On the way back to the cathedral, Agatha was preoccupied.

Confirming the correctness of the exploration direction of the "Second Waterway" was good news for her, but the identity of the mysterious being was still shrouded in mystery, which made her feel uneasy no matter what - of course, it was now certain that the being was very friendly to the Frost City-State, but as the leader of the guardians of this city-state, she had to look at things in the long term.

The attention of any superior transcendent to the mortal world is not without reason. In a sense, their "attention" itself is a disturbance with substantial impact. How long will the mysterious "visitor" continue to watch here? What long-term impact will his long stay here have on Frost? Will the people living in the city-state change under this influence? Does the existence itself know about this impact? Or... does it not care about it?

The small steam core let out a deep and powerful roar, and the mechanically driven vehicle drove through the ancient streets of the city-state. The scenery on both sides of the road gradually receded in the peripheral vision. The car passed another intersection and slowed down slightly.

The subordinate's voice came from the front driver's seat: "Sir, do you want to return directly to the cathedral?"

Agatha raised her head and looked through the car window in the direction of the cathedral.

The Cathedral of Silence quietly overlooked the entire city-state as usual.

The center of Frost is a mountain, a roughly cone-shaped mountain that towers over the heart of the city-state. Below it is the boiling gold mine that brings endless wealth to the city. The Cathedral of Silence and the City Hall are located on the top of the mountain - the two large buildings stand side by side at the highest point of the city-state, and they can be seen from every corner of the city.

See at least one of them.

The cathedral is majestic and solemn, and looks quite holy against the backdrop of the sky. The city hall opposite it is actually a very magnificent building. In the Queen's era half a century ago, it was actually a palace. According to official records, its name was "Winter Court", but more people would directly call it the Queen's Palace.

In that era when everything was considered taboo, the Winter Court and the Great Cathedral of Silence overlooked the city-state like a pair of twins. The fantasy-filled classical stories portrayed them as two symbolic guardian forces - the church guarding the city at night, and the royal family guarding the city during the day, with the two sides supporting and supporting each other.

But in reality the situation is much the same today, with the earthly power represented by the City Hall still guarding the city—it’s just that the Queen’s era is over.

Agatha was a little distracted. She stared at the mountain unconsciously, the mountain she had seen countless times, and the two crown-like buildings on the mountain. To her, they looked like two giant beasts standing on the top of the mountain, and the houses and factories of all sizes arranged along the mountain were like blood overflowing from the bodies of the giant beasts, winding along the mountain.

She felt a stinging pain in her eyeballs.

"Gatekeeper, shall we return to the Cathedral?"

The voices of her subordinates came from the front row again, and Agatha was suddenly awakened from her distraction. She blinked her eyes and felt as if there was still a slight buzzing in her ears, but the next second, the remaining buzzing disappeared quietly along with the memory of the previous moment.

"No, let's go to the sewage treatment center first." Agatha shook her head. "The 'fake' that disappeared in the bathroom is really worrying. I have to confirm it with my own eyes."

"yes."

The steam core hummed happily again, and the car turned a beautiful arc at the intersection and drove onto the road to the sewage treatment center.

※※※

The sky was covered with thick clouds, and the dim light was floating weakly in the clouds, appearing chaotic and unclear. In the distance was the endless sea and a little mist floating on the sea.

Lawrence stood at the bow of the White Oak, gazing at the distant scenery with a frown - this scenery had not changed for a long time.

He turned around again and saw that the sea in the other direction was also just endless sea. There were no other ships in sight, let alone any trace of a city-state.

The cold wind blew across the deck, blowing up the corners of Lawrence's clothes and the white hair on his temples. His brows had not been relaxed for a long time.

"How long have we been away from the Frost?" He suddenly turned his head and asked the first mate standing beside him.

"It's been a day and a night, Captain," the mate said immediately, "and we have been keeping full speed."

"Something's not right... Why do I always feel like I'm going in circles..." Lawrence looked up at the chaotic sky with a serious expression, and then he seemed to suddenly remember something, "Can the wireless telegraph receive signals from nearby cities or ports?"

"Yes," the first mate nodded, his expression also quite serious, "but there is only the signal of frost."

Lawrence took a deep breath and asked, "What's the content?"

"The welcome message," the first mate said slowly, "'Port open, welcome to Frostbite', this message was received again and again."

Lawrence frowned and remained silent. The first mate muttered in a low voice after a moment of silence: "It's like... we are still circling around the frost."

"It's clear that we are trapped in this sea," Lawrence said in a low voice. "What's the atmosphere on the ship now?"

"Everyone has noticed something is wrong, but everyone is still calm." The first mate looked back at the deck and saw sailors busy with their own work at their respective posts. "They are all great. We have experienced 'weird things' on the vast sea before, but everyone believes that you can get everyone out, so no one comes to disturb us."

Lawrence didn't say anything, but just raised his head and looked at the chaotic sky again.

The first mate noticed the captain's strange action and couldn't help asking, "What are you looking at?"

"I..." Lawrence rubbed his forehead. For some reason, he felt a little dazed, as if he had forgotten something very important. "I'm thinking about the direction of the course."

"course?"

“Yes, the course,” Lawrence closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, thinking about what he had forgotten, and said as if talking to himself, “Do you feel that… we seem to have forgotten something? Our current course… should we calibrate it?”

The first mate was stunned for a moment, then he spoke subconsciously: "Calibrate the course? You mean the observatory? The navigator's side..."

"Wait, no, it's not the observatory," Lawrence suddenly interrupted the first mate, as if he had woken up from a long dream. "The observatory is used to calibrate the route in special circumstances. It is polluted and cannot be used frequently. There should be a simpler, more universal, and safer way to confirm the direction of the ship during the day. There should be such a method..."

Lawrence spoke faster and faster, and then he seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly turned around and ran towards the captain's room.

The first mate was confused, but instinctively followed the captain's footsteps. He followed Lawrence back to the captain's room, and then saw the captain rummaging around in the room. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "What are you looking for?"

"Some kind of instrument, used during the day, to calibrate the course..." Lawrence spoke quickly as he rummaged through the drawers in his room, and a strong impression gradually revived in his mind. He felt that he was about to remember it and knew what he was looking for... Suddenly, his eyes fell on a table not far away.

A small instrument was placed there, consisting of a telescope tube and some strange scales.

Lawrence walked over slowly, picked up the small instrument with some confusion, and struggled to recall its function.

After a moment, he left the room thoughtfully with the small instrument and came to the deck outside. Under the puzzled gaze of the first mate, he raised the instrument, placed it in front of his eyes, and pointed it at the sky.

"Captain, what are you doing?" the first mate asked curiously.

Lawrence slowly put the instrument down.

There seemed to be a faint green flash in his eyes, but not only did he not notice it, but even the first mate standing opposite him did not notice it.

The old captain had a look of confusion and astonishment on his face. He stared at the first mate for a few seconds before he spoke slowly in a hoarse voice: "Do you remember... there is a glowing and hot object in the sky. It floats above our heads accurately and punctually, and can be used to help ships calibrate their course during the day..."

The first mate slowly opened his eyes, as if some memory or impression was awakening in his mind as well.

Lawrence turned his head again and looked at the chaotic clouds and the hazy and dark skylight behind the clouds, whose source could not be seen - the skylight seemed to be evenly spread out, and there was no sign of a clear, strong light body in the clouds.

He looked away and stared at his first mate: "Where is the sun?"

The first mate could only repeat the captain's words in confusion: "...Where is the sun?"

"It's not a lost journey, it's not a maze, it's not a looping phenomenon..." Lawrence muttered softly, "The White Oak has entered an abnormal space as a whole..."

The first mate slowly raised his head and looked at the vast sea outside the ship's side, with confusion and fear in his eyes.

But suddenly, he seemed to have discovered something.

A piece of land appeared on the sea.

It is a small island.