Whirlwinds carrying pale dust gradually disappeared from Duncan's sight.

Agatha had left.

"I always feel… she's changed a lot compared to before," Vanna broke the silence until the last wisp of gray wind vanished into the air. "Especially the 'words' she said at the end, they definitely wouldn't have come from the 'Gatekeeper' she used to be."

"Experience can change a person, especially everything she's experienced," Duncan said calmly. "And on the other hand, the 'role' she now bears is no longer just 'Gatekeeper,' which destined her to change."

Vanna was somewhat curious. "You don't seem worried?"

"Because she hasn't wavered. After thorough understanding, she'll be even more steadfast," Duncan said casually. "She's rational and wouldn't embark on some paranoid or even wrong path just because of the city-state's survival pressure. Her last few words might not have been so devout, but at least she was clear-headed."

Vanna didn't respond for a moment, and Duncan turned to look at the young Inquisitor with a meaningful gaze. "What you're worried about isn't actually Agatha, is it?"

"My faith doesn't allow me to lie," after a brief silence, Vanna finally sighed softly. "Yes, I'm worried about my own state. What I see in Agatha is myself, with the same wavering faith and rebellious words and deeds."

Whirlwinds carrying pale dust gradually disappeared from Duncan's sight.

Agatha had left.

"I always feel… she's changed a lot compared to before," Vanna broke the silence until the last wisp of gray wind vanished into the air. "Especially the words she said at the end, they definitely wouldn't have come from the 'Gatekeeper' she used to be."

"Experience can change a person, especially everything she's experienced," Duncan said calmly. "And on the other hand, the role she now bears is no longer just 'Gatekeeper,' which destined her to change."

Vanna was somewhat curious. "You don't seem worried?"

"Because she hasn't wavered. After thorough understanding, she'll be even more steadfast," Duncan said casually. "She's rational and wouldn't embark on some paranoid or even wrong path just because of the city-state's survival pressure. Her last few words might not have been so devout, but at least she was clear-headed."

Vanna didn't respond for a moment, and Duncan turned to look at the young Inquisitor with a meaningful gaze. "What you're worried about isn't actually Agatha, is it?"

"My faith doesn't allow me to lie," after a brief silence, Vanna finally sighed softly. "Yes, I'm worried about my own state. What I see in Agatha is myself, with the same wavering faith and rebellious words and deeds."

Duncan didn't speak, simply waiting quietly for her to continue.

"I used to think that as long as we maintained a firm faith and an unyielding fighting spirit, we could solve all problems head-on. The gods defined the 'order' of the world's operation, and we were like gears, safely operating within the framework. But the truth is… order is as fragile as a bubble in the sea. Simple faith and fighting spirit cannot save our city-state. Our long-established understanding of the world is being tested… The 'sun' is not eternal. The 'boiling gold' that supports modern civilization may be a product of the ancient gods. The gods cannot always protect the city-state, and beneath the deep sea lies unknown darkness that no religious classics can describe or explain. Your appearance has further subverted my understanding of the subspace over the past two decades."

"I suggest you remain reserved about the last one. The other points you made are good," Duncan shook his head, speaking slowly. "Human understanding of the world is inherently one-sided. From the beginning, we shouldn't have believed that there was a simple and eternal 'logic' that could crudely explain everything in the world. Perhaps this simple and eternal truth exists, but it's definitely not something humans can understand at this stage. So, on this basis, 'the subversion of worldview' should be an indispensable part of the civilization's advancement."

Listening to Duncan's words, Vanna subconsciously fell into thought. Her expression gradually became complicated, and after a moment, she opened her mouth as if talking to herself, "Then where are the gods?"

"I can't know because I haven't directly dealt with them. Perhaps I've seen them from afar, but that's not enough for me to make a judgment on them," Duncan said frankly. "But I admit two things. First, the Four Gods do exist in this world, at least as objective individuals. Second… they have, to some extent, protected and guided the civilized world throughout their existence."

The expression on Vanna's face was somewhat astonished, because in her twenty-plus years of life, this was the first time she had heard someone evaluate the Four Gods in such a way—without any good, evil, or reverence, as if appraising an item. This evaluation method was devoid of awe, bordering on arrogance. However, when an "existence" that had returned from subspace spoke these words, Vanna only felt… that these words were cold and precise, like a ruler measuring the world.

Just then, Duncan's voice interrupted Vanna's thoughts: "Vanna, don't think too much. You still believe in Gomona, don't you?"

"Yes, my faith is unwavering," Vanna said immediately.

"That's right, your faith is unwavering, and Agatha still believes in Bartok—and your respective gods have not abandoned you because of the changes in your thoughts, the blessings remain, which shows that your current thinking has not deviated from them," Duncan said seriously. "Thinking doesn't necessarily lead to heresy, and neither does questioning. Choosing to believe even after thinking and questioning is the true piety.

"Maintain an appropriate and healthy faith while maintaining an appropriate and healthy doubt, try to understand this world, accept that it is not what you imagined, accept the narrowness and bias in your own understanding, accept your own wavering. To be honest, if Gomona can accept you, what can't he accept in your prayers?"

Vanna was startled, then subconsciously raised her head, looking in the direction of the upper city, towards the silent Grand Cathedral at the highest point of Frost. Agatha must have returned to that temple through the Gray Wind by now—would she return to her prayer room and continue to ponder the cooperation reached with the "subspace shadows" before Bartok's statue?

Would she continue to think about the city-state's future and come to the conclusion that "anything that hinders survival is heresy, and everything else is allowed?"

After a long time, she withdrew her gaze from the distance, muttering to herself, "Does the Lord not care?"

"I don't know, but if I were broadcasting, I wouldn't care," Duncan shrugged. "However, judging from the existing signs, the God of Death and the Goddess of Storm don't really care either… What they care about might be something else."

Vanna fell into thought. Maurice, who had been silent all along, couldn't help but sigh softly, "I didn't expect you to have such profound thoughts in the realm of faith… I thought you weren't interested in these things."

"How could that be? As long as it's a theory that attempts to explain this world, I'm always very interested," Duncan said with a very serious expression. "For example, now I'm going to understand another kind of faith that attempts to explain this world."

Seeing the blank looks on Vanna and Maurice's faces (except for Alice, who never understood), Duncan smiled. "You don't have to worry about the affairs of the city-state for the time being. Next, it's about time to take a look at that blasphemous book."

Shelly fell asleep while writing on the fourth oral arithmetic card.

The sound of chains lightly shaking echoed in the cabin. Ah-Gou carefully held onto the black chain next to him with one paw, stood up on his hind legs, and used his mouth to grab a blanket and drape it over Shelly. Then, with another paw, he casually moved the oral arithmetic cards on the table a few times to prevent them from getting wet from Shelly's saliva.

While cleaning up, Ah-Gou's gaze swept over the cards filled with simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and his movements paused slightly. "She actually got most of them right?"

He muttered in surprise, subconsciously turning his head, only to see Shelly adjusting her lying position again in her sleep, mumbling something in her dreams, with a glittering thread of saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.

"I'll tentatively consider it a serious effort."

Ah-Gou shook his head and lay down again. Then, he steadied his mind, as if he had hesitated and weighed it carefully, before reaching out his paw and pulling out a book from the pile of books belonging to him on the floor.

The book cover was unremarkable, just a paperback textbook that could be bought in any city-state, with the words "Algebraic Calculation" printed on it.

Ah-Gou lowered his head, the faint light in his blood-red eye sockets flickering. He quietly stared at the book in front of his paw, and after a long time, slowly opened its cover.

But then, he suddenly raised his head again and quickly scanned the room.

Everything on the bookshelf where the books were stacked was normal, the corners of the dark room were peaceful, sunlight was pouring into the room through the window, and the sound of waves from outside was gentle and soothing.

"Good, the environment is safe, eliminating interfering factors, the book type is still mathematics… try again… third test."

Ah-Gou mumbled, finally lowering his head and focusing all his attention on reading the contents of the book.

Understanding those formulas, memorizing those symbols, deducing those numbers, and trying to understand the workings of the world from the knowledge and wisdom of predecessors.

It was difficult at first, because some distracting thoughts and concern for the surrounding environment would interfere with the thinking process, but soon, Ah-Gou's thoughts calmed down, as always, mathematics could always help him concentrate and immerse himself in thinking.

Symbols and numbers combined in his mind, and his understanding of the world gradually filled his mind. Ah-Gou studied with all his attention, and gradually, he felt as if a study partner had appeared in his mind.

Someone was reading with him;

Someone was thinking with him; a being was curiously observing this place, a glance without good or evil.

Ah-Gou tilted his head.

In the knowledge city outlined by symbols and lines, in the gaps between the clean white pages of the book, a red light source was surrounded by countless flickering matrix-like light spots, gazing at him like an eye.

Ah-Gou was stunned.

He also stared at the red light.

He involuntarily stared at the red light.

He even felt like he was leaning forward, actively approaching the flashing matrix of light spots.

However, this feeling only lasted for a moment.

The next second, a force suddenly transmitted from the symbiotic chain pulled him back abruptly, allowing him to break free from the illusion of being attracted.

"Holy crap…"

Ah-Gou suddenly exclaimed in a loud voice, waking up with a start from the brief illusion. The next second, he instinctively looked at the black chain on his neck.

At the last moment, it was this chain that pulled him back with the transmitted power. Obviously, Shelly had pulled him.

However, the chain was still loosely lying on the ground, not taut at all.

At the other end of the chain, Shelly was still lying on the table, fast asleep.

Shelly hadn't woken up at all.

Some people are dead, but not completely dead…