The figure in the mirror really left - without doing anything extra, just as he said at the beginning, just "came to check the situation."

Vanna stared at the mirror with a vigilant look on her face for a long time before she finally confirmed it and felt relieved.

Then she fell into a brief period of reflection and suspicion.

The reason for her suspicion was because of her professional habit as an Inquisitor. It was really hard for her to truly trust a "person" like Captain Duncan who had been carrying a horror legend for a century and was also related to the Warp, even if the other party really looked rational and friendly, and indeed protected the Pland City-State. The reason for her reflection was even simpler -

She realized that her guard had gradually weakened during her exchange with Captain Duncan.

This was an inappropriate display of weakness, and she had never thought that this would happen to her.

Ultimately, this is because one has fallen into hesitation and self-doubt and lost the purity of belief, which has led to a hole in the heart.

Vanna reflected on herself for a while, and at the end, she sighed softly.

In any case, the city has survived safely, and she will tell Bishop Valentine what happened tonight, including... her own hesitation.

The young Inquisitor's sigh faded into the darkness as the lights went out.

※※※

On the second floor of an antique shop in the lower town, Duncan withdrew his gaze from Plande Cathedral and looked at the night scene of the city with thousands of lights near and far, with a thoughtful expression on his face.

He didn't know what had happened to Vanna, but one thing was obvious: the young inquisitor's mental state had just experienced a brief and dangerous shake - this shake even directly touched his perception, forcing him to make a projection directly in the real world to check what had happened to Vanna.

Now that he recalled it, the aura he felt from Fanna at that time was actually a little familiar - that aura was hidden deep in her spiritual world, surrounding her. If he carefully distinguished it, it was a bit like...

It was like the wonderful feeling you had when you were at the bottom of the Lost Homeland, observing the chaotic light and shadow outside the hull through the cracks.

It's subspace.

And judging from the question that Vanna suddenly asked herself at the end, the trouble she encountered might really be related to the subspace.

Duncan tapped his fingers unconsciously on the windowsill, guessing the truth.

Before leaving, he strengthened the mark he left on the other person. This power should be able to help her resist the possible erosion when necessary, but the key question is, why did a trace of the subspace suddenly appear on Vanna, a high-level saint?

Duncan's thoughts spread, and he suddenly thought of some other clues, or "knowledge" - under certain circumstances, the souls of the Four Gods' followers are more easily eroded by the Warp than mortals, and after being eroded, their souls will even directly generate a rift connecting the real dimension and the Warp. In the small church in the sixth block, the initial invasion also started from the soul shadow of the nun...

Will something similar happen to Vanna? If so, what is the reason behind this counterintuitive phenomenon?

After a moment of contemplation, Duncan exhaled and turned away from the window.

In any case, he should pay more attention to Vanna, this special "node" in the future - now Vanna lacks trust in him as the "ghost captain", she certainly won't take the initiative to tell her all the secrets, so he needs to pay more attention on his part.

On the way back to the bedroom, Duncan heard the laughter of two young girls coming from the next room - the voices of Nina and Shirley.

Even though they had returned to the city-state from the Lost Homeland, they seemed still excited, especially Nina.

The child didn't seem to have any psychological trauma from the eerie ghost ship, nor did she have any worries about the future - she was as cheerful as usual, or even... a little more cheerful.

Was it the influence of the sun fragments? Or was it because she had a strong ability to receive?

Duncan was lost in thought, and suddenly he felt that... he seemed to have discovered some unexpected "talents" of Nina.

As night fell, the cold, pale light of the World's Creation illuminated the open deck of the Lost Homeland.

The sound of brisk footsteps broke the silence on the ghost ship at night, and a figure wearing a gorgeous long dress and a silver-haired shawl came to the control panel at the stern.

Alice looked up at the captain who was steering the ship. His violet eyes were reflecting the light and sparkling. "Captain! Where are we going next?"

"We don't have a destination for now, so let's leave the busy routes between city-states for now." Duncan looked down at the puppet and said, "You look in a good mood?"

"Yes, yes!" Alice nodded happily. No matter how elegant and noble she looked, the cheerfulness in her nod was enough to make her look silly. "It's so lively on the boat today! This is the first time I know that just a lot of people getting together can be so interesting..."

"It's not always 'interesting' to get people together - but you may have a hard time understanding this now," Duncan said casually, "Also, control your nodding, because you scared them when your head fell off today."

"Oh oh..." Alice hurriedly held her head, and then seemed a little worried, "Then... they won't stop coming because of this, right?"

"This worry is unnecessary."

Alice uttered "oh" again, and then was silent for less than two seconds before asking, "Then...can I still go to the city-state to play in the future? I didn't even get to see the world properly this time, and I encountered...a mess of things. I feel dizzy..."

Duncan's eyes swept across the sea and then fell back on Alice: "Of course, I can ask Ai to take you to the antique shop tomorrow - I still need your help in the store."

"Really?" Alice's eyes lit up and she looked very surprised. "I thought... we wouldn't be going back to the city-state most of the time. After all... you seem to have finished your work there?"

Duncan did not answer the other party immediately. Instead, he deliberately kept silent for several seconds before suddenly asking, "Do you think that I am paying attention to Plande because there is something I must do?"

Alice was stunned for a moment, then she scratched her head belatedly: "I... don't know."

Duncan smiled and shook his head, gently releasing the steering wheel in his hands.

There were slight creaking sounds coming from all over the Lost Homeland, and the spiritual sails on the mast were slightly retracted, and the ship entered a "cruising state" taken over by the Goat Head.

"We just solved the trouble caused by a group of cultists," Duncan walked down from the bridge and headed towards the captain's room, while casually saying to Alice, "As for Plande... I think that city-state is destined to be with me."

The captain walked away. Alice thought about it for a while in confusion, then turned to look at the direction he left: "...As expected of the captain, this is so profound..."

Duncan came to the door of the captain's room. He looked up and saw the words "Gate of the Lost Homelanders" reflecting the dim light from the Creation of the World on the door frame.

He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then placed his hand on the door handle.

Gently push inwards.

Hazy and distorted fog appeared before his eyes. Duncan stepped forward and felt the familiar momentary weightlessness and slight dizziness. The feeling of dislocation, as if he had traveled through endless time and space and arrived at his destination in an instant, passed by for a moment, and then the surroundings became quiet.

The never-ending sound of wind and waves on the boundless sea and the slight creaking sounds from various places on the Lost Homeland faded away, and the fishy and salty sea breeze also quietly dissipated. A familiar smell came from the surroundings, this smell came from the room where he had lived for many years.

Zhou Ming opened his eyes and looked at the unchanging scene in the bachelor apartment.

As usual, the first thing he did after returning here was to confirm the general situation of the entire room, to confirm whether there were any changes here after he left, to confirm whether the thick fog outside the window showed any signs of dissipating, and to confirm whether the thin ropes and scraps of paper he left on the windows and windowsill had been moved.

Even though he knew that doing so was meaningless, he still treated this series of "confirmations" as a task that had to be completed.

After completing this series of confirmations, his second thing was to go to his desk.

Zhou Ming lowered his head and looked at the things on his desk calmly.

A miniature model of the city-state of Plande was quietly placed on the table.

Exquisite, restored, every detail is lifelike, even every floor tile and every street lamp is exactly the same as the real Plande.

Or in other words, this is the real Pland as it is "projected" in some form in his bachelor apartment.

It's here, just as expected.

The fine flame that was jumping and burning on the desk completed the final carving of this "collection". Now, this perfect masterpiece has been presented to its owner.

Zhou Ming exhaled lightly, slowly sat down at the table, and looked at this exquisite "model".

Compared with the "model" of the Lost Homeland, the size of this "city-state" is obviously much larger, but it is obviously not scaled in proportion. Its size seems to be just right to fit into a separate grid on the shelf, as if it was specially tailor-made for that place.

However, in this lifelike city-state model, there is no trace of any residents.

It seems that the "people" living in the city-state cannot form a projection here?

Zhou Ming seemed to be thinking about something, and he looked at the Plande city-state for a long time. Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief, picked up this large "collection" with both hands, and placed it carefully on a shelf not far away.

After putting it away, he took two steps back and silently admired his new collection.

The Lost Homeland has left Plunder, but the captain... has never left his loyal city-state.