Duncan's response made the dark red core silent for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, Shirley and Alice heard a low humming sound coming from the depths of the "Dark Mountains" in the distance. As the huge body in the center of the mountain slowly deformed and squirmed, the dark red core of the Lord of the Deep slowly rose up and returned to its original position, returning to the place where it could overlook the earth.

"A shelter can at least allow many people to survive, perhaps for thousands of years, perhaps ten thousand years... Even if it is not eternal, it is better than being reduced to ashes." The dark red core flickered, and a low tremor echoed throughout the wilderness. "My creator told me that survival is the first mission, and I have been following their orders. In my logic, nothing is more important than keeping the shelter going."

"Survival is indeed very important. I understand your motivation to keep the shelter going, but for me... 'possibility' is also essential. The current 'shelter' really lacks enough possibilities for me to see the future. It..."

Duncan suddenly fell silent for a moment. In the silence, his eyes swept over Agou beside him, and Shirley who still maintained the form of a dark demon.

The fire of Plande, the frost mud, the nightmare of Breeze Harbor, the dead priests, soldiers, civilians, martyrs and martyrs, the boundless sea, and every explorer trapped and died in this boundless sea...

Duncan slowly closed his eyes, the memories in his mind fluctuated and tangled, and finally turned into a sigh: "...It's too dark."

The dark red core overlooking the earth spoke quietly: "So, do you have a better plan?"

"No, but I have some vague ideas." Duncan opened his eyes and looked at the core calmly, as if he was looking into a giant eye that had experienced many vicissitudes of life. "I... roughly know what I should do and what I can do, but I haven't found the right and feasible way. I'm still looking for a better future than the 'Shelter', a future with more possibilities and more worth looking forward to."

"...Is it eternal?" the dark red core continued to ask calmly.

"No, there is no true eternity in this world. Everything is perishable. But at least it shouldn't be a sea shrouded in fog, with scarce resources and a hard place to stand. The 'eternal curtain' that serves as the border is too narrow for civilization."

"You should know that we don't have much time - whether it's you, me, or this 'sanctuary', there's not much time to waste," the dark red core flickered slowly, "How long will it take you to find the way out? What if you still can't find it by the end?"

Duncan was silent for a moment, then looked up and calmly met the gaze of the Deep Saint.

"... before the world collapses, I will come back here, and if I still can't find another way out by then, I will take over everything."

After a brief silence, the ancient navigation host trembled: "Recorded - then, this is our agreement. If you still can't find a better solution than 'Continuation of the Shelter' in the end, then come back here and light me up. If I have completely lost control before that... Don't show mercy, burn me to ashes."

Duncan nodded slowly: "It's a deal."

After that, the Lord of the Deep fell silent again. His core hung high on the mountain peak. The frequency of the dim light in the depths of the core gradually became consistent with the lights in the surrounding mountains. It seemed that he was thinking long and deeply, recalculating the future and everything in this world. Duncan did not disturb the ancient navigation host. After an unknown amount of time, the low tremor suddenly sounded again: "Navigation No. 3."

Alice didn't move - she didn't realize that he was calling her until Duncan suddenly touched her arm, and then the puppet suddenly reacted: "Ah...ah? Calling me?"

"…It seems that you have completely forgotten about the New Hope, right?"

Alice listened, raised her hand and scratched her hair, her face seemed a little embarrassed and ashamed: "Um... I'm sorry, I really don't remember... Should I remember something?"

"No, this is good. Although this is different from my original plan...but you are still alive. Survival is above all else. Please continue to survive and help the Fire Usurper as much as you can."

Alice reacted for a moment, calculated it in her head, and nodded a little slowly: "Oh... yeah! Of course, I will definitely help the captain!"

Shirley on the side looked up, and she and Agou were gazing at the "ancient creator" that was so magnificent and breathtaking that it was enough to drive all the outstanding explorers and scholars in the world crazy. They seemed to realize that it was time to say goodbye, and suddenly they had some questions to ask, but they couldn't think of what to say.

But the "gaze" of the dark red core seemed to have fallen on them.

It was an indescribable feeling. The faint light in the dark red core was just flickering slowly as usual, but Shirley intuitively felt that... the other person was looking at her.

A strange feeling of being completely seen through arose in her heart, and Shirley instinctively took a small step back. Then, she heard the low vibration coming - it seemed a little gentle.

"This world has brought you a lot of suffering," the gentle voice said slowly, "Do you... also think this shelter is bad?"

Shirley opened her mouth, she didn't know how to answer this question - she thought, now should be a more knowledgeable, more alert, more intelligent person standing here, such as a great scholar like old Mr. Morris. As the first "mortal" to face the Lord of the Deep, the person standing here to answer the question should be a person who is better than herself.

Instead of an uneducated guy like her.

But the ancient god was still quietly waiting for her answer.

"...I..." Shirley finally squeezed out the syllables from her throat. The skeleton limbs behind her swayed restlessly, and a ray of light in her chest flickered. "I don't know... In fact, I didn't quite understand what you said to the captain. I..."

She stammered, then hesitated for a long time before muttering softly: "Life... is a bit difficult. Sometimes you have to worry about food, sometimes it's clothes and fuel for the winter. Where I used to live, it was still not peaceful at night... But I think no matter what, there will always be some people who will live a hard life. Even if the city-state becomes ten times larger and there is more food than can be eaten, there will still be other difficulties in life. A neighbor of mine used to always say that life is always difficult. It's not the world's fault, nor is it because someone did something wrong. Compared to these, the captain cares more about..."

She turned her head slightly, stole a glance at Duncan, then quickly looked away.

"The captain is concerned about more... 'profound' things. Although I don't quite understand what he says, I think he is right and it will benefit many people. As for me, I don't have many requirements for the future. I just hope... to live a stable life. Of course, if possible..."

She suddenly paused, as if carefully choosing the right words. After hesitating for a long time, she spoke in a low voice: "No more demons will come out to hurt people, no more people will disappear in the corners, the sun will rise and set every day, and the thick fog will not eat people... That would be even better. If these can really be achieved, then anything is fine."

Agou slowly came over and rubbed Shirley's leg gently with his hideous head.

The dark red core hanging high in the sky remained silent for a long time before it suddenly broke the silence with a soft voice: "I understand."

Amid a series of low roars, the center of the huge star-shaped mountain range slowly cracked open, and the dark red core of the Deep Saint sank back into the depths of the mountain little by little - Duncan realized that it was time to say goodbye.

But before the core completely sank into the "mountain", he suddenly took a step forward: "One more thing."

The core stopped and waited for Duncan.

"...The guard of the last Cretan outpost asked me to bring a greeting." Duncan took another step forward. His expression gradually became serious and his tone was particularly serious. "He said... they were honored to complete the work."

The dark red core remained still there, and for a few seconds, no one knew what this ancient navigation host was thinking and calculating at this moment. Perhaps it had found the meaning of the distant word "Crete" from its huge database, or perhaps it was recalling information from the early days of creation, or perhaps... this was just a silent sigh.

Or perhaps, the creator of all things and the "Cretan Clan" also remembered its creators at this moment.

“I’ve also been honored … to have worked alongside them.”

The dark red core slowly sank into the depths of the mountains.

Duncan withdrew his gaze from the "mountain range". He took a deep breath, and layers of illusory flames gradually floated around him. "We should leave now. We still have a lot to do."

Alice came to the captain and took the initiative to welcome the flames. Shirley also moved her long limbs and came into the flames with Agou.

The flames rose, and countless intricate paths began to be reflected in Alice's lavender eyes, and she began to look for the right direction to leave the deep bottom.

Shirley was still staring at the mountain in the distance in a trance, looking at the place where the dark red core finally disappeared. For some reason, she always felt that... there was still a pair of eyes there, always falling on her.

It was not until the flames closed and the light and shadows outside the flames became illusory and hazy that she suddenly heard a vague whisper. The voice seemed to echo directly in her mind, repeating several times before she could hear the words clearly -

[“…I’m sorry. I tried my best…”]

The flames rose into the sky, and then disappeared into the darkness of the deep sea in an instant.