The sun was moving slowly, at a speed that was almost indistinguishable to the naked eye, and it was falling extremely slowly below the sea level - the brilliant golden-red light was splashed on the boundless sea, and this magnificent yet strange long dusk was still continuing.

For the first time in history, dusk has become something to be feared—because more and more people have realized that after such a slow sunset, what will be even more terrifying is the night that will last for an unknown period of time.

Dante Wayne stood on the terrace outside the City Hall office, frowning as he looked at the streets bathed in the sunset glow. The row upon row of roofs in the upper town of Plande were glowing in an intoxicating way in the setting sun. This familiar scenery was once his pride as a governor, but as the sunset continued, this pride was gradually turning into a heavy pressure.

But he knew that compared with other "ordinary" and "normal" city-states, Plande's situation was already very good.

The fire left by the "ghost captain" makes this city have the safest night on the vast ocean. Even after the sun sets, there should be no large-scale supernatural invasion here. Although the pressure brought to the city by the long night is thorny, at least it does not involve those inhuman things that grow in the darkness - all he has to consider is the city's public security, residents' lives, material reserves, and production adjustments during the long night.

But in other places, the situation is not so simple.

In Cold Harbor in the north, the municipal government has declared a state of emergency. The sheriff's force and the defenders are repairing shelters in the streets and alleys and stockpiling holy oils. In Moko, the Academy of Truth has activated all the steam walkers stored in the church's arsenal and placed them in various gas stations, pump houses and steam hubs. In the southwest sea area, several city-states have announced a new "night ban". Residents of the outer city will be temporarily transferred to the nearest church shelter area, the inner city will be blocked, and a large number of giant bonfires will be lit at sunset and will last until the end of this night...

All reserve supplies were being counted and mobilized, and within the seventy-two hours before sunset, every city-state was gathering strength to prepare for the coming night.

If it ever could end.

There were footsteps coming from behind, and an official from the Government Affairs Office walked into the office. After seeing Dante Wayne on the terrace through the open sliding door, the young official coughed twice and said, "Ahem, Your Excellency Governor, the heads of the steam hub, power station and mining facilities are already waiting for you in the conference room. Do you want to…"

Dante nodded and waved his hand gently: "I understand, you go first and wait for me for a few minutes."

The footsteps left the room, and Dante breathed a sigh of relief, adjusting the overly tense expression on his face while organizing his thoughts.

He turned, walked across his large curved desk, and reached for a document.

His eyes rested on a picture frame on the edge of the table.

There are two figures standing together in the photo frame. One of them is him when he was young, and next to him is a tall silver-haired girl with a faint smile on her face. They are standing next to a flower bed with bright sunshine shining behind them.

This is the only photo of Dante Wayne, who was busy with work, and Vanna, who entered a church school early for training. After this photo, it seemed that they never had such a leisurely afternoon again.

"I wonder how Vanna is doing..."

Some memories came to his mind, and Dante missed the warm sunshine that melted into his memory. Then he looked beyond the photo frame and found the file he was looking for. He tucked it under his arm and hurried to the office door.

Vanna woke up from a series of messy, broken, bizarre dreams, the gentle sound of waves still echoing in her ears. The sound of waves hitting the hull rose and fell outside the porthole, calming her somewhat uneasy mood.

She could no longer remember the content of her dream. She only remembered that those suddenly twisted and torn things had cast an indelible shadow in her eyes. The memories in the dream faded away, and only a lonely, desolate and broken "atmosphere" seemed to shroud her mind for a long time. At this moment, she still felt a little cold.

Vanna sat up from the bed and looked toward the window not far away, and saw that the glow of the setting sun was still lingering on the sea. The Lost Homeland had left the spiritual world at some point and was now sailing on the sea of ​​the real dimension. In the distance, the silhouette of the Brilliant Star could be seen. The peculiarly shaped "magic battleship" was sailing at full speed against the wind and waves with the Lost Homeland.

As for the church warships such as Tide, Rest and Restless, they had already left. After the fleet left the border curtain, Homeland Lost and Brilliant Star said goodbye to the church ships and went about their own business.

Fanna exhaled lightly, and took a few deep breaths. The slightly fishy and salty smell drifted into her nostrils, while the soft and overlapping sound of the waves still echoed in her mind.

She suddenly frowned, as if she had sensed something, and quickly turned around to look at the corner of the room.

The gentle sea water surged up in the cabin, and it surrounded them without them knowing when. The illusory sound of waves echoed in her ears, and the moment Vanna turned around, the gently rising sea water seemed to suddenly expand countless times - and the entire room was also expanded countless times.

At the end of the room, which suddenly became indistinguishable from reality, Vanna saw a majestic shadow, some kind of huge...biological structure, emerging at the end of the slowly rising and falling waves.

Part of the biological structure extended towards her and condensed into a figure on the sea surface - wearing a long dress as black as the abyss, with a veil hiding her true face.

He stared at Vanna, and his eyes with strange diamond-shaped pupils seemed to be filled with countless thoughts and feelings that were difficult to convey directly. And in this gaze, Vanna suddenly felt an indescribable intimacy and...touch.

She reacted instantly, her whole body tensed up and she bowed her head deeply: "Lord..."

"We don't have much time, child," the figure spoke softly, accompanied by a layered noise that was enough to tear the minds of ordinary people apart and drive them crazy. His thoughts returned to Vanna's mind, "... our connection with the mortal world will be strengthened one last time..."

An irresistible feeling of dizziness came over Vanna from the bottom of her heart, and she instantly realized that she was being polluted - she was being polluted by the goddess she devoutly believed in. Her voice, Her thoughts, and the illusion that She conveyed to her were all filled with unprecedented chaos!

But Fanna still forced herself to steady her mind. At the edge of her vision, she saw a soft green flame burning and rising, which helped her mind to regain stability.

"...What do you need me to do?" She tried not to look directly at the huge shadow behind the Storm Goddess. She tried to stay awake while asking, "What can I do?"

"...collect those collapsed stars...let them protect you once again...go and tell the Fire Usurper that we want to talk to him...we will find..."

The sound of the overlapping waves gradually turned into some kind of unbearable shrill screams, the gently upwelling water seemed to be emitting a foul smell, and a bone-chilling chill slowly permeated the whole body. Vanna could barely distinguish the last sentence from the noise echoing in her ears. She felt a splitting headache and did not even have the energy to think about the meaning of those words - and in the gradually blurred vision, she saw the distant sea and the huge phantom collapsing silently.

"Did you see Gemona's revelation?" Duncan opened his eyes slightly. He looked at Vanna who suddenly ran into the captain's room. Then he noticed her current poor condition and immediately stood up to support her arm. "Sit down here first, take a breath, and talk slowly."

"Thank you... Captain," Vanna was almost forced to sit on the chair by Duncan. The throbbing and dizziness in her mind made it difficult for her to think, but fortunately, her condition improved rapidly after she met the captain, which made her thoughts smooth again. "I saw His phantom directly and heard His voice... The goddess is in a very bad state. Those noises... gave me the feeling of facing those dark alien gods directly."

She took a few breaths and then told him everything she had just experienced.

After hearing what Vanna reported, Duncan frowned immediately and his expression gradually became solemn.

"Go collect those collapsed stars..." He muttered this sentence softly, and his mind couldn't help but recall the "advice" he heard from a tentacle extended from the Deep Lord in the deep courtyard of Alice Mansion.

[“Save the fallen ￥#&＊＊ fragments. If everything is irreparable, use them to extend the life of each node city as much as possible. Keep it alive. Survival is the first order.”]

Obviously, Vanna also thought of this matter soon.

"…Are the 'luminous fragments' that the goddess is referring to falling off from the sun's rune ring?" She raised her head and looked into Duncan's eyes. "Does He mean that those luminous fragments can protect the city-state in the days to come?"

"Based on the experience of Breeze Harbor, although the power of those luminous bodies is not as strong as the sun itself, they can still play a role in covering the wounds of the world and soothing the night within a certain range," Duncan nodded slowly. "Now that the second luminous body fragment has fallen in Frost, plus the revelation you just received, it is not difficult to associate all this."

As he spoke, he looked up and out the window.

The slowly setting sun was still floating on the distant sea, and the broken rune ring cast magnificent light and shadow on the sea.

The revelation that Gemona conveyed to Vanna is not difficult to understand, but what is truly disturbing is the other meaning of the revelation.

"...This is just the beginning," he said softly, "It looks like the disintegration of the sun will accelerate. The real large-scale collapse and fall... is still to come."