The mist flowed like a veil between the abandoned islands. The sea outside the ship's side was still as calm as when they came, but the ancient temple standing deep in the mist had completely disappeared at the end of the sea. It was obscured by the mist, as if it was a dream that had never appeared in the beginning.

The sailor sat on a wooden barrel on the stern deck, staring blankly at the floating fog in the distance, and remained in this position motionless for a long time.

The sound of footsteps coming from nearby finally woke the mummy from his trance. He shook his body, turned his head to look in the direction of the sound, and then looked up again.

"Good afternoon, Miss Vanna," the sailor mumbled, a listless greeting, and then added with a sigh, "Oh, you're really tall."

"People often say that," Vanna said calmly, sitting down casually on another wooden barrel nearby and glancing at the direction the sailor had just looked at. "Agatha said you've been here all day. What are you thinking about?"

"I don't know," the sailor thought for a moment and shook his head. "Maybe he was just distracted. You know, a corpse doesn't have much to do anyway. No need to eat, no need to drink, no need to sleep - and there is basically no work on this ship. You see, this ship can take care of itself in good order. The busiest thing on the ship is to rearrange the things that Miss Alice messed up..."

Vanna didn't say anything, but just listened calmly to the mummy's mumbling - after arriving at the Lost Homeland, the sailor seldom spoke, but when he occasionally spoke, he would become so chattering, it even made people wonder if he might have been such a chattering person when he was a human being.

After a long while, when the sailor finally finished his chatter, Vanna smiled faintly and shook her head: "Don't tell Alice these words, she will be very sad."

"Oh, I know. I definitely won't tell you." The sailor waved his hand, his expression suddenly becoming complicated. "Anyway... I probably won't have the chance to tell you in the future."

Fanna raised her eyebrows when she heard that, but she hesitated and said nothing.

The sailor raised his head again and looked at the thick fog, towards the direction where the temple stood.

"...You can also hear the faint sound of waves," he said suddenly.

Vanna showed a slightly surprised expression on her face, but the sailor didn't seem to care about her response. He continued to talk before she opened her mouth: "I can hear that voice from time to time since I decided to set off, and someone whispered to me in the sound of the waves, although I couldn't understand those words. He always speaks to me, just like I am repeating these to you now...mumbling. Am I saying this in a way that is...offensive to God?"

"That's the goddess protecting you," Vanna didn't know how to respond for a moment, so she could only say this after a brief hesitation, "She knows you're here, and her voice will naturally appear in the ears of her believers."

"...But I don't remember Him," the sailor muttered, "I only remember that I came to this place and that some things happened here, but other than that, those days as a priest of the Deep Sea Church and the days of praying in the church are already another person's life for me. I don't think I am a believer of Him anymore - in the past two centuries, I have never prayed to Him once."

"You don't remember Him, but He remembers you," Vanna said calmly and firmly. Only on this point did she never waver in her faith. "The goddess will remember every one of Her children, even those like you who have been lost for two centuries. This is also described in the "Storm Tome": Prayer is only a form, and our connection with the goddess is built on a deeper level."

The sailor turned his head and looked at Vanna in surprise: "You are really a devout believer."

Vanna looked a little strange: "Am I not pious enough?"

The sailor thought about it, but didn't dare to think any further.

"My mission is about to end," he said suddenly, as if to change the subject, "The captain has received a new 'route', and perhaps he will not need me anymore."

Vanna's expression changed slightly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. She only heard the mummy continue to speak calmly: "After completing this final mission, I will retire from the ship. I don't have anything to take with me. Those tattered shrouds and sailor smocks are things that should no longer exist in this world. They will probably disappear with me, so you don't have to help me deal with anything, it's just..."

A calm and majestic voice suddenly came from behind them: "Just what?"

The sailor was startled and turned around instantly. Vanna next to him also got down from the barrel immediately and turned to look in the direction where the sound came from.

"Captain, you're back," Vanna said to Duncan with a relieved expression on her face. Then her expression became complicated again. She raised her hand and pointed at the abnormality 077 next to her, "Captain, the sailor..."

Duncan raised his hand, indicating that he was aware of the situation, and then he looked at Anomaly 077: "I heard everything. Now continue. What is 'just'?"

The sailor opened his mouth and seemed to hesitate again, but under Duncan's calm gaze, his hesitation finally turned into calmness. He spread his hands and felt that he had never been so relaxed in front of Captain Duncan as he did today. He said, "I just feel sorry for Captain Lawrence - I left in a hurry and didn't say goodbye to him properly. I didn't even tell him that I might not go back. The crew on the White Oak are probably still waiting for me..."

He paused, then smiled with a hint of regret but relief.

"Please tell me that I was honored to serve on the White Oak for such a short time. Although it was not long and there were always noises on the ship, it was indeed the happiest time I can remember.

"I don't have any personal property, so please apologize to Gus, the first mate of the White Oak, for I bet I can't pay him back the two pounds of good tobacco I owe him, as well as the second mate, the boatswain, the stoker, the mechanic and the pastor..."

He counted a few names on his fingers, then spread his hands and said, "You see, gambling never ends well, right? That includes betting with others.

"Finally, I have something to say to you. I originally planned to secretly write you a letter and then leave quietly by myself, because there are some things that I always feel would be awkward to say in person, but you see, situations are always unexpected..."

The sailor chattered on and on, and under Duncan's calm and gentle gaze, he took a long breath - the cold air slowly escaped from his lungs, which no longer needed to breathe, and merged into the ubiquitous fog.

He looked at Duncan, his withered eyes filled with an unprecedented seriousness and solemnity.

"I am honored, even though I was terrified at first, to be a member of the Lost Homeland for a short time.

"You are the greatest explorer and captain in history. What you are going to do will definitely succeed. I have no basis for this, and I don't understand prophecies or anything like that, but I just feel that... What you are going to do will definitely succeed.

“So, if there really is a new world in the future, I hope you can still remember the story of the Sea Song, and tell it to future generations, so that people at that time will know that when the world was gradually coming to an end, there was such a group of people... who tried their best.

"Finally, thank you, thank you for your efforts so far, thank you for still trying to save this world... Although it seems like a cold and twisted place to me now, I vaguely remember that it was a good place."

The sailor finished speaking calmly, and all his hesitations and regrets up to this point finally disappeared in this endless fog.

Then he bent down solemnly and bowed deeply in front of Duncan. Then he stood up, raised his right hand in front of Vanna, and drew the symbol of the wave on his chest.

Vanna subconsciously took half a step forward, as if she wanted to reach out to retain something, but she stopped halfway with her hand raised, and then returned the same courtesy in silence.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Duncan asked, looking into the sailor's eyes.

"Now that you're back, I should leave," the sailor smiled and slowly took two steps back. "I'll find a quiet place. Let me stay there quietly for a while. I haven't had a good sleep for a long time."

Duncan nodded and said nothing.

The sailor walked towards the gray fog that had spread onto the deck at some point and was gradually becoming thicker on the deck. His figure swayed in the fog and finally disappeared from Duncan and Vanna's sight.

After a long silence, Vanna finally couldn't help but turned her head and broke the silence softly: "Captain..."

Duncan just waved his hand and said softly: "Vanna, do you know how many times a person will experience death?"

Vanna was stunned for a moment, as if she understood something vaguely. She did not speak again, but involuntarily looked back at the direction where the sailor left. After staring at that direction silently for a few seconds, she retracted her gaze and looked at Duncan: "Captain, what should we do next?"

Duncan nodded, turned and walked towards the bridge on the stern deck, and said without looking back: "We still have a long way to go, and the Lost Homeland should set off - Alice is ready, and we will conduct the first test of her 'navigation' ability next."

Fanna was stunned, and immediately followed.

At the same time, on the bridge at the stern, Alice was standing beside the steering wheel with a nervous look on her face.

She was waiting for further instructions from the captain.

The mops, buckets, dangling cables and spare hooks on the deck, many things rushed over after hearing the news and crowded around the bridge, as if waiting to watch the excitement.

A rope snaked its way to the puppet's feet and hit its calf with the end of the rope.

"I'm a little nervous..." Alice whispered, "Although the captain said it's okay, I'm still very nervous..."

The ropes, buckets and other debris around were shaking, making a series of somewhat chaotic noises.

Alice heard the responses of her "friends" from among the chaotic voices.

They were more nervous than she was.

The whole ship was tense...