Chapter 768 Frontier Base

That magnificent mist connecting the sky and the sea appeared once more in Duncan's vision—but unlike last time, this time he arrived at the frontier in the night.

The dark, chaotic sky pressed down low overhead, while the pale, cold Worldscar illuminated the edges of the curtain of mist. In the darkness, the entire wall of fog resembled a black barrier, constantly swelling and writhing—distant, towering, with details obscured, yet with each casual glance, its writhing surface would reveal glimpses of bizarre forms, casting shadows of horror in the hearts of those who witnessed it, stirring up a host of fear-driven associations.

And the edge of that mist wall, illuminated by the Worldscar, resembled countless eyes high in the sky, coldly and maliciously watching over the world, watching over those presumptuous mortals who dared to challenge the end of the world.

The fleets of mortals gathered at the foot of the curtain.

After observing the distant lighthouse, Duncan controlled the Vanishing Sail to adjust its course. They sailed towards the southeastern side of the curtain for some time, and then saw the lights gathered at the frontier—a massive mobile port floating on the misty sea. Large steam cores on the port were spewing white clouds into the sky, and the lights on top of the differential engine tower rotated, occasionally illuminating the shadows of ships of various sizes on the nearby sea.

More than a dozen ships of various types and sizes were docked around the floating port, and small patrol ships wandered around the nearby waters. Their lights shone in the night, like fireflies flitting across the dark, boundless sea.

At the end of this world, there was no need to enforce a blackout, so these lights representing human civilization became an incredible sight before the eternal curtain—however, compared to the boundless sea, compared to the sky-piercing wall of fog, these "landscapes" constructed by man-made lights were really insignificant. From afar, the lights appeared so small that they seemed to be swallowed by the undulating fog at any moment.

The world was collapsing, and the small creatures in the shelter bravely reached out to the collapsing walls of the shelter—those lights flitting across the sea were the tendrils of civilization, not robust, but they were there.

News of the Vanishing Sail and the Radiant Star approaching was quickly reported by nearby patrol boats. A welcoming whistle sounded from the mobile port of the frontier base, its loud sound echoing in the night. Then, a beam of light guiding the way swept from the port's lighthouse towards the sea, guiding the two ships to dock at the edge of the port.

After the ships were secured, Duncan led his crew onto the dock—where many figures had already gathered to greet them, and one of them surprised Duncan.

Vanna's steps paused unnaturally for a moment, then she lowered her head as she walked, "Um... actually..."

Duncan followed Helena deeper into the frontier base. After hearing the other party's words, he thought for a moment, turned his head, and looked at Vanna, who was walking behind him, "You can do that too?"

Vanna was extremely embarrassed at this time, but she noticed the captain in front turning his head with a curious look, so she had to brace herself and say, "...There are many kinds of divine arts, combat, healing, auxiliary, and a large number of special branches such as research, covenants, miracles, etc. I don't know them all. Back then, I was more specialized..."

Duncan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, looking at the lady in front of him with quite astonishment, who showed no sign of "falsehood," "...I really can't tell."

"She can't," Helena waved her hand in front, "I personally taught her back then, but she couldn't learn it."

Helena laughed, raised her hand towards Duncan—layers of thin water mist rose from the edge of her arm, and her skin began to become as transparent as clear water.

"What are you doing here?" Duncan looked at the female Pope standing in front of him in surprise, "Shouldn't you be staying on your own ark at this time—can that thing run so fast?"

"If the situation really requires it, the Cathedral Ark's speed at full speed is not much slower than your ship," Helena said with a smile, but soon shook her head again, "But I am indeed not here right now. The Storm Cathedral is still staying in Zephyr Harbor. What has come here is just an avatar of mine—since you are personally going deep into the frontier, I should come here to see you off."

Vanna simply didn't raise her head: "..."

She stepped out from the crowd, came to Duncan and Lucretia with a smile, and nodded slightly as a greeting, "Welcome to this 'Frontier Base'—we have been waiting for you."

"Creating illusions in water and mist is the authority of our Lord," she retracted her hand, and her body quickly returned to normal. Then, as she turned to lead the way, she casually said, "This is not a great divine art—most high-level priests in the Deep Sea Church can do this."

Sherry, who was walking behind, immediately took two steps forward with her short legs and looked up at Vanna, "Hey, didn't you say your grades in divine arts were pretty good..."

The female Pope Helena was standing in the middle of a group of priests who had come to greet them.

Sherry instantly reacted halfway through her words: "Oh, I see, you should be good at the combat direction..."

Before she could finish speaking, she heard Helena, who was walking in front, say without turning her head, "She is good at the healing direction."

As soon as this answer came out, not only Sherry was stunned for a moment, but almost everyone around was stunned for a moment. Duncan couldn't help but look at the beautiful and valiant girl beside him in amazement, looking her up and down several times, but he didn't dare to associate this mountain-uprooting Vanna with a healing goddess officer... Normally, the goddess officer who is good at healing is the type who wears cloth armor, holds a short staff, has low defense and thin blood, can only walk behind the team to be protected, and dies immediately if accidentally touched during a fight—Vanna, a valiant girl who can lift the celestial spirit cover of a demon with one hand... when did she become a nanny?

However, he only wondered about this question in his heart, and was too embarrassed to ask it—but if he didn't ask, it didn't mean others wouldn't ask. There was never a shortage of careless and straightforward people on the Vanishing Sail.

"Why?" Sherry widened her eyes, "No... why?"

She raised her hand, pointed at Vanna's nearly two-meter height, and after holding back for a long time, she only had one sentence: "...Why?"

"Because she is responsible for setting the bones for the others on the training ground after training is over," Helena replied lightly, "She practiced it in half a year."

Sherry's doubts disappeared immediately, and Duncan next to her also nodded with a subtle expression: "...That makes much more sense."

Only Vanna, who was the center of the topic, was still looking down: "..."

"But speaking of which, you've been on the ship for so long, and I didn't even know you had this expertise," Duncan glanced at Vanna and said thoughtfully, "I don't seem to have ever seen you heal anyone?"

Vanna sighed: "...Do you think anyone on the Vanishing Sail needs treatment?"

Duncan was stunned when he heard this, and turned to look at the crew members behind him, only then suddenly realizing that the Vanishing Sail didn't have many humans—it was difficult to gather a living person on the ship, let alone someone who would be injured and bleed normally. The whole ship, if you had to say it, only Old Man Morris looked like a person, but the old man could fight better than ordinary saints...

Vanna sighed again.

She tugged at the buckle on her shoulder used to secure her weapon, lifted the greatsword up a bit, and shook her head helplessly: "I think this is good—instead of healing the people around me, I prefer to eliminate all the enemies in advance, so that no one needs to be injured."

Helena turned her head, looked at Vanna, and then her gaze passed over the other party and landed on the Abnormal 077-Sailor, who was walking at the back of the team.

She slowed down her pace, hesitated slightly, and said to the mummy, "Do you remember this place?"

"I remember, but only remember," the Sailor didn't seem surprised by Helena's question. After stepping onto this mobile port, he had been silently observing the surroundings. At this time, he just nodded calmly, "In the memory fragments I recently retrieved, there are some scenes that are very impressive, including this place... But no matter how deep the memories are, they feel like someone else's life to me... I watch them, and it's hard to feel them in myself, except... the part related to Captain Karanir."

"...I see."

Helena said softly. She didn't ask any further how much the Sailor remembered about the past, or how much impression he had of this place—although for the port's watchkeepers, the First Mate of the Sea Song had been with them until recently, but for Abnormal 077, that was already a distant and unfamiliar life.

"Apart from me and a few high-level priests, no one here knows what you look like now," Helena said to the Sailor, "You don't have to worry about meeting 'acquaintances'—if you don't want to meet them, then don't."

The Sailor was a little surprised, but soon lowered his head and said very sincerely, "Thank you."

"Has this port been active on the frontier all the time?" Lucretia asked curiously at this time, "I have often been active on the frontier before, but I haven't seen it..."

"This mobile port has been deployed in the frontier waters since more than ten years ago," Helena explained, "But most of the time, it is in the thick fog—in addition to serving as a mother port for frontier patrol and exploration fleets, it is also a research facility itself. It carries a large number of devices and laboratories used to observe the spirit world and study the marine environment, so it needs to go deep into the mist from time to time to perform tasks. Moreover, when there are no special tasks, it will cruise along the entire eastern frontier. During this period, its route and location are church secrets. It is normal that you have not encountered it."

"...Amazing." Lucretia sincerely admired.

"...Yes, it's amazing. Many outstanding people gathered together to build this place," Helena said softly. Then, her gaze fell on a certain direction in the distance, "The Sea Song departed from Pier Two. That's it ahead."

(End of this chapter)

Yuan Tong