The paper was crumpled, and in many places had been contaminated with gray-black "mud", and the handwriting on it was blurry and missing, but after Morris had carefully handled it, many of the words on it had returned to a barely legible state—

"Brown Scott" recorded the strange changes that happened to him during his final lucid phase:

“…… At about four o'clock in the morning, it has been twelve hours since the door of the room was locked, and the increasingly intense tinnitus and paroxysmal vertigo seriously affected his movements, and he could only write something when he was in a slightly better state......

"At half past six, the internal organs seemed to be tumbling, as if the structure of the body had lost order, and each had its own thoughts, and it did not feel pain, and even the dizziness was much lessened...... The fear began to subside, and memories came back to mind more clearly......

At around seven o'clock, I vividly recalled the details of my death, and became more and more convinced that my true self was already dead. The left leg was inexplicably fractured – or maybe a piece of bone in the middle suddenly dissolved and disappeared.

"At 8:15 a.m., the left leg began to dissolve, first the skin cracked on its own, and then the internal tissues flowed out like some kind of gray-black liquid, and the liquid substance that had left the body seemed to have a life of its own, squirming on the floor and even climbing the wall...... I was worried about whether the wooden planks I had nailed to the windows would keep these weird and horrible substances out, but it turned out that they gradually lost their life soon after they left the body, and even when they did, they seemed to be consciously avoiding the sun...... This may be an important piece of information, and is hereby recorded......

“…… The heart stopped, but consciousness continued, and I could feel that the body had completely ceased to function according to normal human physiology, trying to cut open a wound, and there was no blood in the wound, only a gray-black viscous substance slowly flowing out...... What kind of material is this body formed at this moment?

"My whole lower body began to dissolve, and it took some effort to hold myself in place and continue to write these words—I now felt no pain, no breathing, my heart had long since stopped, and I could occasionally hear a buzzing noise, as if the matter that made it up was resonating...... More and more sticky material left the body, making a mess of the room......

“…… Hopefully, Galoni won't be scared when she cleans up her room...... Even though when I wrote the name, I could barely remember what Garoni looked like.

"At half past ten, my worst fears began to happen, my vision was rapidly fading, the environment was rapidly darkening, and I had to fumble the edges of the paper to make the handwriting as clear as possible......

"I can't confirm the time, but it's about eleven to twelve, and I hear a high-pitched, strange sound that lasts for about five minutes, after which all discomfort begins to subside, and perception of the remnants of the body is rapidly diminishing. I can feel the part below the chest falling......

"Maybe another hour has passed,"

The text breaks off here.

It is not known whether the recorder's consciousness has finally reached its end, or whether he has lost most of his perception and is no longer able to accurately write words on paper - in the end, the dead man is left with only abrupt punctuation on earth.

Morris was silent for a long time without making a sound, and it was not long before he whispered to himself: "Ah, it is indeed his handwriting. ”

"Do you need to be alone for a while?" Duncan glanced at the old gentleman calmly, "I can wait for you outside." ”

"No, I've already mourned him once," Morris shook his head slightly, "but I didn't expect to see his academic record again after six years...... It's all very useful, right? ”

Duncan didn't answer immediately, but leaned closer to the frozen "mud" and thoughtfully observed their edges, then picked up the last record left by Brown Scott and carefully examined the edges of the paper where the mud had been completely soaked.

The edges are a little blurry, and the boundary between the paper and the mud seems to have disappeared, or even partially merged.

Morris noticed Duncan's move: "Did you find anything?" ”

“…… Primordial," Duncan looked up, "The local church in Frost is studying this substance, and they believe that this 'slime left over after the disintegration of the deep-sea clones' is very close in nature to what the Annihilation cultists call 'primordial'. ”

Morris was stunned for a moment, but he was now somewhat accustomed to the captain's situation of getting new clues from nowhere, so he didn't wonder about the source of this information, but after a short thought, he said: "...... I know the term 'element', and if you want to study the historical origins of cultists, you can't get around the things that these gods and gods talk about. ”

He paused, as if sorting out the information in his mind, and after a moment continued: "Just as the Suncultists firmly believe that the ancient true sun will save the world sooner or later, the Annihilation Cultists also have a similar 'salvation prophecy', they preach that one day in the future, the Dark Lord will awaken from his slumber and destroy the present mortal world that has been distorted and deceived by the gods in a rage, and the deep sea representing the 'true realization of the world' will rise from the depths of the world and become a paradise for mortals to live in peace again, and before that day comes, there will be 'first' Primitives gush out in abundance, and they are the cornerstones of the world, the blueprint of all things, they will cover all things, and restore the world to its true appearance......"

Listening to the old scholar's narration, Duncan was silent for a few seconds and raised his head: "A large number of ...... Emerge from the deep sea? ”

Morris didn't speak for a moment.

"I'm getting more and more interested in the Annihilation Cultists now, but I'm more curious about how they made a 'connection' with a thousand meters below the frost at this moment than their so-called 'Salvation Prophecy'," Duncan shook his head, "The replica is from the deep sea, the Obsidian and the submersible on Dagger Island, but a group of Oblivion Cultists...... How do you think they came into contact with the power of a thousand meters of water? ”

“…… Even if it is a powerful city-state, it is not a trivial matter to build a submersible that can travel to and from the depths of the sea for thousands of meters, at least, it is not something that a group of cultists can master," Morris said in thought, "but they can channel the power of the deep sea through some indirect ritual, or communicate with the ...... 'powerful beings' of the deep sea." ”

"So, Frost must have a larger cult stronghold, a hidden place where large-scale ceremonies can be held, enough for them to constantly attract the power of the deep sea to create clones in the city-state, and even invade Dagger Island." Duncan spoke slowly, looking up at the room as he raised his head—the only window in the room was nailed by wooden planks, and the roof, walls, and floor were covered with lifeless, dry "mud", and all traces here seemed to speak of a thrilling death and confrontation.

In his perception, the Lost Country was sailing in the direction of Dagger Island and Frost Island.

"Maybe in the end, I still have to give the cultists here a little 'homeland shock'." He whispered, rubbing his fingers as a small cluster of green flames fell from his fingertips, silently fell to the ground, and quickly dissolved into the air and disappeared.

Morris saw this, of course, but he didn't say anything, just one last glance at the table next to him.

That's where Brown Scott "worked" last—maybe just a short-lived replica, but it still had a noble soul when its body was crumbling and disintegrating.

“…… How is the matter handled here? The old scholar looked up at the captain, "The traces in the room, the materials left by Brown, and ...... Garoni on the first floor. ”

"We've got enough clues, leave the rest to the Frost Man," Duncan said lightly, "leave the room as it is, leave that letter prominently on the table, and prepare another report letter, as for Garoni......"

Duncan paused.

"Garoni's cognitive interference is clearly not over, and she still shows no signs of regaining consciousness after the clones in this building disappear, and even believes that her teacher is resting in the room, which indicates that the 'source' of the interference is not her teacher, but something that is still active and hiding in the depths of the city-state, and she will not really recover without destroying that source."

Speaking of this, he frowned slightly, and seemed to think of more.

"And...... It's uncertain how many 'Brown Scotts' and how many 'Garoni' there are in this city-state. ”

Morris's expression froze: "What do you mean ......?"

"Rumors of the return of the dead are circulating in the city, but at the same time news of the opposite is reaching Tirien," Duncan glanced at Morris, "I'm afraid this city-state has been infiltrated into a sieve by clones and cognitive interference." ”

(End of chapter)