The fact that the "primordial blanks" that had once appeared in the frosty deep sea now appeared in this border sea, near the "holy land" of the Annihilationists, exuded a strange and terrifying aura, but it was not so surprising.

After all, the "Shadow Lord" is the thread that connects it all.

Maurice crouched down beside the humanoid blank, pulled out a slender metal sampling cone, and carefully stabbed it into the latter's arm, which met with an extremely tough skin—obviously tougher than the skin of a human, elf, or senjin, but somewhat elastic, like some kind of dense and strong special rubber.

With the force of his hand, he broke through the tough "skin", and the sampling cone spun half a circle in the arm of the humanoid rough blank, and when he pulled it out, he brought out some silt-like black substance.

Familiar black mud, but seemingly inactive, showing no signs of wriggling deformation.

"I'm starting to feel a little sick......" Shirley frowned, goosebumps from her as she thought of the chilling things that had happened in the frost in the first place—the replicas that had grown in the fog, the tentacles of the old gods that spread upwards from the depths of the sea, the living mud that surged in the pipes and sewers......

However, the dog beside her seemed completely unaffected, and the ghostly hound curiously leaned over to the rough humanoid and sniffed around as if he had found something, and stopped to think for a moment from time to time.

Seeing this, Shirley suddenly looked disgusted: "Dog, what are you doing here?" Don't you think this thing is disgusting...... Hey, don't rub your head......"

"Dog, did you find anything?" Vanna asked with a serious expression next to her.

"It's not a big deal, it's the first time I've seen this thing with my own eyes, and I've only heard the captain describe it before......" Ah Dog shook his head, "I just feel the smell of this thing...... Somewhat familiar. ”

Duncan suddenly raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "A little familiar? ”

“…… The 'smell' of my hometown," Dog muttered, "but I'm not sure...... Because it's very light, but it does feel a little familiar. ”

Duncan's expression gradually became solemn, but he did not speak for a while.

At the beginning, he found a large number of "primordial rough blanks" in the deep sea of frost, but in order to completely eliminate the hidden dangers under the frost and prevent the clones of the ancient gods from awakening, he burned the tentacles of the ancient gods as a "pillar", which also ignited all the "rough blanks" in the deep sea, which caused him to not bring back any samples from that place - so before today, Ah Dog had never really come into contact with this kind of "semi-finished replica" made by the power of the Nether Holy Lord.

And now, Ah Dog smells the smell of the deep sea from these "semi-finished products".

Duncan vaguely felt that there seemed to be something ...... "problem" with the dog's discovery.

Lucrecia noticed the change in the expression on her father's face, and said with some concern, "Do you think something is wrong?" ”

Duncan's expression was serious: "Why do these 'humanoid rough blanks' have the aura of the deep sea?" ”

"What's wrong with that?" Lucrecia was a little puzzled, "These things are all born from the power of the Dark Lord, and it is normal for them to have the aura of the deep sea......"

Duncan turned his head: "According to the information we have so far, 'people' were also created by the Dark Holy Lord, why has Ah Dog never smelled 'hometown' in people?" ”

There was a sudden silence around them, and Lucrecia blinked, finally realizing what the "problem" her father was aware of was going on.

Her gaze fell on the "rough blank" on the deck, which had no facial features and hands and feet, and her expression gradually became a little serious.

Duncan spoke softly in thought: "All mortal races are derivatives of the Nether, and the Netherworld Demons are also the creations of the Netherworld Holy Lord, we regard 'people' and 'Netherworld demons' as the two ends of the scale, so these 'rough blanks' with humanoid outlines...... Is it more of a 'human' or a 'ghostly demon'? ”

“…… I remember you said that these 'rough blanks' like clay puppets are likely to be the 'semi-finished products' of the Mortal Race when the Dark Lord made them, or the products of rough processing according to the original blueprints, and the tentacles of the ancient gods in the Frosty Deep Sea were only a partial copy of the Dark Lord, so it can only make this kind of 'rough blanks', but if it goes further, these 'rough blanks' may become real 'humans'......"

Lucrecia remembered what her father had told her about the frost incident, and slowly spoke in thought.

"And now, Ah Dog feels that these 'rough billets' have the breath of a deep sea, or in other words, it thinks these rough billets ...... Much like its compatriots. ”

"I didn't say that!" Ah Gou muttered suddenly, but then leaned down again, a little lacking in confidence, "Eh, okay...... Actually, it's a little bit like ......"

Shirley blinked, looked at Ah Dog and then at the captain, her eyes swept around, her face was still a little confused: "What are you discussing?" ”

Duncan glanced at the girl and raised his hand to the "rough blank" on the deck: "We are discussing, from which step did 'human' begin to differentiate from the ghostly demon, or rather, from which step did this ghostly demon with a humanoid outline begin to become a 'human'. ”

Shirley reacted for a while, and her eyes finally widened suddenly: "?!" ”

Duncan didn't explain any further, he just nodded slightly, and turned to get back to the aft bridge—it was very close to the six-nautical-mile threshold, and it was necessary to be extremely cautious to move on, and he intended to move the Lost a little forward to confirm what was ahead.

But just as he was about to take a step, a slight "thump" suddenly came from the side of the boat, interrupting his movements and interrupting everyone's train of thought.

Immediately after, more "dong dong" sounds came into everyone's ears.

Something was hitting the hull, at first two or three, then more - a lot!

Vanna's face changed slightly, and she rushed to the edge of the deck in a few steps, looking at the sea below—

The black humanoids, like "rough blanks" made of sludge, at least dozens or hundreds of them were hitting the hull hull of the Lost Land one by one, and they rose and fell on a calm sea, as if pushed by invisible waves, knock, knock, knock......

But what's even more chilling is farther away—

In front of the Lost Land, farther out into the sea, more blurred outlines were slowly drifting over the misty sea! Countless humanoid "rough blanks" tumbled and undulated like undulating dead wood in the water, they floated in the same direction, and then crashed into the shell of the Lost Country one after another, making a dull crashing sound, and then tumbling and changing the trajectory of the float, and continued to float backwards, towards the Bright Star......

On the foredeck of the Sabbath, Polekini, the goddess in the black robes of the Church of Death and with dark blonde curly hair, stood on the edge of the deck and looked at the sea below, and the rough humanoid blanks that floated from a distance like black dead wood greeted her with a chilling eerie look.

A junior priest stood beside her, his face looking rather uneasy: "Bishop Polekini, what the hell are these things?" ”

“…… Something born of the power of the Dark Lord must have drifted from that so-called 'holy place,'" Poleginia said casually—a voice was speaking in her head, telling her about these "humanoid blanks", the voice from the Lost Land, the "Lady Agatha" who followed Captain Duncan in shadow form, "Ignore them, these things are 'dead', and as long as they don't come into contact, they don't pose a threat to our ironclads." ”

"Yes, Bishop."

The junior priest bowed his head and retreated, but not long after he left, he hurried back to Poleginia.

"Bishop! The bottom of the boat, the bottom of the boat too! ”

"Bottom of the boat?!"

Poleginia, who hurried to the lower level, heard the thudding sound that echoed almost the entire bilge.

The sound of the impact was continuous, as if coming from all directions, it was the movement of countless hard objects floating in the sea water hitting the steel, the sound echoed in the cabin, dull and unsettling, Poleginia even had an illusion -

It was like the echo of countless people with sledgehammers consciously tapping on the hull of the ship.

She even subconsciously imagined the image in her mind, thinking of the countless humanoid "rough blanks" floating in the waters around the Sabbat, not only on the surface of the sea, but also underwater, hundreds of black clay figures clinging to the bottom shell of the ship, crashing and scratching again and again, trying to chisel through the thick layer of steel and scuttle the uninvited guest who broke into the holy land......

She quickly shook her head, forcibly suppressed these "associations" that might cause unpredictable consequences, and turned her head to look at the technicians who came down with her: "Will the hull be damaged?" ”

"If it were just an impact of the current magnitude, it would not cause any damage to the hull," said the mechanic at once, "it would only be an impact, and it would not be more powerful than the driftwood in the sea...... But to be honest, the sounds are too disturbing, and since 'those things' started hitting the hull near the mechanical cabin, there has been an incongruous noise in the operation of the steam mechanism......"

Poleginia's eyes changed slightly: "The machine is evil? ”

"It's not as bad as the evil spirit, but the machine does feel uneasy, and I hope you'll send the church priest down to do a pacification mass for the steam boiler and the difference machine."

"Okay, I'll tell the church to send someone down." Poleginia said immediately.

And just as she finished speaking, a hoarse and indistinct voice suddenly came into her mind—the sound mingled with the continuous knocking around her, mixed with the echo of the bilge, as if it had been precipitated directly from the cold waters outside the hull, and seeped into the bottom of her heart—

"You ...... will become them...... Just like us......"

(End of chapter)