Chapter 545: Near Dusk
Chapter 545 Near Dusk
Silence fell in the captain’s room.
Duncan was still staring dead at the huge, eerie eyeball on the sketchpad-
It was drawn in almost insanely messy brushstrokes, yet it was so incredibly accurate and evocative that anyone with just one glance would understand the meaning of every single line in that image, as if its true message was woven inside every element that made up the picture.
In the frantic and messy strokes, the pupil of the large eyeball was deep, and the structure of the blood vessels and nerve plexus around it was vaguely recognizable; beyond the eyeball there was clearly a layer of dim substance covering it, and Taran-El used a lot of fine lines to depict the layer of the thing covering the eyeball, as if he was trying his best to restore what it really was, and the only message Duncan received from the picture, was that it was a layer of “A shell layer with a complex structure.”
It was an eye encapsulated in what seemed like a jewel-like shell.
A creaking sound came from the side, and the goat’s head on the edge of the chart table was turning its head in an extremely uneasy manner; it seemed to be trying to take a look at what was on the piece of paper, but was hesitant to do so.
After half a day, it hesitantly spoke, “Captain …… what exactly does that look like?”
“It’s an eye,” Duncan was silent for a few seconds and began to explain the contents of the sketch paper to the goat head as he deliberated, “It looks a lot like a human eye in terms of structure, you can see the blood vessels and plexus of nerves, and it’s encapsulated within a spherical shell, which however is very much like a man-made object ……”
Listening to Duncan’s description, Goathead was so quiet for the first time ever.
After a long time, it crunched and moved, making an extremely disturbing sound, “This is a …… frightening sight …… The true likeness of Vision 001, an eyeball of such immense size? Then …… wouldn’t there be many people …… during that sun extinguishing period?”
“I’m afraid not many people actually saw this scene,” Duncan shook his head slowly, “We also looked up at the sky during the sun’s extinction, and all we saw was an orb plunged into utter darkness, the details of which could not be directly observed- -which is also pictured on this diagram, the eyeball was ‘encased’ in a massive container.
“At that time, Taran-El was able to see what was really inside the sphere with the help of the Truth Academy’s special observation device, so there’s no need to worry that ordinary people elsewhere would casually see this maddening ‘truth’.”
Hearing Duncan’s words, the goat-head seemed relieved, but then immediately worried again, “Not many, then there could be ah – not all of us have the same reaction as Taran El, who can seal and tamper away what he recorded by instinct in a state of mental loss of control, and based on Taran El’s Elle’s own subsequent actions, it seems that those who see this eyeball will unconsciously want to spread the word about what it looks like ……”
Duncan listened to the goat-head’s words full of unease, but said nothing, except to remain silent with a sullen face, seemingly lost in thought.
Goathead chattered for half a day, saw that the captain did not respond at all, finally could not help but remind, “Captain, do you think we should remind ……”
“Prand and Frost don’t have similar ‘observation’ devices, that lens set is an asset of the Truth Academy, sophisticated and rare,” Duncan finally raised his head, “Outside of Lightwind Harbor, even if someone during the sun’s extinguish observed the surface of Vision 001, they would not have seen these ‘truths’.”
“Prand and Frost don’t have it, then other city-states might have it!” Goathead shouted at once, “Who knows what those reckless fools will do! Mortals are not a reliable race!”
“…… The other city-states won’t see that extinguished sun.” Duncan said suddenly.
The goat-heads who were in the middle of their Woodland excitement instantly quieted down.
“Have you forgotten?” Duncan reminded faintly, “Only three city-states as well as the ‘Lost Country Fleet’ saw the world where the sun went out, other than that the entire Boundless Sea never experienced those twelve hours of darkness.”
Goathead’s head shook slightly from side to side before finally letting out a meaningful exclamation, “Oh …… er ……”
Duncan, however, did not say anything else, but looked down again at the sketch depicting the core structure of Vision 001, and gradually, another scene emerged in his mind instead–
The brilliantly burning corona, the coiled and twisted flesh and blood limbs underneath the corona, and the huge dying eyeballs surrounded by countless pale flesh and blood limbs.
The writhing sun-wheel-the black sun.
Duncan’s brow furrowed a little, the vague sense of familiarity appeared and then could not be ignored, the scene memorized in his mind and the sketches on the paper in front of him were quickly compared, so that his mind gradually began to emerge some bold ideas.
“…… resembles the eyes of the ‘Real Sun God’.” He suddenly whispered softly to himself.
“Huh?” Goathead was instantly startled, “What horrible thing are you talking about!?”
“This eyeball, it resembles a portion of the structure of the ‘Creeping Daywheel’,” Duncan said thoughtfully, and his judgment was becoming more and more certain as the details of his recollection were being filled in in his mind, “yes, very much so — almost identical if you take this ‘eyeball’ structure out and look at it alone.”
There was a click, and Goathead’s neck seemed to snap at an angle, and it stiffened its entirety on the chart table without a word. Even if it was as talkative as it was, for the first time, there was a time when it couldn’t utter a single word.
Duncan exhaled softly and folded the draft paper, placing it properly close to his body.
Fortunately, Lucrecia has enough caution, did not leave this paper to the ordinary scholars of the Truth Academy, otherwise I really do not know how big things will happen – although the Truth Academy does not have his convenient “spiritual body fire” can lift the seal on the paper, but they have a variety of wonderful research means. Although the Truth Academy didn’t have his convenient “Spiritual Body Fire” that could lift the seal on the paper, they had all sorts of marvelous research methods, and might have really restored the real pattern on the draft paper.
Just at this moment, Duncan’s thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sound of hurried footsteps coming from outside the captain’s cabin, followed by a knock on the door and Maurice’s voice coming from outside: “Captain, I have something to report to you!”
Duncan immediately straightened his expression and looked up at the door, “Come in.”
The door to the captain’s room opened, and Maurice quickly stepped into the room, fumbling a letter out of his pocket as he walked, “Captain, Heidi suddenly brought a letter that mentions …… something unusual that needs to be reported to you.”
A letter from Heidi?
Duncan froze for a moment, reached out and took the letter, he did not expect that the psychiatrist lady contacted this side in such a short period of time after just establishing the connection and informing the truth, but at the same time was a bit puzzled, “Why didn’t she just go to the antique store to look for me? And sent the letter to you?”
Ai would go back and forth between the Lost Country ship and Prand every day, in addition to delivering some necessary supplies, she would also do some routine mail collection and delivery in the Cathedral, Morris’s house, the Consul’s mansion and other places, so it was normal for Heidi to send a letter through these channels, but if she wanted to contact the captain of the Lost Country ship, then going directly to the antique store was obviously a more convenient option.
“…… She’s still a little nervous and intimidated,” Morris explained with a slight note of embarrassment in his tone, “probably afraid to meet with your avatar directly after learning the truth.”
“…… excess nervousness, she even bought a vase in my store last week.” Duncan muttered, casually opening the letter, his eyes suddenly shifting slightly as he swept his gaze over the lines of text on it that had obviously been written in haste.
In the next moment, Duncan quickly put away the relaxed expression on his face, and his expression turned to seriousness and gradually became slightly more grave, he quickly skimmed through the contents of the letter, and then was silent for a few seconds before raising his head to look at Maurice: “She met the Final Preacher ……”
“Yes, and according to the description in the letter, that still seems to be the kind that has sense,” Morris nodded, “although the ‘sense’ of that uninvited guest is very suspicious, from beginning to end, godly, not even talking intelligently ……”
Apparently, the old man, who had taught many students throughout his life, and whose rule was to “impart knowledge in a concise and straightforward manner”, was extremely displeased with the riddler-like cultist mentioned in the letter, and had a lot of grudges.
“The lack of clarity may be due to some limitation, the point is that he is willing to communicate, and that is the most notable difference between the two types of Endbringer preachers.” Duncan said quickly, then glanced down at the letter again, the various bits of information mentioned in it reflected in his eyes.
The fourth long night …… of the promised ark …… into the “mild” sun and the approaching dusk, and …… The “hole” that had appeared with a “variable” and was gradually expanding ……
Heidi as much as possible to restore in the letter relayed from the final preacher, she heard from the mouth of the various God’s words, did not based on their own guesses on those things to do any “additional processing”.
The information itself was enough to make Duncan’s mind come up with countless speculations and associations.
“The Final Preacher doesn’t seem to be very lucid, and he appears during the day, not at night like other ‘normal’ preachers,” said Maurice, “He mentioned the Fourth Long Night. “He mentioned the Fourth Long Night, and the many ‘phenomena’ that preceded the beginning of the Fourth Long Night, as if the very fact that he was able to appear in the daytime was a ‘harbinger’ of the imminent beginning of the so-called ‘Fourth Long Night’. ……”
The Fourth Long Night ……
Duncan’s mind couldn’t help but recall the description he read in the “Book of Blasphemy”:
There are three times in the Book of Genesis, and they are called the Three Long Nights. The King of the Pale Giants died in the First Long Night, the King of Dreams died in the Second Long Night, and the King of the Worms finally succeeded in molding all things in the Third Long Night, and together with the Cretan Clan, they lit up the present ‘Sun’, which ended the Night, yet He was not the only one. Ending the Night, yet He Himself was banished by the other Ancient Kings due to unauthorized alterations to the blueprints, unable to return to the throne ……
Duncan slowly rose from behind the nautical table and made his way to the window.
The sun was about to set at sea level.
Bound by a magnificent double runic circle, the dazzling, warm orb of light was sinking into the sea with a brilliant afterglow.
Duncan gazed at it, imagining that he was in fact gazing at an eyeball that was more massive than any city-state and had been overlooking the world for ten thousand years.
The “eye” that had risen to the sky in the days of the ancient kingdom of Crete was now dying.
The curtain of warmth and tranquility woven by the light seems to be about to fall due to the death of the sun, and after this curtain has disappeared, and after the “fourth long night” described by the preacher of the end of the world ……, the “twilight” of the world will be over. After the curtain disappears, after the “fourth long night” described by the preacher of the end of the world comes, what will the “dusk” of this world look like?
(End of chapter)