No words could describe the shock Zhou Ming felt at this moment.

The sound of knocking on the door was not loud, an ordinary sound under normal circumstances, but when it echoed in this bachelor apartment, each knock felt like a heaven-shaking roar, hammering against Zhou Ming's ears!

His eyes widened instantly, almost convinced that this was a hallucination brought on by a series of events and disappointments, but he quickly regained his senses, realizing that the knocking was a real sound—and it was still going on.

He rushed to the door like a gust of wind, reaching for the handle, but he hesitated for a couple of seconds just as he was about to turn it.

Was it really okay to open the door? Would this be a reckless step into a trap?

If it had been during those first days when he was trapped in this room, he would have had no such worries, because back then he thought the thick fog was just some strange "phenomenon," and he firmly believed that beyond the fog was still the familiar homeland he knew. But now, Zhou Ming knew what had happened to his world—his homeland had long since turned to dust, and all that remained of the universe was this little house of his, and in the depths of that boundless fog… only the ashes after all things had perished.

After the world had ended, who would come knocking on his door?

No matter how he thought about it, it was unlikely to be a normal "living person."

Zhou Ming weighed his options cautiously, while the knocking continued patiently, repeating every three to five seconds, neither urging nor failing to demonstrate the knocker's patience and persistence, like a polite yet persistent visitor, determined to pay a visit.

…If he opened the door, it might be a trap, but if he didn't open the door, he might miss this "visit"—no matter who was outside, this was a unique event, and he had to figure out what it was.

Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Ming's mind, and finally, he took a slight breath and made up his mind. Then, with one hand on the doorknob, he gently brushed the doorframe with the other.

Translucent, illusory flames flowed and spread across the doorframe, forming a hazy barrier of burning light.

Having taken precautions and heightened his vigilance to the utmost, he put strength into his hand and suddenly turned the handle, pulling the door open as quickly as possible.

The outside was empty, only the swirling, expanding, and wriggling black fog, as always.

Zhou Ming breathed heavily, his heart pounding, his eyes wide as he stared at the empty black fog, unable to recover for a long time.

Was he still a step too late in opening the door? Had the knocker lost patience? Was it really such a coincidence that the visitor left the instant he opened the door?

Zhou Ming frowned. He was sure that the knocking was still repeating until he opened the door. Even if the other party had really lost patience, they shouldn't have moved away so quickly.

He hesitated, and suddenly, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

It was the sound of knocking—the knocking was in his ears again.

Zhou Ming's eyes widened suddenly as he stared at the swirling, wriggling black fog in front of him. He finally realized—the knocking was actually coming from within the black fog.

The sound seemed very close, as if right on the surface of the fog, within reach, but even with his eyes wide open, Zhou Ming couldn't see anything in the fog. He reached out and plunged his hand into the fog, feeling only an empty, cold sensation—there was nothing there.

Only the knocking continued, still patient.

Zhou Ming slowly withdrew his hand from the black fog, standing quietly in the doorway, listening to the seemingly endless knocking, calming the storm in his mind.

There was a visitor, trying to open this "house" from the other side of the black fog, but ta was blocked by the outer shell of this "cocoon."

After a long period of silent contemplation, Zhou Ming suddenly raised his head. Something had occurred to him, and he turned and ran quickly to the desk.

He hastily gathered a few things—a whiteboard marker, paper, a roll of soft ruler, a ball of yarn, and many other odds and ends, then packed them all into a plastic bag and brought it to the door.

Then he found a piece of paper and hurriedly wrote a line of text in the common tongue of the boundless sea: "I hear you, who are you?"

He taped the note to the mouth of the plastic bag, and then without hesitation threw the bag into the swirling, wriggling black fog.

The plastic bag filled with junk was instantly swallowed by the wriggling mist, disappearing into the darkness.

Zhou Ming stared at the direction where the bag had disappeared, even his breathing slowed down subconsciously. He had never waited so nervously, waiting for "something" to happen. Even when the great fire of Prand broke out, he hadn't been this tense.

The knocking stopped. In the second second after the bag of junk passed through the black fog, the knocking stopped abruptly.

Apparently, the "visitor" on the other side of the black fog had received the "gift" he had sent out, and was responding to it—but next, Zhou Ming waited a long time without getting any more response.

Apart from the knocking stopping, no more information came.

Until finally.

The goat head on the navigation table suddenly sensed something and immediately creaked as it turned its neck to look towards the door of the captain's cabin—a tall, imposing figure opened the door and walked in, his footsteps slightly heavy.

"Name?"

"Duncan Abnomar."

Duncan slowly walked behind the chart table, sat down in the high-backed chair, and breathed a long sigh, as if to exhale all his exhaustion and chaotic thoughts from his body.

The goat head instantly noticed the captain's condition. It had already been brewing an aria that would take almost five minutes to recite in order to greet the captain and discuss the unique climate of the border, but at this moment it suppressed everything. After hesitating for a moment, it spoke cautiously, "Are you… alright? You seem to be in a bad mood?"

Duncan glanced at the goat head and said casually, "Someone knocked on the door, but I got stood up."

The goat head thought carefully, "...Does this have something to do with Aeyr?"

Duncan waved his hand. He was already used to this kind of irrelevant question.

"Looks like it has nothing to do with Aeyr," the goat head was even more used to it. Realizing that the captain didn't want to say more, it quickly adjusted its mindset and changed the subject. "We are about to pass through the thick fog of the Eternal Veil, captain. Are we returning directly to Breeze Harbor, or are there other arrangements?"

"...Return to Breeze Harbor. I need to sort out my thoughts during this time, and discuss some matters with the pontiffs—they should all be staying in the city-state during this time."

"Yes, captain," the goat head said immediately. Then it opened its mouth again, hesitated obviously, and continued, "Also, what do you think of Vanna and Maurice's report?"

"Are you talking about those 'figures' they witnessed before evacuating Holy Land Island?"

"Yes," said the goat head. "Wearing tattered robes, looking like phantoms of the Doomsday Preachers, but not making contact with anyone, as if independent of another space-time dimension… This sounds different from the Doomsday Preachers we are familiar with. They appeared on Holy Land Island… I always feel that this matter is unusual."

Duncan pondered for a moment, then casually took out a palm-sized photo and placed it on the chart table for a closer look.

This was what Maurice had given him during the meeting in the cabin earlier—the only piece of evidence the old scholar had collected when he witnessed those suspicious figures suddenly appearing on Holy Land Island.

The picture on the photo was not very clear. A kind of fine stripe covered the entire picture like some kind of interference or veil, but one could still distinguish the black door located deep in the cave, and the vaguely white figure next to the black door.

The facial features of the white figure wearing tattered robes were blurred into a mass, and one could only judge from his posture and position that he seemed to be carefully observing something—observing the black door, or something behind the black door.

"...In the past, the Doomsday Preachers who appeared before people were either lunatics who had lost their minds, only knowing how to spread their doomsday theories crazily, or scholars who still had reason, trying to convey information or guide some things to the witnesses," the goat head muttered aside, "This is the first time that these phantoms have appeared that don't communicate with people at all. They seem to be busy with their own things, and didn't even notice the heated battle nearby, as if…"

Duncan said softly, "As if they are travelers in a hurry, on the road."

The goat head was stunned for a moment: "You mean…"

"Just a sudden association," Duncan raised his head, "They seem to be engrossed in their work, and have no reaction to the surrounding environment at all. Perhaps… what we saw was the Doomsday Survey Team traveling and observing in the flow of time—this is what they look like 'on the road'."

The goat head opened its mouth: "...That is to say, what Vanna and Maurice saw were the phantoms left by those Cretans when they traveled through the flow of time? But there has never been a sighting record in this regard before…"

"Perhaps this is related to the special environment of the border, or perhaps…"

Duncan paused, and shook his head after a moment of silence.

"Or perhaps this is another omen."

The goat head didn't react for a moment: "Another omen?"

"The Doomsday Survey Team that set off from the beginning of the Deep Sea Era once reached the 'end of time', which is the final moment of the Sanctuary," Duncan said calmly, looking into the goat head's eyes, "That means…"

He didn't continue, but the goat head had already reacted: "That is to say, we will meet them at the end of time, and the apocalypse is the only moment when our and their timelines truly converge…"

Duncan didn't speak, just quietly looked at the photo on the chart table, looking at the hazy figure standing next to the black door, seemingly observing something carefully.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but he felt that the hazy figure seemed a little clearer.

(End of this chapter)