Chapter 1 When That Day Arrives

When that day arrives, the ocean will forget the shape of the waves, life will forget how to die, fire will forget how to burn, the wind will cease to flow, and the clouds will fall from the sky to the sea—that is the final curtain of the world's demise, and that exiled being, from beyond the world, watches this sanctuary with cold eyes, so thoroughly understanding the future of all things.

Across the entire world, clouds are falling from the sky—or, to be precise, a certain "layer" containing the "element" of "cloud cover" is synchronously decreasing in altitude.

The descending clouds are like another flowing sea, gradually closing together in the sky above the world. Some of the lower-hanging portions extend to the ground or the sea surface, transforming into a hazy curtain of mist, while more of the structure floats hundreds or even tens of meters above people's heads. The layers of the sky stop at this height, and continue the extremely slow, almost imperceptible process of "descent."

Freyam stood on the ice plains beneath the night sky, raising his head to look at the churning sea of clouds. Now it was so close, separated only by a thin layer of mist, that it seemed he could touch the magnificent cloud layers with a raised hand. The cold, clear light of the World Scar permeated through the gaps between the clouds, plating the curtain with a mercury-like coating. In all fairness... it was beautiful.

So magnificent it was breathtaking, to the point that even the soul trembled slightly.

Priestess Delise stood beside Freyam, looking up at the spectacle in the sky with the Pope. They had been staring at it for a long time, as had many others on the ice plains. Everyone seemed to have their necks gripped by an invisible force, maintaining a single posture, as stiff as if frozen on the ice plains. But suddenly, many people began to react, looking around in alarm, and many more gazes converged on Freyam.

"Your Holiness..." Delise finally broke the silence, her voice hoarse, "What next..."

"Continue doing what we are doing," Freyam's deep voice rang out, as calm as ever, echoing across the entire plain, "Build the archives, transport the relics, preserve our heritage—this world still has a breath left, and our work is not yet finished."

The Pope's voice was steady and powerful, like a boulder standing on the ice plains, suppressing the agitation in everyone's hearts. The Torchbearers were silent for a moment, then lowered their heads one after another. They no longer paid attention to the changes in the sky, but continued to work on building the archives.

Freyam, however, took a slight breath in a moment unnoticed by everyone. In the increasingly faint beating of his heart, his gaze turned once more to the distance, to those flowing clouds and mists—

Against the backdrop of extreme greyish-white, the immense hull of the Vanishing Line was quietly floating in the "Warp Passage." Due to the lack of reference elements, the ship seemed completely still in the center of the passage, but Duncan knew very well that he and his ship were traveling at a speed far beyond human imagination.

The Vanishing Line had already crossed the end of the world. In a sense, he had now truly "left the Boundless Sea"—left the small, sheltered cage built by the ancient kings. Outside this seemingly calm passage was a place where order had vanished… the scorching, chaotic graveyard of ashes after the destruction of all realms.

Duncan felt the connection between himself and the Boundless Sea gradually weakening. On the second day after Alice took the helm and steered the Vanishing Line towards the "Sea of Ashes," he could barely hear the voices transmitted back by his two "avatars." Now, he only had a short period each day when he could keep those avatars conscious—and even during those periods of consciousness, they could only perform limited actions.

The reasons for this weakening connection were multifaceted. On the one hand, the degree of "change" within him was deepening. On the other hand, the actual "distance" between the Vanishing Line and those avatars was lengthening. And the remaining reasons... may be related to that Sea of Ashes mentioned by Ley Nora, and the special environment within it.

The only good news was that the "enhanced marks" he had deliberately left on Nina and the others, specifically designed to maintain contact in this situation, were still working. Because the function of the marks was extremely specialized and simple, it had not been greatly affected by the aforementioned changes. He could still contact his crew.

After completing today's routine inspection, Duncan was strolling through the Vanishing Line. He walked through empty corridors, passed through quiet staircases, and arrived at the deserted deck—Alice was at the stern steering the ship at this time. Without the company of the dolls, the ship before him seemed to have completely returned to the way it looked when he first arrived.

Everywhere was deserted, everywhere was quiet. This was the scene he saw when he first pushed open the door of the Vanishing Line.

Of course, some things had changed—he didn't have as much noisy chatter in his mind back then.

"Hey hey Captain, let me tell you, we took a lot of good stuff from that lighthouse! That woman named Helena is so awesome, she let me open up the warehouse to move things, and I found some pretty dresses... I don't know what a character like her collects pretty dresses for... Too bad I can't wear them, they're two sizes too big..."

That uncultured and rude voice was Shirley's.

"Uncle Duncan, everything is fine here. Nilu and I have become good friends, and I even sewed her a little dress... You must take care of yourself on the ship. Make sure you eat on time when Alice is steering, I left a lot of biscuits and jam in the kitchen..."

That sensible and gentle voice was Nina's.

"Captain, I haven't been lazy these past two days. Miss Lucretia can testify that I've started helping her crew clean the deck and corridors—I wasn't even this diligent on the White Oak..."

That raspy voice was the Sailor's.

"Dad, don't listen to his nonsense, he's being forced to work by Lunie—he lies in the warehouse sleeping all day, and even tried to coax my servants to sleep with him! Lunie really couldn't stand it... This guy even demanded a daily wage from me on the grounds that his labor on the Brilliant Star was not part of the contract!"

That resentful voice was Lucretia's.

Duncan stopped on the mid-deck, listening helplessly to the noisy sounds in his mind. Finally, he couldn't help but say, "Sounds like it's pretty lively over there."

"One Shirley is enough to make it as lively as a battlefield," Lucretia's resentful voice rang in Duncan's mind. "She can also instigate others to fool around with her. Yesterday, she even coaxed Nilu into crawling into the bedside table. I had to dismantle the whole cabinet to rescue the little one! How do you usually put up with it?"

"I usually think it's okay," Duncan thought for a moment, then said seriously, "The ship is too quiet. It's good to have some liveliness—of course, it might be a little too stimulating for you."

Lucretia let out a long sigh, "Alas, the most stimulating thing is the noise during Miss Vanna's morning exercises... Of course, I can't say whether that's more stimulating than Nina's jump scares."

Listening to his daughter's resentful grumbling, Duncan twitched the corner of his mouth with a subtle expression. Recalling it, he had to admit that the chaos on the Vanishing Line was indeed a bit serious...

Not long after, he heard Morris's voice.

"Captain, how are things on your end?"

"The Vanishing Line is still in the 'passage'," Duncan raised his head and glanced at the situation outside the ship's hull, then said casually, "Frankly, I can't analyze where the ship is from the perspective of 'distance' or 'route' anymore. Even Alice herself can't be sure—but the only thing that's certain is that we're approaching the coordinate signal sent by Ley Nora, and Alice can still feel that."

"...I never thought that the most unreliable person on the ship usually is now doing the most important thing," Shirley couldn't help but mutter, "In the end, she's the one accompanying you to the end of the world..."

As Shirley's voice fell, everyone fell silent. After two or three seconds, Duncan heard Shirley's loud squawking, "Hey, what's with your reactions! Alice isn't more reliable than me, is she! I'm usually so honest and obedient... Nina, don't turn your head away!"

Duncan ignored Shirley's commotion.

"How's the situation on the Boundless Sea?"

There was silence on the other side for two or three seconds, then Morris's voice came, "As we reported earlier today, the clouds have fallen from the sky—now the entire Boundless Sea is covered by a thin layer of 'fog,' and above the fog is a low, oppressive cloud layer... Frankly, if we didn't know what this scene meant, it would indeed be a magnificent spectacle."

"The good news is that, apart from the lowering of the clouds, no worse changes have occurred, at least the ships' navigation hasn't been affected," Vanna's voice followed, "We are now sailing towards Pland. Miss Lucretia plans to send us all there first, then she will return to Gale with the Brilliant Star and stay there until the end.

"We have also contacted Mr. Tyrion. After arriving in the central sea area, a 'Sun Fleet' will depart from Pland and head north. Miss Agatha will transfer to that ship and go to Frost.

"As for 'Sailor,' Captain Lawrence, who is staying in Faelun, has also made arrangements. He will contact the management of the City-State Union later—if the Union is still functioning normally by then—and send Sailor to Faelun, where he will rendezvous with the White Oak.

"And if the City-State Union is already experiencing problems by then, the White Oak will personally pick up Sailor in Pland."

Vanna paused for a few seconds before slowly continuing—

"Captain, please rest assured, we will do well and will not let you down."

(End of Chapter)