Deep Sea Embers

Duncan quickly retracted his gaze from the golden mask and lowered his eyes slightly like the ordinary believers around him, pretending to be ready to listen to the teachings carefully.

He hadn't heard anything useful yet and couldn't bring this cult's attention too early.

And the moment he lowered his head, the feeling of being swept away by someone's gaze came over him again.

Duncan frowned slightly and looked along. Sure enough, it was the girl in a black dress with a strange bell around her neck who was secretly observing him - and when he turned his eyes, she turned around calmly. Overdone.

This made Duncan particularly confused.

He was convinced that he did not know the other person, and there was no information about this girl left in the memory of the original owner of this body - why would a follower of the Sun God who he met for the first time pay attention to him frequently?

Is it because the doves on my shoulders are really unique?

He just thought about it for a while, and then he heard the voice of the leader of the believers suddenly coming from the front - after putting on the golden mask, the leader had become the incarnation of some kind of divine power, and even his voice when he spoke seemed low and low. He looked majestic, and he didn't know whether this was because he was deliberately controlling his voice, or whether the mask really mixed another consciousness into his voice:

"The prayer is over. The Lord has witnessed our piety and awe - grace has illuminated our souls. Brothers and sisters, be grateful. We have persisted for one more day in this difficult and dark world, and we are far away from the scorching sun. The day when life and order are restored is one day closer.”

The "priest" wearing a golden mask opened his hands and spoke in a very seductive tone. Then his eyes suddenly fell on the corner among the believers, and his tone was calm and intimate.

"But before today's gathering, we must first welcome two compatriots - they were once trapped in darkness during difficult times, but thanks to the guidance of the Lord, they were able to return to the community... Please introduce yourself, Just keep it simple.”

Two compatriots?

Duncan suddenly remembered that the leader seemed to have told him just now that he was not the only unfamiliar face at the rally. Then he looked in the direction where the leader was looking - he saw the man wearing a Girl in black dress.

For some reason, he didn't feel surprised.

"You can call me Shirley," the girl took half a step forward naturally, and spoke calmly and generously, "My parents are both believers, but unfortunately they were killed by the minions of the Deep Sea Church four years ago. I have been hiding in the Cross for these years. I have never been in contact with other siblings in the neighborhood... luckily you are here."

Her voice is not loud, and she sounds quiet and well-behaved. Unless you see it with your own eyes, it would be difficult to connect such a child with a bloody cultist.

"Welcome back to us, young sisters," the leader nodded, and then looked at the surrounding believers, "Shirley's parents were murdered by the church's purge four years ago. We were on the list that year. The names of her parents were found - and next came another compatriot."

The leader's eyes finally fell on Duncan.

"Duncan, I live in the Lower City." Duncan was already prepared and took a step forward calmly. "A few days ago, the Deep Sea Church destroyed a sacrificial ceremony in the sewer. I am a survivor."

He spoke very briefly, but his attitude was sincere and candid enough, and the news about the Deep Sea Church's previous raid on the cult stronghold in the sewers was well known and occupied the front pages of several newspapers. Therefore, after he finished speaking, several believers immediately started talking in low voices around him. , the leader in the center of the assembly hall nodded and added the situation: "This is also a compatriot who has been through many tests. After experiencing the cruelty of the hyenas of the Deep Sea Church, he is still trying his best to return to the embrace of the Lord—— He has the emblem of blessing on him as a token of trust, and he is trustworthy.”

After the leader finished speaking, the believers who did not understand the situation immediately cast their eyes on Duncan. Some nodded and others sighed. Duncan continued to cover most of his face and recited the multiplication table backwards...

"The brief introduction is over." At this time, the leader finally spoke about the part that Duncan was interested in. "I will announce the latest situation."

Duncan's ears perked up immediately.

"...At present, there are still a large number of compatriots gathering in this city-state, including ordinary believers with firm beliefs, as well as powerful envoys and priests. Our power in this city-state is gradually increasing, and order is being reshaped. The day is approaching...

"But it is undeniable that the minions of the Deep Sea Church have also reacted. In recent times, the city-state authorities have become more stringent in interrogating immigrants. Several of our gathering points have also been destroyed by the authorities. Therefore, brothers and sisters operating in the city must be careful Be careful, the collection of sacrifices can be slowed down - the descendants of the Lord have issued a decree, and the power we have collected recently is more than half, and there are still gaps, the descendants of the Lord will personally solve it..."

The surrounding believers suddenly seemed to be greatly moved and began to praise the love and greatness of the Sun God. Duncan immediately thought of the sacrificial ceremony he had seen in the sewer before - these cultists were indeed in Use that kind of ritual to collect power, and it sounds like...the group of behind-the-scenes manipulators known as the "Children of the Sun" are actually personally involved this time?

At present, the power gathered by this group of cultists seems to be insufficient, because the city hall and church of Puland have been aware of their activities, but if those descendants also go into battle in person... the plan of this group of cultists may still continue to advance!

At this moment, he heard the leader continue to say: "...our most important task at present is to determine the specific location of the sun fragments. Keep in mind, our goal is always to let the real sun god reappear in the world, and to find the The lost sun fragment is the most important link!"

Duncan's mind moved - fragments of the sun? What is that?

Can a pile of Sun Shards make the Spear of Adun bigger?

He felt that the pigeon on his shoulder suddenly became restless. Ai shook his body vigorously while making a low cooing sound from his throat.

Through the connection from the spiritual fire, he could vaguely sense what the pigeon wanted to do.

It wants to push, it wants to push loudly, it wants Duncan to take the solar battle ax and gather a new wave of troops.

But it can't speak - it's just a pigeon here.

This makes it very depressed.

"Quiet." Duncan could only murmur in a low voice, and at the same time rubbed the pigeon's head with the back of his hand to comfort him. At the same time, a believer who was closer to the leader asked: "We can now determine the location of the sun fragments. Is there any way to detect it?"

"The sun fragments are currently in a sleeping state and cannot be detected by any means." The leader shook his head, "But the Lord has sent down guidance, and the fragments should be hiding near the lower city of Puland. In addition, considering that there are people today New compatriots have joined, let me explain the situation again:

"According to the information we have, the fragment first appeared in the human world eleven years ago, and most likely caused some kind of large-scale extraordinary phenomenon - maybe a large fire, maybe an abnormally high fever in the entire neighborhood. , it may also be the spontaneous combustion of collective human bodies or group hallucinations. This is exactly the direction of our current investigation.

"The city-state authorities have detailed information about extraordinary phenomena over the years. The great gods are already trying to find these records. Ordinary people living in the lower city may also remember the 'strange things' that happened here eleven years ago. , our task is to collect clues in this regard to infer the location of solar debris.

"But please note that all inquiries must be made with caution. Although the authorities have always been loose in their management of Xiacheng District, the hyenas of the Deep Sea Church sometimes have particularly sensitive senses of smell... They have become alert."

The leader explained the current situation to the surrounding believers, and Duncan's mind was also spinning rapidly. He paid special attention to the time point "eleven years ago" - according to the leader, eleven years ago, it was the time when he was The day when something supernatural called a "shard of the sun" appeared in the world, but Duncan noticed that this time was because of something else.

Eleven years ago, Nina lost her parents at the age of six.

It seems that it was because of a fire.

Is it just a coincidence? Is there such a coincidence?

Duncan tried hard to sort out the messy and fragmented memories in his mind, but most of these memories had disappeared with the death of the original owner of the body. He tried hard to recall, but he could only remember one or two vague fragments: himself The original owner of this body rushed out of the fire, holding his dying niece in his arms. An unclear building burned and collapsed behind him, and in the distance, there were twisted, dim, phantom-like city streets. The unknown frantic crowd was shouting and running wildly on the streets...