The cage was located in a specially reinforced cabin. The narrow, damp and stuffy cabin was divided into more than a dozen cages of different sizes by iron bars, and the "sacrifice" was imprisoned in them.
Walking into a place like this was never a good experience - even Lucrecia frowned slightly when she stepped into the prison.
When Duncan arrived here, the victims who were originally locked in cages had been moved to an open space at the end of the cabin - the environment here was relatively better, and it was next to the ventilation vents, which seemed to be the place where the guards stayed for a short time.
There was an unpleasant smell in the air, which was the smell of blood and rotten meat gradually decaying. Dirty bloodstains could be seen in the iron cages on both sides, some of which were obviously left recently. Various "processing tools" used for bleeding, skinning and puncturing were hung on the walls and pillars between the iron cages, emitting an unpleasant smell.
Duncan passed by the iron cages and torture instruments and, under the guidance of Lucrecia, went directly to the end of the cabin and looked at the surviving victims.
This caused some excitement - a tall figure with spiritual flames burning all over his body walked into the cabin, looking like an evil spirit breaking into the real dimension. The surviving "sacrifices" immediately screamed and tried to dodge backwards, but they were too weak and didn't even have the strength to stand up and run away. So after a struggle, they could only lean on each other and squeeze into the corner, looking at the "evil spirit" standing in the flames with terrified eyes.
★ Illustration 45 ★
Duncan felt helpless about this - he certainly knew that his current state was rather scary, but this time he "landed" on this ship relying on the "artificial beacon" made by Lucrecia. In order to match the beacon, he had to maintain this spiritual form.
But soon, he discovered that not everyone seemed to have screamed and dodged - there was a thin and small figure who remained there.
She was a little girl who looked only seven or eight years old. She was in tattered clothes and covered with scars, her face was covered with blood. She sat quietly on the floor, looking up at Duncan and Lucrecia, but no emotion could be seen in her eyes.
Duncan was a little curious. He bent down in front of the child and looked into his eyes: "Aren't you afraid?"
However, the child did not react at all, not even her eyes changed. She just stared at Duncan blankly, the glow of the dark green flames reflected in her dazed eyes.
"I have inquired about it. The cultists 'sacrificed' her parents in front of the child, and she became like this after that," Lucrecia came over and whispered behind Duncan, "It was a long time ago - she has been on this ship for a year."
The Sea Witch paused, then continued, "...children are special and precious 'ritual materials'. This is especially true for the Annihilation Cultists. They will keep their children for the most important ritual occasions."
Duncan did not speak, his back was to Lucretia, so the latter did not know what her father's expression was after hearing this - there was only a faint green flame that slowly spread in the depths of the cabin and began to crackle.
After a few seconds, Duncan reached out his hand, and the illusory spirit pressed on the child's head and gently touched her hair.
"You're going to be fine."
Then Duncan stood up and turned his head slightly: "Lucy, do you have any candy?"
Lucrecia was stunned for a moment, then shook her head apologetically: "...No, I only brought some potions for daily use...ah, and some cookies, the cookies baked by Luni."
As she spoke, she quickly took out a few biscuits from her arms, looked up at her father, then walked up and stuffed the biscuits into the child's hand.
The little girl finally reacted. She looked down at the food in her hands and instinctively began to stuff it into her mouth, eating quietly and quickly.
"Eating" was one of the few instincts she had left after "living" on this ship for a year.
After a while, two more shriveled and thin figures crawled out from the corner of the wall, almost crawled in front of Duncan, and bent down to kiss the place where he had just stepped.
Duncan raised his head and looked at the fearful, confused, or numb eyes in the dark corners. After a long while, he suddenly asked softly, "Are there any believers still alive on the ship?"
"They have all been killed," Lucrecia replied. "According to your 'standards', except for that 'saint', no other Annihilation Cult members need to be left alive."
"Well, very good." Duncan nodded slowly, and then ordered, "Let your servants get some food and water, so that these people can recover some strength first."
Lucrecia lowered her head: "Okay."
Then Duncan and Lucretia left this extremely unpleasant cabin - a moment later they came to the deck.
The "alive" ship was still sailing straight towards the "holy land" - sailing on the sea in a terrifying and torn-apart posture.
Its entire back half was almost torn into pieces, with huge cracks all over the deck and hull. The huge explosion made the broken wreckage appear to bloom in a terrifying scene. Countless scattered fragments still remained in the position where the explosion just occurred, maintaining a strange and relatively static posture with the entire ship. The dark green flames burned quietly between all the fragments and cracks, as if "solidifying" the entire ship at the moment of disintegration, and permanently imprinting the destruction on the ship.
Anomaly 001 was gradually rising to a high point in the sky, but layers of fog appeared on the nearby sea. The fog was rising from around the ship and then intertwined and converged in the sky. The sunlight shone through the layers of fog, presenting a weak and hazy texture.
"...The aura of the spirit world is rising. The 'changes' that have taken place on this ship seem to have attracted those shadows lingering on the edge of reality." Lucrecia glanced at the strange fog that appeared over the surrounding sea area and frowned slightly. "This is the 'wild sea area' far from the main shipping routes. The surrounding space is not as stable as that near the city-state."
"Will they cause trouble?"
"No," Lucrecia thought for a moment and shook her head. "Your power controls this ship. Those shadows dare not really approach, but it seems that the ordinary people on the ship really need to be transferred as soon as possible. Their mental state is already very bad, and they may undergo transformation under the influence of the spiritual environment."
"I will ask Ai to open a door and help you teleport those people to Breeze Harbor," Duncan nodded, and then suddenly asked, "Also, can you tell where this ship is heading?"
"The observatory has been destroyed in the explosion, so we can't tell its exact location. But according to the rabbi's general perception in the spiritual world, it should be heading towards the southeast 'border'."
Duncan turned his head instantly: "Border?"
"Yes," Lucrecia nodded and said, "I am as surprised as you are, but there are no other city-states or islands in this direction. The ship is now heading straight back under your order, so its only possible destination... is the 'curtain' at the border."
This ship’s “home port”… is actually in the direction of the border?
Could it be that there are some undiscovered islands near the fog called the "Eternal Veil"? Or... is this ship's target simply that fog? !
As if she could see Duncan's surprise and confusion, Lucrecia took the initiative to speak: "The Church of the Four Gods has always had several standing fleets patrolling the borders of the entire civilized world. All the islands near the 'Curtain' have been explored, and all the footholds are under the control of the church. So the only explanation is that the destination of this ship is inside the fog, which is a vacuum in the church's sight."
Duncan frowned, still feeling incredible: "...They opened up a secret route right under the church's nose?"
"It's not difficult to pass through the church blockade or bypass the Ark Fleet's patrol route at the border. After all, the border is so long that the church can't keep every inch of the Curtain under its watch. The patrol fleet's main purpose from the beginning was not to intercept illegal ships passing by, but to monitor changes in the border fog," Lucrecia explained. "There is enough time and space between the patrol fleets to open up several 'secret routes'. If I want to do it, I can also reach the Eternal Curtain without anyone noticing."
She paused, her tone becoming unusually serious.
"So compared to the existence of the 'secret route', what is truly incredible is that the 'home port' of this ship may be located inside the fog."
Duncan understood what Lucretia meant.
In the long "border" waters, it is not difficult to avoid the eyes of the church. The real difficulty is to survive in the fog after avoiding the eyes of the church.
The huge fog wall of "Eternal Curtain" is the end of the civilized world. Since the records of the deep sea era, "stay away from the thick fog" has always been an iron rule in the hearts of all adventurers.
And when Lucrecia discussed this matter with him at this moment, there was an extra layer of complicated emotions involved - the "accident" of the Lost Homeland a hundred years ago happened after Duncan Abnomer insisted on crossing the thick fog.
What is in that thick fog? Is there an end to that thick fog? Is there a wider world outside the thick fog? What did the Lost Homelander discover in the depths of that thick fog a hundred years ago?
These questions have long been on the minds of Duncan Abnomer's children, and even now, even though "Duncan" and the Lost Homeland have "returned" to this world together, these questions still hang over Lucrecia's head like a dark cloud.
In a sense, this dark cloud even hangs over the entire world.
A solemn and complicated look gradually emerged in his eyes. Duncan turned around and slowly came to the end of the bow deck. He leaned on the railing with both hands and stared at the misty sea in the distance.
Now, the ship was heading towards the dark cloud at full speed.