The jump was over, and the Lost Homeland and the Brilliant Star sailed out from the uniform gray-white "background color", and accompanied by a slight shake and tremor, the two ships sailed into the mirror-like calm water.

After such a long, world-ending pilgrimage, the two ships finally returned to the beginning of it all, to the point where they first arrived - the resting place of Queen Leviathan.

Compared to when I left, nothing seemed to have changed here. The sea was still calm, and the dark islands floating on the endless sea were still hidden in the mist. In the deepest part of the mist, the largest island was revealing a hazy outline, which looked a bit dreamy.

It was just a lot quieter here than before - because even the tiniest ripples had disappeared on the water, and the faint whisper in the mist had now dissipated, and even the sound of the wind blowing across the deck seemed vague and distant.

Everyone came to the deck. They gathered near the side of the foredeck, looking at the long-lost archipelago and the sea in the distance. After a long time, Nina was the first to break the silence: "Unconsciously... we have been sailing at the end of the world for so long..."

"Yes, it's been so long that I almost forgot that this journey is limited." Morris stood quietly beside Nina, adjusting the focus of the ruby ​​lenses in his eyes. "... I think I will always remember what I saw and heard along the way."

Fanna looked back at the old man and said, "That will surely become another series of great discoveries and corresponding academic papers that will shock the world."

Morris was silent for two or three seconds. “No one writes or reads papers anymore—the world has begun to cool, and no discovery can shock the cooling ashes.”

Fanna shook her head: "Then leave it to the distant future - when the flames are rekindled and people begin to think again and seek knowledge and wisdom."

Shirley lay down beside the guardrail, looking into the distance for a long time, and then she finally whispered to herself: "Hey, I'm back after all."

Duncan stood behind everyone, and now he felt that one gaze after another was finally falling on him: his crew members were waiting for his orders.

Duncan had already prepared for this moment. When it really came, he just took a deep breath and calmly ordered, "We will stop by the island where the temple is located, and then everyone will transfer to the Brilliant Star and leave. We can keep in touch through fire later."

Lucrecia opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't.

"Before that," Duncan added, "let's go to the restaurant and have another meal together."

Footsteps were heard not far away. It was Alice walking onto the deck. Miss Doll had finished her work at the helm and came here to look for the captain and his companions.

"Alice, it's time to show off your skills," Duncan turned around and looked at the puppet approaching with a smile on his face, "We're going to have a dinner party next."

Alice was stunned for a moment when she heard this, but soon a bright smile broke out on her face. She held her head and nodded happily: "Hey! Okay!"

"I'll bring Luni and Nello here," Lucrecia said immediately. "They can help in the kitchen - and there's also the fine wines from the Brilliant Star."

"I'll help too!" Nina said quickly. She smiled, exuding sunshine-like enthusiasm and warmth. "If I help, the cooking will go much faster!"

Alice looked at the scene somewhat helplessly, and subconsciously waved her hands: "Hey, there's no need for so many people, I can do it alone..."

The puppet suddenly stopped, thought seriously for a moment, and sighed helplessly: "Okay, then come if you are willing to help..."

In this way, a special dinner was quickly prepared. When the Lost Homeland sailed through the archipelago, passed through the mist, and slowly approached the black island where the huge temple stood, Duncan and his followers gathered in the ship's restaurant.

The long table that had hosted many dinner parties and received every visitor aboard was once again placed in the center of the restaurant. Nina lit every lantern on the nearby pillars with a flame as bright as the sun, while Rune and Alice placed sumptuous food and fine wine on the long table. At the end of all things, light and warmth briefly reappeared - it even seemed to make people forget the long night on the boundless sea and the biting cold outside the cabin that permeated the entire world.

Then, Duncan sat in the middle of the table, Nina sat on his left, Alice sat on his right, and on both sides, Morris, Shirley, Agou, Sailor, Luni, Neloo, and even the pigeon Ai and Agatha, who was in phantom form and did not need to eat, had their own seats.

At the ends of both sides of the long table, there were three empty chairs - Duncan ordered these three seats to be prepared, but he did not say who they were reserved for.

When everyone was seated, the little doll Nilu, who was only a few dozen centimeters tall, climbed from her chair to the table. She held a huge wine bottle and began to run around pouring fine wine into the glasses in front of everyone - the private collection of the hostess of the Brilliant Star exuded a strange fragrance, and the dark red wine reflected the sunshine-like brilliance in the glass.

Duncan picked up the wine glass, but suddenly remembered something, stood up and looked around, his expression becoming a little subtle.

After a while, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he silently moved his chair around to the other side of the long table.

Alice saw this and moved her chair over without hesitation, and continued to sit on Duncan's right hand side as a matter of course. The pigeon Ai also fluttered over right after her. The others across the long table looked at the captain's inexplicable behavior with a confused expression.

"That position just now was unlucky," Duncan pulled the corner of his mouth, not knowing how to explain to others the inappropriate association in his mind just now. Then he waved his hand to the people across the table, "Just don't move. It's good to sit like this - it's auspicious this way."

The "people" on the opposite side listened to Duncan's explanation in a daze. No one could follow the captain's train of thought. Morris realized that this seemed to be a long-lost "subspace joke" that only the captain could understand. Nina blinked a few times and suddenly burst out laughing.

Duncan glared at him: "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, I just feel relieved all of a sudden," Nina smiled and looked at Uncle Duncan across the table, "You said the word 'unlucky' so seriously at this time, which is more reassuring than anything you said to me before."

Duncan's eyes twitched, and he understood what Nina meant. But he didn't say much, just coughed twice: "Well, like I told you before, this is the last dinner on the ship. After it's over, we will dock at the sleeping island of Queen Leviathan, and then act separately. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand, Uncle Duncan," Nina looked at Duncan across the dining table, her eyes sparkling, and then she raised the cup in her hand with a little expectation on her face, "Can I drink some fermented grape juice or wheat juice today?"

Duncan felt like it had been a long time since he heard Nina say this to him.

A smile appeared on his face and he nodded gently: "It's okay today, Shirley, you can too - you don't have to drink secretly today."

Shirley was shaking the wine glass in her hand. When she heard the captain's words, she was shocked and raised her neck subconsciously: "I didn't drink secretly!"

Duncan looked at Shirley with a half-smile: "When you stole the wine stored on the ship, didn't you notice that the bottles, glasses, and wine were all various kinds of 'mirrors'?"

Shirley was stunned: "..."

Duncan smiled and shook his head, then raised his glass and said, "Here's to this journey."

So, everyone with a hand raised his glass, everyone with a mouth and throat drank, and those who could not drink poured the wine on the floor of the Lost Homeland as a toast to the ship.

Lian Ai put his mouth into the cup very seriously, looking more solemn than ever.

Alice then stood up and began to serve soup and pancakes to everyone around the long table. She opened the soup pot in the middle of the table, which contained rich fish soup, a must-eat meal for everyone on the ship after boarding. Next to the soup pot was a large plate with golden sweet pancakes, a delicacy from Pland and the captain's favorite food.

After Alice distributed the food, Nello ran to the table again, picked up soup bowls and plates of bread and brought them to each person. The little doll, which was only as tall as an adult's arm, ran around nimbly on the dining table. Her newly born mind seemed not to understand what "this journey" meant, but she looked very happy.

"...I didn't expect such a tiny thing to be able to do things now," Shirley looked at the little doll running around on the table with curiosity, with an incredible tone, "I remember when I first saw her, she didn't move at all, lying in a wooden box. It was said that she was Luni's sister a long time ago, and had been lying in the doll shop for a hundred years..."

"Nilu's awakening was very successful, and the process of injecting her with reason and humanity was incredibly smooth," Lucrecia said casually. "Perhaps it was because of the special environment of the border and Luni's influence... This little thing had a tendency to 'revive' from the beginning."

Nello ran to Lucrecia, happily put down the soup bowl, opened her hands, and uttered a tiny voice: "Tendency!"

Duncan watched this scene with a gentle smile. After a while, he suddenly said, "Have you ever thought about the new world?"

Nina was stunned for a moment, as if she didn't understand at once: "Things...in the new world?"

"What do you want in the new world? Or rather..." Duncan thought for a moment and looked at everyone across the long table very seriously, "What does the new world you imagine look like?"