Chapter 180 Anomaly

The figure in the mirror really left—without doing anything unnecessary, just as he said at the beginning, only "coming over to check the situation."

Vanna stared warily at the mirror for a long time before finally confirming this and truly relaxing.

Immediately afterwards, she fell into a brief period of introspection and paranoia.

The paranoia was due to the professional habits of an inquisitor. She found it difficult to truly trust a "person" like Captain Duncan, who carried a century-old terrifying legend and was also associated with the sub-space, even if the other party really looked rational and friendly, and had indeed sheltered the city-state of Pland. The reason for her introspection was simpler—

She realized that she had gradually reduced her vigilance in her communication with Captain Duncan.

This was an inappropriate display of weakness, and she had never thought this would happen to her.

Ultimately, this was because she had fallen into turmoil and self-doubt, losing the purity of her faith, which led to loopholes in her mind.

Vanna was very introspective, and in the end, she sighed softly.

In any case, the city had survived safely. She would tell Bishop Valentine what happened tonight, including… her own wavering.

The young inquisitor's sigh disappeared into the darkness along with the extinguished lights.

…

On the second floor of an antique shop in the lower city, Duncan withdrew his gaze from Pland Cathedral. Looking at the city-state's night view with its myriad lights in the distance, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

He didn't know what happened to Vanna, but one thing was clear: the young inquisitor's mental state had experienced a brief and dangerous wavering just now—this wavering even directly touched his perception, forcing him to make a projection directly in the real world to check what was wrong with Vanna.

Now, recalling it, the aura he felt on Vanna at the time was actually a little familiar—that aura was hidden deep in her spiritual world, surrounding her. If he distinguished it carefully, it was a bit like…

Like the wonderful feeling he felt on the hull of the *Vanishing Sea*, observing the chaotic light and shadow outside the hull through those cracks.

It was the sub-space.

And judging from the questions Vanna suddenly asked him at the end, the troubles she encountered might really be related to the sub-space.

Duncan unconsciously tapped the windowsill with his fingers, guessing at the truth.

Before leaving, he strengthened the mark he left on her, which should help her resist the possible erosion when necessary, but the key question was, why did a trace of the sub-space suddenly appear on Vanna, this high-level saint?

Duncan's thoughts expanded, and he suddenly connected it with some other clues, or rather, "knowledge"—under certain circumstances, the souls of the Four Gods' believers are more easily eroded by the sub-space than those of ordinary people, and after their souls are eroded, they will even directly generate a crack connecting the real dimension and the sub-space. In the small church in the Sixth District, the initial invasion also started from the soul shadow of that nun…

Could a similar situation appear on Vanna? If so, what is the reason behind this counter-intuitive phenomenon?

After a moment of contemplation, Duncan sighed and turned away from the window.

In any case, he should pay more attention to this special "node" that is Vanna in the future—now Vanna lacks trust in him, this "ghost captain," so she certainly won't take the initiative to tell him all her secrets, which requires him to put in more effort.

On the way back to the bedroom, Duncan heard the giggling voices of two young girls coming from the next room—it was Nina and Shirley.

Although they had returned to the city-state from the *Vanishing Sea*, they still seemed very excited, especially Nina.

That child didn't seem to have any psychological shadow left by the gloomy and terrifying earth spirit, nor did she have any unease about the future—she was as cheerful as usual, even… even a little more cheerful.

Is it the influence of the Sun Shard? Or is it because she herself has a strong ability to accept things?

Duncan was thoughtful.

He suddenly felt… that he seemed to have discovered some unexpected "talent" in Nina.

As night fell, the cold and pale light of the World Scar illuminated the open deck of the *Vanishing Sea*.

Light footsteps broke the silence on the ghost ship under the night. A figure in a gorgeous long dress, with silver hair draped over her shoulders, came to the helm at the stern.

Alice looked up at the captain, who was personally learning to steer, and her light purple eyes reflected the glow, making them sparkle: "Captain! Where are we going next?"

"No destination for now, let's leave the busy shipping lanes between the city-states for the time being," Duncan looked down at the doll. "You seem to be in a good mood?"

"Yes, yes!" Alice nodded excitedly. Even if her appearance was elegant and noble, the joy when she nodded was enough to make one feel simple and honest. "It's so lively on the ship today! It's the first time I realized that just having a lot of people together can be so interesting…"

"It's not always 'interesting' to put people together—but it may be difficult for you to understand that now," Duncan said casually. "Also, control the range of your nodding. They were scared when your head fell off today."

"Oh, oh…" Alice hurriedly held her head, and then seemed a little worried. "Then… won't they not come in the future because of this?"

"That worry is unnecessary."

Alice said "oh" again, and then asked after being quiet for less than two seconds, "Then… can I still go to the city-state to play in the future? I didn't get a good look at the world this time, and I encountered… messy things, and I felt dizzy…"

Duncan's gaze swept across the sea and then returned to Alice: "Of course, I can have Aiyi send you to the antique shop tomorrow—I still need you to help out at the shop."

"Really?" Alice's eyes clearly lit up. She seemed very surprised. "I thought… we wouldn't be going back to the city-state most of the time in the future, after all… it seems that you've already finished your business there?"

Duncan didn't answer her immediately, but deliberately remained silent for several seconds before suddenly asking, "Do you think I'm paying attention to Pland because there's something I have to do?"

Alice was stunned, and then belatedly scratched her head: "I… I don't know."

Duncan smiled and shook his head, lightly releasing the helm.

A slight creaking sound came from all over the *Vanishing Sea*, and the spirit sails on the mast slightly retracted a bit as the ship entered the "cruising state" taken over by the Goat Head.

"We just solved a problem caused by a bunch of cultists," Duncan stepped down from the helm and walked towards the captain's room, casually saying to Alice, "As for Pland… I think that city-state has a special connection with me."

The captain walked away, and Alice thought in confusion for a while, turning her head to look in the direction he left: "… As expected of the captain, so profound…"

Duncan came to the door of the captain's room. He raised his head and saw the words "Door of the Vanished" reflecting the dim light from the World Scar on the door frame.

He took a light breath, calmed his spirit, and then placed his hand on the doorknob.

He gently pushed it inward.

A hazy and distorted mist appeared before his eyes. Duncan stepped forward, feeling the familiar momentary weightlessness and slight dizziness. The sense of dislocation, as if traversing endless time and space and arriving at his destination in an instant, passed by, and then, the surroundings fell silent.

The endless sound of waves and the slight creaking of the *Vanishing Sea* had faded away, and the fishy sea breeze had quietly disappeared. Familiar auras came from the surroundings, auras from the room he had lived in for many years.

Zhou Ming opened his eyes, looking at the unchanged scenery in his studio apartment.

As usual, the first thing he did after returning here was to check the general situation of the entire room, to confirm whether there had been any changes since he left, to confirm whether there were signs of the fog outside the window dissipating, and to confirm whether the thin ropes and scraps of paper he left on the window and windowsill had been moved.

Even though he knew it was meaningless, he still completed this series of "confirmations" as a task that had to be done.

After completing this series of confirmations, his second task was to come to his desk.

Zhou Ming lowered his head, looking calmly at the things on his desk.

A miniature model of the city-state of Pland was placed quietly on the table.

Exquisite, restored, every detail was lifelike, and even every brick and every lamppost might be exactly the same as the real Pland.

Or in other words, this was the real Pland presented in some form in his studio apartment as a "projection."

It appeared here, just as expected.

The fine flames that jumped and burned on the desk at the beginning completed the final carving of this "collection." Now, this perfect masterpiece was presented before its owner.

Zhou Ming breathed lightly, slowly sat down at the table, and looked at the exquisite "model."

Compared to the "model" of the *Vanishing Sea*, the size of this "city-state" was obviously much larger, but it was obviously not a proportional scale. Its size seemed to be just right to fit into a separate compartment of the shelf, as if it was custom-made for that place.

And in this lifelike model of the city-state, there were no shadows of any residents. It seemed that the "people" living in the city-state could not form a projection here?

Zhou Ming was thoughtful, and in his thoughts, he repeatedly looked at the city-state of Pland for a long time. Finally, he gently breathed a sigh of relief, held up this large "collection" with both hands, and carefully placed it on the shelf not far away.

After placing it, he took two steps back and silently admired his new collection.

The *Vanishing Sea* has left Pland, but the captain… has never left his loyal city-state.