Chapter 833 Homecoming, Far Away

Lucretia and Vanna were walking on the motorized platform under the lighthouse facility. They walked through the thick fog in the night and walked through the familiar roads and covered bridges. The dim lights looked like dim stars in the fog. And in the dim light and shadow, someone was walking near them.

A port guard with a face as pale as paper walked past Vanna. The guard wore a crisp uniform and held a still bright lantern in his hand. His expression was meticulous, but when two uninvited guests appeared in front of him, he But it was nothing.

Vanna watched the guard drifting away in the fog with complicated eyes. After the latter's figure gradually disappeared into the thick fog, she whispered to Lucretia: "...He is not breathing. ”

"Yes, there is none like that just now. Most of the people here are not breathing," Lucretia said softly, and the expression on Miss Witch's face was shrouded in shadow. There was no response to our arrival."

"Everyone is in a kind of..." Fanna started to say, but she suddenly got stuck in the middle of the sentence. It seemed that it was difficult to find a suitable word to describe her feelings. After a long time, she continued, "A kind of trance." And in a state of 'neglect', they still maintain their daily work here, and even do the handover of various positions meticulously, but they don't respond to us. "

Lucretia hummed slightly, but said nothing more. Instead, she roughly judged the distribution of the surrounding facilities in the fog, and then walked towards the church at the base of the lighthouse.

The situation in the church is almost the same as outside, except that there are fewer people. Except for three or five figures who are resting and praying, there is only a priestess wearing a black nun dress who is cleaning the main hall. There seemed to be some reaction to the appearance of Na and Lucretia - but it was just a moment of pause and gaze. When Vana was about to talk to the nun, she walked away as if nothing had happened.

Lucretia and Vanna went directly through the main hall of the church, entered the tower connected to the lighthouse through the side door, and then went up the dimly lit spiral staircase, searching several empty lounges and storage rooms. After entering the room, they found a door that was ajar.

There were bright lights and a slight hum coming from behind the door.

Fanna stepped forward and pushed open the ajar door, and saw that inside was a small room equipped with various equipment. The smell of incense surrounded the room, and a small brass incense burner was hung in the center of the room. On one of the steam pipes, it looked as if it had just been ignited.

The two walked around the steam pipe, and almost at the same time, a figure suddenly stood up from the corner of the room and walked straight towards Lucretia.

Lucretia was startled by the figure who had been sitting in the corner before, and then she saw clearly that it was a middle-aged man wearing a priest's robe - he had no breathing or heartbeat, and could not even detect any "aura" at all. ", he was like a simple "object" when he was sitting there, so much so that even Vanna didn't realize that there was a person in the room!

Then, the breathless middle-aged priest walked around Lucretia and Vanna expressionlessly. Under the stunned gazes of the two, he sat down on a table at the end of the room, just like The timing device walked to the machine at a specific location, cleared its throat, pressed a button on the table, and brought a microphone from the side to the front.

"Call the Lost Home, call the Brilliant Star, this is the border lighthouse, the current time is December 17, 1902, we are waiting for your return... Repeat, call the voyagers, this is the border lighthouse, the current time is... we Waiting for your return..."

The middle-aged priest repeated it three times, then waited for a while, pressed the button again, and repeated the above content again - until several times later, he hung up the device in monitoring mode, stood up from the table, turned around and walked towards him again The place where I was sitting before.

He walked past Lucretia and Vanna without looking sideways.

"This is the call we heard." Vanna stared at this scene blankly, and after a long time she spoke softly. She looked at the "witch" beside her, but saw that the latter was also looking up at her.

"I heard my father describe the current appearance of the Infinite Sea before, but I never fully imagined what this scene is like," Lucretia said with a somewhat complicated tone, "This is more... more... than I imagined. "

She repeated it several times, but in the end she couldn't find the right words to describe her feelings.

"...The situation in the city-state should not be so bad," Vanna shook her head slightly after thinking for a moment. "This lighthouse is located at the deepest point of the border. Order is the first to fade here, and it is also more susceptible to the influence of the gods." The influence of decay, on the other side of the city-state..."

"Yes, the situation will get better, although it will probably get worse later," Lucretia interrupted Vanna with a serious look on her face, "Don't think too much about it now."

"...Yes, don't think too much now." Fanna was stunned for a moment when she heard the words. She immediately reacted and sorted out her emotions. She suppressed the associations and worries in her heart, and then she heard something outside the door. There were footsteps again.

The two subconsciously turned back, and almost at the same time, the ajar door was pushed open from the outside, and a man wearing a guard uniform appeared at the door.

Maybe he came to see the middle-aged priest.

Fanna, who had become accustomed to the "environment" here along the way, thought so, and stepped aside to get out of the way. But just when she did so, the guard in black suddenly showed a surprised expression on his face - he As if he suddenly discovered the two ladies in the room, his body trembled slightly, and then excitement and surprise appeared in his eyes.

"Your Excellency Vanna, and Ms. Lucretia!" the guard in black shouted excitedly, even rubbing his eyes in disbelief, "Is it really you? Are you guys back?!"

Frankly speaking, Fanna was even more confused than the guard at this moment. She was obviously stunned for two seconds before her eyes suddenly widened: "Are you still 'awake'?!"

"Awake?" The guard in black was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized what it meant. He looked down at himself, and then at the compatriot who was resting in the corner of the room, with a complicated smile on his face. , "Yeah, I'm awake, and there are other people who are awake. Everyone should be very happy to see you..."

"Are there any other 'awake' people?" Lucretia on the side was greatly surprised, "We came all the way..."

"The proportion of people who are awake is very small. In order to make it easier to take care of each other and confirm each other's status, everyone is concentrated in the inner living area under the lighthouse. We only come out when necessary to patrol various areas, replenish supplies and check whether there are other awakenings. As for the compatriots who need help," the guard in black said calmly, "in addition... I just need to confirm whether you have come back."

He paused and raised his head to look at the middle-aged priest sitting in the corner of the room.

"The communication device is now occupied by 'them', and forcibly disrupting the 'daily activities' on their side will lead to more violent reactions, and sometimes even madness, so we will only send people during specific 'window periods' every day Come up, check the listening antenna records, and go to the top of the lighthouse to check if there are any ships on the sea returning from the depths of the fog, but today is my turn..."

The guardian smiled bitterly with a complicated expression, but his eyes were filled with joy: "To be honest, I didn't even expect to see you guys appear.

“I look at the thick fog every day, but there is nothing but fog there.

"Are you all back? What is the situation at the end of the world... like?"

Vanna and Lucretia looked at each other. The latter hesitated and nodded slightly: "The situation is very complicated now and it will take a long time to explain. Please take us to your 'sanctuary' first."

"Of course," the black-clothed guard nodded immediately, "but before entering the shelter, you need to undergo a ritual inspection - I hope you understand that this is the border after all, and you are returning from the thick fog.

"After that, Helena's incarnation will personally receive you."

When Fanna heard this, she immediately showed a surprised expression: "Is the incarnation of His Majesty the Pope over here?"

"She was originally stationed at the mobile port at the junction of the Eternal Veil and the Endless Sea, but after the situation on the lighthouse side deteriorated, she came here, and the shelter also relies on her to maintain - she has always been with us."

The black-clothed guard said, made an invitation gesture, turned around and led Vanna and Lucretia towards the door.

When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped again and turned to look at the two voyagers who had just returned from the end of the world.

The joy and excitement gradually settled in his eyes, and finally turned into a smile.

"Although the situation 'at home' is not very good now..." he said solemnly, "but welcome home - it's been a hard journey."

Fanna smiled back: "Well, we are back."

…

They returned home. Although there were some twists and turns, the returnees finally arrived at their home port safely.

After receiving the news from Lucretia again, Duncan finally felt relieved.

He and Alice are still staying on the "Temple Island" where Queen Leviathan sleeps. They have been staying on this black island for several days.

Now, the island is burning in flames filled with starlight, like a nebula illusion.

The "fire" like light mist spurting from the nebula clouds permeates the entire black island. From every stone gap, every brick, every seam between pillars and roofs, the illusory flames are soaked here. Everything even spread to the surrounding sea and the corpses of the Leviathan beasts that looked like islands.

Duncan sat on a large stone on the edge of the square in front of the black temple, calmly watching the flames burn, watching it soak into the "cornerstone" of the world.

The doll Alice stood quietly behind him.