For Breeze Harbor, which had just awakened safely from a nightmare, the collective visit of the four pilgrimage arks was like another bizarre and strange dream - it happened too suddenly, and even the scholars and archons of the Academy of Truth seemed to have not received the news until the arks were about to arrive. In addition, until the Storm Cathedral of the Deep Sea Church appeared on the sea level, the citizens of Breeze Harbor still had a sense of unreality.
The church ship of the Four Gods is really here.
In addition to the "Academy Ark" which has been docked next to Breeze Harbor since the "Dream of the Nameless" incident, the first to arrive was the temple of the storm goddess Gemona - Storm Cathedral. It arrived in the early morning of this day. When the brilliant halo of Vision 001 pierced the sky, this huge pilgrimage temple emerged from the condensed fog on the sea level. It and its escort formation approached from the west of the city-state and docked on the coastline when the morning bell rang for the third time.
After that, the Firebringer's church ship arrived. The Firebringer Temple appeared on the sea with the gradually rising light of Vision 001, like the light of the scorching sun falling into the earth. It sailed out from a flaming sunlight illusion and docked between the Storm Cathedral and the Academy Ark.
The church ship of the god of death Bartok arrived last. The "Church of Death" appeared from the dark fog with solemn bells ringing. Its huge shadow grew and expanded in the fog, like a huge cemetery from the kingdom of the dead entering the human world. It and its two escort sister ships - the "Blind Eyes" and the "Unbreakable Eyes" - docked next to the Cathedral of Storms.
The four huge church arks, which were as big as small city-states, almost "surrounded" Breeze Harbor. If some escort ships had not been left in the nearby sea in advance, their escort fleet would have almost filled all the coastlines of Breeze Harbor. If there was a pair of myopic and astigmatic eyes looking down from the air at this time, they might even confuse Breeze Harbor and the pilgrimage arks next to it, and regard them as a huge, continuous cross-shaped island.
The city-state city hall issued a temporary order for port blockade and offshore navigation ban in the morning, and the Truth Academy announced that the four major churches would hold a "special closed-door meeting" in Breeze Harbor.
Afterwards, citizens who came to watch the fun gathered near various ports, vying to occupy advantageous positions, wanting to catch a glimpse of the majestic appearance of the church ships - after all, church arks cruised on secret routes in the vast ocean most of the time, and ordinary people rarely saw them. This time, not only did they show up in the city-state, but even four arks appeared together. Even the elves with long lifespans might not be able to see this kind of scene many times in their lifetime.
On the tallest tower of the City-State Academy near the west coast, Duncan was standing on the terrace looking towards the coastline.
Since he had nothing to do anyway, he just watched the church ships of various churches appear one by one - it was quite a spectacular sight.
"You guys in the Church Ark really all have unique skills." He sighed casually.
"To make such a huge 'ship' move quickly on the sea, it is not enough to rely solely on the power of the steam engine," Ted Riel explained as he and Duncan stood on the terrace of the high tower enjoying the breeze. "Each church ark is both a ship and a 'supernatural object' - those huge churches and colleges are not just decorations. They introduce the power of the gods into the real dimension, making the ark itself present all kinds of incredible characteristics, such as speeding in the storm, shuttling through the fog and flames, or becoming invisible to the eyes of the world, calming the storm on the sea..."
Duncan turned his head curiously and asked, "What kind of 'miracle' does the Academy of Truth rely on to achieve fast sailing?"
"…excellent engineering skills, building 260 engine sets, powerful enough to fly."
Duncan: “……?”
"Making the machinery run, making the theory come true, and making the paradox take effect, this itself is part of the 'miracle' of Lahem," Ted Riel obviously saw the subtle expression on Duncan's face and couldn't help but laugh, "The same engine set cannot be started on other church ships. The fact that it didn't explode on the spot is already a testament to their excellent craftsmanship."
"...The 'miracles' of the gods are truly incredible."
Duncan shook his head with a subtle expression, sighed softly, and then turned his gaze to the distant coastline.
He had seen the "Storm Cathedral" of the Deep Sea Church and the "Academy Ark" of the Academy of Truth, but this was the first time he had seen the "Cathedral of Death" of the God of Death and the "Temple of the Firebearer" with the eternal flame. Just like the other two church ships, these two pilgrimage arks were also so distinctive.
The Temple of the Firebringer gives people a feeling of simplicity and solemnity. The huge ark base is dotted with gray-white stone buildings of different heights. Those solemn and mysterious buildings are completely different from the common city-state style of the contemporary era. They are more like "ancient temples" directly restored from some historical paintings. The most eye-catching structure is a huge platform in the center of the building complex - solemn stone pillars surround the platform, and a blazing flame surrounds the top of the platform. In the center of the flame, a strangely shaped "giant pillar" can be seen. The shape of the giant pillar is very similar to the "cane" that Vanna got from Tarekin. It is obviously the "chronological column" worshipped by the Firebringers.
The "Temple of Death" is much more gloomy. The Gothic architecture with black as the main color is the most common "scenery" on the Ark. Its core facility is a dark temple that looks like a huge pyramid. The temple is located on the high ground in the center of the Ark, surrounded by high towers, exuding a gloomy atmosphere like a tomb. When Duncan saw it for the first time, he understood why many people simply called the Ark of Death's Pilgrimage a "cemetery". It really looks like one.
No matter which ark it was, Duncan saw the illusory projection floating in the air, which was invisible to ordinary people with the naked eye and looked like a spirit.
He raised his head and stared at those "spirits floating in the world" with a gloomy face.
Phantom limbs like smoke and tentacles spread out from the projections of the spirits, floating silently over the entire Breeze Harbor, like chaotic ghosts. They did not interfere with each other, but occasionally some illusory "tentacles" would suddenly extend from their own "main body" to touch the tentacles extended from other Arks.
Duncan noticed this "contact". He instinctively sensed that this hasty contact...it didn't seem to be a coincidence, but more like an intentional one.
He even felt that the touch of some of the imaginary tentacles was like... a high five.
Some "spirits" that came from the direction of the port floated to the vicinity of the academy's tower and swam around the terrace.
Duncan hesitated for a moment, looked back at Ted Lear who didn't seem to be paying attention to this side, and then rubbed his fingers quietly.
A wisp of illusory spiritual flame emerged in the air and quietly touched the "Ark Spirits" that were floating in the air and invisible to the mortal eye.
With careful perception, he touched the "thoughts" flowing between those "spirits".
Some strange and low noises echoed in Duncan's mind, and then, understandable information actually appeared in those strange and low noises. He heard whispers that did not sound like humans vibrating in time and space... They were "communicating"!
The tremor entered the depths of his consciousness——
"…The weather is nice."
"It's ok, this place is really hot."
"Better than the north, the tentacles are frozen hard..."
"Didn't your wrist tentacles fall off a long time ago?"
"Phantom limb."
"What are they going to talk about today?"
"How should I know—I just woke up."
"…Ah? I just woke up too. What on earth are they going to talk about today?"
"…Don't ask. We just woke up."
Duncan: “……?”
Ted Riel finally noticed Duncan's suddenly subtle expression, and even more so the illusory flames that flashed faintly in the air. The keeper of the truth suddenly became nervous: "What happened?"
It would have been better if he didn't ask, but when he asked, Duncan's expression became more subtle.
But before the Truth Keeper got so nervous that he had another stomach upset, Duncan finally managed to control his expression, and at the same time, he forcibly suppressed the extremely weird feeling in his mind. He tried his best to keep a calm expression and looked up at Ted Riel: "...Can the Arks communicate with each other?"
"Between the Arks? Talking?" Ted Riel was stunned when he heard this. "What does this mean?"
The expression on the keeper's face did not seem fake. Duncan knew at a glance that this was probably another special "secret" known only to the core. Thinking that even Vanna did not know many of the secrets of Storm Cathedral, he decisively waved his hand: "You don't know, then it's okay."
Ted Lear instinctively wanted to ask something else, but the moment before he opened his mouth, a warning suddenly emerged in his heart.
He wisely kept his mouth shut.
Duncan changed the subject at the right time: "The Four Gods' Ark has gathered. Where exactly is the gathering place? In Breeze Harbor City?"
Ted Riel shook his head and explained patiently: "Breeze Harbor is not suitable for holding rallies - on the one hand, such rallies may have an impact on ordinary people in the city-state, and on the other hand, this rally happened suddenly, the city-state did not make any preparations, and there are also considerations for confidentiality.
"The message I received was to wait for notification. Because what we are going to discuss this time is directly related to the Great Annihilation and has already touched upon the foundation of the world, even a casual remark by one person during the gathering could lead to unpredictable consequences. Even the Popes must carefully consider the location of the gathering.
"They are communicating with God through psychic resonance on their respective arks, seeking enlightenment. The final gathering place should be chosen from the four arks."
Duncan waved his hand indifferently after hearing this: "Okay, then I will wait patiently. I hope it won't take too long."
Ted Lear nodded, but in the next second, the keeper of the truth suddenly frowned - he seemed to have heard a voice coming from afar, and the expression on his face instantly became strange.
"What's wrong?" Duncan noticed the change and asked curiously.
Ted Riel was silent for a few seconds, with a look of bewilderment on his face: "...in the fifth ark..."