Chapter 287 Transformation
Chapter 287 Transformation
“This is your room in the future, the basic necessities are all here, if there’s anything else you need, you can tell Alice and she’ll arrange it for you without forgetting.
“Next door is a small utility room, also for you to use freely, for prayer or meditation can be used, you are a devout believer, there should be a need for this aspect.
“Do not travel to the lower levels, do not be curious about the locked compartments, there are occasional strange creaks or sounds of ropes rubbing against the floor from the depths of this ship, there is no need to make a fuss about it, just leave it alone, and if there is anything really out of place I will take care of it myself.
“Keep the crew code in mind while living aboard.
“Is there anything else you’d like to ask?”
Vanna stood in the doorway of the room assigned to her, still feeling a little trance-like as she looked at the plain yet normal furniture furnishings of the cabin.
Plain beds, plain tables and chairs, plain cabinets, everything was clean, no suspicious shadows to be seen, no blood stains hidden in the corners of the room, no profane symbols written on the ceiling or floor – if you disregarded the fact that this place was located in the interior of the Lost Country ship, then it would have been exactly that – a plain cabin! It was nothing more than that.
But if you had to say so, there was something unusual about this place.
The ship has a special “crew code”, there are forbidden “secret areas” in the depths of the cabins, the whole ship is alive, and even the ropes and buckets on the decks can often produce disturbing noises…. -These unusual details were more or less in line with her imagination of the Lost Country.
But compared to all her imaginings, these many weirdnesses had been so mild as to be harmless.
“…… I’ve got it all memorized,” Vanna said with a slow nod to Duncan, who had personally escorted herself to her room, “and no more questions for now.”
“Good,” Duncan said lightly, “Now put your bags away, dinner is about to start – you can skip the deck barbecue after dinner if you’re not interested, that’s just Shirley and Nina fooling around, but dinner you’ll have to attend, it’s a necessary part of the process for new members to join.”
“Yes.”
Vanna silently put away her luggage, and after a little hesitation, left the heavy, massive two-handed sword in the room for the time being as well.
In any case, bringing a giant two-handed sword to a restaurant was too strange.
She was silent the entire way as she followed Duncan to the restaurant.
But she couldn’t hide her preoccupied look from Duncan’s eyes.
“Feel free to ask anything you want,” Duncan slowed his pace and looked slightly sideways at Vanna, who was following beside him, “There aren’t really many rules on this ship, and the one thing that’s most taboo on an ocean voyage is a crew member harboring a preoccupation- -The uneasiness and confusion in your mind will be magnified by the Infinite Sea, and you can’t tell when you’ll become an unwelcome guest.”
Vanna’s heart was in awe, she hesitated for a moment and finally spoke, “It’s nothing really, it’s just that things aren’t going quite the way I thought they would, and at the moment it’s a little …… overwhelming.”
“Oh, understandable, I can even roughly guess what you previously imagined the Lost Country to look like,” Duncan spoke casually, “It’s amazing how the first day was a warm welcome party instead of a dark and bloody sacrifice ceremony, isn’t it?”
“It wasn’t as much of a stretch as the …… sacrifice ceremony, but it’s true that I didn’t imagine the scene as peaceful as it is now at first.” Vanna seemed to chuckle a bit, at any rate, she had relaxed a bit now.
“That’s part of the point of your Pope having you on this ship,” Duncan said slowly, “She needs to know what the real Lost Country looks like, and I …… need you as a bridge to re-establish a connection with the civilized world the connection.”
The dining room arrived.
Illuminated by swinging whale oil lamps, the long tables were already laden with dishes, steaming fish soup was set in the most prominent place on the entire table, and the crew waited for their captain on either side of the long table, while low, gentle creaks came from the depths of the ship, as if the old expedition ship hummed a song at nightfall.
Vanna made her way to her empty seat and looked at the table in front of her that smelled of food in the warmth of the light.
Alice got up and served a steaming bowl of soup and placed it in front of the new crew member.
“Please drink.” Ms. Doll said politely.
Vanna looked at the bowl of soup in front of her, in the previous conversation with Maurice, she already knew the “truth” of this special food, and also knew the unique symbolism of this dinner, at this moment, looking at the slightly shaking fish in the soup, she felt a slight trance in front of her eyes for a moment, but in an instant this trance disappeared.
“Is this my destiny?” She couldn’t help but mutter.
“No,” Alice shook her head with a look of pure seriousness, “this is your fish soup.”
Vanna was dumbfounded, then a smile rose to the corners of her mouth.
It kinda smelled good.
……
In the cathedral of the city-state of Prand, Helena was standing silently in front of the icon of the Storm Goddess, gazing at the candle flame burning at the feet of the icon.
Those candlesticks with intricate and exquisite decorative patterns were burning quietly, while the flames at their tops gradually rose up in Helena’s field of vision, then shook and split, spread, and spread.
In the blink of an eye, the sanctuary disappeared, the icon disappeared, the candlesticks also disappeared, and Helena’s field of vision was only left with countless embers – big or small, far or near, high or low candle flames filled her surroundings, jumping and burning in a dark and chaotic infinite space, just like a multitude of stars. Each of these flames represented a saint, and the foundation on which the Church of the Deep had thrived to this day.
Helena raised her head, and the countless flames in her vision moved quickly, a large number of flames drifted into the distance, except for a cluster of bright candle flames that came in front of her, burning silently in the darkness.
The Pope watched the cluster of flames and waited patiently.
In her line of sight, the flame finally gradually began to tremble, and the amplitude of the trembling became larger and larger, and then at a certain instant, it violently and violently burned up, the flame pulling up more than a few times higher, while an ethereal greenish glow skyrocketed amidst the firelight.
The whole process only lasted two or three seconds.
The flames regained their composure, emitting an eerie green color, burning brightly and silently in the darkness.
“…… It’s really completely transformed.” Helena couldn’t help but coo softly, then subconsciously raised her hand as if she wanted to touch the quietly burning cluster of flames with her fingertips.
But she stopped at the last step.
The countless candle flames in the darkness instantly faded away, and the scenery in the sanctuary returned to its original state.
Helena raised her head and looked toward the veil-covered, silent icon of the goddess overlooking the sanctuary.
The surface of the icon was faintly floating with light and shadow, the hard shell carved out of rock seemed to have gained elasticity like a living creature, and under the thick veil, a pale and illusory aura escaped a little bit.
The icon lowered its head, and a translucent, spirit-like tentacle coalesced from the pale, illusory smoke and snaked out from the edge of the veil, slowly dropping down in front of Helena.
The tentacle curled and rose, waiting for Helena to speak.
“Your messenger has come aboard and was completely transformed two minutes ago, she is now part of the Lost Country,” Helena said calmly and respectfully as she gazed at the tentacles, “but as before, she still retains her humanity and sanity and maintains a psychic connection to the community of believers. ”
The tentacles swung up slightly, emitting a low, strange rustling sound, interspersed with the sound of gentle waves.
“Yes, I will keep an eye on her condition from time to time,” Helena said, “but if something is really wrong with her spirit …… such as, for example, showing signs of being infested by subspace, then… …”
There were two illusory tentacles swinging more dramatically, and the odd rustling sound was mixed with another series of grunts that were impossible for a human to make and recognize.
“I understand,” Helena breathed out softly and bowed her head, “I will try to ‘pull’ her back as much as I can, and if things are simply irreparable, I will try to return her to your realm in a position to retain her humanity .”
The tentacles rocked gently, emitting soothing whispers, and then the illusory limbs once again transformed into a pale, thin mist that rose a little into midair.
The mist returned under the veil of the goddess, and the icon moved a little, returning once again to its previous appearance of calmly overlooking the earth.
……
The night curtain was low, and the world’s creation’s clear and cold light was already hanging high in the night sky.
Ice floes occupied the sea surface, and sinister sharp ice blades lurked in the sparkling waves, and the steel warships with towering bows split the waves in the night voyage, advancing headlong in the boundless sea of ice floes.
Large and small broken ice seems to take in the majesty of this steel battleship, before the Sea Mist approached, it took the initiative to retreat to the sides, under the cold glow of the world’s creation, the sea surface seems to have broken open a path, and the steel beasts are walking through the path.
Tirion stood at the bow of the ship, gazing out over the dark, cold sea in the distance, his brows furrowed.
“We’re well into the Cold Cold Sea, Captain,” First Mate Aiden’s voice came over the night air, “and will be back in our home port by about this time tomorrow.”
Tirian didn’t turn around, “Any new news from the Frost?”
“The scouts report that the Frost authorities have moved that submersible to Dagger Island near the city-state, where there is an old marine observatory that is now being used temporarily as a research facility for the ‘eighth third submersible’,” Aiden replied. “They don’t appear to have opened the submersible’s hatch yet – possibly out of caution, or perhaps awaiting orders from a higher authority.”
“Well, that bunch of losers at least have the basics of caution,” Tirian exhaled softly, his brow not at all relaxed, “And beyond that, any new news?”
“It’s quiet within Frost City for the time being, the authorities seem to have blocked news about the submersible – it doesn’t really matter if it’s blocked or not, not many people even know about the submersible program from half a century ago nowadays,” Aiden said, shaking his head. “More than that, the other thing that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the submersible seems to be worth paying attention to.”
“The other thing?”
“Yes, the rumors about the return of the …… dead.”
(End of chapter)