Chapter 118: Museums
Chapter 118 The Museum
Getting down from the car and stepping onto the stone plaza in front of the museum, Heidi couldn’t help but inhale deeply, the cool and slightly salty sea breeze blew in, as if it also blew away the fatigue and anxiety she had accumulated after a long period of continuous work, bringing a hint of relaxation to her.
The young psychiatrist hadn’t taken a vacation for almost a month, and in recent times, she had been dealing with manic and crazy cultists almost every day, and she even felt that the madness in the heads of those cultists had gradually infected her spirit, making her fight against insomnia and excessive dreams every day lately.
Well, today she finally didn’t have to think about those crazy cultists and their monstrously diseased minds.
Another gust of sea breeze blew in from the end of the street, ruffling the hem of Heidi’s skirt, and she lifted a hand to press her long skirt and the wide-brimmed hat she wore on her head as she looked up at the large, white building with its streamlined dome and beautiful side buildings ahead of her.
This maritime museum in the Crossroads neighborhood was one of several of the largest museums in the city-state of Prendergast-as well as one of the most storied.
Heidi took a step toward the museum, while not far from the crowd, a tour guide was giving visitors a background on the museum, the guide’s rather penetrating voice reaching Heidi’s ears:
“…… This large building, constructed in 1802, was originally the property of the Pahl Brothers Ocean Shipping Company, and in its heyday, it served as the largest warehousing center in Prand, gulping in staggering amounts of wealth, and was seen as a symbol of the commercial prosperity of the city-state of Prand at its peak, but a drastic change in 1822 completely altered this building, and it is now a symbol of the city-state of Prand. A dramatic change completely altered the fate of the building ……”
A timely question was issued, “What happened then?”
“It is said-just said-that an ocean-going freighter of the Parr Brothers’ name at the time encountered a monstrous fog on its return voyage, in which the unlucky freighter met and brushed against a flaming phantom ship … …
“The freighter finally managed to escape the fog and even returned safely to port, but the shadow of madness lingered in the hearts of every crew member at the time and quickly spread throughout the entire fleet of Parr Brothers’ ships, and within a few months after that, all the ships under the Parr Brothers’ name began to suffer horrible calamities and a steady stream of crew members mutinied, disappeared, and even had some people performed bloody sacrifices to please unknown gods ……
“…… Voyaging ships were caught in storms on supposedly calm seas, or hit icebergs in warm waters, and mutinous sailors set off explosives on board, sabotaged boilers, and even hunted down their coworkers …… Bizarre disasters like these were repeated over and over again, and eventually complete The disasters repeated themselves over and over again, eventually burying the Parr brothers’ business altogether and allowing their ocean trading company to file for bankruptcy reorganization at the end of the same year ……
“And after that, the Parr brothers divided up what remained of the property in their company’s name and donated a portion of it to the city and state authorities, which included the building we see here …… It underwent several remodelings and changes in function after that, until in 1855, it was was finally transformed into a maritime museum, which continues to this day.
“It is said that shadows from nearly a century ago still linger in this maritime museum to this day …… Shadows of the Parr Brothers occasionally return to the museum and make temporary stops in the offices they occupied back then, or employees in Marine Trading Company uniforms appear in the exhibit area, confusedly asking visitors asking for the location of the office area ……
“Sure, sure! These are just rumors, the museum has been inspected and blessed by the Church Magi, and there is a team of guardsmen stationed there to make sure that no transcendent disasters will occur, so you can visit without fear – but if you’re really interested in these thrilling and bizarre legends, you can also experience the ‘Adventure Chamber’ in the wing of the museum. ‘Adventure Chamber’, but before experiencing the chamber program, you need to go to the Plaza Church to receive a temporary baptism as well as a will check ……”
The voices of the tour guides and tourists faded away, and Heidi crossed over to the crowd and walked forward, but suddenly felt a little heavy-footed.
A century old ocean trade warehouse, a distant fog that brought disaster, a cursed fleet of ships, shadows hovering over the museum ……
This period of time every day with the cultists, and through various official channels to hear a lot of “wind” Heidi suddenly feel that the museum as a vacation sightseeing project does not seem to be a good idea …… have this time is even better to go to the lower part of the city, or listen to the father, to visit the odd antique store.
But after less than two seconds of agonizing, the young psychiatrist suddenly made up her mind and took a giant step toward the museum’s front entrance.
Introducing the attractions when telling some appropriate scary stories is a common tactic of tour guides, more than half of the world’s scary stories are not without the elements of sea fog, ghost ships and mutinous sailors, there are ghost stories in the museum, the antique store may have more scary things than ghost stories – she is a psychiatrist who deals with psychopaths all day long, can she be afraid of this? She’s a psychiatrist who spends all her time with psychopaths.
No one could stop her from enjoying her hard-won vacation! Not even the evil gods of subspace!
Determined and walking like the wind, Ms. Psychiatrist strides through the ticket checkpoint like a warrior ready to go on a journey, passes through the door of the museum, and steps into this ancient building with a history of nearly a century.
The museum had fewer visitors than expected, and perhaps because it was not a public holiday, the hall on the first floor of the venue even seemed a bit cold.
A few museum guides were guiding some visitors who were having difficulties to the main exhibition area, a huge whale skeleton and various beautiful models of sea ships were fixed on the towering wall at the end of the first floor hall, and a docent dressed as a captain was introducing the knowledge of the early sailing battleships to a few children. Two girls who appeared to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, probably still in school, were walking in pairs towards the doors leading to the main exhibit, and they looked to be on good terms as they joked and laughed along the way.
The venue is brightly lit and the atmosphere is cozy.
Heidi breathed a small sigh of relief and followed the two young girls towards the hall where the main exhibit was located, ready to enjoy the quiet time.
Then she smelled something a little odd.
That smelled …… as if something was burning ……
……
Near the Crossroads neighborhood, Duncan stepped out of a steam bus, having bought a copy of a pastime magazine at a nearby newsstand to kill a little time.
After Shirley and Dog left, he spent a lot of time in the Sixth Ward, asking around with the locals, but it was clear that it was impossible for ordinary citizens to get a glimpse of what was going on behind the “curtain”, and all the residents of the Sixth Ward remembered was what was officially disclosed. The residents of the Sixth Borough remembered only what was officially disclosed, and all agreed that the neighborhood’s decline was due to chemical contamination from factories and neglect by the city authorities – not dissimilar to what the old man sunbathing in the sun had revealed.
The truth is covered by a curtain, the records of reality have been altered, and the city authorities have revealed only altered information, but Duncan can not rely on this to conclude that the “curtain” is the city hall of the city-state of Prand or the Church – because in a world where there are transcendent phenomena, a powerful anomaly or otherworldly phenomenon can be a major factor in the development of the world. For in a world of extraordinary phenomena, a powerful anomaly or vision could blind everyone.
In the presence of powerful anomalies and visions, even the so-called “reality” is a canvas that can be smeared and tampered with.
Now it seems that the source of the “curtain” is not in the factory, or even in the Sixth Borough, and if this so-called “source” is the solar debris, then it should be hidden deeper.
Until we have more clues, we can’t continue our investigation.
Duncan sat down on a bench by the side of the road, and while idly reading the contents of a recreational book, he contemplated the future.
The gang of Sunists were searching for the Sun Shard, and they were stirring the city-state into a state of unrest; Nina’s memories and dreams pointed vaguely to the Sun Shard, and it was highly likely that there was some connection between her and that Shard; he himself had glimpsed the likeness of the real Sun through the Sun Mask, and the unnameable thing that resembled an evil god had already seen him and had spoken to him to ask for his help… …
Unconsciously, he seemed to have fallen into a jumbled mass of threads.
The city-state of Prand, the first landing point of the civilized society in this world, was expected to be a peaceful, prosperous and tranquil place, but I never thought that this “first stop” would be so uneasy.
Duncan sighed, slightly shaking his head, and at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly saw a strange smoke rising above the nearby neighborhood.
In the smoke, there was also a hidden fire rising.
Stunned for a moment, Duncan stood up from the bench and noticed that many other people on the street had also seen the smoke and flames, and many pedestrians were stopping for a moment, while immediately afterward, he saw people running across the street in panic and heard some people letting out loud shouts:
“Fire! The museum is on fire!!!”
(end of chapter)