Chapter 17 The Sun Turns Dark

The shouts from the streets outside startled Lucretia and Talan Eyl simultaneously. Their gazes snapped towards the window. Warm, bright "sunlight" still streamed in, initially masking any environmental anomalies.

But they quickly noticed the "sunlight" filtering through the window felt strangely off compared to before. The overall brightness of the sky had also diminished. Lucretia's eyes narrowed, and with a "bang," she transformed into countless scattered, swirling pieces of colored paper, rushing out the window. The dancing paper ascended the roof like a whirlwind.

Reassembling into the Sea Witch on a platform, Lucretia lifted her head, gazing at the sky. A massive, dark sphere hung silently in the direction of the sun.

Two rings of runes around the sphere's edge emitted dazzling golden light. However, the glow between the two rings flickered with dark interruptions, as if a faulty lamp might extinguish completely at any moment!

With the luminous core plunged into darkness, the sun's brightness now only emanated from the two rune rings. Theoretically, the entire city-state should have been plunged into near-nighttime dimness, yet light still shone on Port Bliss!

This light originated from the nearby sea. The mountain-like, glowing geometric structure still floated silently on the water, its diffused golden "sunlight" preventing the city from falling into darkness. This was the source of the sunlight Lucretia and Talan Eyl had seen in the room!

The sounds of clothing rustling against buildings and heavy breathing reached her ears. Lucretia looked down to see a middle-aged elf with messy golden hair struggling to climb up the drainpipe—Master Talan Eyl, braving his century-old frozen shoulder and cervical spondylosis to reach the platform. Elven talents were indeed awe-inspiring!

"Hah... hah... Ms. Lucretia, you were right... hah... I might need a little physical exercise. Just paying attention to diet and nutrition isn't enough to... hah... ensure strength..."

"I don't believe you pay attention to diet and nutrition—the purpose of vitality-sustaining meals is simply to maintain your vital signs."

Lucretia stated expressionlessly, her gaze still fixed on the dark sphere looming in the distant sky.

"For now, let's look at the sky. That's the bigger problem."

Talan Eyl caught his breath, looked up.

Bathed in the pale golden light emanating from the sea, the dark sphere suspended in the sky appeared all the more bizarre. The sight of the once-protective Anomaly 001—the sun—extinguished after ten thousand years was terrifying, like a gaping, horrific void leading to the end of all things, or a decaying, dying eyeball silently watching the world.

"Oh, looks like we're in big trouble." Talan Eyl finally managed to utter a few words. His bloodshot eyes, strained from years of late-night work, slowly narrowed as if trying to focus and make out more details on the dark sphere's surface.

"The worst thing..."

"The city-state guard has already started maintaining order. Looks like repetitive, optimized mechanized training is proving useful."

Lucretia glanced down at the streets below. Steam-powered walkers and tactical squads bearing the emblems of the city-state guard and the Academy of Truth had appeared at intersections, guiding panicked citizens to slowly regain their composure. Despite their efforts, the overall chaos in the district persisted!

And there was no telling how things would develop. Everyone in this world was constantly preparing for "paranormal disasters," but the shock of the "sun extinguishing" clearly exceeded all training and contingency plans for the average person.

"I need to return to the Brilliant Star to confirm the situation!" Lucretia suddenly averted her gaze from the streets, turning to Talan Eyl to speak quickly.

"That ship is near the 'Falling Light Entity.' It might be able to collect useful data."

Talan Eyl opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, the "Sea Witch" before him had once again transformed into countless fluttering pieces of colored paper!

In the blink of an eye, they swirled and flew off the rooftop platform, heading towards the distant port. The elven scholar was left on the roof. He stared blankly for a moment, then looked down at the way he had come up. At least send me back down...

He muttered in annoyance, slowly got up, and prepared to return to the second-floor balcony via the drainpipe. But at that moment, the corner of his eye caught something else—a building nearby, the "Cloudflow Tower" of the city-state university. It was property of the Academy of Truth, and most elves simply called it "the Tower."

The top of the tower was fitted with various observation devices for monitoring the weather and observing the sky. Its special filters and telescope arrays could also be used to observe the sun and other distant objects.

"Observing the sun at a time like this isn't wise..."

The elven scholar muttered. Then, he casually took out an amulet symbolizing Rahm, the god of wisdom, and pressed it to his forehead, briefly praying for the protection of folly.

"Alright, now I'm a fool."

Talan Eyl said, putting away the amulet, and took a deep breath. Then, he quickly assessed the distances and relative positions of several nearby rooftops and accelerated towards the one he thought he had the best chance of reaching, and leaped!

In those two seconds of briefly defying gravity, feeling the wind on his face as his body crossed the rooftop, a valuable question suddenly surfaced in the elven scholar's mind—

"Why didn't I ask my students for help?"

...

The entire world was plunged into twilight, an eerie light that felt like dusk but was even gloomier, enveloping the Boundless Sea.

The extinguished giant sphere hung in the sky like a horrific void, motionless since it went dark. The two rune structures surrounding the sphere emitted the only remaining "afterglow."

In the absence of the sun, the light from those two rings even seemed somewhat dazzling!

Yet, the "dazzling" light projected onto the mortal world barely managed to dispel the darkness.

Duncan came to the deck, his face unusually grave as he looked up at the pitch-black sphere, speechless. Everyone had rushed out of their rooms!

Gathered on deck, they gazed at the bizarre sky. Vanna whispered prayers, Morris frowned, Shirley hugged A Gou tightly, hiding behind Duncan, and Nina clung to Duncan's arm, her face full of nervous anxiety.

A faint golden light flickered in Nina's eyes, while Alice showed an incredible "calmness"—she simply tilted her head, propping it with a hand, and curiously surveyed the extinguished sun, as if seeing something new and strange, without a trace of fear.

Lacking common sense, she didn't seem to fully grasp what was happening.

A shifting shadow suddenly appeared in the air near Duncan. The shadow rapidly swelled and coalesced, forming Agatha's outline.

"The spirit world is normal, Captain?" she said to Duncan quickly.

"No problems elsewhere on the ship either."

Duncan nodded slightly.

As a mirror image, Agatha could traverse the mirror world, instantly inspecting every cabin on the Vanishing Line. She also possessed the "eyes" to see through the spirit world, allowing her to constantly confirm the state of the "deeper world" around the Vanishing Line.

Often, the information she "observed" was even more comprehensive than what Duncan "sensed."

"Captain," Shirley said, hugging A Gou's head and looking up at Duncan's face, which was usually full of laughter, but now filled with fear and panic.

"What's happening... Is this what you warned us about before?"

Duncan didn't answer Shirley immediately, but frowned and carefully observed the sky. After a long silence, he muttered to himself, "The Wound of the World hasn't appeared?"

"Wound of the World?"

Morris, standing nearby, was stunned when he heard this!

Then, he reacted, looking up at the sky. "Indeed, the Wound of the World remains hidden. Which means..."

"The sun is still working," Duncan nodded lightly. "It's just that the 'lighting' function is turned off for some reason? But its suppression effect on the Wound of the World is still in place."

"Will the sun light up again?" Alice suddenly turned her head and asked curiously.

Duncan had no answer, but he still nodded slightly. "It should. This enormous anomaly has been running stably for ten thousand years. Even if there's a problem, it shouldn't suddenly collapse completely, at least... not today."

Alice relaxed and smiled happily. "Oh, that's good. I haven't dried my quilt yet!"

Listening to the carefree words of the doll, Duncan couldn't help but smile slightly. Then, he lowered his head and ruffled Nina's hair.

Nina raised her head, and pale golden flames burned in her pupils. The light of a star was brewing in those flames. She nodded gently, then released her hands from Duncan's arm.

A moment later!

Blinding light suddenly rose from the deck. Nina instantly transformed into a crescent of blazing flames, and the miniature star danced and leaped around Duncan twice before gracefully leaping onto the mast, flying into the sky, and finally hovering high above the tallest mast of the Vanishing Line. The arc of flame spun there, the firelight condensing into a small, fiery sun. "Sunlight" once again illuminated the Vanishing Line and a small patch of the surrounding sea. In the distant sky, Anomaly 001 remained extinguished!

But at least within the range of the "sun fragment," reassuring warmth and light once again enveloped everyone.

Duncan breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that light was most reassuring in this situation. "Alright, now I need to go confirm the situation elsewhere."