Duncan stared for a long time at the cube floating at the end of the Black Sun’s tendril, at the information on its surface that seemed to be transmitted to his eyes with all its might.

He imagined, imagined how this small metal cube had been sent to this world—to this era.

This was a letter, a letter from the New World to the Old World, but all information that could prove this had been erased by some force. Its creator might have tried countless ways to ensure that this cube could "show its origin," but it seemed that these efforts had not succeeded—but failure did not mean meaninglessness.

Its appearance itself was an interpretation, although this interpretation seemed to be just the Black Sun's extremely bold guess, but at this moment, Duncan was extremely willing to believe that this guess was the only correct answer.

In this silence, the Black Sun's low, layered tremor finally broke the silence: "The manufacturing process and operation of this cube are beyond my understanding—beyond any knowledge system that any city-state has now or ever had, and beyond the technology of any world I know of before the Great Annihilation.

"On the other hand, if considered from the perspective of 'purpose,' I can't find anyone who would manufacture and place this cube in the World Wound—not to mention that even with the power of the ancient kings, it would be impossible to send something into the World Wound. So the only explanation I can think of is that this cube comes from a world and era that I cannot recognize.

"I know all the history of this sanctuary—the only thing I don't know is the future.

"The future of that 'New World.'"

The brilliant and false corona on the edge of the Black Sun slowly stretched out, its flame-scorched tendrils stretched out in the sea of fire, then slowly curled up.

And its tendril, which spanned a long distance and extended to the entrance of the mansion, remained steadily in front of Duncan, as if holding some treasure, carefully supporting the small, inconspicuous metal cube.

"Fire Thief, this letter has no recipient. Someone, or some people, in the New World tried their best to send it to this era, but they had no way to ensure that this cube could be accurately delivered to someone... But I have a feeling it's for you."

Duncan found it hard to describe his feelings at the moment. He looked at the symbols and patterns on the surface of the cube. Although all the words had become blurred and chaotic, he still understood part of the information conveyed by this "letter"—

The human body (self), laws, mathematics, children's graffiti, and stars.

"They live in a rational and stable world... They can see the stars," Duncan murmured softly, as if talking to himself, "They live safely, and..."

"And they have developed to a very high stage," the Black Sun said slowly, "The manufacturing technology used in this cube is incredible, and the means used to send it 'here' are even more so. That is something that has never appeared in any so-called 'blueprint'."

Duncan did not speak for a moment. Alice, standing beside him, blinked her eyes curiously. The doll lady looked at the Black Sun in the distance, and then at the cube not far away. Although she didn't understand complicated and profound questions like "manufacturing technology," "development stage," and "blueprint," she could at least understand that this cube was something important sent by someone. This made her finally couldn't help but break the silence and ask: "Captain, who sent this 'letter'?"

Someone, or a group of people, from the New World.

This answer appeared in Duncan's mind for the first time, but when he was about to say it, he suddenly hesitated. He pondered for a long time, and finally stretched out his hand towards the illusory cube with some hesitation—a cluster of starlight-filled flames danced on his fingertips.

The Black Sun's tendril instinctively retracted when the flame approached, but in the end, it slowly stretched out again. At the same time, it whispered a reminder: "This is just its illusion. The cube itself is not here."

"I know. I just want to try to 'hear' or 'see' something," Duncan said. "There is no difference between the illusion and the real thing for me. It's enough to have an information mapping relationship."

The Black Sun stopped talking, and just raised the cube illusion on its tendril slightly.

The flame on Duncan's fingertip quietly merged into the illusion, like rain melting into water.

He didn't speak, just concentrated on perceiving the information transmitted to him by the flame—he perceived the flame gradually fading in a void, but even with the eyes of the "Inverse Singularity," he didn't see anything in the depths of the flame.

No echo, no "memory." All the deep information carried by this cube seemed to have been annihilated in the process of passing through the World Wound.

Duncan waited patiently for a long time, until the last wisp of flame completely dissipated in the depths of the illusion. Nothing responded to him. There was only a void in the depths of the cube.

Alice stared with wide eyes at the side, not daring to make a sound for the entire process, for fear of causing trouble. It was not until she saw the captain sigh slightly that she couldn't help but come closer: "Did you see anything?"

"No," Duncan shook his head gently. "I'm afraid it's all been eroded away in the process of 'transmission'."

Alice was stunned, and a disappointed look appeared on her face: "...Oh."

Duncan was also disappointed, but he didn't say anything more, just waved his hand gently and withdrew his gaze from the metal cube.

However, at the moment he turned his eyes away, as if a wisp of extremely illusory breeze blew past, a phantom-like floating light flashed through his mind—in a moment close to hallucination, he heard a voice, that voice seemed to emerge directly from his memory:

"...I will try my best to see you again... I will definitely try to leave something behind..."

Duncan suddenly turned his head and stared at the small cube.

That momentary voice was too illusory and缥缈piāomiǎo (vague, indistinct), so that he couldn't even be sure whether it had any connection with this cube, and couldn't be sure whether it was just a "memory" that suddenly appeared in his consciousness. And that voice never appeared again, everything was like his auditory hallucination.

But a few seconds later, a hint of a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

The figure of that hunched, old Cretan in a tattered white robe appeared in his mind—the old man walking against the light waved goodbye to him, and resolutely stepped into the long night of the end of the world, searching for the ray of light that was originally impossible to shine in the Old World at the end of the timeline with almost no guidance.

Krett succeeded.

He sent a message of safety to himself from the New World.

...And perhaps not just a "safe" message.

Duncan seemed to have thought of something, slowly frowned and fell into deep thought, his expression constantly changing—Alice敏锐mǐnruì (sharp, perceptive) noticed the change in the captain, she couldn't help but worry, hesitated for a long time and couldn't help but step forward and tug at Duncan's sleeve: "Captain?"

Duncan raised his head, but still had a凝重níngzhòng (grave, solemn) expression on his face. He casually pressed the doll lady's hair, looked up at the Black Sun in the distance: "You just said that this cube came 'from' the World Wound?"

"Yes," the Black Sun replied immediately, "This cube 'floated up' from the depths of the World Wound. I can be completely sure of this."

"It sounds like you know a lot about the World Wound, and have been paying attention to its situation," Duncan said with a serious expression. "None of the other 'Ancient Kings' seem to know as much about it as you do."

"As you said," the terrifying and huge eye met Duncan's gaze坦然tǎnrán (calmly, frankly). The Black Sun no longer concealed anything: "I know a lot about the World Wound, just as I know the entire Boundless Sea... Remember what I said at the beginning? Over the long years, I have been 'overlooking' this world..."

Hearing the Black Sun's words, Duncan's face changed slightly, and then he suddenly reacted: "Wait, are you saying... Your本体běntǐ (main body) is actually in the World Wound?!"

"No, I am on its 'back'," the Black Sun said calmly, "No one can stay 'inside' the World Wound, not even the so-called 'Ancient Kings.' That is a place that can devour and tear everything apart, it is the end of the world itself—but aside from that, the World Wound itself... is an impeccable 'barrier'.

"It is enough to completely isolate the entire Boundless Sea and those有害yǒuhài (harmful), dangerous exiles, so that those toxic and erosive 'influences' to the sanctuary are blocked on the other side of the barrier—on the 'back' of the World Wound is the cold land of exile. For ten thousand years, I have been here, right above everyone's heads."

The... back of the World Wound!

Duncan felt his heart pounding, a fact that he had been ignoring all along suddenly came before his eyes—the World Wound actually had a "back," and on that匪夷所思fěiyísuǒsī (unimaginable, inconceivable) "back," the Black Sun, which terrified the entire world and was regarded as the oldest and most dangerous "Ancient God" in this world, had been hanging high above the heads of all living beings?!

After a brief astonishment, Duncan suddenly understood one thing—

Why the cube that "passed through" the World Wound and was sent to this era fell into the hands of the Black Sun—because in this world, the closest to the World Wound is this ancient god who was "exiled" ten thousand years ago!

"Fire Thief," just then, the Black Sun's voice came, interrupting Duncan's thoughts, "Why are you suddenly interested in the World Wound?"

Duncan immediately gathered his乱糟糟luànzāozāo (messy, chaotic) thoughts. After briefly整理zhěnglǐ (organizing, tidying up) his emotions, he looked up at the ancient "god" with a serious expression.

"I have a relatively bold plan... It may sound a little crazy."

"Oh?" the Black Sun made a curious sound. "Can you tell me? Is it related to the World Wound?"

Duncan thought for a while, then nodded seriously with a serious face: "Simply put, I plan to detonate it."

The Black Sun instantly fell silent.

After an unknown amount of time, this twisted and不可名状bùkěmíngzhuàng (indescribable) "Ancient God" suddenly emitted a series of怪异guàiyì (strange, weird) vibrations and咕噜gūlū (gurgling) sounds from its body, and then those乱七八糟luànqībāzāo (messy, disordered) sounds were重组chóngzǔ (reorganized) into a rational syllable—

"...Ah?"