Now, the once living "matter" has completely turned into a mass of solidified metal.

It takes a very complicated process to render harmless the "anomalous objects" that have been registered for containment, but this is just an ordinary job for Ted Lear, the keeper of the truth. He quickly found the person in charge of the underground archives and made proper arrangements.

Although he felt emotional and was deeply moved by the past of that ball of "living metal", as the protector of the city-state, he had to handle this matter strictly according to safety rules - even if that was really a brave man who once tried to save the world, in today's deep sea age, Ta has become an "extraordinary invading creature" that is very likely to spread corruption and pollution. This ball of matter will be greeted by the high temperature of the steam core reactor and a set of strict purification, segmentation, crushing and sealing procedures.

But if you think about it from another perspective, this is actually a kind of burial. After all, ordinary people in this world also go through this, and the "corpses" should always be properly "dealt with", and the dead must always give way to the living.

As for the sword, as the only material left from "that world" in the end, it miraculously restored to its original state, and was obviously a very valuable research sample.

Through it, scholars can build a better understanding of that world - although everything is gone, this understanding and memory are ultimately meaningful.

"It's useless for me to keep it," Duncan readily agreed to Ted Riel's request. He handed the sword to him and said with emotion, "Let smart people uncover more secrets behind it. If you find anything, I hope you can share it with me."

"Of course," Ted Riel took the sword from Duncan very solemnly. He hesitated for a moment and continued, "I will call together the scholars of the Academy of Truth to discuss what happened today and the intelligence we have obtained. If we encounter new problems, we may still need your...help."

"No problem." Duncan naturally had no objection. He nodded and pointed at Lucrecia beside him. "You can contact me through Lucy. If I think of anything or discover anything new, she will tell me."

There are still many things that need to be explained and communicated. When the "horizon limit" of the Great Annihilation suddenly reveals a crack in front of mortals, it is bound to be a huge shock to the academic community. The Four Gods Church will also pay attention to and discuss this matter. Regardless of whether they are willing to accept it or not, the Lost Homeland and its owner are already an unavoidable link in this matter.

As for Duncan, he didn't care about it. In his point of view, there were actually some very critical and special issues in the intelligence just obtained that Lucrecia and Ted Riel had not noticed, or even could not understand for the time being.

For example, the location of the "deep red" and its behavior that goes against common sense.

If the information he saw in the memory fragments was true, and if the "Templar"'s explanation of the "warrior" was correct, then the "red light" that caused the destruction of the world should be located in outer space - it might be a huge astronomical phenomenon spanning the Milky Way, a band of light appearing against the background of the starry sky.

But this brings up a problem: planets rotate, at least judging from the scenes seen in the memory fragments, the "warrior's" hometown also has normal sunrises and sunsets, and the stars rotate.

Therefore, the "red light band" in the universe should theoretically move and rise and fall in the sky along with other stars.

But why is that "deep red" always located in a specific position in the sky?

The "warrior" and his companions had been looking for the place where the crimson light fell, because in their eyes, the red light was always fixed in a specific position in the sky. This also led to them not realizing that the light did not actually fall on the ground, but was located in the background of the starry sky.

The "Knight Templar" also mentioned this question at the end - in a sense, this was also the last and greatest "astronomical discovery" of their civilization during its existence.

Duncan's guess is that the "light" is no longer just some entity visible to the naked eye. "Deep red" is just its appearance, and its essence... may have involved the "destruction" and "distortion" of the basic order of the universe, or even the "rules" level.

It could be a dimensional tear, or something much deeper and more complex.

However, Ted Riel and Lucrecia are unable to realize this problem now, and it will probably be difficult for them to understand it in a short time - they don't even understand the concept of a planet.

This can only be done slowly. Even if Duncan is willing to explain it now, it will take a very long time to explain.

The second question is what exactly is the concept of the “world” in the “world aggregation theory”?

Is each "world" a planet in the same universe, or is it... a different "universe" from a broader perspective?

Duncan raised his head and glanced at Ted Riel, who was still thinking, and the long sword in the other's hand.

The two pieces of evidence, the "moon" and the "long sword", may be able to support most of the descriptions in the world aggregation theory, but they are not enough to determine what "level" the "world fragments" that make up the "infinite sea" are. In a broad sense, each planet can be called a world, and each universe... can also be called a world.

To Duncan, the distinction is important.

But this is also a problem that the "Truth Keeper" and the "Sea Witch" cannot understand or perceive at present - Duncan can't even think of how to explain these concepts to them in a short period of time.

In addition, the secret of the "crimson light" itself is of course more worthy of attention - this is not the first time Duncan has "seen" that ominous light.

That red light had appeared in the vision of the New Hope crashing and on the oil paintings in Alice's mansion.

What exactly is that thing?

Lucrecia noticed Duncan's long silence and the constant changes in his expression as he was thinking.

She was a little worried: "Father, is there anything wrong?"

"...I have a lot of questions that I need to sort out when I go back." Duncan woke up from his contemplation and shook his head gently. "Go back first. I'll discuss it with you when I figure out something."

Lucrecia still looked a little worried, but she realized from Duncan's attitude that this was probably another problem that was "difficult to explain to others."

This was the first tacit understanding she and her father reestablished during these short few days together.

So she just nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

"We should go," Duncan breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at Nina and Shirley, who still looked a little uneasy, and then his eyes fell on Ted Lear, "Send us away."

The Secret Keeper nodded, summoned the "gate" from the book again, and then walked through the gate with Duncan and others and returned to the academy near the Crown Street District.

"I'll make some arrangements after I get back," Ted Riel glanced at Nina and Shirley standing next to Duncan before saying goodbye. "No one will disturb you and your followers while you are in the city, but correspondingly..."

"Don't worry, there won't be any trouble," Duncan said without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, with a friendly smile on his face, "We are all law-abiding people who value the security of the city-state."

The "Truth Keeper" in front of him was obviously stunned for a moment.

Even Lucrecia next to her was stunned for a moment.

Obviously, neither of them believed it.

But soon, Ted Lear controlled the changes in his facial expression. He smiled stiffly but politely: "That's... best."

Then he paused, and added sincerely: "Let's get together again sometime. Although you may not remember me, I still look forward to chatting with you about those... incredible 'knowledge'."

Duncan laughed. "A lot of people don't dare to talk to me about 'knowledge'. It's rare to find someone as brave as you. Well, I'll look forward to it."

Lucrecia looked at her father, and then at the "Keeper of Truth" opposite her.

Miss Witch suddenly felt a little emotional.

It seems that teaching and educating people is indeed a very difficult task. This keeper would rather talk to his father about the subspace than face the graduating class...

After a brief farewell, Duncan took Nina, Shirley, and Lucretia and left the academy facility.

They returned to the "Witch House" at 99 Crown Street.

"You guys make your own arrangements. I'll go upstairs and rest first. If there's nothing special, don't disturb me."

Duncan gave these simple instructions, then ruffled Nina and Shirley's hair and walked up the stairs to the second floor.

After a while, Shirley turned around in a daze and whispered to Nina: "The captain doesn't seem to be in a good mood..."

"I don't think we can describe it by saying whether he's in a good mood or not..." Nina hesitated and muttered her opinion in a low voice, "Uncle Duncan does have a lot on his mind - but in fact, he's in a much better state today than he was a few days ago. He's not as gloomy, but he seems to have a lot to think about."

Shirley thought hard for a moment, then carefully looked up at Lucrecia who was thinking about something beside her, and leaned over to Nina and whispered, "I don't think I understood what the captain said."

"Actually, I didn't quite understand it," Nina said with a bit of embarrassment, "That might be something that only great scholars can understand..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Lucrecia beside her suddenly broke the silence: "Don't mind, even great scholars can't fully understand them."

Nina and Shirley were both startled, and they looked at the witch in a daze.

Lucrecia shook her head at them, her expression serious and solemn.

"They are all 'knowledge' from the warp, but they have been 'processed' by my father and are less harmful - but they are still not something that ordinary people can easily understand."