Chapter 1 Incursions at the Border

　　Encountering a Church patrol fleet at the border?

　　Lucretia paused, taken aback by the question, then quickly frowned and recalled, "I think it was last month when I encountered the Fire Carriers' ship in the border waters... I haven't seen a Church patrol fleet since then. But that may also be because I haven't been frequently approaching the border recently."

　　"Not so, Ms. Lucretia," Sarah Meiel shook her head. "It's not because you haven't been to the border lately, but because the Four Gods Church has indeed transferred a large number of personnel originally responsible for patrolling the border to do other things—reducing them by about half."

　　"Reduced border patrols?" Lucretia was surprised. "What are they doing?"

　　"I don't know. The Pilgrim's Ark has its own secrets, just like the city-states. They wouldn't report the whereabouts of those ships and personnel to me," Sarah Meiel said. "But according to the information I have, the forces that were transferred have not been added to the 'internal routes' but are still stationed at certain locations on the border. Do you understand what I mean? They are no longer carrying out patrol missions but are gathering at some special locations near the Eternal Veil, as if waiting for further orders, or... preparing to deal with some bigger trouble."

　　The city-state governor paused, then looked into Lucretia's eyes, her tone especially serious: "This kind of thing has never happened before."

　　"…When an elf says something 'has never happened before,' it usually means something is very bad," Lucretia couldn't help but say the old saying well-known among explorers. "I think I understand what you mean."

　　"Yes, ma'am—your world is in trouble. The *Shisxiang Hao* (Lost Country) has already issued warnings to the world, and even you 'special people' can perceive the increasingly receding crisis, the 'atmosphere' of things gradually coming to an end. How could the Seven Gods Church, which has been observing and protecting the entire world for thousands of years, not have noticed something? Of course, they have already begun to take action."

　　As Sarah Meiel spoke, she pointed to the letter marked with the Seven Gods Church.

　　"That letter connects their recent abnormal 'transfer' with the warning from the *Shisxiang Hao*. I think... the leaders of the Pilgrim's Ark must have discovered or confirmed the 'root' of something your father mentioned in his warning, and they have discovered that this problem is very big, bigger than anyone imagined."

　　It was clear that the governor was trying to make her question less rude, but she also knew that asking such a question in front of the "Sea Witch" was a bit offensive no matter how you put it—she could only bite the bullet and ask.

　　"That's not my business. It wasn't my father who gave them haircuts."

　　The governor finished speaking, but Lucretia didn't speak for a long time. She looked at the letter again, seemingly still lost in thought.

　　"Looking exactly the same is already scary enough, Ms.," Sarah Meiel said with a wry smile. "Do you know that since your father... since then, captains on the Endless Sea don't even grow beards anymore?"

　　She paused, briefly deliberating her words, and continued: "If you ask me how I feel, I feel like there's something else hidden inside him—don't rush to relax, Sarah Meiel, I'm not talking about the sub-space, but something... unsafe, but I've never seen it before. It's like another personality, or like many, many personalities and information superimposed together..."

　　Fortunately, Lucretia didn't show any dissatisfaction.

　　Sarah Meiel's expression became especially serious: "How long did this process last?"

　　Sarah Meiel was immediately choked up, staring for a long time before waving her hand: "Okay, let's not talk about that—Ms., I want to know the most, most real situation, your father... what state is he in now?"

　　In Lucretia's mind, some unreliable associations flashed in an instant, but she quickly threw those thoughts aside and made her expression serious again: "He is very interested in the 'fallen object' I discovered. Although I don't know why, I seem to... know where the 'stone ball' at the center of the fallen object comes from. He mainly came for it this time."

　　Sarah Meiel didn't speak for a while. After a moment of thought, she broke the silence: "The outpost research group recently collected some samples from the surface of the 'stone ball' again and are currently analyzing them. Since your father is very interested in this matter, I will have them share information with you at any time, and I will also explain the situation to the people in charge of each facility in advance. It's also possible if your father wants to 'see' some research results with his own eyes."

　　"As I've learned, he has indeed lost a lot of memories. The sub-space once destroyed his reason and personality. The current Duncan Abnomal... is actually, to put it mildly, a completely 'reorganized' person," the "witch" looked a little complicated, but she didn't hide what she knew, "I can still find some shadows of the past in him, as well as familiar auras and majesty, and he also retains a vague impression of me, but that's all."

　　"I have my own judgment, Governor. I know that's him, although he's showing some unsettling 'qualities' now, and even the way he exists has become incomprehensible and indescribable, but that starlight is him, at least a part of him is."

　　"I don't have it either. Father said that no one in this world should know that name," Lucretia said. "When he said that, he seemed... not very happy."

　　"I don't understand what that sentence means," Sarah Meiel frowned. "Can you put it more simply?"

　　"Moon..." Sarah Meiel's brow furrowed a little. However, after a long time of thinking, she shook her head. "I have never heard of that name."

　　"But as long as there is no public announcement, it is estimated that many people would rather believe that it is just a face that looks very similar—a person who looks exactly like Captain Duncan is more reasonable than a sub-space shadow entering the city for sightseeing."

　　"I know what you want to say—you may think that the brief 'starlight' is the 'truth' of Duncan Abnomal now, and the 'captain' who returned from the sub-space is just a part of that starlight's mimicry, like the tentacle of a sea monster that emerges from the sea to lure sailors."

　　Lucretia thought for a while and explained with great patience: "This time, when I first saw him, I briefly heard countless noises and saw undulating, wriggling light and shadows. This should be a symptom of severe mental pollution, but that pollution faded very quickly and did not leave any impact on me, and in that pollution, I glimpsed countless stars of brilliance emanating from behind him. It looked... very much like the 'starry sky' floating between the deep sea and the spirit world."

　　Sarah Meiel was silent for half a minute and said thoughtfully: "It sounds like it's because your attention was always on your 'father' that you were able to perceive this brief 'process... Ms. Lucretia, these descriptions make me a little uneasy, it feels like..."

　　"In an instant," Lucretia said seriously. "And it happened on the edge of reason and perception—I believe that most people would not be able to perceive this process, and those who can perceive it due to excessive spiritual vision will also have all their attention attracted by these stars, so that they will not realize the instantaneous 'emptiness' of that body."

　　Sarah Meiel frowned: "Isn't that so?"

　　Lucretia raised her eyebrows: "Afraid of causing panic?"

　　"Yes, he called this ball 'Moon,' and according to him, the original... or 'abnormal' volume of this ball should be very, very large," Lucretia nodded, "And he was also very curious about the physical properties and surface sample composition of this 'Moon'."

　　After an unknown amount of time, Sarah Meiel broke the silence: "Then can I ask now? Ms. Lucretia, your father, the legendary Captain Duncan... what is he doing now? What does he want to do next?"

　　"He's taking care of the children. Next, he plans to take the two girls to the city to find something that normal humans can eat..."

　　"He knows the origin of this 'Wangdong'?" Sarah Meiel was immediately surprised.

　　Lucretia just shook her head gently.

　　"You brought him swaggering into the city," Sarah Meiel spread her hands with a helpless look. "Do you know how many people in this city recognize his face?"

　　Sarah Meiel listened quietly, and after a long time, she said with a solemn expression: "That sounds like you're acting on emotion, Ms., but I know you're not an emotional person—so I can only hope that your judgment is correct, at least hope that it is based on your occasionally very accurate 'intuition,' and not on longing."

　　"You can trust my judgment," Lucretia said with a serious expression, and pointed to the letter on the table, "Or, at least trust 'Seven Gods Witness'."

　　"In the face of this 'big problem,' vigilance against the *Shisxiang Hao* is no longer important, even if the ship is still connected to the sub-space and may even fall into the sub-space again, they can't care—as long as your father is still standing on the 'mortal' side."

　　"At the beginning, before seeing those 'stars,' my feeling towards Father was a huge 'emptiness.' I looked at his body standing there, but couldn't find the feeling that the other person actually existed, but with the appearance of those noises and light and shadows, my perception of him stabilized, and I was finally able to communicate with him... or, to put it mildly, with that body."