Agatha of the Frost City-State came - accompanied by the familiar gray wind, this priestess who now also served as the archbishop of the city-state appeared in front of Duncan and Alice, and bowed to Duncan: "Good night, I am glad to see that you can come and deal with this matter in person."

Duncan raised his head and glanced towards the sea: "Strictly speaking, it's still dusk."

"The dusk will last for a long time, but people still have to follow the 'normal' rhythm of life," Agatha said, and nodded to Alice beside her, "Long time no see, Miss Alice."

"Um... Hey! Long time no see!" Alice took a moment to respond. She scratched her hair in embarrassment. "There was also an Agatha on the ship. I didn't react at once."

Agatha smiled slightly when she heard this. Even though her eyes were covered with black cloth, she still seemed to have a warm gaze on Alice: "On the ship...is she doing well recently?"

"She's fine! She chases Shirley through the mirror every day while she's doing her homework, or she comes out when it's foggy to scare people - although she says she's just out for a walk," Alice said quickly with a happy expression on her face, "Everyone likes her, only Shirley is a little afraid of her..."

Agatha listened to Miss Doll's description silently. She was a little surprised at first, but then gradually turned into a smile. After a while, she nodded slightly and said to herself, "So it would be like this... It sounds good."

At this time, Tirian finally found an opportunity and stepped forward: "Has the cathedral arranged everything regarding the night watch?"

"I came here after I dealt with this matter. Don't worry, we have enough manpower," Agatha said casually, but then she couldn't help but frowned slightly and stepped back calmly, "... Your Excellency Archon, are you...not feeling well in the stomach?"

Tirian was startled when he heard this, and then he understood what was going on. Even as the "Iron Lieutenant General", he felt a little embarrassed at this time. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he quickly reacted and raised his finger to point at the paper bag in his father's hand: "...Would you like to try some potato pancakes?"

Agatha didn't know why the topic suddenly jumped to this. She looked at the thing in Duncan's hand in confusion. The latter immediately raised his hand: "Alice made it herself - Breeze Harbor style."

"...That's not necessary." Agatha took a half step back when she heard the words "Breeze Harbor". But then she seemed to realize that this was a bit rude and added, "This body is no longer alive and can no longer enjoy the delicacies of the world. Thank you for your kindness."

Duncan took a look at Agatha's body, which was full of cracks and shattered like a broken doll, and knew that she was telling the truth, so he could only shrug regretfully and stuff a bag of potato cakes directly into Tirian's arms: "Then take them all - go back and eat slowly."

Tirian took his father's gift with a dazed expression, his eyes silently sweeping over the figures present: a corpse, an undead, a puppet, and his father - also a corpse.

The Iron Lieutenant General finally realized that he was the only unlucky guy with a high human volume at the scene...

Duncan paid no attention to Tirian's suddenly subtle expression. After finally handing over the bag in his hand, he clapped his hands and turned to look at the magnificent planet next to him that was still floating quietly above the beach.

"This is just the beginning," he said to Agatha. "In the days to come, more and more solar fragments will fall on the Infinite Ocean. Inside them will be various 'Lost Stars' as cores. In the long night that follows, these solar fragments may be the only guarantee for the safety of many city-states."

After hearing what Duncan said, Agatha's expression quickly turned serious: "...So, the disintegration of the sun is inevitable, is that right?"

"Yes, although this sounds terrible, it is indeed inevitable and will accelerate," Duncan nodded gently, "Next, I will contact the Pope of the Four Gods and remind them to pay attention to the luminous objects that fell on the Infinite Ocean and recover them in time."

Tirian and Agatha fell silent at the same time.

In the days that followed, it was unknown how many more sunrises this world would see - the long night was about to fall, and even Tirian felt a little suffocated by this fact.

While feeling this suffocation, Tirian immediately thought of something more.

He raised his head in thought and looked at Duncan: "...You just said that these fallen fragments may be the only guarantee for the safety of many city-states?"

"Vanna has received the revelation from the Storm Goddess, and I have also received information from the Lord of the Deep. Based on the experience of Breeze Harbor, these sun fragments can indeed exert the same 'protection' power as Vision 001 in a small area," Duncan nodded gently, "They cannot pacify a large area of ​​the sea, but at least they can protect a city-state."

Tirian's expression gradually became heavy. After a while, he whispered to himself, "...Is that enough?"

His soft whisper fell into everyone's ears. Alice looked a little confused, while Aiden and Agatha obviously realized what Tirian meant by "enough?". Their expressions suddenly changed slightly and turned solemn.

Duncan nodded slowly.

"I understand what you mean," he said in a deep voice. "To be honest, no one knows how many fragments there will be by then, and no one knows whether they will be enough... But if there is no strong constraint, then even if there are enough fragments, it will never be 'enough'."

"The church will intervene. Our patrol fleets are spread across all shipping routes," Agatha said after a brief thought. "If the church's fleet is not enough, the Frost Navy is also reliable."

"But this is the most optimistic scenario. Frankly speaking, I am not used to facing the future with an overly optimistic attitude, especially when it requires testing human nature." Tirian shook his head. "What if even the church is divided? When night falls, all tests will be infinitely magnified... Even the most loyal and upright people will have their own standpoints."

Then they fell silent, and the atmosphere on the scene was a little depressing for a moment.

Alice was still a little confused watching this scene. She looked at Tirian and Agatha, then looked up at the captain, and finally couldn't help asking: "What are you talking about?"

Duncan didn't answer, but raised his hand and gently pressed Alice's hair.

"We are worried that there won't be enough solar fragments to protect all city-states, or someone will want to occupy more 'sunlight'," Aiden said. "After all... this is for survival."

With such a straightforward explanation, Alice finally understood what everyone was discussing.

The doll opened her eyes wide, looking a little helpless—this was something she had never thought about and a problem she had never faced before.

Tirian lowered his head and glanced at the paper bag in his hand with a complicated expression: "...By then, a northerner will never be able to eat potato pancakes from Breeze Harbor again."

Duncan shook his head and said softly to Alice, "Don't think about it. This is not something you should consider. There have always been bad places in this world, and it's not just like today."

After hearing what the captain said, Alice seemed to suddenly think of something and immediately raised her head: "Then... you will take action then, right? Just like what happened to Plande and Frost..."

Duncan did not answer, but Agatha quickly reacted: "Yes - the Lost Homeland Fleet, if you add your strength, it will be easier to restrain the various city-states and maintain basic order after nightfall. At least... the worst situation will not happen..."

Duncan still didn't answer. He just remained silent and didn't comment.

His reaction made Tirian realize something: "Are you not going to take action?"

"No, I'm thinking about something else." Duncan shook his head slightly.

He turned around and quietly stared at the "lost star" floating in the sky. No one knew what he was thinking about in his silence at this moment. Even Tirian did not have the courage to speak at this time. It was not until a long time later that Duncan retracted his gaze and broke the silence softly: "If the worst comes to the worst, I may need to do something that only I can do - that may mean I have to go far away, and maybe for a long time."

At this moment, Tirian seemed to be aware of something vaguely, some kind of... premonition from intuition made him feel a hazy light and shadow shaking at the edge of his vision. In an extremely brief moment, he felt that his father's figure seemed to be standing in a place so far away that he could never reach it. Although they were now close, there was some invisible curtain gradually closing, as if to separate them in two time and space.

That invisible curtain...seemed to be filled with starlight.

But this feeling was fleeting, and Tirian felt that his thoughts were interrupted for a moment. When he tried to recall his feelings just now, there was only endless emptiness left.

Duncan turned his head. The only exposed eyes on his bandaged face contained a calm look.

"Don't worry too much. Even in the worst of circumstances, there will be fire to light up the world again. Difficult days are always temporary."

There seemed to be a deeper meaning to my father's words.

But Tirian didn't have a chance to ask more - a rising spirit flame suddenly appeared on the beach, gradually outlining a whirlpool.

My father is getting ready to leave.

"I still have a lot to do," Duncan waved to Tyrian, Aiden, and Agatha. He walked towards the flame and said, "Put more energy on dealing with the coming night, don't think too much - and don't worry about the cemetery."

The flames rose up, and then rushed into the sky like a retrograde meteor, quickly disappearing from the sight of Tirian and Agatha.