When the door opened, two familiar yet surprising figures were standing at the door. One of them was Helena, who was wearing a sea-blue dress, and the other was Fram, who was exceptionally tall and had skin as textured as rock.
Two steam cars without any markings were parked at an intersection not far away. The headlights pierced the night sky. Several church guards stood quietly beside the cars, like silent sculptures in the night.
Lucrecia looked at the uninvited guest and frowned slightly: "Why do you all like to 'visit' so much now?"
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I have something important to tell you." Helena didn't care about the obvious disgust on Lucrecia's face at all. She walked into the house familiarly while speaking. "Let's go in first. Frame and I are here in secret this time. I don't want too many people to notice..."
Before Lucrecia could react, the female pope who represented the highest authority of the Deep Sea Church had already nimbly entered the door. Frame smiled awkwardly and apologized to the hostess of the mansion as he followed her in: "Sorry, sorry, Helena has always been very active - and something unusual did happen, the 'Captain' should be interested in this..."
Lucrecia couldn't stop them, so she could only turn around and stare at the two "big shots" who were forcing their way in: "Hey, you guys... This is my home!"
However, the sociable witch was unable to stop the two popes from executing their orders. She couldn't hit them, and it was difficult to stop them. By the time she realized what was happening, the two uninvited guests had already successfully invaded her house...
Duncan, who stayed in the living room, had heard the noise coming from the door. He looked up and saw Helena and Frame walking in. The former had come here with Rune to visit not long ago, but the latter was the first time he saw her in the city-state. This made him curious: "Does your Pope usually run around? Why is he so free at this time?"
Helena could hear the teasing in Duncan's words, but she didn't care at all. She just sat on the sofa opposite and said seriously, "We brought news from the gods - intelligence from outside the eternal veil."
As Helena finished speaking, Duncan had already put away the teasing expression on his face. The clues were instantly reorganized in his mind, and he instantly thought of the information just received from Lawrence - even Lucrecia, who was walking over with an impatient expression, stopped and showed a thoughtful look on her face.
Helena immediately noticed the subtle change in the atmosphere in the living room. She frowned, but before she could speak, Vanna, who was standing next to the sofa, broke the silence with a soft voice: "Sea Song?"
Helena subconsciously adjusted her sitting position: "You guys..."
"If you hadn't come to visit me today, I would have come to see you," Duncan said slowly. "I just got some news about the 'Sea Song'. It seems that this is not a coincidence... But I want to hear the intelligence you brought first. What happened to that ship?"
Helena and Frame exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded slightly. He turned to Duncan and said solemnly: "The Sea Song returned in December 1675."
The living room was a little quiet for a moment, until Shirley finally couldn't help but exclaimed and broke the silence: "What the hell? More than 320 years ago?!"
The living room suddenly became quieter. Alice calculated for a long time before carefully poking Shirley's arm: "It seems to be more than 220 years ago..."
Shirley was stunned for a moment, then she adjusted her mood: "What the hell? More than 220 years ago?!"
The two popes probably had never met someone like Shirley before: "..."
"Don't worry about it. She's not very good at math." Fortunately, Duncan was used to it and immediately waved his hand to attract Helena and Frame's attention again. "Let's get down to business. Did the Sea Song really return in 1675? How did you discover or confirm this?"
"… History has been pierced. There is a hole in the normal historical trajectory," Frame said in a low voice. "I sensed this hole, and then found the corresponding clues in the tablets left by the previous Firebearer Popes…"
He paused, as if he was organizing his words, and then continued: "In December 1675, a strange and dilapidated ship appeared on the eastern border like a phantom, and disintegrated and disappeared in the sea a short time later. The only thing people could be sure of before it disappeared was the name "Sea Song" on its side.
"This incident was recorded in the archives of the Firebearer Cathedral, but apart from the words on the slate, there is no record of it in any archive or file of the corresponding year. It is like a shadow that suddenly fell into the real dimension from the cracks of history. Only the Firebearer Pope of that year saw and remembered this illusion... In other words, only the records left by that Pope left a 'trace' in history."
"… Why did this happen?" Morris couldn't help but ask, "Is this some kind of historical pollution? Or is it tampering…"
"It is the incompleteness of time that leads to the occurrence of historical penetration events," Frame shook his head slowly. "The Sea Song must have deviated from the normal timeline due to some unexpected reasons, and then 'drifted away' in a state of no time sequence, and finally returned to this world at the time node of '1675'..."
He paused to think for a moment, then continued to explain: "It's like a rolling tire with countless dust particles stuck inside. If one of the dust particles suddenly breaks away from the inner wall of the tire and floats around randomly, then when it is absorbed by the inner wall again, it may appear anywhere on the tire."
Out of the normal timeline... Drifting in a state of no time sequence...
Listening to Frame's explanation, Duncan frowned little by little, with a thoughtful look on his face.
Lucrecia and Maurice seemed to have thought of something as well, with a hint of understanding emerging in their expressions.
Only Alice and Shirley remained clear-eyed after hearing such a theory that went beyond common sense, and they did not seem to be tainted by knowledge at all...
"So that's how it is," Lucrecia suddenly said softly, nodding slightly to Duncan, "This explains the experience of the 'sailor'."
"Sailor?" Helena looked puzzled. "What do you mean by 'sailor'..."
"The 'first mate' of the Sea Song. He still exists in this world, although... a lot has changed."
Duncan spoke. He did not hide the information he got from Lawrence. In the next ten minutes or so, he told everything he knew.
Helena and Frame looked at each other.
After a moment's hesitation, Helena suddenly said, "I need to see the 'sailor'."
"He is currently in the small city-state 'Phaeron' near the southwest border, with another group of my followers." Duncan nodded, "I can 'bring' him here at any time - but I have to consult the person concerned first."
Helena didn't seem to react for a moment: "Seeking... opinions?"
"He has experienced many things that are unimaginable to ordinary people, and perhaps the voyage of the Sea Song beyond the border completed the 'closed loop of history', and all the memories revived in his mind almost instantly," Duncan said seriously, "He may no longer be the 'First Officer of the Sea Song' you know, and he may not want to deal with the people of the Deep Sea Church anymore..."
"Well, I'm not surprised by this. I can imagine the current state of the 'sailor'." Helena looked at Duncan with a strange expression. "I'm just surprised that you respect the wishes of your followers and take care of their feelings in this matter..."
Duncan's mouth trembled suddenly: "... What kind of image do you think of me?"
Helena's face froze, and she quickly tried to make amends: "Reliable Captain, respectable explorer, although there are many misunderstandings, we think you..."
"There are countless shadows from the subspace lurking around us at any time, and the pot is stewing with children and stray dogs from all over the world..." Fram said casually.
Helena: “…”
"I didn't say that," Frame looked at Helena calmly, "that's what you two said when you were chatting with Banster before."
"… That's just an exaggeration! And that happened last year!" Helena almost jumped up, "Why are you remembering this!"
Frame's expression didn't change. He just turned his head slowly and looked at Duncan. His face was still as calm and indifferent as if it was carved from stone. "They really said that."
Duncan was silent for a few seconds and turned his head to look beside him.
Lucrecia stood beside him with a stern face.
The witch's face flushed red - not laughing out loud was her last courtesy to her father.
Duncan sighed: "... I'll contact Lawrence."
…
"That's the situation," Lawrence said seriously, sitting on the chair opposite Anomaly 077. "Captain Duncan wants to see you now, and the Pope of the Deep Sea Church is also waiting. If you are willing, you can set off immediately. The captain allowed me to use his flame to summon the messenger. Ai can send you to Breeze Harbor in an instant."
Anomaly 077 had already experienced the initial memory shock and confusion at this time. He gradually calmed down and more or less recovered his usual state.
Now he is worried.
“I… don’t know what to do,” he sighed, not hiding his hesitation from Lawrence. “I remember a lot of things, but the events before the setting sail of the Sea Song are very vague. I know I’m the first mate of the Sea Song, but this identity is like a stranger in the mirror to me… And more importantly, I lost the log…”
“If you’re concerned about Captain Kalani’s log…” Laurence hesitated, then said slowly, “Perhaps you didn’t lose it.”
The sailor was startled and raised his head suddenly: "Huh?"
“You said you remembered that you had kept Captain Kalani’s journal with you before she disappeared, and that you had kept it close to you all the time—in fact, it had been with you all the time,” Laurence looked the sailor in the eye and spoke slowly, word by word. “Do you remember what it was that had been with you all the time?”
The sailor was stunned for a moment, as if he was gradually reacting.
"We found some very faint marks on your shroud," Lawrence said.
(End of this chapter)