Chapter 765 Sailing into the Night

The night continued. On the twenty-second day after the sun had set, disturbing news began to arrive from afar.

In distant Cold Harbor, a massive shadow had briefly appeared above the sea—as towering as a sea cliff, like weightless mist. The shadow silently drifted from the nearshore waters into the sky, closing like a curtain on the city-state's flank. In the darkness, almost no one saw it appear until a night-watch priest suddenly felt a gaze from the sky in his visions. All the church bells rang simultaneously, and the shadow retreated into the night in a panic.

In warm Mocha, the entire lower district was briefly submerged in a bizarre mist reeking of scarlet and decay. The lighting in several blocks failed almost simultaneously, and the scarlet, putrid mist even briefly seeped into the churches and Night's Sanctuaries. When the city-state's Truth Keepers finally dispelled the mist that had spawned from the night, the affected district reported several disappearances—including two tech-priests who had been inspecting a steam hub.

News arrived from the Palman Islands that a fleet had suddenly appeared nearby, approaching the city-state in the night. The city-state issued orders prohibiting landing and instructed the fleet to temporarily dock at the designated assembly point in the nearby waters, but the fleet seemed unaware of the "Long Night." They blankly inquired about the night, insisted it was "normal daylight," and that "warm, bright sunshine was shining on the decks," even questioning whether the city-state's people had gone mad…

As the strange fleet ignored orders and insisted on approaching the city-state, the local city-state navy had no choice but to open fire and destroy all the unidentified ships sailing from the darkness—the radio waves filled with terrified screams and desperate curses until burning wreckage littered the sea.

No one knew what the city-state navy had eliminated in the night, nor did anyone know what kind of "sunlight" the fleet sailing from the night was bathing in…

It was now the twenty-second day of the night. The order of the world was still being maintained with difficulty, and the crumbling "peace" was gradually succumbing to this long, long night.

In Pland Lower District, the gas lamps in front of Duncan's antique shop emitted a dim yellow light, the lampposts standing like sentries on the empty street, and in the flames of many of these lamps, tiny, almost imperceptible, eerie green flickers danced.

Duncan sat on a chair next to the display window, casually flipping through an old book while wiping a brass ornament.

It was one of Morris's books, a masterpiece left behind by the famous "mad poet" Pullman.

It had been a long time since he'd had a customer—the "history" of all the items in the antique shop had at least doubled, and foreseeably, this situation would continue for a long time.

He suddenly turned his head, looking with some curiosity at the couple, "But may I ask, what do you need this for? I mean, especially at a time like this?"

"The wedding will be small, it won't violate the current Night Edicts. The church priest has agreed to perform a small 'witnessing' for us at our home. If the sun doesn't rise again…"

"We want to buy a pair of porcelain plates, the kind you put on the mantelpiece as decoration," the young man said quickly, then added, "...Not too expensive."

Duncan turned back, staring intently into the man's eyes.

"Oh," Duncan said casually, putting down the brass ornament, then looked at the two nervous young people with amusement. "Don't be so tense, I'm not going to check your permits... You're here to buy something?"

"What if the sky doesn't brighten?" the young man suddenly said.

"We're decorating our new home," the young man continued, "We wanted to get some decorations… Most of the stores are closed, but we heard you were still open, so we wanted to try our luck…”

So they really were here to buy something.

Duncan raised his eyebrows, got up and walked to the nearby shelf, saying as he went, "This is an antique shop, things aren't cheap—though business is slow in these special times, so I can give you a discount. Something that was originally four thousand something, will be twenty-six hundred after the discount..."

The two customers exchanged a look, and the young woman smiled shyly, "We're getting married."

"...How strange," Duncan casually glanced at the two of them, confirming that they were just ordinary humans. He couldn't help but be surprised. "People are still out and about at this hour?"

The young man immediately tugged at his coat nervously, looking around as he said quickly, "We saw that you were still open... Most of the other shops are locked..."

But just then, the sound of the shop door opening interrupted Duncan's musings—the bell rang crisply. He looked up and saw a man and a woman walking in from the night, looking somewhat restrained and nervous.

"We will eventually have a long voyage..."

Duncan's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"We work at the steam pump house and the power plant," the young woman added quickly, explaining the "legitimacy" of their being out at this hour, as if afraid of being misunderstood. "We have passes."

"...A long night, and I didn't expect to run into a couple," Duncan said softly. He found a few pairs of pretty decorative porcelain plates on the shelf, and then said, as if to himself, "Why not wait until daylight?"

"Now we don't know what the future holds... We were supposed to have the wedding the week before last, but it was postponed to now, but we both feel... there's no need to postpone it any longer."

Duncan wasn't really interested in the poems of this world, but when the whole city-state was silent, it could at least help him pass the time.

On the opened page were printed beautiful italic letters—

The young woman said, but when she said "if the sun doesn't rise again," she seemed to get stuck, unsure how to continue, and could only smile awkwardly.

It was clear that they were both not good with words—but in that slightly restrained smile, what they wanted to express no longer needed to be put into words.

Life had to go on—panic and complaint wouldn't wake the sun.

"Pick one you like," Duncan suddenly smiled, turning to point to the pretty plates on the shelf, sparkling in the lamplight. "They all come with wooden stands."

The two young people looked around and finally chose a pair of light green porcelain plates with Southern Elf-style gold leaf decorations. They waited for Duncan to wrap the items in thick paper, then the young woman asked shyly, "How much?"

"They're a gift," Duncan said casually.

The two young people's eyes widened in surprise.

"Consider it a wedding gift—the night is still long, and I hope this gift brings you good luck."

The young man hesitated. "But…"

"Don't waste time, your passes aren't valid all day," Duncan said with a smile, walking towards the door as he spoke. "Don't worry, I've already received your 'reward'."

The young man was confused. "You've already received it...?"

Duncan pushed open the door of the antique shop. In the night, the bright streetlights illuminated the road leading into the depths of the night. He smiled, pointing to the brightly lit avenue, "A good mood."

The customers left, and the antique shop returned to silence. Duncan stood at the door for a while, finally breathing a light sigh, and turning his gaze from the street.

The docks of Light Breeze Harbor were bathed in pale golden "sunlight."

The towering masts of the *Vanishing Sea* creaked slightly, and the translucent spirit sails gradually emerged with clear outlines around the masts. As the sails gradually filled, the huge sailing exploration ship tilted slightly and began to leave the dock.

Nearby on the sea surface, the *Brilliant Star* also emitted the sound of its impellers starting up, and accompanied by the sound of waves lapping against the hull, the Sea Witch's flagship also slowly left the dock.

On the bridge of the stern deck, Alice, who was standing next to Duncan, suddenly noticed the smile on the captain's face.

"Why are you smiling?" the doll asked curiously. "Is something making you happy?"

Duncan turned his head, glanced at Light Breeze Harbor, which was gradually being left behind by the *Vanishing Sea*. He saw that the city-state had thousands of lights, and thin, dim sunlight was spreading from the coastline, covering the island—and as the distance increased, all the light gradually dimmed, replaced by the boundless darkness that permeated the entire vast sea, growing in the night as if to devour the entire city-state.

But for a long time, that faint glimmer of fire stubbornly shone in the darkness. The remnants of the Kritan Dynasty's sun, the myriad lights of the city-state era, they gradually merged together, as if jointly fighting against this endless night.

After a long while, Duncan finally answered the doll's question, "There are some things that make me happy."

"Oh..." Alice said in a daze, then looked somewhat wistfully in the direction of the city-state. "Are we coming back?"

Duncan hesitated for a moment. He seemed to have many answers to explain the upcoming voyage and plan, as well as many possibilities for the future, but in the end, he just nodded very certainly, "...Yes."

The doll perked up.

A smile also appeared on Duncan's face, then he breathed a light sigh and released his hands from the dark helm.

They had left Light Breeze Harbor. Next, the *Vanishing Sea* and the *Brilliant Star* would head to the "assembly point" on the eastern border, where they would join up with the Deep Sea Church's border fleet. Then, they would advance towards the Eternal Veil, sailing all the way to that "six-nautical-mile boundary line."

They would follow the route the *Sea Song* had sailed, to find the truth beyond the border.

For Duncan, this would be the most important step in his "observing this sanctuary from the outside."

But before that, Duncan needed to verify something.

He turned his head, looking at the thin, hunched figure on the edge of the bridge, trying hard to reduce his presence.

"Sailor."

Abnormality 077 trembled immediately upon hearing this. "A-ah?!"

"Come here," Duncan smiled, stepping back half a step as he looked at Abnormality 077, raising his hand and pointing to the helm of the *Vanishing Sea*. "Grip it."