Chapter 1 Inaccurate Background Size A24a Default

In the mist that permeated the entire sea, like an endless gauze curtain, the "Tide" from the Deep Sea Church and two escort ships began to enter the area illuminated by the spirit fire "Torch." Their figures gradually became clearer in the mist, and the outlines, which originally appeared to be shaking and undulating due to the border environment, also became stable with the reflection of the firelight.

For the sailors on the Tide, they felt even more obvious changes during this process—the towering, ghostly green flame was like a lighthouse bringing order. The border sea's never-ending mist miraculously receded near the lighthouse, and as they approached the firelight, the faint noise and murmuring whispers in the surrounding environment also weakened. These changes were something that the sailors who patrolled near the Eternal Veil all year round had never experienced before.

On the bow deck of the Vanishing, Vanna frowned slightly, listening intently, as if distinguishing distant sounds from the wind. Then she nodded to Duncan: "Commander Sandra of the Tide sends his greetings and respects to you. He is asking about the next course of action."

Duncan nodded: "Once the Requiem and Unrequited arrive, we'll enter the dense fog. Be careful not to leave the illuminated area of the flame lighthouse."

Vanna immediately relayed the captain's instructions to her church compatriots. Duncan, however, was quite interested in her psychic communication method, which allowed her to contact nearby Deep Sea believers through meditation and prayer. After watching curiously for a while, he seemed to recall something else: "Speaking of which... shouldn't the Vanishing really be equipped with a radio?"

"If you want to use it in safe waters, that's fine, but if you want to use it here on the border..." Vanna replied seriously, "then it's unreliable. In the border seas, the probability of machines being possessed is very high. Apart from steam cores, which have strong protection and can be used stably, other things will have problems to varying degrees, and radios are the most prone to malfunctions."

As Vanna finished speaking, Lucretia added: "Open radios easily pick up sounds of unknown origin. Those sounds will pollute people's minds, and some things will drill into the real world along the radio waves, silently corrupting equipment that is not protected by steam—so, generally, ships entering the border seas must turn off their radios, and even the internal telephone lines used within the ship must be cut off."

"Something will drill into the real world along the radio waves?" Duncan raised an eyebrow, seeming to find this rather... interesting. "So patrol boats on the border basically have to rely on Vanna's psychic communication to contact each other?"

"Psychic resonance is a miracle bestowed by the gods," Vanna lowered her head slightly, tracing the symbol of the Storm Goddess Germona on her chest. "Like a steam-protected boiler, the words sent out through psychic resonance are also blessed, and can avoid being polluted and distorted by external forces in this chaotic border sea—of course, this doesn't mean absolute safety. Psychic communication can also be interfered with and polluted. In this boundless fog, there is no such thing as one hundred percent safety."

"I see..." Duncan nodded thoughtfully, as if he were back when...

Agatha's hazy figure floated from the deck, and her slightly ethereal voice came from the air: "According to my senses, it doesn't seem any different. Even in this form, I can feel Bartok's blessing as I remember it, and hear the voices of other church brothers and sisters. In fact... after coming here, I feel like I can hear the voices even more clearly than I remember. This is incredible."

The memories Agatha mentioned were obviously from her life as a gatekeeper—although that life was false, the memories were 100% restored from the real Agatha, and her judgments based on them were naturally highly valuable.

The copy of Agatha, existing in shadow form, actually felt that the voices she heard were clearer than in her memory when listening to psychic communication in the border seas?

This somewhat counterintuitive phenomenon made Duncan sink into thought. He originally felt that the copy of Agatha was weaker than the real one left in Frostmark in these areas involving divine magic and miracles, but in this border sea, the situation... seemed different from what he had imagined?

In the end... what exactly is the power of psychic resonance mastered by the priests of the Four Gods Church, and the psychic communication they have established based on it?

Duncan thought subconsciously, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted—"They're here," Agatha in the shadows suddenly said, "the Requiem and Unrequited are approaching."

Piercing steam whistle sounds came from the depths of the fog. Two black ironclad ships with towering bridges, small churches standing at the stern, and large main guns mounted on the bow and sides of the hull slowly emerged from the mist. Four more small escort ships appeared on the sea with the undulations of the mist.

The bright spirit fire rising from the guide ship illuminated the blurry outlines of the ships, and in response, the two black ironclad ships once again emitted a steam whistle representing greetings, while also flashing a series of light signals.

"Commander Boryegina of the Requiem, Commander Orlando of the Unrequited, send their greetings and respects to you."

Agatha nodded slightly to Duncan, "They have sent scout boats to briefly confirm the situation in the surrounding sea area. No traces of the Annihilation Cultists' activities were found, nor were any small islands found that could be used as temporary footholds or sentry posts. However, within the Veil, the scout boats briefly picked up some unusual noises. It can be confirmed that there is indeed something in that direction."

Listening to Agatha's report, Duncan's expression gradually became serious, and then he took a light breath, his heart gradually calming down.

"Let's set off—I reiterate, do not stray from the area illuminated by the spirit fire."

As the shattered guide ship slowly accelerated again, this joint fleet, temporarily organized by the Deep Sea Church, the Death Church, and the Vanishing Fleet, finally sailed towards the Eternal Veil, gradually entering the depths of that boundless fog.

The sky-covering clouds and mist pressed in like a wall, and then turned into layers of giant curtains around the fleet. The sun was left behind, and the sunlight gradually faded from view. As the fog became thicker, a chaotic but not dark sky light gradually became the main color of this foggy sea area.

Thirty minutes after entering the border of the Veil, the fog began to noticeably converge and became increasingly dense. They began to exhibit a... viscous and textured form, like some kind of tangible mass, floating unevenly in every corner of the field of vision.

Some vague outlines seemed to flash through the condensed fog, seemingly cautiously observing this fleet that had suddenly intruded into the border, the uninvited guests in this sea area.

The deck gradually became quiet. Even Shirley, who was usually chattering and noisy, seemed to sense the change in atmosphere, cautiously closed her mouth, and looked at the fog clusters flowing around the ship's sides like living things, and the vague outlines in the fog.

"This... this stuff doesn't look like the fog I know..." Agou muttered softly, "and it's not like what we saw outside the Veil..."

"After entering the Veil, the texture of the fog will become like this—as if the order between reality and illusion is missing, and the pervasive fog begins to tend towards a condensed state like a mass, as if there are intelligent things around, gathering these fogs together..."

As Lucretia spoke, she stood at the edge of the deck and reached out, her fingertips gently fiddling with the fog flowing past the ship's side, like an aerial stream.

"But in reality, they are empty inside. There is nothing in the center of the condensed fog clusters... Don't easily believe in any entities seen in the fog, unless they have shown obvious signs of activity. Otherwise, it's best to treat them all as phantoms or your own fantasies."

"Hey, is it okay for you to just put your hand in like that?" Shirley couldn't help but exclaim after seeing Lucretia's actions. "This fog looks very strange!"

"The fog is dangerous, but it's not like this fog is some kind of corrosive poison—otherwise you would have died the moment you entered the Veil," Lucretia glanced at Shirley and shook her head. "As long as you have enough experience and master the right methods, it's a relatively safe zone within six nautical miles of the border... Of course, even with the utmost caution, many people still die in this so-called relatively safe zone."

Listening to the conversation between Lucretia and Shirley beside him, Duncan remained silent. He just stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the fog flows constantly splitting and merging nearby, his expression seemingly lost in thought.

Lucretia noticed Duncan's silence.

"Dad, are you thinking about something?"

Duncan blinked, and after hesitating for a moment, finally murmured softly, "It's very familiar."

Lucretia: "Familiar?"

Duncan hummed, his gaze still fixed on the amorphous clumps floating around. He looked at the vague outlines in the fog, the turbid sky light in the sky, and the peculiar texture that occasionally appeared between the flowing clouds and mist, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter...