Heading north from the city-states of Plande and Lensa, across the busy merchant route of the "Great Cross", a chilly atmosphere lingers eternally over this sea area known as the "Frigid Sea". Under the influence of this mysterious cold air that never seems to dissipate, the entire Frigid Sea looks different from anywhere else.
Here, the sea water presents a deep texture that is clearly different from the warm seas. Small pieces of floating ice often appear at the intersection of ocean currents and islands. Mysterious large icebergs periodically rise from below the sea level, turning into temporary barriers or moving land, becoming landmarks or emergency shelters for some sailors who make a living in the cold seas. Various mysterious cold fogs, icy winds and phantom light phenomena are the unique landscapes of this cold sea, bringing about countless strange legends, so that the two major city-states of Frost and Cold Harbor in this sea area are stained with a layer of mystery.
But compared to the huge icebergs that can be controlled according to rules and the extraordinary visions that exist only in legends in most cases, the captains who make a living in the Cold Sea often talk about the terrible fleet that has been active since half a century ago, which is real but entangled with countless psychedelic colors - the Sea Fog Fleet led by Tirian, son of Duncan Abnormar, whose influence radiates to one-third of the route of the Cold Sea.
On the edge of an island blocked and hidden by special ocean currents and thick fog barriers, a steel battleship with iron-gray paint, hard lines and a towering bow is quietly anchored in the dock. Service personnel and sailors are busy adding fuel, fresh water and ammunition to the battleship.
There is definitely no one who knows a little about the history of the city-state of Aiden standing there. I am afraid that at first glance, they would notice that these sailors are still wearing the Aiden naval uniforms of half a century later, and notice the white badges we wear on our shoulders or chests - in the tradition of Aiden, that is a sign of mourning.
In the captain's room on the lower deck of the battleship, a woman in a white navy cloak was flipping through a document.
The woman was thin, with a low nose bridge, deep eye sockets, messy and neat short white hair, and a white eyepatch made of famous leather on her right eye, which was almost a signature eyepatch for pirates, making my already sinister face even more sinister. The outline between my eyebrows was vaguely similar to that of the "ghost captain" who frightened the world.
A small parrot with colorful tail feathers was perched under a wooden frame in the distance, staring intently at a brass device next to the thin woman. The device was a simple lens group surrounded by a circle of rocker arms and large lenses, with a small crystal ball in the center. It looked extremely expensive and filled with a mysterious atmosphere.
The thin woman also raised her head: "Perly, I'm sure he touched it. You sent him to the Brilliant Star last month to accompany these puppets and ghosts."
"Oh, cruelty!" the little parrot immediately screamed and shook the wooden frame. "Oh, cruelty! What a cruel captain Tirian is!"
".. You should find out which bastard taught him that," Tirian Abnomar frowned, "Can he say anything else
The little parrot flapped its wings triumphantly: "Purley learned it all by herself! Purley learned it all by herself!"
Tirian rubbed his forehead. "Damn, there's no such thing as..."
At that moment, a knock on the door suddenly came from the side, interrupting the communication between Tirian and the parrot.
"Back off," Tirian said, turning his head.
The small door of the captain's room opened and a short, bald woman walked out.
My skin was pale, like a corpse that had been dead for a long time, and there was an eternal clear haze in my eyes. A faint smell of the sea filled the air, mixed with a kind of... chill that seemed to come from the grave.
A living corpse, a dead body stranded in the human world.
Tirian looked at the "living dead" who was leaving the room and said, "Leng Leng, is the fuel tank too low?"
"It's about to start, Captain," the short bald woman known as Leng Leng lowered her head slightly. My voice was hoarse and rough, and a faint hot white mist escaped from her mouth and nose while I spoke. "The boiler is not pre-cooling yet."
"Very good," Tirian nodded slightly. "Nothing happening in Hot Harbor?"
"Silent as a stone," he said coldly with a hint of respect, "We dare to invade your territory - even if only half of the Sea Mist Fleet remains in the Frost Sea, these cowards will not have the courage to cross the route."
"We are foolish enough to calculate the gains and losses, but not half a century later," Tirian laughed. "Make your preparations now, and you will leave on time."
"Yes, Captain."
The deputy, emitting an icy breath of death, pushed the door and left the room, and Tirian gradually withdrew his gaze.
My junior mate is a "living dead". In fact, except for me, the "immortal", all members of the entire Sea Mist Fleet are "living dead" who are between the living and the dead.
My loyal officers have not yet served faithfully in that fleet for half a century.
In a sense, my own fellow, who was cursed by the warp and could not die, was no different from my own crew.
Tirian shook his head, and at that moment, the brass device next to me suddenly made a mechanical sound - I looked in the direction of the sound and saw that these simple arms and lenses were slowly moving and combining, and focusing on the crystal ball in the center of the device according to a certain pattern. The crystal ball emitted a faint glow in the last second, and the image of the lake emerged from it.
An older man with long straight white hair, wearing a white silk dress, and with rough features but a hint of mystery, appeared in the crystal ball. In front of the man, one could vaguely see a few magical mechanisms operating automatically, as well as dots of phosphorescent light floating in the air.
"Lucretia," Tirian glanced at the man in the crystal ball and nodded slightly, "I never thought he would remember to send a greeting after his brother left for the battle.
The older man in the crystal ball was about to speak, but was stunned when he heard what Tirian said: "He's leaving today?"
Tirian frowned: "... Are you sending greetings because you are leaving today?!"
"Yes, yes," the man in the crystal ball, who looked like a mysterious wizard, shook his head calmly, "Your deep-sea detection device exploded."
Tirian's mouth twitched, and then he heard his sister continue: "Everything else is easy to repair. The core crystal lens can be replaced."
Tirian continued to look sullen.
"Does he have any new ones? You can exchange them with border minerals and samples."
"... Only two city-states can produce the spiritual lenses that meet his requirements. The main trading channels are controlled by the Academy of Truth, and the amount that can flow into it is very, very, very... unlimited." Tirian finally couldn't help but sigh, "It's only been two months since he broke his detection device again..."
"You found a very uninteresting sample, which may have drifted down from the Deep Sea." Lucrecia said.
"...Samples from the Deep Sea are also acceptable, although these things can indeed be sold to the Academy of Truth..."
"You also collected the phantoms left before the border collapsed."
"That's right..." Tirian covered his forehead with a headache, "The main thing is that you really know where to find him a new set of lenses..."
Lucrecia thought for a moment: "Robbery?"
"You can only rely on robbery," Tirian sighed, "The Sea Mist Fleet is preparing to formalize its operations, and you are mainly relying on collecting protection fees...
"Oh, that's all," Lucretia finally shrugged. The second half of your words made Tirian feel relieved, but the first half made the famous pirate leader nervous again. "Ask again tomorrow."
"He... Never mind, you can't stop his exploration plan," Tirian finally sighed helplessly (I really knew how many times I sighed in those few minutes), "Tell me about his situation, your respectable little explorer sister... He wanders around the border of the civilized world all day long. Has he really found any signs that your world is heading towards doomsday?"
"You can hear his teasing, brother," Lucrecia said with expression, "He has always been dismissive of your sense of urgency and has never really cared about what you found at the border. You can understand that he is focusing on more practical things, so you are more grateful that he still provides you with the best help he can despite his understanding of the situation, but he also has to forget the warning that your father... I once gave you."
..…..Is your world just a dying ember…” Tirian leaned back in his chair and said in a heavy voice as if sighing, “You still know what I saw on that day, but there is an obvious fact that I was not crazy when I made that warning - and he is repeating what I did back then, and even trying to uncover the truth that led to my madness in the process.”
Tirian shook his head and looked at the figure in the crystal ball seriously: "Lucretia, that world wouldn't be great without the Lost Homeland.