The dock was still vacant where the Sea Song had departed—but the ship that had returned in the wrong window of time in 1675 was no longer likely to return.

"I have an impression of this place as well......"

The sailor muttered, looking in the direction of the trestle, illuminated by high-powered lights. The pier pier trestle that extends from the vicinity of the mobile port is like the stretched limbs of a giant beast, and the end of each limb points to the infinite night in the distance, and in this place far from the lights of civilization, it seems that as long as you leave those trestle bridges with lights, people will forever dissolve into the darkness outside—from here it is a very courageous thing to sail into that dark fog.

"We've got three escort ships—they'll be piloting at the same time," Helena began, "and when they're ready, they'll go into the Veil with you and take you to the 'lighthouse' where the Sea Song last signaled, from where you'll continue and cross the six-nautical-mile line, while the three ships on the pilot mission will stay near the lighthouse and wait for you to return." ”

Duncan didn't speak, just nodded slightly, and Lucretia next to him said curiously, "How long will you wait here?" ”

"Forever," Helena said lightly, "there will be no new border cruising missions, the curtain of eternity is gradually crumbling, more and more ships are encountering unimaginable dangerous changes, most of the cruising routes are no longer navigable, so all the cruising fleets are gradually shrinking into the interior of the infinite sea, except for the necessary fixed monitoring points—this mobile port will stay here, and my avatar will stay here until you return." Or ......"

She didn't say anything else, just let out a long breath and looked up at Duncan: "I look forward to your safe return." ”

"We'll get back safely," Duncan clasped his hands over his chest, calmly staring at the distant wall of fog, "Both the Lost and the Bright Star have returned from that critical line, and we now have the 'route' left behind by Captain Karani—nothing will stop us from returning." ”

Helena nodded slightly.

After this, Duncan led his crew to a short repair at the border base until the three escort ships tasked with the pilot mission were ready, and they set off at a not-so-special moment in the long night.

Three cutting-edge warships with the insignia of the Church of the Deep Sea, two "ghost ships" that have been around for a century, sailed away from the dock amid the loud whistle from the mobile port.

The bright lights in the direction of the harbor were gradually left behind, and the night was slowly getting thicker and thicker, and the dense fog, which was constantly swollen and wriggling like a living thing, and seemed dark in the night, showed an even more alarming threat in the field of vision.

Duncan stood on the towering aft deck, but involuntarily glanced back in the direction of the harbor, where the lights dimmed as he farther away, and suddenly he remembered the words that the last Cretan had said to himself—walk in the backlight.

The final survey team used to travel in the backlight, and the Sea Song also traveled in the backlight when it set out from here, and now it ...... It's the turn of the Lost and the Bright Star.

Following the path carved out by the dead, each backlit journey leads farther – and now, the Lost finally has a chance to touch the true "end" of this world.

Alice stood beside Duncan, the doll's gaze was completely drawn to the grandiose and dark fog in the distance, and as she got closer, she raised her head more and more, and finally looked at the curtain and exclaimed, "Wow...... It's even more scary than looking at it at dawn...... Poo. ”

After looking up at a certain angle, Miss Doll's head fell off her neck without accident - Duncan reached out without looking, grabbed Alice's hair with ease, and carried it to his eyes and muttered helplessly: "When will I have a ......long memory?"

Alice blinked: "Ship...... Don't scratch your head, Captain...... Hair, ...... Hair loss ......"

Duncan casually threw Alice's head to the hands next to her who were stretching out and scratching everywhere, and the latter quickly pressed his head to his neck, and then touched a hair that had just fallen out, and held it in distress and said, "Another one...... Poor Kareni Fosquina Portitas Ang Venicetan Leforgeny IV ......"

Duncan was stunned when he heard this: "...... You've already named them so outrageous? ”

Alice didn't say a word, but lowered her head, and with a sad expression, she carefully wrapped the long silver hair around her fingers.

Seeing this, Duncan shook his head: "...... Be careful, don't get stuck in your finger joints, it took a lot of effort for me to clean your hair in your joints last time. ”

As he spoke, he looked up at the "Curtain of Eternity" that was already approaching the Lost Homeland, and then suddenly, he began to frown.

The fog seemed darker—close enough, he could tell that the darkness of the fog was no longer simply due to night, but rather to the change in color of the fog itself.

Because from common sense, even at night, the "fog" itself should be light-colored, and when there is light shining on it, its true color should not be so dim and gloomy.

He immediately called on Vanna, who was on the foredeck, to ask her about the matter, and the latter quickly contacted the pilot ship ahead and received a reply.

"The color of the fog has slowly changed over the last two days," Vana reported in the Psychic Connection, "presumably after the Sea Song crossed the six-nautical-mile threshold—but only the surface of the fog has undergone this change, which remains a normal light fog after penetrating the Veil. ”

She paused, as if she was still exchanging details with her fellow citizens in the church, and then continued: "The scholars have done many examinations, and these dense fogs have not changed except for the color change of the surface fog, and there is no poison...... It seems that it is only on this shallow layer that there is something wrong with the attribute of 'color'......"

Listening to the report from Vanna, Duncan nodded slowly with a serious expression, and in his field of vision, the dark fog had gradually covered the bow of the Lost Country.

All the ships slowed down and the hull outlines were lit up with various warning lights, and the pilot ship and the Lost Country and the Bright Star began to move closer to each other and kept at a distance that would ensure that there would be no accidents—visibility on the surrounding sea was rapidly decreasing, and the fleet members had to move closer to each other to avoid separation, but they had to be careful to avoid collisions.

Then, a glowing green flame began to rise around the ship's hull—the spirit fire that rose into the air partially dispelled the dark fog around it, and reflected the hazy silhouettes of the ships around it in the flowing fog.

The dispelled black mist hovered around the fleet, like a thick, undulating veil.

After the flames were ignited, Duncan was still frowning at the black mist, and then suddenly walked in the direction of the captain's quarters.

"Hey, Captain, where are you going?" Alice asked in surprise.

"'Leave' for the time being," Duncan waved his hand, "don't worry, I'll be back soon." ”

As he spoke, he called out to his first mate in his heart: "Goathead, take over the Lost Country, I'm going to 'leave' for a while—if I haven't come back after approaching the six-nautical-mile threshold, I'll tell the others to wait for the time being." ”

"Roger, Captain."

In less than a moment, Duncan was at the door of the captain's room—in front of him, the "Gate of the Lost" still stood silently.

He took a soft breath, then pushed the door in.

The slightly cool breath and the trance of the reset of perception flashed away as usual, and Zhou Ming shook his head, seeing that he had returned to the familiar bachelor apartment.

Outside the window, there was still the same gray-white fog, and the thick fog obscured everything and sealed the hut.

But Zhou Ming didn't check the windows this time - he didn't go to the room, but turned his head directly and looked in the direction he had come.

The door to the apartment was open, and outside the door was a thick black fog.

On the first day, when he first decided to pass through this gate, there was a thick black fog outside the door - he passed through this black fog and came to the Lost Country, in a sense, this "black fog" was the gate from his "shelter" to the infinite sea.

Zhou Ming frowned slightly, he recalled that he had also wondered why the gray-white fog that blocked everything outside the window, but the strange and pitch-black fog outside the door of the apartment......

Now, the borders of the Infinite Sea finally appeared with the same black mist.

Is this a sign that the end is near? Is it a symbol of the gradual collapse of the barrier? Or is it ...... The day he crossed the fog, he was destined to come to a certain moment before the end of the world-

The Sea Song, which crossed the border, did not accurately "navigate" when returning to the Infinite Sea, which caused it to fall into the 1675 time window, but when "itself" chose to pass through this black fog, it was precisely the 1900 Lost Country - a date that was just one step away from the end.

“…… Six nautical miles beyond the border, time is discontinuous......

"In the absence of accurate 'navigation', the 'time drop-off point' that crosses the six-nautical-mile critical line and returns to the boundless sea is random......

"There is a way to constrain the ...... of the 'time landing point'"

Zhou Ming muttered to himself softly, sorting out his somewhat messy thoughts, and then after a while, he slowly walked to the room.

As he walked past the window, he suddenly stopped.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something in the window.

It was a blurry line of letters, as if through a mist of water, and the mirror image was reversed.

Zhou Ming couldn't describe his shock and shock in words at this moment - he was only stunned for a moment, and then he rushed to the window almost like the wind!

(End of chapter)