Chapter 46 Collaboration

The standoff on the sea turned into a more complex situation—a powerful Sea Fog Fleet appeared from the cold wind, and a fourth force emerged in the original three-way confrontation. However, from another perspective, things seemed to have become simpler.

Cold Harbor and the Morphys Navy no longer had to worry about the opposing cannon fire and the deterrence of the Church fleet.

Solenna stared intently at the steel face, his eyes showing no fear or hesitation—although he knew the abilities of this "Iron Vice Admiral," he also knew that the Sea Fog Fleet was not invincible. These undead could rely on sneak attacks to control two flagships, but they couldn't control the other ships in the fleet. If this really turned into a chaotic battle, it wouldn't be good for anyone.

Tirion Abernathy chose to meet in this way, indicating that he wanted to "talk."

"Cold Harbor needs sunlight," Solenna said in a deep voice, breaking the silence after a long standoff.

"Yes, Cold Harbor needs sunlight, and now the commander of the Morphys Navy, your old friend Hobb, is also telling me—Morphys needs sunlight," the steel face's mouth opened and closed, emitting a metallic, trembling sound. "And do you know? Jotunheim, Hypur, Bandor Island, and the farther Phaerun, Mokha... darkness has begun to erode this world, and the islands protected by sunlight are only a small part of all the city-states... Everyone needs sunlight."

The muscles on Solenna's face tightened, but his voice was even calmer than before: "Captain Tirion, do you think it's useful to say this now? I need to let Cold Harbor survive first—unless, you are willing to take out the 'sun fragment' that fell in the frost."

"...It's already on its way to Cold Harbor," the steel face said calmly.

Solenna's tightly stretched face suddenly showed a look of astonishment—he had prepared many things to say, but this unexpected answer left his brain a little blank.

Even the entire bridge became quiet.

"Return now, and you should be able to see it arrive on the north coast of Cold Harbor," Tirion's voice echoed in the quiet bridge, and the undead sailors wrapped in the biting cold mist silently released their control of the bridge's sailors, retreating to the side as if waiting for orders. "Let the Morphys Navy take away the sun fragment here, while this confrontation has not developed out of control."

Solenna was silent for a few seconds before slowly opening his mouth: "What about Frost?"

"Frost is safer than you all think—we have our own 'guarantees,' you don't need to worry," Tirion said calmly. "Your and Hobb's most important task now is to return to your respective city-states, and under the sunlight, get everything back on track as soon as possible."

"...What do you want?" Solenna suddenly said. "There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, I still understand this simple truth—tell me your thoughts, Governor Tirion."

"...I need to establish a 'joint mechanism' that operates in the night," the steel face stared into Solenna's eyes. "Led by Frost, covering the entire Bitter Sea—I need the full support of Cold Harbor and Morphys Port."

Solenna pondered briefly, quickly guessing the "Iron Vice Admiral's" intention. He frowned and subconsciously looked up to find the three Death Church warships that had been patrolling at the edge of the "sunlight," only to find that the three ships had somehow come to the vicinity of the Sea Fog Fleet, staying beside the Sea Fog like a part of the formation.

"...I understand, obtain sunlight, bear responsibility, those who don't want to bear responsibility... we'll handle them," he withdrew his gaze from the porthole and nodded to the steel face. "Hobb's side..."

"He agreed three seconds earlier than you," Tirion said lightly.

"Okay, I have no more questions."

The undead retreated into the mist in silence, and the cold mist, condensing with ice crystals, gradually dissipated on the bridge. The large patches of ice floating on the sea shrank visibly—the Sea Fog Fleet's deterrence against both sides of the standoff was lifted.

A crackling sound came from the receiver hanging next to the communications console, and the indicator light next to it flickered—the signalman hesitated and looked up at his commander.

Solenna's voice was cold: "Pick it up, do I have to tell you?"

The signalman picked up the receiver and raised his head a moment later: "It's Morphys' public channel..."

Solenna stepped forward with an expression of no surprise, took the receiver, put it to his ear, and listened to the voice coming from inside—

"Solenna, listen, after I go back..."

"You can tell my nephew everything that happened today—or I'll tell him myself later."

"...You're a damn rare bastard."

"Yes, thank you, so are you."

"...Yes, thank you, goodbye."

Solenna put down the receiver, his gaze passed over the wide porthole in front of him, watching the boundless sea shrouded in the night—the Sea Fog Fleet, surrounded by biting cold winds, was slowly moving into the distance, sinking into the darkness little by little.

Looking at the pale golden "sunlight" that was gradually dissipating on the nearby sea, Tirion took a deep breath at the bow of the ship. After a long silence, he slightly tilted his head and said to the side: "Is this result acceptable to you?"

"There is no better choice, this is the best result," in the darkness, a low, hoarse voice broke the silence, and a tall, strong figure, wearing a long black windbreaker and covered in thick bandages, walked out of the shadows. "Sunlight is limited, and the previous way of survival, where each city-state protected itself, is no longer feasible. A joint system based on a strong central hub can allow as many people as possible to survive—

"Sunlight rationing, joint defense fleets, macro-control of resources, and joint prevention and control of various threats in the night all require the establishment of a joint entity to achieve. Originally, this task should have been completed by the Church, but now their power is also limited."

Tirion looked at the three Church warships whose shadows appeared hazy in the night, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Dragging a sun fragment from Frost to Cold Harbor, even the fastest high-speed tugboat requires six days, which is also the average time required to transfer sun fragments between most city-states in the Bitter Sea...

"If a city-state without 'sunlight' encounters a sudden change, the waiting time for 'sunlight' is enough for the disaster to lose control, so we need to have several standing large fleets that can support various city-states at any time—these fleets must constantly cruise in the night, and with the Church's patrol fleets, they should be able to cover the entire Bitter Sea... but they can only cover the Bitter Sea."

"It's enough to cover the Bitter Sea, other sea areas should have their own plans," Duncan shook his head. "Compared to this, do you have no questions about my asking you to send Frost's sun fragment to Cold Harbor?"

Tirion shook his head: "No."

He turned around, facing the eyes under the bandages.

"If I occupy the most sunlight, then I will never be able to convincingly establish a reliable and fair 'Bitter Sea Joint Entity.' In any case, as long as I want to be the person who distributes sunlight, I cannot leave the sun fragment in Frost," he said unhurriedly, then suddenly smiled. "And... Frost's real protection now is your flame, isn't it?"

Duncan didn't speak, just nodded lightly.

Tirion hesitated for a while, and finally couldn't help but ask: "How is the situation 'over there' with you?"

"We are sailing in the cracks of time, and we don't know how long it will last."

Duncan said casually, then looked down at his body—in fact, he was very surprised. He had originally prepared to temporarily lose contact with these "incarnations" after crossing the six-nautical-mile boundary, but now it seemed... these incarnations were still operating well.

He could talk to Tirion here, and he could also normally perceive the situation in Pland. At the same time, his main consciousness was still staying on the Vanishing, experiencing a journey to the end of the world—this experience was wonderful.

He noticed the gaze coming from the side.

"I didn't take you on this trip, but I took your sister," Duncan raised his eyelids and glanced at Tirion. "Any resentment?"

Tirion was stunned, instantly sorted out his expression, and the look in his one eye returned to its usual calm and serious appearance: "No, I know what I should do—your arrangement is reasonable."

Listening to the other party's deliberately emphasized response, Duncan didn't say anything, but a smile appeared in the corner of his eye under the bandages.

He turned around and looked into the distance with Tirion.

After an unknown amount of time, Tirion suddenly heard a voice in his ear—

"Let as many people as possible survive, and live as long as possible."

He turned his head in surprise.

"You, Lucy, and everyone on the Vanishing, everyone in the city-states, each of you has your own things to do, and the common goal of all things is survival—to preserve everything in this world as much as possible, life, memories, civilization, everything, and to do everything possible to make them survive."

His father didn't turn his head, he was still looking into the distance, but he continued to speak calmly—as if he was talking to himself, or as if he was telling him.

"Even if the sun no longer rises, even if the night eventually devours everything, even if the real world has begun to collapse, and the future seems hopeless, remember this... survive, even if it's just for one more day.

"You only need to do these things.

"The rest, leave it to Dad, Dad will figure it out."

Tirion looked at his father in a daze, wondering what he was thinking, and didn't speak for a long time.

Duncan didn't speak any more, he just looked at the front of the ship, looking at the end of the night—

In his other vision, some vague light and shadows suddenly appeared in the uniform gray and white "background color."

The "route" in the cracks of time seemed to be coming to an end.

(End of Chapter)