Embers of Embers

Chapter 78 Redemption
"It was a really despairing moment. You finally grew up, but you never raised your sails again."
Another bolt of thunder pierced the night sky, and Eve saw other people from the corner of her sight. The crew headed by Wall were busy on the ship, silently, facing the storm.
"I have been living like this in confusion for a long time. Although I am old, I still have not forgotten my childhood yearning, but it is just a yearning. It is an old thing that has been eliminated by the times. It has no place in the new era."
"I didn't marry and have children. I used all my savings to buy the Silver Fish and gathered a group of children who also yearned for the pirate era to become my crew."
With an emotion he didn't know whether it was nostalgia or grief, the captain slowly turned around. His tired body was wet, and his clothes were covered with fish-like scales.
"Child, do you know the feeling that reaches the extreme when you suddenly see the light after living in the darkness for a long time? There is no reason at all. As long as you can leave this darkness, even if there are more terrifying things behind the light. never mind."
"That's how I was."
Eve approached the edge of the ship and tried to reduce her blind spot. She was not distracted by the captain's words.
"What do you want to say?"
"It's just a poor man's autobiography. Someone has to know all this, right?"
The turbid eyes are like rolling dark clouds, filled with light called dreams.
"I have always hoped that someone would know this, so that my death and our deaths would have value, but no matter how I called, no one responded until you came."
That strange call actually came from the man in front of him. He had been calling Eve ever since the Glory was forced to stop.
Whether it was fear or honor, Eve did not expect that one day she would become a special case.
"So you called me here just to listen to your nagging?"
"Probably, that's how people are. They are born lonely but refuse to die alone. Even at funerals, they have to find a bunch of irrelevant people to show that they are not lonely."
Holding the steering wheel firmly, the captain said slowly, this was the beginning of all tragedies.
"It all started a few months ago when a man named Mentor came to me. He said he could give me everything I wished for, such as countless wealth, a high status, and an era that has been forgotten by the world. "
"He said he would fulfill each of our dreams if we would just help him salvage one thing."
"You may not understand that feeling. You have despaired of something, but one day in the future, someone will tell you that you still have hope. In front of that huge temptation, everyone will lose their mind, and this This is the beginning of tragedy.”
The wind and rain became quiet, and it seemed that the whole world was listening to his words. He was the teller of the story, and everything he did was just to not be forgotten, no matter whether the story was good or bad.
"You should be here to pursue this matter. To be honest, when I saw those monsters for the first time, I realized that the world is so complicated. The guy named Mentor asked us to take something we shouldn't take. things, but there was no turning back at that time.
Three of my crew members died in the sea. They dragged that thing up from the deep sea. I don’t know what they went through. All three of them lost their minds and couldn’t communicate. Then their bodies began to rot... It’s hard to imagine. That feeling: the person is obviously still alive, able to breathe, speak, and even move, but his body is decaying in such a weird way until it becomes a twisted mass. "
The voice was filled with regret and regret, and there was the sound of monsters squirming in the darkness. Eve turned her head and saw the strange flesh and blood climbing on the deck. The visual impact at that moment almost made her retch.
"I realized my mistake at that time, but people are like this. If I stop now, the sacrifice will be meaningless. I insisted on going my own way, and then led all the crew members towards the dead end."
"That's it in the end, we did get what we wanted, but it was in a dream."
The captain sighed leisurely, and then laughed, as if he was laughing at himself.
"This is a dream?"
Sure enough, as Eve guessed, this was a strange dream caused by the huge pollution source.
The captain nodded and said again.
"That's all I want to say."
"That's all? I thought you had some damn philosophy on life."
"That thing is not important. I just hope that I can talk to someone before I die and end it all. Do you know dominoes? One overwhelms the other, one after another, making an ordinary person go crazy. That's probably it. As long as there is one A little temptation combined with one mistake after another will turn him into a crazy lunatic."
The captain smiled bitterly, it was his mistake.
"For my dream, everyone ended up becoming neither human nor ghosts. I'm really sorry."
As the words fell, the world became turbulent again. Endless winds and showers hit the Silver Fish, as if from the anger of the god Odin. The dark sky was decorated with ferocious white, and the sky was like a waterfall. Like falling.
Suddenly...Suddenly Eve had a strange feeling. She slowly put down the gun in her hand, as if she had seen through it all.
"You don't actually want to spread the story, you just want to find someone to confess to, right?"
The captain's figure froze, and for a moment the whole world fell silent. The huge thunder solidified in the air, and countless water splashes fell on its white edges. Everything in the world was reflected in every drop of rain.
No, this is not what the captain really thinks. At this moment, he is just like Eve's father, Duke Phoenix. He will forgive Eve no matter what mistakes she makes. Everything is for her. That is no longer fatherly love. , he was also repenting, it seemed that letting Eve spend his life safely was the greatest atonement for him.
"You made the wrong decision and brought about the wrong consequences. All you are doing now is just to repent and make your guilt feel slightly relieved."
This is what the captain thinks, because all his young people are dead. Even if they are not dead, there will be no good end to being related to the monster.
He was seen through, and the emotional dam finally burst, and his body couldn't help but tremble.
Eve looked at the frozen world. This was his dream. If nothing else happened, the captain in front of him was the strange source of pollution, the center of all dreams, the mysterious dream builder.
The world was agitated by his emotions, and the thunderstorm was even worse.
"Does that mean you're punishing yourself?"
The captain is the dreamer, the source of all this. In the dream, he is the creator. As long as he thought that these storms would disappear in an instant, but he did not do that, but more hardships fell.
"maybe."
He whispered, and the Silver Fish rode the wind and waves. Suddenly, infinite sunshine poured out from behind the dark clouds. It was the place where the light was bathed. The Silver Fish was only one step away from there, but at this moment, the huge sea tide fell and completely blocked it. interrupted its progress.
Eve could only feel the coldness and heaviness of the sea water. When her vision became clear again, the Silver Fish had been destroyed into two pieces. The sea water was gradually engulfing the poor ship, and Eve yelled urgently.
"What are you doing! Aren't you going to sail to a new era?"
This was his dream, but now this dream was dying, and the captain was destroying everything.
He looked at the girl and shook his head.
"This is the gift he gave me, a beautiful dream. Here I can realize everything I want, but the price is too expensive. Even God Odin will be ashamed to have a heir like me. The Hall of Valor The door will be closed to me, and I will be drifting on this cold ocean like a lonely ghost."
"I am a relic of the old era. The new era will not accommodate old things like me."
The look on his face was filled with sadness. This time, Eve suddenly understood what the captain meant. He was not just repenting, it was also atonement. He was dying. This huge and terrifying dream was disintegrating. With the sinking of the Silver Fish, everything would Coming to an end.
"This is the last thing I can do. I hope I can make up for my mistakes slightly."
So in the real world, the girl's body was dominated by the dream, like a strange ritual, her feet stood upright on the ground like iron nails, driving her whole body to stand up in a way that ordinary people could never do, Moving like a zombie, he walked to the Kestrel, who was also in a dream, and picked up the thermite rifle that was still burning.
In the dream, Eve noticed that the connection between the dream and reality was strengthening. She could feel her body moving and doing something. In reality, after a long climb, Eve finally came to the place that had been calling him. place, this is the captain's ultimate goal, he needs someone to end it all, this is his repentance.
It was a twisted and ferocious mass of flesh. The man's cheek was sleeping soundly in the scarlet flesh, as if he was immersed in a beautiful dream. So under the control of that power, the girl raised the thermite rifle in her hand. , and then pulled the trigger.
This is the end of everything, everything dark will finally come to an end. The sea seems to be heated and boiling by the sun. The captain looks directly at the place where the light rises, and his bitter face finally shows a little joy.
It was a wonderful night. In front of me was the captain of the Silver Fish. Due to the power of demons, he became a mysterious dream builder and created this huge dream. He spent a happy night here. He made Repenting and atone for his actions, he fulfilled his long-cherished wish and raised his sails on the turbulent sea.
Although it was all a dream full of holes, a story of self-deception, he still accepted it. This was the darkest and best day of his life.
The Silver Fish finally sank into the sea with the captain. When Eve woke up, she was holding the thermite rifle with the empty magazine in her hand. The huge twisted flesh in front of her was burned to ashes. The dream in the area is over, so endless demons seem to have received orders, flocking to this lonely lighthouse from all directions.
But none of this attracted Eve's attention. She looked at the burning mass of flesh and blood, with a relief-like expression on the blurry face. Then the flesh and blood connected to the wall broke one by one, and finally fell into the darkness of the lighthouse. At the bottom, the light is fleeting.
(End of this chapter)