Chapter 1 The Silent Saint

The Storm Goddess, Gomona's, statue stood silently in the Grand Cathedral, as always, dignified, mysterious, and silent.

That veil seemed to cover not only the goddess's face, but also a certain connection between the mortal world and the divine. For the first time, Vanna realized that she actually did not understand, and could not even comprehend, what kind of existence the deity she worshipped was.

All along, she had simply and naturally believed in everything related to storms and the deep sea, never thinking about it like she was today, never considering analyzing the relationship between the deity and herself from a qualitative perspective.

Suddenly, Vanna woke up from her brief contemplation, feeling her heart beating rapidly, and a layer of cold sweat on her back.

Thinking breeds heresy, and the divine cannot be spied upon.

She couldn't believe that those almost heretical thoughts had actually sprung from her own mind – questioning the "actions" of the deity was almost tantamount to heresy.

However, the next moment, she felt the gentle sound of waves ringing in her ears. The gaze and comfort from the goddess surged forth as usual, further relieving the pain accumulated in this body and soothing her spirit.

Even in this Grand Cathedral, even with such wavering thoughts in her mind, the goddess remained the same… Was it because the gods are ignorant, or because the Lord does not care?

"...Do you really not need to rest?" Valentine's voice suddenly came from beside her, interrupting Vanna's wandering thoughts again. The old man looked at the hardworking young city judge with some concern. In his memory, Vanna had never been in such a distracted state in front of the goddess. "You look dazed… Physical injuries are easy to heal, but mental fatigue can be troublesome."

"I…" Vanna hesitated, "Maybe I am a little tired."

"Then go and rest. Leave the follow-up matters to me," Valentine said immediately, and then quickly added before she could say anything, "I just received news that Mr. Dante has returned to his residence safely. I think… your family should need you now, and you need your family."

"Uncle…" Vanna was stunned for a moment. The scene of saying goodbye to her uncle before appeared in her mind. A strange feeling touched her heart, finally dispelling her last insistence. "Okay, then I'll leave first. I'll leave this place to you."

"Go in peace," Valentine nodded gently. "May the storm protect you."

"...May the storm protect you," Vanna said softly.

A dark gray steam car drove out of the church square and, after passing through the cordoned-off intersection of the central district, first headed towards the governor's mansion.

Vanna sat in the passenger seat of the car, driven by Hedy, who had just finished his inquiry in the church.

"Thanks, I have to trouble you to give me a ride," Vanna said softly to her friend, watching the scenery outside the window recede, "You could have left earlier."

"There's no need to be so polite with me," Hedy said casually, holding the steering wheel, while observing the road conditions. "And I couldn't have left any earlier. That young monk asked me a lot of questions, and in the end, he made me burn incense for half a day. They are all necessary 'safety measures' - and by the time all of that was done, it was almost evening."

Vanna looked out the window and saw the city guards and guardians patrolling the roads. Some citizens, still in shock, were hurrying across the streets, and some people who looked like they had just come out of the shelters were asking passers-by about the situation. From time to time, she could see security officers with megaphones standing at intersections, informing the nearby people of the latest situation – which was nothing more than the city being interfered with by visions, the danger being eliminated, and a level three curfew being imposed tonight.

Prand seemed to be recovering from a serious illness. The order in the city-state was still chaotic, but even such a chaotic and tense scene made Vanna feel an unspeakable sense of good fortune and… warmth.

Fear and tension were proof of being alive. Only those who survived the disaster were qualified to be uneasy at this moment - and the rising sun the next day would be the best comfort for Prand.

"Are you okay? You look so tired," Hedy noticed Vanna's fatigue and absentmindedness even while driving.

"I've never seen you so listless since I was a kid - I almost thought you were forged from a steel plate."

"...If I told you that I killed my way through the entire city-state alone when the fire rain fell, would you believe it?" Vanna glanced at her friend. In fact, after leaving with Hedy, her spirit had gradually relaxed. "I'm exhausted."

"I believe it, of course I believe it. After all, it's you. I would believe you even if you said you killed your way back from the subspace," Hedy didn't even change her expression after hearing what she said, and nodded as a matter of course. Then she suddenly looked Vanna up and down, "No wonder you're so weak…"

Vanna felt uncomfortable being looked up and down by the other party: "You… you have a strange look in your eyes."

"I just suddenly had an idea," Hedy said with a serious face, "Do you want to go to the marriage assistance center for a run now?"

"...Why?"

"It's rare that you're so weak, maybe there are people you can't beat now, which doesn't violate your second vow back then - to do your best in any battle," Hedy's train of thought seemed to have completely taken off, and she didn't even notice Vanna's increasingly distorted expression, "Otherwise, after you go home and sleep, you'll be invincible again, and the marriage assistance center will have to send people to the hospital every now and then…"

Vanna slightly clenched her fist.

The sound of the air exploding made Hedy quiet down instantly.

After being quiet for two seconds, Hedy muttered again, "If you don't want to, you don't want to. You've been threatening me since you were a kid. You ate my lunch…"

The car then fell silent. After a few seconds of silence, Vanna suddenly opened her mouth softly, "Thank you, I feel much calmer."

"That's right, after all, I'm the best psychiatrist in Prand - and you do need a good state to face Mr. Dante," Hedy showed a smile as if her plan had succeeded. Then, the car stopped smoothly under her control, "You're home. My invincible knight, cheer up. All of us got our lives back today."

Got our lives back…

Hedy just said it casually, but Vanna didn't know why she thought of a sentence often said by the followers of the Death Redemption Sect.

Survival is not an inherent right, but an item for which the price has been paid in advance.

Vanna lowered her eyes, took a light breath, thanked and said goodbye to her friend, and then got out of the car and walked towards her house not far away.

Hedy silently watched Vanna's leaving figure in the car. After a while, she started the car, turned around, and drove towards her own home.

Is Father safe now? If he is safe, then… what is he doing at this moment?

Chapter 2 Fishing

Outside the ship, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a storm suddenly rose. The wind was whipping up huge waves, crashing against the high hull of the *Lost Country*. And under the deep dark sea, it seemed that some indescribable behemoth had been provoked, releasing monstrous malice towards this world.

Through the porthole, one could see the giant wrapped in burning flames standing at the bow of the ship, the burning chains extending into the sea. And a behemoth with a large number of tentacles, its size almost equivalent to the *Lost Country*, was rolling wildly under the water, constantly probing its tentacles, which were covered with countless sharp teeth and eyeballs, out of the sea and climbing onto the side of the ship, seemingly wanting to break free from the shackles of the chains, or drive the *Lost Country* out of this sea area.

Inside the room, the lights fueled by energy oil were bright, but they could not dispel the tension and fear. Shirley was already huddled in a ball, hugging A'Gou, listening to the movements outside with a horrified expression. A'Gou, on the other hand, was straining his neck to avoid being strangled to death, while confirming with Alice with wide eyes: "You you you… you confirm the captain… the captain is fishing?!"

"Yes," Alice nodded firmly and calmly, with an expression that seemed to say, "You city people are just making a fuss." "Fishing is the captain's biggest hobby!"

"I finally know why you react that way every time you talk about Mr. Duncan's fish…" Shirley finally realized something and said to A'Gou with a mournful face, "I… I should have known when I was eating it…"

Before she could finish her words, Maurice, who had been closing his eyes across the table, suddenly opened his eyes. The old gentleman looked at the girl opposite him with a horrified expression: "You - you have eaten Mr. Duncan's caught… um… fish?"

"How would I know!" Shirley was about to cry, and while speaking, she turned her head to look at Nina, "You… you didn't tell me that your uncle's fish were caught like this…"

"I don't know either." Nina shook her head, but the expression on her face was not as exaggerated as the others, but rather a bit… excited. She leaned her head to the side, looking at the scene on the deck through the dirty window, and those tentacles rushing out of the water did not make her feel fear, but only made her feel novel. "What do you think… how do those things eventually turn into fish?"

Objectively speaking, Nina's current performance was actually no different from when she was in the city-state, as cheerful as ever, as lively and sunny as ever. But this kind of performance is normal in a peaceful city, but it is a bit scary if it is still the case in the "hunting scene" of the *Lost Country*. And it was under such circumstances that Shirley finally seemed to discover the incredible side of Nina: "...You uncle and you are too terrible, really…"

Nina scratched her hair, her expression a little puzzled: "Is it? I think it's okay…"

As she was speaking, Alice suddenly stood up and walked outside.

Shirley immediately became a little nervous: "Ah, what are you going to do?"

"To prepare dinner," Alice said as a matter of course, "The captain is about to catch that big fish."

Alice left, leaving several "visitors" who had boarded the ship by accident, looking at each other in the cabin.

"I… I want to go home…" Shirley hugged A'Gou tightly, with an expression that she was about to cry.

The red light in A'Gou's bloodshot eye sockets flickered on and off, "You're strangling me to death…"

Maurice then suddenly sighed.

Seeing this, Nina quickly asked: "Teacher, why are you sighing?"

"I think I can write a book after I go back," Maurice thought for a while, spreading his hands, "I'm just worried that my daughter will think there's something wrong with my mind…"

Nina: "…"