The endless stars crumbled, the distant and brilliant starlight silently collapsed again into a human, and Duncan returned from the starlight to a dimension that the likes of Vanna and Morris could understand—while his voice still seemed to tremble in some higher dimension, and the layers of whispers and noises of her intellect and cognition made it almost impossible for Vana to think.

After some time, in fact, it may have been only a moment, that Vana felt the noise in her head subside slightly, she rubbed her forehead, and saw that Morris on the other side was slowly pulling out his pipe from his arms, and the old gentleman muttered while trembling and lighting the cigarette: "...... Got used to ......"

"It's really exciting...... Ah Dog lay at Shirley's feet, "I seem to have seen the Holy Lord again just now." ”

Nina didn't seem to be affected much, she only froze for a moment before coming back to her senses, and then as if she was lost in thought, she occasionally sneaked into Duncan with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

Duncan just looked calmly into Helena's eyes, and through the other's eyes, which seemed to reflect the waves in the distance, he looked silently at the distant and ancient creature.

After a long time, a voice finally reached everyone's ears with the gentle sound of the waves: "I understand...... We'll see you again. ”

The sound of the waves subsided, and the damp and salty smell that had always permeated the air gradually dissipated, Helena blinked, and all kinds of inhuman, distorted qualities quickly receded from her, and then she suddenly bent down, and her violent gasps were accompanied by violent retching—Vana on the side immediately reacted, and quickly stepped forward to hold the female pope's arm, helping to straighten out her breath while using magic to repair the wounds suffered by the latter.

It took a while for Helena's breath to calm down, and she slowly raised her head, pale and tired, but with a sincere smile.

“…… It's been a long time since I've touched His will," she whispered, "and I almost forgot what it felt like......

"Don't feel it, you're almost dead—you must go back to the ark at once, where your mind will be stabilized," Lune next to him shook his head, interrupting Helena's exclamation, and then the elven old man turned his gaze back to Duncan, "It's time for us to leave, Captain." ”

Duncan raised his hand: "Please." ”

After regaining some strength, Helena got up from the couch, said goodbye to Duncan with Rune, and set off for the ark.

But as she was about to leave the "Witch's Mansion", she stopped and looked back at Duncan, who was still in the living room.

"Go, you've got your business," Duncan waved his hand to the silent Pope, "and even though it's the end of the world, there are still many people whose lives need to go on—even if it's one more day." ”

Helena nodded in silence, then turned and stepped into the long night with Rune.

The two popes left, the door closed, blocking the darkness of the night outside, and silence reigned over the living room, and in the slight crackling of the fireplace, it seemed that everyone had something on their minds, and was silently looking down in thought.

After thinking for an unknown amount of time, Duncan suddenly broke the silence: "...... After being a guest here for a while, one of the two popes lost half his life - the people of the Deep Sea Church don't think we have five hundred machine gunners in this house, right? ”

Lucrecia's half-pondered train of thought instantly couldn't be connected, she raised her head and stared: "You were thinking about this for a long time just now?" ”

"Don't you think that's a necessary concern?" Duncan looked at Lucrecia with a serious face, "Originally, your house was not very good in this city, they all thought that you had all kinds of things in ambush here, and there were children and stray dogs from all over the world stewed in the pot......"

"Then I thank them for the rumors - maybe it will help me block the sales pitch that pops up in my mailbox every week," Lucrecia said with a glare, but she soon sighed and glanced back out the window, "...... Of course, there may not be any sales pitches now. ”

Duncan exhaled softly and got up from the couch.

"I've just talked too much, I'm a little tired, go back to the room and rest first-let's look at the arrangement yourself, you don't have to wait for me for lunch."

With a slight creak of the stairs leading to the second floor, Duncan's tall figure faded away at the end of the stairs.

The people who remained in the living room looked at each other, as if they were at a loss for a while.

"Actually, I didn't even understand what they were saying," Shirley was the first to break the silence, "but there is one thing I feel, the female pope just now...... Not her, right? ”

Vana nodded slowly: "The Goddess told me that their connection with the mortal world will be strengthened one last time, and it seems that now they have begun. ”

"What will happen in the future?" Nina couldn't help but ask.

"Who knows? Optimists used to be able to at least say, 'The sun will rise tomorrow anyway,' but now it's not even convincing," Morris said, holding his pipe in one hand, and his voice was low, "but tomorrow will come anyway, even if it's a morning when the sun doesn't rise." Like the captain said, life always has to go on, he has what he has to do, and we have what we have to do. ”

The smoke in the pipe burned out, and the last few sparks disappeared into the curling smoke.

An invisible gust of wind swept up in the living room, and then brilliant pieces of colored paper swirled and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Duncan heard the wind behind him and sensed the familiarity approaching, and he turned his head to see Lucrecia's figure condensing from the brilliant flying pieces of colored paper.

"I thought you'd never be in a hurry with these pieces of colored paper in front of me again since the last 'accident,'" Duncan said with a smile, "Aren't you afraid I'll be too curious?" ”

"You're going beyond the Veil of Eternity," Lucrecia ignored it, just looking into Duncan's eyes with a blank face, "Crossing the six-nautical-mile threshold?" ”

Duncan was silent for a moment: "Why do you ask that?" ”

"You're not looking for something in the endless sea—I don't quite understand what you mean by what you just said to the 'Pope-sess,' but I know you're going through that veil again, and I can sense that you're going to go farther and be away longer this time."

Duncan looked at the "witch" in front of him quietly, and after a long time, he slowly spoke: "Lucy, you should have seen it just now. ”

Stars loomed in the room, and in the interplay of light and shadow, the corner of Lucrecia's eyes seemed to reflect the distant starry sky.

"I see it," said the Sea Witch very calmly, "I saw it when you first appeared before me. ”

The starlight faded, and Duncan looked at the "witch" with some surprise.

"Then you should know that I'm not actually ......"

"Nina didn't care if you were her 'Uncle Duncan' or not." Lucrecia said calmly.

Duncan exhaled and laughed a little helplessly.

"In the depths of the starlight, I can see my father's shadow—whether you approve of it or not," Lucrecia shook her head slightly, "I know that you did come back to this world, albeit in a way that I can't yet comprehend, but you do stand here, as I remember, and now you're leaving...... It still seems to be the same as back then. ”

She paused, her expression becoming serious: "Do you remember? We talked about it. ”

“…… I'll take you along, yes, I remember," Duncan finally nodded slowly, "Well, Lucy, I'll admit, I did think a little bit about whether or not to set out on my own before you came—don't worry, I just thought about it and didn't mean to put it into practice......"

Probably because Miss Witch's expressionless gaze was really stressful, Duncan couldn't help but add a few words at the end, but suddenly, he noticed that Lucretia actually had a smile hidden in her eyes.

Miss Witch finally couldn't help but laugh, and the smile completely bloomed on her face.

Duncan frowned, "What are you laughing at?" ”

“…… You've been so hasty to explain things to me, though it's rare," Lucrecia smiled happily, "and the last time, you broke my hairpin. ”

Duncan froze, helplessly spreading his hands.

Then, a bright light flashed through the window and suddenly interrupted what he was about to say.

He froze for a moment, then sped towards the window with Lucrecia.

In the thin golden "sunlight" spreading through the luminous geometry, an even brighter arc slowly appeared at the end of the city in the distance.

Duncan looked at the "arc of light" suspiciously, and then suddenly reacted.

In Plant's antique shop, his gaze saw a clearer scene through the open window on the second floor—

The golden glow is slowly rising at the end of the horizon.

In the first dozen seconds that excited and excited countless people, almost everyone thought it was sunrise.

Until the golden arc had risen to the surface of the sea and began to rush towards the sky at an alarming speed—until its fragmented state became clearer and clearer to everyone's eyes, and disintegrated as it accelerated.

Duncan finally saw what it looked like.

It was a quarter of a ring, and it seemed to be only a part of the outer rune ring of Anomaly 001, and its bright arc was covered with pitch-black cracks visible to the naked eye, and these cracks eventually caused the entire "light arc" to split into a dozen loosely arranged luminous structures as it ascended - in just a dozen minutes, this increasingly dispersed "luminous array" accelerated all the way up to the height of the sun at about nine or ten o'clock.

Then, the rings of runes that rose into the sky completely disintegrated.

With a roar that almost shook the entire world, accompanied by a terrifying roar and a flash of light that tore through the sky, the luminous array turned into a dozen "shooting stars" that swept across the sky and fell towards earthly beings.

(End of chapter)