The statue of the storm goddess Gemona stood quietly in the cathedral, as majestic, mysterious and silent as ever.

That veil seemed to cover not only the face of the goddess, but also a certain connection between the mortal world and the gods. For the first time, Vanna discovered that she actually did not understand at all, and did not even comprehend what kind of... existence the gods she worshipped were.

All along, she had just taken it for granted to believe in everything about storms and the deep sea. She had never thought about this issue like she did today, and had never considered analyzing the relationship between God and herself from a questioning perspective.

With a start, Vanna woke up from her brief meditation, feeling her heart pounding and a layer of cold sweat on her back.

Thoughts breed heresy, and God cannot penetrate it.

She couldn't believe that those almost unorthodox thoughts just now actually came from her mind - starting to question the "behavior" of God was almost the same as heresy.

However, the next second, she felt the gentle sound of waves ringing in her ears, and the gaze and comfort from the goddess emerged as usual, further relieving the pain accumulated in this body and soothing her spirit.

Even in this great cathedral, even when such wavering thoughts arose in her mind, the goddess remained the same... Was it because God was also ignorant, or because the Lord did not care?

"...Do you really not need to rest?" Valentine's voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting Vanna's distraction. The old man looked at the young judge beside him with some worry. He remembered that Vanna had never been in a trance like this in front of the goddess. "You look dazed...Physical injuries are easy to heal, but mental fatigue is troublesome."

"I..." Vanna hesitated, "Maybe I am a little tired."

"Then go and have a rest. I will take care of the follow-up matters," Valentine said immediately, and before the other party could say anything else, he quickly added, "I just received news that Mr. Dent has returned safely to the mansion. I think... your family must need you very much at this time, and you need your family too."

"Uncle..." Vanna was stunned for a moment. The scene of saying goodbye to her uncle before emerged in her mind. A strange feeling touched her heart, and finally made her give up her last insistence, "Okay, then I will leave first, and I will leave this place to you."

"Go in peace," Valentine nodded gently, "May the storm protect you."

"...May the storm provide shelter." Vanna said softly.

A dark grey steam train drove out of the church square, and after passing through the central intersection where a checkpoint had been set up, it first headed in the direction of the Governor's Palace.

Vanna was sitting in the passenger seat of the car, and the driver was Heidi, who had just finished being questioned in the church.

"Thank you. I'll have to trouble you to give me a ride," Vanna thanked her friend softly as she watched the scenery outside the car window recede. "You could have left earlier."

"You don't have to be so polite with me," Heidi said casually while holding the steering wheel and observing the road conditions. "Besides, I couldn't be early. The young monk asked me a lot of questions and made me burn incense for a long time. These were all necessary 'safety measures'. It was almost evening when I finished."

Fanna looked out the window and saw the city guards and defenders patrolling the road. Frightened citizens were walking quickly across the street. Some people who looked like they had just come out of shelters were asking passers-by about the situation. From time to time, sheriffs with loudspeakers could be seen standing at intersections, informing nearby residents of the latest situation - the content was nothing more than that the city was being invaded by strange phenomena, the danger had been eliminated, and that it was under level three martial law tonight.

Plande seemed to have just recovered from a serious illness, and the order in the city-state was still chaotic. But even in such a chaotic and tense scene, Vanna still felt an indescribable sense of relief and... warmth.

Fear and tension are proof of life. Only those who have survived the disaster are qualified to be anxious at this moment - and the rising sun the next day will be the best comfort for Pland.

"Are you okay? You look so exhausted." Heidi noticed Vanna's tiredness and trance even though she was driving. "This is the first time I've seen you look so exhausted since I was a child. I almost thought you were forged from a piece of steel."

"...If I tell you that I killed my way through the entire city-state by myself when the rain of fire fell, would you believe it?" Vanna glanced at her friend. In fact, after leaving with Heidi, she had gradually relaxed. "I'm almost exhausted."

"I believe it, of course I do. After all, it's you. I believe you if you say you came back from the subspace," Heidi said without changing her expression. She nodded as if it was a matter of course, and then suddenly looked Vanna up and down, "No wonder you look so weak..."

Fanna felt uncomfortable with the other person's gaze: "You... have a weird look in your eyes."

"I just had an idea," Heidi said seriously, "Do you want to go to the marriage help center now?"

"……Why?"

"It took a lot of effort for you to become this weak. Maybe there are people you can't beat now. This doesn't violate your second oath that year - you will do your best in any battle." Heidi's thoughts seemed to have completely wandered. She didn't even care about Vanna's increasingly distorted expression. "Otherwise, after you go home and have a good sleep, you will be invincible again, and the Marriage Help Center will have to send people to the hospital every now and then..."

Vanna clenched her fists slightly.

The sound of air bursting instantly calmed Heidi.

After two seconds of silence, Heidi muttered again: "If you don't like it, then don't like it. You have been threatening me since we were little. You even ate my lunch..."

The car then fell silent. After a few seconds of silence, Vanna suddenly spoke softly, "Thank you. I feel much calmer now."

"That's right. After all, I am the best psychiatrist in Plande - and you really need to be in a good state to face Mr. Dent." Heidi smiled as if her plan had been successful. Then, the car stopped smoothly under her control. "You are home, my invincible knight lady - cheer up, we all survived today."

Saved a life...

Heidi just said it casually, but Vanna somehow thought of a sentence often said by the followers of the Death Cult -

"Survival is not a birthright, but a commodity for which one has paid in advance."

Vanna lowered her eyelids, took a deep breath, thanked and said goodbye to her friend, then got out of the car and walked towards her home not far away.

Heidi quietly watched Vanna's departing back in the car. After a while, she started the car, turned around and drove towards her home.

Is my father safe now? If he is safe, then...what is he doing now?

※※※

There were lightning and thunder outside the cabin, and a storm suddenly arose. The strong wind brought huge waves that hit the towering side of the Lost Hometown. Under the deep and dark sea, it seemed that some indescribable monster had been enraged and was releasing tremendous malice to the world.

Through the porthole, one can see a giant wrapped in blazing flames standing at the bow, with burning chains extending into the sea, and a huge monster with a large number of tentacles and a size almost as big as the Lost Homeland rolling wildly under the water, constantly extending its tentacles with countless sharp teeth and eyeballs out of the sea and climbing up the side of the ship, as if trying to break free from the chains or drive the Lost Homeland out of this sea area.

Inside the cabin, the lights, which were fueled by whale oil, were bright, but they could not dispel the tension and fear. Shirley was already shivering in her arms while holding Agou, listening to the noise outside with horror on her face. Agou stretched his neck hard to avoid being strangled while confirming with Alice: "Are you sure the captain is fishing?!"

"Yes," Alice nodded calmly and confidently, with a look that said, "People like you from the city-state are always making a fuss." "Fishing is the captain's greatest hobby!"

"I finally understand why you always have that reaction when you talk about Mr. Duncan's fish..." Shirley finally realized something and said to Agou with a sad face, "I...if I had known earlier when I was eating it..."

Before she finished her words, Morris, who had his eyes closed across the table, suddenly opened them. The old man looked at the girl with horror: "Have you... eaten the... uh, 'fish' caught by Mr. Duncan?"

"How would I know?" Shirley was about to cry. As she spoke, she turned her head and looked at Nina, "You...you didn't tell me how your uncle got the fish back..."

"I don't know either," Nina shook her head. Her expression was not as exaggerated as others. Instead, she looked a little...excited. She leaned over the table and looked at the scene on the deck through the porthole. The tentacles that rushed out of the water did not make her feel scared, but rather curious. "How do you think... those things turned into fish in the end?"

To be fair, Nina's current behavior is actually no different from when she was in the city-state. She is as cheerful, lively and sunny as ever. However, this kind of behavior is normal in a peaceful city-state. If it is still the same at the "fishing site" of the Lost Hometown, it would be a bit scary. It was under such circumstances that Shirley seemed to finally discover Nina's incredible side: "...You uncle and nephew are too scary, really..."

Nina scratched her hair, her expression a little puzzled: "Really? I think it's fine..."

As she spoke, Alice suddenly stood up and walked out.

Shirley suddenly became a little nervous: "Ah, what are you going to do?"

"Go and prepare dinner," Alice said matter-of-factly, "the captain is almost done with that big fish."

Alice left, leaving a few "visitors" who had accidentally boarded the ship looking at each other in bewilderment in the cabin.

"I...I want to go home..." Shirley hugged Agou tightly, looking like she was about to cry.

The red light in Ah Gou's bloodshot eyes flickered: "You're strangling me to death..."

Morris suddenly sighed.

Seeing this, Nina quickly asked, "Teacher, why are you sighing?"

"I think I can write a book when I go back," Morris thought for a moment and spread his hands, "but I'm worried that my daughter will think I have a mental problem..."

Nina: “……?”