After getting out of the car and stepping onto the flagstone square in front of the museum, Heidi couldn't help but take a deep breath. The cool and slightly salty sea breeze seemed to blow away the fatigue and anxiety accumulated after she worked continuously for a long time, bringing her a sense of relaxation.

This young psychiatrist hasn't had a vacation for almost a month, and has been dealing with manic and crazy cultists almost every day recently. She even feels that the madness in those cultists' minds has gradually infected her spirit, causing her to struggle with insomnia and nightmares every day.

Fortunately, today she finally doesn't have to worry about those crazy believers and their deformed and diseased minds.

★Illustration 34★

Another gust of sea breeze blew from the end of the street, blowing Heidi's skirt. She raised her hands to hold down her long skirt and the wide-brimmed hat on her head, and looked up at the large white building in front of her with a streamlined dome and beautiful side buildings.

The Maritime Museum in the Cross District is one of the largest museums in the city-state of Pland – and also one of the most legendary.

Heidi walked towards the museum. In the crowd not far away, a tour guide was introducing the background of the museum to tourists. The tour guide's penetrating voice reached Heidi's ears:

"…This large building, built in 1802, was originally owned by the Parr Brothers Ocean Trading Company. In its heyday, it was the largest storage center in Plande, handling astonishing wealth, and was regarded as a symbol of the peak of the commercial prosperity of the Plande city-state. However, a dramatic change in 1822 completely changed the fate of this building…"

Someone asked the question at the right time: "What happened then?"

"It is said - it is just said that an ocean-going cargo ship owned by the Parr brothers encountered a strange fog on its way back. In the fog, the unfortunate cargo ship saw a flaming ghost ship and passed by it...

"The cargo ship managed to escape the fog and even returned to the port safely, but the shadow of madness remained deep in the hearts of every crew member at the time and quickly spread throughout the entire fleet of the Parr brothers. In the following months, all the ships under the Parr brothers' name began to encounter terrible disasters, and crew members kept mutinying, going missing, and even some people performed bloody sacrifices to please unknown gods...

"...ships on long voyages encountered storms on what should have been calm seas, or hit icebergs in warm waters. Mutinous sailors detonated explosives on board, sabotaged boilers, and even hunted down their colleagues... Such bizarre disasters repeated time and time again, and eventually completely ruined the Parr brothers' business, causing their ocean trading company to file for bankruptcy reorganization at the end of the same year...

"After that, the Parr brothers divided up the remaining assets of their company and donated some of them to the city-state authorities, including this building in front of us... It has undergone several renovations and changes in function since then, until 1855, when it was finally transformed into a maritime museum, which remains to this day.

“It is said that to this day, the shadows of nearly a century ago still linger in this marine museum… The shadows of the Parr brothers occasionally return to the museum and temporarily stay in their office back then, or employees wearing the uniforms of the Marine Trading Company appear in the exhibition area and ask visitors in confusion where the office is…

"Of course, of course! These are just rumors. The museum has been inspected and blessed by the priests of the church, and there is a team of guards stationed here to ensure that no extraordinary disasters will occur. You can visit with confidence - but if you are really interested in these thrilling and bizarre legends, you can also experience the 'Adventure Chamber' on the side of the museum. However, before experiencing the chamber project, you need to go to the square church to receive a temporary baptism and a will test..."

The voices of the tour guide and tourists gradually faded away. Heidi walked forward through the crowd, but suddenly felt her steps a little heavy.

A century ago, a maritime trade warehouse, a disaster-inducing fog in the distant sea, a cursed fleet, and a shadow lingering in the museum...

Heidi, who has been dealing with cult members every day recently and has heard a lot of "rumors" through various official channels, suddenly feels that it is not a good idea to use the museum as a tourist attraction during the vacation... It would be better to spend the time strolling in the downtown area, or listen to her father's advice and visit that weird antique shop.

But after hesitating for less than two seconds, the young psychiatrist suddenly made up his mind and strode towards the main entrance of the museum.

It is a common tactic for tour guides to tell some well-placed horror stories when introducing tourist attractions. More than half of the horror stories in this world involve elements of sea fog, ghost ships and mutinous sailors. There are ghost stories in museums, and there may be things scarier than ghost stories in antique shops - how could she, a psychiatrist who deals with mental illnesses all day long, be afraid of this?

No one could stop her from enjoying this hard-earned vacation! Not even the evil gods of the subspace!

With determination and quick steps, the psychiatrist strode through the ticket checkpoint like a warrior ready to go to war, passed the museum door, and stepped into this ancient building that is nearly a century old.

There were fewer visitors in the museum than expected. Perhaps because it was not a public holiday, the lobby on the first floor of the venue even seemed a bit deserted.

Several guides were directing the route to the main exhibition area for some tourists who had difficulties. A huge whale skeleton and exquisite models of various ships were fixed on the towering walls at the end of the first-floor hall. A tour guide dressed as a captain was introducing knowledge about early sailing warships to several children.

Two girls who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old, possibly still in school, were walking together towards the door leading to the main exhibition area. They were talking and laughing all the way and seemed to have a very good relationship.

The venue is brightly lit and the atmosphere is comfortable.

Heidi breathed a sigh of relief and followed the two young girls to the hall where the main exhibition area was located, ready to enjoy this quiet time.

Then, she smelled something a little weird.

It smells like something is burning...

※※※

Near the Cross Street District, Duncan got out of a steam bus and bought a leisure magazine at a nearby newsstand, intending to kill some time.

The investigation near the factory ruins did not make much progress. After Shirley and Agou left, he wandered around the Sixth Block for a long time and asked the locals about some things, but it was obvious that ordinary citizens could not peek into the truth behind the "curtain". The residents of the Sixth Block only remembered the little information disclosed by the authorities, and everyone believed that the decline of the block was due to the chemical pollution left over from the factory and the neglect of the city-state authorities - this was not much different from what the old man basking in the sun revealed.

The truth is covered by the veil, the records in reality have been tampered with, and the city-state authorities only disclosed the tampered information, but Duncan cannot conclude that the "veil" was set up by the city hall or church of the Pland city-state based on this alone - because in this world where extraordinary phenomena exist, a powerful anomaly or vision may blind everyone's eyes.

In the face of powerful anomalies and visions, even the so-called "reality" becomes a canvas that can be smeared and tampered with.

It now appears that the source of the "curtain" is not in the factory, and may not even be in Block 6. If this so-called "source" is the solar fragment, then it should be hidden deeper.

The investigation cannot proceed further until more clues are obtained.

Duncan sat down on a bench by the roadside and read casually in some leisure reading material while thinking about the future.

The group of sun believers were looking for the sun fragments, and they disturbed the city-state; Nina's memories and dreams vaguely pointed to the sun fragments, and there was a high possibility that there was a certain connection between her and the fragments; she glimpsed the appearance of the real sun through the sun mask, and the indescribable thing that looked like an evil god had seen her and asked for help...

Before I knew it, I seemed to have fallen into a tangled ball of threads.

The city-state of Plande, his first landing point in this civilized world, was thought to be a peaceful, prosperous and tranquil place, but he did not expect that this "first stop" would be so unpeaceful.

Duncan sighed and shook his head slightly, and at this moment, he suddenly saw a strange smoke rising above the nearby blocks out of the corner of his eye.

There was a faint glow of fire rising in the smoke.

Duncan was stunned for a moment, then stood up from the bench. He noticed that many people on the street had also seen the smoke and flames, and many pedestrians stopped to walk. Then, he saw people running across the street in panic, and heard someone shouting loudly:

"Fire! The museum is on fire!!"