The snow was falling heavily, not too heavy but it looked like it would last a long time. The sunlight was blocked by the dark clouds and the light that came through was not too bright but it was there for sure.

Looking out through the windows facing the street, you can see pedestrians on the road - people who survived the disaster, and fear still remains in their eyes.

These frightened citizens came out from their hiding places and confirmed the existence of acquaintances on the streets, or inquired about the whereabouts of missing people, and asked if there was any new news from the upper city. Some were still immersed in the horror of the mirror invasion, shrinking in fear at every figure that passed in front of them, hurriedly walking out of the house, and then hurriedly locking themselves back in.

The scarred steam walker and the equally scarred city-state guards, sheriff's forces and defenders passed by the intersection. Their presence made many people feel at ease. The large speakers installed on the steam walker announced the end of the anomaly - the mirror invasion has subsided, and the whole city will enter a 48-hour security control state. The city-state authorities will regain control of the situation and clean up the hidden dangers in the city during this period. Material supply, electricity, steam power and fresh water will be restored as soon as possible, and each block will be notified to report the casualties as soon as possible...

The sound of the loudspeaker broadcast mixed with noise gradually faded away. The poor sound quality made the street even more desolate on this snowy day. However, after the steam walker passed through the street, many people's nerves did relax a little bit.

Shirley lay in front of the living room window, looking at the scene on the street outside and muttering, "I wonder how long the chaos will last... The price of bread will definitely go up."

Nina sat on the sofa next to her, blowing out hot air from her open mouth that was hot enough to distort the air. After hearing Shirley's muttering, she turned around and said, "It will definitely be chaotic for a while. It took Plande three days to restore law and order. But it will definitely not be too chaotic. After all, the sheriff's troops are still there..."

“Hey, hey! Don’t talk to me!” Shirley couldn’t stand due to the hot wind. She retreated away from the window in embarrassment, dodging and yelling at Nina, “Your breath is like a steam core leaking! Why is it so hot!”

Nina quickly covered her mouth with her hands, steam coming out of the corners of her mouth as she apologized vaguely: "Sorry, sorry... I stayed in that state for too long..."

At this moment, Duncan's voice reached the ears of the two girls: "I said that Nina can only stay in the sky for a short time now - her condition is not stable."

When Shirley heard the voice, she quickly turned around and stood at attention. Nina also jumped off the sofa and ran towards Duncan with a smile: "Uncle Duncan!"

Duncan also laughed and gently hugged Nina, who was steaming all over. He turned his head and nodded slightly to Morris and Vanna, who were standing up from the chairs next to him and bowing to him, and said, "It seems that you are all in good condition."

"In good shape," said Morris, adjusting his monocle, "and very impressed."

"I thought my nerves had become too strong after the fire in Plande," Vanna also spoke up, her tone full of emotion and awe. "To be honest, it's more relaxing to talk to you like this - I mean, at a normal 'scale'."

"It's enough to come here once in a while," Duncan waved his hand, "but to be honest, the view from the sky is really impressive."

As he spoke, his eyes noticed something placed on the dining table not far away.

It was a large book with a black cover. There were no words or symbols on the cover, and the whole book exuded a strange and dangerous atmosphere.

"Is this the 'blasphemous book' that you seized from the little leader of the Annihilation Sect?" Duncan's eyes fell on the book. "It doesn't look like a serious reading material."

"Yes," Morris nodded, and walked forward to pick up the book carefully. "I later did some simple identification on the book while ensuring its safety. I guessed that this should not be an 'original', but a copy held by a special member of the Annihilation Cult. Because if it is the original, it should have more powerful power and is more valuable. It is impossible for a small leader to bring it to the city-state casually."

He paused for a moment, with a hint of uncertainty in his tone: "As for the purpose of this book...it may be used to spread doctrine, or it may serve as a medium for casting spells or rituals. It contains some content related to the Lord of the Deep. This part of the content should be a source of power for those cultists, but the specific situation can only be guessed."

As he spoke, he handed the book over: "Do you want to read it now?"

"Take it back to the ship and read it later," Duncan shook his head. "This city is still in chaos. Who knows what might happen after I open this book. It's better to avoid causing more chaos. Besides, there will be guests soon."

"Guests?" Vanna asked curiously, "What kind of guests would there be at this time?"

Duncan glanced at Vanna and said with a smile: "Your colleague is coming this way."

After saying that, he didn't pay attention to Vanna's sudden strange expression, but walked to the window facing the street and sat down on the sofa, looking like he was waiting patiently.

Footsteps sounded beside them, and Alice walked up to Duncan. The doll lady had her usual optimistic expression on her face: "Captain! When are we going home? After we receive the guests?"

Duncan raised his eyelids and glanced at the solid-headed puppet: "Do you think... things here are over?"

"Ah? What else?" Alice was confused. "The villains are all dead, the disaster is over, and then the remaining people will continue to have adventures - that's what I saw in the picture book..."

Duncan's mouth twitched, and he looked up at Alice: "What else does the picture book say?"

"The picture book also said that the prince and the knight lived a happy life..."

Duncan: “……?”

He choked for a long time, and finally said, "Normally speaking, shouldn't this kind of picture book have a princess or something like that..."

"The princess ran away with the housekeeper..."

Duncan was silent for a few seconds and took a deep breath.

“Where did this picture book come from?”

Alice thought for a moment, then pointed at Shirley: "There are so many in her room..."

The next second, before Duncan could speak, Shirley jumped up and rushed to the door. "I saw a second-hand bookstore that was closed down and was clearing out its stock, so I bought a bunch of books at very cheap prices. Didn't you tell me to read more books, preferably picture books, starting with them? I didn't expect that they were all such weird books. No wonder it closed down. It's really none of my business..."

The girl ran across half of the living room howling like a ghost. Before Duncan could even start to teach her a lesson, she had already run to the door, opened it with a clang, and ran out.

The next second, there was a bang outside the door, followed by Shirley's exclamation: "What the hell is that?..."

Almost everyone in the room was stunned - Alice didn't react at all to what happened, Nina was frightened by Shirley's screaming and howling at such close range, Vanna didn't expect Shirley to be so brave, and Morris... this respected old gentleman was still immersed in the story of "the princess ran away with the housekeeper" and was shocked.

Only Duncan remained sitting quietly on the sofa, neither chasing after Shirley nor curious about the noise coming from the door.

He just turned his head and looked towards the door.

There was the sound of footsteps, and a young lady walked in hesitantly.

She was wearing a black priest robe with the church emblem, her eyes were covered with a thick black cloth, her long hair was draped behind her, and scars like cracks could still be seen on the bare skin of her arms and neck. Those wounds, which should have been horrific, carried a holy aura like stigmata.

More importantly, she was holding Shirley, who was making a threatening gesture.

"Sorry," Agatha raised her head and looked at the figures in the room nervously, "I wanted to knock on the door, but... she suddenly ran out."

As she spoke, her eyes scanned the room.

In the house that has faded in color and has a black, white and gray texture, figures with a strong sense of presence appear in her "sight"——

She saw an old man with a dim outline, surrounded by colorful light streams, and matrix-like light points flickering in the old man's body, as if Lahem was looking at the world;

There was another tall figure standing beside the old man. The figure's outline was dark and chaotic, filled with ominous light and shadows reminiscent of the warp, but there was also a touch of dark green flame jumping between the light and shadows, maintaining the stability of the figure;

A bright arc-shaped flame stood near the window. The flame did not seem to have any mysterious power, but it released pure light and heat. Just by looking at it, one could feel as if the soul was being burned by it.

There was also a hollow shell standing in the room, with countless faint thin lines spreading around the shell. It seemed to be casting a curious look in this direction. Under that gaze, Agatha even felt a fear that her own soul would be captured by it and turned into one of the "thin lines".

And among these figures, there is the most powerful one.

A bright starlight stood up and walked towards her.

"Welcome, I've been waiting for you for a long time."

The starlight spoke to her.