After hearing the answer from the mausoleum guard, Duncan did not speak for a long time - the answer was so shocking, but for some reason, he seemed to have... expected it.

"...The 'creator' you have been referring to is the Creeping King? Or...the Lord of the Deep?"

"We usually call him 'Pilot No. 1'," the mausoleum guard slowly lowered his head, "or the Cluster Controller - but we also know the names of the Creeping King and the Deep Lord. These were mentioned in the intelligence sent back by the End Survey Team at a certain time point."

The tall gravekeeper was silent for a few seconds before speaking softly, as if talking to himself: "We haven't heard from the Creator for a long time."

Duncan did not respond. His mind was filled with chaotic thoughts. After a brief thought, he looked up at the body on the throne. "That is to say, during the third long night, 'Navigator One' collected some of the remains of the Dream King, and then relied on its special 'copying' power to design the Cretan tribe based on the Dream King as its assistants... The entire Cretan tribe was 'created' in this way? Including the Doomsday Survey Team?"

"Of course," the gravekeeper said calmly, "the world was still in chaos at that time. The Creator briefly released some mortals into the unformed shelter, but found that they were unable to survive and were of no use. So he could only seek help from beings as powerful as himself. Sasloka, who died in the previous creation process, was the most suitable choice."

Duncan listened to the gravekeeper's story quietly, but the expression on his face couldn't help but become more and more subtle. He suddenly realized that if he continued to infer from this fact... wouldn't that mean that all the End Preachers could actually be considered as the "descendants" of Sasloka? !

This strange and surprising thought flashed through his mind, and Duncan was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help but think of another thing -

Those crazy "preachers" became excited and fanatical when they saw the Lost Homeland, and even called it the "Promised Ark"... The main reason behind this is of course because the Lost Homeland had entered the subspace and returned intact, but could it also be related to the fact that the Lost Homeland was actually built on the "Ancient God's Spine" of Sasloka? !

Could it be that the madness and fanaticism of those End of the World preachers were actually a stress response after some kind of "descendants" got close to the "ancient gods"? !

Once these amazing associations appeared, they were difficult to suppress. Duncan's thoughts instantly extended far away. After a long time, his attention finally gradually converged and returned to the throne and headless body in front of him.

He recalled what the gravekeeper had said to him before entering the mausoleum.

"You said he doesn't have much time left...do you mean this body doesn't have much time left?"

"He has been watching here for a long time, but the maintenance system here cannot operate indefinitely," the gravekeeper said in a low voice, "The ancient systems left by the creator are all having problems one after another. They have been in service for too long... This throne was once the starting point of 1,200 observation stations, maintaining the 'existence' of all Crete, but now it has become the last observation station, and the operation of the throne is about to reach its end."

Duncan suddenly frowned: "...What will happen if the throne stops functioning?"

The gravekeeper was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke: "It means that the first pillar system left by the creator has completely collapsed. After that, the fourth long night will begin."

The fourth long night!

Duncan's eyes changed slightly - after so many messy and trivial clues, he finally got such accurate information for the first time, and for the first time determined what the landmark node was when the "Fourth Long Night" occurred!

Furthermore, what the gravekeeper just said was that “all” the ancient systems left by the Creator were having problems. The collapse of the throne was obviously just one of them, and Anomaly 001 - The Sun was undoubtedly another system that was on the verge of its limit... This was consistent with what was currently known!

Duncan's brows were tightly furrowed, and his thoughts were surging in his mind -

It is common sense that when the first "collapse" occurs in a series of interconnected complex systems, a chain reaction will surely follow. In other words, when the throne here stops functioning, the failure and complete shutdown of the sun will also accelerate...

Each time a long night begins, it begins with the collapse of the previous long night. The third long night is no exception. The throne collapses, and the "Tomb of the Unknown King" as the last Cretan Observatory stops operating. The sun will accelerate its collapse in a series of failures after this, until it is permanently extinguished, and the whole world will fall into night...

The gravekeeper in front of him obviously knew a lot of things, some of which were even beyond the era he lived in and beyond the current time flow. This information... might have come from the "End of Time Survey Team" that set out a long time ago to monitor the entire shelter in the time flow...

Thinking of the "gravekeeper" who brought him here, Duncan's thoughts could not help but spread:

This "tombkeeper" and the mausoleum he guards have existed in this chaotic crack for 10,000 years. But from what Fanna revealed, the "Tomb of the Nameless King" seems to have never had a rational and positive communication with the outside world like today. In the eyes of the world, this mausoleum is a chaotic and dangerous "Anomaly 004", but now it seems that this tombkeeper and everything in the mausoleum are obviously very "normal"...

Duncan's thoughts suddenly stopped. He turned his head thoughtfully and looked at the tall gravekeeper standing beside him.

...Is this really normal?

Could it be that this was the same as the "indescribable" things he had encountered before, where only he could understand and see everything? And for the other "listeners" who were led into the mausoleum, would this mausoleum guard and the ruins of the ancient square at the end of the corridor look completely different?

Duncan recalled the "cognitive bias model" proposed by Luhn at a gathering not long ago. After thinking for a moment, he couldn't help asking: "Will other people who enter the tomb see the same thing as I see?"

"...I will try my best to blind their eyes and ears, and clean up the harmful parts of their memories before they leave - mortals should not see too many things, it is harmful to them."

Duncan nodded slowly.

The gravekeeper's answer did not completely meet his expectations, but it indirectly confirmed his guess.

The world he sees is different from that seen by ordinary people, and the more this "deviation effect" is involved in areas involving "abnormalities" and "phenomena", the more significant it is.

Duncan exhaled softly, temporarily putting aside these complicated questions. After a brief silence, he suddenly asked, "How long will it take?"

The mausoleum guard turned his head and said, "Hmm?"

Duncan raised his head and pointed at the tall, dark throne: "I mean, how long can this throne last?"

"I can't be sure. I am only a caretaker, and the scholars who understood this complex system disappeared long ago. The only answer I can give you is... soon."

"What will happen to this body after the throne stops functioning?"

This time the mausoleum guard didn't answer anything, but just shook his head silently.

Duncan did not ask further. He and the gravekeeper remained silent, standing in the ruins illuminated by the dusk light. After an unknown amount of time, Duncan suddenly asked, "I heard the bell... Is it because this place is on the verge of reaching its limit? Are you calling me?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Duncan turned his head, his expression puzzled and solemn, "What do you want me to do?"

To his surprise, the gravekeeper shook his head: "I don't know."

"you do not know?"

"I am just a keeper. Those who knew everything and understood everything are gone long ago," the gravekeeper looked into Duncan's eyes and spoke slowly, "but I still remember one thing... just one thing."

He turned around and looked at the open ruins in the distance, at the phantoms that occasionally emerged from the edge of the square, hurriedly passed through the many gates, and flashed through the timeline, and spoke softly:

"Just as they were setting out, a message came from the most distant and impossible time boundary. It arrived here almost instantly. A doomsday surveyor who claimed to have reached the end of the journey sent a message -

"He said that dusk had fallen and the Fire Usurper had set the world ablaze."

Duncan remained silent. When he heard the gravekeeper's story, he hid all his emotions in his eyes as deep as water. No one knew what he was thinking at the moment.

But the gravekeeper obviously didn't care. He just continued calmly: "I don't know what you will think after seeing everything here, nor do I know what you will do in the future. I don't know what impact these things I tell you today will have on your future actions or decisions.

"My duty is only to guard this site and activate it from time to time according to the ancient protocol, so that it can exchange limited data with the outside world... We are a race that has been carefully designed and created. Each of us is only there to complete a limited and necessary task. Leading you here is not strictly speaking my responsibility.

"But the people who were responsible for assigning the tasks are no longer around, and there has been no news from the creator for a long time. I feel that I should at least... do something."

"...I understand," Duncan exhaled softly. The expression on his face had relaxed without him noticing. He then looked at the gravekeeper and nodded slowly and seriously. "Thank you for telling me so much. Knowing these things that happened is already a great gain for me."

"That's good."