The Black Gate in the depths of the cavern was closed, but more and more demons were still emerging from the entire Holy Land Island - this small island made of some members of the Holy Lord was trembling, and a low roar and strange hum echoed in the depths of the mist like the sound of a giant beast's belly, and countless strange figures appeared and disappeared in the mist, and every minute a shadow turned into an entity, wantonly attacking the uninvited guests who set foot on the island.

Duncan and his party left the cave and began to retreat towards the coastline after a smooth rendezvous with Fanna, Amber and others who remained in the valley.

The earth shook, the crackling sound of rocks cracking in the depths of the valley, the roars and whispers of chaos echoed around like nightmares, the indescribable shadows condensed in the fog, and the ubiquitous malice was carried by the cold currents, whistling through the monstrous rocks on the cliffs on both sides—in the mist, the rocks on the cliffs seemed to gradually come to life, and huge limbs slowly hung down from the mountains, and those vine-like limbs bent and trembled, making strange sounds of swallowing and chewing, Foul mud dripped down their surface, hissing and emitting puffs of black smoke when it touched the ground.

Even the Church warriors, who often roam the frontier seas, were nervous at this time, the marines were guarding the restless shadows of the roadside with enchanted steel swords and lanterns and amulets in hand, Amber walked beside Vanna with a longsword in hand, chanting the prayer of the Storm Goddess softly as she went, the gentle sound of the waves shielded the warriors' minds from being seduced and corrupted by the whispers of demons, and the priest of death, covered in countless tattoos, walked at the front of the line with the holy urn - beside himThe fog briefly dissipated, and the demon's figure dimmed, opening a temporarily peaceful way back.

Realizing that these Church warriors were indeed capable of handling the troubles on the way and returning safely, Duncan was relieved, and he calmly walked behind the group, focusing more on thinking.

After some time, they managed to make their way through the wild areas deep in the island, and finally set foot on the road to the docks, where the coastline was already close.

The roar of artillery fire and explosions came from the depths of the fog ahead, and from time to time huge flames could be seen rising into the air, lighting up and reddening the sky like a sunrise.

"Ship-shaped 'fakes' and large wandering demons have begun to appear on the nearby sea, and our fleet is at war with those monsters," Amber walked over, the young goddess officer with a sword in one hand and a lantern with a storm crest in the other, his expression rather serious, "They reported that one side of the Holy Land Island was slowing down...... Deformed, some of the sea cliffs are gradually collapsing downwards as if they have softened, and although it has not affected this side for the time being, it is clear that the whole island is ...... 'alive' in some way. ”

Duncan looked up at the mountain boulders that were constantly coming alive in the mist, and the black tentacles that grew from the nearby hillside and curled and spread towards the low-lying areas, and nodded slightly.

"The situation on this island is, as Shirley said, indeed a 'piece of flesh' of the Dark Lord, and the whole island is part of the real world pierced by one of his tentacles - and now, it seems that he has begun to fix this 'mistake'."

“…… It's a pity that there are so many truths buried here," Amber pursed her lips, "If we had more time, we could have explored the island, where the Annihilation cultists have been entrenched for at least centuries, and there must still be countless dark and evil secrets hidden here...... It may even contain a list of secret strongholds and personnel they are hiding in the city-state......"

Listening to Amber's slightly resentful muttering, Duncan didn't respond to anything, but when he looked at the crumbling and deformed island, he couldn't help but recall the magnificent, magnificent and huge "mountains" he saw at the bottom of the gloom, but shrouded in desolation and darkness.

10,000 years have passed...... Once used to reshape the ecosystem, the "Pilot No. 1" has turned into a twisted and grotesque behemoth in its uncontrolled growth, its limbs piercing the deep sea, piercing into subspace, and piercing into the real world, but it has not stopped growing.

This made Duncan can't help but think that even if this endless sea did not encounter "failures", even if the Vision 001-Sun could continue to support it, I am afraid that the growing Pilot 1 itself would be enough to become another apocalypse.

And this "apocalypse" is obviously not too far away - perhaps one day in the next hundred years, the exponentially growing body of Navigator One will fill the entire deep sea, and then spread to all dimensions at a frantic speed, his tentacles will pierce every city-state, winding across the sea, winding around all ships that sail on the sea, until all earthly entities are once again swallowed by their "creator", and become part of the black mud and wriggling tentacles again.

…… Is this what the annihilators see in their visions of insanity? Just as they preached, one day in the future, the Dark Lord will return to this deplorable world, and the "Elemental" will erupt from the depths of the world, transforming the whole world into its pure primordial form......

In a sense, those deranged fanatics did get a glimpse of a part of the "truth" of this world, perhaps in a brief connection with the Netherworld Lord, or in the process of transforming themselves into demons and wantonly touching the "element...... They got a glimpse of the future and interpreted that terrible future in a way that they wanted to understand.

Duncan took a light breath and shook his head slowly.

Pilot One invites himself to "take over" the shelter, hoping to burn his massive body that has gone completely out of control in the process...... In this regard, Pilot-1 frankly admits that this is a "relief", a relief from a long mission.

It seems that sustaining this shelter is indeed a long and arduous task, enough to make even an ancient "machine" feel tired and hopeless.

Duncan's mind was once again determined to find another way out.

Maintaining this sanctuary is never a good option – at least not the best one.

After a thrilling journey, the landing party finally returned to the secret dock, sheltered by the inner bays and sea cliffs, where the small boats they had arrived in were still parked on the shore, swaying from side to side in the turbulent waters.

The landing boat that had been lowered from the Lost Land swayed most conspicuously—it was dangling upright.

In short, the bow of the whole ship is facing the sky, poking in the shallow water like a dog's tail grass, and when Duncan and his party appear, it "bangs" on the water, and then runs to the shore with its own oars, swaying excitedly while patting its own side with the oars.

Duncan: "......"

Lucrecia looked at the boat silently for a while, then looked down and muttered to Duncan, "Dad, I don't want to get on this ship anymore......"

"It's a bit of a shame," Duncan was silent for a few seconds, then sighed softly, "but let's go up, we've all come here, if we go away in front of it, I'm afraid this thing will sink itself on the spot - there are enough ghost ships in this world, and it is difficult to explain to the world that one more disgruntled landing craft will not be able to explain to the world......"

Lucrecia sighed, and could only follow her father into the dinghy with mixed feelings.

The three speedboats left the dock and sped away towards the exit of the cove, towards the thick fog that was constantly rising and flashing, and there was a loud noise.

And just as they left the exit of the bay, and several capital warships could already be seen in front of them, Shirley seemed to suddenly feel something, and suddenly looked back from the boat in the direction of the small island.

She slowly widened her eyes filled with a glimmer of blood—

"The island is starting to sink!"

In a series of thunderous roars, the entire Holy Land Island was collapsing and falling like some soft substance that had lost its support, its sea cliffs flowing downwards as if melting, pitch-black mud seeping outward from every inch of dirt and rock, huge tentacles and jagged arthrops piercing through the softened cliffs and shores, twitching wildly in the rising waters, and countless frenzied demons ran and roared among the rocky cliffs, as if trying to escape, but were pulled by invisible forces, It cannot be separated from the scope of the Holy Land Island, and can only continue to "sink" with the entire island......

Duncan noticed that the Holy Land Island was not actually sinking into the sea, but was "melting" at the sea level.

Pilot-1 is slowly "pulling back" the limb that this error extends into the reality dimension.

Even though the collapse of the shelter was imminent, even though his own loss of control was irreversible, he still repaired the system's errors within his power and delayed the tipping point of eventual collapse.

It's just that...... How many more times can this "postponement" take effect?

Duncan and Alice sat at the stern of the boat, looking back at the Holy Land Island, which was about to completely "dissolve" into the sea, its last silhouette swaying in the thickening fog, like a dream fading away.

And before the silhouette had completely dissipated, Duncan faintly heard a voice—a low tremor that followed the breeze.

"Don't forget our agreement, usurper......"

Duncan felt someone grab his arm, and he turned his head, and the most visible thing in the fog was Alice's dark purple eyes.

"I hear him talking, Captain."

"I hear that too, Alice, can you still find the place where he is?"

"Well," Alice nodded, but then scratched her hair again, "but I don't know how, I just think...... I can still take you to him if you need to, because I remember ...... 'way'. ”

Duncan nodded slightly, "That's enough." ”

Alice hesitated for a moment and asked cautiously, "What about ...... Will we go back to him? ”

"I want to ...... Yes. ”

"When is that?"

“…… At least before the end of the world. ”

(End of chapter)