Chapter 1 The "Seagull" Stops

The *Seagull* stopped.

When this terrifying charger came to a halt, it was almost a pile of debris from the relentless barrage. The original hull structure was long gone, and not even a complete deck or building ruin could be found. The torn hull and internal matter were scattered across the sea like spillage. Among the fragmented wreckage floated slowly spreading black sludge, and surviving unextinguished flames burned amidst the debris, with thick, filthy smoke billowing upwards.

And on the path where the *Seagull* had charged, everything was covered with those strange, sludge-like substances—an ominous blackness outlining a ribbon-like trail stretching for more than a dozen nautical miles in the seawater, like the disgusting slime left by some soft-bodied creature crawling ashore, slowly drifting with the wind and waves on the sea surface, lingering for a long time.

The roar of the coastal artillery ceased, and the thick smell of gunpowder filled the entire coastline. Lister stared fixedly at the burning wreckage on the distant sea, and only after a long while dared he believe that the thing had really stopped completely, hesitantly breaking the silence, "It's over?"

"…Maybe it's just the beginning," Agatha's voice was slightly hoarse, and a pale glimmer flashed in her eyes from time to time. Although the *Seagull* had stopped moving, she was still restlessly observing the scenes in the spirit world, to confirm whether there was anything in the wreckage still moving towards the city-state, "Don't forget, the *Seagull's* problems started after returning from Dagger Island."

Lister's expression became very unpleasant.

"When was the last time that island sent back a message?"

"Just a few hours ago, a telegram stated that everything was normal on the island," Lister frowned, "The church's spirit world communication has also been fine all along."

"…Seal off Dagger Island, Colonel. From now on, do not trust any news coming from this island," Agatha exhaled softly, "I will return to the Grand Cathedral now, to confirm that a more comprehensive lockdown order will be issued soon."

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Agatha."

"Everything is for the peace of the city-state," Agatha said softly, reciting a short proverb from the Book of the Dead, "All things are in order."

"What's that sound?" Morris nervously adjusted his head and looked at Duncan blankly, "Was that thunder?"

Duncan, on the other hand, had a pensive look on his face. The first thing he thought of was the letter of denunciation he had given to the old caretaker, and then he thought of the direction of Dagger Island—had he really guessed right?

A thunderous sound came from a great distance, one after another, each louder than the last. Judging from the direction of the sound, it seemed to be far away on the east coast of the city-state.

Duncan raised his head, looking at the sky in the direction of the sound, and vaguely saw clouds rising over there.

Those soldiers running around on the port and the black "oil" spreading on the sea were reflected in its slightly flickering green eyes.

"Sounds like the firing of giant cannons," Duncan on the other side changed his expression slightly, "Coastal artillery?

What happened? Why is there a barrage from the coastal artillery…"

Duncan withdrew his "gaze" from the distance and nodded gently to Alice and Vanna, "An invasion, but the Frost people stopped it."

Alice's face changed slightly, "An invasion?!"

"If I'm not mistaken, it came from Dagger Island—the Frost people should now realize the seriousness of the problem. It shouldn't be so easy for things on that island to come out again," Duncan's tone was quite calm, "Now Tirian is also near Dagger Island. His Sea Mist Fleet will further tighten the Frost authorities' nerves—anyway, when the whole city is under curfew, the Annihilation cultists hiding in the city will definitely take action. It will be much easier to find them at this time."

Alice was momentarily stuck, seeming to be carefully considering whether the number of words she and A Yi knew combined exceeded that of A Gou. In the meantime, the faint rumbling sounds that had been coming from the distance gradually stopped.

Duncan listened intently to the movements in the distance.

"The sound stopped…"

"No need to worry for the time being,"

After such a long period of coordination and adaptation, his connection with Vanna was now much closer and clearer than at the beginning. When his attention was focused enough, she could even share Vanna's vision and some of her senses, and through Vanna as a springboard, transmit a portion of his power without moving his main body.

Duncan didn't speak, but used that vague mental connection to sense what Vanna was detecting in the distance.

In the eastern port area of ​​Frost, a chubby white dove was standing on a tower, its round little eyes looking at the smoky sea on one side and the port on the other.

The sound of flapping wings suddenly rang out, and a seemingly unremarkable fat pigeon took off from the shadows of a nearby building and quickly flew into the distance.

"No need to worry, I asked Vanna to check the situation," Duncan said, then raised his head and looked at the seemingly old house in front of him, "Let's continue talking about the condition of this house."

Arranging for Alice and Vanna to solve the accommodation problem was indeed the right choice—the others on the ship couldn't handle this.

"This house is 44 Oak Street, next to Hearth Street. The landlord has another residence on Hearth Street and won't come to bother us on weekdays. There is a small road connecting the two blocks, and the Grand Cathedral is located on the large square between the two blocks, some distance from here." Vanna took out the key from her pocket and opened the door, and Duncan followed closely behind with Morris.

Duncan listened to the old gentleman's detailed introduction while also looking at the temporary accommodation in front of him.

Entering the gate was an entrance hall for taking off shoes and changing clothes, followed by a decent living room. The walls were covered with slightly yellowed, lightly patterned wallpaper. The dining room was connected to the living room, and another bedroom was next to the dining room. The staircase leading to the second floor faced the gate, and it seemed that most of the bedrooms were on the second floor.

It wasn't a very exquisite residence, but it was more than enough as a temporary foothold—it was even a little more spacious than Prand's two-story building, which combined a shop and a residence.

This was a detached building with typical northern city-state characteristics. The grayish-white exterior walls were slightly smooth, coated with highly insulating porous mortar. The house had two floors, the windows were relatively wide, and there were wall lamps and mailbox openings next to the black door. The roof was high and steep, covered with black tiles to facilitate snow melting and falling off. Steam and gas pipes extended from the large pipes above the block, sending them into the building along the gable.

Alice on the side immediately coughed lightly twice, continuing the introduction that had been interrupted just now—although the faint rumbling sounds from the distance were still continuing, since the captain was so calm, it was obviously nothing to worry about, "This house was selected by Vanna and me from two sets of rental houses—the other three were either too close to the city center, making it inconvenient to move around, or the houses themselves were in too poor condition and not suitable for living in. Although this one is also a bit old, the landlord maintains the house very well, and it is quite clean inside.

"We are on a short-term lease, and the average daily rent is a bit more expensive than a long-term lease, but we can check out at any time. We have temporarily paid half a month's rent—Vanna and I have met the landlord, who is a polite and well-mannered lady. After learning of my identity as a traveling scholar, she generously sent over some daily necessities..."

The floor creaked slightly when stepped on, making a slight creaking sound that symbolized the passage of time. The simple tables and chairs shone in the sunlight, and there was not much dust to be seen. On the table in the dining room was a bouquet of colorful flowers—obviously fake flowers made of cloth or plastic.

"This was also sent by the landlord. It is said to be a custom here in Frost. The landlord prepares a bouquet of flowers that will not wither in winter for the new tenants, symbolizing good wishes."

"…Every place has its own wonderful rules," Duncan said with a slight smile, "This place is not bad… and it is far from the main road, so it should be quieter."

Half an hour later.

Duncan's mouth twitched, "…A Yi may indeed be complaining about boredom, but I guess its purpose is not to come to the city to do homework."

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at the second floor, "It seems that bringing Nina and A Yi over to do homework would stop them from complaining about boredom on the ship."

Duncan said expressionlessly, "I didn't praise you—it's not something to be proud of that you and A Yi combined know fewer words than a dog."

Morris, who was actually not much stronger than Alice, scratched his head and showed a harmless smile, "Hehe…"

Duncan waved his hand, "It doesn't matter, you should also work harder—now A Gou can even roughly understand the newspaper, and A Yi is still struggling with the spelling of twelve common vegetables. I am deeply worried about your future. If you continue like this, you won't even be able to catch up with Alice."

Just then, a knock on the door suddenly rang out, interrupting the conversation outside the living room.

Duncan looked at the door in surprise.

Guests as soon as they moved in?

"I'll open the door," Alice said, walking to the door, and after opening the door, she made a surprised sound, "You are…"

A little girl wearing a thick black coat and a wool hat was standing at the door.