The fleet sailed at a low speed in the condensed fog, and the hazy shadows of the ships looked at each other, like a group of huge ghosts that rose and fell in the fog.

Inside the Curtain of Eternity, the fog was far more powerful than beyond the barriers, and as the fleet deepened, the fog around it became more and more difficult to dispel, and even with the blazing "beacon of fire" shining on the entire fleet, there was still a thin fog that permeated the edge of the sea, enveloping the perimeter of each ship, and flowing on the deck - the pervasive fog even began to gradually seep into the cabins and float around the sailors.

Sandra, the commander of the Tides, stood in the command seat in the bridge, his brow furrowed slightly, and he looked solemnly at the slowly flowing thin mist around him.

He was a tall, dark-skinned man with short, striking white-blond hair, and a storm tattoo on the left cheek that suggested that he had once been an ascetic, having been promoted, blessed, and formidable by fulfilling all his penances, and now that the Frontier Commander did not look optimistic.

"How far have we come?"

Sandra turned her head and suddenly asked a techno priest beside her.

"We are approaching the six-nautical-mile border—and the last nautical mile," replied the gray-haired technocratic priest in a burqa adorned with thunder and gear coats, "and we are slow, but we are close to reaching that 'limit'." ”

Sandra nodded, but her expression became more solemn.

Six nautical miles...... The "lighthouse" in the distance has not stopped until now, and is still leading the entire fleet to slowly sail deeper into the fog, which shows that the so-called "holy land" is still located in the deeper sea, but if it continues like this, the fleet will have to cross that "taboo".

Six nautical miles away is the "absolute limit" of the lights of civilization, beyond which the last vestiges of order on the boundless sea will be lost, even if the saints and the pope are in person.

The Storm Cathedral's order to the Tides was to fully cooperate with the Lostland's operations here, but this did not include crossing the "six-nautical-mile border".

Sandra frowned, her gaze looking into the depths of the mist in the distance.

The Annihilators have not yet appeared...... This is also counterintuitive.

It is difficult for a large fleet to hide in such a narrow "safe sea area" where the border can be operated, not to mention the blazing "flame lighthouse" standing in the fog, if the cultists were hiding nearby, then they must have already discovered this menacing combined fleet - whether it is a head-on attack or an ambush and sneak attack, this sea area should not be so "quiet", it is as quiet as ...... There aren't any cultists here.

Have they all fled?

A bold thought popped into Sandra's mind, and she pondered.

Those cultists should have known that their secrets had been exposed long ago - they did have plenty of time to escape the place after their blood-ridden and evil "Sacrificial Ship" was captured by Captain Duncan, but the crux of the matter was ......

As a bunch of fanatical infidels, would they really abandon the "Holy Land" out of fear?

There may be some fugitives, but based on Sandra's many years of experience dealing with cultists, more fanatical heretics will surely stay, exhausting all kinds of vile and terrifying means and powers to fight the church to the death—those madmen whose brains have been completely corrupted by blasphemous thoughts, who have always been willing to give their lives for their "faith".

A small noise came to Sandra's ears, sounding like sharp but inconspicuous tinnitus, accompanied by a shadow of a silhouette that suddenly began to shake at the edge of her vision.

Sandra frowned, glanced down at the railing in front of her, and saw that the underside of the handrail was flooded with colorful colors, and there were grease-like "droplets" condensing in the color and falling to the floor drop by drop.

Auditory hallucinations are common in the border seas - but this level of auditory hallucinations is very minor relative to the "depth" in which the fleet is currently located.

This should be thanks to the power of that huge "flame beacon".

"Let the shipboard church light incense, ring the prayer bells, and pressurize the steam pipes," Sandra casually ordered, glancing up at the dark green flame lighthouse in the fog ahead, "Alert the other ships to the mental state of the crew." ”

……

Poleginy, the commander of the Sabbath, glanced at his right hand, which was wearing long black gloves, and slowly clenched his fist hard, and when the palm opened again, the blurred eyeballs that had appeared in his palm at some point had disappeared.

The goddess with dark blonde curls raised her head and muttered softly, "The world in front of us is becoming more and more unreal......

"At present, everyone's minds are unaffected, and mild auditory hallucinations can still be overcome and discerned by reason," said a junior priest beside Poleginia, "Just now the tide sent a message, similar hallucinations are spreading on their side, but the 'pollution level' remains low. ”

"Hallucinations with obvious weirdness aren't scary, what's scary are things that seem to be in line with our common sense and feel perfectly normal," Poleginia shook her head, "or rather...... Scary is when we feel like everything is okay around us. ”

"We're already in the depths of the Veil, which is almost the limit distance we've ever had," said the junior priest cautiously, "Previously, the Deep Sea Church had relied on a large number of mobile lighthouses and makeshift churches, and the distance in the Veil was only six nautical miles......

Poleginny didn't speak, but looked out the porthole of the bridge, and through the distant and hazy mist, she saw a faint green flame rising into the sky shining across the sea, magnifying slightly in her vision.

After a moment, she suddenly broke the silence softly: "Slowed down ......"

……

At Duncan's orders, the blazing, torch-like "guide ship" began to slow down and approach the Lost Land.

The Combined Fleet, which was following behind this "lighthouse", also reacted immediately, and began to shrink the formation while adjusting the formation.

Vanna stood on a high platform at the stern of the ship, looking out at the sea where the fleet had assembled.

Frankly, it's not a good idea to form a dense formation in dangerous waters where there may be enemies lurking, and it would probably cause many real naval experts to let out a high-pitched roar – but on this treacherous frontier, many things can't be done according to "common sense."

Compared to the artillery fire coming from afar, the risk of getting lost in the dense fog after dispersing the formation is obviously greater - not to mention that the biggest risk here is not the ships that get lost in the fog, but the ships that get lost and come back.

However, after driving nervously and cautiously all the way, the Combined Fleet did not encounter any "artillery fire" - they were accompanied only by fog, boundless fog.

"Where have all those cultists gone?" Vana couldn't help but frown and muttered quietly.

Footsteps came from behind him, and Duncan's voice rang out: "How likely do you think they are to run away en masse?" If they really want to run, they have plenty of time to run these days. ”

"I don't think those lunatics will give up their holy places easily—even if you were to be there, there would definitely be extreme fanatics who want to live and die with them," said Vanna, shaking her head, "and their words and actions may be blasphemous, but in the area of 'piety,' I still approve of it." ”

“…… According to the feedback from the 'guide ship', this should already be near the Holy Land, and its desire to 'go home' points to this sea," Duncan said slowly, walking to the edge of the deck, looking at the "quiet sea" in the distance, which seemed extraordinarily calm and unique to the border waters, "I'm really a little curious right now...... I didn't see anything as to how the group of Annihilators discovered the so-called 'Holy Land' and settled here...... Could it be that their blind faith really got some 'guidance'? ”

Duncan's voice fell, and Vana opened her mouth, as if to say something, but just as she was about to speak, a slight "thump" suddenly came from the side of the ship, interrupting the conversation between her and the captain.

It sounded like something was floating over, constantly hitting the shell of the Lost Homeland.

Duncan glanced at Vanna for a moment, then walked quickly to the spot where the impact came from, and looked down.

On the mirror-calm, greasy sea, a dark figure was floating beside the hull of the Lost Homeland, and the sea on the border was calm and waveless, but the thing floating on the water seemed to be being pushed down by the invisible waves and hit the planks of the hull at once, and in the undulations, its outline was clearly presented in front of Duncan and Vanna—

It was a pitch-black humanoid!

The moment he saw that thing, Duncan's eyes changed slightly, and then he beckoned in the air: "Fish that thing up!" ”

A faint green flash of fire flashed, and the flaming bone bird swooped down from a nearby mast, swept across the sea, and returned to deck almost in the blink of an eye.

After a while, everyone on the Lost Country gathered to hear the news.

The "humanoid" that Ay salvaged was lying motionless on the deck.

It was a pitch-black humanoid object about 1.8 meters tall, but it only had the general outline of a person, no facial features, no hair, and even no details of hands and feet, giving people the feeling of ...... It's like a "rough blank" made in the process of kneading a clay figure.

Several glances fell on Duncan, who nodded slowly after examining the black mud "roughness" with a solemn expression.

“…… It's the stuff in the Frosty Deep.

"It's the creation process of the Shadow Lord...... 'Mortals' in a semi-finished state. ”

(End of chapter)