Kuroshio Island is located between the northern coast boundary of the New World and the southern boundary of the celestial circulation belt.

It is in the same body of water as the seemingly abandoned "bridgehead", as well as a dozen other islands with a similar situation.

It was not far from the old god's mansion, Luoyan City, which was half in the water, half on land, half in reality, and half in the dream realm.

The modest town of Kuroshio is the only human settlement on the island.

But unlike what outsiders might think, it's not like the indigenous city-states of the Bantaan Islands, with only a primitive style of extremely backward technology.

It's not because it's close to the mansion of the old gods, it's full of grotesque, evil spirits, and hell on earth.

Rather, it continues the gentlemanly style of Jörmungadren's dress, top hat, gold-rimmed glasses, and civilized staff.

The town is lined with stone buildings, triangular gables, and towering roofs with dark green tiles and protruding eaves.

Wheel or fan-shaped bucket arches can be found everywhere, there are corner towers that are fashionable in the Old World, balconies with door pillars, boxy chimneys, and so on.

Except for the fact that even for a seaside town, it was a bit too humid, but everything seemed very good.

The most important thing is that many homes are equipped with black wrought iron doors and stained windows, proving that their technological level in metallurgy is not lost to the old continent in the black iron age.

Even in terms of production scale, it is a little exceeded.

At least in the homes of ordinary townspeople in the Old World, this extravagant use of iron for doors and windows can not be seen.

This Kuroshio town actually looks unexpectedly well, advanced!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As the bell of a beautiful bell tower in the center of Kuroshio Town rang six times in a row, the time came to six o'clock in the afternoon.

As night fell, a young man in a blue uniform and a round hat carried a ladder to a black cast-iron lamppost on the side of the street.

He has the same slightly bronzed skin as the Aborigines, but with the characteristic blue eyes of the Bay People, he looks like a mixed race of the Bay People and the Bugenous.

The young man put the ladder on the street lamp, climbed up neatly, opened the glass lampshade, and lit the street lamp fueled by the Leviathan whale oil with a silver lighter in his hand.

The outer flames were faintly blue, but the extraordinarily bright lights instantly illuminated a large area of the street.

This essentia-laden fuel is noticeably more energy efficient and can burn for days with just a little bit, which is not a luxury in this whaling town.

Nils Henrik, the "lamplighter" who has been passed down from generation to generation in the town, looked at the steady burning lights in front of him, and his face seemed to shine.

Silent prayer from the mouth:

"Thank you Dagon for giving us whale oil technology, thank you for the dedication of the sea elves and whales, may your spirits return to the Sea of Essentia as soon as possible."

Light a street lamp and carry a ladder to light the next one.

Ever since Nils took over the job from his father, he has walked the streets and lit every street lamp in the town at night.

Year after year, day after day, rain or shine.

It's just that whenever Nils Henrik finishes his day's work, he doesn't forget to reverently add a sentence after the prayer:

"I hope Dagon's eyes will fall on me and witness my hard work.

After I retire, I can return to the sea like my father and become a great family! ”

Then he gazed for a long time at the dark sea beyond the town that swallowed up the sun, and it seemed that his father could be seen from there.

Obviously, the "return to the sea" in his mouth is not as simple as it sounds.

"Little Nils, what are you still doing here? After finishing today's work, hurry up and help out with the 'Fish Day Festival'.

Slaughterhouses, communal kitchens, whale oil refineries, and shipyards all require a large number of people. ”

A somewhat sticky, shrill voice suddenly interrupted the young lamplighter's thoughts.

He looked back and saw a middle-aged man in a dark green dress and a red bow tie standing behind him.

It's just that compared to the appearance of the young man's own normal half-breed, this middle-aged man's bloodline seems to be mixed with other unknown things.

The eyes are unusually wide, the mouth is extraordinarily flat, the teeth that show when speaking are dense and pointed, and there seem to be a few fish scales shining behind the ears.

Nils didn't find it strange, and he wasn't afraid.

Because this appearance symbolizes the beginning of the "ascension" that he has in mind, and it is a good thing that he is about to be qualified to return to the bottom of the sea.

After coming to his senses, he immediately took off his hat and saluted the middle-aged man, first reciting a fixed prayer of the church:

"Thank you to our Lord and Dagon from God for all that has been given us."

Then he greeted the visitor himself:

"Good evening, Mr. Mayor! Congratulations on your ascension as a great family to serve our lord in Dagon's footsteps. ”

The middle-aged man, whom he called the mayor, waved his right hand with webbed fingers and corrected him with a straight face:

"No, I just got Dagon's oracle.

He was so pleased with the sacrifice we had just captured that he decided to bless every adult resident of Kuroshio Town.

So, it shouldn't just be me, it's you, but you and every adult townsman.

This time it's the overall 'ascension' of the entire Kuroshio Town, just like the ancestors of that 'Bridgehead Town' hundreds of years ago! ”

Speaking of this, the mayor's weird face also showed a bit of leisurely fascination:

"As the Age of Oblivion gets closer and closer, so does the Sea of Ingena, and the sea level is getting higher and higher.

Eventually, under the guidance of Dagon, we will be reborn in the arms of our Lord [God of Sleep].

Kuroshio is the first of all the descendants of Dagon to receive such grace.

It's all thanks to a bunch of stupid outsiders who ate the fish from the festival and became sacrifices, thinking that we didn't know anything. ”

Hearing the good news, Nils almost jumped up from the ground in excitement, and repeatedly confirmed in disbelief:

"Really? Is this true, Mr. Mayor? I'm also qualified to ascend?

Am I still in the great dream of my Lord who can grant all his wishes? ”

Until the news is confirmed, he bows reverently in the direction of the sea:

"Thank you Dagon!"

In the legend of the town, the dependant of the [Sleeping God], the god Dagon, was a member of the original "bridgehead town".

It was during that Ascension Ceremony hundreds of years ago that all the adults of the Northland Bay "exiles" were transformed into the family of the gods on the same day.

Minors are led by God's messengers to the islands and even the mainland.

After combining with the local natives, they gradually came into existence in Kuroshio Town and a series of other subsidiary towns of Luoyan City.

The site of the abandoned bridgehead has also become a forbidden area for the living to enter during the ceremony, and even they, the mixed descendants of the Bay people and the natives of the New World, dare not set foot easily.

Legend has it that Dagon was one of the founders of the Deep Dive Church, and after gaining great power from the Sleeping God, he had truly set foot in the realm of immortality.

He is the Lord's subordinate god, one of the leaders of the Great Family, and the direct ancestor of all the inhabitants of their Kuroshio Town.

To be able to achieve Ascension, to follow Dagon and to serve the great sleeping god is the greatest wish of all the inhabitants rooted in the blood.

The two of them in the conversation did not notice at all, and the two translucent figures had already stood beside them for a long time.

Even talking to each other, they can't hear it.

"I'll just say this town can't be as normal as it seems.

The faith of the Old Gods is no longer a secret religion here, but like the Church of the Creator, it has become the ruler of the faith.

However, I know what the family of the sleeping god is, and who is Dagon? ”

One of the two figures was wearing a brigadier general's uniform, heroic and upright, and the other was wearing a white dress, pretty and cute, it was Byron and Violet who were traveling in the starlight body.

Just when the mayor and the lamplighter talked about the rise, the emotions were stirring.

Byron and the others have gradually read most of the information they want to know from their subconscious with the help of [Dream Execution] and [Nightmare Ambush].

In addition to the Clans and Dagon, there are:

"From God? Whale oil technology that has already started in the New World? Sacrifice? Ascension? ”

Byron silently chewed on these key words.

It was also during the first meeting that I felt the shock from the New World.

If it weren't for their memories that in order to deal with the invasion of foreign enemies from the north, the main body of Dagon was not here, and they would have wanted to turn around and run, so that [Hawkeye] would have begged for their own blessings.

Today is the third day of their departure from the Bantaan Islands.

Step by step, follow the best route drawn up by the navigation charts of all parties.

On the road, many "car bandits and road rages" were unplugged, which also laid a solid foundation for them to become new car bandits and road ragers in the future.

However, many first- and second-echelon expedition ships that had been exploring in the celestial circulation zone for a long time rushed ahead of them.

According to the navigation chart released by the [Oceanic Throne], he successfully broke through the obstacles of the windless belt and the Broken Islands, and entered this new sea area that has not yet been named.

According to Old World custom, whoever can conquer this place first is eligible for naming rights.

After approaching the coordinates given by the Jackdaw, Byron personally acted as a pioneer to investigate the information, and brought Violet with him.

He hadn't forgotten that Violet hadn't even triggered the killing rules there when she strayed into the Old God's mansion, Luo Oblivion.

It shows that after she inscribed the curse mark [Blasphemy] with the help of the blood of the Octopus Battleship, she has been tacitly regarded as her own person of the Sleeping God line.

It is obviously even more impossible to see through such a subordinate subordinate town.

This is also where Byron's confidence lies in daring to infiltrate the enemy's rescue field.

Although he also ate a drop of Violet's blood before leaving, and disguised himself with human transfiguration in all directions, it was safer to bring the original with him.

As for the [Golden Deer], the sailboat brakes were activated from a distance, the wind was balanced, and it was moored on the sea a hundred kilometers away.

Completely obscured by Jacqueline's shadow robes and the border locks of the [First Overseas Exploration Order].

A ship is like a needle's eye on the sea, and even if you have the heart to look for it, it is impossible to find its trace.

In addition, the [fiddler crab] and Gary brought with him have teleportation capabilities, and as long as Byron needs them, they can provide fire support across hundreds of kilometers at any time.

I didn't expect to get this unexpected news just after sneaking into the town.

Think back.

If you hadn't waited for the Pirate King's side to exert his strength and lured away the leader here, and he didn't know about it on the day he received the call for help, he rushed in, and it would have been a lot of fun.

Thankfully, fortunately.

"Mayor Mare, I'm going to help with the festival."

Just as the young Nils said goodbye to the mayor and ran happily to the docks, his body suddenly shook.

By the time he shook his head and continued to run forward, the person controlling his body had quietly changed.

Byron instantly possessed him and easily replaced him, while Violet's astral body burrowed into the body's dreams and hid as well.

Stomp and tread

Trolling all the way, you can see the townspeople who have received good news everywhere on the road, and the faces of the townspeople who do not stop chanting the holy name are filled with joy.

"Praise Dagon!"

"Ancestor Dagon favors us!"

Byron, as a "god" and "dependent", can clearly see that the anchor chains sink into the void and finally fall into the spirituality of a powerful being.

This turned out to be a form of bypassing the legal network on the Old World, but the gods were directly anchored with the believers, forming a simple local network.

Although it is far inferior to the equally independent Golden Law, it already has a similar prototype.

The two were spiritually connected and their senses were connected, and the more they watched, the more shocked they became.

At the beginning, Skeleton Three explained the nature of the transcendent and the gods:

"Bestiality is the 'id' that represents desire and primitive drives, and divinity is the 'superego' that represents morality and collective guidance.

But the 'id' and the 'superego' are the two tyrants vying for control of the mind.

The former are physical slaves, while the latter are in cahoots with human society.

Whichever of these two is completely inclined to the other, it is too extreme and neither is the right way!

The ladder of glory rooted in 'divinity', while stable and safe, without any side effects, is rigid and rigid and can see the end from the beginning.

If you are always trapped in the rules set by the Church and the Creator, you will stop at the supreme kingship of the world, and you are doomed to be unable to achieve transcendence.

The most correct path for the transcendent should be to stabilize the anchor on one's body by constantly touching the Silver Law or by other means.

Then delve into the [Taboo Knowledge] and create a [Sail] for breaking out of the safety zone and riding the wind and waves.

Only by being still and moving can he make his sailboat run fast and steady, and finally touch the realm of the gods and become an immortal existence.

This is also the truth that in the dark millennium, those dark wizards were regarded as blasphemous by the Inquisition and hunted to death. ”

And this "Dagon" actually used the knowledge of the [Sleeping God] to complete the goals of countless dark wizards, truly touched the divine domain, and even had his own believers!