The whirlwind, carrying pale dust, gradually disappeared from Duncan's sight.

Agatha left.

"I always feel that...she has changed a lot compared to before." Vanna didn't break the silence until the last wisp of gray wind disappeared in the air, "especially the last words she said - they are definitely not what the former 'gatekeeper' would say."

"Experience changes a person, especially what she has been through," Duncan said calmly. "On the other hand, the role she now plays is no longer just a 'gatekeeper', which means she must change."

Vanna was a little curious: "You don't seem worried?"

"Because she did not waver - people who have attained enlightenment will become more resolute," Duncan said casually, "She is rational and will not go down a paranoid or even wrong path because of the pressure of survival in the city-state. Her last few words may not be so pious, but at least they are sober."

Vanna didn't respond for a moment, and Duncan turned his head and looked at the young judge meaningfully: "You're not worried about Agatha, right?"

"...My faith doesn't allow me to lie." After a brief silence, Vanna finally sighed softly, "Yes, I am worried about my own condition. From Agatha, I see myself with shaken faith and rebellious words and deeds."

Duncan didn't say anything, just waited quietly for the other party to continue.

"...I once thought that as long as I maintained a firm belief and an unyielding fighting spirit, I could face all problems head-on. The gods have determined the order of the world's operation, and we are like gears, operating within the framework with peace of mind. But the truth is... the order is as fragile as the foam in the sea. Simple faith and fighting spirit cannot save our city-state. The understanding of the world that we have built up for a long time is being tested...

"The 'sun' is not eternal. The 'boiling gold' that supports the development of modern civilization may be the product of ancient gods. The gods cannot always protect the city-state. Under the deep sea is an unknown darkness that cannot be described or explained by any religious scriptures. Your appearance has overturned my understanding of the warp for the past twenty years."

"I suggest you keep your reservations about the last point - the other points you said are quite correct," Duncan shook his head and said slowly, "Humanity's understanding of the world is inherently one-sided. From the beginning, we should not have believed that there is a simple and eternal 'logic' that can roughly explain everything in the world. Perhaps this simple and eternal 'truth' itself exists, but it is definitely not something that humans can understand at this stage. Based on this, 'subversion of worldview' should be an indispensable part of the progress of civilization."

Listening to Duncan's words, Vanna subconsciously fell into deep thought. Her expression gradually became complicated. After a moment, she spoke as if talking to herself: "Then where are the gods?"

"I don't know, because I haven't dealt with them directly. Maybe I've seen them from afar, but that's not enough for me to make a final conclusion about them," Duncan said frankly. "But I admit two things. First, the Four Gods do exist in this world, at least as objective individuals. Second... they have protected and guided the civilized world to a certain extent so far."

Vanna was stunned for a moment, because in her twenty-plus years of life, this was the first time she had heard someone evaluate the Four Gods in such a way that contained no good or evil, no reverence, and was like evaluating an object. This evaluation method was completely without any reverence, and could be called arrogant. However, when a being who had returned from the subspace spoke these words, Vanna only felt...

These words are cold and precise, like some kind of ruler to measure the world.

At this moment, Duncan's voice interrupted Vanna's thoughts again: "Vanna, don't think too much, you still believe in Gemona, don't you?"

"Yes, my faith remains the same." Vanna said immediately.

"That's right. Your faith remains the same, and Agatha still believes in Bartok. And your respective gods have not abandoned you because of your change of mind, and they still bless you. This shows that your current thinking has not deviated from them," Duncan said seriously. "Thinking does not necessarily lead to heresy. The same is true for questioning. After thinking and questioning, you still choose to believe. This is a true believer.

"Maintain appropriate and healthy faith, and at the same time maintain appropriate and healthy skepticism. Try to understand this world, accept that it is different from what you imagined, accept the narrowness and bias in your own cognition, and accept your own vacillation. To be honest, if Gemona can accept your prayers to her on the Lost Homeland, what else can't you accept?"

Vanna was startled, but then subconsciously raised her head and looked towards the upper city, towards the silent cathedral at the highest point of the Frost.

Agatha must have returned to the temple through the Grey Wind by now - will she return to her prayer room and continue to think about the cooperation with the Warp Shadow in front of Bartok's statue? Will she continue to think about the future of the city-state and come to the conclusion that "anything that hinders survival is heresy, and everything else is allowed"?

After a long while, she withdrew her gaze from the distance and murmured to herself: "...The Lord doesn't care?"

"I don't know, but if it were me, I wouldn't care," Duncan shrugged. "And judging from the current signs, the God of Death and the Goddess of Storms really don't care either - they may care about something else."

Vanna fell into deep thought, while Morris, who had remained silent, could not help but sigh softly, "I didn't expect that you had such profound thoughts in the field of faith... I thought you were not interested in these things."

"How could that be? I'm always interested in any theory that attempts to explain this world," Duncan said with a serious expression. "For example, now I'm going to learn about another 'belief' that attempts to explain this world."

Seeing the bewildered looks on Vanna and Morris' faces (except Alice, who never understood), Duncan smiled and said, "Don't worry about the things in the city-state for now. It's time to go take a look at the 'Book of Blasphemy' next."

※※※

Shirley fell asleep—while writing the fourth mental arithmetic card.

The sound of chains shaking slightly was heard in the cabin. Agou carefully held the black chain next to him with one paw, while he stood up his upper body, held the blanket in his mouth and draped it over Shirley, and used his other paw to casually pick at the mental arithmetic cards on the table to prevent them from being wetted by Shirley's saliva.

While cleaning up, Agou glanced at the cards filled with simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and paused for a moment: "...I actually got most of them right?"

It muttered in surprise and turned its head subconsciously, only to see Shirley adjusting her lying position in her sleep, mumbling something in her sleep, with a thin line of shiny saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.

“… Let’s just say I did it seriously.”

Agou shook his head and lay down again. Then he calmed himself down, as if he was quite hesitant and weighed the pros and cons before he stretched out his paw and pulled a book from the pile of books on the floor.

The cover of the book was unremarkable; it was just a paperback textbook that could be bought in any city-state, with the words "Algebraic Calculation" printed on it.

Agou lowered his head, with a flickering light in his blood-red eye sockets. He stared quietly at the book in front of his paws. After a long time, he slowly opened its cover.

But then, it suddenly raised its head and looked around the room quickly.

Everything was normal on the bookshelf where the books were stacked, there was peace in the dark corner of the room, the sunlight was pouring in through the window, and the sound of the waves outside the window was soft and soothing.

"...Okay, the environment is safe, distractions are eliminated, and the type of book is still mathematics...Try again...Third test."

Agou muttered, finally lowered his head, and began to read the contents of the book with full concentration.

Understand those formulas, remember those symbols, deduce those numbers, and try to understand how the world works from the knowledge and wisdom of our predecessors.

It was difficult at first, because there were always distracting thoughts and concerns about the surrounding environment that would interfere with the thinking process, but soon, Agou's thoughts calmed down - as usual, mathematics always helped it concentrate and immerse itself in thinking.

Symbols and numbers were combined in his mind, and his cognition of the world gradually enriched his mind. Agou studied with full concentration, and gradually, he felt that a...

Study partner.

Someone is reading along with it;

Who is thinking with it?

There is a being observing this place with curiosity, a glance without any sense of good or evil.

Agou tilted his head.

Under the white pages of a book, in the gaps between the words, in the city of knowledge outlined by symbols and lines, a red light source is surrounded by countless flickering, matrix-like light spots, as if staring at it like eyes.

Agou was stunned.

It also looked at the red light.

It couldn't help but stare at the red light.

It even felt itself moving forward—actively approaching the matrix of flickering light dots.

However, this feeling only lasted for a moment.

The next second, a sudden force from the symbiotic chain "pulled" it back, allowing it to break free from the illusion of being attracted.

"Fuck..."

Agou suddenly let out a cry of surprise, awakened from the brief illusion. The next second, he instinctively looked at the black chain around his neck.

At the last moment, it was the power from the chain that pulled it back - apparently, it was Shirley who pulled it.

However, the chain still lay loose on the ground, not tightened at all.

At the other end of the chain was Shirley, who was still sleeping soundly on the table.

She didn't wake up at all.