No one does not expect good news, but unfortunately, as Crete said to Duncan, there is no good news at the end of the day.

This little shelter created in the embers is crumbling at an ever-increasing rate, and it's not anyone's fault, it's not some local glitch or vandalism—it's the end of all things, because the time has come.

Rune and Helena listened silently to everything Duncan told them, including what the joint exploration team had seen and heard in the border seas, the clues they had found on the Holy Land Island, Duncan's contact with the Dark Lord, and even the plan to "take over the world".

Duncan didn't hide this last thing, he didn't mind that the two popes in front of him knew about the "other choice" of the world—and on the contrary, he didn't hide what the end of the "future of fire" would be, and he didn't hide the end of everything that the last preacher showed him.

Lune and Helena were silent for a long time, until Duncan told them everything, and they remained silent for a long time.

It didn't take long for Lu En to sigh softly: "There are some things that might as well not be known." ”

"Ignorance is the prerogative of ordinary people, and you don't," Duncan said lightly, "what do you have to say after knowing all these truths?" ”

Helena thought seriously for a moment, raised her head and said slowly: "Although the end of the world is inevitable, it's not like there's no other way out, is it?" ”

She paused, and stared at Duncan fixedly, a distant wave reflected in her eyes as deep and blue as the sea: "You have another plan, don't you?" ”

Vanna's eyes widened slightly—as she spoke under the Pope's crown, she seemed to hear the faint, distant sound of the waves, but the sound of the waves seemed extraordinary, as if it were just a glimpse of the goddess inadvertently.

She suddenly reacted and immediately turned to Duncan: "Captain, this is ......"

Duncan waved his hand, interrupting Vanna's words, and then he calmly met the gaze of the "Deep Sea Pope" in front of him: "Hello. ”

The "Pope" did not seem to hear it, she did not respond to the greeting, but still stared at Duncan steadily, the waves in her eyes looking turbulent, and then she repeated: "You have another plan, don't you?" ”

There was a slight tremor and reverberation in her voice, as if there were many indistinguishable murmurs overlapping everything, and the air in the living room seemed damp, cold, and salty with a sea breeze.

Shirley and Ah Dog sensed the change in their breath and suddenly looked a little uneasy.

Duncan didn't seem surprised, he exhaled softly, and replied lightly, "...... Make a new one. ”

The "Female Pope" only frowned slightly, but did not respond.

"The sanctuary of the Infinite Sea is beyond repair, and no amount of tinkering with it can save it, only a short breath; Opening the Age of Flames is another form of survival, and there is no turning back, once this route is chosen, the entire civilization is actually sealed in the grave......"

Duncan said unhurriedly, but his gaze never took off the eyes of the "female pope", and then he waved down with one hand and made a cutting gesture.

"Since the solution to the old world is either going to end or not being reliable, then we have only one way to go...... Instead of perpetuating the old world, we make a new one. ”

The "Female Pope" blinked, finally breaking the silence, accompanied by the soft sound of the waves, her voice seemed to tremble directly in everyone's thoughts: "Another shelter? ”

"Another world." Duncan said calmly.

Then he paused for a moment, and for a moment the whole living room was silent—so much so that even the crackling of the fireplace not far away became the loudest sound in the place.

"The sanctuary is a narrow, closed system, with limited disaster redundancy, all resources can only circulate internally, and there is only one vital support system - there is only one sun, only one infinite sea, and even the number of city-states has been set at the beginning of creation, and all of them are encapsulated by that curtain of eternity......

"Such a system has proven to be too fragile in the face of a catastrophe of the magnitude of a major collapse, like an edifice about to collapse, and those who are hiding in the house will not have the opportunity to repair the entire system from the inside, but can only watch the entire shelter gradually collapse, no matter how long the shelter ends up and how many years the civilization inside develops, the outcome is doomed.

"Because the upper limit of civilization development in the shelter is that 'shell' - the curtain of eternity."

Under the gaze of the "female pope", Duncan slowly opened his hands, his expression was extremely serious: "Therefore, we need a world, a 'world' that is far larger than a shelter, a 'world' that can accommodate more possibilities, and can allow civilization to continue to develop beyond the ceiling, at least ...... Even when the end of the world comes, it must have the ability to leave more fires behind, rather than plunging everything into darkness when the sun goes out......"

The "Pope" stared at Duncan silently, and after a moment she spoke softly: "Of course we do—but how can we do it?" It is a miracle that a shelter like the Infinite Sea has been sustained in the scorching ashes of chaos after the Great Annihilation, outside of which order has long since vanished, and we have waited for a long time without seeing the chaos subside...... This boundless sea is the only 'fragment' of order that remains, and beyond this, there are no 'materials' that can be used to build a new habitat. ”

The gentle sound of the waves seemed to overlap with some unsettling whistling and noise, and Helena's eyes gradually appeared a little chaotic at some point, as if something was growing and wriggling in her throat, and on the skin of her cheeks, there were dark purple scales that looked like some kind of sea creature.

But she still sat straight on the couch, as if waiting for Duncan's answer.

The others, including Maurice and Lucrecia, consciously kept their mouths shut, and no one dared to interject at this time.

"So, the key is 'order', the 'order' that can support the operation of the whole world - the reason why the life of the shelter is limited is also because of the imperfection of order."

Duncan looked at the "female pope", as if looking at another distant being through the other party's deep eyes, and then he exhaled softly: "...... As I've thought for a while. ”

He raised his hand and pointed at himself.

"I have order here, complete 'order'."

You can hear pins falling in the living room.

Suddenly, a warm touch came from his hand - Duncan turned his head and saw Nina grasping his palm, the expression on her face a little uneasy.

Duncan laughed and reached out to press Nina's hair, "Don't worry. ”

Nina inhaled softly and nodded vigorously—and the smile on Uncle Duncan's face was fading into a blur in her vision.

The smile faded into the stars.

Brilliant as a galaxy - the giant made of starlight slowly stood up in everyone's field of vision, the eternal stars, air clouds and astral clouds seemed to flow, covering everything as far as the eye could see, the giant still stood in the living room, looking at it as if it was enough to fill the whole world and support the whole world.

Ta bent down in the direction of "Helena", and the stagnant ancient stars seemed to expand and contract and tremble in the illusion, as if every second could violently expand and release, turning into all-devouring starlight.

"The order of the whole universe—the 'order' that is complete and healthy, untouched by the apocalypse," Duncan said slowly, his voice trembling among the stars, "it's only for a moment, but it's complete in terms of data." ”

Duncan felt his body, felt his mind flow among the glorious stars, and for the first time, he realized his "breath", his "breath" on the scale of the stars.

Then, he immediately resisted the urge to continue breathing.

He knew that the "change" in himself had accelerated again.

Since leaving the Holy Land Island, his "change" has been accelerating - at first, he could only know what he was like from the careless and hasty glimpse of others at him, and after glimpsing part of the truth from the Pale Giant, through conscious control, he was able to perceive the starlight in his body in the mirror, and not long ago, he saw the change in himself in his "bachelor apartment", and now......

He had to be very careful to keep himself in control in order to continue to be "human".

Time is running out for this shelter.

He didn't have much time either.

Duncan looked into the eyes of the "Pope", and he saw a distant being—entrenched on a gray reef, huddled in a palace-like lair, long dead.

Countless "heirs" who have also died surround her palace.

The long-dead creature looked up and met Duncan with her many pairs of eyes.

Her voice reached Duncan's ears through Helena's mouth: "...... What a beautiful ......."

"Now there are two problems," Duncan said, he controlled himself, and gradually collapsed the starlight back into "Duncan", "First, I can't build a new world with 'data' alone, I need raw materials, a lot of raw materials...... And I don't know exactly how this process should be done, I only have a vague and general impression that tells me that what I need is not in this endless sea...... It's too small, it's not enough.

"Second, I don't know how to create a new world while preserving what exists in this sanctuary - it may be wiped out in the glow of the new world's birth."

(End of chapter)