Chapter 124 A Pilgrimage at the World's End

After leaving the border veil and embarking on this long "Journey to the World's End," the crew members of the Vanishing Line and the Beryl Stellar had gradually formed a new and tacit understanding. Sometimes, people from the two ships would visit each other, and sometimes they would exchange goods. In most cases, Ayy was the bridge between the two ships—and these connections, and the "daily life" built on them, seemed to be quietly becoming an anchor that maintained the "humanity" of everyone on board.

Because they were far from the civilized world, far from the crowds and society, the voyagers particularly needed communication between people—when the mist at the world's end shrouded everything, it was especially important to confirm each other's existence in the fog.

Nina, Shirley, and the others who had originally gathered in the dining room ran away almost in the blink of an eye, all carrying their own knives, forks, and rice bowls (Shirley steadfastly brought her large rice pot) and happy moods. The scene quickly quieted down, and in the end, only Duncan was left sitting at the dining table, watching with a helpless smile the pot of viscous, bubbling "soup" and a pile of charred, questionable food on the table.

After a while, he shook his head and couldn't help but mutter, "I don't know how Morris solved the problem of eating when he was exploring everywhere when he was young... Did he just rely on his digestive system to tough it out?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Agatha's figure suddenly reflected on a shiny soup spoon on the edge of the dining table: "I've heard him say this—one-third of the time, he ate dry food, one-third of the time, he ate whatever he could find, and the remaining one-third of the time, he transformed himself into a forging form and drank machine oil and gnawed on boiling gold, leaving the physical part to the gods..."

Duncan: "...Sounds like something he would do."

Agatha shrugged: "Actually, I can understand all of this, but the old man said that the most extreme time he was trapped in a dark crevice for several weeks, and after coming out, he felt that the taste of the doom bird was not bad—the credibility of this in my mind has to be questioned."

Before Agatha finished speaking, the question mark in her mind had already transferred to Duncan's forehead—the latter listened in stunned silence, and couldn't help but blurt out: "Gnawing on a dark demon raw?! Isn't... is there even meat on that thing?"

Agatha spread out her hands and walked from the back of the soup spoon to the dining knife next to her: "Who knows? He told me last time after drinking. You know, when old people tell their adventure stories after drinking, usually only the last period can be believed."

The corners of Duncan's mouth twitched, and he decided not to dwell on this topic.

He raised his head and looked towards the porthole not far away—through the open window panels, he could see that the uniform gray-white background was still extending infinitely outside the Vanishing Line, as if the entire world had melted into that boundless gray-white.

"What are you thinking about?" Agatha's slightly magnetic voice came from the side. Her figure was reflected on a hanging lantern next to her at some point. In the flickering light, her face looked a little blurry.

"...We've been gone for a long time," Duncan said softly after a few seconds of silence, "Do you still miss Frost?"

"Yes," Agatha said without hesitation. She looked at Duncan, her eyes full of sincerity. "I won't hide my true thoughts from you—and I can't ignore the weight of the memories and feelings accumulated in my heart over the past few decades, even though those memories and feelings are just a fake... I still recall the days in Frost. Sometimes, I wake up in a daze, and I even think I'm still in that cathedral, waiting to meet with Bishop Ivan."

She paused here, then gently exhaled and looked into Duncan's eyes.

"You have other arrangements for us, don't you?"

Duncan looked at the "Gatekeeper" reflected in the lamplight with some surprise: "...Why do you think so?"

"I can feel it. You have a plan. You're 'pilgrimaging' along the edge of this world, and every place the Vanishing Line goes, there's some kind of... imprint left behind," Agatha said slowly. "I don't know what that is, it's beyond my understanding, but in the world of reflections, I can clearly see something left in the Vanishing Line's wake, from the node of the Storm Goddess, to the node of the God of Wisdom, to this route now...

"You're 'encircling' the entire world in some way, and in those 'imprints' encircling the world, I smell... the aura of ending.

"You're going to do something big. This 'pilgrimage' along the edge of the world is just the first step. When you've finished the arrangement at the border, that's when the plan will finally be launched, and I can feel... you don't seem to intend for us to follow you to the end."

Duncan fell silent and stared silently into Agatha's eyes.

"The Gatekeeper's eyes can see many things that ordinary people can't see, and after becoming a reflection, I started to see even more... Just take it as a glimpse into fate," Agatha laughed softly, then slowly shook her head. "I've been awakened by nightmares in the dark, and when I woke up, I saw this ship sailing in an boundless void, and the ship was empty. Only you were standing at the stern, steering—I talked to you, called your name, asked where the others had gone, but you couldn't see me, nor could you hear my voice. At that time, I vaguely guessed... it seems that there was no place left for us in your next journey."

Agatha paused slightly and continued, "And now, you suddenly ask me if I still miss Frost... I'm even more convinced of my judgment."

Listening to her words, Duncan didn't speak for a long time. He just thought quietly, and after a long time, he broke the silence: "It's true, as you said, the Vanishing Line is carrying out a 'pilgrimage' around the world, and after this pilgrimage ends... I'm going to do something enough to restart this 'world.' Before that, you need to leave."

Agatha didn't speak either, she just watched quietly—she knew the captain wasn't finished.

"This isn't banishment," after a moment of contemplation, Duncan continued as expected. "You are my crew members, you always have been, and there has always been a place arranged for you on my journey, but when I carry out the last step, you have other tasks."

"Can you tell me exactly what you plan to do?" Agatha asked softly.

"...First, I will destroy this world," after a long period of thought, Duncan said calmly, "And in this process, you will act as my 'anchors,' witnessing for me, because at that stage, I may no longer be able to observe all things with my own eyes..."

Agatha listened quietly to the captain's plan, and didn't speak for a long time. It wasn't until long after Duncan finished speaking that she hesitated to break the silence: "No wonder you brought the Beryl Stellar, instead of letting Miss Lucrezia travel directly on the Vanishing Line..."

"There has to be a ship responsible for returning," Duncan said. "Lucy is a very smart girl, she should have realized my later arrangements as well."

"She may realize it, but you will eventually have to tell others the whole picture of the plan in person," Agatha looked at her captain very seriously. "You can always trust us."

"I trust you, but it also took me a long time to roughly sort out the ideas for this plan," Duncan met the Gatekeeper's gaze frankly. "In fact, it wasn't until after leaving Gomona's domain that I figured out the underlying order of this world, and determined that I had to execute the 'shutdown' procedure for the entire sanctuary to solve the trouble left by the Great Annihilation—and before that, bringing the Beryl Stellar was just a 'backup plan' out of prudence."

Listening to Duncan's explanation, Agatha gently exhaled, and then suddenly showed a smile again: "Then I feel much more relieved."

She jumped down from the glass lampshade of the lantern, her figure jumping between the shiny cups and plates on the dining table, and finally stopped in Duncan's water glass.

"You have a detailed plan, so we can execute it with confidence and boldness. No matter what, the captain's orders are better than no orders."

Duncan smiled and looked down at Agatha's reflection in the glass, tapped the glass, and shattered the Gatekeeper in it into pieces.

"That's good, I have an order right now."

Agatha's figure appeared on the porcelain plate next to her: "Please tell me."

"Call the sailor over and have him clean this place up," Duncan said, waving his hand as he got up. "That guy hasn't even shown his face since he didn't have to steer anymore. Does he really think he doesn't have to do anything after getting a permanent ticket for the Vanishing Line?"

Agatha's voice was filled with laughter: "Yes, Captain!"

Duncan nodded and turned to leave the dining room.

He was preparing to return to his captain's cabin, and take a nap before arriving at the next "node." Before that, he could also go to the bridge to check on the puppet lady—although theoretically Alice is now just an "empty shell" bound to the helm, and everything else is left to her instinct as "Navigator No. 3" except for pretending to steer the ship, leaving that silly girl on the bridge for a long time is still something that makes people uneasy.

With these thoughts in mind, Duncan walked unhurriedly towards the stern deck. However, just as he was about to step onto the stairs leading to the bridge, he suddenly stopped.

Bang, bang, bang.

The sound of knocking on the window suddenly entered his ears.

Duncan was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked for the direction from which the sound came, but the next second he realized that there was no window around him at all—the sound of knocking on the glass window was still ringing constantly, but it seemed to be ringing directly in his mind.

Duncan frowned, and then finally reacted.

That sound was coming directly from his own "cognition"!

He suddenly raised his head and saw that the "Door of the Vanishing" was standing quietly not far ahead...

(End of this chapter)