Chapter 1 After hearing Vanna's Account, Tirian Fell Silent for a Short Time

Without seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't analyze from these fragmented words what kind of plan the ghost returning from the subspace had at the moment, and how these changes had occurred, but one thing was certain—the "Captain Duncan" described by Vanna was definitely not the mad monster that the Sea Mist encountered in the icy sea half a century ago.

But it didn't quite resemble the great explorer father he remembered from a century ago either.

"Captain Tirian," Vanna's voice suddenly rang out after a long silence in the drawing room, interrupting Tirian's thoughts, "What are your thoughts?"

"I... I can't believe this is really happening, but since it has already happened, I can only temporarily acknowledge this fact," Tirian frowned slowly, thinking as he spoke, "From your description, he does seem to be in a state of clear thinking, with reason and humanity, but his power... that curse-like flame, is also correspondingly more powerful."

Vanna nodded, "I don't know if that green flame is a curse, but it is indeed very powerful."

"That flame is related to subspace," Tirian said, "He gained this strange power after falling into subspace, so it is no problem to call it a curse."

"...So, the fact that the flame is more powerful than what you saw half a century ago means that Captain Duncan's connection with subspace is even deeper than before," old Bishop Valentine said thoughtfully, "Therefore, I didn't break free from the influence of subspace, but instead sank deeper—but correspondingly, I recovered in that process?"

"...That doesn't fit your understanding of subspace." Tirian shook his head.

"The followers of Lachemann often say a sentence," Valentine said, "Your only understanding of subspace is that you can never understand it—for thousands of years, except for the Ship of the Lost, no person or thing from the real dimension has been able to return to this world after entering subspace, and apart from some indirect observation records and the fragmented words written by the mad scholars of the ancient Kuke Teutonic Kingdom in their madness, no one knows what exactly exists outside of subspace... Your ‘summary of the laws' of this place is actually so lacking as to be meaningless."

"From the day you and Luke Hessia took over the command of the Sea Mist and the Brilliant Star, I would often mention this matter."

"Eighteen hundred years later, the mad scholar Bairmin was devoured by invisible beings in front of everyone's eyes after reading an ancient scroll. Before disappearing, he shouted, ‘Subspace is the shadow on the back of the world.’ At that time, his words drove one hundred and seventy-seven eyewitnesses mad, but with the madness of those one hundred and seventy-seven eyewitnesses as a ‘sacrifice,’ this piece of information also became the biggest step you have taken in understanding subspace for thousands of years."

"But in your father's mouth, he called the current mortal world the ‘last pastoral era.’"

"You know that sounds like a somewhat clichéd statement, like the doomsday theorists' ravings that emerge every year, but it is indeed something that the most insignificant explorer in the world a hundred years ago was thinking about day and night."

"Is that so..."

Qi Bi thought for a while and asked, "So, he fell into subspace in order to find a way to stop this ‘countdown’?"

"Yes... Whether you can only confirm that I did enter this mist, and don't know if I really succeeded in ‘penetrating’ it," Tirian said, "I refused the escort of the escorting warships at the time. What I can be sure of is that I did return alive from there—in a state tainted with madness. As for falling into subspace... that happened after that."

"Received several people?" Valentine immediately became serious, "What kind of people? What was the situation at the time?"

"Until now, scholars are still trying to construct a theoretical model of subspace based on Bairmin's dying cry... and your father, really entered this place, and even often returns to your world now."

Also reflected in your eyes is a cluster of almost imperceptible, ghostly green sparks, Tirian paused, and looked around, "Is there a pen?"

"Your Grace, do you think that having lived for a hundred years, I would know the Heralds of the End?" Tirian heavily shook his head, "You used to believe that too, but these people are definitely Heralds of the End who are unfamiliar to you—they are rational and friendly, and there is no trace of madness on them."

"Good," Duncan immediately took a pen and paper from the side, "Here you are."

"Rational and friendly?" Valentine blinked and said thoughtfully, "I have indeed heard that there are rational Heralds of the End... What other characteristics do these people have?"

They saw an octagonal emblem, with a fragmented, cross-like pattern in the center of the emblem. Tirian's lines were obviously firm when drawing this cross, as if his memory had not yet faded.

Valentine and Duncan fell silent at the same time. After a while, Duncan took the initiative to break the silence, "Then did I find the so-called Normal 203? You know, theoretically..."

"No, I wanted to go find Normal 203—I believe Normal 203 can end the distortion of the world and stop this countdown. To this end, I passed through the ‘Eternal Veil’ at the end of the world."

Qi Bi frowned, "To be honest, I don't think your world can be considered ‘stable’..."

The strange pattern on the paper was reflected in his eyes.

Tirian sighed softly and continued.

"The end of the world." Tirian raised his head and said seriously.

Qi Bi muttered softly, his eyes still fixed on the paper.

Valentine's expression was a little strange, "Heralds of the End? That sounds a lot like..."

"That's just wishful thinking," Valentine spread his hands, "You can't expect ‘Captain Vanna’ to cooperate with mortals' research. Moreover, although I am now rational, you can't rashly assume that my rationality is biased towards the human side—if I am a rational subspace invader, that will be far more terrifying than those chaotic projections that can't think."

"I seem to think that there is some kind of... countdown in your world, or some kind of time limit. Although the mortal world seems stable and peaceful on the surface, the countdown has actually approached its end, and as long as the time comes, it will quickly enter collapse and termination. No one can reverse or stop that process, and I think... your era is the last tick of the countdown."

Valentine frowned slightly, "Doomsday?"

"...Never seen it," Valentine immediately looked at it for a long time, and hesitated to shake his head, "It doesn't look like any known religious symbol, nor does it look like something used by classical city-states."

Tirian did not speak for a while, as if he had fallen into deep memory and thought. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly opened his mouth, "Before embarking on the last expedition, I was anxious and uneasy for a while... Yes, to be generous, it seems that I have been anxious about something since I don't know when, and have been making many... chilling preparations for it."

This may be the first time in a century that someone has heard these crucial secrets from the descendants of Captain Vanna!

Speaking of this, the learned old man paused, and then sighed leisurely, "Even, you can't even be sure whether subspace is a place at all—"

Duncan frowned and looked at the pattern for a long time, then turned to look at Valentine, "You know more, do you recognize this thing?"

This time, Tirian recalled for a longer time. After a full few minutes, he suddenly raised his head, "One of them said a few words to me at the time. I can't remember the specific content, just very unusual greetings, but I remember they called themselves ‘humble seekers of the Way,’ and..."

Duncan thought for a moment and asked, "Then do you know why your father initially thought there was a ‘countdown’ in the world? When did he develop this kind of cognition? Was it contact with some inducement, or... did he discover something?"

"Yes, researching every year, people die every year, and the dead are quickly replenished and continue to research... So he admired the fearless scholars of the Academy of Truth quite a bit, a completely complimentary admiration," Tirian sighed and shook his head, then his voice was slightly low, "So, now your ‘father’ may really become a valuable sample? A sample who has really been to subspace and is rationally communicative?"

Tirian recalled carefully for a moment, and said a little uncertainly, "I... It's too long ago, too long ago, but I vaguely remember that I received several people on the Ship of the Lost, and had long talks with them—I first mentioned the problem of the end of the world to you before that day."

"Theoretically, there is no normal or anomaly with the number zero, you know, and I did return without success," Tirian said excitedly, "So you always thought that I might have been a little abnormal when I decided to go find Normal 203."

Tirian took the pen and paper, lowered his head and drew a pattern on the coffee table. Valentine and Duncan curiously leaned over.

Valentine was taken aback, "You passed through the Eternal Veil?!"

"They were all wearing gray-white coarse cloth robes, barefoot. In my impression... they were very thin, the kind of emaciated appearance after experiencing asceticism, as if they had experienced a very long journey. They suddenly appeared on the ship during the voyage of the Ship of the Lost, as if they had already agreed with Father to board the ship as guests," Tirian said slowly, "And after the long talk, Father said the guests had left, but you didn't see them leave the ship. These people seemed to disappear out of thin air."

Qi Bi couldn't help but ask, "What were you anxious about? And what were you preparing for?"

"Roughly that kind of pattern—one of them was wearing such an amulet, and this amulet seemed very important. He wouldn't let you touch it, only saying that it was our guide and protection on the path of seeking the Way."

Qi Bi immediately exchanged glances with Qi Ji, and their expressions became serious at the same time.