Deep Sea Embers
chapter-703

In a hazardous part of the ocean, perpetually veiled by a light mist, an area of sea remained uncharted on any official maps. No sensible captain would dare to sail these treacherous waters, ominously known as the Border, which was shrouded in an air of menace.

Amid this mysterious backdrop, a ship that should have sunk long ago eerily navigated through the mist. Despite its deteriorated state, it moved silently like a phantom toward a massive cliff-like formation called the Eternal Veil.

Ethereal green flames encircled this nearly destroyed vessel, flickering and dancing as if mending the ship’s broken frame and preventing it from disintegrating. The hull, torn open by unknown forces, revealed the ship’s intricate mechanical heart, bathed in an unnatural green glow. These spectral flames stretched out, skimming the ocean surface and dispelling the mist wherever they passed.

Duncan stood on the deck, his figure ghostly and translucent. He had arrived via the “artificial beacon” on the ship, not in his physical form but as a projection, and his main focus remained on the Vanished.

As other ships had not yet gathered at this hidden location, Duncan’s early arrival was to survey the area.

Before him lay a massive fog barrier, a towering wall of mist rising from the sea to the sky, creating an appearance of the world’s end at the horizon. The fog cascaded downward, thickening the veil covering the entire border.

In the face of this daunting barrier, everything appeared insignificant, be it the transformed ship under Duncan’s feet, the Vanished, or even the majestic church arks.

Standing at the bow, Duncan murmured, “This is the end of the world…” His voice mixed awe and solemnity as he contemplated his long pursuit. He remembered the “Border Collapse,” a catastrophic event he had witnessed upon entering this world, marked by the descent of fog over the normal sea. The memory of its immense beauty and formidable power was etched deeply in his mind.

Duncan had always been aware of the “Borders,” but only after seeing its vastness firsthand did he comprehend its scale. The “collapse,” once critical within the “Sanctuary,” now seemed minor compared to the expanse of this region. Yet, a troubling thought crossed his mind: could this vast, awe-inspiring border also be on the brink of collapse?

Lost in thought, Duncan stood silently, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon. With a casual flick of his wrist, he conjured a small flame, shaping it into an oval in the air. A mirror-like surface formed within it, and suddenly, the image of Agatha appeared: “I’m here.”

Duncan, relaxed, asked, “What’s the situation in the spirit realm around here?”

“Just a moment, I’ll dive down and investigate,” Agatha replied through the mirror, her image fading as she left.

After a brief wait, Agatha returned, slightly disheveled. “The spirit world here is darker, more chaotic. Shapeless shadows loom over the seas here, far more menacing than anything in the ‘civilized world,'” she reported, smoothing her hair. She paused before adding, “They’re not just unfriendly; they’re openly hostile.”

“Were you forced into a confrontation?” Duncan asked, concern evident on his face.

“I handled those who approached too closely,” Agatha responded, a trace of satisfaction in her smile. Having moved past her previous role as “Gatekeeper,” she was integrating well with the crew of the Vanished, or rather, the team. “They weren’t challenging, just strange. And there’s more…”

“What else?” Duncan pressed.

“In the spirit world, there’s a ‘curtain’ too,” Agatha explained, gesturing toward the distant, curtain-like barrier that spanned the sky. “It mirrors this one but appears even more ominous and bizarre. It’s filled with shape-shifting, merging forms, and radiates a disturbing presence.”

Duncan frowned deeply at her description.

“It looks like our initial plan to cross the Eternal Veil from the depths of the spirit world won’t work,” he concluded. “This ‘Border’ wraps around the entire world from every possible direction, offering no straightforward or safe route…”

“That’s to be expected,” Agatha agreed. “If our world is a ‘Sanctuary,’ then its boundaries must be strong enough to shield us from the chaos that occurs when worlds collide.”

She paused, deep in thought, then added, “According to Mr. Morris’s latest theoretical model, the Border’s ‘curtain’ is designed to separate both the physical and spiritual realms and might even extend into the abyssal depths of the sea. It’s not just a physical barrier; it likely has temporal aspects as well, similar to the ‘Eternal Veil,’ ensuring the integrity of the entire ‘Sanctuary’…”

Duncan shook his head, “The Time-dimensional ‘Border’… The Gravekeeper from Vision 004 mentioned something similar. Morris must have been inspired by that concept.”

“Yes, Morris has always been committed to developing a comprehensive ‘world model’ that encompasses everything from the Boundless Sea to the entire Deep Sea Era. The recent findings from the depths of the Nameless Dream, along with the data you’ve just retrieved from the ‘Tomb of the Nameless King,’ have significantly advanced his research,” Agatha nodded, her voice filled with respect. “He’s now trying to describe our world in terms of both time and space. To my knowledge, he’s the only scholar who has delved this deep.”

“In fairness, he’s the only one who has reached this depth and managed to survive,” Duncan added, his tone mixing concern with admiration. “Lately, his research has been causing more and more… let’s say, unintended disturbances on the ship. Nina’s been affected too while absorbed in her studies.”

“Scholars often find themselves challenged by the very knowledge they seek,” Agatha remarked, suggesting this was a familiar issue. “Nina has been doing much better lately. She’s learned to keep her cool, even when surprises jump out of her books… Likely a skill she perfected after she accidentally burned the design she had been working on for three days and nights.”

Duncan’s mouth twitched in response, a habitual reaction to the continuous oddities they encountered.

Despite his lengthy time in this strange world, the bizarre and unexplainable never failed to trigger his sarcasm.

Still, he admitted that the unusual chaos caused by Nina and Morris’s intellectual endeavors was preferable to the current situation on the ship, where two dolls were caught in a disconcerting game of body-swapping.

In the captain’s quarters of the Vanished, Duncan was discussing recent discoveries about the Border with Lucretia when he paused, looking up helplessly as a figure clumsily entered. The figure, dressed in a black and white maid outfit with a prominent, clicking wind-up key on her back, slowly smiled upon seeing Duncan: “Captain… what… what’s for… dinner?”

Duncan held his breath for a moment before replying with a resigned smile. “Alice, why is your head on Luni’s body?”

Alice looked surprised for a second: “Ah, how… how did you… notice?”

“I’m not blind, and certainly not stupid!” Duncan exclaimed, smacking his forehead. Almost immediately, a series of “thud, thud, thud” sounds echoed from outside the cabin. He rose from his seat, opened the door, and was greeted by the sight of Luni’s head with Alice’s body, repeatedly walking into the wall. “Hit, we’re hitting it… a bit to the left… no, no, your other left! That’s it! Ah, hit it again… more to the left… oh, Old Master?”

Duncan’s expression remained stoic as he observed Luni’s head, which had suddenly stopped moving, clearly startled. Beside him, Lucretia appeared, her face just as impassive.

The two stood, solemnly watching the odd spectacle of Luni’s head on Alice’s body, which awkwardly moved forward until it suddenly crashed into the door frame.

“Stop moving!” Luni’s head urgently warned, aware of the presence of her superiors. “The captain and the mistress are here!”

No sooner had she issued the warning than she instinctively directed her own body, which was inside the captain’s quarters, to walk out. The result was a loud “thud” as it stumbled into view.

Duncan looked down just in time to see a silver-haired head come to a stop at his feet. Alice, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes, pleaded, “Captain, help…”

At the same time, the hybrid body of Luni-Alice beside him lost its balance and fell with a thump near Lucretia’s skirt. Luni’s head, now detached from the body, rolled around frantically, calling out in desperation, “Mistress! I’ve tumbled as well!”

The scene was complete chaos. Duncan took a moment to process the bizarre situation of the two dolls before he and Lucretia, driven to their limits, exclaimed together in exasperation: “You two, switch back this instant!”