The Vanishing Sail and the Glistening Star sailed against a uniform backdrop of gray-white.

This long journey at the world's end seemed to be gradually approaching its finale—even if Duncan hadn't mentioned it, everyone on board vaguely sensed the imminence of that final day.

Now, everyone was gathered around the long table in the Vanishing Sail's cabin. Even Lucretia had temporarily entrusted her ship to the control of the doll Rooney and the rabbit Rabi.

The "Sea Witch" sat on Duncan's side, while the little doll, Niru, who had recently become a full member of the Glistening Star's crew, sat obediently on her mistress's shoulder. The latter was making her first appearance here, cautiously clutching Lucretia's hair while curiously observing her surroundings.

Shirley watched the ornate, one-third scale ball-jointed doll in its exquisite Western dress with amusement. When the doll turned her head, Shirley suddenly raised her hand and made a scary noise: "Boo!"

Niru gasped softly and clutched a handful of Lucretia's hair.

The witch was startled as well, and she patted the little doll's arm. Niru lowered her head in grievance and muttered, "Mistress, she scared me."

Shirley immediately shrugged, turned her head, and pretended to listen intently to the captain's words.

Duncan didn't pay attention to the commotion coming from beside the long table. He merely glanced at Shirley before continuing to speak about the current situation within the Boundless Sea:

"...The Undying are active in the cities alongside the living. No one remembers the original purpose of graveyards and crematoriums anymore. The dead are muddled, and the living are increasingly falling into a daze. No one dies, and no newborns are born...To an outsider, the distortion of the world is unimaginable, yet no one notices these anomalies. All inconsistencies are 'explained' or 'ignored' by the subconscious, and that is the current 'status quo' of the entire world.

"The situation with the Deep Sea Church...is similar to that of the current Church of Death. The core tenets of their respective doctrines have now become unknowable 'blasphemous prototypes.' Although people are still unknowingly maintaining 'daily life,' this 'world correction' probably cannot last long."

Along the two sides of the long table, no one spoke. Even Shirley, who had been secretly playing with the little doll just moments ago, fell silent as she imagined the bizarre and terrifying scene in the city-states.

Duncan's gaze fell on Vanna, who was not far away.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Cognitive reconstruction...is not that simple," Vanna's complexion was not good. She frowned slightly and shook her head with a wry smile after hearing the captain's words. "I was almost forgetting about the 'waves.' Your sudden summons and the resurfacing of those memories made me feel...as if the entire world has been 'torn apart.'"

The Inquisitor took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, still struggling to adjust her state. At the same time, she continued with a complicated expression: "Now, two completely different 'cognitive systems' are still clashing fiercely in my mind. I clearly know that a certain 'thing' is real, but another cognition tells me that it is an incomprehensible, non-existent thing. I know that the former cognition is correct, but I cannot deny the latter...They are both rooted in my heart, just like..."

She pursed her lips, but in the end, she couldn't seem to find a suitable way to describe it.

"Like 'hydrophobia,' is it not?" Duncan asked calmly.

"'Water is poisonous'..." Vanna thought for a moment and nodded with a wry smile. "Perhaps. Compared to various tangible blasphemous filth, cognitive challenges are always so difficult to deal with."

"...I also hesitated whether it was necessary to strengthen and stabilize your 'cognition,'" Duncan said slowly. His gaze swept around, and where his gaze fell, ghostly green flames were quietly burning throughout the cabin. The firelight reflected on everyone, seeming to permeate their souls and minds, and to stabilize their "cognition" on the side of the "captain." "But considering the plans that follow, I must 'strengthen' you with flames, because only in this way can you become my most stable 'anchors.'"

Hearing Duncan's words, the expression on Lucretia's face changed slightly. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she remained silent, simply staring fixedly at her father.

"...Next, we will arrive at Bartok's 'node,'" Duncan continued calmly, as if ignoring the gazes filled with various emotions that were fixed on him. "This will be the last node on the 'external barrier' formed by the Four Gods. After completing the final marking, the Vanishing Sail will return to the starting point of this 'pilgrimage'...the Leviathan Islands.

"There, your border journey will end."

Duncan spread his hands and said in a low, slow voice. His gaze swept around the long table, moving between familiar faces. Finally, his gaze landed on Nina.

The first "human" he had met in this world, the first formal "contact" he had made with this civilization trapped in the sanctuary, his..."anchor of humanity."

Nina sat beside him. This sensible girl always seemed to be one step ahead in discerning "Uncle Duncan's" thoughts. Even now, she didn't show too much surprise. After a moment of silence, she looked up: "Are you going to do the next thing alone?"

Duncan met the girl's gaze: "...Yes."

"Is it dangerous? Is it far?" Nina asked again.

"It's hard to describe it in terms of 'dangerous' or 'not dangerous.' It's something...only I can accomplish, but you can't understand the process," Duncan thought for a moment and explained seriously. "I will go to a place further away—further than the end of the world, so far that even the gods cannot reach it, and no scale in the world can measure it...Yes, it's far, very far."

"Then are you still coming home?" Nina still stared fixedly at her Uncle Duncan—she asked a question she had asked before.

This time, Duncan didn't hesitate at all: "Yes, I'm coming home."

His response was so certain and quick that even Nina seemed a little surprised.

"You're not lying?" She frowned, asking with some suspicion, as if she hadn't expected to receive such a definite answer.

"Yes, I'm sure—but if you had asked me a few days earlier, perhaps I really would have hesitated," Duncan said seriously. "But now, I can be sure that if, in the future, you are really waiting for me to come home, then I will definitely come home."

Nina frowned, and just as she fell into thought, Maurice's voice came from the side: "What do you need us to do?"

"After the Vanishing Sail leaves, you will return with the Glistening Star," Duncan looked at the old gentleman across the table and nodded slightly. "Agatha will take the 'reflection' of the Vanishing Sail and connect it with the Glistening Star, and the sailors will go to steer the ship—in this way, you will be able to activate the 'route' left by the Sea Song and return to the Boundless Sea from the Storm Goddess's node.

"After returning to the Boundless Sea, you will go to the city-states of Frost, Prand, and Breeze Port, respectively. Together with Lawrence, who is currently stationed in Faelen on the western border, I will have 'eyes' that can watch the entire world—you must wait, wait for my order. When I have completed the preparations outside the world, something...big will happen."

"Something big?" Vanna frowned subconsciously.

"...The end of the world," Duncan said calmly. "I will 'end' this world in an orderly manner, and recover all its data before this 'mathematical machine' completely collapses."

He knew that probably no one present understood what he was saying. Even Maurice wouldn't understand what "information of all things" and "mathematical machine" were, but he still spoke these words directly.

The people present might not know what a mathematical machine was, but they at least understood what "the end of the world" meant.

After a moment of silence, Shirley finally broke the silence: "...Oh my..."

But apart from her, the reactions of the others were surprisingly calm.

"It seems you all trust me very much." Duncan looked around and a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"After jointly experiencing the events of Prand, Frost, and Breeze Port, what reason do we have not to trust you?" Vanna suddenly laughed. "You have countless ways to easily unleash destruction, but in the end, you always choose to save everything as much as possible—now, even if you said you were going to kill me, I'd probably think it was because I was living life wrong..."

"If Gomona heard you say that, she'd be heartbroken," Duncan said with a helpless smile. "The first time we met, you came at me with a flying kick."

Vanna: "...You promised not to mention that."

Duncan smiled and shook his head, waved his hand, and looked at the others.

"The 'end' of the world is a necessary step to ensure that a new world can be born, and to ensure that it can be peaceful for a long time after it is born. I have found a way to preserve everything that exists in this world while the old world ends. You can rest assured about that."

"Then...what happens after that?" Shirley finally couldn't help but ask. Although she didn't understand most of the topic, she could still keenly sense that the captain hadn't finished speaking. "After the world ends...where will we be? Where will you be? When will that 'new world' you spoke of...arrive?"

Duncan smiled and looked at Shirley's curious eyes.

"Blink your eyes."

Shirley blinked her eyes curiously.

"For you, the new world will have arrived after that."

Duncan said softly.

(End of Chapter)