Duncan knew that his idea was so bold and bizarre that it would seem too outrageous even in this eerie age of the deep sea - to transform a real celestial body into the ten-meter-diameter "stone ball" in front of him and make it float on the surface of the sea, which could no longer be described as delusional.

But once this thought came to him, it was difficult for him to expel it from his mind completely, and no matter how strange it felt, he couldn't help but associate it.

Because...... It's really too similar, not just the appearance, but also a strong ...... "intuition", and even a "sense of intimacy" that seems to have crossed time and the dimension of the world, is surging in his mind.

Duncan looked at the pale orb in front of him, and for a moment, he even felt that he had returned to that familiar world, staring at the ...... of his homeland Moon.

He looked at the moon as it floated beside the side of the Bright Star, and his expression remained frozen for a long time, until footsteps came from him, until Lucrecia's voice came to his ears: "Father, this is it." ”

Duncan turned his head, and at this moment, he didn't realize how strange his face was: "Ah...... Yes, that's it......"

Lucrecia, of course, noticed the strangeness in Duncan's expression and tone, she seemed to be faintly nervous, and then her tone was concerned: "Are you okay?" Your face doesn't look great...... Is there something wrong with this stone ball? ”

"It'...... Very well, thank you for your concern, Lucy," Duncan waved his hand, trying to adjust his expression, then turned his head and pointed to the stone ball, "It's ......"

He stopped.

He couldn't think of how to explain it to Lucrecia, how to describe the concept of the "moon", how to explain the other world, and how he reacted at the moment, just like he had done in front of Tirien - he didn't even know how to explain what a "planet" was.

So he could only open his mouth, and then changed the subject stiffly: "Has anything changed since it fell?" Was that how it was in the first place? ”

"Yes, that's how it was in the first place," Lucrecia nodded immediately, and then recounted the general process of discovering the falling object, adding some details about the process of transferring it to Breeze, "...... It floats in the air at a certain height above the sea surface by an unknown mechanism, and in the absence of interference, it will stay completely in place, but it can be dragged by external forces from the ship, and its interior is solid and dense, and several careful sampling has proved that its internal texture resembles that of stone, but so far we have only collected relatively shallow components - the deeper you go, the harder it becomes, and the drill bit can't drill at all......"

Duncan listened quietly and asked, "Besides?" What else did you find? ”

"We are also trying to unravel the mysteries of the 'light' around us," Lucrecia continued, "The huge geometric glow that surrounds the 'stone ball' will constantly emit 'sunlight' on a scale that can illuminate the entire city-state, but this light does not emanate from the 'stone ball', or at least not 'shine' in the way we understand it - the light is 'generated' directly in the nearby space and then evenly spread outward.

"To verify this, we built a large canopy that completely enveloped the stone balls, which proved to have no effect on the luminous geometry and the 'sunlight' on the nearby sea......

"In addition, we have confirmed that the surface of the stone ball is covered with a very, very fine layer of 'dust', which is 'attached' to the stone ball by an unknown force, and although it can be scraped off for sampling, it will not 'fall' from the sphere without the influence of an external force, even the dust at the bottom of the sphere, as if some invisible force 'adsorbs' them......"

Lucrecia did her best to explain to Duncan the various tests that scholars had done on the "stone ball" so far, explaining what she knew so far.

In the process, she has been paying attention to the changes in Duncan's expression, trying to guess what kind of mood is hidden under her father's overly serious and solemn expression at the moment.

However, she couldn't see through it, all of her father's thoughts seemed to be shrouded in a thick cloud, shrouded in the depths of that familiar and unfamiliar majestic face, and the only thing she knew for sure was that her father really cared about the "stone ball" - more than she and Tirion had imagined.

After a long silence, Duncan finally spoke: "You did a lot of sampling? ”

"Yes, surface samples have been scraped from various parts of the ball, and this sampling is still ongoing," Lucrecia nodded, "The depth of the ball is very hard and difficult to sample, but its surface is relatively 'loose' and can scrape off grayish-white debris that exhibits the same properties as stone dust......"

Speaking of this, she paused, looked at Duncan with some hesitation, and then raised her hand to the floating platform used to study the stone ball not far away: "Do you want to go over there with me?" ”

“…… Good. ”

Duncan and Lucrecia arrive at the "Research Station" built by the elves, and use the bridge on the upper level of the Research Station to a platform that is directly connected to the surface of the stone sphere.

The diameter of ten meters is insignificant for a celestial body, but as an object close at hand, it is still considered a behemoth, even if it does not count the height at which it floats on the surface of the sea, the diameter of the sphere itself alone is actually more than three stories high.

The elves fixed a platform around the "waist" of the behemoth and secured it with a hoop around the ball and a series of anchors and diagonal braces, the platform was small, only a few square meters square, but large enough to settle down.

Duncan stood on the platform, reaching forward and gently touching the ...... Moon.

The rough, cold touch came from the fingertips, like stroking a stone.

He withdrew his hand, looked at the little gray-white dust stained on his fingertips, rubbed his fingers, and let the gray-white dust slowly fall.

Some dust slowly drifted towards the orb, falling back onto its surface.

"This phenomenon is also very puzzling," Lucrecia's voice came from the side, "the dust scraped off the sphere seems to be attracted by the sphere itself, and when it is close enough, the debris will actively return to the surface of the sphere, but this 'attraction' only exists between the substance of the sphere itself, and we have tested it with other light powders......"

Duncan hummed, but didn't say much.

"I heard my brother say that you call this strange stone ball 'the moon,'" Lucrecia said, cautiously observing Duncan's reaction, "and you looked thrilled when you saw it...... Do you know anything about this stone ball? ”

"It'......" Duncan hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke slowly, "It's not what I know, it should be big, far bigger than it is now......"

"Big?" Lucrecia blinked, "Is it bigger than the Lost Country?" ”

"Much bigger than that."

"Bigger than the Ark of the Church of the Four Gods? Or bigger than a city-state? ”

Duncan shook his head: "Bigger, it's unimaginably bigger." ”

“…… Could it be bigger than the Infinite Sea? ”

"I haven't measured the boundless sea, but ...... Perhaps," said Duncan as if to himself, "perhaps it is bigger than the Infinite Sea, for the sea, which is called 'Boundless,' is in essence nothing more than a cage surrounded by mist." ”

Lucrecia's eyes widened.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of her childhood, and the few questions and answers seemed to suddenly go back a century, triggering memories that had long been sleeping in the deepest part of her mind—she vaguely remembered that she had asked her father similar questions many, many years ago.

At that time, she asked her father how big this endless sea was.

Her father told her that the sea was very large, bigger than the Lost Country, bigger than the city-state—it was, as its name suggested, vast enough to hold a lifetime of curiosity and impulse to explore.

She memorized it and followed in her father's footsteps to become an explorer, a "frontier scholar", as a member of the lost fleet, she followed her father to many places, including the distant and unpredictable "border", she felt that her father did not deceive herself in her childhood - this sea, really big.

But now her father tells her that the "Infinite Sea" is just a cage surrounded by mist.

The "stone ball" in front of me, which was only ten meters in diameter, should have been bigger than the Boundless Sea.

Lucrecia narrowed her eyes and looked up at the "moon" in front of her, trying to imagine it being bigger than the endless sea, but for the first time she felt that her imagination was so limited—not only could she not understand what her father was saying, but she could not even imagine it.

"Such a big 'moon'...... How much space does it take to fit it? She couldn't help but ask, "Like you said, it's even bigger than this ......."

The Infinite Sea is not the whole world.

Duncan's instinctive thought of the phrase, but he resisted the urge to blurt it out.

Because he really hasn't measured the world, let alone passed through the fog called the "border".

He wasn't sure if this boundless sea was really all there was to this world.

And Lucrecia was destined to be unable to understand what a universe large enough to hold billions of stars would look like.

Even if she owned a ship, and that ship was named the Bright Star.

“…… I'm sorry, Lucy," Duncan finally sighed softly, he turned his head and looked into the eyes of the "Sea Witch", "I can't explain this to you. ”

(End of chapter)