenly spoke up, “Do you think I should have accepted The Saint’s invitation this time?”

Sherry was taken aback, seemingly not understanding at first, “…Huh?”

Duncan just continued to look at her gently, “If I had accepted, what you’ve been hoping for could have been almost instantly realized–no more demons running out and injuring people, no more people disappearing in corners, the sun rising and setting every day, the thick fog not consuming anyone, the world you hope for, where more people can live more securely, I could realize it by taking over the Shelter.”

“Perhaps for a thousand years, maybe ten thousand, or possibly even longer. After I take over this world, every City-State would be as safe as Prandt and Frost are now, even the nights would calm down. As long as my flame keeps burning, the Endless Sea could maintain this peaceful appearance, until all resources are exhausted, the Shelter reaches its designed lifespan limit… which is the true longevity limit The Saint once planned but never achieved.”

Sherry fell silent for a moment then said softly, “And then… everyone will still die, right?”

Duncan looked at her calmly, “But that would be after a long time; even if you could live forever, like a typical Profound Demon, by then you should have no regrets.”

This time Sherry was quiet longer, as if deeply and seriously contemplating, while A-dog stayed quietly by her side, its thoughts indiscernible.

“Actually…” Finally breaking the silence, Sherry spoke up, “I do have some incomprehension. I think The Saint’s plan was already very good, a safe Shelter, even though it’s not eternal. But isn’t it enough to live out our last days peacefully and securely? After all… there’s nowhere else to go.”

“Yes, there’s nowhere else to go,” whispered Duncan, “because this world will only ever have this one Endless Sea, only ever have these City-States floating atop it, only ever have this small living space amidst the fog… But Sherry, the real ‘world’ shouldn’t be like this, this is merely a… narrow paper box.”

Sherry listened beside him, half understanding and half not, while the chains jingled slightly, A-dog abruptly broke the silence, “Like you said, this little box is not enough to contain more ‘possibilities,’ right?”

“Too narrow. The Endless Sea, locked by the fog, is narrow. The ‘lifespan’ of thousands or tens of thousands of years is also narrow. For the countless civilizations destroyed in the Great Obliteration, this little box is not even enough to stuff a small part of their Replications, and the Shelter’s limited lifespan is not enough for them to patch up their lost history even once…”

“This is not any ‘new home’, do you understand? If the ‘world’ before the Great Obliteration was made up of numerous thriving forests, then the current Endless Sea is just a small potted plant. The results of the first three long nights were just to plant a few surviving plants from the forests in it and then pretend the forest still existed–but the fact is no matter how much you water or fertilize, it will never become a forest, never will, and it would only take one small mistake for even this flower pot to cease to exist.”

“So, you rejected His plan because you had already seen that this plan has no future,” A-dog spoke slowly, “You’ve already known some other solution, right?”

Duncan didn’t speak, just lowered his head and quietly watched his own hands.

He blinked, and in the very first 0.002 seconds as darkness descended, he saw stars twinkling, the magnificent Milky Way glittering in deep space, huge star-forming nebulae like grand draperies stretching across the stars.

Even after leaving that cave, he could still see those “different sceneries” in the very first 0.002 seconds of each blink.

Duncan knew he was undergoing some kind of change, and the appearance of those previously obscured things in his vision was just part of this change. As for when exactly this change had started… he wasn’t sure.

But he knew that as long as he continued to seek the truth, to attempt to unveil the secrets within himself, this change would continue to emerge, continue to develop, accelerating ever faster…

He didn’t know if he was ready, but he knew there was no time left to prepare, just as Pilot One had said: neither he nor the world had time anymore.

The phantom starlight was reaching its end…

Blooms of flowers violently burst into existence within the illusion, and with a light tap of the baton in Lucresia’s hand, several crisp musical notes sprung forth, drowning the Fear Demons in a sea of flowers, reducing them to drifting ashes in silence.

Beside him, the hissing of increasing pipeline pressure and the loud clang of metal colliding rang out; Maurice punched away an Abyssal Hound that lunged at him and shook his head, somewhat helplessly, “These demons have no respect for knowledge or wisdom… Luckily, I still know a little about fighting.”

“The number of demons is increasing,” said Lucresia, her expression grave as she watched the black gate that kept bulging and contracting, “This rift is widening, and more and more demons are noticing us; the entire island is sinking into the Mysterious Deep Sea.”

“The captain should be back by now,” muttered Maurice, his throat resonating with the unique metallic timbre of reed vibration, “Judging from the noise above, if the captain doesn’t return soon, Fenna might smash through the entire valley.”

Lucresia frowned and listened to the incessant deep thuds from the cave’s dome, slightly shaking her head, “It’s unlikely that Miss Fenna is causing this commotion; it sounds more like Holy Land Island itself making the noise… It’s about to be ‘awakened’ again.”

Maurice opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, a dazzling green flame suddenly surged up from the throbbing black gate!

In the blink of an eye, flames burst from the gate and formed a spinning portal of fire on the cavern floor, and then several figures stepped out from the gate, accompanied by the captain’s familiar and authoritative voice, “Yes, this place is about to ‘wake up’ again–inform everyone, evacuate Holy Land Island, our job is done.”

Lucresia was first surprised but then quickly reacted, foregoing pleasantries and nodding immediately, “Alright, Dad!”

No sooner had her words finished than she began to swiftly gather up her toy soldier troops, while Maurice, after saluting the captain, saw Sherry and the dog next to him for the first time. Noticing Sherry’s blood-red eyes, similar to those of the Profound Demons, his eyes widened slightly, “Sherry, what’s…”

Sherry’s eyes were wider than Maurice’s, and she stared blankly at the scholar in a “Casting Transformation” state before finally managing to blurt out, “Old man, how did you turn into copper?”

Duncan also looked at Maurice in surprise and nodded subtly, “…That’s quite a unique form.”

Maurice then realized he was still in his cast form and quickly focused his mind, silently reciting Rahm’s prayer and using Divine Arts to reverse his state–the copper exterior quickly faded from his body, replacing gears, bearings, pumps, and copper pipes with flesh and blood in an unbelievably swift manner; a pair of ruby focusers retracted from his eye sockets, and human eyeballs grew back as he blinked, removing the intricate brass mechanism from within his body and smiling, “…The power of knowledge.”

Sherry looked utterly baffled, “…You and the captain never said that knowledge’s power meant this when you were teaching me?”

In such a short time, the girl had thoroughly reimagined the concepts of “knowledge changes destiny” and “the power of knowledge”–she would probably never forget them in this lifetime.

And just then, another burst of eerie howls and mumbled incantations suddenly filled the cave.

The restless black gate surged again, with new demons beginning to enter the real world through the rift, as ghastly skeletons and countless limbs and tentacles squeezed out of that convulsing surface, creeping and crawling toward the cavern!

Lucresia instinctively raised her baton, but before she could act, Duncan waved at the gate, “Go back.”

The ghastly skeletons and numerous limbs and tentacles hastily and chaotically retreated into the gate.

“And close the door behind you,” Duncan added on the side.

The “black gate” that had been swelling and moving began to settle down.

Lucresia: “…”

Duncan turned to the “Witch of the Sea,” gestured for her to come to her senses, and said, “Let’s go, we’ve still got a lot to do.”