Met the patrol fleet of the Church at the border?

Lucretia was stunned for a moment when she heard this question, and then quickly recalled with a frown: "I guess last month, I met the ship of the Fire Bearer in the border waters...... Church patrols have not been seen since. However, it may also have something to do with the fact that I haven't been near the border as often lately. ”

"Not really, Miss Lucrecia," Sarah Mel shook her head, "not because you haven't been to the border lately, but because the Church of the Four Gods does have a large number of people who were supposed to patrol the border to do something else—about half. ”

"Reduced border patrols?" Lucretia was surprised, "What are they doing?" ”

"I don't know, the Ark of Pilgrimage has its own secrets, and like the city-states, they don't report to me the whereabouts of the ships and men," Sarah Mel said, "but as far as I know, the forces that have been taken away have not been added to the 'internal routes', but are still stuck at certain points on the border, do you know what I mean?" They simply stopped patrolling and assembled at some special locations near the Veil of Eternity, as if waiting for further orders, or in ...... Be prepared for what bigger troubles. ”

The city-state archon paused when he said this, then looked into Lucrecia's eyes, and said in a particularly solemn tone: "This kind of thing has never happened before. ”

“…… When an elf says something 'hasn't happened before,' it's a serious thing," Lucrecia couldn't help but say the old adage among explorers, "I think I see what you mean." ”

"Yes, ma'am—something is wrong in our world, the Lost Country has issued a warning to the whole world, and an 'ordinary person' like me can also detect the 'atmosphere' where the crisis is gradually progressing and things are starting to go wrong, so it is impossible for the Church of the Four Gods, who have been observing and protecting the whole world for thousands of years, not to notice something, and of course they have begun to take action."

Sarah Mayer said, gesturing to the letter with the Church of the Four Gods logo.

"This letter links their recent unusual 'move' to the warning from the Lost Land, I think...... The leaders of the Ark of Hajr must have discovered or confirmed the 'root' of something your father mentioned in his warning, and they found the problem to be bigger, bigger than anyone had imagined.

"In the face of this 'big problem', vigilance against the Lost is no longer important, even if the ship is still connected to the subspace, and even if there is even a possibility of falling into the subspace again, they can't care about it - as long as your father is still on the side of the 'mortals'."

When the archon had finished speaking, Lucrecia did not speak for a long time, and she looked down at the letter again, as if still in thought.

After some time, Sarah Meier broke the silence: "So can I ask now?" Lady Lucrecia, your father, the legendary Captain Duncan...... What are you doing now? What do you want to do next? ”

He was taking the children, and then he was going to take the two girls to the city to find something that normal humans could eat......

Some unreliable associations popped up in Lucrecia's mind for a moment, but she quickly brushed them aside and made her expression serious again: "He's very interested in the 'falling object' I found, and although I don't know why, he seems to be ...... Knowing the origin of the 'stone ball' in the center of the falling object, he mainly came to it this time. ”

"He knows where the 'stone ball' came from?" Sarah Melton looked surprised.

"Yes, he called the sphere 'the moon,' and according to him, the sphere was original...... Or that the volume of the 'normal' should be very, very large," Lucrecia said, nodding, "and he was curious to inquire about the physical properties of the 'moon' and the composition of the surface samples. ”

"Moon......" Sarah Mayer's brow furrowed slightly, but after thinking about it for a long time, he shook his head, "I've never heard of that name. ”

"Neither did I, my father said, that no one in this world would know the name," said Lucrecia, "and he seemed to be in a ...... mood when he said this Not very good. ”

Sarah Meyer didn't speak for a moment, and after a moment of thought, he broke his silence: "The outpost research team has recently collected some samples from the surface of that 'stone ball', and is currently doing analysis, since your father is very interested in this matter, I will let them share information with you at any time, and I will explain the situation to the person in charge of each facility in advance, if your father wants to 'see with his own eyes' some of the research results, it is okay." ”

Lucretia raised her eyebrows: "Not worried about causing panic?" ”

"You've swaggered into the city with him," Sarah Mel spread her hands helplessly, "Do you know how many people in this city know his face?" ”

"But as long as there is no public publicity, I guess many people would rather believe that it is just a face that looks like it - it is more reasonable for someone who looks exactly like Captain Duncan to go sightseeing in the city than to go to the city in the shadow of subspace."

"It's scary enough to look exactly the same, ma'am," Sarah Mayer smiled wryly, "you know since your father...... Since then, the captains of the Infinite Seas have not even grown beards? ”

"Then it's none of my business, and my father didn't shave them."

Sarah Melton choked up and glared for a long time before waving her hand: "Well, let's not talk about that—ma'am, I want to know the most truthful situation, your father...... What is the state now? ”

It was evident that Mr. Archon tried his best to make his question less rude, but he also knew that it would be a bit offensive to ask such a question in front of the "witch of the sea" in any case—and he could only ask it head-on.

Thankfully, Lucrecia didn't show much dissatisfaction.

"As I've learned before, he did lose a lot of his memories, and the subspace destroyed his sanity and personality for a time, and now Duncan Abnomar...... In fact, strictly speaking, he is already a completely 'reorganized' person," the "witch" expression was a little complicated, but she still did not hide what she knew, "I can still find some traces of the past in him, as well as a familiar aura and majesty, and he also has a vague impression of me, but that's all." ”

She paused, pondered her vocabulary for a moment, and continued, "If you ask me how I feel, I have a feeling that there is something else hidden in him - don't be nervous, Sarah Mayer, I don't mean subspace, but some ...... Not dangerous, but something I've never seen before. It seems to be another personality, and it seems like a lot of personality and information are superimposed......"

"I don't understand what that means," Sarah Meyer frowned, "can you make it a little more plain?" ”

Lucrecia thought for a moment and explained with great patience: "This time, when I first met him, I briefly heard countless noises, and saw undulating and wriggling lights and shadows, which should be mild symptoms of mental pollution, but this pollution subsided quickly and did not leave any effect on me, and in this pollution, I caught a glimpse of countless dots of glow escaping from behind him, which looked ...... It looks like a starry sky floating between the deep sea and the spirit world.

"At first, when I hadn't seen those 'starlights', my feeling for my father was a huge 'nothingness', I looked at his body standing there, but I couldn't find the sense of the other person's actual existence, but with the appearance of those noises and lights, my perception of him stabilized, and I was finally able to ...... with him Or, strictly speaking, normal communication with the body. ”

Sarah Mayer's expression became extraordinarily serious: "How long did this process last?" ”

"For a moment," Lucretia said, "and it happens at the edge of reason and perception - I suspect that most people will not be able to perceive this process, and those who are able to perceive it due to their high spiritual vision will be so absorbed by the starlight that they will not be aware of the instantaneous 'nothingness' of the body. ”

Sarah Meier was silent for half a minute, then spoke thoughtfully: "It sounds like it's because your attention is always on your 'father' that you can perceive this short 'process'...... Lady Lucrecia, these descriptions make me a little uneasy, and give me the feeling that ......"

"I know what you're trying to say—you may think that the ephemeral 'starlight' is the 'real' of Duncan Abnomar today, and that the 'captain returning from subspace' is only part of the starlight mimicry, like the sea monster's tentacles poking out of the sea to lure sailors."

Sarah Mel frowned, "Isn't that so?" ”

Lucrecia just shook her head slightly.

"I have my own judgment, Mr. Archon, and I know that is him, and though he now exhibits some disturbing 'qualities', and even the way of being has become incomprehensible and indescribable, the starlight is him, at least in part."

Sarah Mayer listened quietly for a long time before she spoke solemnly, "It sounds emotional, ma'am, but I know you're not an emotional person—so I can only hope that your judgment is correct, at least that it is based on your 'intuition', which has always been accurate, and not of longing." ”

"You can trust my judgment," Lucrecia said solemnly, gesturing to the letter on the table, "or, at least, believe in the 'Four-Divine Witness.'" ”

(End of chapter)