Vision 001, which rose from the sea of ​​blood after the disappearance of the ancient Kingdom of Crete, replaced the sun of the old era and illuminated the world of the deep sea era.

For ten thousand years, this huge body of light has been running as if it were eternal, bringing not only light and heat to the world, but also a stable order during the day. Without it, there would be no city-state civilization today, and the entire world would be shrouded in a terrible eternal night. The creatures on earth who lost the protection of the ancient Kingdom of Crete would probably have disappeared quietly in some ancient time.

No one would have thought that something might go wrong with Anomaly 001, just like no one had ever considered whether the Infinite Sea would dry up one day.

However, it now seems that this "eternal" sun is not really eternal.

First, the sunrise was delayed by fifteen minutes, and then there was a gap on the rune ring that was almost invisible to the naked eye... All these disturbing information pointed out one thing: the lifespan of Anomaly 001 was actually limited!

Duncan stood beside the window, silently watching the bright light illuminate the street, while the complicated thoughts in his mind were surging like a storm.

I am not the only one who noticed the change in the sun. There are many smart people in the world. Ordinary people may not pay attention to the changes above their heads, but there must be people in the city-state authorities and the church who are always keeping an eye on this biggest phenomenon in the world. Now, someone should have noticed the change in the sun... What will they think? How will they respond? Does anyone know what happened?

He also thought of those crazy sun worshippers, those cultists who worshipped the real ancient sun... They kept muttering all day long that the vision in the sky 001 was a sinful "false sun" and that the sun would fall one day... Did they know that there was really something wrong with the sun?

In other words, are the changes in Vision 001 really related to the group of Sun Cultists and the Sun Descendants behind them?

To be fair, Duncan actually didn't think much of those solar cultists, because in his eyes, whether they were ordinary cultists or slightly more powerful descendants of the sun, they were all the same and could be ignited at any time. However, the fire in the Plande city-state reminded him that ordinary cultists might not be a big deal, but the "Creeping Sun Wheel" behind them was of a very high status. In addition, there was a group of elusive end-of-the-world preachers stirring up trouble, as well as strange and unpredictable evil things such as historical pollution and reality overlay. Who knows if those solar cultists can really affect the operation of Anomaly 001...

Duncan thought about it for a long time, and finally decided to contact Vanna when he had the chance - she was a senior member of the church and should be very clear about the church's movements, so he could discuss the matter of the sun with her.

By the way, you can also show your friendly attitude and concern for the security of the city-state.

Of course, remember to knock on the door next time you go there.

As Duncan thought about this, he paid some attention to the situation in the cathedral, and then he was suddenly stunned.

He sensed that Tirian had left the cathedral and was... moving toward the southern part of Upper Town.

After roughly confirming the direction in which Tirian was heading, Duncan frowned slightly.

He thought of another thing in his plan.

After a little thought, he raised his head and looked towards the counter.

Alice was lying next to Shirley, holding a pencil and writing something very seriously on a white paper.

At this moment, bright sunshine was shining through the glass windows of the antique shop, over the quaint furnishings on the shelves and into the store. The sunshine fell on the shoulders of the blonde doll, as if coating Alice with a layer of warm and soft luster. The sunshine also fell on the counter and the tip of the doll's pen, bringing an indescribable soft and mysterious atmosphere to the whole picture.

If this is an oil painting, then this scene should have a name - beautiful dolls writing quietly in the warm afternoon sun.

Even Duncan was a little stunned by this perfect scene of light and shadow. He walked over and took a look. He saw Alice was carefully writing down some unknown letter. God knows where she started to make mistakes. Anyway, the whole paper was filled with small circles drawn by her...

Noticing the captain approaching, Alice stopped immediately and happily held up the blank paper to show Duncan: "Mr. Duncan, look at what I wrote~"

Duncan: “…”

He held it in for a long time, looking at Alice's simple and happy smile, with the impression of the oil painting just now lingering in his mind. In the end, he still couldn't say the doubt directly, and could only nod reluctantly with a stern face: "There is... progress."

Although I can't tell what's being written.

Alice was very happy. It seemed that this compliment was all she needed. Then she looked into Duncan's eyes curiously and asked, "Do you have any instructions?"

Duncan was stunned for a moment: "How do you know I have something for you to do?"

"You always look like this when you have something to tell me to do," Alice gestured on her face, as if to demonstrate Duncan's expression just now, but no one could understand her demonstration, "What do you want me to do?"

"You go somewhere with Ai," Duncan adjusted his expression, looked at Alice's heartless smile, and thought about what he was going to do. He felt much more relaxed unconsciously, "lead someone here."

"Lead... here?" Alice looked confused. "What do you mean by 'lead' here? Do I need to knock him out and tie him up?"

"Where did you learn this?!" Duncan glared at the puppet and said, "Follow me, I'll tell you how to do it..."

※※※

Compared to a hundred years ago, the city has indeed changed a lot.

Electrical lines, new models of gas street lamps, smoother and wider streets, taller buildings, and countless factories and pipelines - scholars and engineers brought the power to advance civilization, and this power made the city-state change at a speed far beyond the past. This change... even made Tirian, who had seen many ups and downs, feel a sense of wonder.

But in this city-state, there are some things that are still vaguely the same as he remembers.

After getting off the car, thanking and saying goodbye to the church staff who accompanied him, Tirian walked on the streets on the edge of the upper city of Plander with several sailors he brought from the Sea Mist. Looking at the strange yet somewhat familiar roads and shops on both sides, he couldn't help but have a look of nostalgia on his face.

"Captain," a sailor looked at his boss curiously, "what are we looking for here?"

"A shop," Tirian said casually, his eyes constantly searching among the street-front buildings with a strong central city-state style, "a puppet shop, with a sign that has some elven style."

"Dolls?" The sailor was a little surprised. "So you are interested in this?"

Tirian looked at his men silently: "I have my reasons."

Seeing this, another sailor came over and said, "Captain, why don't you kill him first... If you are worried, you can kill us too, and then deal with us when you are done with your tour..."

"...I kind of regret bringing you guys along."

Several sailors burst into laughter, and while chatting, their eyes were scanning the nearby buildings, looking for the store that matched the captain's description.

Tirian shook his head and looked at the subordinates he brought with some helplessness.

This is how he gets along with his subordinates when not in battle - it is probably difficult for the world to imagine that the legendary "Iron Vice Admiral" would be such a peaceful person among his subordinates, but Tirian himself knows why.

These people have been with me through life and death for half a century - there is no friendship in the world that can surpass this loyalty and trust that has lasted for half a century.

Just then, a sailor's voice suddenly came from the side, interrupting Tirian's thoughts.

"Captain, is that the one? The doll house across the street... the name is quite unique."

Tirian looked up and immediately saw a familiar name among a bunch of old shops on the street:

〖Rose Puppet Shop〗①

The signboard has changed, the door has changed, and even the decoration on the front has changed, but the name of the store remains the same - the nostalgic elves, even if they live in a rapidly changing human city-state, rarely change the name of their store easily.

Tirian suddenly felt dazed, and yellowed memories came to his mind. He seemed to see that afternoon long, long ago, when his father went to the port to do some work, and he took his younger sister and sneaked out of the house. The brother and sister wandered around the bustling city until they ran into that store in a daze...

Then he spent the change he had stolen from his father's cash box without hesitation - his sister had a happy whole day, and he... seemed to have no recollection of whether he was beaten or not.

In any case, it was a rare moment of pure warmth in Tirian's century-long cold memories.

"That's it," the big pirate said softly, "'Doll House' is an Elven-style naming method, referring to a doll shop."

As he spoke, he walked towards the store that seemed to occupy a special corner in his memory.

Notes:

①Rose Doll House.