The four great churches have assembled vast fleets on the borders of the civilized world—and they have been doing so for some time.

The reduction of the regular patrol fleet and the large number of ships, personnel, and supplies converging near the Eternal Veil could not hide the movement of the border city-states, and Lucrecia had known about the Church's unusual actions from Sarah Mayer long before today, but Duncan and she had never understood the purpose of the Church's actions—until now.

The truth that the gods were dead, the true role of the Ark of Pilgrimage, and the fact that the gods had entered the "corruption phase" ahead of schedule allowed Duncan to finally guess the purpose of those fleets.

“…… We are looking for 'Them,'" Helena finally spoke, after a moment of silence, "this is one of the purposes, and the first purpose. ”

"You mean the gods are in the 'thick fog' of the Eternal Veil!?" Lucrecia got up in an instant and looked at the four popes opposite with incredulous eyes, "Just outside the 'border'?!" ”

"We're not sure," it was Banst who answered her, and the black-robed old man shook his head slowly, "but we're sure that the original 'rotten aura' seeped in from the eternal curtain on the border - so our plan at this stage is just to find the source of those aura, but what exactly will we see at that source...... Nobody knows. ”

Lune took over the topic: "Maybe it will be the 'kingdom' of the gods, maybe it's just some kind of 'connection point' between them and the earth, or maybe it's ......"

Here he stopped, and did not say anything more.

Duncan was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "You just said that this is just one of the purposes, but what about the other purposes?" What else do you want to do besides looking for Them? ”

"Another purpose is to find out what is really going on in this world," Helena replied, and at this open and honest "gathering" all the secrets were finally revealed, "reports of border collapses are increasing day by day, and with the recent 'glitches' of the 'sun', all kinds of anomalies related to the Eternal Veil are becoming more frequent—it is obvious that the fog may be hiding secrets that are closely related to the 'current situation' and 'foundation' of our world." ”

“…… Find out what's going on in the world, and then what? Duncan asked, instinctively feeling that Helena hadn't finished speaking.

“…… If possible, try to find a 'new route' through that veil once and for all, and then get as many people out as possible before the worst happens," Helena said, "If the 'collapse' within the veil is a foregone conclusion, then our only way out is to 'get out', and there may be other worlds beyond the veil – the wider world."

"Maybe it's not so livable, maybe it's more dangerous outside the curtain than the boundless sea, but as long as it can survive, no matter how bad the environment is, it can become a new habitat for civilization...... As long as you survive, life will find its way, even if it takes a long and painful adaptation...... Or even the mutation process. ”

Helena's voice fell, and the hall fell silent for a while, and Duncan could feel that Vanna and Morris and the others around him subconsciously held their breath, and it took several seconds before he heard Vanna break the silence: "The situation is already so bad?" ”

"Worst of all, we don't even know how bad it would have been—we wouldn't even know that the last time the sun went out for twelve hours without the 'warning' from the Lost Country," Luan shook his head, "and the fact that the four arks disappeared into this world along with the other city-states during those twelve hours reinforces our conviction...... The worst must be expected to happen next. ”

"But 'the world beyond the Veil' is just a conjecture, a baseless conjecture," Duncan said suddenly and lightly, his voice was not loud, but it seemed to fall coldly on everyone's mind, "it is likely that this is just wishful thinking 'effort'." ”

"It's better than doing nothing," Helena's expression didn't change in the slightest, she just met Duncan's gaze calmly and calmly, "We don't start acting because we are sure that something will succeed, but we have to do it because we have no choice - there may be nothing beyond the Eternal Veil, and it may even be that there is no end to the Eternal Veil, and we will never find a new route, but we have to do something......"

She stopped, and Frem, who hadn't spoken much since then, broke the silence in a low voice: "In a worse scenario, we're even thinking about how to survive the Veil of Eternity. ”

"Survive the Veil of Eternity!?" Nina exclaimed in amazement—she didn't speak, just sat quietly next to Uncle Duncan, because she didn't think this was the place for her to interject casually, but this time she couldn't help it, "Can that place be inhabited?" Can humans thrive in that fog? ”

"Not now," Frem shook his head calmly, "at least with the current life forms of mortals and our current understanding of the laws of the Eternal Veil, human society is not yet able to thrive in that fog - the 'human society' here also includes elves and senjins. ”

Nina opened her mouth: "That ......"

"That's what I just mentioned," Helena said softly, "we may need a long and painful process of adaptation and even mutation—we may need to become no longer 'we' in order to survive in the world after that, perhaps like those mysterious shadows that appear in the fog, or like those noises whispering in the wind......"

"What if that's still not enough?" Duncan asked, "The chaos of the Eternal Veil may simply not be able to 'adapt', if both the New Route Plan and the Adaptation Plan fail......"

"Then let's go to the spirit world, if the spirit world still doesn't work, then we will launch a general attack on the deep sea," Banst said calmly, "Since there is a group of people in this world who can summon demons to the real dimension, then we can also go to the world of those demons, they can survive in the deep sea, and we can too—if this still doesn't work, then we still have subspace." ”

This time, even Shirley couldn't help but speak: "Ya...... Subspace? ”

Banster nodded slightly: "No one can survive from subspace, and all mortals who witness it will dissolve into eternal madness and aberration, but if it really comes to the last moment, subspace can also be an option - any choice, even the worst, is better than walking peacefully and meekly towards that apocalypse." ”

Shirley and Nina stopped talking, and a look of shock appeared on their faces.

Duncan looked thoughtfully, staring at the four figures across the table for a long time before he whispered, "This is the 'revelation' you received?" ”

"It's not a revelation, it's just a 'advice' we've received in a chaotic and weak exchange," Helena said slowly, raising her hand and outlining the emblem of the storm and the deep sea on her chest, "They let us live, at all costs, by any means." ”

Duncan didn't speak for a moment.

He was lost in thought, and a little shocked.

He admits that these people, who seem belated, even a little sluggish in each of these "events", actually do more than he imagined.

They really don't have much power compared to the Old Gods, compared to the Old Gods - but they're trying to do something that neither the Old Gods nor the Old Gods can't.

After this silence lasted for an unknown amount of time, he finally broke the silence: "I want to know how far you have come. ”

Helena hesitated for a few seconds and sighed softly, "...... Sadly, progress is still limited – we have established a few forward bases at the tipping point within six nautical miles of the Eternal Veil, and we are able to establish ourselves there, but that's about it...... So far, no one has been able to break the 'record' left by the Lost Country. ”

"The Lost Land 'had an accident' after returning from six nautical miles away," Duncan shook his head, his attitude was quite calm, "Strictly speaking, it was not a successful 'expedition'. ”

The faces of the four popes were a little strange, and it was obviously not good to continue on this topic.

Duncan didn't care about this, he just adjusted his sitting posture, and after briefly sorting out his thoughts, he changed the subject: "Then since your progress in this area has been blocked, I have some 'intelligence' here that may come in handy, and you will probably be interested." ”

Helena subconsciously spoke: "Intelligence? ”

"Two days ago, my daughter and I 'captured' a ship," Duncan nodded, unhurriedly, "it was a large ship built by the Annihilationists, the 'base' they used to invade dreams during the previous Lighthaven incident, and it was littered with traces of bloody rituals and desecrated creations...... That's not the point, though.

"The point is, it's obviously impossible for such a ship to dock and resupply in a normal city-state - guess what's its home port?"

Helena and Rune and the others looked at each other, but they reacted almost immediately—Rune was the first to speak: "Wait, is it ...... Border?! ”

"Yes, they're hiding in that thick fog," Duncan didn't continue to sell off, but nodded with a serious expression, "it's a den of the Annihilationists, maybe even their largest lair and 'headquarters,' which they call the 'Holy Land.'" I'm not sure what the status of this so-called 'holy place' is, or whether it's 'inside' or 'outside' within the six-nautical-mile boundary, but even on the relatively safe inside, a 'Curtain Colony' that has long been hidden in the Curtain of Eternity and can even be used as a large supply port must be of great value to us to study. ”

(There are some things at home that can only be changed separately for the time being...... It will be restored as soon as possible after it is dealt with. Cover your face manually. ）

(End of chapter)