Chapter 799: Chapter 796: The Day the Waves Calmed Chapter 799: Chapter 796: The Day the Waves Calmed After the bustling fleet of cargo ships departed, the dock area under the cover of nightfall seemed quieter than ever–all large loading and unloading equipment had ceased operation, and unrelated personnel had already evacuated the operation zone, leaving only the omnipresent gas lamps lined along both sides of the road, keeping vigil over the city.

From the southern slope of the dock, descending a long flight of stairs, the coast covered with fine sand lies ahead. On sunny days, this place is always filled with resting townspeople.

But now, there is only a dead silence on the beach, a pitch-black sea under the night sky, the briny and chill sea breeze blowing from the direction of the boundless dark, seemingly mixed with suspicious sobbing, while broken waves strike the distant rocks of the coast, occasionally frothing up in unpredictable bursts, illuminated by the cold brilliance of the Creation of the World into a corpse-like pale hue.

The stern-faced guards keep watch over all the paths leading to the coast, holding lanterns and swords, vigilantly observing the endless darkness beyond the City-State.

“The coast is sealed off,” a fully-armed Knowledge Guard blocks Taran El, shining a lantern on the Scholar’s face, carefully confirming the shape of his features and the number of his eyes, “It’s very dangerous outside… Keeper of Secrets, sir?”

This dutiful night watchman finally notices the figure following behind Taran, and in the brilliance of his lantern, he is surprised to see the face of Ted Riel.

“We are just going for a walk on the coast,” Ted Riel nods gently at the guard, “We’ll return within an hour.”

“…You may pass, but this gentleman needs to show his pass qualifications,” the Knowledge Guard hesitated a moment, still formally addressing Taran El, “Without the pass qualifications, he cannot go through.”

“I am Taran El, a College Professor, holding second-level nighttime access,” Taran El quickly reached into his chest searching, found the pass he always carried on him, “The pass includes access to the coastal area…”

The Knowledge Guard took Taran El’s credentials, checked them thoroughly, and his tense expression finally relaxed somewhat; he stepped aside, gesturing them to pass.

“Thank you.” Ted Riel said to the night watchman, then stepped forward.

But just as the two were about to pass the guard post, the guardian couldn’t help but speak up: “… Keeper of Secrets and Professor Taran, the Sun Shard has already departed, the coast is now a restricted area, there is nothing left there, what are you going to do?”

“…Consider it a check on the coastal area after the departure of the Sun Shard,” Taran El said, slowly walking forward, “We’ll be back soon.”

Taran El and Ted Riel passed the guard post, slowly walking on this silent beach, for a while, neither of them spoke.

“Now this place has also become a restricted area,” after an unknown length of time, Taran El broke the silence, “The guards here are very dutiful.”

“They are my carefully selected men,” Ted Riel explained, “The coastal area is just a regular restricted area, but if it were near the Great Steam Core or a Level-One Containment Area, even I and Governor would have to show our credentials and confirm our identities to pass.”

Taran El hummed in agreement, then fell silent again, slowly walking, and after another long stretch, he spoke again: “Still no news?”

“Homeloss and Brilliant Starship crossed the border a month ago, now all we can confirm is that they still ‘exist’,” Ted Riel spoke calmly, “Captain Duncan stays in Aer and Frost remains active, occasionally some intelligence about Homeloss comes from those City-States, but mostly, information related to ‘World’s End’ is not allowed to spread between City-States.”

He paused slightly, shaking his head gently: “Even I can only find out so much.”

“…Knowing that they are still ‘alive’ is comforting,” Taran El said softly, “Knowing that they are still active at the border somehow makes me feel a bit better.”

“It’s improper to say this,” Ted Riel unconsciously slowed his pace, wearing an odd expression on his face, “but neither of those two ships has one or two individuals who are truly ‘alive’.”

Taran El rolled his eyes: “That’s why I put ‘alive’ in quotes. Can’t you hear that?”

Ted Riel immediately glared at the Scholar: “…How could I possibly hear it?!”

Taran El laughed, taking a deep breath in the cold night air, seemingly feeling slightly relaxed, then lifted his head, looking toward a direction at the end of the coast.

There used to be the location where the Deep Sea Church’s Pilgrimage Ark “Storm Cathedral” was docked, but now that magnificent sea ark had left the City-State, leaving only a vast, empty sea at the horizon, frothing pale under the shine of the Creation of the World.

“The arks have also left,” the Scholar sighed, “There’s always a sense that Light Breeze Harbor has suddenly been abandoned…”

“Just overreacting,” Ted Riel bluntly said, “It’s just being melodramatic, one night grading student essays in your office would cure that, guarantee no more such illusions.”

“I’m not like you,” Taran El held his arms, slightly lifting his head, “My students are up-and-coming youngsters, and they usually write their papers seriously…”

Ted Riel snorted coldly, opting to ignore the scholar.

After a long silence, they simultaneously broke the silence again: “Grading essays is pretty good.”

The two old friends glanced at each other with a wry smile, falling silent once more.

And not far from them, beyond the coastline, the vast sea was as silent as they were at that moment. The sea surface was endless, neither rising nor falling, and the salty and chilly sea breeze blew from the darkness, yet the sea remained as calm as a mirror.

The brilliance of the Creation of the World shone upon the sea, endowing the entire world with an evenly perfect pale luster.

Ted Riel suddenly furrowed his brows, looking with some confusion towards the direction of the coastline.

“What’s wrong?” Taran El asked curiously, not understanding.

“I don’t know, I just suddenly felt… like something’s missing,” Ted Riel muttered uncertainly with a slight frown, “Do you feel like… something is missing? It should be some kind of sound, when the wind blows over the sea, there should be a sound coming, and a phenomenon, hitting the rocks…”
He stopped, turned around, and stared intently at the calm sea in the distance, standing there in the night for a long time.

He and Taran El gradually felt that everything seemed not too wrong.

…
Tirian knitted his brows tightly, standing on the shore gazing at the distant sea, which was as flat and quiet as a mirror. A sense of confusion increasingly emerged and then momentarily settled in his mind, making him briefly unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.

He shook his head hard, trying to expel that sense of cognitive disarray from his mind.

He felt everything about the sea surface was normal, yet he clearly “remembered” it should not be like this. Struggling in the contradiction between thought and cognition, he finally couldn’t help breaking the silence: “…The waves are gone.”

Then he turned his head to look at the tall figure standing beside him: “Father, is something not quite right?”

Duncan did not speak at that moment, but Aiden, who stood on the other side, looked at his captain in confusion: “Waves? Something wrong? What are you talking about?”

Hearing Aiden’s voice, Tirian felt a wave of confusion again. He raised his hand to tap his forehead, his gaze puzzledly fixed on the distant sea. He felt some “thing,” a “natural phenomenon,” which should inherently exist in the world, was rapidly fading from his cognition; now… it was disappearing.

It was then that he finally heard his father’s voice reaching his ears–
“She forgot the waves.”

His father said this, using a low and solemn tone.

The sense of confusion in his mind finally receded. The moment his father mentioned the word “waves,” Tirian felt he regained his clarity, and the next second, his expression turned from confusion to shock.

He widened his eyes, staring intensely at the distant sea.

Even Aiden beside him seemed to suddenly wake up. This fierce-looking bald man stared at the Endless Sea, his face even showing a hint of fear.

In this moment, the Endless Sea became a mirror across the entire world–the “waves” had disappeared from this world.

“Father,” Tirian finally reacted, turning sharply to look at Duncan, “The Storm Goddess She…”
“Decay,” Duncan interrupted Tirian softly, “an inevitable outcome.”

Tirian and Aiden stood rigid.

“Don’t worry, she’s still here, although the process of decay is deepening, but as long as the sea is still here, she is still here,” Duncan shook his head, his voice awakening Tirian, “This is just a ‘peeling’ during the deepening process of decay, and such ‘peeling’ is not the first time for this world.”

Tirian was stunned, subconsciously repeating: “Not the first time?”

“Do you know how many intelligent races there are in this world?” Duncan suddenly asked.

“Of course there are three…” Tirian nearly answered without thinking.

But the next second, this “Iron Marshal” seemed to understand something, although he couldn’t recall anything, he guessed the chilling “implication” behind his father’s question.

“Soon, you too will forget the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, the world will ‘correct’ all this, but before that, you can briefly reminisce its ‘existence’,” Duncan said softly, then stretched out his hand and patted Tirian on the shoulder firmly.

“Do not mention the word ‘waves’ to others; from now on, it is a ‘profane archetype’.”