Now, that mass of once-living "matter" had completely turned into a solidified piece of metal.

To harmlessly dispose of an "anomaly" that had already been registered for containment required a complex procedure, but for Ted Riel, as a Truth Keeper, it was merely routine work. He quickly found the person in charge of the underground archives and made proper arrangements.

Despite feeling emotional and deeply touched by the past of that "living metal," as a protector of the city-state, he had to strictly follow safety rules—even if it truly was a hero who once tried to save the world. In this age of the deep sea, it had become an "otherworldly invader" with a high risk of spreading corruption and pollution. The mass would face the high temperature of the steam core reactor and a set of strict purification, division, crushing, and sealing procedures.

But from another perspective, it might be a kind of burial. After all, ordinary people in this world go through the same thing. "Corpses" should always be properly "handled," and the dead should always make way for the living.

As for the long sword, as the only material left from "that world" at the end, it had miraculously returned to its original state at the time of its creation, making it a research sample of extremely high value.

Through it, scholars could gain a better understanding of that world—although everything had passed, this understanding and memory were ultimately meaningful.

"It's useless for me to keep it," Duncan readily agreed to Ted Riel's request. He handed the long sword to the other man, his tone tinged with emotion, "Let the smart people uncover more secrets behind it. If you make any discoveries, I hope you can share them with me."

"Of course," Ted Riel solemnly accepted the sword from Duncan. After a moment's hesitation, he continued, "Regarding what happened today and the information we have gathered, I will convene the scholars of the Truth Academy for discussion. If we encounter new problems, we may still need your... help."

"No problem," Duncan naturally had no objections. He nodded and pointed to Lucrezia beside him, "You can contact me through Lucy—if I think of anything or discover something new, she will relay it."

There were still many things to explain and discuss. After the Great Annihilation, this "horizon of limit" suddenly revealed a crack in front of mortals, and what followed would inevitably be a huge impact on the academic world. The Four Gods Church would also pay attention to and discuss this matter, and whether they were willing to accept it or not, the Vanished and its captain were already an indispensable part of this.

As for Duncan, he didn't care about it. Moreover, from his perspective, there were still some very critical and special issues among the many pieces of information he had just obtained that Lucrezia and Ted Riel had not noticed, and might not even be able to understand for the time being.

Such as the location of that "Crimson" and its counter-intuitive performance.

If the information he saw in the memory fragments was true, and if the "Templar" hadn't made any mistakes in his explanation of the "Warrior," then the "red radiance" that caused the world's destruction should be located in outer space—it might be a huge astronomical phenomenon spanning the galaxy, a band of light appearing in the starry sky.

And this raised a question: planets rotate. At least judging from the scenes seen in the memory fragments, the "Warrior's" hometown also had normal sunrises and sunsets, and the stars rotated.

Therefore, the "red light band" located in outer space should also theoretically move, rise, and fall in the sky along with the other stars.

But why was that "Crimson" always located in a specific position in the sky?

The "Warrior" and his companions had been searching for the place where the crimson fell, because in their eyes, that red light was always fixed in a specific position in the sky, which also led them to not realizing that the light did not actually fall on the ground, but was located in the background of the starry sky.

That "Templar" also mentioned this question at the end—in a sense, this was the last and greatest "astronomical discovery" of their civilization during its existence.

Duncan's guess was that the "light" was no longer just some kind of visible entity. "Crimson" was just how it manifested, and its essence... might have involved the basic order of the universe, even "destruction" and "distortion" at the level of "rules."

It might be a tear in the dimensional level, or even more profound and complex phenomena.

However, Ted Riel and Lucrezia were not yet aware of this problem, and it would probably be difficult to understand it in a short time—they didn't even understand the concept of a planet.

This could only be done slowly, even if Duncan was willing to explain it now, it would take a very long time.

The second question was, what exactly should be the concept of "world" in the "World Convergence Theory"?

Are each "world" planets located in the same universe, or under a broader perspective... different "universes"?

Duncan raised his head and glanced at Ted Riel, who was still thinking, and the long sword in his hand.

The "Moon" and the "long sword" as two pieces of evidence may be able to support most of the descriptions in the World Convergence Theory, but they are not enough to determine what "level" those "world fragments" that make up the "Boundless Sea" are. Broadly speaking, each planet can be called a world, and each universe... can also be called a world.

For Duncan, the difference between them was very important.

But this was also a problem that the "Truth Keeper" and the "Sea Witch" could not understand or perceive at present—Duncan had no idea how to explain these concepts to them in a short time.

In addition to this, the secret of the "Crimson Light" itself was certainly more worthy of attention—this was not the first time Duncan had "seen" that ominous radiance.

In the phantom of the crash of the New Hope, and in the paintings in Alice's mansion, that red light had appeared.

What exactly was that thing?

Lucrezia noticed Duncan's prolonged silence, and the constant changes in his expression as he pondered.

She was a little worried: "Father, is there anything else wrong?"

"...I have many questions that I need to sort out," Duncan temporarily woke up from his contemplation. He shook his head gently, "Let's go back first. When I figure something out, I'll discuss it with you."

Lucrezia still seemed a little worried, but she realized from Duncan's attitude that these were probably some "difficult to explain" questions again.

This was the first tacit understanding that she and her father had re-established during these short days of getting along.

So she just nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

"We should go," Duncan breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Nina and Shirley, who still looked a little uneasy, and then at Ted Riel, "Send us away."

The Keeper nodded, summoned the "door" from the book again, and then went through the door with Duncan and others, returning to the academy near Crown Street.

"I will make some arrangements after I go back," Before saying goodbye, Ted Riel glanced at Nina and Shirley standing next to Duncan, "You and your followers will not be disturbed in the city, but correspondingly..."

"Don't worry, there won't be any trouble," Duncan took the initiative to speak before the other party finished, with a friendly smile on his face, "We are all law-abiding people who value the security of the city-state."

The "Truth Keeper" in front of him was obviously stunned for a moment. Even Lucrezia next to him was stunned for a moment. Obviously, neither of them believed it.

But soon, Ted Riel controlled the change in his expression. He smiled stiffly but politely: "That's... best."

Then he paused and added very sincerely: "Let's get together again when we have time. Although you may not remember me, I still look forward to talking to you about those... incredible 'knowledge.'"

Duncan laughed: "Many people don't dare to talk to me about 'knowledge'. It's rare to see someone as brave as you. Okay, then I'll look forward to it."

Lucrezia looked at her father, and then at the "Truth Keeper" opposite.

The witch lady suddenly felt a little emotional.

It seems that teaching is indeed a very difficult thing. This Keeper would rather talk to his father about subspace than face the graduating class...

After a simple farewell, Duncan took Nina and Shirley and left the academy facility with Lucrezia.

They returned to the "Witch's Mansion" at 99 Crown Street.

"You guys arrange things yourselves. I'm going upstairs to rest first—don't disturb me unless it's something special."

Duncan simply gave such an instruction, then rubbed Nina and Shirley's hair, and walked up the stairs to the second floor.

After a while, Shirley, who was a little dazed, turned her head and whispered to Nina: "The captain is not in a good mood..."

"I don't think you can describe it as being in a good or bad mood..." Nina hesitated, and also whispered her opinion, "Uncle Duncan has a lot on his mind—but actually, his condition today is much better than the past few days. He's not so gloomy, but it seems like he has a lot of things to think about."

Shirley tried hard to think about it, and then cautiously looked up at Lucrezia, who was thinking about something next to her, and whispered to Nina: "I don't seem to understand the things the captain said."

"Actually, I didn't understand it very well either," Nina said a little awkwardly, "That might be something that only scholars at the university level can understand..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lucrezia suddenly broke the silence: "Don't mind it, even university scholars can't fully understand them."

Nina and Shirley were startled at the same time. The two of them looked at the witch lady in a daze.

Lucrezia shook her head at them, her expression very serious.

"They are all 'knowledge' from subspace, but after my father's 'treatment', they are not so harmful—but that is still not something ordinary people can easily understand."