The upside-down meteor faded away, and finally it was out of sight.

On the wide shore, only Tirien, Aiden, and Agatha remained.

The "lost star" from ancient times still floats quietly on the beach, the clouds on the surface are slow, constantly whistling like a soft whimper, and a dozen meters away, the calm sea - the sea is like a slowly undulating mirror in the light of the pale golden sun, and the small waves are much calmer than ever.

In the long twilight, Tirion finally broke the silence: "Lady Gatekeeper, do you think that if the sun really disintegrates completely, the power of the church will still be enough to maintain order among the city-states?" ”

Agatha didn't speak, and she was silent for a long time in the face of this overly sharp question—but if it had been a year ago, she would have given an affirmative answer without hesitation.

Agatha knew that she was not as pious and firm as she had been, and that unconditional devotion had been cracked in the frost mirror image, and her thoughts had taken advantage of it.

But after hesitation, she nodded slightly: "I believe that my brothers and sisters will do their best...... They will too. ”

"The answer after thinking about it is not as resolute as the answer of the pious, but in this situation, it is more reassuring," Tirion exhaled slowly, a smile on his face, "Either way, we will do our best, and surely the other city-states will do the same." ”

Agatha didn't speak, just nodded silently, and then she turned, and her figure dissolved into a swirling pale wind, and disappeared with it.

Aiden had been watching quietly from the side, and only then did he hesitate to speak: "...... What's next for you? ”

"First, let the town hall be as prepared as possible before sunset, and I will make sure that every man in the city-state can survive the long night ahead; secondly, to order the fleet to be ready, and I want every ship to be in the best possible condition, and to be in a state of being ready to fight at all times, no matter how long the night lasts; Third ......"

Tirien paused for a few seconds, then glanced down at the bag in his hand.

"Third, tell everyone that it's time to eat, eat, sleep, and live well—the city-builders built the city-state in the Dark Ages after the collapse of the Old Kingdom 10,000 years ago, and we must have a way to survive this...... The end is not yet here. ”

"Yes, Captain!"

The flames streaked across the setting sun, leaving a flickering mark between the clouds, and then fell on the ramp in front of the cemetery, the spirit flames gradually dissipated, and Duncan's figure coalesced from the flames.

Alice had returned to the Lost Land, and Duncan had returned to the cemetery alone—he slowly walked up the ramp that had been walked many times, his shadow stretched long and swaying on the old stone pavement in the sloping and dim sunset.

It was quiet, most of the people in the city should have returned to their homes by now, there were hardly any cars in the distance on the avenue, only a few steam walkers could be seen strolling through the streets, the staff from the town hall were checking the street lights and gas pipes, and the black-clad guards with lanterns were checking the status of the various "night shelters", looking busy.

Duncan withdrew his gaze from the distance and continued to walk slowly upward.

He stopped at the entrance to the cemetery.

An unexpected but familiar figure was standing outside the gate—a girl of thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a light gray thick winter coat, with a shaggy beanie hat and gloves, wrapped like a ball of soft yarn, standing in the doorway, stamping her feet from time to time, walking around the doorway, and then looking in the direction of the ramp.

It was Annie, and she looked like she had been waiting here for a long time.

Duncan frowned, and walked briskly towards the cemetery gate—Anne saw him too, and the little girl's face suddenly showed a happy expression, and she ran quickly towards the ramp.

"Uncle Guard!" Anne greeted happily and stopped at the edge of the open space at the entrance of the cemetery, "I just came over and saw that there was no one in the caretaker's hut, and the black-clothed guard said you were out......"

"The curfew is about to start, and the city hall is telling all residents to go home, why are you still running here?" Duncan frowned, his bandaged voice was low, sounding more or less serious and scary, "It's not safe outside. ”

"I know, I'm getting ready to go home," Anne nodded immediately, she was not afraid of Duncan's black, bandaged, gloomy and serious appearance, but reached out in her arms and took out a small bag of things and stuffed it into Duncan's hand, "This is herbal tea...... You take it, and then ...... I probably won't be here for a long time. ”

Duncan looked at the paper bag that Anne stuffed over with some surprise, and was silent for a few seconds before slowing down and speaking, "Do you know what's going to happen?" ”

“…… The sun isn't quite right, is it? Anne looked up at Duncan's gloomy sunken eyes, "The sun has been setting for a long time, and it hasn't quite set yet...... I heard from a sister nun that if the sun goes down this time, it may be a long, long time before it rises again...... Mom said that the temperature could drop all the time, or it might stop halfway down, and the worst of that was on the farm......"

She paused, as if the knowledge after that had become too complicated for her, and it became difficult to understand and retell.

Duncan was silent for a while, then bent down slightly: "Are you afraid?" ”

Anne shook her head, but then stopped and nodded hesitantly.

She didn't really understand what was happening now, and she couldn't really imagine what would happen next—a slowly sinking sun was an even more incomprehensible disaster for a thirteen-year-old than the simple and straightforward threat of the mud monsters that spread through the city.

But she could feel the same tension and depression in the adults' reactions as the original "mirror disaster" - she had experienced it once.

"If the sun doesn't rise by then, will we need to carry lanterns and tattoo runes on our eyelids before we can go out?" Anne asked, "Like those ascetics - they keep watch in dark places......"

Duncan didn't know how to answer the question for a while, he thought about it for a long time before he spoke softly, "...... The sun will rise, and if the sun doesn't rise, something else will light up the sky. ”

Anne didn't seem to understand, but as if she had thought of something, her eyes widened in surprise: "Is that you?" Will you light up the sky? ”

“…… Go home," Duncan laughed, though his smile was covered in bandages and could only show a slight curvature out of the corner of his eye, and he reached out to pat the dust off Anne's clothes at some point, and looked up at the already dim glow on the roof in the distance, "It's getting dark—and, thank you, for your herbal tea." ”

"Hmm!"

It's getting dark – although that might be a while.

Outside the windows of antique shops, the remnants of the sunset have dimmed a little—but still not completely darkened.

Duncan withdrew his gaze from the ramp of the cemetery to the north to see Anne leave, but his gaze was again through the old shop windows and at the streets of Prand in the evening.

The streets were deserted, even the most noisy children had been taken home by adults, and the streets of the lower town, which had always seemed overcrowded and lively, now seemed deserted, as if it had become an empty city.

But another steam walker broke the silence outside the window—a giant spider machine slowly walked through the street with the click of a steam machine, the exhaust vent at the tail of the walker hissing steam, the scripture cloth ribbons hanging from the sides of its armor plates undulating in the wind, and two guardians in the uniforms of the Deep Sea Church stood on the back of the walker, announcing the "Nightfall Notice" that the Cathedral had just issued - including a new curfew order, and a change in the city's functions during the nightfall.

Even with a safe night after the Black Sun Event, a tense atmosphere now reigns in the city-state of Plande.

Because no one knows whether the city's "safe night" will remain so safe after the night extends to dozens of days, and no one knows whether something else will grow in the dark sea to take advantage of the night's lack of sunlight to climb onto the beach and invade the city-state.

Even Poland had such an atmosphere, what would the other city-states of the Infinite Sea look like now?

Duncan's thoughts drifted a little as the sun darkened, and he put down the newspaper in his hand and prepared to get up and turn on the lights near the stairs.

And at this moment, a ...... suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye Figure.

At the corner of the antique store, next to a shelf, the figure suddenly appeared—as if a stooping traveler, who had been walking for a long time, wearing a shabby white robe that could no longer be seen, leaning forward slightly, and walking step by step towards the counter.

Duncan slowly stood up and looked intently at the figure that was walking towards him.

However, the figure didn't seem to see Duncan, he seemed to be walking in another parallel dimension of time and space, his eyes focused on a distant and invisible place, he went straight through the shelves, and slowly walked forward like a ghost.

And in the process, Duncan finally began to see the traveler's face clearly—he saw an old face, with deep wrinkles and almost withered skin, as if time had stood still, but suddenly, the old face regained its youth, and became a young man who had just embarked on a journey, and even the rickety figure became erect.

In the next second, he turned into an old man again, and his figure crossed the counter, about to pass Duncan.

But suddenly, he stopped.

He seemed to see Duncan—or just an illusory figure, and he froze, his eyes wide open, staring straight at him.

Duncan found himself unable to even discern a real emotion in his trembling countenance—was it surprise? Is it fear? Is it despair? Or did you suddenly see hope?

It was as if all the emotions one could have were compressed into one brief gaze—the dusty traveler stared at him as the figure faded.

(The time of pushing the book, from the masterpiece of the group, the title of the book "Tokyo Strange Ability", starting from the rent arrears of the tenant's wife, the author hey-in other words, from the author's name to the title of the book, it feels like a slot......

Light, Tokyo-flow, ability, if you want to change the taste, you can support it. ）

(End of chapter)