Chapter 751: An Unwelcome Guest on the Boat
Chapter 749 – The Unwelcome Guests on the Ship
The long twilight had ended and night had fallen.
The electric lights were lit, dispelling the darkness in the room, and Taran-El stood in front of the window, frowning as he gazed out at the streets – the glow of the gas lamps illuminated the streets, and occasionally the Knowledge guards on night patrol could be seen near the intersections with their guard dogs, but otherwise the whole city was empty and silent as if it had died in this night.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he withdrew his gaze from the window to the stacks of organized information and books on his desk and sighed imperceptibly.
He had organized them all before the sun went down, and next, it was time to pack them up and take them to the Great Library of the Academy – where a new office, blessed by the God of Wisdom and with many divine protections, would allow him to safely research and read in it.
But only a handful of scholars were destined to qualify for a “safe house” in the Great Library of the Academy, and for the vast majority, when the sun went down, “reading” became a taboo, and all books had to be sequestered for safety reasons for the duration of the night. For security reasons, all books must be sealed away until the next sunrise – part of the “Night Ban” just issued by the Council of State.
At the same time, teaching activities in all schools must also be stopped – young students are not yet strong enough or experienced enough to deal with the monsters chasing them from the spirit world and the deep sea, which is too dangerous.
Of course, there are those who believe that the situation in Lightwind Harbor is not so bad, because the luminous geometry next to the city-state has the power similar to the sun, and within its “sunlight” coverage, people may still be able to live and conduct research in a normal way – but this is only a guess after all. But this is only a guess, people have never tested the power of the luminous geometry in such a long night, and can not be sure where the limit of its shelter is, so naturally they can not take the risk.
As far as Talan-El knows, there are already a group of scholars conducting tests near the luminous geometry, heavily armed and protected by guardsmen who are also heavily armed, and they will try to “read under the night” at different times and in different locations to confirm the effectiveness of the “sunlight” protection. They will try to read at night at different times and in different locations to see how effective the “sunlight” protection is.
But even Taran Ayer doesn’t know how long the test will last or how many times it will need to be verified.
The air near the window was slightly distorted, and the figure of the Truthkeeper Ted Reel emerged from it, “I just don’t want to disturb your communication with your own apprentice.”
“Getting uppity at this point?” Talan raised his eyebrows and deliberately said in a somewhat squishy tone, “Don’t you usually yell all day about wanting to take a vacation?”
“Well, all joking aside,” Taran laughed, shaking his head gently, “go home and stop thinking about your dissertation – those ‘safe houses’ in the Great Library ‘ aren’t all that safe, experienced scholars like me know how to cautiously conduct research with all those added protections, but youngsters like you can’t do it yet …… Even if the safe houses keep out those evil entities, the ravings coming from the books will make you delirious.
The corner of Ted s mouth twitched, then dissolved into a sardonic smile.
“Go on vacation, rest and recuperate, after that we will have a long day …… when you will not have such a comfortable vacation.”
Taran didn’t say anything either, just silently gave a middle finger.
Taran El looked at Joshua’s back as he left, and after a while he suddenly turned his head in the direction of the window and said, “How long are you going to look over there?”
Listening to his teacher’s words, Joshua just slowly nodded his head, then he hesitated for a while before boldly asking, “Will it really be light afterward?”
“I’ll follow the next batch of people,” Taran El said casually, lifting his finger to point at the things on the table, “The things have already been sorted out, just take these on the table with you, and leave the rest here …… daybreak I’ll be back afterward.”
“After you’ve finished cleaning this place up, you can go home with the others,” Talan said suddenly and casually as he looked at his young apprentice, “You’re on vacation.”
The somewhat tense expression on the young man’s face seemed to finally relax a bit as he silently packed up the rest of his things and respectfully said goodbye to his teacher before pushing the cart out of the room.
“Okay, teacher.” Joshua honestly agreed and began to silently bundle and pack those organized books and materials on the table and carry them to the cart, keeping his head down the entire time, as if he was avoiding seeing the words on the materials and as if he was trying to avoid seeing his teacher’s eyes.
“…… will,” said Taran, looking into the apprentice’s eyes with an extraordinarily serious expression, “remember? Together, you and I calculated the rate of the sun’s descent, and it fell below sea level on time according to our calculations – it will rise afterward according to our calculations as well, it’s just that it will take a little time.”
“…… And you dare to use a ‘miracle’ to catch up?” Taran glanced at the Truthkeeper-secretary, “Forgot about the last subspace butterfly swim?”
“Shouldn’t you be taking your Guardians to protect the city at night at this time?” Talan asked casually, “Why do you still have time to come to my place and join in the fun?”
Joshua pursed his lips and seemed a little embarrassed, “I ……”
Tad’s expression twisted for a moment, then he pushed down the shaking in the corners of his eyes with force, “I naturally confirmed that it was safe …… Are you as resentful as that?”
“Can I go to the Great Library with you?” Joshua hesitated for a moment and raised his head, “I …… still have a paper to finish.”
The door to the room opened and Joshua, a young apprentice, walked into the room, pushing a cart and fuming a bit upon seeing his teacher, “…… You haven’t gone to the Great Library yet?”
“I finally don’t have to deal with that bunch of rookies putting together a surprise paper, and I’m in a good mood right now, so I came to talk to you – is that a good reason?”
Taran didn’t say anything either, so he just stared silently at the Secret Keeper of Truth in front of him.
“…… Well, I’m here to personally escort the second group of scholars, including you, to the Great Library,” Ted shrugged, “There’s a squadron of Knowledge Guards already on standby downstairs, so as soon as the others are ready, you’ll be coming with me along.” “As for that? The Secret Keeper of Truth himself is escorting?” Taran frowned, “It’s only a ten-minute drive from here to the Great Library, I can just drive there myself ……”
“In the city-state of Mokko, two scholars disappeared into thin air on their way to take refuge in the library – the night consumed them,” Ted interrupted, the Secret Keeper’s expression fading to seriousness, “The night has become more dangerous than we recognize as more dangerous, and the ‘knowledge’ …… in your mind is smelling extra sweet to ‘them’.”
Taran-El was stunned, and silently turned toward a low cabinet off to the side.
“What are you doing?” Ted asked curiously at the sight.
“Taking my revolver with me, and a dagger and talisman for defense.”
……
The sound of pages turning resounded through the room as Morrisby brushed against the notes he had written down earlier, scribbling away in a thick notebook, pausing to think again now and then to adjust his thoughts.
His large notebook was filled with densely written notes and abstract symbols, and many dazzling schematics outlining what the world looked like.
He was in the process of completing one of his most important researches – trying to construct a “model” that could explain the entire world, from the Great Annihilation as the beginning, to the opening of the Deep Sea Era, to the present situation of this “shelter” and its current status. “and its possible future.
This research had been going on for a long time, and it was only when the world came to an end that he saw the possibility of its completion.
Not far from Maurice’s desk sat Shirley, who was dozing off, and Dog, who was intently looking over the information.
After an unknown amount of time, a low, muffled murmur suddenly appeared beside Morris’s ear.
Along with this murmuring sound, a cold air current suddenly filled the entire cabin! The room as if suddenly turned into an ice cave, the cold as if substantial cohesion in the roof, turned into a downward drooping white fog, white fog and invisible shadows gradually penetrate out, toward the direction of Morris probed out a tentacle ……
Morris didn’t raise his head, and said casually as he continued to write in his notebook, “Beat it down.”
Before his words fell, Dog on the side had suddenly transformed into a whirlwind of broken skeletons and pitch-black soot – bone fragments and black mist whistled and rolled across the roof, eating up the twisted thing that had come chasing knowledge in the blink of an eye.
In the next instant, Dog’s figure resumed its original form and dropped back to the floor.
Sherry woke up with a jolt, “Ah …… ah? What happened?!”
“Another shadow coming after knowledge,” Dog grunted casually, twisting his head to look at Sherry, “…… You go back to sleep, it’s not coming at you.”
Sherry thought for a moment and nodded, “Oh.”
She simply crawled next to Dog, leaning against him and half-laying down, and the next second she let out a thin snore.
Maurice stopped what he was doing and raised his head to give Shirley a somewhat helpless look, lowering his head again after a sigh and solemnly leaving one last footnote on the page of notes.
And just at the moment when he had written down the last letter, an unfamiliar voice suddenly reached his ears–the
“Excellent research …… you have wandered before the last great door of truth.”
Morris was instantly startled, and looked up sharply in the direction from which the voice had come.
A figure in a tattered white robe was sitting quietly next to him, wearing a gentle smile as he looked at the notes and materials spread out on the table.
His muscles tensed up, and in the blink of an eye, Maurice reached for his revolver under the desk, while Dog also reacted and got up in an instant – Shirley fell to the floor with an ouch, and immediately saw the uninvited guest that appeared in the room, and immediately glared at him, and a bone splinter popped out from behind her, like an arrow, as if it was going to stab him the next second. It was as if she was about to stab the figure of the uninvited guest in the next second –
However, the figure in the tattered white robe just sat there quietly, as if oblivious to the sudden rise of vigilance and hostility around him, still immersed in Morris’s manuscript.
Only after two or three seconds did he slowly raise his head, a gentle smile on his face, “I need to talk to your captain.”
(End of chapter)