The dock where the Anthem of the Seas once departed is still empty—but the ship that returned during the wrong time window in 1675 will never be able to return to this place again.
“I have an impression of this place too…”
The sailor muttered, looking towards the pier illuminated by high-power lights. The piers extending from the motor port are like the outstretched limbs of a giant beast, with each limb pointing to the endless night in the distance. In this place far away from the lights of civilization, it seems that as long as you leave those piers with lights, you will forever melt into the darkness outside - it takes a lot of courage to set out from here and head towards the dark fog.
"We have arranged three escort ships—they will also serve as pilots," Helena said. "After they are fully prepared, they will enter the veil with you and take you to the 'lighthouse' where the Sea Song last sent back a signal. You will continue from there and cross the six-nautical-mile critical line. The three warships serving as pilots will stay near the lighthouse and wait for you to return."
Duncan didn't say anything, but just nodded slightly. Lucrecia beside him asked curiously, "How long will you wait here?"
"Forever," Helena said calmly, "there will be no new border patrol missions. The eternal curtain is gradually collapsing. More and more ships are encountering incredible dangerous changes. Most cruise routes are no longer navigable. Therefore, except for the necessary fixed monitoring points, all cruise fleets are gradually shrinking to the interior of the Boundless Sea. This mobile port will stay here, and my incarnation will also stay here until you come back. Or..."
She didn't say anything else, but just took a long breath and looked up at Duncan: "I look forward to your safe return."
"We will return safely," Duncan crossed his arms and calmly stared at the veil of fog in the distance. "The Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star have both returned from that critical line before, and now we have the 'route' left by Captain Kalani - nothing can stop us from coming back."
Helena nodded slightly.
Afterwards, Duncan led his crew to rest for a while in the border base until the three escort ships responsible for the navigation mission were ready - at a not-so-special moment in the long night, they set off.
Three new warships flying the emblem of the Deep Sea Church and two "ghost ships" that have been around for a century left the dock with the loud whistles coming from the mobile port.
The bright lights in the direction of the port were gradually left behind, and the surroundings were slowly left with only the increasingly dark night. The thick fog that seemed to be constantly swelling and squirming like a living thing and appeared pitch black under the night sky showed an increasingly terrifying pressure in the field of vision.
Duncan stood on the towering stern deck, but he couldn't help but look back in the direction of the port. As the distance got farther, the lights there became dimmer. Suddenly, he recalled the words that the last Cretan said to him - walk with your back to the light.
The End Survey Team had been traveling against the light, and the Sea Song had also been traveling against the light when it set out from here, and now... it was the turn of the Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star.
Following the path opened up by those who went to die, each time they walked against the light, they could advance a farther distance - now, the Lost Homeland finally had the opportunity to touch the true "end" of this world.
Alice stood beside Duncan. The puppet's eyes were completely attracted by the majestic and dark fog in the distance. As it got closer, she looked up more and more, and finally exclaimed at the curtain: "Wow... It's scarier than when I saw it at daybreak... Boer."
After raising her head past a certain angle, the doll's head fell off her neck without any surprise. Duncan reached out and grabbed Alice's hair without even looking at it. He held it in front of him and muttered helplessly, "When will you learn this lesson..."
Alice blinked her eyes: "Captain, don't scratch your hair, it's... losing your hair..."
Duncan casually threw Alice's head to her hands that were stretched out to grab things. Alice quickly pressed her head against her neck, then touched a hair that had just fallen off. She held it in her hands and muttered with great distress, "Another one... Poor Kalinifoskina Portitas Angevestan Levogeny IV..."
Duncan was stunned: "... The names you gave them are so outrageous?"
Alice didn't say anything either, just lowered her head, and with a sad face, she carefully wrapped the long silver hair of her name around her fingers.
Duncan shook his head when he saw this: "... Be careful not to get it stuck in your knuckles. It took me a lot of effort to clean the hair out of your knuckles last time."
As he spoke, he looked up at the "Eternal Curtain" that was gradually approaching the front of the Lost Homeland, and then suddenly, he began to frown.
The thick fog seemed to be getting darker - when he was close enough, he gradually realized that the darkness of the fog was no longer simply due to the night, but the color of the fog itself was changing.
Because according to common sense, even at night, something like "fog" should be light-colored. When light shines on it, its true color should not be so dark and gloomy.
He immediately called Vanna, who was guarding the front deck, in his heart and asked her about this matter. The latter quickly contacted the pilot ship ahead and received a reply.
"The color of the fog has been changing slowly over the past two days," Vanna reported in the mental connection, "probably after the Sea Song crossed the six-nautical-mile threshold—but only the surface of the fog has changed. After going deeper into the veil, it is still a normal light-colored fog."
She paused, as if she was still discussing the details with her fellow church members, and then continued, "Scholars have done a lot of inspections. Apart from the change in the color of the surface fog, the fog has not changed in any other way. It is not poisonous... It seems that there is something wrong with the attribute of 'color' in this shallow layer..."
Listening to the report from Vanna, Duncan nodded slowly with a serious expression, and in his field of vision, the dark fog had gradually covered the bow of the Lost Homeland.
All ships reduced their speed and turned on various warning lights on their hull outlines. The lead ship, the Lost Homeland, and the Brilliant Star began to approach each other and maintained a distance that would ensure no accidents - visibility on the surrounding sea was rapidly decreasing, and the fleet members had to stay close to each other to avoid getting separated, but they had to be careful to avoid collisions.
Then, blazing green flames began to rise around the hull of the Lost Homeland - the spiritual fire that rose into the air dispelled the dark fog around it to a certain extent, and reflected the hazy outlines of the surrounding ships in the flowing fog.
The dispersed black mist swirled around the fleet like a thick and undulating veil.
After the fire was ignited, Duncan was still frowning and staring at the black mist, then suddenly walked towards the captain's room.
"Hey, Captain, where are you going?" Alice asked in surprise.
"I'll be away for now," Duncan waved his hand, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
As he spoke, he called his first mate in his heart: "Goathead, take over the Lost Homeland. I'm going to 'leave' for a while. If I'm not back after approaching the six-mile critical line, notify the others to wait for a while."
"Roger that, Captain."
In less than a moment, Duncan arrived at the door of the captain's room - in front of him, the "Gate of the Lost Homelanders" still stood silently.
He took a deep breath and then pushed the door open.
The slightly cool breath and the trance of reset perception flashed by as usual. Zhou Ming shook his head and found that he was back in the familiar single apartment.
There was still the same grayish-white fog outside the window. The thick fog blocked everything and blocked the cabin.
But this time Zhou Ming did not check the windows - he did not walk towards the room, but turned back and looked in the direction he came from.
The door of the apartment was open, and outside the door was a thick black fog.
On the first day, when he decided to pass through this door for the first time, there was a thick black fog surging outside the door - he passed through this black fog and came to the Lost Homeland. In a sense, this "black fog" was the gate for him to go from his own "shelter" to the boundless sea.
Zhou Ming frowned a little bit, and he recalled that he had also been curious about why everything outside the window was blocked by gray-white fog, while outside the door of the apartment was a strange and dark fog...
Now, the same black fog finally appeared at the border of the Boundless Sea.
Is this a sign of the approaching end of the world? Is it a symbol of the gradual collapse of the barrier? Or... the day I stepped through the thick fog, I was destined to arrive at a time before the end of the world -
The Sea Song, which crossed the border, did not "navigate" accurately when returning to the Boundless Sea, which caused it to fall into the time window of 1675. But when "itself" chose to pass through the black fog, it accurately arrived at the Lost Homeland in 1900 - this day was just one step away from doomsday.
“… beyond the six nautical miles of the border, time is discontinuous…
"Without accurate 'navigation', the 'time point' of crossing the six-nautical-mile critical line and returning to the boundless sea is random...
"Some method can constrain the 'time point'..."
Zhou Ming muttered softly to himself, sorting out his messy thoughts, and after a while, he slowly walked towards the room.
As he walked past the window, he suddenly stopped.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something on the window.
It was a line of blurry letters that looked like they were reflected in mist and were mirrored.
Zhou Ming found it difficult to describe in words his astonishment and shock at the moment - he was stunned for only a moment, then rushed to the window almost like the wind!
(End of this chapter)