"So that's the situation. Vanna, what are your thoughts on this?"

On the deck of the *Deep Sea Embers*, Duncan spoke to Vanna, who was holding a piece of sea-breath wood and carving an amulet.

Vanna listened in a daze as Duncan relayed the problems the *White Oak* was encountering and the captain's plans for the future. After a long while, she reacted, tossed the newly carved amulet into a wooden bucket, and looked up. "Are you saying that I should vouch for the *White Oak* as a Saint, and then, as an Inquisitor, issue a permit allowing a mutated ship to return to legal status?"

"The process seems feasible," Duncan said with a serious expression. "After all, you are indeed a Saint of the Storm Goddess—and an Inquisitor of Prand."

"But my Inquisitor position has been revoked..."

Duncan waved his hand. "Isn't that something the Pope arranged privately? Your official public identity hasn't changed."

Vanna was stunned again. This straightforward woman seemed a little unaccustomed to Duncan's way of thinking. "Exploiting loopholes" was a completely new concept she had never considered in her years as an Inquisitor. She instinctively felt something was wrong, but couldn't put her finger on it. She could only hesitate and say, "I don't know if the process is right, but..."

Duncan interrupted Vanna's hesitation with a solemn expression. "The *White Oak* needs to return to legal status, and the Sunken Fleet needs to reconnect with the civilized world. You wouldn't want us to remain a shadow looming over the world forever, would you? Neutralizing the Sunken Fleet that once threatened the world is a good thing, and as a Saint of the Storm Goddess, you should actively promote this matter. What do you think?"

Vanna froze. Her expression turned calm as she fell into thought. After a long while, she looked up and stared into Duncan's eyes. "You sound like you're usually fooling Alice."

"You're not Alice—Alice would have believed me after the first sentence."

Vanna: "...."

"But the principle is the same. The *White Oak* really needs your help now," Duncan continued matter-of-factly. "And from a practical point of view, having another controllable and powerful supernatural exploration ship isn't a bad thing for the city-states—it's better than letting this ship become a wandering shadow on the boundless sea."

"I..."

Vanna opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but at that moment, a faint and distant chime suddenly rang in her mind, interrupting her.

She looked up, subconsciously listening to the direction of the chimes, hearing the specially rhythmic ringing echoing in her soul. Duncan's concerned voice seemed to come from the other side of a heavy curtain. "What's happening?"

"The Swift Bell... the Cathedral is summoning Saints from all over, it seems to be about the news from the Tomb of the Nameless King..." Vanna murmured to herself in confusion, her tone carrying a hint of disbelief. "Why can I still hear this summons..."

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Is that strange? You're still a Saint of the Deep Sea Church."

"But I thought..." Vanna frowned. "I thought they wouldn't summon me anymore after I boarded the *Deep Sea Embers*."

Duncan's eyes twitched. He heard a hint of "boarding a pirate ship" in her tone, but he quickly concealed the change in his expression and said with a calm expression, "Don't think so much. Since it's a summons from the Cathedral, then go to the prayer room quickly. If you have the chance to see Pope Helena, ask her about issuing a permit for the *White Oak*."

A strange look appeared on Vanna's face, but this time she managed to control the urge to question him. Listening to the chimes in her mind ringing repeatedly as if urging her, she quickly nodded to Duncan and turned to walk quickly towards the cabin.

There were many empty cabins on the *Deep Sea Embers*. With the captain's permission, she had converted one of them into a prayer room—although she had never tried it before, in theory, she should be able to respond to the psychic communication through that cabin and go to the Gathering Place.

Vanna left. It wasn't until her figure disappeared behind the cabin door that Duncan withdrew his gaze.

He looked in the direction Vanna had disappeared, then turned to look at Alice, who had returned to the *Deep Sea Embers* with him and was now dragging a large bucket to wash the deck not far away. After a long while, he sighed softly, "Ah... much harder to fool."

After sighing, he bent down and picked up the sea-breath wood amulet that Vanna had carved from the wooden bucket next to him.

The amulet wasn't too exquisite, but it was obviously made with care. Duncan stood at the edge of the deck, casually fiddling with the small piece of wood while waiting for Vanna to return.

In theory, it shouldn't take too long.

And in this idle wait, he was slowly sorting out the information he had gathered during this time, especially the information he had just obtained on the *White Oak*.

The huge shadow beneath the deep sea, the "Hybrid" named Martha, and... the changes that had occurred in that Hybrid.

Duncan's mind conjured up the scene where the mass of fluctuating shadow re-condensed and stabilized into "Martha," and... the illusion of "fish" he had seen before that scene.

He turned his head and looked at the slightly undulating sea in the distance. The sea was deep and the waves were like a curtain.

The sea seemed like a curtain that concealed all secrets, blocking the truth beneath the surface. When the fishing rod was cast, no one knew what would be caught.

And what he had caught at the beginning was "fish."

A trace of solemnity slowly appeared in Duncan's eyes. He looked down at the wave amulet in his hand, hesitated slightly, and then threw the amulet back into the wooden bucket. He picked up a piece of uncarved wood next to him, which looked ordinary.

He looked at the piece of wood very seriously, and after a long while, he opened his mouth in a slow and solemn tone. "This is a piece of bread."

The wood was still wood, and nothing had changed.

Duncan stared at the piece of wood for a long time, twitched the corner of his mouth, and looked up to make sure no one was around. He casually threw the piece of wood back where it was.

"It seems it's not that simple... so what exactly is the principle..."

At the same time, in a private cabin below the deck of the *Deep Sea Embers*, Vanna had quickly arranged the "site" for performing the ritual.

She locked the cabin door and turned to look at the ritual ground she had set up.

Under normal circumstances, to respond to the Gathering summons, one had to use the specially built "Sea Tide Chamber" in the church to construct a psychic channel, but this was obviously unrealistic on a ship with limited conditions—she could only place her usual prayer books on the nearby ground as anchors for the "holy land," light a large candlestick in the center of the room to serve as a ritual brazier, and then find holy oil and incense purchased from the city-state to serve as "sacrifices" to enhance the ritual's effect. She had barely managed to gather enough elements to open the psychic channel.

To be honest, the conditions were very makeshift, even a bit disrespectful to the Goddess—but there was no better alternative.

The chimes in her mind continued, ringing repeatedly as if urging her, as if the bell would keep ringing if she didn't respond.

"...I hope the Goddess won't blame me... If I had known, I should have prepared some better quality holy oil at least." Vanna muttered, finally made up her mind, and took out the holy oil and incense and dripped them into the candlestick.

In the flames that suddenly rose, she took a light breath and calmed her mind...

The vast gathering place was shrouded in an ancient, dim sky. Chaotic streams of light appeared and wandered at the top of countless ancient and solemn pillars. One by one, hazy figures were constantly emerging in the dilapidated square between the pillars.

After all the figures were in place, Vanna's soul projection arrived belatedly.

The slight dizziness and sensory deprivation made her stand in place for a few seconds. After initially adapting, she lowered her head to confirm her state and the outlines of the figures around her.

"It's actually going smoothly..."

She muttered in surprise.

Instead of going through the Sea Tide Chamber, she had used the temporary altar with limited conditions on the *Deep Sea Embers* and the candles serving as a ritual brazier to perform the ritual. She hadn't had much hope for the success rate of this operation, but she didn't expect it to succeed on the first try.

A figure approached from the side, interrupting Vanna's thoughts.

She looked up and recognized the owner of the figure from the familiar silhouette and aura—it was Bishop Valentine, whom she hadn't seen for a long time.

"Vanna, you're finally here!" The old bishop's voice carried a hint of joy from a long-awaited reunion. "I didn't expect you could really come..."

"I... didn't expect it either," Vanna said with a slightly embarrassed tone. "Has everyone been waiting for a long time? The conditions here are limited, and I prepared the ritual in a hurry. It took a long time..."

"It's okay. For some reason, Her Holiness the Pope also arrived late today and hasn't arrived yet," Valentine said immediately, then leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Where are you now? Still on the 'ship'?"

"...Yes, on the 'ship.' I just left Frost," Vanna glanced around and lowered her voice. "I was talking to the 'captain' a dozen minutes ago."

"...He actually let you set up a prayer room on the ship?" Bishop Valentine's tone was full of disbelief. "And you can even open a psychic channel from the ship? Did you find a powerful relic?"

"It's just a simple ritual ground," Vanna said with some embarrassment. "I didn't expect it to succeed..."

"A simple ritual ground?" Valentine asked suspiciously, but then a roar from the center of the square interrupted what he wanted to say.

Accompanied by a loud bang, the ancient and solemn Tomb of the Nameless King slowly rose from the ground in the center of the square. The Saints gathered in various places in the gathering place also quieted down, and their gazes fell on the gray-white pyramid-shaped building.

Vanna also subconsciously looked at the building, at the heavy door in front of the pyramid.

The door slowly opened, and a tomb guardian wrapped in bandages, as if between life and death, stepped out.

Vanna's heart stirred, and then she saw the tall guardian walking straight towards her. A small commotion broke out in the gathering place.

For the third time, the tomb guardian had chosen the same "listener" three times in a row.

But for some reason, Vanna felt a sense of expected... relief. She turned her head, spread her hands helplessly towards Valentine's phantom, and then took a step forward, waiting for the guardian to approach.

The giant between life and death strode to Vanna, his turbid yellow eyes lowered his gaze. "Good afternoon, please come with me."