Agatha did not hold back. Before this benevolent being who had already saved Frost from the brink of destruction, she laid out all the information she currently possessed.

Some of this information was what she had observed and summarized herself during the Mirror Frost operation, while the rest was gleaned from various clerics and her trusted subordinates after returning to the cathedral—all events that had occurred while she was trapped in that mirrored city.

Events experienced by "the other her."

The Boiling Gold Mines, on which Frost depended for its livelihood, concealed a great secret. The so-called Boiling Gold ore had already been exhausted in the era of the Frost Queen. The successive magistrates might have held immense secrets. Magistrate Winston and "the other Agatha" had disappeared together in the depths of the mines, and before their disappearance, "the other Agatha" seemed to have discovered some shocking truth, the intense fluctuations of her will even reaching the real Agatha…

Duncan listened silently, only occasionally clarifying some details. Only after Agatha had finished recounting everything did he let out a soft sigh.

"You've told me Frost's greatest secrets—aren't you worried that I might be a malevolent being?"

"After seeing the methods you used to destroy that mirrored city, I think there's no point in guessing at your intentions anymore," Agatha said frankly. "If you truly harbored ill intentions towards this city, we would all be dead before sunset."

"...Do you city-state protectors always compliment people so uniquely?" Duncan muttered, glancing subtly at Vanna beside him.

Vanna immediately averted her gaze, pretending not to hear.

Sitting across the table, Morris couldn't help but lean forward—after learning the shocking truth that the Boiling Gold Mines had long been depleted, the old scholar's curiosity had obviously swelled considerably. "What's the situation in the Boiling Gold Mines now? Can any raw ore still be found? What you've been digging out all these years... is it really Boiling Gold?"

"The mines are still sealed off. After the mirrored invasion subsided, there were loud noises and tremors from within the mines. For safety reasons, and due to a lack of manpower, we haven't confirmed the situation inside," Agatha reported frankly. "However, according to reports from the mine transportation station and the smelting plant... at least the Boiling Gold that was transported out of the mines before remains the same."

"The mirrored city has been destroyed... but the Boiling Gold, which is theoretically an 'anomalous product,' hasn't disappeared? That's interesting..." Morris stroked his chin subconsciously. "You know, those counterfeit monsters in the city turned into piles of mud as soon as the mirrored city collapsed... so that Boiling Gold is real? What's the principle behind it? Can the power of the Gloom Lord create real Boiling Gold?"

"Now is not the time for academic research," Vanna couldn't help but mutter, then turned to Agatha. "When are you planning to confirm the situation in the mines?"

Agatha hesitated, speaking uncertainly, "I think... at least after the order in the city has stabilized somewhat, and the tremors and loud noises in the mines have stopped, and... at least we have to safely get through the first night after the disaster."

As she spoke, she raised her head and subconsciously glanced out the window.

The snow was still falling. It was still daytime, but the sun behind the clouds was gradually sinking, the hazy ball of light about to touch the spire of the distant cathedral.

"In two hours, the sun will set. That will be the first test we face after the disaster..."

"Excuse me, I'll interrupt for a moment," Vanna suddenly raised her hand, interrupting Agatha's slightly worried exclamation. "I think... you don't actually need to worry about the problem of nightfall. Compared to the various troubles you're facing, 'night' will perhaps be the least of this city-state's worries from now on."

Agatha was momentarily stunned. "Why do you say that?"

"...Experience," Vanna said, then turned her head slightly to look at Duncan. After seeing him nod slightly to her, she turned back to Agatha and continued, "The experience of Pland."

"Plan..." Agatha was a little bewildered for a moment, but the next second, she suddenly remembered the information she had obtained earlier, the news that had come from afar—the large-scale anomaly encountered by Pland, the crisis of the Black Sun descending, the restored history in the flames, and…

A "rumor" that had spread from Pland through various channels.

That chilling ghost captain, the mobile disaster on the Boundless Sea, the terrifying sub-dimensional shadow, Duncan Abnomal—had regained his humanity.

The expression on the face of this young gatekeeper and temporary acting archbishop instantly became somewhat colorful, and she stood up with a "creak" of her chair.

All the suspicious clues suddenly had an explanation, all the uneasy guesses were suddenly confirmed, and loose, chaotic information was strung together.

"I admit, the situation is a bit awkward right now." Duncan shrugged, his tone somewhat helpless.

Agatha remained standing stiffly, staring unblinkingly at Duncan—no one could see the "look" in her eyes at this moment, but the gatekeeper's expression was obviously more than just awkward.

After a long time, she finally broke the silence. "No wonder... your followers call you 'Captain'... I should have thought of it sooner. On the Boundless Sea, which other 'Captain' would be as special as you..."

"I'm sorry about the incident at Visserlan Thirteen Islands," Duncan said. "I have absolutely no memory of it, but the evidence seems to be conclusive."

He tried to make his tone as friendly and reliable as possible, but given his illustrious "reputation" and the methods he had just displayed in front of the Frost City-State a few hours ago, this gentleness in tone was obviously of limited effect—visibly, Agatha's body had been tense from the beginning.

After a long while, this stiff and awkward state was broken by Agatha herself. "I... well, I'll be frank. From the day I was promoted to Saint, the church has constantly emphasized to us that once we discover any clues about the 'sub-dimensional shadow' Captain Duncan, we must immediately report to the Supreme Holy See of Death—the priority is higher than all natural disasters, on par with sub-dimensional invasion. I don't know if you can understand what that means."

"Oh, I understand," Duncan didn't speak, but Vanna took the initiative to say, chatting casually with her colleague. "We actually have reminders about this every year, and even special disaster prevention plans, although they weren't used later."

Duncan glanced at Vanna with a strange expression. "You're saying this in front of me?"

Only then did Vanna suddenly react, and quickly straightened her face. "Ah, sorry, Captain..."

Agatha was a little slow to realize, perhaps because the shock Duncan had given her was too great. Only now did she suddenly focus her attention on the surprisingly tall woman in front of her. "Wait, so you are..."

"Pland City-State Inquisitor... in a sense, we're colleagues," Vanna said with a somewhat embarrassed expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hide it."

One after another, the informational shocks bombarded her mind. Agatha felt as if her whole person was in a daze. Only now did she realize that the end of a disaster was indeed just the beginning—and the complex situation after the disaster was crashing down on her from an angle she had never imagined.

She hesitated and sat back down in her chair, then looked at Vanna with an incomprehensible expression. "But why are you with Captain Duncan? You should be one of the highest spokespersons of the Deep Sea Church in Pland... Doesn't Pland need an Inquisitor anymore?"

"This is exactly the church's arrangement. The specific situation is not convenient to explain for the time being. I can only say... this matter cannot be made public for the time being. If your identity didn't meet the conditions for knowing, I wouldn't have told you," Vanna said with a serious expression, then paused slightly. "As for Pland... yes, just like you said, it doesn't need an Inquisitor now, at least not the kind of Inquisitor and Guardian system it had before."

Agatha couldn't help but rub her forehead. Other pieces of information that had recently come from afar, which she had not yet had time to verify, floated into her mind. She hesitated and said, "So... just like the information mentioned, Pland really has peaceful nights?"

Vanna looked somewhat surprised. "Has the news spread to Frost already?"

"We're just remote, not so closed off as to be ignorant," Agatha said, then couldn't help but continue to ask, "Please tell me, is Pland really no longer afraid of the night?"

"...At least for now, the nights in Pland are even safer than the days in many city-states. My uncle is even considering opening a night market to satisfy the city-state's recent changes, but this matter still needs careful discussion and testing," Vanna nodded. "Since you already know this information, then you must have heard about another thing as well—after the Black Sun descended, Pland also had a new identity."

"Anomaly-Pland, the first anomaly in history without a number," Agatha said subconsciously, her gaze falling involuntarily on Duncan. Now, she finally understood the deeper meaning of Vanna's words just now. "So... the same changes will happen to Frost now?"

Feeling the intangible but very real "gaze," Duncan just smiled and nodded. "Perhaps."

(End of Chapter)