It is now late at night, but for the Lost Homeland sailing at the end of the world, the sky above is always a hazy and chaotic gray regardless of day or night - the sourceless sky light is eternally and evenly diffused in the clouds, as if there will be no change at any time.

The sailor was sitting on the stern deck in a daze, with a complicated expression on his skinny face. He had been maintaining this posture for a long time, like a sculpture.

Duncan stood beside him, looking down at the mummy, and suddenly broke the silence: "Are you still thinking about your 'last words'?"

"Not really," the sailor adjusted his posture unnaturally and muttered, "It's mainly because... I suddenly don't know what to do in the future."

Duncan raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "In the future?"

"...In my original plan, I should have disappeared from this world by now," the sailor was silent for a few seconds, then spoke calmly and slowly, "I have never thought about continuing to 'live' after completing this mission, and I have never thought about any possibility in this regard. I have been wandering around in this world for too many years, but now I suddenly find myself having to think about my future 'life'. This makes me a little... at a loss."

Duncan looked at the other person seriously and said, "If you don't want to, I can fire you. It only takes a moment, and you can get the eternal sleep you want."

The sailor's expression changed subtly after hearing this, and he adjusted his posture unnaturally: "Ah, this... isn't the case..."

Duncan smiled slightly. He crossed his arms and looked at the sea shrouded in mist. "After all, do you really want to sleep forever?"

The sailor was silent for a longer time this time, as if he had never thought about this problem seriously until now, when he suddenly fell into deep thought on this matter.

After an unknown amount of time, the mummy suddenly moved, and a hoarse voice came hesitantly: "To me... this world is still as cold as ice."

"But the new world will be warmer," Duncan said calmly, "In there, perhaps you can no longer be a corpse. Or perhaps, a corpse can still feel warmth."

The sailor raised his head with a hint of surprise in his eyes: "New World?"

"Have you forgotten what you said? What I am going to do will definitely succeed - there will definitely be a new world in the future. You said this yourself." Duncan lowered his head and looked into the sailor's eyes calmly. "Do you still believe this now?"

After a moment of silence, the sailor nodded: "...I believe it, I believe it at all times."

"Very good, then wait and see it with your own eyes," Duncan laughed. "I think it will be a very good place - and the story of the Sea Song, many things should be told by the people involved in order to be meaningful. Since you want it to be passed down to the future, then do it yourself."

The sailor remained in a somewhat dazed position while listening to the captain's words. After a long while, the deep wrinkles on the corpse's face suddenly relaxed and he smiled, although his smile was still so ugly and terrifying: "Okay, I figured it out."

He slowly stood up and looked at this still cold world. The wrinkles on his face were more relaxed than before. "I want to see the 'new world', Captain - I really don't want to die."

"Okay," Duncan exhaled, smiled and stepped forward to pat the other person on the shoulder, "Then you won't die."

It was now late at night, and in seven hours the Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star were scheduled to set sail.

After a night's rest, the crew gathered on the deck, and Alice came to the control panel at the stern again - Miss Doll had a tense face and stood in front of the dark steering wheel more seriously than ever.

The Brilliant Star was quietly parked next to the Lost Homeland, waiting to set off.

"Relax," Duncan said to the puppet in a gentle tone as he stood beside Alice. "You've tried it once, and the ship is ready. Just do it the same way as last time."

"Yeah!" Alice nodded a little stiffly, took a half step forward with a resolute expression, and stretched out her hand to the steering wheel that looked particularly heavy.

Before the puppet's fingers touched the steering wheel, Duncan and Vanna turned back at the same time and looked once again into the depths of the archipelago and the misty sea. In the center of the sea surrounded by the archipelago, a gentle sound of waves came, which seemed real and illusory, as if seeing them off.

Duncan nodded slightly in that direction and whispered in a voice that only he could hear: "Goodbye, I'll come to see you again."

The next second, the puppet's fingers touched the steering wheel of the Lost Homeland - the executive authority of Pilot Three began to take over the entire ship.

A huge illusion descended from the sky. Under the cover of the chaotic skylight, the fragmented shadow of the New Hope descended. The rapidly spreading shadow enveloped the Lost Homeland and the Radiant Star, as well as a large area of ​​the surrounding sea. Then, an illusory and distorted voice seemed to penetrate the distant time and echoed in the depths of everyone's mind:

[“…The jump engine is activated, and the New Hope will set sail…May we meet again at a distant destination, and the hope of the future awaits all of us…”]

The sounds filled with interference and distortion gradually dissipated, and the entire fog-shrouded sea gradually dissipated. Outside the sides of the Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star, the entire world quickly lost all colors and details, and turned back into that familiar, monotonous and uniform "gray and white".

Only the ancient shadow of the New Hope still floated above the two ships, like a sheltering figure spreading its wings.

Alice held the steering wheel tightly, staring into the distance with eyes wide open - countless "threads" connected her, connected to the Lost Homeland, the Brilliant Star, and the projection of the New Hope. Her mind had temporarily left the body of this puppet and turned into the will and guidance for the voyage.

The route ahead is clear... Navigating to the node at the end of the world.

At the same time, the long night still shrouds the vast sea - under the long night, the new "order" established for survival has begun to operate.

A brilliant "sunshine" is moving slowly across the sea. A heavy tugboat is dragging heavy fragments of the sun along the long route between city-states. The light golden light spreads out for dozens of kilometers with the tugboat as the center. Where the light golden light spreads, there are countless cargo ships of all sizes.

Fleets sailing between city-states set sail with the moving sunlight, and the powerful steam cores drive them through the endless night. The captains will deliver important supplies to the cities that urgently need them, and also send the sunlight that represents hope - they will stay in a city for three to five days, when the sunlight dispels the darkness and distortion of the city, and when the defenders of the city-states have a chance to catch their breath, the fleet will set off again, loaded with new cargo, and go to the next destination with the sunlight.

Across the vast ocean, there are more and more fleets transporting sunshine and supplies.

The city-state alliance in the north has begun to operate as planned, and in the central sea, the new "Sunshine Route" centered on Plande has completed its first ocean-going material transportation under the cover of night. In Faerun, the White Oak, as the pilot ship, led the tugboats towing the sun fragments to break through the blockade of the night and connect the isolated cities again, and in the distant Breeze Port, several fleets formed by the church have sailed into the night - they will go to Moko and Lunsa to break through the blockade of the night.

The sun is flowing in the long night, and fleets are sailing in this gradually sinking world, just like those pioneers who explored the dark islands in ancient times and wielded knives, axes and torches in the jungle, constantly fighting against the spreading and deepening darkness. When this giant called "civilization" gradually declines, they try their best to maintain the blood flow in the giant's body.

Taran El stood on the tallest tower in Breeze Harbor, gazing in a trance at the pale golden light that was gradually moving away on the sea. He saw a huge luminous geometric body like a light-cast crystal sailing towards the night under the tow of a heavy tugboat, and in the gradually fading sunlight, countless large and small ships were vaguely visible.

That was the first cargo fleet departing from Breeze Port. They would cross the long night in the next seven days, deliver supplies to Moko under the shelter of the sun, and then depart from there to try to reach the more distant central sea area, and enter the "Sunshine Route" established by Pland to "connect" with the transportation lines there.

If all goes well, the Central and Southern Seas will be reconnected after that.

And now, Breeze Harbor has sunk into the night.

The "sunshine" that had enveloped the city-state for the past year had left, and Breeze Harbor, once protected by the sun, was facing the long night for the first time. Now darkness had fallen on all the blocks, and gas lamps were lit in the night, outlining the outline of the city in Taran El's vision.

There were footsteps coming from behind, and without turning back, Taran El already knew who was coming.

"To be honest, I'm a little sad, Ted. Do you understand this feeling?" He said casually, "For almost the whole year, I have spent most of my time studying that solar fragment. It has almost become a part of Breeze Harbor. Many people, including me, have never thought that thing would leave this place."

"It is no longer just a 'research sample'. After Anomaly 001 fell, it has become part of the lifeline of many city-states." The Truth Keeper Ted Riel came to the edge of the terrace and looked at the city below that was shrouded in night with Taran. "... I received an order from the Academy that 'survival' will become the first mission of all city-states and everyone in the future. Everything else must give way to it."

Taran El listened silently without saying anything. After a long time, he sighed and broke the silence: "Let's go for a walk on the dock together."