Nina stepped onto the deck and raised her right hand high into the air—blazing flames erupted from her palms into arcs of light that pierced through the fog, and the sunlight shimmered over the Lost Country, sending greetings and salutes to the dead on another timeline.

Did the Sea Song see it? Do they know what's going on at the moment on another timeline? Are they on their way to death, or are they on their way home? In this brief moment when the lights flicker and the two timelines intersect, do they understand their fate?

The window of time convergence gradually ended, and the figure of the ship began to quickly become dim, blurred, and abstracted into messy lines and shadows again, as if it briefly surfaced, and gradually sank into the endless darkness of the "deep sea" again.

On the bridge, Anomaly 077's shriveled body seemed to tremble slightly in the wind, and he clutched the steering wheel of the Lost Country, keeping an eye in the direction of the Sea Song, and for a moment, he opened his mouth as if to shout, but all the words dissipated in his shattered and shrunken throat.

Then he raised his hand to salute the ship he had served on and to his former comrades—he had learned the salutation gesture that Vanna had taught him these days, and that he had only to place his hand on his chest to make the undulating trajectory of the waves, the shelter of the storm, and the blessing of peace—but for a moment, he pressed his hand back to the dark steering wheel as if he had been electrocuted, and clung to it.

Outside the ship's side, a dangerous and chaotic ripple briefly rippled in the uniform gray-white "inner wall", but then dissipated and calmed down in the blink of an eye.

He can't let go - he's at the helm.

The window was over, and the final shadow of the Sea Song vanished from all eyes - the last time it appeared in earthly sight of all possible branches of time.

Until the end, the "Mariner" did not let go of the dark and dreary steering wheel of the Lost Country.

The sound of slightly heavy footsteps came from the side, and the sailor, with some dullness, turned his head and saw a tall figure coming to the bridge, looking at him calmly.

He was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously wanted to stand up straight: "Captain......"

Duncan reached out and pressed the scrawny shoulder of the dry corpse: "Are you okay?" ”

“…… Look, I'm holding on to it," the wrinkles on the corpse's face trembled slightly, and he looked down at the steering wheel in his hand, "and I let go of my hand a little...... The ship did not deviate...... And then I never let go...... Didn't let go......"

Duncan didn't say anything, just put his hand on the dry corpse's shoulder and pressed it harder.

He then withdrew his hand, ready to turn away, but at that moment, he heard the voice of Anomaly 077, and the sailor muttered quietly, as if to himself, "Does it make sense?" ”

Duncan stopped, silently looking at his helmsman.

"Does it all make sense?" The sailor seemed to have finally mustered up his courage, he looked up and looked into Duncan's eyes, which looked less like he was looking for an answer and more like he was trying to grab a life-saving cable in the middle of a storm, "The Sea Song, the people on the border, the sheriffs and guards in the city-state who are still trying to maintain order, and ...... We, will all this make sense? ”

Duncan was silent for a few seconds and nodded calmly: "...... Yes. ”

He turned and walked in the direction of the deck, and just as he was about to leave the bridge, the sailor's voice came from behind him: "The first of the crew code of the Lost Country, right?" ”

Duncan didn't answer again, just waved his hand lightly and left the bridge.

He walked up the stairs to the quiet aft deck, and at the same time called out to himself, "Lucy. ”

The response of the sea witch came immediately: "Well, I'm here. ”

Duncan hesitated for two seconds before speaking softly in a calm tone: "I remember you mentioned an incident - you accidentally sailed across the six-nautical-mile critical line and got lost in the depths of the Eternal Veil, and at that time you saw the phantom of the Lost Country, and followed it safely back to the inner seas. ”

Lucrecia's side suddenly fell silent, and it took a long time to break the silence: "Yes, I...... I always thought it was a phantom of the Lost Country that briefly floated up from subspace......"

Duncan didn't say anything more, and from the tone of Lucrecia's response, he knew that the clever "witch" had thought the same thing as he had just thought.

Just now, the appearance of the "Sea Song" suddenly and strongly reminded Duncan of a fact that he knew before, but did not think deeply about it-

Six nautical miles away from the border, time is discontinuous and undirectional, the cause and effect of things are in a state of constant change, a ship that has long returned can still sail in the past, and in Lucrecia's memory, her "Bright Star" was lost six nautical miles away, and in desperation, it was the apparition of the Lost that suddenly appeared and led her back to the dimension of reality.

She always thought that it was a "projection" of the Lost Country returning from subspace, or that the Lost Country was projected from subspace to the dimension of reality.

But...... Now there are new possibilities for this problem.

Duncan strolled to the edge of the deck, leaning on the railing to look at the uniform gray outside the ship's outboard, as if his gaze was about to penetrate this "inner wall" and look at the boundless chaos and fog beyond the course, in a state of chaos in time and space.

In the depths of the mist, the Lost Country piloted by Duncan Abnomar may still be on the voyage - he may have just set off, he may have just returned home, he may have just learned some truth about the world, or he may be ......

He had just hung a lamp at the end of the world, in the doorway of a sleeping landless.

……

"Whew-", the sound of a match breaking the silence in the living room, and a small flame approached the oil lamp on the table, and the light of the fire brightened, enveloping the room in a layer of not too bright but still warm light.

Heidi stooped down to light the oil lamp on the table, looked up to check the nooks and crannies of the living room, and then came to her mother's side.

Of course, the light of oil lamps is not as bright as that of electric lights, but due to the failure of a group of generators in the eastern urban area, the government department has just issued an order to regulate electricity - now that the supply of the city-state's entire power grid is very tight, the power load must first meet the important factories, shelters and containment and sealing institutions, and the lighting in the home on weekdays can only be used in the "traditional way" to save electricity.

"I don't know when the power will ......be restored," Heidi muttered quietly.

"That depends on the repair of the generator," the mother's voice was still as calm as usual, as if no matter what happened, it could not make the old woman behave unexpectedly, "Does the notice say that the generator is damaged?" ”

"I haven't mentioned the exact damage, but I've heard that the fault has nothing to do with the machine, it's just an ordinary operation problem," Heidi said, "It can be repaired in a few days, and in the past, it can be two or three days if it's fast, and a week at worst...... Tut. ”

Miss Psychiatrist snorted, apparently not in a very good mood.

"Gas and oil lamps still work, it's not bad, is it?" Mother smiled, then picked up a piece of paper on the table and handed it to Heidi, "This is the 'Izvestia' just delivered this morning, read it to me, I am dazzled and can't see clearly." ”

Heidi reached out and took the "newspaper" from her mother.

It's long nightfall, the usual act of "reading" has been classified as dangerous, libraries and book markets have long since closed, and even most newspapers have been suspended during the night – but even so, people have a basic need for information, and the so-called "news" has appeared in the city-state under the supervision of the town hall.

It is an abbreviated version of the newspaper, the paper itself has been exorcised and blessed by the cathedral, and the contents of the newspaper have been carefully processed to control the length and depth of reading to avoid accidents of knowledge contamination, and the newspaper is also printed with many sacred prayers and runes to protect the reader's mind.

And with so many means of protection, these newspapers also tightly controlled the scope of their "circulation" – they were not sold publicly, but were delivered directly to those who were qualified to read through specific channels, who had to have basic occult knowledge and skills in dealing with "minor troubles".

It's a cumbersome set of procedures and rules, but in any case, the modern city-state is built on the foundation of modern civilization - information must be transmitted in the city-state, read by qualified people, and then disseminated to ordinary people who are not qualified, but are still part of the city-state, Heidi is not an official member of the town hall, but she has always dealt with the city's administrators, and she can more or less understand what the people who run the city are thinking.

The night is long, and difficulties are inevitable - but they must delay the process of "man" decay in the night as much as possible in order to avoid the "degradation of civilization" .......

Heidi opened the piece of paper, fixed her mind, and read it for her mother:

“…… The fault of the generator has been located, the repair work is underway rapidly, and engineers expect to complete the replacement and repair of all the equipment within two days......

"The problem of poor food distribution in the northern urban areas has been resolved, and the city-state now has sufficient food reserves...... The lighting system is functioning normally and the production of the three-dimensional farm has not been affected...... Mushroom production increases......

"There is a standoff in the northern seas, the Navy of Cold Harbor and Port Morpheus is assembling near a 'Fragment of the Sun', the Death Church fleet has intervened, and the situation has not escalated at this time......"

Heidi read the brief messages one by one, pausing to whisper prayers and recite the name of Laheim, the god of wisdom, before suddenly she stopped.

"Any special news?"

Mother's gentle voice came from the side.

Heidi was stunned, her eyes still fixed on the message at the end of the newspaper, and it took several seconds for her to exhale softly.

“…… Briefing from the Deep Sea Church that the Frontier Exploration Fleet has once again 'crossed the border' and the Lost Country and the Bright Star have crossed the six-nautical-mile border......"

(End of chapter)