Chapter 289 – Touch of Frost
Chapter 289 Touch of Frost
The sea was slightly windy.
The cold night wind blew across the surface of the sea, and the undulating waves lashed against the sturdy hull of the Lost Country, however, this huge ship still maintained a stable posture, as if ignoring the wind and waves and continued to sail towards the north at full speed.
The translucent sails of the spirit body were raised high in the night, and the occasional creaking and straining sound resounded between the cables and the masts, as the living ghost ship let out a pleasant sigh amidst the winds and waves, while the newest members of the ship looked a bit preoccupied at the moment.
Vanna had learned from Duncan the truth about the Frost Rebellion of half a century ago, about the extremely bizarre plans for the Subterranean Abyss, and the slightest shadow of that terrible plan that still stretched on today, half a century later.
The subterranean plan that took place in the Frost was a horrible disaster on another level than the devastating fires that had befallen Prand – dark, cold, invisible horrors surging through the oceanic abyss, a catastrophe that might be about to take place, or had already taken place, or had even ended, and no sound in the cold night could describe the outline of the invisible horror.
The events of the Black Sun of Prand were a fiery and dazzling war, what happened beneath the frosty sea abyss was a silent and twisted nightmare.
“According to Tirion, the Subterranean Abyss program is over, and all subsequent repercussions of that year ended as best they could with the death of the Frost Queen, but the truth is that we have no evidence whatsoever to prove that some transcendent vision beneath the Frost has actually ceased to function – we don’t even know what the hell it is at all! What it was, the whole thing was completely shrouded in fog from start to finish. And now Maurice has received another letter from the Frost, and that letter is a sign that alerts us to the fact that something wrong is happening in that northern city-state.”
Duncan’s low voice rang out on the night air, then he paused for a moment before suddenly twisting his head to look at Vanna, “Did Helena tell you about the ‘disturbance’ in the northern seas?”
“Coronation of the Pope?” Vanna was stunned for a moment and gently shook her head, “She didn’t say anything about it, she only said that she told me to take the Lost Country ship, but didn’t actually tell me exactly what I should do at all.”
“She didn’t say it?……” Duncan mumbled softly, but didn’t linger on the topic, “Then I don’t want to think about it so much, just get used to life aboard the ship, don’t worry, I won’t give you a task that will make things difficult for you .”
He raised his head and glanced at the deep night and the mists of the infinite sea in the distance.
“It’s a very late night, so it’s best not to blow too much cold air on deck-the sea breeze at night isn’t very kind to the mind and body.”
Vanna gave Duncan a somewhat surprised look – she’d given such a surprised look from time to time throughout the day – before nodding as an afterthought, “Ah, yes, thank you.”
As she said this, she fumbled around on her person for a moment, and fished a small piece of wood out of her shirt pocket – a wave amulet carved out of hibiscus wood – which she held to her lips and whispered a few words of benediction before throwing it with a mighty heave into the sea off the side of the ship.
Duncan watched Vanna’s actions curiously, “What is this doing?”
“That is a talisman of the waves that I carved myself out of hibiscus wood, which followers of the Storm Goddess use to pray with when they go out to sea,” Vanna explained casually, “Hibiscus wood is believed to be favored by the Storm Goddess, and throwing its talisman into the sea symbolizes the ancient act of sacrifice, and praying a blessing while throwing the talisman and it is also easier to establish a connection with the goddess.”
At this point she paused abruptly, followed by some hesitation, “Do you mind these acts?”
“Ah, of course I don’t mind, as I said, the atmosphere on the Lost Country is more relaxed than you might think,” Duncan immediately smiled and shook his head, “Maurice normally prays to the God of Wisdom as well.”
With that, he then waved his hand at Vanna and turned to slowly walk in the direction of the captain’s cabin, “I’ll head back, you have an early night.”
The sound of waves rising and falling crashed as Vanna watched the tall figure fade away, suddenly, she seemed to remember something and shouted behind Duncan, “Captain!”
Duncan stopped without turning around, “What else?”
Vanna opened her mouth and hesitated for two or three seconds before finally speaking, “I apologize to you – for my former recklessness ……”
“I don’t care.” Duncan said casually, then waved his hand and walked away without looking back.
Vanna was still standing on the deck, seemingly a little lost in thought.
And behind her, in the midst of the rippling sea, the piece of wave amulet carved out of hibiscus wood had been churned up and down by the waves for a long time, until this moment when it was suddenly captured by a cluster of waves, and turned into the depths of the sea in an instant.
……
Inside the captain’s chamber, the goat’s head squeaks up and looks over at Duncan, who is walking into the room, “Ah, Captain, you finished pacifying the new crew? It has been an incredible day, a high ranking cleric who follows the storm goddess turned into your crew, which could be considered some sort of trophy, I think ……”
Duncan raised his eyelids and glanced at Goathead, “You say that to Vanna’s face next time.”
“…… Can’t beat that.”
“Then cut the crap,” Duncan said casually, glancing down at the charts as he walked past them, “What position are we at? What’s the status of the Sea Mist now?”
“The Sea Mist is still sailing at full speed, but fine-tuned its course twice a while ago, judging by its position it’s probably close to that secret home port of the Sea Mist fleet,” Goathead replied immediately, “We should be in the Cold and Cold Sea by early morning, followed by another four to five days of sailing northward to Frost Nearby …… Are we going to drive straight there, or are we going to act covertly in the nearby waters?”
“Don’t expose it just yet,” Duncan said, “I don’t intend to make ‘warm contact’ with Frost’s city-state guards just yet.” “Aye, Captain.”
Duncan thought again, and said, “Also lean over to take a look at the Sea Mist after it stops – scouting out the location and surroundings of that secret harbor in Tirion without exposing it shouldn’t be difficult for the Lost Country, which is capable of long periods of time lurking in the spirit world. ”
“Ah, sure, that’s easy enough,” Goathead agreed immediately, “but …… what are you trying to do by scouting out that secret harbor?”
“If something really happened to Frost and it’s related to the secret under the Sea Abyss, I think Tirian would do something about it, and keeping an eye on him would be the same as keeping an eye on Frost. If the conditions are right over there, we’ll lurk around the Sea Mist.”
Goat Head immediately led the order, “Understood.”
Duncan nodded and stepped towards his chambers.
“I’m going to try to ‘probe’ the situation in the direction of Frost, if not necessary, do not disturb.”
“Aye, Captain!”
The door to the sleeping quarters closed behind them.
Duncan exhaled softly and came to sit at the table, moving his slightly stiff shoulders and neck.
Aye, who was resting his eyes beside the window, awoke with a start, fluttered his wings and jumped onto the table, cocking his head at his master, “Hitting the road, or staying?”
Duncan skimmed the pigeon, “Spirit walking.”
As the words fell, the brass compass hanging on Ai’s chest opened with a snap, and a green flame rose from within the compass, and in an instant, the scene in Duncan’s field of vision changed!
He once again came to that space filled with countless stars and lines, boundless chaos and darkness.
Aye’s figure emerged from the darkness, and the skeleton bird wrapped in spiritual fire hovered and fluttered around him.
However, he did not move his position or touch a cluster of starlight nearby at the first opportunity, but first settled down and carefully observed the lights that flickered in his field of vision, sensing the aura that was vaguely revealed in those lights.
Sure enough …… as the Lost Country continued to move away from Prand and closer to Frost, the starlight he saw in this part of space changed!
Duncan lifted his head, sensing his body in Prand, and he followed his senses as he looked into the depths of the darkness and saw a hazy spot of light located in the extreme distance.
He looked back from the distance and looked at the bright twinkling “stars” in front of him.
After a moment’s thought, he approached some of the points of light, and cautiously touched a few of them.
He didn’t directly occupy the shells they represented, but read the superficial information behind them in this way – emotions, perceptions, and even fragmented superficial consciousness.
Cold, Tension, Fuel Prices, Steam Supply, City Hall, Frost ……
After touching a few points of light, Duncan withdrew his will.
Continuing to touch the points of light that represented the “living” might cause a wider panic, which might then attract the attention of the city’s guardians, and he didn’t want to deal with strange churches just yet.
The information he’d gotten so far was enough – just from the information read from the few points of light, it was confirmed that the starbursts were the inhabitants of Frost.
Or at least some of them.
Duncan’s gaze swept through a dizzying array of starlight, searching for individuals whose light was dim and weak, whose vitality had faded.
He needed a karmic husk to act as an outpost for prying information.
A moment later, an unusually shimmering cluster of shimmering light suddenly caught his eye.
“That’s you!”
(End of chapter)