Lucrezia and Vanna walked on the mobile platform below the lighthouse facility, passing through the thick fog in the night, along those familiar roads and corridors. The dim yellow light resembled hazy stars in the mist, and in that dim and uncertain light and shadow, someone was moving near them.

A pale-faced harbor guard walked past Vanna, the guard wearing a smart uniform and carrying a still-bright lantern. His expression was meticulous, but when two uninvited guests appeared in front of him, he acted as if they were nothing.

Vanna watched the guard walking away into the fog with a complicated expression. After the latter's figure gradually disappeared into the thick mist, she whispered to Lucrezia, "...He's not breathing."

"Yes, neither was the one before, most people here are not breathing," Lucrezia said softly, the witch's expression shrouded in shadow. "Even the few who are still breathing don't react to our arrival."

"Everyone is in a state of..." Vanna began, but suddenly hesitated, seeming to find it difficult to find a suitable word to describe her feelings. After a long time, she continued, "A state of trance and 'ignorance'. They are still here maintaining their daily work, even doing the handover of each position meticulously, but they just don't react to us."

Lucrezia hummed softly, but said nothing more. She roughly judged the distribution of the surrounding facilities in the fog, and then walked towards the church at the base of the lighthouse.

The situation in the church was much the same as outside, except that there were fewer people. Apart from three or five figures resting and praying, only a goddess official in a black nun's dress was cleaning the main hall. She seemed to have a bit of a reaction to the appearance of Vanna and Lucrezia—but it was only a moment's pause and gaze. Just as Vanna was about to speak to the nun, she walked away as if nothing had happened.

Lucrezia and Vanna walked straight through the main hall of the church, entered the tower connected to the lighthouse from a side door, and then went all the way up the spiral staircase in the dim light. After searching several empty rest rooms and storage rooms, they found a half-open door.

Bright light and a slight hum came from behind the door.

Vanna stepped forward and pushed open the half-open door, seeing a small room inside with various equipment installed. The scent of incense swirled in the room, and a small brass incense burner was hung on a steam pipe in the center of the room, looking as if it had just been lit not long ago.

The two bypassed the steam pipe, and almost at the same time, a figure suddenly stood up from the corner of the room and walked straight towards Lucrezia.

Lucrezia was startled by the figure who had been sitting in the corner all along. Then she saw clearly that it was a middle-aged man in a priest's robe—he had no breath or heartbeat, and she couldn't even detect any "aura." When he was sitting there, he was like a simple "object," so much so that even Vanna hadn't noticed that there was actually someone in the room!

Then, the middle-aged priest without any aura bypassed Lucrezia and Vanna expressionlessly. Under the two's astonished gaze, he sat down at a table at the end of the room. Like a machine whose timer had reached a specific position, he cleared his throat, pressed a button on the table, and took a microphone from the side to in front of him.

"Calling the Lost Home, calling the Brilliant Star, this is the Border Lighthouse, the current time is December 17, 1902, we are waiting for your return... Repeat, calling all voyagers, this is the Border Lighthouse, the current time is... We are waiting for your return..."

The middle-aged priest repeated it three times, then waited for a while, and pressed the button again, repeating the above content again—until several times later, he hung up the equipment to the listening mode, then got up from the table and turned to the place where he had been sitting before.

He walked past Lucrezia and Vanna, without looking sideways.

"This is the call we heard." Vanna murmured, staring blankly at this scene for a long time. She looked at the "witch" beside her, but saw that the latter was also looking up at her.

"I heard my father describe the Endless Sea as it is now, but I never fully imagined what this scene would be like," Lucrezia said with a somewhat complicated tone. "This is more...more...than I imagined."

She repeated it several times, but in the end, she couldn't find a suitable word to describe her feelings.

"...The situation within the city-state shouldn't be this bad," Vanna shook her head gently after a moment of thought. "This lighthouse is located at the deepest part of the border, where order has faded the earliest, and it is also more susceptible to the 'decay' of the gods. The city-state side..."

"Yes, the situation will be better, although it should deteriorate later," Lucrezia interrupted Vanna, her face serious. "Don't think too much about it now."

"...Yes, don't think too much about it now." Vanna was stunned when she heard this, and immediately reacted and sorted out her emotions. She suppressed those associations and worries in her heart, and then she heard footsteps coming from outside the door again.

The two subconsciously turned their heads, and almost at the same time, the half-open door was pushed open from the outside, and a man in a guardian uniform appeared at the door.

Perhaps he was here to find the middle-aged priest.

Vanna, who had become accustomed to the "environment" here along the way, thought this, and stepped aside to make way. But just as she did so, the black-clothed guard suddenly showed a look of astonishment—he seemed to suddenly discover the two ladies in the room, his body shook slightly, and then, an excited and joyful look appeared in his eyes.

"Your Excellency Vanna, and Ms. Lucrezia!" the black-clothed guard shouted excitedly, even rubbing his eyes in disbelief. "Is it really you? You're back?!"

Frankly speaking, Vanna was even more confused than the guard at this moment. She was obviously stunned for two seconds before suddenly widening her eyes: "You're still 'awake'?!"

"'Awake'?" the black-clothed guard was taken aback, but quickly realized what this meant. He looked down at himself, then glanced at the compatriot resting in the corner of the room, and a complicated smile appeared on his face. "Yes, I'm awake, and there are other people who are awake. Everyone should be very happy to see you..."

"There are other people who are 'awake'?" Lucrezia was very surprised. "We've been all the way here..."

"The proportion of people who are awake is very small. In order to take care of each other and confirm each other's condition, everyone is concentrated in the internal residential area below the lighthouse. We only come out to patrol various areas when necessary, replenish supplies, and check if there are other compatriots who have awakened and need help," the black-clothed guard said calmly. "Also...it's to confirm whether you have returned."

He paused, and looked up at the middle-aged priest sitting in the corner of the room.

"The communication device is now occupied by 'them'. Forcibly disrupting their 'daily activities' will provoke a more violent reaction, sometimes even causing madness, so we only send people up during specific 'window periods' every day to check the records of the listening antenna and go to the top of the lighthouse to confirm whether there are ships returning from the depths of the dense fog. It's my turn today. But to be honest..."

The guard gave a bitter smile with a complicated expression, but his eyes were filled with joy: "To be honest, I never even thought that I would really see you appear.

"I look at that thick fog every day, but there is nothing but fog there.

"Have all of you returned? What is the situation at the end of the world...like?"

Vanna and Lucrezia looked at each other. The latter hesitated for a moment, then nodded lightly: "The situation is very complicated now. It will take a long time to explain. Take us to your 'shelter' first."

"Of course," the black-clothed guard nodded immediately. "But before entering the shelter, you need to undergo a ritual check—I hope you understand, this is the border after all, and you have returned from the thick fog.

"After that, the Avatar of Her Majesty Helena will personally receive you."

When Vanna heard this, she immediately showed a surprised expression: "The Avatar of Her Holiness the Pope is here?"

"She was originally stationed at the mobile port at the junction of the Eternal Veil and the Endless Sea, but after the situation on the lighthouse side deteriorated, she came here. The shelter is also maintained by her—she has been with us."

As the black-clothed guard spoke, he made an inviting gesture and turned to lead Vanna and Lucrezia towards the door.

When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped again and turned to look at the two voyagers who had just returned from the end of the world.

The emotion of joy and excitement had gradually settled in his eyes, eventually turning into a smile.

"Although the situation at 'home' is not very good now..." he said solemnly, "Welcome home—you've had a hard journey."

Vanna returned a smile: "Yes, we are back."

…

They were home, and although there were some twists and turns in the middle, the returning people finally arrived safely at their home port.

After receiving Lucrezia's message again, Duncan was finally relieved.

He and Alice were still staying on the "Sanctuary Island" where the Leviathan Queen was sleeping. They had been on this black island for several days.

Now, the island was burning in a starlight-filled flame that resembled a nebula illusion.

The "flame" that resembled light mist gushing from the nebula cluster filled the entire black island. From every stone crevice, every brick, and every joint between pillars and roofs, the illusory flames soaked everything here, and even spread to the surrounding sea, spreading to the corpses of the leviathan beasts that resembled archipelagos.

Duncan sat on a large rock at the edge of the square in front of the black temple, calmly watching the flames burning, watching it permeate the "foundation" of this world.

The doll Alice stood quietly behind him.

(End of chapter)