Chapter 1 The Lengthy Path

Every day, Vanna would cross the courtyard of the Pland Cathedral before noon, following the path between the flowerbeds to the sanctuary. The path was one hundred and three steps long, and from the sanctuary entrance to the goddess statue required twenty-seven steps—since becoming an inquisitor of this city, these steps had become part of her life.

She was familiar with everything in this church, familiar with every floor tile from the courtyard to the sanctuary, as familiar as she was with her own hands.

In the many past days and nights, she had never thought that this short path would be so... difficult and long.

The doors of the sanctuary opened, casting the overly bright sunlight behind, and after adapting to the slightly dim environment inside, Vanna saw two figures standing in front of the goddess statue in the center of the room.

The light shone down through the high stained-glass windows, spreading a layer of radiance over the goddess statue. Archbishop Valentine and Pope Helena simultaneously turned their gazes, watching the inquisitor entering the room in the sunlight.

"You've arrived," Helena nodded gently. "One minute later than agreed."

"Sorry," Vanna stepped forward, bowing slightly in front of the goddess statue, before looking at the Pope. "The handover with my subordinates was delayed by a few minutes."

"It's alright," Helena nodded lightly, then glanced at Valentine beside her. "I've told Bishop Valentine about your matter. He will help you with the handover and arrangements for your work. You don't need to worry about the city-state. Your uncle has also received the news. He understands the church's arrangements—but he still hopes I can talk to you properly afterwards to allay some of your concerns about the future."

Despite believing she had done a lot of mental preparation, Vanna couldn't help but feel a jump in her heart after hearing these words from the Pope.

A feeling that blurred the lines between dream and reality welled up in her heart, making her feel a little dazed for a moment. She tried to grasp this feeling, but in the end, she realized that all her emotions were just this sigh—ah, it really happened.

"Warning?" Valentine frowned slightly,

Quickly thinking of something, "You mean, regarding Anomaly 001..."

Valentine looked back slightly: "Curious about what?"

"We are the orthodox church; we follow formal procedures."

Vanna was thus confusedly sent out of the sanctuary.

Valentine was stunned. Recalling the details revealed in the Pope's words earlier, he vaguely realized the truth, and the expression on his face instantly became tense: "Could it be... something really fell from the sky?"

"A fragment of a luminous body that fell from the sky, pale golden in color, a geometric figure even larger than the Storm Cathedral," Valentine said, "Although there is no clear evidence yet to prove that this is not a fragment that broke off from Anomaly 001, but..."

"Don't look at me," Valentine said expressionlessly, "I didn't expect this either."

Valentine saw all the strangeness in Vanna's eyes.

"...Can Vanna really complete that task?" Helena dispelled her previous doubts but began to worry about another matter. "She is actually a slightly reckless person and not very good at... meticulous and cautious interpersonal interactions. Therefore, if we want to send an envoy 'on board,' she is not the best candidate."

"The elf city-state 'Lightwind Port' located far on the border has recently sent unsettling news," Valentine nodded. "The Sea Witch, Lucretia, sent us a gift. Guess what it is?"

After the young inquisitor left, the sanctuary fell silent for a while. After another two minutes, Valentine's voice broke the silence: "Actually, I'm very curious."

"'Lost Ship Captain, Duncan Abernathy, signed on Anomaly-Helena, December 19, 1900.'"

"'The Deep Sea Church, servants of Gomorrah, are aware... Now receiving one person from your side who is being transferred due to work needs, temporarily assigned to the combat position on this ship... On-the-job benefits are the same as first-class crew members, the salary and various expenses of this person are still paid by your unit, the payment method is...'"

"Ah, you've finally reacted to this question," Helena smiled and shook her head. "I thought you wouldn't think of asking about 'directions' until you were about to depart."

Vanna took the scroll in confusion, carefully unfolded it, scanned the words on it, and her expression gradually became calm—

"Just yesterday," Valentine said seriously, a pleasant smile hidden in his eyes, "She discussed your onboarding process in detail with Captain Duncan. We have always believed that this should be a formal personnel transfer with contractual constraints, for which formal documents are required for filing."

"It's real," Valentine said lightly, "The seal is also real. If you look in the city-state archives, you can even find old archives of the Lost Ship's supplies at Pland Port a century ago. There are the same seals and signatures on it."

"Alright, now that he hasn't seen the documents, he must have dispelled his last trace of doubt," the female Pope said with a smile, "Go and rest first, and do some preparations before departure—there is some more detailed information on the back of this document, including the specific handover time and method. Go back and take a look."

"The chess players decided the positions of the pieces from the very beginning."

Vanna felt that her wording was a bit chaotic, but she tried to sort out her thoughts and continued, "The events of yesterday happened somewhat suddenly. After I went back, I felt that something was wrong. The Lost Ship is not some 'open area' that anyone can enter casually. How do you plan to..."

She paused and quickly said, "I still remember the 'warning' that Captain Duncan conveyed through Vanna not long ago, right?"

Duncan opened his eyes in surprise, and then he saw Helena take out a rolled-up parchment from beside her and hand it over with a smile.

Vanna: "....."

"Our world is in trouble,

The situation is more serious than imagined, and the Lost Ship is the only voice that has issued a warning to the civilized world so far—and that warning has been confirmed," Valentine said slowly, "This is Captain Duncan taking the initiative to convey goodwill. No matter how terrifying this ship once was, we must now respond, after all... this time it is not just one city-state that is crumbling, but the sun above our heads."

Vanna listened dumbfounded, and after an unknown amount of time, she squeezed out a few syllables from her throat: "...Goddess."

This was the Lost Ship! The Lost Ship!

The young inquisitor looked a little dazed. She looked down at the personnel transfer acceptance letter in her hand, then looked up at the Pope in front of her. After looking back and forth several times, her gaze fell on Bishop Valentine again.

The female Pope paused here, looking at Duncan's still rather tangled expression, she couldn't help but smile and spread her hands: "Otherwise? Vanna? How did you think we were going to get him on the Lost Ship? Light a few bonfires, draw blasphemous symbols on the ground, and then tie her to a stake and sacrifice her? Just like some dark heretics sacrifice kidnapped girls to the warp in dry caves?"

"The best candidate is not determined by us, Valentine." Helena shook her head.

"He is a perceptive person, he always has been," Helena quietly looked at the old bishop who had been loyal to the church for many years, then sighed, "Actually, this matter will soon cease to be a secret. Telling you now won't have any impact."

Vanna listened blankly. She opened her mouth, seeming to have a lot to say, but Valentine interrupted her first: "I have to admit, this is very reasonable."

But she suddenly felt a little confused, even a little absurd. She looked at the Pope in front of her and couldn't help but say, "Are you really going to send me to the Lost Ship—of course, I don't disbelieve your decision, I just suddenly feel... this is not a trivial matter, we must at least figure out the attitude of this 'Captain Duncan'. Would he really casually let a high-ranking priest board this ship?"

At the end of the document, in addition to the handwritten signature, there was also a striking red seal.

All her uneasy imaginings about her future were shattered at this moment—she even believed that she would see a hearty employee meal on the Lost Ship, and there would even be a deck barbecue after the official dinner began...

Duncan's mouth twitched, thinking that he really had thought about the details of this personnel "handover" at the beginning. When he was reminded by the other party at this time, he realized the rationality of the document in front of him, but felt that the whole thing was becoming evil because the process was too reasonable.

He turned around and silently stared at the statue of the Storm Goddess Gomorrah.

"I..." Duncan raised a finger to himself, then raised the parchment in his hand, and finally blurted out after a long while, "But isn't this a little too reasonable?! And when did I..."

Duncan felt his lips tremble a little: "The signature on it..."

Valentine didn't continue, just shook his head.

"What exactly happened that made you suddenly decide to send Vanna to the Lost Ship?" Valentine's expression was slightly serious. "I know your reasons, and these reasons are indeed valid, but the whole thing seems... a bit too rushed to me. You seem eager to establish contact with this 'Captain Duncan' without even making sufficient preparations. What exactly happened?"