The heretics and deformed freaks executed in the spirit world were now reduced to wreckage and embers in the real dimension. The severe pollution of the sewage treatment center had been temporarily purified, but for the shadow enveloping the entire city-state, this was probably just the lifting of a corner of the curtain.

The black-clad guards returned to the gatekeeper. Agatha quickly counted and confirmed the condition of her subordinates, then turned her gaze to the slightly balding manager not far away.

"Has his condition been confirmed?"

"It has been confirmed that he is indeed a normal human," a black-clad guard said in a low voice. "But he is severely frightened, and the possibility of mental contamination cannot be ruled out—he needs a period of psychological counseling and observation."

"Leave him to the local church," Agatha nodded slightly. "Also, notify them that the situation at this sewage treatment center is very bad. The entire facility will need a thorough purification and inspection before it can be restarted after all hidden dangers have been eliminated."

"Yes, Gatekeeper," the subordinate nodded in acceptance, then looked up at Agatha with some concern. "Did you... encounter any trouble?"

Agatha frowned. "Hmm? Why do you ask?"

"You... stayed on 'the other side' longer than usual," the subordinate explained. "Did you discover any clues under the spirit world's vision?"

Agatha still frowned slightly, her face showing a thoughtful expression. For some reason, she felt like she had overlooked something, but when she thought about it carefully, she didn't find anything suspicious—was it a sequela of staying in the spirit world for a long time?

She shook her head and reached into her coat pocket for her usual eye drops, but hesitated and put them away a moment later.

Her eyeballs didn't feel uncomfortable, as if she had already used the eye drops before returning to reality.

"Nothing happened," she said to her subordinate. "It's just that those heretics appeared so strangely that it took a little more time to 'interrogate' them."

It was a pity that she couldn't get anything out of them—those heretics were so stubborn and fanatical that even simple death couldn't shake their die-hard hearts.

But... what exactly did she overlook? A faint doubt arose in Agatha's heart again, but she didn't show anything in front of her subordinates.

"Are we going back to the cathedral next?"

A black-clad guard asked from the side.

"Return to the cathedral," Agatha nodded. "We must immediately organize personnel to search all underground facilities in the city. The situation may be more serious than we thought."

As dusk approached, the edge of the sun was gradually approaching the sea horizon. The magnificent double rune circle radiated a splendid light near the sea surface, and the city buildings in the distance were gradually stained by the sunset, giving the entire city a texture that seemed to gradually melt into the sunset.

Duncan stood at the narrow window at the end of the second-floor corridor. His burly figure almost blocked all the light shining in from outside the window. In the gaps between the intertwined bandages, he quietly watched the afterglow of the distant sunset, seemingly lost in thought.

Sneaking footsteps came from the side. Duncan didn't turn his head, already knowing who was coming.

"Have you finished all your homework?" he asked casually.

Shelly, who had just opened the door to sneak downstairs to the kitchen for snacks, stopped abruptly. From the shadows next to her, the head of Argo poked out, shivering. The latter lowered its voice and muttered, "I knew you'd get caught..."

"I... I finished the mental arithmetic flashcards," Shelly ignored Argo's hindsight and just shrank her head, looking cautiously at Duncan, who was as majestic as an iron tower by the window. "There's still a list of new words left, but I'm hungry..."

Duncan heard the girl's tone full of nervousness and grievance, which made him a little dumbfounded as he turned his head to look at Shelly. "Did I say you can't eat if you don't finish your homework?"

Shelly shrank her neck and didn't dare to answer.

Duncan sighed, smiled, turned around, and pressed down on Shelly's head.

"You really don't like studying?" he said helplessly. "You look like you've been bullied."

"I... I get sleepy as soon as I look at books..." Shelly said nervously. She was still not used to talking to Duncan in this body. The bandages and somber black clothes looked even more frightening than the captain on the Vanishing Sea, "I... I'm going back to my room to do my homework!"

Duncan gently held Shelly's shoulder, instantly interrupting her turning around to go back to her room.

"Rest for a while if you're tired," Duncan shook his head. "Don't study out of fear."

Shelly looked at Duncan in disbelief, but then nodded quickly, as if afraid that the captain would change his mind.

After a few more seconds, she looked at Duncan cautiously and couldn't help asking, "Why do you insist on me reading and writing... I... I don't need to go to university like Nina, and I can't be a scholar like Mr. Morris..."

This was the first time Duncan had heard this question from Shelly, but it was clear that this question had been lingering in her head for an unknown amount of time—this orphaned girl, who had never gone to school and had only relied on a deep-sea hound for company, obviously couldn't understand the captain's intentions.

"Because knowledge is useful," Duncan was silent for a while before looking at Shelly very seriously. "Those things you resist and find headache-inducing support the operation of the entire civilized world—looking at the cars driving on the streets outside, the roaring machines in the factories, and the boundless sea outside the city-state, haven't you been curious about how those things work? Haven't you been curious about what the distant city-states look like?"

Shelly thought for a moment. She seemed to know what the "correct answer" was, but in the end, she still shook her head hesitantly. "No, I... I always thought it was enough to fill my stomach. I didn't think so much."

"But you don't just need to fill your stomach now, Shelly," Duncan bent down, looking seriously into her eyes. "Maybe you don't understand now, but I want your life to be more complete—you've missed a lot of things, but since you're now a member of the Vanishing Sea, those things you missed will definitely be made up for."

Shelly stared blankly at Duncan. She still didn't quite understand what the captain was saying, but from his serious and solemn tone, she seemed to vaguely perceive some... warmth.

This warmth was vaguely familiar.

So she nodded, half-understanding, and made a slightly drawn-out sound: "Oh..."

"Very good," Duncan smiled and slowly straightened up. "Since you understand, go down and eat something and then continue doing your homework. I..."

He suddenly stopped.

Shelly was shrinking her neck, waiting for the next lesson, when she raised her head with some regret: "Huh? What's wrong?"

Duncan didn't answer her, just waved his hand gently, while his gaze was already cast towards the distance, seemingly looking at the opposite side of the corridor, but in the depths of his eyes, it seemed to reflect a gleam of light and shadow from a very distant place.

He blinked, one eye reflecting the corridor and roof of the house, while the other seemed to see a ship burning with faint green flames, wandering in the mist and shadows.

On the Frozen Outer Sea, in the captain's cabin of the Vanishing Sea, slowly prowling on the vast sea, Duncan suddenly raised his head from the chart table.

His sudden movement caused the goat head on the edge of the table to react immediately. The latter creaked and turned its neck: "Ah, Captain, what are your orders? Are you preparing for dinner? Although there are no hands available on board now, I am still willing to provide you with dining service to the best of my ability. What would you like to eat? We can start with southern cuisine, fried meat rolls, fried pork chops, fried fish cakes, fried meatballs, roasted bird eggs, steamed bird eggs, boiled bird eggs, simmered bird eggs, marinated bird eggs, smoked bird eggs..."

"Shut up, I didn't look up to listen to you recite dishes," Duncan glared at the talkative goat head, but his expression carried a hint of gravity. He raised his head and looked out of the captain's cabin window—towards the Frozen City-State, and said thoughtfully, "White Oak?"

"White Oak?" The goat head was stunned for a moment, then reacted, "Ah, are you talking about that steamship, the one Alice was on before? Why are you suddenly thinking of it? Do you want to retrieve that trophy? I can provide you with a complete set of recruitment plans. Are you planning to replace the sailors on board? That captain should be allowed to stay..."

"It's nearby," Duncan didn't pay attention to what the goat head was rambling on about. He just slowly stood up from behind the table, frowning slightly as he spoke, carefully sensing the faint but real connection. "In... near Frozen?"

"White Oak is near Frozen?" The goat head finally stopped rambling, its tone carrying astonishment. "Impossible... Frozen is locked down now, isn't it? And Tyrion's fleet is still blocking the route. If a foreign ship approaches, wouldn't he report it to you?"

"...Something's not right. I do feel the existence of the White Oak," Duncan said thoughtfully. "But its location... is vague, and it seems to be constantly changing..."

He narrowed his eyes, looking towards the Frozen City-State, trying to determine the location of the aura that had suddenly become strong in his perception.

The aura of the White Oak suddenly appeared, and it became strong in a short period of time, as if a flame suddenly lit up in the darkness, attracting his attention. This feeling... had never appeared before.

And whether it was an illusion or not, Duncan also felt that the ship's aura had large fluctuations several times, as if... flickering lights.

Thinking, he lowered his head and looked at the goat head wood carving on the table: "Do you know what's going on?"

The goat head thought for a moment, then shook its head: "Should I recite a menu for you..."

"Useless at critical moments." Duncan twitched the corner of his mouth, got up, walked around the navigation table, and stepped towards the outside of the captain's cabin.