Chapter 1 The Little Girl at the Door

The girl standing at the doorway looked to be no more than eleven or twelve years old, short in stature, wearing a warm, thick white coat, a faint wisp of steam rising from her woolen hat—she looked like she had run all the way, panting slightly when she saw Morris, but her face quickly blossomed into a bright smile.

"Are you Grandpa Morris? My mom asked me to bring this," she said, extending her hand and handing over a key. "It's the key to the basement. Mom said she forgot to give it to you when she left."

"Ah, thank you, little girl," Morris responded, nodding as he reached out to take the key. "Come in and warm up a bit?"

The little girl was about to speak when Duncan's voice suddenly rang out from behind Morris, with a hint of surprise, "Annie?"

Looking over the old scholar's shoulder, Duncan stared in astonishment at the girl standing in the doorway.

It was none other than Annie Babelli, daughter of the *Obsidian* Captain Cristobal Babelli, whom he'd seen at the cemetery gate. Duncan suddenly understood what was happening—unsure whether to call it coincidence or to lament the "smallness" of the city-state, he had once again encountered the *Obsidian* captain's daughter. The temporary accommodation that Morris and Vanna had secured in a day... happened to be Annie's house.

Annie also saw the burly figure suddenly appearing before her eyes, and her eyes widened instantly.

The unexpected situation left the girl a little flustered. She stared blankly for several seconds before belatedly reacting, awkwardly greeting, "Ah, you're the uncle from the cemetery... You... hello?"

Her final greeting was clearly hesitant, as she recalled her experience at the cemetery gate, remembering the spectacle of flames erupting when Duncan left—Duncan hadn't thought much of it at the time, but that scene had undoubtedly left a deep impression in the little girl's mind.

Even at her young age, Annie knew that was extraordinary power—this knowledge had already been written into every city-state's textbooks and promoted to all citizens as general knowledge. A basic understanding of extraordinary power and protective techniques was the foundation for ordinary people in this world to survive safely.

But Annie couldn't discern what kind of power it was—her textbooks hadn't covered it, the cemetery caretaker hadn't explained it to her, and when she returned home and told her mother, her mother hadn't told her anything either.

It seemed like a secret that children shouldn't be exposed to yet.

Annie stared blankly at Duncan standing opposite her. The caretaker's previous reminder was still ringing in her ears, which made her instinctively feel a little uneasy, but the burly figure suddenly stepped aside, his voice sounding somewhat intimidating, yet with a hint of gentleness, "Come in and rest for a while, it's starting to snow again outside."

Only then did Annie belatedly look back and see the swirling snowflakes falling from the sky once more, a few flakes drifting down her neck, chilling her.

As if possessed, she entered the house, looking around in a daze.

The sister with the beautiful blonde hair and seemingly noble air was also standing in the living room, right next to the dining table, casting curious glances this way.

She had removed her veil and looked very beautiful—almost the most beautiful person Annie had ever seen.

"Mom said, you can't just bother the tenants," Annie said hesitantly, rubbing the mud and slush off her little boots on the doormat in the entryway. "She said Grandpa Morris is a great scholar, and it's impolite to mess around..."

"You're not bothering us. We just wanted to learn about our new place," Morris said, having guessed the general situation by now. "Besides, it's snowing outside again. It's not safe for you to run back alone. Rest here for a while, and Vanna will take you back later."

Annie glanced up at Vanna, who seemed like a little giant, and nodded subconsciously.

Then she looked at Duncan and hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "So... so you need to live in the house too?"

"Of course, I'll be living in the house," Duncan chuckled, leading Annie towards the sofa in the living room as he casually said, "Aren't you mother worried about you running around alone?"

In his opinion, Annie was running around a bit too much, not only running to the cemetery alone early in the morning but also delivering keys to new tenants of unknown origin through the alleys between blocks in this terrible weather. It was too worrying.

"It's okay. Everyone around here knows me. Mom says half the people on these two streets are my dad's friends," Annie didn't care at all. She sat on the sofa, propping her hands under her thighs, swaying back and forth. "Besides, Mom's usually very busy. She has to do accounting and fill out forms for people, and she also helps out at the small church when she has time. I'm used to running around."

Duncan thought for a moment and asked, "Then... did you tell your mother what I told you when you got home?"

"I told her," Annie nodded, then her expression turned a little strange. "At first, she said I was talking nonsense, but then I told her what the cemetery caretaker said, and she went back to her room alone... When she came out, she looked like she had been crying... but then she smiled and told me that we were having fried fish and sausage stew for dinner because today was a day worth celebrating."

She stopped swaying and looked a little confused. She looked up at Duncan, saying curiously and hesitantly, "I feel... I don't understand."

"It's okay, you'll understand sooner or later," Duncan chuckled. "Some things are too complicated for you right now."

"You talk like the caretaker, Uncle. He often says that too," Annie muttered, then shook her head, seeming to think seriously for a moment before looking up again. "Uncle, you... don't want to be disturbed, do you?"

Duncan was curious. "Why do you say that?"

"Because you're dressed like that—and you suddenly disappeared when you left. Mom says that's the... style of the Cathedral's secretive personnel or hermits of societies, I think that's the word, style."

Duncan didn't know how to respond to the girl, but she obviously wasn't waiting for his answer. Annie thought to herself for a moment and then suddenly said, "I won't talk about it carelessly with others. The caretaker also reminded me to act like I never saw you and not to tell anyone except my mom."

Duncan couldn't help but chuckle, but before he could speak, Annie continued, "Can I tell the caretaker? Tell him... you're living in my house?"

Morris and Vanna, who had come to the sofa to listen to the excitement, couldn't help but exchange glances when they heard the girl's words. Alice immediately turned her gaze to Duncan.

They all felt that something about this matter seemed amiss.

However, Duncan only remained silent for a few seconds before nodding gently with a smile. "Yes, I don't mind."

At the same time, near the eastern harbor, sample collection work had begun on the wreckage of the *Seahawk*.

Several light speedboats departed from the docks, cautiously approaching the surface of the sea, which was still floating with murky "sludge" and small patches of flame. Each speedboat was equipped with accompanying priests, holy objects, and nitroglycerin explosives for emergencies.

On shore, the harbor garrison was also prepared for the docking operation.

An empty warehouse had been selected as a temporary transit facility. Priests and guardians who had rushed over from the upper-level cathedral had completed the purification and countermeasure arrangements for the entire area. Before leaving, Gatekeeper Agatha had left behind a team of elite confidants to prevent accidents during the collection of the wreckage samples.

Lister stood on the dock, gazing at the situation on the sea, his several confidant subordinates beside him, monitoring the progress of the salvage operation.

"Will there really be no problem bringing those things ashore?" One confidant asked, his tone filled with unease. "Of course, I'm not questioning the Gatekeeper's judgment, but those things... just a few hours ago, they were rushing towards Frost Island at an alarming rate. Are they really 'dead' now?"

"Ms. Agatha has repeatedly confirmed in the depths of the spirit world that these things are no longer active," Lister said calmly. "They can indeed be 'killed'. Judging from Ms. Agatha's attitude and handling plan, I think the Cathedral may have even encountered similar things before."

"Similar things?

Already appearing in the city-state?" A junior officer said in surprise. "This... there's been no news about this at all..."

"You haven't heard, which means this matter shouldn't be made public, at least not yet. The Cathedral and City Hall have their own judgments," Lister shook his head. "In any case, Ms. Agatha is trustworthy. She wouldn't risk the safety of the city-state. All we have to do is listen to the judgments of the professionals—priests know how to deal with these strange things better than soldiers do."

The confidant stopped speaking, but just then, another burst of rapid footsteps suddenly came, and a soldier hurried to the dock.

"Sir!" The soldier jogged up to Lister, saluted, and handed the defense commander a document that had just been sent through the high-pressure pneumatic tube. "Orders from City Hall."

"Looks like the official order to blockade Dagger Island has arrived." Lister said, taking the document, but his expression suddenly changed when he saw the contents.

A confidant noticed. "Sir? Is there a situation?"

"...It is indeed an order to blockade the waterway, but not just to blockade Dagger Island," Lister said with a solemn expression, his tone particularly serious. "Strictly speaking, it's not just blockading Dagger Island—the order requires blocking all waterways in and out of Frost, and all garrisons are to enter a state of readiness."

"Blockade... the entire Frost Island?!"

"The Mist Fleet has appeared in nearby waters," Lister took a deep breath, his face even more gloomy and ugly than the sky at that moment. "The entire Mist Fleet."