Deep Sea Embers

Inside the captain’s quarters, Alice sat gracefully on the bed, facing away from Duncan as he slid the navigation key into the doll’s keyhole with a slight sound of friction. After a fleeting sensation of dizziness and a sensory reset, Duncan found himself in Alice’s Mansion’s expansive yet somber hall.

The entrance of the mansion featured a dark door embellished with intricate designs, standing quietly at the end of the carpet. Rays of sunlight peeked through the door’s crack, hinting at the shadowy figure of the Black Sun waiting beyond.

However, Duncan did not head straight to the door to meet his appointment. Instead, he explored deeper into the mansion, where he found Alice lost in thought with a drawing board in the navigation chamber before returning the doll to the hall and approaching the door.

For reasons he could not fully explain, Duncan wished to share all future experiences in this “land of all endings” with the doll.

Alice displayed a constant and palpable happiness, showing no fear of the Black Sun she was eager to encounter, whom she whimsically called the “flaming meatball.”

When Duncan finally approached the mansion’s door, he easily pushed open the slightly ajar entrance. Despite its appearance of weight, the door moved effortlessly, creaking on its hinges as it swung open. A brilliant yet bearable, artificial sunlight burst into view.

Encased in a luminous sphere of flames, a pale, distorted mass of flesh slowly expanded and writhed. A large, half-open eye seemed to cast a drowsy glance: “Ah, Flame Usurper, you have arrived… are you here to fulfill our agreement?”

Duncan confronted the bright stare: “I have now reached the end of all things and verified the cornerstone of the new world. I am here as we agreed.”

The Black Sun stirred; its fiery shell gently rose, and a deep, resonant tremor emanated from its numerous tentacles and bulges: “Ah, it seems you have made significant progress… So about my initial request, a place in the new world…”

“Yes,” Duncan quickly interjected, cutting off the other’s inquiry.

The prompt response seemed to surprise the Black Sun; its movements and the trembling of its flesh paused momentarily before it spoke hesitantly again: “You are certain…”

Duncan responded earnestly, “Indeed, the new world is expansive enough to provide a place for you—and your ‘home’ as you remember it in your memories—but that is contingent upon the new world being completed as planned.”

“You aren’t concerned that I might become a ‘dangerous element’ in the new world?” the Black Sun inquired. “My kind and I have been exiled from this sanctuary for ten thousand years, and now you are bringing me and the other tribes back to the new world. Don’t you see this as a potential risk?”

Duncan calmly reiterated, “As I’ve mentioned, the new world is vast, immensely so—your civilization is not everlasting, and the ‘hidden dangers’ you worry about will be diluted by the enormous spatial expanse and the passage of time. In such a prolonged safety period, your civilization will lack the opportunity to interact with others. Regarding you…”

He paused, a subtle smile playing in his eyes.

“Being one of the ‘ancient kings’ who established the foundations of the sanctuary, you are intimately familiar with the original blueprint of the Boundless Sea and all its systemic flaws. Given your profound understanding of the ‘sanctuary,’ I suspect… this world actually lacks the ability to ‘exile’ you. Or rather—if you had wished to return to the Boundless Sea, you would have done so on the day the kingdom of Crete launched Vision 001 into the sky.”

He looked up, observing the immense eye at the core of the writhing sun.

“In the history of constructing this sanctuary, there were no records of conflict among the ancient kings; all was settled through negotiations—you chose exile voluntarily, though the actions of your descendants and survivors spiraled out of control.”

The Black Sun fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking, “The creation of the sanctuary was ‘extreme.’ Back then, we couldn’t afford even a slight waste of resources or time. The Long Night had already failed twice, and we were compelled to succeed on our third attempt… no one had a choice.”

“Thank you for your prudence back then. Let’s forgo unnecessary tests and assumptions between us. I have made my plans—now it’s time for you to fulfill your promise,” Duncan’s tone became stern, his expression serious, “You mentioned you have ‘evidence’ concerning the new world. What exactly is it?”

The Black Sun remained silent but slowly stretched out its slender tentacles from the edge of the fiery eyeball. A limb suddenly extended, holding something at the end which it precisely delivered to Duncan.

Alice, who had been deep in thought beside him, started and leaned in curiously, “What is this?”

“A letter,” the Black Sun responded with a tremulous voice that filled the void. The small tentacle expanded, revealing an object to Duncan.

It appeared as a silver-gray cube, about ten centimeters on each side, adorned with intricate patterns. Though its design was intriguing, it seemed less significant than what Duncan had initially anticipated.

Duncan stared at the small metal cube with a puzzled expression, noticing its slightly translucent, blurry surface. It was evident that since only the projection of the Black Sun had visited this place, the cube he observed was also merely a projection.

The actual cube resided with the Black Sun, somewhere beyond the confines of the real dimension.

Duncan suddenly frowned as he discerned specific patterns on the cube’s surface.

Seemingly anticipating Duncan’s reaction, the Black Sun thoughtfully moved the cube’s projection closer to him, slowly rotating it to display each side.

On the first surface, Duncan observed a human silhouette standing on a map filled with numerous lines and reference points.

The second surface revealed a series of circles, arranged in size from smallest to largest.

On the third, he saw intersecting lines where each junction appeared to illustrate a mathematical principle.

However, the fourth surface was covered in child-like scribbles, their naive strokes starkly contrasting with the precise and meaningful designs on the other sides.

The fifth surface was dotted with numerous random depressions that seemed to represent a “star chart” of constellations or a similar celestial system.

His attention then shifted to the sixth surface.

It was adorned with distorted symbols!

These symbols initially seemed to represent various types of writing, but they had been twisted under some unknown influence into shapes that were utterly unrecognizable. Duncan felt as if these contorted symbols were alive; as he stared, each line seemed to tremble and rearrange itself, obscuring their true forms.

Duncan instinctively reached out to touch the cube, but his fingers passed right through the illusion.

“Its ‘physical’ form is not present, but I can describe its condition to you.” The Black Sun’s voice resonated in his ears, “It is a metal ingot, as hard as steel yet surprisingly light, hollow inside and hiding a potent energy source which I cannot examine without compromising its integrity. It seems to possess a powerful ‘mechanism’ that emits information outward, though this mechanism is also concealed within.”

“Furthermore, it originally held more information, including the ‘text’ you noticed that is unreadable.”

“Initially, it even produced sounds, but only as chaotic noise; it consistently emitted some sort of ‘signal,’ but even I cannot decipher what it is, and now, its emission process has largely ceased. I cannot determine if this is due to a malfunction or if the energy has depleted… however, it likely isn’t related to energy depletion, as the energy reaction inside it remains robust.”

Listening to the Black Sun’s detailed explanation, Duncan stayed silent for a considerable time, merely observing the continuously rotating cube. Finally, after a lengthy pause, he broke the silence: “So, this is a letter, a letter from the ‘new world’ to the ‘old world’—is that what you are suggesting?”

“Yes.”

“But how can we confirm this?” Duncan inquired, unable to hide his skepticism. “How do you know it’s not just another relic from the Great Annihilation, like other twisted fragments?”

“It originates from a place where, theoretically, no ‘fragments’ should exist,” the Black Sun replied calmly.

Duncan immediately frowned in thought: “A place where no fragments should exist?”

“…The World’s Creation.”

A heavy silence fell over the scene.

Duncan’s eyes widened in astonishment as he gazed at the projection of the cube, noting its effort to convey various messages, including the illegible text.

This was indeed a letter.

But who had sent this letter?