Chapter 68 Falling Star

Like a towering wall reaching the sky, the magnificent surface of the mist rippled slightly, and the cloud streams flowing down from the top of the mist-wall were briefly illuminated by a burst of fire from within—then ghostly green flames erupted, and the towering prow of the Vanishing Sail pierced through the mist-wall, carrying wisps of lingering mist as it sailed towards the "normal sea surface" ahead.

Following closely behind the Vanishing Sail, the brilliant starships, the Tide, the Repose, and the Nevermore, as well as escort ships of various sizes, also passed through the thick fog.

As the mist-wall gradually receded behind the ships, the hazy, chaotic light of the sky faded, replaced by normal sunlight. The setting sun was now approaching the distant horizon, and the dual-rune circle at the edge of Anomaly 001 had touched the sea surface, spreading golden-red light across the sky in a magnificent display.

The sailors who had safely returned from the mist breathed a sigh of relief. Although the fleet was still technically in the border waters, the feeling of seeing sunlight and the undulating blue sea again was enough to give them a sense of security and the warmth unique to the "orderly world."

"We've made contact with the Church's arkship in Lightwind Harbor," Vanna said, approaching the captain on the bow, who was gazing out at the sea. "I briefly reported what happened on the Holy Land Island. Her Eminence, Haelina, looks forward to seeing you again."

"Mm," Duncan responded simply, but seemed somewhat distracted. After a moment, he retracted his gaze from the distant sea and focused on Vanna. "Anything else?"

"We're a little worried," Vanna said hesitantly, her expression serious. "You've seemed more preoccupied since you came out of the captain's cabin. Has something happened?"

"Just discussed some unsettling things with the goat-head," Duncan replied with a soft breath, "related to those two suspicious phantoms you and Morris saw."

Vanna blinked. "Those phantoms we saw?"

"Yes, they…" Duncan nodded, but he was interrupted by a sudden sound.

It was a low hum, like a giant reed being struck violently in the depths of the clouds. The hum was distant and drawn out, as if echoing across the entire sky!

Vanna clearly heard the sound as well. She startled and looked up in the direction of the echo, gazing at the distant clouds. Almost simultaneously, Morris and Lucretia ran out of nearby cabins, looking at the sky in surprise.

Many sailors in the fleet also heard the strange hum. On the three main Church warships, startled priests and Guardian warriors ran onto the decks, looking at the sky with bewildered expressions. Some pointed at the distant clouds, as if they had seen something wrong in their depths.

Duncan narrowed his eyes, drawn to a faint glow behind the clouds. He couldn't help but look in that direction. Then, the glow brightened in his vision.

It moved behind the clouds with a distinct trajectory, at a speed that was both slow and fast.

Lucretia, who wasn't far away, suddenly widened her eyes.

Accompanied by a series of increasingly distinct, low rumbles, the glow moving behind the clouds rapidly expanded. Glimmers of brilliant golden light flashed between the gaps in the clouds. A moment later, the glow pierced through the clouds in the northwest, plunging in an arc toward the northern sea as a magnificent luminous body.

Like a miniature sun falling, the massive luminous body gradually disappeared into the distant sea.

Duncan, after a brief moment of astonishment, instantly reacted. He abruptly turned to look at Lucretia, only to see that she was also looking up at him.

Duncan didn't speak, but the Sea Witch knew what her father wanted to ask. She nodded gravely.

A second luminous body fell.

On the nearby Tide, sailors cried out in alarm. Some quick-thinking individuals turned their gaze to the sun, and those with keen eyes… had already noticed the second gap that had appeared in the rune circle.

Lucretia walked over quickly, speaking before Duncan could ask. "Estimated direction of impact is to the north, near the Frigid Sea—I don't know if big brother has noticed…"

"I saw a golden light in the cemetery over there, but my view was blocked by the city buildings," Duncan said immediately. Then, he focused his mind and called out to the mark in the distant north, "Tirion."

A wave of obvious panic transmitted through the mark. Then, Duncan heard the Steel Admiral's response in his mind: "I'm here, Father."

Accompanying his response were some noisy sounds. Things seemed chaotic around Tirion.

"Have you observed a massive luminous object falling?" Duncan asked immediately, noticing the chaotic sounds. "What's going on over there? Why is it so noisy?"

Tirion's voice was somewhat intermittent. "There's a bit of a situation here… I saw that luminous object you mentioned…"

"What's the approximate direction of impact?" Lucretia's voice interjected directly. "How far from the city-state? Is it within civilized territory?"

Tirion suddenly fell silent for a few seconds, then replied faintly, "…It landed on my head."

Duncan & Lucretia: "…?"

"Strictly speaking, it landed on the Frost Coast—but the luminous part of it is enormous, and part of the luminous structure extends directly into the city. My office is within the covered area… It's a bit chaotic here now… This thing is really bright. It was too sudden, and my eyes are having trouble adjusting…"

Duncan and Lucretia continued: "…"

Frankly, Duncan hadn't expected this situation…

An awkward silence persisted for a moment. Duncan finally coughed twice. "Anyone injured?"

"It's not certain yet, but there shouldn't be any direct injuries, because the luminous part of that thing is non-physical. It didn't even stir up a speck of dust when it landed. The physical part landed outside the coast, and there happened to be no ships sailing there," Tirion replied as the chaotic noises around him seemed to subside slightly, as he arranged things. "But the fall of the luminous body was very sudden and has already caused chaos in the city. I'm arranging for people to calm the affected districts and confirm any damage…"

Tirion paused, then continued, "Luci, this thing should be…"

"It should be the same kind of thing as the luminous geometric shapes here in Lightwind Harbor—the rune circle at the edge of the sun already has a second visible gap, and it's even larger than the last one," Lucretia said gravely. "…The sun's disintegration process may be accelerating."

"…Damn it."

"I'll send you my research data on the luminous geometric shapes as soon as possible. You need to establish a corresponding research facility, and at least move that 'falling object' to a safe sea area near the city-state. It should have a solid core at its center… After things stabilize over there, send people to find that solid core and tell me what condition it's in."

"I know."

After exchanging a few more words, Duncan ended the communication with Tirion.

The deck was silent for a moment. Duncan and Lucretia stood facing each other in the golden-red sunset.

A heavy pressure, like some invisible countdown, weighed on Lucretia's chest, making it difficult to breathe.

She raised her head, looked at her father, and opened her mouth. "Dad…"

Another strange hum came from the sky, interrupting what she was about to say.

The golden-red sunset suddenly disappeared—a chaotic darkness enveloped everything in sight in an instant.

The sun had gone out again.

From Pland to Frost, from Lightwind Harbor to the fleet in the border waters, before the eyes of everyone, the sun plunged into darkness once more—accompanied by a strange, low humming sound, the sphere at the center of Anomaly 001 became a grotesque, pitch-black void, leaving only the dual-rune circle shimmering with golden light on the horizon, barely illuminating the chaotic sky.

The two gaps in the rune circle were even more obvious and glaring at this moment.

"The Observer Effect Stabilizer is down again…"

Alice walked out of the cabin, staring blankly at the extinguished sun in the distance.

"How long will it be down this time?" Nina asked, sidling up next to her, muttering uneasily.

"I don't know," Alice said, shaking her head. "It's still reporting errors anyway. The system is trying to restart."

A' Gou and Sherry also came out. One silently squatted on the deck, looking at the horizon. The other carefully glanced in the direction of the captain not far away. Sherry whispered, "…It'll light up again, right? It won't just stay dark this time, will it…"

"It can't be that bad, right?" Nina said, startled by Sherry's muttering. Then she thought for a moment and said, a little unsure, "If it really did… I'd have to consider hanging in the sky often to provide lighting for the city-state… But I can't light up that much on my own, and would I even have weekends off anymore?"

Hearing her friend's muttering, Sherry's expression turned somewhat subtle. She turned to look at Nina. "…Aren't you thinking a little too far ahead?"

"The situation is already pretty outrageous, okay…"

Sherry and Nina continued to chatter, as if trying to calm their slightly nervous feelings. Just as they were chatting, that low, strange humming sound suddenly echoed in the sky again.

Then, almost before anyone could react, the world, which had only plunged into darkness a few minutes ago, was illuminated by sunlight once more—the golden-red sunset shone upon the sea as if it had never disappeared.

Sherry and Nina looked at each other in confusion.

This time, the sun's "restart" was clearly much faster than the previous two times.

"It's lit up!" After a brief moment of stunned silence, Sherry finally reacted, shouting happily, "It only went out for a few minutes!"

"You scared me. I thought it would be like before, and stay dark for ten hours straight…" Nina said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Looks like things aren't that bad."

Morris, who wasn't far away, seemed to relax as well, a smile appearing on his face.

Compared to the previous two times, the sun's blackout period was very short. Regardless of why it was able to restart so quickly… the return of sunlight was always a good thing.

On the Vanishing Sail, on the Tide, and on the other Church warships, people breathed a sigh of relief in the re-lit sunlight. A sense of comfort soothed their newly tense nerves.

But an hour later, things didn't feel right.

The sun was still in the same position.

Two hours later, the long twilight still hadn't ended.

(End of Chapter)