The two sides stopped at a very close distance - for large ships, it was possible to quickly return with a landing dinghy.

Duncan observed the massive Ark of Pilgrimage curiously, looking at its House facilities and towers built on the upper floors, and he saw many figures moving around the walls, some of them might be guards and sailors of the House Ark, but others who looked like ordinary scholars or apprentices in their attire, and he also saw the steam walkers, the large spider robots that climbed on the parapet at the edge of the ark, and looked far more nimble than the walkers he had seen in other city-states. Obviously there is a higher level of technology.

Duncan knew that the people on the Ark must be watching the Lost Homeland as well.

The sea was sparkling and the breeze ruffled the sea, and the sinking sunset plated the undulating waves with a layer of pale gold, but the pale golden shimmer was mixed with wisps of green, and the water with a glowing green fire centered on the Lost Land spread outward until it stopped at the edge of the Pilgrimage Ark—there was a distinct "boundary" on which Duncan could feel a clear "resistance".

The ghost ship and the church ship confronted each other quietly and silently across the sea.

After continuing to confront each other for an unknown amount of time, Duncan suddenly looked at a shadow beside him with some confusion: "What are they waiting for?" ”

"Maybe you're still watching the Lost Homeland?" Agatha's voice sounded a little hesitant in the shadows, "But they should at least send a contact......

There was a sudden silence on the bridge, and Duncan thought for a while, and finally spoke a little uncertainly: "You say, is it possible that they are trying to call the Lost Country by radio?" ”

Agatha: "...... Is there a radio on board? ”

"No, but I've always wanted to pretend to be one, and I originally had this plan when I came to Qingfeng Harbor this time......"

Agatha: "......"

At that moment, a sudden flash of light from the upper level of the Pilgrimage Ark interrupted the communication between Duncan and Agatha—and with a regular light signal, Duncan noticed the flag waving near the light.

In the end, it was the traditional and reliable lights and flags that made the difference.

"They're inviting the Lost to dock at the Ark of Pilgrimage?" Duncan discerned the meaning of the signals, and a look of surprise appeared on his face, "Are they serious?" ”

"Captain, this could be a trap," the goat's voice immediately came from the spiritual connection, with the usual conspiracy theories and natural vigilance against the church, "you beware. ”

"I understand your vigilance, but it's unlikely at a time like this," Duncan shook his head, "and whether it was a trap or not, my original plan was to meet with the people on that ark—and now that they offered to invite them, that would be a good thing." ”

As he spoke, he slowly steered the Lost and began to move closer to the massive ark not far away, while he became more cautious about the movements of the Pilgrimage Ark and the surrounding warships, and with the help of the power of the flames, his perception spread further to the surrounding sea.

Of course, he would not lose his most basic vigilance - although logically he didn't think it was a trap, it was a direct contact with the top force of one of the Church of the Four Gods, and who knew what the Pope who served the god of wisdom, Lachem, was turning his mind at the moment.

And Duncan believed that the people on that ark were probably doing the same thing—they had an invitation to the Lost Country, but were they panicking?

They panicked, too.

From their point of view - who knows what the "ghost captain" on the Lost Land will have in mind.

The Lost Land had already made contact with many city-states and church forces since its return to the real world, and Duncan knew that these "contacts" were effective, as evidenced by the Church of the Four Gods' attempt to understand the ghost ship returning from subspace, as evidenced by the Vanna who was sent to the ship, which was indeed a friendly signal, but Duncan was also clear that the Lost Country was still an elusive, mysterious, and dangerous symbol for the world.

The same is true of the Church of the Four Gods in Duncan's eyes.

Vigilance, scrutiny, temptation, contact, even if a certain degree of communication is established, and even a certain degree of tacit understanding is established, the two sides still have to carefully step towards each other again and again, confirming "safety" little by little, they want to confirm whether the ghost captain who returned to reality has true humanity, and they want to confirm whether the recent series of actions of the Lost Country are real goodwill, or camouflage driven by the chaos of subspace - and Duncan, to confirm how much tacit understanding and trust the other side has sent.

And at the same time, he was also communicating with his followers.

Morris had studied at the College of Truth—his mentor at the time was even the "Pope" who was in charge of the Academy's ark.

This is the "tradition" that distinguishes the College of Truth from other tritheistic churches – the followers of the God of Wisdom have a core doctrine of "knowledge transmission", and their system of "priesthoods" is maintained in the form of teachers and students, even the Pope.

Nearly all of the world's leading scholars have studied at the Academy of Truth, and the luckiest of them have been fortunate enough to board the Ark of the College and become students of Pope Lune.

“…… I think you can rest assured that I have communicated many things with my mentor about the Lost Country, and that of the four gods of the pope, his attitude towards the Lost Country should be the most calm, rational and objective ......"

"I'm not too worried about your mentor's 'attitude', I'm just a little curious why the Ark of Truth Academy's Pilgrimage came to Brewind Harbor in person, and so quickly," Duncan said in his heart, "You must know that Prand was so big before, and the Storm Cathedral only arrived in a hurry after the event, and the Ark of the Church of Death never appeared on the Frost side." ”

"Breeze's proximity to the border, and the Church's Ark of Pilgrimage has been patrolling the border most of the time, so it's normal for it to come quickly," Morris explained, "Breezehaven may have sent a signal for help to the academy headquarters a few days ago, and ......"

He paused abruptly at this, and only after a few seconds did he slowly continue: "In addition, more than half of the people on the Academy Ark are elves. ”

Duncan's eyes narrowed slightly.

As the Ark approached, the astonishing artifact floated in front of the Lost Land like a small city-state, part of its "side" magnified in Duncan's field of vision, and at the end it even took on a structure that could almost be called a "shoreline".

Then, with the appearance of guiding lights and flags on the "shoreline", accompanied by a low roar and the low roar of the large steam valve as it was depressurized, Duncan saw that a part of the edge of this very special "church ship" suddenly deformed, and a large structure extended from its parapet and extended into the sea.

A dock appeared there, a dock where the Lost Land could dock temporarily.

Duncan let go of the steering wheel in his hand.

The Lost Land began to adjust its position and angle on its own, carefully "watching" near the mechanical dock that extended from the Academy Ark, before finally slowly approaching the trestle.

For some reason, Duncan felt that the "action" of the Lost Country even conveyed a ...... Disgusted emotions.

Duncan's attention soon turned elsewhere, though.

He looked up at the sky above the Academy Ark.

Once again, he "saw" the strange structure that was hazy and seemed to have tentacles, like a soul that had come out of its body, a huge and indescribable ethereal spirit extending from the Ark Giant Ship, floating like a cloud above the Great Ship, with countless wrists, feet and shapes extending from the edges!

Duncan stared at the "visions" that stretched out of the Ark of the Academy.

He had seen something similar when the Cathedral of Storms visited the city-state of Purland before!

At the time, he thought it was some kind of "power" of the god worshipped by the Church of the Deep Sea, the Storm Goddess Grimna, a symbol of the power of the Deep Sea, but now it seems ...... The Ark ship of the Truth Academy also has this thing?!

Could it be that other churches have them on their ark ships?

This thing came with the four Ark ships? What the hell is it!

Duncan's mind was filled with huge doubts for a moment, and at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure appear on the "trestle" connecting the Lost Country and the Academy Ark.

He quickly gathered the jumbled thoughts in his mind and focused his attention on the "visitors" who had come down from the Academy's ark.

There were four steam walkers—they escorted a small group of men up the trestle, and then stopped halfway between the Lost Country and the Ark, hunched down on either side of the trestle, while the small group continued to walk towards the Lost Country, including an escort in the uniform of the Academy's knowledge guards, an attendant dressed as an apprentice, and at the head of the group was a short, stocky old man in a scholar's robe.

Duncan recalled Morris's previous description of his mentor.

That should be the leader of the Academy of Truth, the spokesperson of the god of wisdom Lahem in the world, and the mentor of Maurice - Lune.

The "Pope" actually ran out in person—with only such a small entourage, and went straight to the Lost Country?

Duncan's mind moved, and in the next second, his figure had turned into a stream of fire—a stream of fire that flew across the deck and finally fell straight to the end of the trestle, recondensing his figure.

The group of men who had come down from the House Ark were apparently startled by the sudden flames in front of them, and instinctively stepped forward to escort Lune, but the latter only waved his hand indifferently before smiling at Duncan as he emerged from the flames.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain Duncan Abnomar," the elven old man nodded politely and gently, "this is the first time we've met. ”

"I'm glad to meet you, too." Duncan nodded politely to the other party in the same way.

But just as he was about to say something more, he suddenly noticed a trace of abnormality in the other party.

The body of this "pope" ...... It looks faintly transparent!

(End of chapter)