Deep underground with layers of blockades, hidden facilities leading directly to the sea, huge projects that no one knows about, secrets buried between countless truths and lies - half a century of concealment, the hopes and expectations of the past, and the fears and taboos that continue to this day.

All of this now gathered in front of Agatha, cast in cold metal, silently suspended between the interlaced beams like skeletons, like the years that had solidified and then started to move again -

A submersible built in secret by the city-state authorities.

Agatha stood quietly in front of the huge and silent machine, staring at the pile of steel through the thick black cloth. A silent pressure seemed to be jumping on the edge of her perception. After a long time, she spoke to break the silence - her voice was hoarse: "How did you find out?"

"It's a lot of luck," Tirian said. "I believe that even among Governor Winston's confidants, there are only a handful of people who know about this matter, and most of them may have died in the final defense battle. But after taking over the work of the City Hall, I noticed some... unusual flows of funds and personnel, and they all point to a 'non-public scientific research project' in this port."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at the huge thing hanging between the steel beams.

"There's not much to say about the rest. Since South Port had been completely occupied, we just let go and searched extensively here. We found a suspicious warehouse, a suspicious shaft, a suspicious underground facility, and a suspicious submersible."

Tirian's expression was calm as he spoke of this, but even though Agatha was just listening, she couldn't help but marvel at the ability of this "Iron Vice Admiral" - he took over and understood everything about Frostbite so quickly, which was totally unlike something that someone who had been away from the city-state for half a century could do.

Such a confidential facility cannot be easily found by just finding some clues.

It was as if he had never left the frost.

"This machine...can it be used now?" Agatha couldn't help but ask after a brief silence.

"We need to check it out," Tirian shook his head. "Although this submersible was built based on the blueprint left by the Frost Queen, it uses a lot of modern and even contemporary technologies. There are also many ground devices in this facility to support the operation of the submersible, such as air pumps, steel cables, and communication equipment. We need to understand the status and function of these devices.

"The bad news is that the people who knew these technical details are probably gone - they died in the previous Frost Defense War. When we found this underground facility, it was locked from the inside. The people inside seemed to want to lock those monsters in isolation rooms, but unfortunately... they didn't know the scale of the disaster."

Tirian said this and shook his head slightly.

"But there is good news," he raised his hand and pointed around, "the submersible is intact, including everything in this hall, is intact."

Agatha didn't say anything, but raised her head silently and turned to look in the direction she came from.

The heavy and slightly twisted door stood quietly in her chaotic vision. The outline of a palm print was faintly outlined in the bloodstains on the door. The vitality in the blood had passed away, but the outline still glowed faintly in her vision.

Tirian's voice came from the side, interrupting Agatha's thoughts: "Next, I will try to find someone who knows about this secret project. Maybe not all technicians were in this facility at the time, but if there are really no surviving technicians, then we can only let some old guys in the Sea Mist Fleet try their luck."

Agatha frowned in confusion: "Sea Fog Fleet?"

Tirian smiled. "They are the ones who participated in the Abyss Project. They will be surprised when they see this submersible."

Agatha fell silent.

Thousands of emotions surged in her heart, and she didn't know whether she should sigh at the cycle of history, or be glad that everything was returning to where it should be.

Tirian on the side also fell silent. The Iron Lieutenant General gradually restrained the smile on his face, and instead slowly scanned the hall with a silent and solemn gaze. Finally, his eyes stopped on the door leading to the elevator.

He nodded slightly, as if paying tribute to this unknown folly and feat.

※※※

The sea breeze is gentle and the waves are rolling.

The surging power output by the steam core drove the ship under his feet. The cold sea breeze blowing in his face dispelled the distracting thoughts in his mind. Lawrence stood on the high front deck of the White Oak, wearing his captain's coat that he had worn for many years, and looked out at the sea in the distance.

However, the old captain's heart was not as calm as he appeared at the moment.

A gentle female voice came from the small mirror hanging on his chest: "Are you nervous?"

“I have been nervous since I left Frost,” Lawrence smacked his lips. “After all, we are going to ‘meet’ that ship on our own initiative. For the past hundred years, captains on the Infinite Sea have been desperately trying to escape from that ship, but we are actively approaching it. If I tell anyone about this, the guys in the Explorers’ Association will definitely think I am crazy.”

"There are few captains on the vast sea who are not crazy - and you will become the most striking legend among these crazy captains," Martha said with a smile, "Does this give you a little motivation?"

Laurence sighed. "Do you think it would be comforting to tell a man about to be hanged that the noose he was given was the prettiest of all ropes—that he could even tie it in a bow?"

Martha in the mirror opened her mouth and seemed about to speak, but a hoarse and noisy voice suddenly came from the flagpole not far away: "Sure! As long as the noose works, don't even think about tying a bow. You can even tie me into a bow!"

Lawrence's mouth twitched suddenly, and he turned his head to look in the direction where the sound came from - a noose hung from the tall flagpole on the bow, and Anomaly 077 was hanging himself on the noose, swaying back and forth with the swaying of the ship, looking evil and weird.

"You're not going to come down yet?" Lawrence looked at the mummy hanging on the flagpole unhappily. "You've been hanging there for a whole day."

"What if it suddenly works? I feel a little sleepy just now," the mummy who hung himself on the flagpole with a noose shouted, "I'll hang for a while longer - you promised me that I can choose where to sleep."

"...I promised you that you could choose a place to rest without disturbing others, but you didn't say you wanted to hang yourself on the flagpole," Lawrence glared, "I advise you to give up. Your sealing method is obviously ineffective. Your only choice is to follow me and report to the Lost Homeland."

The mummy hanging on the flagpole suddenly let out an exaggerated wail, but Lawrence was in no mood to pay attention to this guy. Instead, he lowered his head again and said to the small mirror on his chest: "Do you think it will go smoothly?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Your intuition has always been sharp - you were responsible for deciding the day of each departure."

"...You even remember this..." Martha sighed, and then she smiled softly, "Don't worry so much, haven't you already accepted your new identity as a member of the Lost Home Fleet? And this is not your first time meeting that ship."

“That’s true—but I’m really nervous,” Lawrence sighed and subconsciously adjusted his collar. “Besides, the last time I met that ship was not worth remembering at all. That scene would be a nightmare for any captain.”

"Think positively. At least this time the Lost Hometown won't crash straight into you again..."

A sudden, teeth-grinding creaking noise interrupted Martha's next words.

The next second, Lawrence found that layers of dark green flames appeared out of thin air around the White Oak under his feet, followed by the roar of the engine and the violent swing caused by the sudden turn of the rudder!

In the blink of an eye, the originally calm sea changed its appearance. Countless terrifying shadows as black as ink, like hair, suddenly appeared on the blue sea surface. The sunlight in the sky also became dim and illusory. Thick clouds and fog descended from the sky like a huge curtain collapsing. The entire ocean was also polluted by the "hair" and turned pitch black.

The mummy hanging on the flagpole screamed almost instantly.

Amid the ear-piercing screams of the mummy and the exclamations of the sailors, Lawrence realized that the White Oak had been dragged into the spiritual world by some powerful force—accompanied by a thrilling roar and sudden oncoming waves, a towering ship silhouette burning with blazing flames rushed out from the thick fog ahead!

The Lost Hometown appeared.

Like a flaming cliff, it rolled over towards this side in an overwhelming manner.

Anomaly 077's scream almost resounded throughout the entire sea area: "It's crashing into me, it's crashing into me! Damn it, it's crashing into me after all! I don't want to play anymore! I want to go home! Let me go! I want to go home! Ah——"

Then, the bow of the Lost Homeland suddenly stopped amid the shrill screams of the "sailor" - it was less than half a meter away from the side of the bow of the White Oak, and stopped in an incredible way.

Lawrence stood at the bow in a daze. After a long while, his eyes moved around. Then he looked up dully at the ghost ship towering before him in flames.

The horrifying scene in his memory intersected with reality, and he once again came to this location and once again witnessed this doomsday-like scenery.

The Lost Hometown is here.

A tall figure appeared in his sight—Duncan Abnomer, the eternal master of the Lost Homeland, standing on the high side of the ship, overlooking this side.

This was Lawrence's second time coming face to face with this legendary being.

Then, he heard the other party speak, the voice was low, like majestic thunder -

"Laurence, what's going on on your ship?"