Chapter 1 The Homecoming Sets Sail

The *Homesick* had set sail—many people had been paying attention to its every move these days, including the four Cathedral Arks and the monitors arranged by the city-state. Under the watchful eyes of all, the massive and majestic ghost ship, wrapped in flames and thick smoke, left Light Breeze Port at a speed that defied common sense, and disappeared into the gap between the spirit world and reality in the blink of an eye.

Appearing like a phantom, disappearing like a phantom, everything was as described in the legends.

"We're seeeet sailin'!"

Shirley grabbed the railing on the deck, looking at the boundless dark sea in the distance, her body swaying back and forth, looking very happy.

The *Homesick* had entered the spirit world navigation state. The sea outside the ship's side had turned into a layer of black, and a chaotic sky mixed with black, white, and gray covered the entire world. In the distance, there were no more lighthouses, ships, or islands. Only strange and bizarre projections floated between the sky and the sea, as if overlooking the entire world at the end of the horizon.

A Gou趴(pā - lying prone) was lying a little distance from the side of the ship, straining his neck and pulling Shirley's arm with a chain, while desperately grabbing the deck with his four paws, loudly reminding her, "Hey, don't sway! Be careful not to fall!"

"A Gou, when did you become so timid?" Shirley simply sat on the railing, tidying her messy hair while turning her head and smiling. "Didn't we used to play by the deck all the time?"

"This is the Deep Spirit World!" A Gou immediately shouted. "You can't come back if you fall down here!"

Shirley ignored him and just sat on the railing, giggling at the sea until Duncan walked over from the side and ruffled her hair: "I didn't see you so excited when we set sail before. Why are you so happy to be leaving the city-state this time?"

"I'm fed up with Light Breeze Port," Shirley said with a lot of resentment. "There's nothing good to eat in the city. The nearby shops are either bookstores or mechanical workshops, and there's still nothing good to eat, no fun places, and no good food..."

Duncan gave Shirley, who seemed to have developed psychological trauma from Light Breeze Port's "elven cuisine," a wry smile and couldn't help but remind her, "There probably won't be anything good to eat where we're going this time either—we should be at sea most of the time."

"That's okay, the food on the ship is good too, at least I don't have to be dragged around to bookstores by Nina all day," Shirley said with a grin. "Just think of it as getting some fresh air..."

"When you've been on the ship long enough, you want to go into the city to play. When you've been in the city long enough, you want to go out to sea..." A Gou趴(pā - lying prone) on the deck next to her, rambling, "All you know is how to play. Nina has almost visited every bookstore in the city these days..."

Shirley waved her hand: "A Gou, don't nag me like an old woman, it's giving me a headache..."

Duncan didn't say anything, just listened with a smile to Shirley and A Gou's usual nagging and bickering, then, as if sensing something, suddenly raised his head and looked at a certain spot on the nearby sea.

Almost at the same time, a hazy shadow emerged from beside him, and Agatha whispered in the shadow, "The *Radiant Star* is here, searching for the entrance in the real world."

Duncan nodded, "Okay, go guide Lucy."

Agatha's figure faded away, and after a moment, Duncan saw large patches of shadow suddenly appearing above the dark sea near the *Homesick*.

The shadows were like fog, intertwined and born, and a huge, strange, and gorgeous ship gradually took shape in the shadows and mist. The *Radiant Star* slowly sailed out of the mist—it was initially just a hazy phantom, only the stern seemed real and solid, but as the *Homesick* gradually approached it, the hazy phantom quickly became real in almost the blink of an eye and turned into an entity that could stably exist in the Deep Spirit World.

The *Radiant Star* entered the Deep Spirit World and began to sail alongside the *Homesick*.

Shirley sat on the railing, craning her neck to look at the scene in front of her, and exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Wow—"

Then, she saw a snow-white paper boat suddenly rising from the deck of the *Radiant Star*. The paper boat rose with the wind, flew across the dark sea between the two ships, and finally landed steadily on the deck of the *Homesick*.

Lucrezia, with her black hair and black dress, walked down from the paper boat with the clockwork doll Luni.

Alice, who was drying fish on the deck, noticed the movement and immediately greeted them happily: "Luni! You're here!"

The clockwork doll next to Lucrezia turned her head when she heard the voice and immediately looked happy, opening her arms to greet her: "Alice!"

The two dolls happily held hands and spun around on the deck, although they hadn't been apart for too long, they were as happy as if they had been reunited after a long separation.

Alice grabbed Luni and showed her good friend the fish that had just been dried on the deck, and Luni obviously had something to show off too—

"Alice! Look at this, the mistress got me a new one..."

The clockwork doll said happily, while reaching out and holding her head, and then gently lifted it upwards, and heard a "poof" sound...

She pulled her head off in front of everyone on the deck.

Alice stared blankly at this scene—because she usually didn't have many thoughts, she rarely had such a shocking moment—but she quickly reacted and realized that this was a new "function" her friend had mastered, and a happy expression appeared on her face: "Ah, you can do it too!"

While saying that, she casually pulled her own head off her neck and held it up with Luni, each giggling stupidly with their heads in their hands: "We... are... now... the same!"

Then the two dolls started to play and laugh on the deck.

Everyone on the deck except them was shocked.

Duncan was walking towards Lucrezia, preparing to ask about the *Radiant Star*'s operation after entering the spirit world, but he was stunned by the two dolls, Alice and Luni, halfway there—to be fair, he felt that it was difficult to have such an evil scene even in the subspace—after being sluggish for several seconds, he finally reacted and turned his head to look at Lucrezia, who was walking towards him: "What's going on?"

Lucrezia also seemed a little sluggish. As she walked, she couldn't help but look back at the two dolls not far away with a strange expression. Hearing Duncan's words, her expression was obviously a little stiff: "...Just made some slight modifications to Luni... After pulling off her head and causing a malfunction before, she mentioned every now and then that Alice's head joints could be disassembled... I was so annoyed that I replaced her joints..."

She hesitated and stopped, looking at the two dolls strolling around the deck with their heads in their hands, her expression finally a little unsustainable: "But I didn't expect this!"

"...Forget it, as long as they're happy, dolls... have doll entertainment and social interactions," Duncan finally managed to sort out his greatly impacted worldview, twitching his lips and retracting his gaze from Alice and Luni (this was not easy, because the two dolls who were leading the chaos were too eye-catching), and tried to shift his attention back to Lucrezia and the *Radiant Star*, "...Was the journey smooth?"

Lucrezia was still looking in the direction of Luni and Alice at this time. It wasn't until Duncan repeated it that she reacted quickly, quickly raised her hand and tapped her forehead, while sorting out her thoughts and opening her mouth: "It's okay, although it was a little chaotic..."

She finally completely shifted her attention over, looked up at the *Radiant Star* that was sailing automatically beside the *Homesick*, and her thoughts also became smooth.

"This is the first time the *Radiant Star* has sunk into such a 'deep' depth of navigation... Under normal circumstances, only the stern is in the spirit world, completely 'submerged' like this... It's an unprecedented 'experience' for both me and this ship."

"This way the speed will be very fast," Duncan smiled. "The *Homesick* is used to rushing on the Deep Spirit World, and the *White Oak* and *Black Oak* have also sailed with the *Homesick* as escort ships like this—at this depth, we only need less than two days to catch up with that 'ship that is returning', and we don't have to worry about being noticed."

Lucrezia didn't speak, just raised her head and looked at Duncan.

Her father stood there, with undulating green flames rising around him, with a confident and proud smile on his face, the same as in her memory.

After a while, she shook her head and asked, "What about the church's movements?"

"There will be two small fleets from the Deep Sea Church and the Death Church joining us. The flagship sent by the Deep Sea Church is the 'Tide' and its escort fleet, and the Death Church is the 'Rest' and 'No Rest' sister ships and their escort fleet. It is said that they are all powerful warships," Duncan said casually. "But what I value more is the 'professionals' they bring. After all, in the face of those strange things in the border seas, the knowledge of scholars is sometimes more useful than firepower."

"But the professional knowledge of scholars is also easy to attract greater danger... Near the border, those restless 'shadows' are more likely to emerge than anywhere else," Lucrezia couldn't help but remind him.

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Isn't that better?"

Lucrezia's expression was a little sluggish: "..."

"Let's not talk about these, how is the 'Saint' doing?" Duncan waved his hand and changed the subject. "Did you bring it this time?"

"I brought it, it's now locked in the containment pod at the bottom of the *Radiant Star*," Lucrezia nodded immediately, a happy smile on her face. "Please rest assured, that guy is in good condition—I have restored its vitality as much as possible on the premise of ensuring that this 'Saint' will not escape. If you need it, I can bring it out at any time."

"Not yet," Duncan shook his head, his eyes looking towards the end of the chaotic dark sea. "When we find the Annihilation Cultists' 'holy land', it will be time for that 'Saint' to come in handy."

(End of this chapter)