From the city-states of Plande and Rensa to the north, across the busy merchant "Great Cross Route", a cold breath eternally lingers over this sea area called the "Cold Sea". Under the influence of this mysterious cold air that seems to never dissipate, the entire Cold Sea presents a different appearance from anywhere else.

Here, the sea water presents a deep texture that is clearly different from the warm seas. Small pieces of floating ice often appear at the intersection of ocean currents and islands. Mysterious large icebergs periodically rise from below the sea level, turning into temporary barriers or moving land, becoming landmarks or emergency shelters for some sailors who make a living in the cold seas. Various mysterious cold fogs, icy winds and phantom light phenomena are the unique landscapes of this cold sea, bringing about countless strange legends, so that the two major city-states of Frost and Cold Harbor in this sea area are stained with a layer of mystery.

But compared to the huge icebergs that can be controlled according to rules and the extraordinary visions that exist only in legends in most cases, the captains who make a living in the Cold Sea often talk about the terrifying fleet that has been active since half a century ago, which is real but entangled with countless psychedelic colors - the Sea Fog Fleet led by Tirian, the son of Duncan Abnormar, whose influence radiates to one-third of the route of the Cold Sea.

On the edge of an island blocked and hidden by special ocean currents and thick fog barriers, a steel battleship with iron gray paint, hard lines and a towering bow is quietly anchored in the dock. Service personnel and sailors are busy adding fuel, fresh water and ammunition to the battleship.

If someone who knew a little about the history of the Frost City-State stood here, he would probably notice at first glance that the sailors were still wearing the Frost Navy uniforms from half a century ago, and noticed the white emblems they wore on their shoulders or chests - in the Frost tradition, this was a sign of mourning.

In the captain's room on the upper deck of the battleship, a man in a black navy cloak was flipping through a document.

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The man was thin, with a high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, neat short black hair, and a black eyepatch made of unknown leather on his left eye. It was almost a pirate's iconic eyepatch that made his already gloomy face even more sinister. The outline between his eyebrows was vaguely similar to that of the "Ghost Captain" who frightened the world.

A large parrot with colorful tail feathers was perched on a nearby wooden rack, staring intently at a brass device next to the thin man. The device was a sophisticated and complex lens group, surrounded by a circle of rocker arms and small lenses, with a large crystal ball in the center. It looked extremely luxurious and filled with a mysterious atmosphere.

The thin man didn't even raise his head. "Perly, if you touch it, I will send you to the Brilliant Star next month to accompany those puppets and ghosts."

"Oh, cruelty!" the large parrot immediately screamed and shook the wooden frame. "Oh, cruelty! What a cruel captain Tirian is!"

"...I should really find out which bastard taught you that," Tirian Abnomar frowned. "Can you tell me something else?"

The large parrot flapped its wings triumphantly. "Perly learned it all by herself! Perly learned it all by herself!"

Tirian rubbed his forehead. "Damn, there's this..."

At this moment, a knock on the door suddenly came from the side, interrupting the communication between Tirian and the parrot.

"Come in." Tirian turned his head and said.

The door of the captain's room opened and a tall bald man walked in.

His skin was pale, like a corpse that had been dead for a long time, and there was an eternal turbid haze in his eyes. A faint smell of the sea filled the air around him, mixed with a kind of... chill that seemed to come from the grave.

A living corpse, a dead body stranded in the human world.

Tirian looked at the "living dead" who walked into the room and said, "Aiden, how much fuel do you have?"

"It's almost over, Captain." The tall bald man called Aiden lowered his head slightly. His voice was hoarse and rough, and a faint cold white mist escaped from his mouth and nose as he spoke. "The boiler is already preheating."

"Very good," Tirian nodded slightly. "What's going on in Cold Harbor?"

"Silent as a stone," Aiden said with a hint of contempt, "They dare not invade our territory. Even if only half of the Sea Mist Fleet remains in the Frigid Sea, those cowards will not have the courage to cross the route."

"They are very smart and can accurately calculate the gains and losses of interests, just like half a century ago." Tirian laughed. "Then make preparations, and we will leave the port on time."

"Yes, Captain."

The first mate, emitting a cold breath of death, pushed the door and left the room, and Tirian gradually withdrew his gaze.

His first mate is a "living dead". In fact, except for him, the "immortal", all members of the Sea Fog Fleet are "living dead" who are between the living and the dead.

His loyal men have served dutifully in this fleet for half a century.

In a sense, he himself, a guy who couldn't die because of the curse of the warp, was actually no different from his crew members.

Tirian shook his head, and at that moment, the brass device beside him suddenly made a mechanical sound - he looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the complex arms and lenses were moving rapidly and combining, and focusing on the crystal ball in the center of the device according to a certain rule. The next second, the crystal ball emitted a faint glow, and a blurry image emerged from it.

A young lady with long straight black hair, wearing a black silk dress, and with delicate features and a hint of cold mystery appeared in the crystal ball - and behind this lady, one could vaguely see many magical mechanisms that were operating automatically, as well as dots of phosphorescent light floating in the air.

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"Lucretia," Tirian glanced at the lady in the crystal ball and nodded slightly, "I never thought you would remember to send a greeting before your brother went off to war."

The young lady in the crystal ball was about to speak, but was stunned after hearing what Tirian said: "You are leaving today?"

Tirian frowned: "...Aren't you sending greetings because I'm leaving today?!"

"No," the lady in the crystal ball with a mysterious look like a wizard shook her head calmly, "My deep-sea detection device exploded."

Tirian's mouth twitched, and then he heard his sister continue: "Everything else is easy to repair, but the core crystal lens cannot be replaced."

Tirian remained expressionless.

"Do you have any new ones? I'll trade you border minerals and samples."

"...Only two city-states can produce spirit world lenses that meet your precision requirements. The main trading channels are controlled by the Academy of Truth, and the quantity that can be circulated outside is very, very, very... limited." Tirian finally couldn't help but sighed, "It's only been two months since you broke your detection device last time..."

"I found a very interesting sample, which may have floated up from the Deep Sea." Lucrecia said.

"...Samples from the Deep Sea are not acceptable either, although those can indeed be sold to the Academy of Truth..."

"I also collected the phantoms left after the border collapsed."

"This is not..." Tirian covered his forehead with a headache, "It's mainly because I really don't know where to find a new set of lenses for you..."

Lucrecia thought for a moment: "Robbery?"

"I can't always rely on robbery," Tirian sighed, "The Sea Mist Fleet is preparing to formalize its operations. We are mainly relying on collecting protection fees..."

"Oh, that's all," Lucretia finally shrugged. The first half of her words made Tirian feel relieved, but the second half made the famous pirate leader nervous again. "Then I'll ask again tomorrow."

"You... forget it, I can't stop your exploration plan," Tirian finally sighed helplessly (he really didn't know how many times he sighed in these few minutes), "Tell me about your situation, my 'respectable' great explorer sister... You travel around the borders of the civilized world all day long, have you really discovered any signs that our world is heading towards doomsday?"

"I can hear your teasing, brother," Lucrecia said expressionlessly, "You have always been dismissive of my sense of urgency, and have never really cared about what I found at the border. I can understand that you are focusing on more practical things, so I am even more grateful that you have provided me with the best help you can even though you don't understand. But don't forget our father... the warning he once made."

"... Is our world just a dying ember..." Tirian leaned back in his chair and said softly as if sighing, "I still don't know what he saw that day, but there is one obvious fact, he was already crazy when he made this warning - and you are repeating what he did back then, and even trying to uncover the truth that led to his madness in the process."

Tirian shook his head and looked at the figure in the crystal ball. "Lucretia, it's bad enough that there is a Lost Homeland in this world."