Deep Sea Embers

Chapter 115 “The source of the invisible curtain”

The dark green flame was like a floating light and shadow, sweeping across the entire factory in mere seconds. The disturbance was like a gust of wind, blowing off the curtain veiling “reality” to reveal the secret’s underneath.

Ashes, humanoid ashes, shapeless ashes, scorched walls, melted roofs, distorted and brittle machine shells after being scorched by the molten flame. The entire factory area was like a fiery purgatory that had cooled down not long ago.

Shirley stood blankly in the center of the wreckage, her eyes a little dazed while Dog quietly scurried over to comfort the child by supporting the unstable figure.

Soon, the green ghost fire faded, and everything in the factory returned to what it was before.

Duncan stared down at his hands with some regret. This was after all just an “ordinary” body, there’s no way it could be compared to the real one on the ship. The fact that it could invoke such a wide radius was enough, he’s not going to expect anything longer than a few seconds of casting.

But even so, such a small “reappearance” was enough to reveal the crucial truth.

“I knew it. There was a fire… I knew I wasn’t mistaken…” Shirley murmured, “I’ve been looking for it for eleven years, and it turns out to be here…”

“But this fire was wiped out,” Dog whispered, “and there is some kind of force that’s woven a curtain around the reality here, filtering out the traces of the fire from the world…. This curtain can even block the sight of a shadow demon like me…”

“Is it the sun fragment? Or the guy who brought the fragment to the city-state in the first place?” Shirley frowned in thought, and then she suddenly noticed that Duncan had been unusually quiet. “What do you think of this…”

“This is still not the same fire scene I remember,” Duncan shook his head without waiting for Shirley to finish. Slowing sweeping his gaze over the facilities in the factory, he tries to recall the details of the fire that’s in his memory about how he carried Nina in his arms. “Not here.”

“Huh?” Shirley was startled, “The fire you remember… is not here?”

“The details are too different,” Duncan said quietly. Calmly walking out of the factory, he observed the dilapidated street in the distance with a sharper glint, “or more strictly speaking, the entire sixth block… none of this seems quite right.”

Shirley subconsciously glanced at Dog and asked her partner: “What do you think is going on?”

“How do I know? I’m just a dark hound,” Dog shook his head, “and eleven years ago, I was more confused than you.”

Duncan heard Shirley and Dog yapping in the back and turned his head: “Is this factory the only suspicious location?”

“Maybe… perhaps…” Shirley said unsurely, “Anyway, according to what I’ve found, this factory was the center of the chaos eleven years ago.”

Duncan didn’t fully believe that’s the case. Over the next two hours, the three of them inspected all the still accessible areas of the abandoned factory.

Strangely, apart from that “curtain” that covered reality, they found no traces of other powers or transcendent objects in place.

“This is quite strange…” After completing a rough inspection of the last building, Dog finally voiced the suspicions in his heart. “The ‘curtain’ that covered the first site must be the handiwork of the supernatural, but we searched the entire factory area and did not find the ‘source’ at all… This is unreasonable.”

“Does there have to be a source?” Shirley asked curiously.

Duncan was also curious in his heart, but he didn’t show it. Instead, the guy maintained his sullen face while quietly waiting for the hound to explain.

To think the only one among the three of us that’s an expert in the supernatural field is an undead dog….

Dog didn’t have too many thoughts about himself being the star of the show. As a shadow demon, much of the knowledge regarding the transcendent realm was nothing more than common that everyone should know. So, he explained without putting on air: “The power that hides the fire is obviously a power that’s continuously running, meaning there must be a power source to fuel this veil. We can be certain of this point after witnessing Mr. Duncan’s flame lifting the curtain on reality earlier. The source may be an anomaly, or a powerful transcendent being, regardless whatever or whoever, it must exist somewhere within the city-state…”

As he spoke, the hound raised his head and scanned the distant streets with those empty red eye sockets.

“We didn’t find the source of the curtain within the factory grounds, suggesting the thing supporting the veil is projecting power to this side from a distance, or… we might have only lifted a corner of the curtain, that the entire phenomenon is at such a large scale that….”

As Dog went on his rambling, he suddenly stopped like he’s afraid of what the answer might imply. Sounding nervous now: “If it is the second situation, then this is not something an anomaly can cover! It might even be a vision, an unknown vision…”

“The sun fragment is certainly not an ordinary ‘anomaly’. According to the suntists, the fragment is the corpse of the sun god,” Shirley cuts in suddenly. “This may be a means for the sun fragment to hide itself.”

“…… So an anomaly that has the ability to think for itself? In order to prevent being controlled, the fragment took the initiative to erase its own existence from the surrounding environment.” Dog mused with a look of a scholar, “That can happen. We can’t rule out that possibility. If it really is the remains of a god, the ability might be due to it awakening…”

Shirley rubbed her chin in thought over the theory, seemingly in agreement with the dark hound. But then the girl suddenly exclaimed after realizing something: “Wait a minute Dog, when did you become so knowledgeable? You freaking can’t even read…”

“I’m a shadow demon! A shadow derived from flesh and blood of the Nether Lord from the shadows! This knowledge has been imprinted in my memory since birth, okay?” Dog rattles the chains impatiently to emphasize to his partner that he’s not useless, “And speaking of not being able to read… how can you call me out when you’re in the same boat as me?!”

While Duncan watched the pair quibble like a true family, Shirley eventually remembered where they were and stopped. It’s not the right place, and most certainly not the right timing after noticing the angle of the sun overhead. Exclaiming out of the blue: “Oh no! It’s noon!”

Duncan raised his eyebrows: “Do you have other arrangements?”

“I…” said Shirley nervously, “I have to get home before noon!”

Duncan skeptically eyed the girl in silence: “Didn’t you say that your parents are no longer around? Who else will lecture you when you get home late?”

“Not a curfew… I have an appointment with someone else!” Shirley quickly waved her hand in defense. After the experience of exploring the factory with this great and terrifying being, her daringness seems to have been bolstered: “We.. can we continue next time?”

Duncan glanced at the dark hound next to him, who immediately cowardly shrunk his neck back and spoke: “You have the final say. If you want to continue exploring, Shirley and I can…”

“No need,” Duncan shook his head, “we won’t get anything by continuing on this spot anyways. Wait until I find some new clues, then we can keep going.”

Shirley suddenly showed surprise in her eyes as if not expecting how easygoing this person was at heart. “Then… me and Dog can leave first? But how will you find us in the future….?”

Duncan just showed a friendly smile: “If we are fated, we will meet again.”

Unlike the frank and kind appearance the man portrayed, he didn’t like to leave things to something as elusive as fate. Between the chains of Dog and Shirley, there’s an elusive and hidden spark of green flame quietly burning in secret.

This was the result of his deeper understanding of the “ghost fire” after accidentally establishing contact with Vanna last time, which could be considered a small attempt despite being an accident.

Now, this mark released on his own initiative was stronger than the flame that remained on Vanna’s body but gentle and harmless.

Shirley suddenly felt a chill inexplicably run down her back. But she nevertheless controlled her facial expression and said goodbye to get out of there.