As the air rushed out of the pipes, a loud and melodious whistle was heard from the upper floors of the Ark of Truth, and the Lost Country once again docked at the steam-mechanical dock at the end of the Ark's shoreline, and the knowledge guards and scholars in dark blue robes appeared on the pier, ready to welcome back their Pope.

Duncan met Rune on the aft deck, who had just come out of the captain's quarters.

The short and fat elven old man had been in the captain's room and had been talking to the "creator" of their race for a long, long time, Duncan didn't know what the other party had talked about with the goathead, he only knew that when Lune came out of the captain's room, the expression on his face looked a little dazed.

There is also a calmness that clears the mind.

He came to the "Pope of Truth" and greeted him several times, before the latter finally woke up from that dazed and unrestrained air.

"Your chapel ship is already waiting for you," Duncan said, gesturing to the giant ark that looked like a small city-state overboard, "The scholars and guards are coming to fetch you back." ”

Rune looked up and looked at it, then nodded knowingly, "Oh...... yes, it's time to go back. ”

Looking at the elven old man's reaction, Duncan couldn't help but be a little puzzled: "What did you talk to about Sasloka?" At that time, when you first got on the ship, you were not in such a state......"

"Talked...... A lot of things," Luan hesitated, as if he didn't know where to start for a moment, "many, many things. ”

Duncan frowned, and vaguely reacted: "It seems that you have seen the normal appearance of the first mate." ”

Lune suddenly stirred, as if he had really come back to his senses, he raised his head and glanced at Duncan, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking: "...... Why did He say so much? ”

"I'm even more surprised that he spoke so little in his mythical form," Duncan laughed, his smile tingling with pleasure, "and what you're seeing now is his personality when he was on my ship—strictly speaking, his personality as a 'goat's head.'" ”

Lu En opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know where to start, and after holding it for a long time, he suddenly laughed with relief: "...... There's nothing bad about it, He seems to like it. ”

There was silence on the deck for a while, and no one seemed to pay attention to the Ark of Pilgrimage, which was waiting for the Pope's return, and it took a while for Duncan to break the silence: "How are you going to deal with the 'truth' of this incident?" Especially the part about Saskocca. ”

"Most of the content will be limited to the upper echelons of the Church of the Four Gods, and like all otherworldly events that point to the gods, we will block the news, deal with the aftermath, and carefully assess the long-term impact of this event on the real world, which is ...... for the elven society."

There was a pause in Lunn's words, he thought, and then shook his head softly after a moment.

"The old times are gone, legend ...... Let it continue to sleep in the legends, which is what 'He' means. ”

"That's good, I don't like trouble," Duncan nodded, and then shifted gear, "but there's one thing I need to warn you about - this is the third city-state." ”

Lune immediately understood what Duncan meant, and his expression became solemn.

"Plain, Frost, Breeze...... The cause and process of each incident seem to be different, each one seems to be just a 'special disaster' that is independent of each other, and the biggest black hand behind each incident seems to be the cultists, but only a group of cultists cannot pry the most basic order of the world," Duncan said solemnly, "What is really shown behind these events is that the 'cornerstone' of this world is shaking-I want to know, what do you know about this, and what are the ways to deal with it." ”

Lune was silent for a long time before nodding slightly.

"I see what you mean...... Now that I have confirmed your position, at least in my personal judgment, it is indeed time to put aside suspicion and cooperate further. ”

Duncan looked at him, "But you also have to consider the reaction of the other tritheological churches, right?" ”

"Don't just think about their reactions...... And the reaction of the gods," Luan said calmly, "I will discuss this matter with the other three popes as soon as possible, and whatever the outcome, I will give you an answer—again, whatever the outcome, at least the Academy of Truth will have the greatest trust and cooperation with the Lost Fleet from now on." ”

Duncan nodded, he knew that this was the biggest promise that the other party could give him at this stage.

At this moment, Lune seemed to remember something again, and suddenly said, "There is one more thing—I have heard about Miss Vanna's experience in this incident, and I think ...... At least the firebearer's side should be looking for you soon. ”

"Fire-bearers?" Duncan frowned, and reacted immediately.

He looked back to the other side of the deck—Vana was leaning against the pillar on the side of the ship with the sea breeze blowing, seemingly closing her eyes, but Duncan's attention was not on her, but on something beside her.

It was a gigantic cane as large as a tree trunk, its ends bulging like a strangely shaped boulder, its body straight and rough, and the whole cane was covered with notches like mysterious symbols.

It was left to Vanna by a giant named "Taregin" - even after the nameless dream had completely dissipated, the staff remained, and with the strange "mini-sun", it followed the Lost to the real world.

"Eternal Flame, Tarijin, god of the Flame Bearers," Luan said quietly, "The 'giant' that Miss Fanna saw in the Nameless Dream should have been an apparition in the form of an 'aftermath' in the memory of Sylantis during the collision of the two worlds, but even if it was a phantom, it was an apparition of the Old Gods, and what he left behind now crossed the boundary between dream and reality.

"The cane...... If I'm not mistaken, it's the 'chronological pillar' that the firebearers worshipped - there is a 'device' on the Ark of Pilgrimage in Fram that looks almost identical, and it is considered the core of the Ark of Pilgrimage, but it is much larger than the 'Walking Stick', and I have seen it, and it looks more like a giant monument......

"And the 'Chronological Pillar' built on the Firebearer's Ark is actually a 'replica' made according to the description of the Holy Scriptures, and for a long time, the real 'Chronological Pillar' only existed in legends."

Duncan pondered: "In other words, the cane that Vanna brought back is the 'genuine' described in the holy scriptures." ”

"It can only be said that it is the closest to the 'genuine' known so far," Luhn said very rigorously, "perhaps there is no real 'genuine' in this world - the Great Annihilation has ended everything, and we can trace back from the deep sea age, and the limit we can reach is only infinitely close to the so-called 'authentic'." ”

"Anyway, it looks like that 'cane' means a lot to the firebearers," Duncan nodded slightly, "You think they're going to take that cane, is that what you mean?" ”

"I'm not sure, Frem is a generous and just man, he never makes things difficult for others, and he doesn't force what doesn't belong to him, but ...... As you know, after all, it is the 'Chronological Pillar' left behind by the Eternal Burning Flame, and its significance is too special for both the Flame Bearer Sect and the Senjin people. ”

Duncan didn't speak, just stared silently at the "cane" that was currently sitting next to Vanna, thinking in silence.

For some reason, he thought of the sword that had been thrown into the sky.

He gave the sword to the research institute in Breeze, because the only thing that mattered to him was the "information" about the other world behind the sword, and he was not a professional researcher of the transcendental object itself.

Again, the cane didn't really mean much to him, even if it had been held in the hands of Taregin, the Eternal Flame - Duncan was only interested in the "truth" and "knowledge" of the Great Annihilation, and after getting this information, he didn't care about anything else.

There are many otherworldly things in this world, but most of them are worthless to Duncan—not yet worth a place on the Lost.

But the problem this time was that the cane was left to Vana by Taregin.

He must respect his crew.

"Personally, I don't mind handing over the cane to the Fire Bearer, after all, just like the book of the Long Poems of Holo-Dazzle in your hand means to the elves, the 'Chronological Pillar' is indeed a relic of the civilization of the Senjin people—but I must consider Vanna's thoughts," he said calmly, "Now that you know about Vanna's experience, you should know that she cherishes that cane." ”

He paused, and said to Lune very seriously, "It's a relic of her 'friend'—I'm not as generous and just as you call Frem, and I'm a protector. ”

“…… I understand your attitude," Lune nodded solemnly, "I'll pass that on to Frem and ask him to think about it carefully - in case it will be embarrassing for both of you." ”

Duncan bowed slightly: "That's the best." ”

The melodious whistle sounded again, and a large cloud of steam rose over the Academy Ark.

Lune said goodbye to everyone aboard the Lost Land, and then, under the watchful eye of Duncan and the others, the elven old man stepped onto the trestle back to the ark.

The mechanical trestle powered by a massive steam mechanism slowly retracted, and then the entire deformable dock mechanism was shrunk into the "coastal structure" on the side of the ark with a series of heavy mechanical movements, and the "church ship" equivalent to a small city-state let out a low roar, gradually separating itself from the Lost Country.

However, Duncan knew that the ark would not be returning to the frontier immediately - Lune revealed his next plan, and the Ark of Pilgrimage would remain in Breeze for a while to assist the "awakened from a big dream" city-state in dealing with a series of aftermaths.

But that has nothing to do with the Lost Country.

Now, Duncan has to deal with another matter that needs to be "cleaned up."

He came to the captain's room at the stern of the ship and pushed the door open.

(End of chapter)