Chapter 373 – Deep Trek

Chapter 373 – Deep Trek
On the way back to the cathedral, Agatha was preoccupied.

Clarifying the correctness of the exploration direction of the “Second Waterway” was good news for her, but the identity of the mysterious being was still shrouded in mystery, which made her feel uneasy no matter what – of course, it was certain that the being was friendly to the Frost City State, but as the leader of the city’s guards, she was not sure if she was the only one who could be trusted. Frost City State is friendly, but as the leader of the guardians of this city-state, she must look at things in the long run.

The gaze of any higher power on the earthly world is not without reason, in a sense, their “gaze” itself is a disturbance with substantial impact, how long will the mysterious “visitor” continue to watch this place? How long will the mysterious “Visitor” be watching? What will be the long term effect of his stay on Frost? Will the people living in the city-state be changed by this influence? Does the Being Himself know of this effect? Or does …… He not care?

The small steam core let out a low, powerful roar as the mechanical organ-driven vehicle drove through the ancient streets of the city-state, the scenery on both sides of the road receding in the afterglow of its vision as it drove through yet another intersection and slowed down slightly.

The voice of a subordinate came from the front driver’s seat, “My lord, should we return directly to the cathedral?”

Agatha raised her head, her eyes looking through the car window in the direction where the cathedral was.

The Silent Cathedral overlooked the entire city-state as quietly as usual.

In the center of Frost was a mountain, a roughly cone-shaped mountain that towered over the hinterland of the city-state, with the boiling gold mines that brought endless wealth to the city conveniently located beneath it, and the Cathedral of Silence and the City Hall were located at the top of that mountain – two large buildings standing side by side at the highest point of the city-state, no matter where they were in the city, they could be seen in their silhouette.

At least one of them is seen.

The cathedral loomed large, looking rather holy against the backdrop of the sky, and the town hall opposite it was actually quite a grand building – in the Queen’s time, half a century ago, it was actually a palace, and according to the official records, its name was “The Court of Winter”, but it was more commonly known as “The Court of the King of Winter”. It was actually a palace half a century ago in the Queen’s time, and according to the official records, its name was “The Court of Winter”, but more people would call it the Queen’s Palace.

In those days, when it was considered taboo, the Court of Winter and the Hall of Silence overlooked the city like a pair of twins, and classical stories full of fantastical colors depicted them as two guardian forces with symbolic meanings – the Church guarding the city’s night, and the royal family guarding the city’s day, both supporting each other and supporting each other.

But in reality the situation is much the same today, with the earthly forces represented by the Town Hall still guarding the city – only the age of the Queen is over.

Agatha was a little lost in thought, staring unconsciously at the mountain, the mountain she had seen countless times before, and the two buildings that crowned it, looking to her as if they were two behemoths standing on top of the mountain, while the houses and factories of all sizes lined up along the mountain looked like blood spilling out of the behemoths’ bodies as it wound its way down the mountain.

She felt her eyeballs sting a little.

“Gatekeeper, shall we return to the cathedral?”

The ministry’s voice came from the front row again, and Agatha snapped out of her walk, blinking her eyes and feeling as if a slight buzzing remained in her ears, but in the next second, the residual buzzing faded away silently, along with the memory of the earlier moment.

“No, head to the sewage treatment center first,” Agatha shook her head, “that ‘fake’ that disappeared into the lavatory is really worrying, I have to confirm it with my own eyes.”

“Yes.”

The steam core chirped merrily once more, and the car turned in a beautiful arc at the intersection and headed out onto the road to the sewage treatment center.

……

The sky was strewn with thick clouds, and the dim light of the sky floated feebly through the clouds, appearing chaotic and undefined, and in the distance was the endless sea water, as well as a slight mist floating on the surface.

Lawrence stood at the bow of the White Oak, gazing out with a frown on his face at the distant landscape-a landscape that had not changed for a long time.

He turned back again and saw that the sea in the other direction was also nothing but a vast expanse of sea, with no other ships in sight, much less any sign of a certain city-state.

The cold, chilly wind blew across the deck, curling the corners of his coat and the gray hair at his temples, and Lawrence’s frown hadn’t been stretched for a long time.

“How long have we been out of Frost?” He asked, turning his head suddenly to the first mate standing beside him.

“A day and a night, Captain,” the first mate said immediately, “and we’ve been maintaining full speed.”

“Something’s not quite right …… why do I always feel like I’m still in the same place ……,” Lawrence said with a stony expression, looking up at the chaotic light of the sky above him, then as if suddenly remembering something. “Can the wireless telegraph pick up signals from nearby city-states or ports?”

“It can,” the first mate nodded, his expression also looking rather serious, “but there are and only signals from Frost.”

Lawrence inhaled softly, “What about the content?”

“A welcome message,” the first mate said slowly, “‘The harbor is open, welcome to Frost’, and over and over again that message was received.”

Lawrence’s brow furrowed in silence while the first mate muttered in a low voice after a moment of silence, “It’s like …… we’re still circling Frost.” “Apparently we’re stuck in these waters,” Lawrence said in a low voice, “What’s the atmosphere on board now?”

“Everyone has sensed that something is wrong, but all are still calm,” the first mate glanced back in the direction of the deck, where sailors could be seen minding their own business at their respective posts, “All good – we’re not never experienced ‘strange things’ on the Infinite Sea, but everyone trusts you to get everyone out of there, so no one has come to interrupt.”

Lawrence didn’t say anything, just lifted his head and looked once more at the chaotic, uncharted sky.

The first mate noticed this somewhat strange action of the captain and couldn’t help but ask, “What are you looking at?”

“I ……” Lawrence rubbed the corner of his forehead, somehow feeling a little trance in his mind, as if he had forgotten something very important, “I’m thinking about the course.”

“Voyage?”

“Yes, the heading,” said Lawrence, closing his eyes hard again and opening them again, pondering what he had forgotten, while saying as if to himself, “Have you ever felt …… as if we had forgotten something? Isn’t it time we calibrated our present course ……?”

The first officer froze for a moment and subconsciously spoke, “Calibrate the heading? You mean the stargazing room? The navigator’s side ……”

“Wait, no, not the stargazer’s room,” Lawrence suddenly interrupted the first officer, who seemed to have awakened a little from a long dream, “The stargazer’s room is for calibrating the course in special cases, because it is contaminated and cannot be used frequently, there should be an easier, more versatile and safer way, in the daytime, for confirming the direction of a sailing ship, there should be such a way of ……”

Lawrence said, speaking faster and faster, immediately after he seemed to think of something, suddenly turned around and ran in the direction of the captain’s room.

The first mate was confused, but still instinctively followed the captain’s footsteps, he followed Lawrence back to the captain’s room, and then saw the latter rummaging around the room, and finally couldn’t help but open his mouth, “What are you looking for?”

“Some sort of instrument, for daytime use, to calibrate the course ……” Lawrence spoke rapidly as he rummaged through his room, while a certain strong impression revived little by little in his mind, and he felt that he was about to remember, was about to know what he was looking for …… Suddenly his eyes fell upon a table not far away.

A small instrument lay there, consisting of a telescope tube and some odd scale.

Lawrence walked slowly over to it and, somewhat puzzled, picked up the little instrument, recalling with difficulty what it did.

After a few moments he thoughtfully took the little instrument and left the room and went outside to the deck, where, under the inexplicable gaze of the first mate, he lifted it up, held it in front of his eyes, and aimed it at the sky.

“Captain, what are you doing?” The first mate asked curiously.

Lawrence slowly lowered the instrument.

There seemed to be a flash of ghostly green in the bottom of his eyes, but not only did he not notice it himself, even the first mate standing across from him did not notice it.

This old captain’s face was only bewildered and dismayed – he and the first mate stared at each other for a few seconds before his voice hoarsely and slowly spoke, “Do you remember …… the sky, there exists a glowing hot thing, it accurately and punctually floats above our heads and can be used to help ships calibrate their course during the day ……”

The first mate’s eyes slowly widened as if some memory or impression was also awakening in his mind.

Lawrence turned his head again and looked at the chaotic clouds, and the hazy, obscure, unseen source of the sky-light behind them-which seemed to spread out evenly, with no sign of a definite, intense body of light present in the clouds at all.

He withdrew his gaze, his eyes looking straight at his first officer, “Where did the sun go?”

The first mate, however, could only repeat the captain’s words blankly, “…… Where did the sun go?”

“It’s not a maze, it’s not a maze lock, it’s not a cyclic anomaly ……” Lawrence muttered softly, “The White Oak as a whole has entered an anomalous space… …”

The first mate slowly raised his head and looked out over the ship’s side at the pale sea, a look of bewilderment and fear in his eyes.

But suddenly, he seemed to have realized something.

A piece of land appeared on the surface of the sea.

It was a small island.

(End of chapter)