The "Black Door" deep in the cave was closed, but more and more Phantom Demons continued to emerge from the entire Holy Island. This island formed by part of the limbs of the Phantom Saint was shaking, and low roars and strange buzzing sounds echoed in the depths of the mist like the rumbling in a giant beast's belly. Countless strange figures appeared and disappeared in the mist, and every minute and every second, some shadows turned into entities, wantonly attacking the uninvited guests who set foot on the island.

Duncan and his group left the cave and successfully reunited with Vanna, Amber and others who stayed in the valley, and then began to retreat towards the coastline.

The earth was shaking, and loud crackling sounds of rocks exploding came from the depths of the valley. Chaotic roars and mutterings echoed like a nightmare. Unspeakable shadows condensed in the fog, and the omnipresent malice was carried by the cold air currents, whistling through the hideous and rugged rocks on the cliffs on both sides. In the mist, the rocks on the cliffs seemed to come alive gradually, with huge limbs slowly hanging down from the mountains. Those limbs like vines were bending and trembling, making strange noises of swallowing and chewing. Dirty mud dripped along their surfaces, and when it touched the ground, it made a hissing sound and emitted bursts of black smoke.

Even the church warriors who often operate in the border waters could not help but become nervous at this time. The marines held enchanted steel swords, lanterns, and amulets, and moved forward while being on guard against the restless shadows on the roadside. Amber walked beside Vanna with a long sword in her hand, and whispered the prayer of the goddess of storms as she moved forward. The gentle sound of the waves protected the minds of the warriors to prevent them from being bewitched and eroded by the whispers of the devil. The death priest with countless tattoos on his body held the holy urn and walked at the front of the team - beside him, the fog dissipated briefly, and the figure of the devil also seemed to dim, which opened a temporarily peaceful way back.

After realizing that these church warriors were indeed capable enough to deal with the troubles on the road and return safely, Duncan felt relieved. He walked calmly behind the team and devoted more energy to thinking.

After a while, they successfully passed through the wild area deep in the island and finally set foot on the road to the dock - the coastline was very close.

The roar of artillery fire and the sound of explosions came from the depths of the fog ahead. From time to time, huge flames could be seen rising into the sky, lighting up and burning a large area of ​​the sky like a sunrise, which was shocking to watch.

"'Fakes' shaped like ships and large roaming demons have begun to appear on the nearby sea. Our fleet is fighting those monsters," Amber came over. The young priestess held a long sword in one hand and a lantern with storm patterns in the other. Her expression looked quite serious. "They reported that one side of the Holy Land Island is slowly... deforming. Part of the sea cliff seems to be softening and gradually collapsing. Although it has not affected this side yet, the whole island is obviously... coming alive in some way."

Duncan raised his head and looked at the huge rocks in the mountains that were constantly coming alive in the mist, and the black tentacles that grew from the nearby hillsides and curled and spread toward the low-lying areas, and nodded slightly.

"The situation on this island is just as Shirley said. It is indeed the 'piece of flesh' of the Deep Lord. The entire island is a part of one of his tentacles that has penetrated into the real world. As for now, he seems to have begun to repair this 'mistake'."

"...It's a pity that there are so many truths buried here," Amber pursed her lips. "If we had more time, we could have explored the island thoroughly. Those Annihilation Cultists have been entrenched here for at least a few centuries. There must be countless dark and sinful secrets hidden here... maybe even their secret bases and personnel lists lurking in the city-state..."

Listening to Amber's slightly resentful muttering, Duncan did not respond. However, as he looked at the island that was constantly collapsing and deforming, he could not help but recall the huge "mountain range" he saw at the bottom of the abyss. It was magnificent, majestic, yet shrouded in desolation and darkness.

Ten thousand years passed... The "Navigator No. 1", which was once used to reshape the ecosystem, turned into a twisted and grotesque behemoth during its uncontrolled growth. Its limbs pierced the deep sea, the subspace, and the real world, but it still did not stop growing.

This made Duncan think that even if this vast ocean had not encountered a "malfunction", even if Anomaly 001 - The Sun could still hold on, the ever-growing Pilot One itself would probably be enough to cause another doomsday.

And this "doomsday" is obviously not too far away - perhaps one day in the next hundred years, the exponentially growing body of Pilot No. 1 will fill the entire deep ocean, and then spread to all dimensions at a crazy speed. Its tentacles will pierce every city-state, winding across the entire ocean, and entangle all ships sailing on the sea, until all entities in the world are once again swallowed up by their "creator" and become part of the black mud and wriggling tentacles again.

...Is this what the Annihilation Cultists saw in their insane visions? Just as they preached - one day in the future, the Lord of the Deep will return to this sad world, and the "Element" will gush out from the depths of the world, transforming the entire world into its pure original form again...

In a sense, those insane fanatics did catch a glimpse of part of the "truth" of this world, perhaps in the brief connection with the Lord of the Deep, or perhaps in the process of transforming themselves into demons and wantonly touching the "Element"... They caught a glimpse of the future and interpreted that terrible future in a way that they were willing to understand.

Duncan took a deep breath and slowly shook his head.

Navigator No. 1 invited himself to "take over" the shelter, and hoped that his huge body that had completely lost control would be burned in the process... In this regard, Navigator No. 1 frankly admitted that this was a "relief", a relief from a long mission.

It seems that supporting this shelter is indeed a long and difficult mission, enough to make even an ancient "machine" feel tired and desperate.

Duncan once again determined to find another way out.

Maintaining this shelter wasn't an option - at least not the best one.

After a thrilling journey, the landing team finally returned to the secret dock hidden by the inner bay and sea cliffs. The several small boats they took when they arrived were still parked on the shore, swaying left and right in the turbulent sea water.

The most striking sway was that of the landing boat that had been lowered from the Homeless - it was swaying upright.

In short, the bow of the entire ship was facing the sky, and it was swaying and jumping in the shallow water like a dogtail grass. When Duncan and his group appeared, it fell into the water with a "bang", then swung its oars and ran to the shore, swaying excitedly and slapping the side of its boat with its oars.

Duncan: “…”

Lucrecia looked at the boat silently for a while, then lowered her head and muttered to Duncan: "Dad, I don't want to get on this boat anymore..."

"It's a bit embarrassing," Duncan was silent for a few seconds, then sighed softly, "But let's go up. We've come this far. If we leave on a pigeon in front of it, it might sink on the spot. There are already enough ghost ships in this world. If there's another landing craft full of resentment, it will be hard to explain to the world later..."

Lucrecia sighed and followed her father onto the boat with mixed feelings.

Three speedboats left the dock and sped towards the exit of the small bay, towards the thick fog that was constantly rising with flashes of light and loud noises.

Just as they had left the exit of the bay and could see several main battleships parked on the nearby sea ahead, Shirley seemed to suddenly feel something and suddenly turned around from the boat to look in the direction of the island.

She slowly opened her eyes, which were filled with a faint blood-red light.

"The island is starting to sink!"

Amid a series of thunderous roars, the entire Holy Island was collapsing and falling down like some soft substance that had lost its support. Its sea cliffs were melting and flowing downwards, and dark mud was seeping out from every inch of soil and rock. Huge tentacles and jagged limbs penetrated the softened cliffs and coasts, twitching and waving wildly in the rising sea water, while countless frenzied demons were running and roaring among the crumbling rock cliffs, seemingly trying to escape, but being pulled by an invisible force and unable to leave the scope of the Holy Island. They could only "sink" with the entire island...

Duncan noticed that the Holy Land Island was not actually sinking into the sea, but was constantly "melting" on the sea level as if it were melting.

Pilot No. 1 is slowly "pulling back" this limb that was mistakenly extended into the real dimension.

Even though the shelter was on the verge of collapse, and even though he was irreversibly out of control, he was still repairing the system's errors to the best of his ability, delaying the critical point of final collapse.

But...how many times can this "delay" be effective?

Duncan and Alice sat at the stern of the boat, looking back at the Holy Island that was about to completely "melt" in the sea. Its final outline was swaying in the increasingly thick fog, like a dream that was gradually fading away.

Before the outline completely disappeared, Duncan vaguely heard a sound - it was a low vibration, coming along the breeze.

"Don't forget our agreement, Fire Usurper..."

Duncan felt someone grab his arm. He turned his head and the clearest thing in the fog was Alice's deep purple eyes.

"I heard him talking, Captain."

"I heard that, too, Alice. Can you find the place where he is?"

"Yeah," Alice nodded, but then scratched her hair again, "But I don't know exactly how I did it, I just think...if you need me, I can still take you to him, because I remember...'the way'."

Duncan nodded slightly, "That's enough."

Alice hesitated for a moment and asked cautiously, "Then...will we go back to find him?"

"I think... yes."

"About when?"

"…at least until the world ends."