"Restless?" After hearing Agatha's reply, Bishop Ivan's tone changed significantly, and he stared into Agatha's eyes, "As a saint, 'restlessness is not a good sign...· … What happened? When did it start?"

"Just after returning from that polluted sewage treatment center," Agatha did not hide, knowing that the old bishop in front of her was the most trustworthy person in the entire city-state, "I always felt as if I had forgotten something, like ...... I left something in that place, but I've reviewed what happened there several times, and I haven't found anything out of place."

"That sewage treatment center ......" Bishop Ivan said in a low voice, of course he knew what Agatha was talking about, this matter had been reported to the cathedral and the city hall at that time, and the follow-up investigation and purification work was still in full swing, "I am also concerned about this matter - the surviving management personnel are still being treated in a psychiatric hospital, and the whereabouts of the original dozen employees of the treatment center are still unknown, and judging from the sampling report at the scene, You should have cleaned up the entire facility of contamination by that time – there should theoretically be nothing left behind."

"But I'm still uneasy," Agatha admitted, "and though there's no evidence, I must have overlooked something."

「…… Have you checked your mental state? What are the results of the cognitive calibration?"

"Of course it was," Agatha nodded, "whether it's self-perception calibration or a subliminal examination with the assistance of a psychiatrist, I've done it and found nothing wrong."

Bishop Ivan did not speak for a moment, and after a few seconds he broke the silence with thought: "Then it may be your own 'within', a warning—it may come from your subconscious, it may come from your spiritual vision, it may even come from your faith."

"I'll go back there and make sure," Agatha nodded, "and before that, I'm going to go to the prayer room and pray for a while—may the Lord give me some guidance."

Bishop Ivan bowed slightly: "Go, I hope prayer will ease your troubles."

Agatha snorted, got up and left the platform where the coffin was parked, and disappeared a moment later outside the door of the Sanctuary of Meditation.

The wide sanctuary was silent for a while, only the mummified Bishop Ivan was still sitting on the edge of the coffin, he looked in the direction Agatha had left, as if in deep thought, and after a while, he sighed softly, stretched out his hand and sketched on his chest the triangular emblem of Bartók, the god of death: "May the Lord guide ······"

In the silent meditation church, the candlesticks embedded in the alcoves burned silently, the flames shook silently, and the light of the candlesticks was reflected on the mirror-like black marble floor, and around those dancing flames, there seemed to be many shadowy apparitions that flashed away.

Outside Frost City, on the boundary line of the offshore area, a patrol ship flying the flag of the Frost Navy is patrolling the sea according to the prescribed route.

A naval commander came to the bow deck and frowned at the distant sea—the cold light of the Creation of the World shone from the sky, making the sparkling waves of the sea pale with a hint of paleness, and between those waves, there were occasional fragments of large and small ice floes, which fluttered in a neat direction in the distance, faintly forming an invisible "boundary line".

The Commander certainly knows what the seemingly naturally occurring "ice floes" are all about—they are

Not a "fragment of ice floe" at all, but part of the sea fog fleet.

It was the ice floe around the Sea Mist, and when the cursed ghost ship appeared on the surface of the sea, there would be such ice floes around, they symbolized the pirate captain's "sphere of influence", and it was also the embodiment of the Sea Mist's cursed power - any ship that approached the Sea Mist without permission would be the first to be baptized by those "ice floes", and the lighter ones would be hindered, and the worst ones would even be frozen directly on the sea, and everyone on the ship would become ice ghosts.

The Sea Mist often used this method to block shipping lanes, intercept merchant ships passing through its sphere of influence, and charge what it called an "ice floe disposal service fee" — in most cases, that

A ship can accomplish such a shameful act of extortion without firing a cannon at all.

Of course, the current Sea Fog Fleet has temporarily lifted the hostile relationship with the Frost Navy, and those ice floes will not actively spread to the bow of the Navy patrol ships, but their existence itself is a deterrent attitude, and the meaning it conveys is obvious;

Even if this is the door of Frost's house, further back is the sphere of influence of the Sea Mist Fleet.

The commander in the Frost Navy uniform gritted his teeth and sighed, trying to calm his mind.

The big picture is paramount, and the soldiers should obey the judgment of their superiors - the city-state needs security, and this security needs the Sea Mist fleet.

The state of blockade of the entire sea area is above all else.

"It's foggy again," a junior officer said as he came to the deck, looking into the distance and muttering, "it's foggy almost every day."

The patrol ship commander raised his head and looked at the sea ahead.

As the subordinates said, fog was rising on the sea, and a slow veil of fog was condensing on the surface of the sea little by little, spreading around the "ice floe boundary", and the brilliance of the creation of the world was permeating the fog, making it look white.

"Probably brought by the Sea Mist," the Commander frowned, "and wherever the ship went, the ice and fog followed."

"The Sea Mist isn't moving where it is," the subordinate said, "maybe it's just the 'Pirate General, trying to show off his presence?'"

"Whatever he thinks," the Commander shook his head, "let's not go near fog and ice floes - Frost can't do anything about breach of contract first."

"Yes."

The Commander snorted, then looked at the fog in the distance, and his expression was a little puzzled, "But then again...... Is the fog a little heavier than usual tonight?"

The subordinates followed the commander's gaze and saw that the fog that had spread around the ice floe was indeed expanding, and it seemed to be thicker than before, and in the depths of the fog that was getting thicker and thicker, it was faintly as if something was shaking.

"The fog is really getting bigger, ......," the junior officer muttered, "Is there something in the fog?"

「…… Something isn't right."

The patrol commander said, his expression suddenly changed slightly, and then he quickly picked up the telescope and looked in the direction of the thick fog, and after a moment of careful discernment, he finally confirmed that something was indeed shaking in the thick fog - it was large and approaching.

It's a ship!

"It's a ship, a ship coming from the Sea Mist Fleet patrol area," the Commander lowered his binoculars and spoke quickly, "Signal the lights—the Sea Mist Fleet has crossed the line, tell them to stop immediately."

"Yes!"

The junior officer replied loudly, and then ran quickly to the back of the deck, and after a few moments the large searchlights installed on the upper deck of the patrol ship came on, and a series of light signals were fired into the thick fog.

However, the shadows of the ship approaching in the dense fog showed no signs of slowing down.

The commander of the patrol ship stared at the blurred shadow in the fog, watching the other party not only slow down, but rushed over more and more rapidly, and as the other party approached, even the fog on the surrounding sea seemed to be consciously spreading - in just a few moments, the surging fog had already spread to a hundred meters around the patrol ship, and even had a tendency to surround the ship from all sides!

"Damn pirates!"

The patrol commander couldn't help but curse, turned around and ran quickly to the bridge, shouting as he rushed to the bridge, "Reverse, turn, that thing is coming straight at us - did the Sea Mist Fleet respond?"

"The light signal is not responding! There was no response to a short call!" The soldier in front of the console next to him replied loudly, "We're calling the Sea Mist on the agreed frequency, but there's no response from there······ Wait, there's a response!"

The communication light on the console suddenly turned on, and the automatic recorder began to click, and a long perforated paper tape kept spit out from the machine's mouth, and the communication soldier quickly picked up the paper tape to distinguish the marks on it, but after a moment he looked up blankly: "The Sea Mist Fleet said they didn't cross

All their ships are in place."

"All in the same place?"

The patrol commander's eyes widened, and then he jerked his head up and looked out of the porthole—the fog had reached the bow of the patrol ship, and although the helmsman was already trying to turn, it was clear that the speed of the ship's movement could not keep up with the spread of the strange fog, and between the constant surging fog, the hazy shadow was getting closer and closer.

"Turn, left full rudder, turn!"

The patrol ship leaned violently, the steam core let out a hoarse roar, and the steering rudder and side booster propellers worked together to drive the ship around in the fog with a force that seemed to disintegrate the whole ship, and in a violent shaking and a flurry of noises, the patrol commander gripped the railing beside him hard, and stared at the scene outside the porthole with wide eyes—

In the sudden burst of the fog, a massive ship rushed out almost grazing the side railing of the patrol ship.

It wasn't part of the Frost Navy, nor was it a member of the Sea Mist—it was a mottled and rusty warship of the past, with its badly damaged hull paint and outdated bow structure as if it were a silent reminder of the vicissitudes of time.

The patrol commander watched in amazement as the massive ship passed by his own patrol ship, and it took several seconds for him to suddenly react and recall the illustrations and records he had seen in an old document—

"It's the 'Warrior, Trumpet······ that sank forty years ago."