ASHES OF DEEP SEA

Chapter 256: Chapter 260 Church Ark

In the vast and dimly lit assembly hall, three church leaders fell into silence at the same time.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, the Pope of the Deep Sea Church, Banster, who served the god of death, suddenly spoke softly, “The Law of Anomalies and Omens Misalignment—there will always be exceptions beyond the norm or omens that arise.”

“The Zeroth Law is indeed useful, but it cannot be used indiscriminately,” the short, plump, and affable Rune shook his head, “We can’t just apply the Zeroth Law to every incomprehensible thing we encounter. Doing so would make us complacent during an actual crisis, causing us to miss our chance.”

“Are you suggesting… that there’s an issue with the information provided by Omen 004?” Banster tilted his head slightly, “Is it that Omen-Plante was not unnamed, but rather, its code was concealed?”

“It could also be a completely new naming mechanism,” Rune said while pondering, “Omen 004 and Omen Plante are both problem-free; it’s just that we can’t understand this new way of naming omens yet—Plante has recently undergone something very special. It is a city-state that has been contaminated by history and then ‘saved’ by the forces of subspace. Nothing like this has ever happened before…”

“I dislike ‘new mechanisms’,” Banster shook his head, his voice deep, “New mechanisms mean new uncontrollable factors; we’ve already sacrificed too much to figure out how the world works… and yet, this world is always changing.”

“Nobody likes it, but the world is always so heartless,” Rune shrugged his shoulders, then his gaze fell upon Helena, “I hope you can gain something from your visit to Plante; see with your own eyes exactly what happened to that city-state.”

Helena said nothing for a moment, just giving a slight nod of her head. She seemed to be deep in thought, and after some time, she suddenly broke the silence, “There’s one more thing, you’ve probably noticed as well—the issue with Omen 001.”

Rune’s expression became serious, this elder who served the god of wisdom rarely looked so tense, “Indeed, the Observatory Tower has confirmed it, the runic circle on the edge of the sun… has indeed suffered damage, although the missing part is only a small fraction of the whole runic structure. But that part is definitely gone. At the moment, I am still having people monitor Omen 001, but there has been no further damage to the runic circle—nor any signs of self-repair.”

“There hasn’t been any unusual movements from the Sun Cultists,” Banster quickly added, “I also suspected immediately that this was related to them, but from the intelligence we have at the moment, those Sun Heretics seem not to have noticed the changes in Omen 001 themselves.”

“That doesn’t mean we can rule out its relation to the ‘Crawling Sunsphere’,” Helena said emphatically, “The Crawling Sunsphere is one of the oldest existences in the world, while those Sun Heretics, at best, are like mold spots that grew under its influence. Their connection to their god is not as close as they imagine it to be.”

“We will continue to keep an eye on those Heretics and the ‘Scions of the Sun’ behind them,” Banster slowly said, “and those Doomsday Preachers… No matter what, we cannot allow a repeat of what happened in Plante.”

Helena gave a slight nod, then in the darkness, she saw the flickering of light and shadows, the figures of the two Popes gradually fading, dissolving into nothingness.

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She turned her head, glancing at the place where the Tomb of the Nameless King had sunk, then her figure also gradually dissipated within the assembly hall.

The next second, Helena opened her eyes in the real world.

She stepped out of the secret chamber, and two attendants approached her—Helena waved her hand, signaling for the attendants to leave, then she alone walked through the long corridor, making her way to the upper deck of the Church Ark.

A grand cathedral sailed through the vast and dim expanse of the Endless Sea. It had triple spires and tall towers and a belfry reaching up to the sky, their tips lost in the mist, while the lower half consisted of heavy armor, huge pipelines, and the robust mechanical structures connecting to the deck area.

A giant ark ship, part steel fortress, part holy cathedral—this was the true headquarters of the Deep Sea Church, the “Storm Cathedral” cruising the Endless Sea.

Helena walked out from the cloister adorned with sacred reliefs and stepped onto the balcony of the upper deck, quietly overlooking the monumental work of engineering beneath her.

The cathedral was actually quite new—in fact, only thirty-five years had passed since the completion of its hull, and its superstructure had been finished just twenty years ago. Scholars from the Academy of Truth had assisted in designing the Ark’s immense propulsion system and intricate control mechanisms, which, at least for now, operated smoothly.

Before the completion of this Church Ark, “Storm Cathedral” was much smaller in size and had a much shorter cruising duration on the Endless Sea.

The Storm Goddess did not mind her followers seeking the help of other faiths to build her temple; none of the four deities minded such matters.

In fact… the four deities did not care about anything that happened in the mortal world at all.

Helena took a gentle breath and gazed at the thin mist surrounding the Church Ark. The sheer fog and the chaotic darkness of the surrounding sea indicated that the entire ark was currently sailing in the crevice between reality and the Spirit Realm. At this location, the vast majority of ordinary ships sailing upon the Endless Sea could not detect the presence of the Storm Cathedral.

After silently being caressed by the cold wind for a while, Helena reached out and took a piece of wood that had been hand-carved into the shape of a wave.

She silently invoked the name of the Storm Goddess Gomona and threw the wave amulet, carved from “Sea Breath Wood,” far out into the ocean.

“Your concerned Believer’s faith has begun to waver,” Helena murmured to herself as she watched the direction in which the amulet fell into the water, “but it seems her human side has not been clouded—she is still human.”

The waves gently undulated as if soft whispers mixed with the sound of the waves; Helena listened attentively for a long time, then nodded slightly, “Is that so… I understand.”

The Sea Breath Wood amulet tossed and turned on the water’s surface for a long while before quietly sinking into the depths of the Endless Sea.

Prandt, inside an antique shop.

The morning sunlight was just right, its brilliant rays streaming through the freshly cleaned shop window, casting a subtle golden glow on the staggered shelves and making the fake antiques seem almost genuine. Nina was humming a cheerful tune, joyfully polishing the “merchandise” on the shelves and occasionally peeking at the figures by the counter.

Alice and Sherry were sitting there, brows furrowed as they held stacks of letter cards, while Agou hid in the shadows beside the counter, clutching a pencil with his paws, trying to memorize a list of words.

Nina found it an amazing sight—she still couldn’t figure out how Agou managed to hold the pencil with his paws.

After nearly falling asleep for the third time, Sherry yawned mightily and carelessly threw her letter cards onto the counter, looking up at her intensely focused companion, Alice, “Aren’t you tired?”

“Not tired,” Alice lifted her head and dutifully replied, “I don’t know what ‘tired’ feels like—I only sleep when it is time to sleep.”

“… I’m really curious what it’s like to be a soulful doll,” Sherry murmured, then cautiously glanced around, looking like a thief as she peered upstairs, and whispered, “Hey, why hasn’t Mr. Duncan come down today… and he seemed preoccupied when I saw him this morning.”

Alice set aside the letter card she had just memorized and picked up another, wiping it clean to start over, responding carelessly, “He’s contemplating the secrets of the deep sea.”

“Thinking about the secrets of the deep sea?” Sherry paused, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, he said so,” Alice shook her head slightly, “Why don’t you go ask him? He would probably be happy to teach you some things…”

Sherry was about to speak when she suddenly heard Agou’s panicked and frightened voice from the shadows by the counter, “If you’re going to court death, don’t drag me into it!”

“I didn’t say I was going to ask,” Sherry glared in the direction from where the voice came, “I still haven’t even…”

She was cut off by the crisp ringing of the doorbell.

Agou’s figure instantaneously vanished, while Alice, well-practised, merely placed her letter cards to the side and looked up toward the doorway, “Welcome, may I help you… ah? Mr. Morris?”

The early visitor was indeed Morris—the elderly scholar, clad in a dark winter coat with a thick, round-top felt hat, was carrying what appeared to be a substantial old tome under his arm. After entering, he first greeted Alice and Sherry at the counter, then looked toward Nina, who was tidying the shelves nearby, “Is Mr. Duncan in?”

“He is upstairs,” Nina nodded, looking curiously at the old gentleman, “Do you need him for something?”

“I think I have found the origin of that symbol,” Morris said joyfully, holding up the old book he had brought with him, “It’s incredible—it appears in a document about the Ancient Crete Kingdom and is so inconspicuous!”

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