Chapter 1
Illuminated by the eerie green flames flickering in the cabin, the distant sound of waves outside gradually faded into a hazy, dreamlike murmur. Secrets from the endless deep sea, from that dark, frigid realm, seeped into everyone's minds like chilling shadows.

Humankind’s only refuge on the boundless ocean was built upon the remains of indescribable leviathans—withered tentacles drooping from the city-states, pale, terrifying eyes gazing into the fathomless abyss.

All mortal beings are the offspring of the reclusive Holy Lord. The flesh of the ancient gods constitutes all things in the world. What happened in Frost isn't an invasion, but rather an awakening of an ancient god from its own creation. The Four Gods are not necessarily stable beings; they too can fall and lose control. Such a loss of control may have happened more than once in this world. The mortal realm is now protected by the Four Gods, perhaps only because only They have managed to remain lucid.

The cataclysm in Frost will not be the last. As the reclusive Holy Lord's condition worsens, and as the flaws in the blueprint of creation continue to amplify over time, similar awakenings are highly likely to occur around the world.

The ancient gods’ flawed duplicates will crawl out of the deep sea, out of the depths of city-states, and even out of the bodies of every mortal!

In a calm and collected tone, Duncan disclosed everything he knew about the deep sea, and what he had deduced from the available information, to his followers!

Afterward, the cabin fell into a long, deathly silence!

Even the simple-minded Alice and the carefree Shirley quieted down obediently, realizing the gravity of the situation!

After what seemed like a long time, Vanna was the first to break the silence. She took a deep breath, her expression of melancholy seeming to condense a cloud of gloom. "If I hadn't heard this from your own mouth, I would have dismissed every word of this information as the mad ramblings of an Eschaton Prophet."

"Even the most deranged Eschaton Prophet couldn't fabricate something of this magnitude," Morris said slowly.

He reached for his pipe, only to find the tobacco inside had gone out, so he put it down with a wry smile.

"Ah, yes, the Eschaton Prophets—one of the craziest things in this world is that some of those subspace cultists can actually remain sane."

Tirion frowned, and after a long silence, finally looked up, "Father, is all this information true?"

As soon as he said it, he realized it was a foolish question, but it was a question that everyone sitting at the long table was probably thinking!

"It is at least what I saw and heard," Duncan said faintly.

"Of course, fragmented information can be misleading, and even the most obvious clues can be interpreted in multiple ways!"

"Also, the Queen of Frost may not be telling the whole truth, and even if she is, she's not infallible."

"We can only infer the most likely truth based on the information we have at this stage!"

"The most likely truth at this stage?"

Tirion repeated the phrase softly, then asked, "Did the Queen mention any warning signs if other city-states were to experience a similar awakening of an ancient god, like Frost?"

"No," Duncan shook his head.

"She couldn't confirm the mechanism of this awakening either. Perhaps the only way is to enter the reclusive deep sea and directly verify the state of the reclusive Holy Lord's body."

As soon as he finished speaking, several pairs of eyes instantly fell on A' Gou, who was cowering in the corner!

"Don't look at me!" A' Gou jumped up almost immediately, its massive head shaking violently.

"It's not feasible. I can't get near the Holy Lord, let alone take anyone in."

"But you can open a passage to the reclusive deep sea."

"You could even use that passage to run away with Shirley."

Duncan looked earnestly at the only reclusive demon present, "You also said that the reclusive hounds are a species of demon born near the Holy Lord. Your old home is right next to the Holy Lord."

"That was a shallow passage, only able to skim the edge of the reclusive deep sea."

"Specifically for running away."

Seeing everyone staring at him, A' Gou hesitated for two seconds before blurting out all the secrets.

For many years, these secrets had been its and Shirley's trump card for survival.

"The reclusive deep sea is a much more complex and bizarre place than you imagine."

"It's not a single entity, and the various regions aren't continuous!"

"From the shallows, you can see into the depths, but without the right method, you could spend ten thousand years and never reach your destination. Distance is an illusion there, and movement is a deception."

"I've already been banished from the reclusive deep sea. Although I can't explain the exact reason, perhaps it's because I developed a 'heart.' I haven't been able to open a passage to the Holy Lord for many years. And on the other hand, I'm very unpopular with my old neighbors there. Even just skimming through the safe zones in the shallows would attract swarms of demons."

"And even if we put those factors aside, I can't just take anyone in there."

"A reclusive demon can only pass through the passage with its contracted symbiote. I can only take Shirley, not anyone else!"

A' Gou rattled off this long string of excuses, then cautiously observed the reactions of those around him, especially Duncan's, before adding hesitantly, "I'm not making excuses, Captain, you heard it—there really are a lot of difficulties!"

Duncan, however, didn't seem annoyed by A' Gou's long list of difficulties. He just pondered for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "You mean the space in the reclusive deep sea is discontinuous?"

"That's probably a good way to understand it," A' Gou nodded after thinking about it.

"I can't explain it clearly. I'm currently studying Professor Broun Doer's *Three Conjectures on Asymmetric Spacetime*. Maybe I can explain it more clearly after I finish it."

Duncan didn't pay attention to the second half of A' Gou's sentence. He just continued to think, and then asked another question, "But I remember you mentioning that when the *Vanishing Line* went completely out of control, it smashed through the entire reclusive deep sea."

A' Gou's expression (though its expression was quite abstract) instantly changed, and its entire skeletal frame froze!

Duncan thought the other party didn't remember, so he added a few more details casually, "You said it fell from the real world into the subspace, then rose from the subspace, traversing the dimensions like a vibrating object, and smashing through the entire spirit world and the reclusive deep sea each time."

"In this process, didn't it essentially break through the spatial discontinuities in the reclusive deep sea?"

This time, not only was A' Gou's expression abstract, but the expressions of everyone else in the cabin became vivid. A sense of astonishment enveloped everyone, including Lucretia on the other side of the crystal ball.

"Cap...Captain..."

A' Gou's gravelly voice finally spoke, and every bone in its body was trembling. "Don't say such terrifying things! You're not really planning to...to smash it again!"

"Father, please be cautious!" Lucretia, who had been silent and seemed quite distant, couldn't help but break the silence. She looked at Duncan on the other side of the crystal ball with a worried expression, as if afraid that her father would turn back into that bloodless, tearless, terrifying god at any moment.

"Returning the *Vanishing Line* to its out-of-control state to smash open the gates of the reclusive deep sea is not a good idea, even as a research project!"

"That's a bit too radical!"

Duncan didn't expect that just mentioning this bold idea would elicit such a strong reaction from the others, so he shook his head. "Don't worry, I wouldn't do such an extreme test. I've always been a cautious person."

Everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief!

But then Duncan changed the subject, adding, "But even from a cautious perspective, this old story has given me an idea... Certain properties of the *Vanishing Line* can ignore the spatial discontinuities in the reclusive deep sea. I'll do some research on this basis to see if I can open the gates to that place in a safe manner."

Everyone's hearts immediately rose again!

However, this time, at least, no one raised a strong objection like before. Only Morris and Lucretia, in their capacities as scholars, reiterated the need for safety and caution. Judging by their attitude, they were still worried that the captain would one day get a whim and drive the *Vanishing Line* straight into the reclusive deep sea!

Fortunately… Duncan soon switched to the next topic!

"Besides the state of the reclusive Holy Lord, I'm more concerned about something else," he said, stroking his chin as he thought, "Those Eschaton Prophets, or rather, those Eschaton Prophets who possess reason and whose behavior is completely opposite to that of cultists!"

He turned his head, his gaze falling on Tirion!

"You once mentioned to Vanna that three Eschaton Prophets visited the *Vanishing Line* and had a long conversation with me overnight?"

Tirion immediately bowed slightly, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Yes, Father. At that time, I couldn't confirm your state, so I discussed some of your old affairs with Miss Vanna."

"It's okay," Duncan waved his hand. "I don't remember many things from those years, so it's a good thing you remember."

He subtly emphasized his memory loss due to subspace influence again, while confirming the changes in Tirion's and Lucretia's expressions, before continuing, "What I want to say is, I have a feeling that we will be dealing with those rational Eschaton Prophets again sooner or later."

Morris instinctively asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Because they seem dedicated to participating in and influencing far-reaching historical events."

Duncan adjusted his sitting posture and said slowly, "And the commotion caused by the *Vanishing Line* is getting bigger and bigger!"