Chapter 81 Anomaly

The endless stars collapsed, and those distant, glorious starlight silently re-collapsed into a human being. Duncan returned from the starlight to a dimension that Vanna, Morris, and others could understand—but his voice seemed to still be vibrating in some higher dimension. Layers of murmurs, whispers, and noise within reason and cognition made Vanna feel almost unable to think.

After who knows how long, but perhaps it was only an instant, Vanna felt the noise in her mind subside slightly. She rubbed her forehead and saw Morris across from her slowly taking out his pipe from his pocket. The old gentleman tremblingly lit the pipe while muttering, "...got used to it..."

"That was freaking intense..." Agou lay at Sherry's feet, "I think I saw the Holy Lord again just now."

Nina didn't seem to be affected much. She just froze for a moment before coming back to her senses, and then seemed to fall into thought, occasionally stealing glances at Duncan, her eyes seeming to hold a hint of worry.

Duncan simply stared calmly into "Helena's" eyes, gazing through those eyes that seemed to reflect distant waves, he quietly looked at the distant and ancient creature.

After a long time, a voice finally entered everyone's ears along with the soft sound of waves: "I understand... We will meet again."

The sound of the waves subsided, and the dampness and fishy smell that had permeated the air gradually dissipated. Helena blinked, and all the inhuman, twisted qualities quickly receded from her. Then she suddenly bent over, her violent gasps accompanied by violent retching—Vanna immediately reacted, quickly stepping forward to support the Pope's arm, helping to smooth her breathing while using divine magic to repair the latter's injuries.

After a good while, Helena's breathing stabilized. She slowly raised her head, her face pale and tired, but with a genuine smile.

"...I haven't touched His will in a long time," she said softly, "I almost forgot what it felt like..."

"What will happen in the future?" Nina couldn't help but ask.

Duncan raised his hand: "As you wish."

"Stop feeling it, you almost died—you must return to the Ark immediately, where your mental state can be stabilized," Ruin shook his head, interrupting Helena's sigh, then the old elf turned his gaze to Duncan, "We should leave, Captain."

After thinking for who knows how long, Duncan suddenly broke the silence: "...Just visiting for a little while, and one of the two Popes almost lost half her life—the Deep Sea Church won't think we've got five hundred machine gunners hidden in this house, will they?"

Everyone in the living room looked at each other, seeming a little at a loss for a moment.

After recovering some strength, Helena got up from the sofa. She and Ruin bid farewell to Duncan and set off to return to the Ark.

"I said too much just now, I'm a little tired too, I'll go back to my room to rest first—you guys make your own arrangements, don't wait for me for lunch."

"Go ahead, you have your things to do," Duncan waved lightly to the hesitant Pope, "Even though it's the end of the world, many people's lives still need to continue—even if it's just for one more day."

The tobacco in the pipe gradually burned out, and the last few sparks disappeared in the curling smoke.

Vanna nodded slowly: "The Goddess told me that Their connection with the mortal world will be strengthened one last time, it seems They have already begun."

"Then I thank them for the rumor—maybe this can help me block the sales ads that show up in my mailbox every week," Lucretia said, glaring, but soon she sighed and looked back at the window, "...Of course, there may not be any sales ads now."

"Actually, I didn't understand what they were saying just now," Sherry was the first to break the silence, "But I did feel one thing, that Pope just now... it wasn't really her, was it?"

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief and got up from the sofa.

Accompanying the slight creaking sound from the stairs leading to the second floor, Duncan's tall figure gradually disappeared at the end of the stairs.

But as she was about to leave the "Witch's Residence," she stopped and looked back at Duncan, who was still in the living room.

"Don't you think this is a necessary concern?" Duncan looked at Lucretia with a serious expression, "Your house already has a bad reputation in this city, they all think you have all kinds of things hidden in here, and there are children and stray dogs from all over the world stewing in the pot..."

The two Popes left, the door closed, blocking the vast night outside, and silence enveloped the entire living room again. In the slight crackling of the burning fireplace, everyone seemed to have their own thoughts and were silently pondering.

"Who knows? In the past, optimistic people could at least say 'At least the sun will rise as usual tomorrow,' but now even that sentence is not convincing," Morris said in a low voice, holding his pipe, "But no matter what, tomorrow will always come, even if it is a morning without the sun rising. Like the Captain said, life always has to go on, he has his things to do, and we have ours."

Lucretia's train of thought, which was halfway through, was instantly cut off. She raised her head and glared, "You were silent for so long just to think about this?"

Helena nodded in silence, then turned around and stepped into the boundless long night outside the door with Ruin.

A gust of invisible wind swirled in the living room, and then the brilliant colored paper pieces swirled and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Duncan heard the wind behind him and sensed the familiar aura approaching. He turned around and saw Lucretia's figure taking shape from the swirling colored paper pieces.

"I thought you would never use these colored paper pieces to travel in front of me again after the last 'accident'," Duncan said with a smile, "Aren't you afraid that I'll be overly curious again?"

"You're going beyond the Eternal Veil," Lucretia ignored him, just looking at Duncan's eyes expressionlessly, "Crossing the six-mile limit?"

Duncan was silent for a moment: "Why do you ask?"

"What you're looking for isn't in the Boundless Sea—although I don't quite understand what you were saying to that 'Pope' just now, I know that you're going to go through that veil again, and I can feel that you'll go further this time, and be gone longer."

Duncan quietly looked at the "witch" in front of him, and after a long time, he slowly opened his mouth: "Lucy, you should have already seen it."

Glimmers of starlight faintly appeared in the room, and in the interlaced light and shadow, the corner of Lucretia's eyes seemed to reflect the distant starry sky.

"I saw it," the Sea Witch said frankly, "In fact, I saw it as early as the first time you appeared in front of me."

The starlight faded, and Duncan looked at the "witch" with some surprise.

"Then you should know that I'm not actually..."

"Nina never cared whether you were her 'Uncle Duncan' or not," Lucretia said calmly.

Duncan breathed a sigh and smiled helplessly.

"In the depths of the starlight, I can see the shadow of father—regardless of whether you yourself acknowledge this," Lucretia shook her head gently, "I know that you have indeed returned to this world, although you returned in a way that I cannot yet understand, but you are indeed standing here, just as I remember, and now you are about to leave again... it seems to be the same as back then."

She paused, her expression becoming serious: "Do you remember? We discussed this."

"...Take you with me, yes, I remember," Duncan finally nodded slowly, "Okay, Lucy, I admit, before you came, I did consider setting off on my own for a bit—don't worry, I just considered it, I didn't mean to put it into practice..."

Perhaps the witch's expressionless gaze was too much pressure, and Duncan couldn't help but add a few words with some guilty conscience at the end, but suddenly, he noticed that there was actually a hint of a smile hidden in Lucretia's eyes.

The witch couldn't help but laugh, the smile fully blooming on her face.

Duncan frowned: "What are you laughing at?"

"...You used to explain things to me in such a flustered way, although this situation was very, very rare," Lucretia said with a happy smile, "The last time was when you broke my hairpin."

Duncan was stunned, and spread his hands helplessly.

Then, a ray of light flashing past the window suddenly interrupted what he was about to say next.

He paused, then quickly rushed to the window with Lucretia.

In the thin golden "sunlight" spreading from the glowing geometric structures, a brighter arc was slowly appearing at the end of the distant city.

Duncan looked at the "light arc" in confusion, and then suddenly reacted.

In Prunty's antique shop, his gaze, through the open window on the second floor, saw an even clearer scene—

Golden, brilliant light was slowly rising at the end of the sea.

In the initial ten seconds, which excited and thrilled countless people, almost everyone thought it was sunrise.

Until that golden arc completely rose above the sea and began to rush towards the sky at an alarming speed—until its fragmented state became clearer and clearer in everyone's eyes, and became more and more disintegrated as it accelerated upwards.

Duncan finally saw what that thing looked like.

It was a quarter-circle structure, which appeared to be just a part of the outer rune ring of Anomaly 001. Its bright arc was covered with visible black cracks, and these cracks eventually caused the entire "light arc" to split into a dozen loosely arranged luminous structures during the ascent—in just over ten minutes, this increasingly dispersed "luminous array" accelerated all the way up to about nine or ten o'clock in the sky.

Then, this lonely rune ring that had risen into the sky completely disintegrated.

Accompanied by a roar that almost shook the entire world, accompanied by a terrifying whistling and a flash of light tearing through the sky, the luminous array turned into a dozen "meteors" streaking across the sky and falling towards the masses of the mortal world.