The black sun hangs high

Chapter 255 The Light Is About to Fade

To prevent the Dark Abyss offspring in the city from seeing through the survivors' plans by digesting the memories of the dead mages, before setting off, Hugh specially devised a new set of temporary magical signal rules with the mages at the Law Council's headquarters. And now, the pale green color slowly drifting in the sky represents the start of the first batch of personnel transfer.

There were no other magical signals in the sky, which meant that the relocation had gone smoothly. Just as Hugh had planned, most of the Dark Abyss offspring in Seren City had been drawn to the area closer to the north of the city by his actions. The soldiers of Iris Street and the bandits of the Three Colors Brotherhood had already completed their searches in this area. Even if there were still survivors, they were only a very small minority.

At that moment, the distorted sound, composed of countless voices, came from the side.

"What are you planning, aren't you?"

This time, it didn't even pause or stutter; its speech was frighteningly fluent. What surprised Hugh even more was that it even adopted a questioning tone indistinguishable from a human's. If it weren't for the strange sound it made, Hugh would have almost thought that a real person had just asked him a question.

Hugh finally turned around and looked at the humanoid figure made of black slime in front of him. He then realized that the sunlight was still continuously damaging the Dark Abyss offspring, but when they gathered together, their enormous power reserves were enough to allow them to directly counteract the damage caused by the sunlight.

When Hugh looked at it, the humanoid figure trembled slightly. Then, fragmented shadows slowly emerged from within it, eventually forming a mouth in the correct position on the humanoid figure's face.

After completing this basic "preparation," the humanoid slowly opened its mouth and asked Hugh once again, "Have you seriously considered the suggestions we have made?"

Hugh suddenly noticed that the humanoid figure representing the main will of the Dark Abyss offspring no longer seemed to address him with honorifics. It appeared that, with its continuous acquisition of knowledge, it had successfully eliminated useless content such as etiquette from its knowledge and memories.

Hugh stared intently into the humanoid's eyes, then shook his head and replied slowly, "If you mean to ask me to voluntarily become your food in order to become one of you, then my answer is still no."

Hugh's refusal did not provoke anger in the main body of the Dark Abyss offspring. The light and shadow within the humanoid body continued to rotate and flow. After a moment, it finished its thought and spoke again: "What if we switch sides?"

"Switch it over?"

"If you were the absolute subject, would you accept our proposal?"

The humanoid spoke in its strange, emotionless voice: "Or, in your understanding, if we were to willingly become your food, would you accept it?"

Hugh's eyes narrowed slightly.

He was always carefully observing and paying attention to the movements of the Dark Abyss Spawns, because he remembered very clearly that in his first direct conversation with the main body of the Dark Abyss Spawn, he had seen through its intention to use communication as bait and launch a sneak attack.

For this being before them, who possessed a vast amount of knowledge yet followed a set of chaotic instincts, negotiation and debate seemed to be merely tools for expanding its own kind and acquiring more food.

But this time, things seem to be different.

In Hugh's extremely keen perception, the main body of the Dark Abyss offspring did not carry out any form of ambush. It seemed that there was only this humanoid figure on the roof of the theater, which Hugh could easily eliminate in an instant if he wanted to.

However, this behavior is meaningless.

The Dark Abyss offspring that had gathered were simply too large. Their actual number had increased dramatically compared to before. Looking at the black shadows that were constantly writhing and gathering on the streets below, Hugh even suspected that the actual number of these monsters was enough to fill an entire deep lake. With their current strength, they might even be able to break through the ritual site that was blocking the city of Seren!

Under these circumstances, Hugh had no way to defeat his opponent directly with his own strength. He knew that even if he used every means to attack and devour the Dark Abyss offspring below, he would not be able to wipe them out. In fact, the act of devouring alone was enough to "choke him to death."

Hughes did not directly answer the question from the main body of the Dark Abyss offspring. Instead, he asked, "In my opinion, you now possess sufficient wisdom. According to your previous statement, you no longer need my will to 'lead' you, right? Why do you still yearn to merge with me?"

Upon hearing Hugh's question, a slowly writhing black shadow immediately appeared inside the humanoid form of the Dark Abyss Offspring standing in the sunlight. This was a standard behavior for them when they were thinking. After a moment, it slowly raised one of its arms and extended a finger pointing upwards.

Sunlight fell on its fingers, the bright light causing its chaotic, dark body to emit a faint magical mist. Then it said, "The light will soon disappear, and the cold sun will rise... We are not ready."

……

Green Harbour.

As an important commercial port on the southern coast, this place has become much quieter now. Even the boldest and most greedy merchants dare not go out to sea to trade at this time. During this period, the terrifying roar of the fleets of the Kingdom of Hein and the Duchy of Burt can always be heard in the southern sea.

Just as the astonishing changes are taking place on the main battlefront, the methods of naval engagement are also evolving.

As the modified steel steam vehicles of the Votel army, carrying Kalvan heavy machine guns and small crystal cannons, entered the battlefield, the fleets on the sea also welcomed some strange new members.

"What a huge ship..."

Sally, who had never seen the sea before, found everything new and exciting. The sea breeze smelled strange, the marine fish being sold were odd, and the exotic goods stranded in the harbor were particularly eye-catching.

But what truly impressed Sally was the enormous ship anchored on the distant sea, and the numerous small magical airships hovering above it. Without exception, these magical airships were equipped with lightweight steam crystal cannons, capable of firing deadly projectiles directly downwards from the air. This was a new attempt made by the workshops and master craftsmen of the two kingdoms.

“A large airship transport ship… is actually just a platform that can float on water, and one can carry about five airships.” Mayer had obviously learned about this new type of ship from elsewhere, and he patiently explained to his students, “Don’t be fooled by its size; it actually has no self-defense capabilities whatsoever. Any small warship could easily sink it. However, the airships it carries can detect distant locations, and their cannon fire is also deadly to ships… I heard from a friend that the craftsmen of the Kingdom of Hein are also developing a new type of small airship. If all goes well, they might even be able to double the number of airships a transport ship can carry.”

Sally was already used to her teacher's erudition. She nodded and looked in surprise at the shadows of the airships hovering over the sea. They seemed to be slowly descending, and the constant wind and the dark cloud drifting from the horizon indicated that a storm was approaching.

"Let's go, we don't have much time to wander around here this time, we'll come again another time."

Meyer said something to Sally, then took out a few general-purpose coins and handed them to a big boy by the roadside, from whom he bought a new newspaper and several dried fish wrapped in the newspaper.

The boy's gaze remained fixed on Sally. After experiencing the hardships of the city of Seren, studying at the Alchemist Academy, and serving in the military for a period of time, the girl had developed a very special aura. Coupled with her appearance, she was practically like a "handmaiden" of a god walking in the sunlight.

Sally noticed the boy's gaze, so she turned and smiled at him. This gesture immediately made the boy blush. He quickly lowered his head, staring at the coins he had just received, not daring to speak. But after a moment's hesitation, he boldly took out a roll of dried fish wrapped in newspaper and gritted his teeth as he handed it to Sally.

And so, Meyer, with his students and two bags of dried fish, walked toward the end of the street.

Their destination was not far away.

About twenty minutes later, Sally followed Meyer to a huge ship repair workshop. The workshop's doors were closed and chained, and the constant buzzing of magical rituals in the air indicated that a mage had set up basic security and protection measures for this large workshop.

Meyer looked up, squinting at the words "Quiet Sea Shipyard" above the gate, then said to Sally, "We've arrived."

"Shipbuilding workshop?"

Sally was somewhat surprised. She gently wiped a crumb of dried fish from the corner of her mouth and asked, "I remember you said we're here for a meeting... Is the meeting place here?"

"I think so."

Meyer nodded slightly, then slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping across the nearby streets. Finally, his eyes landed on the door of a seaside general store diagonally opposite the repair workshop, where a middle-aged fisherman was sitting, smoking a cigarette, tending to a fishing rod in his hand in the gradually dimming sunlight.

So Meyer led Sally forward, and soon the fisherman sitting among various tools and odds and ends looked up. He looked at the two of them carefully, and then took the initiative to ask, "Professor Frey Meyer?"

Sally noticed that the fisherman's accent was different from that of the southern Water people, and sounded somewhat similar to that of the tongue-twisting Hein people.

"it's me."

Meyer smiled and nodded to the middle-aged fisherman, then pointed to the door of the repair workshop: "Am I late? Has the meeting already started?"

"Oh, don't worry, it hasn't started yet. We just need to be safe and can't open the door right now... Please follow me!"

The fisherman put down his tools and quickly shoved the debris into his shop. After locking the door, he led the two men toward a path next to the repair workshop. As they walked, he complained, “The weather has been so unpredictable these past few days. One second it’s sunny, and the next a strong wind is blowing. Small boats hardly ever get a chance to go out fishing… And I heard that the alarm on the lighthouse near the harbor keeps going off erratically. The old woman who keeps the lighthouse has called the craftsman several times, but he says there’s nothing wrong with it.”

"An alarm? What is it used to monitor?"

Mayer always maintained a humble attitude and never missed any opportunity to learn from others.

"Ah... I can't say for sure, but based on past experience, lighthouses use alarms to detect danger."

The fisherman replied, "Sometimes it's particularly bad weather, and sometimes it's dangerous magical sea monsters... A while ago, a fleet fired cannons outside the harbor, and it's said that when the shells exploded, it would also sound an alarm."

"Shouldn't we have the mages come and take a look at this situation?"

"They checked it once and said there was no problem... so everyone thinks it's caused by this strange weather lately. Hey, nobody can say for sure!"

During the conversation, he led Mayer and Sally to the side door of the repair workshop. Unlike the main entrance, this door was open, but guards were stationed at the entrance, and they were even carrying guns and weapons.

The appearance of the three men prompted the guards to immediately raise their crystal guns, but the fisherman in the lead waved his hand at them: "It's Professor Frey Meyer and his students. You can take over now. I'm going back first."

After the guards nodded, the fisherman, whose identity was clearly unusual, immediately turned and left. His steps were light and quick. After he turned around, Sally noticed that the fisherman was also carrying a new type of revolver, so he was obviously one of the guards.

Soon, Meyer's identity was confirmed, and a guard led the two into the repair workshop. After crossing an open area filled with various materials and large parts, the two entered a huge factory building.

Sally's eyes lit up as she realized that the place had actually been transformed into a temporary meeting room. Although many traces of the workshop were still visible and the air was filled with the smell of alchemical materials and magical potions, the bright lights, the erected podium, the numerous chairs placed below it, and the people engaged in heated discussions gave the spacious factory a very peculiar atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)