The "Haiyan" stopped.

When this terrible assaulter stopped, it had almost turned into a pile of debris under the continuous bombardment. The original hull structure had long been destroyed, and there was not even a complete deck or building wreckage. The torn hull and internal materials were scattered on the sea. Slowly spreading black mud floated among the fragmented wreckage, and the remaining flames were burning among these fragments, and dirty smoke billowed up.

And the path that the Haiyan had charged along was covered with those strange substances that looked like mud - the ominous black color outlined a belt-like trace that was more than ten nautical miles long in the sea water, like the disgusting mucus left by some soft-bodied creature when it crawled ashore, slowly drifting and rising on the sea with the wind and waves, and lasting for a long time.

The roar of the coastal artillery stopped, and the thick smell of gunpowder filled the entire coastline. Li Si stared at the burning wreckage on the sea in the distance. It took a long time before he was sure that the thing had really stopped completely. He hesitantly broke the silence: "Is it over?"

"... or maybe this is just the beginning," Agatha's voice was a little hoarse, and pale light flashed in her eyes from time to time. Although the "Sea Petrel" had stopped moving, she was still worriedly observing the scene in the spirit world to confirm whether there were still things in the wreckage moving towards the city-state. "Don't forget, the problem with the Sea Petrel occurred after it returned from Dagger Island."

Liszt's expression became very ugly.

"When was the last time that island sent back news?"

"Just a few hours ago, the telegram indicated that everything was normal on the island," Lister frowned, "and there was no problem with the church's spiritual communication."

"…Block Dagger Island, Colonel. From now on, don't believe any news coming from that island," Agatha exhaled softly. "I will return to the cathedral now. I believe that further blockade orders will be issued soon."

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Agatha."

"Everything is for the peace of the city-state," Agatha said softly, reciting the brief motto from the Deathly Hallows, "Everything is in order."

※※※

Half an hour ago.

A thunderous sound was heard from a long distance away, one after another, even more frequent than the last. Judging from the direction from which the sound came, it seemed to be near the coast on the east side of the city-state.

Duncan raised his head and looked at the sky in the direction where the sound came from. He could vaguely see clouds rising over there.

"What's that sound?" Alice held her head nervously and looked at Duncan helplessly, "Is it thunder?"

"It sounds like a cannon," Vanna said on the other side, but her expression changed slightly. "Coastal defense cannon? What happened? Why is there a salvo of coastal defense cannons..."

Duncan had a thoughtful expression on his face. The first thing he thought of was the letter of complaint he handed to the old guard. The next thing he remembered was the direction of Dagger Island - did he really predict it right?

The sound of flapping wings suddenly came from nearby, and an inconspicuous-looking fat pigeon flapped its wings and took off from the shadow of the nearby building, flying quickly into the distance.

"Don't worry, I'll ask Ai to check the situation," Duncan said. He then raised his head and looked at the house in front of him, which seemed to be a bit old. "Let's continue to talk about the situation of this house."

Morris on the side immediately coughed twice and continued the introduction that had been interrupted just now - although the faint roar from the distance continued, since the captain was so calm, there was obviously nothing to worry about: "This house was selected by Vanna and I from four rental houses - the other three were either too close to the city center and inconvenient to move around, or the house itself was in poor condition and not suitable for living. Although this one is a bit old, the landlord has maintained the house well and it is also quite clean inside.

"This house is No. 44 Oak Street. Next door is Fireplace Street. The landlord lives on Fireplace Street and will not come to disturb us on weekdays. There is a small path connecting the two blocks. The chapel is located in the small square between the two blocks, which is some distance away from here...

"We have a short-term lease. The average daily rent is higher than a long-term lease, but we can check out at any time. We have paid half a month's rent. Vanna and I have met the landlord. She is a well-educated lady who is easy to talk to. After learning that I am a traveling scholar, she generously sent me some daily necessities..."

Duncan listened to the old man's detailed introduction while also looking around the temporary residence in front of him.

This is a single-family building with typical northern city-state characteristics. The gray-white exterior walls are slightly rough and coated with porous mortar that has good thermal insulation. The house has two floors with narrow windows. There are wall lamps and mailbox openings next to the black door. The roof is tall and steep, covered with black tiles to facilitate the melting and falling of snow. Steam and gas pipes extend from thick pipes above the block and are delivered into the building along the gables.

It wasn't a very luxurious residence, but it was more than adequate as a temporary place to stay - it was even a little more spacious than Pland's two-story building that served as both a shop and a residence.

It turned out to be the right choice to arrange for Morris and Vanna to solve the accommodation problem - it was something that no one else on the ship could handle.

Morris walked forward, took out the key from his pocket and opened the door, followed by Duncan and Alice.

After entering the front door, there is a foyer where you need to take off your shoes and change clothes, followed by a fairly spacious living room with slightly yellowed light-patterned wallpaper on the walls. The dining room is connected to the living room, and there is another bedroom next to the dining room. The stairs leading to the second floor are right in front of the front door, and it seems that most of the bedrooms are on the second floor.

The floor was a little loose when stepped on, making a slight creaking sound that symbolized the passage of time. The simple tables and chairs glowed in the sun, and there was not much dust. On the table in the restaurant, there was a bouquet of brightly colored flowers - obviously artificial flowers made of cloth or plastic.

"This was also sent by the landlord. It is said that it is the custom here in Frost. The landlord prepares a bouquet of flowers that will not wither in the winter for the new tenant, which indicates health and safety."

"... Every place has its own unique rules," Duncan said with a slight smile, "This place is not bad... and it's far from the main road, so it should be relatively quiet during normal times."

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked towards the second floor: "It seems that we can take Nina and Shirley over to do their homework. They have already started complaining about being bored on the ship."

Vanna's mouth twitched for a moment: "...Shirley may indeed be complaining about being bored, but I guess her purpose is not to come to the city to do homework."

Duncan waved his hand. "It doesn't matter. She should try harder. Now Agou can even roughly understand the newspaper. Shirley is still struggling with the spelling of twelve common vegetables. I am deeply worried about her future. If she continues like this, she won't even be able to catch up with Alice."

Alice, who was not much better than Shirley, scratched her hair and smiled harmlessly: "Hehe..."

Duncan deadpanned, "I'm not complimenting you - it's not something to be proud of that you and Shirley combined know fewer words than a dog."

Alice was stuck for a moment, as if she was thinking carefully whether the number of words she and Shirley knew combined exceeded that of Agou. At this moment, the faint roar coming from the distance finally stopped.

"The sound stopped..." Vanna listened attentively to the movement in the distance.

Duncan did not speak, but through the vague mental connection, he sensed what Ai had detected in the distance.

After such a long period of running-in and adaptation, the connection between him and Ai is now much closer and clearer than at the beginning. When his attention is focused enough, he can even share Ai's vision and some of his other perceptions, and use Ai as a springboard to transmit some power without the main body moving.

In the eastern port area of ​​Frost, a chubby white dove was standing on a tower, with one of its round little eyes looking at the smoke-filled sea and the other looking at the port.

The soldiers running around in the port and the black "oil stains" spreading on the sea were reflected in its eyes, which were slightly jumping with green flames.

"Don't worry about it for now," Duncan retracted his gaze into the distance and nodded to Morris and Vanna. "It was an invasion, but it has been stopped by the Frost People."

Vanna's expression changed slightly: "Invasion?!"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's from Dagger Island. The Frostbite people should have realized the seriousness of the problem by now. It won't be so easy to get the things on that island out again," Duncan said calmly. "Now that Tyrian has also arrived near Dagger Island, his Sea Fog Fleet will make the Frostbite authorities more nervous. In any case, when the whole city begins martial law, the Annihilation Cultists hiding in the city will definitely take action. Then it will be much easier to find them."

Just then, there was a sudden knock on the door, interrupting the conversation in the living room.

Duncan looked towards the door in surprise.

You have guests right after moving in?

"I'll go open the door," Morris said, and walked to the door. After opening the door, he uttered a surprised voice, "You are..."

A little girl in a thick white coat and a woolen hat was standing in the doorway.