In the "Witch's Mansion" at 99 Crown Street, Breeze Harbor.

Shirley was lying on the windowsill, somewhat bored, staring at the scenery on the street outside.

Peace and order have returned to this city-state. Although many people are still troubled by the "aftereffects of dreams", the physical damage caused to the city by the Breeze Harbor incident is obviously far less than that caused by Pland and Frost. At least in the market visible to the naked eye, the daily lives of most people have returned to their familiar track.

Children cheered and ran past the unblocked intersection, holding colorful windmills in their hands, and walked through the streets in the bright sunshine.

It was almost noon, and Anomaly 001 was hanging high in the air. There were many beautiful blue roofs in the opposite block bathing in the sun. Occasionally, one could see Knowledge Guards in Guardian uniforms standing high up, vigilantly and carefully observing the situation in the block.

"Yawn..." Shirley stretched and turned to look at Nina beside her. "What have you been doing since early in the morning?"

Nina sat behind a small table near the window, writing and drawing on a large notebook with her head down and holding a pen. In her other hand, she held a glowing "fireball" and took a small bite from time to time. When she heard Shirley's words, she didn't even raise her head: "Do mechanical design, and then take it to the custom workshop..."

Shirley was stunned by what she heard. She couldn't help but lean over to take a look at the dazzling gears and connecting rods on Nina's notebook. She looked at her friend who was keen on studying with great confusion: "...Didn't the old man say that he wrote a letter to Pland to help you drop out of school? You don't have to take exams anymore. Why are you still studying so hard?"

Nina immediately raised her head and looked at Shirley with a serious face: "I didn't drop out, I graduated early. I didn't have anything to do on the ship, so I finished all the high school courses. Teacher Morris and Uncle Duncan discussed it and said that it wouldn't make much sense for me to go back to school now, and the development path of ordinary people is not suitable for me, so they arranged for me to graduate early..."

Shirley was stunned: "Is this possible?"

"Most people can't do it, but Mr. Morris has guaranteed that he can," Nina picked up the little sun in her hand and took another bite. She said vaguely while crunching, "And I think it's pretty good. Anyway, I don't have many friends in school. I've been adventuring outside with Uncle Duncan for so long. I probably won't be able to adapt after I go back..."

Shirley didn't notice what Nina said in the last sentence. Her attention had been on the "little fireball" that Nina was chewing. After holding it in for a long time, she finally couldn't help but blurt out: "You've been chewing on this all day... Is it delicious?"

Nina casually handed the little sun over: "Do you want to try it?"

Shirley jumped two meters away in an instant: "I haven't lived enough!"

"It's not hot at all..." Nina took the little sun back in dismay, muttering, "What a pity, I wanted to ask Miss Vanna to try it before, but she refused..."

"No one with a normal brain would accept this. It's more frightening that you can actually use this as a snack," Shirley kept a safe distance from Nina, looking at the fireball in her hand with strange eyes. "You just eat it like this... Is it really okay? Do the captain and the old man really let you do this?"

"Yes, after confirming that this had no effect on me, Mr. Morris encouraged me to continue 'testing' and 'observing'," Nina nodded. "He said that my 'swallowing' process of this sun might reveal the transformation and compatibility between certain fragments of the old world, and might even help find a way to resolve the underlying chaos of all things... I didn't quite understand the details, but he and Uncle Duncan discussed this for a long time..."

As she spoke, she took the little sun and took a small bite. "The things they discuss recently have become more and more profound. This morning, after my uncle came back from the boat, they discussed it for another two hours. I also heard them say that they wanted to find a way to catch another End Preacher to study, and they were also discussing where to catch him..."

Shirley suddenly showed a strange look when she was halfway through listening, and turned her head to look at the living room not far away.

Duncan and Morris were sitting on the sofa in the living room. In fact, their discussion had been going on intermittently and had not yet ended.

Alice was lying on the coffee table next to Duncan, holding a pencil in her hand, concentrating on scribbling her "painting" on a piece of white paper.

"...We have never been so close to the 'truth' of the origin of the world as we are today. The 'impact' observed in the deepest part of Silantis's memory is indeed the only 'event' that can explain the Great Annihilation so far...I have been in contact with my mentor since yesterday. As far as I know, he has shared this information with the other three popes..."

Morris spoke seriously while unconsciously fiddling with an exquisite crystal prism in his hand. The sunlight pouring in from the window shone on the prism, constantly refracting various brilliant colors in his hand.

Duncan nodded slowly. "The Great Annihilation brought about fatal chaos and conflict, and this chaos and conflict is still rooted in the essence of all things... The Third Long Night failed to resolve this underlying conflict, but only delayed its onset. Now it seems that this 'delay' has reached its limit, and the arrival of 'dusk' is indeed inevitable."

"The key issue now is what will happen after the arrival of 'dusk', and how the so-called 'fourth long night' will occur and end," Morris said with some worry in his tone. "One obvious fact is that no matter what, our current 'deep sea era' will undergo earth-shaking changes in the process, and the city-states on the vast ocean... may disappear like the previous two long nights."

He suddenly stopped, and after a few seconds of silence, he shook his head: "Even worse."

Duncan did not speak. When the topic extended to the upcoming "dusk", the scene he saw in the subspace involuntarily emerged in his mind.

The ancient kings gathered around the pale giant who died at the creation of the world, burying an ancient god in the gloomy doomsday.

If every "long night" corresponds to a "dusk", then the reflection he saw in the giant's one eye was the scene at dusk.

He thought again of the diffuse starlight and the roar deep in the starlight.

After being silent for an unknown amount of time, he finally spoke softly: "Perhaps, only the 'Kings' can answer my questions."

Morris looked up in surprise: "What did you say?"

Duncan shook his head and did not answer Morris's question. Instead, he thought for a moment and changed the subject: "From the intelligence we have so far, both the Annihilation Cultists and the Children of the Sun are preparing for the upcoming 'Dusk'. The term most often mentioned by the Annihilation Cultists is 'new position' - in the next era after the Deep Sea Era, they want to occupy a position in advance."

"This may correspond to the concept of 'abandoned tribes' in the Third Long Night," Morris nodded immediately and said, "According to the evidence you found recently, not all 'tribes' can coexist after Genesis. Many tribes were excluded from the shelter during the Third Long Night. The Black Sun may be just one of them. Many more abandoned tribes may not even have any information left..."

He paused here, as if lost in thought, before continuing: "Based on the premise that 'the basis of all things is conflict and destruction', and the condition that 'the gods build the next era on the ashes of the world', the upcoming Fourth Long Night may mean that the next era will be built on the ashes of the Deep Sea Era. The most likely result is..."

Morris hesitated, but Duncan said what he hadn't finished: "The next era will be a 'sanctuary' that is even narrower, more cramped, and more crowded than the deep sea era."

The living room fell into a brief silence, with only the sound of Alice sketching on the paper continuing - the doll didn't care about the questions she didn't understand, she was just immersed in her own "creation", still very interested.

After a minute or two, Morris finally slowly put down the prism in his hand.

"More 'tribes' will be abandoned, and more civilizations will become the 'blasphemous prototypes' of the next era. They will be destroyed and exiled, and will not be allowed to remain in the real dimension or even in historical records. Many things we cherish in this era will become pollution and taboos in the next era, just like the abandoned Sun Survivors in the last era..."

Duncan nodded slightly. "So, those cultists are making preparations, so that they can occupy a place for themselves to live in the next, narrower 'world', or even just a 'quota' that will not be easily erased. Stealing the power or remains of the ancient gods is the method they thought of - of course, whether it is effective is worth discussing."

"But what happens next? Will there be a fifth long night, or a sixth long night? This cycle may continue forever, and even get faster and faster until a certain limit is reached. In the process... the 'shelter' will become smaller and smaller, and more and more cramped..."

Morris's thoughts wandered, and in the end he was describing, as if talking to himself, the outcome he had calculated from his dark and pessimistic reasoning.

Embers can reignite, but there is a limit to how much they can reignite. The ever-shrinking fire can only accommodate fewer people to keep themselves warm than the last time, until the firewood is exhausted and everything is forever silent in the cold.

In the next era, there may no longer be an endless ocean, and the last resting place of civilization may be just a city. Later on, there may be only a small town, a block, a house, or a small stone floating in nothingness. The last ray of muddled reason of "civilization" is entangled on the stone, recalling the afterglow of past civilization in confusion and stupidity, and dying in the last dream talk of the fading wisdom.

That will be the true end of all things.