Captains sailing on the vast ocean, especially those who use modern technology for navigation, are certainly familiar with "stars" - the vast starry sky stagnant between the deep sea and the spiritual world can provide extremely accurate navigation for ships, and can still guide the correct course when the ship is trapped in abnormal waters, and can even guide lost sailors trapped in certain "phenomena" to escape danger and return to reality.

Of course, there are other professions that deal with the "starry sky". Scholars will study it in the hope of cracking the deep mysteries of the world, fortune tellers will observe it to speculate the fate of all things in the world, and some secret societies even regard the starry sky as a source of knowledge and revelation. They will use dangerous methods that walk on the edge of reason to spy on the starry sky, hoping to be able to master the secrets of demons without falling into the abyss - these dangerous societies often end up becoming food for the abyss demons, or becoming potential "allies" of the annihilation cultists. Therefore, these secret societies are often also the focus of crackdowns by the city-state churches and authorities - but no matter what, the profession that has the closest relationship with the "starry sky" and uses various spiritual lenses most frequently is still the captains on the vast sea.

Lawrence had been wandering on this vast and hostile ocean for half his life, and of course he knew a lot about the starry sky, including how to observe it and the dangers to face.

He buried his head deeply into the concave area of ​​the spiritual lens—of course one has to lower his head to look at the stars, this is common sense—and then began to softly chant the name of the god he believed in, letting this name resonate with the blessing the priest had just bestowed upon him.

As the mysterious power gradually permeated and his own spirituality and faith gradually increased, he first heard a subtle sound, as if water was gathering in the basin and approaching him - he smelled the slightly fishy and salty scent of sea water, and the next second, he felt that his entire face was immersed in the water.

Novice navigators who are observing the starry sky for the first time can easily panic at this time. The illusion of "suffocating by water" will make their minds shaken, and then let unnecessary shadows enter their minds. Therefore, the novice's first stargazing must be assisted by someone. The assistant's most important task is to drag the novice navigator away from the spirit lens before he mutates into a pile of wriggling meat. This "adaptation" process often lasts for several weeks.

But this was no problem at all for Lawrence.

He knew that the "sea water" that submerged him was the power of the storm goddess Gemona - God would not harm her believers. Now, he could open his eyes.

Lawrence slowly opened his eyes.

The starry sky and endless darkness filled his eyes at the same time.

He looked down and saw the boundless darkness. The deep and dark space was endless, and at the edge of the space there were chaotic waves of light. Those were some projections of the spiritual world in the depths of the world, and in the darkness, there were countless constant and dense points of light, which gathered into large and small clusters or floc-like structures, some like clouds, some like whirlpools, and some like rivers. These endless points of light spectacularly covered the old captain's vision, outlining some kind of mysterious picture that had not yet been recognized by mortals.

And in the depths of the starry sky that is like a magnificent curtain, in the gaps between certain "groups" of light points, you can vaguely see some chaotic shadows that are different from the darkness. They seem to be broken lands floating in the depths of the starlight, distributed radially, with dim and pale "rivers" lying between them. Just one glance at them can make people dizzy and frightened.

That is the "depths" deeper than the spiritual world, the terrifying homeland of the deep devil - the deep sea.

The starry sky is a curtain floating between the deep sea and the spiritual world.

Lawrence carefully controlled his gaze, not letting himself stare too much into the deep, dark depths, so as not to attract the attention of those chaotic and unintelligent demons. At the same time, he concentrated and began to look for his position in the starry sky.

He found it, a dim shadow, like a wandering and helpless soul, floating somewhere among the stars.

Lawrence stared at the projection, carefully examining it for a long time, and suddenly couldn't help frowning.

My own location... is near the Frost Sea?

The old captain's heart sank, and he began to move his hands gropingly. He touched the control lever on the side of the lens device and carefully adjusted the machine. Many small lenses on the side of the cylindrical machine immediately started to work and began to adjust the observation angle of the "starry sky" in Lawrence's field of vision.

After confirming again and again, he found that he was indeed near the coast of Frost - he had already reached a position where he could see the main island of Frost.

At this moment, Lawrence felt a flash before his eyes.

The starry sky filled with countless points of light flickered for a moment, suddenly became pitch black, and then returned to normal.

Lawrenceton was surprised and instinctively wanted to adjust the joystick again to reset the perspective, but years of experience made him stop this instinct and suddenly raised his head.

If the starry sky image flickers, it may be a malfunction of the spiritual lens - no matter what the reason is, if any abnormal phenomenon occurs during stargazing, you must stop watching immediately.

This is a safety system that countless predecessors have risked their lives to develop.

Lawrence rubbed his brows, looked at the watch on his wrist, and found that only a few minutes had passed.

He began to check the entire lens assembly, preparing to conduct another observation after eliminating the faults and confirming safety.

But just as he was about to open the machine casing, a knock on the door suddenly interrupted his action.

"Captain!" The first mate's voice came from outside the door, "Captain, have you finished your observation? We received a signal!"

Lawrence frowned slightly, and after a little hesitation, he put down the work at hand, walked quickly to the door, opened it, and saw the first mate standing at the door.

"We have received a reply from Frost," the first mate first glanced at the situation in the observatory, and after roughly confirming that there was nothing unusual in the room, he set his eyes on Lawrence, "Permits for offshore passage and port entry have been issued."

Lawrence frowned slightly, and for some reason he felt a little strange. Thinking of the incongruity he had just discovered in the observatory, he asked seriously, "Have you seen the Frost Island?"

"We can visually confirm it," the first mate nodded. "The fog on the sea has dissipated. Our course has deviated slightly, a very slight deviation - but we have recalibrated it."

Lawrence looked back at the observatory, his expression looking a little solemn.

"Captain?" The first mate finally noticed the strangeness in the old captain's expression, and his expression became nervous. "Did you find anything?"

"Something was wrong with the observatory just now... and according to the observation results, we should have arrived near the Frost Sea a long time ago. It is impossible that we cannot see the Frost due to fog or route deviation," Lawrence whispered. "You arrange for the mechanic to check the spirit world lens group to see if there is a problem with the equipment. I will go up to take a look at the situation."

"Yes, Captain."

Lawrence quickly left the cabin, walked along the stairs and corridors through the cabins of the White Oak, and soon arrived on the upper deck.

Instead of returning to the bridge, he stood on the bow deck and watched the situation in the distance.

A large city-state was right in front of the White Oak. Its coastal buildings and port facilities were clearly visible. The fog had dissipated, and gentle waves were slowly rising and falling on the sea. The sky was filled with dark and light clouds, and the light was shining down from the clouds, illuminating the sea and the city-state in the distance.

It does look like frost, nothing unusual.

Lawrence frowned and looked up at the sky again.

Apart from the fact that there were more clouds, there was nothing unusual.

A moment later, he left the deck and returned to the bridge. At the same time, the sailor guarding the telegraph received another welcome message from Frost Port.

Laurence looked at the note the sailor had written down—

〖The port is open, welcome to Frost.〗

Lawrence blinked, and suddenly felt that he might be a little too nervous - the minor malfunction of the spirit lens and the fog that had lingered on the sea before amplified his nervousness. In fact, everything here was obviously normal.

"We're docking."

"Yes, Captain."

※※※

Duncan and his party left the "Second Waterway" and said goodbye to Nemo in the secret passage connecting to the Second Waterway.

They had searched for a long time in the collapsed and blocked corridor, but in the end they did not find any clues. They neither found more "mud" nor any pores or traces of "mud" seeping into the corridor.

Of course, the mysterious place where the "crow" had lost its way was not found either.

The clue seems to be broken.

"Old Ghost and I will give Raven a proper burial. Please tell Captain Tirian that Raven died like a true warrior - a proud member of the Sea Mist Fleet."

In the secret passage, Nemo took off his hat, bent slightly in front of Duncan and said.

"I'll tell him," Duncan said solemnly, looking at the "informer" in front of him, "Besides, the investigation into this matter is not over yet."

Nemo raised his head and met Duncan's gaze.

"The crow left behind very important information. He must have been somewhere. The 'fake' couldn't have appeared out of nowhere in the Second Waterway," Duncan said slowly. "I will investigate further. If necessary, I will check every brick and tile, every blade of grass and every inch of soil in this city-state."