Chapter 798: Chapter 795: The Body of Civilization Chapter 798: Chapter 795: The Body of Civilization It is now late at night, yet for Homeloss sailing at the edge of the world, the sky overhead remains constantly a hazy chaos of gray regardless of day or night– the sourceless Sky Light eternally and evenly scattered among the mists, as if it will never change.

The sailor sits on the stern deck in a daze, his gaunt face bearing a complex expression, having maintained this pose for a long time, like a statue.

Duncan stands beside him, looking down at the dried-up corpse, suddenly breaking the silence: “Are you still pondering over that pile of ‘last words’ of yours?”

“…Not really,” the sailor adjusted his posture somewhat unnaturally, muttering, “It’s mainly… suddenly unsure about what to do in the future.”

Duncan raised his eyebrows slightly: “The future?”

“…In my original plan, I should have already vanished from this world by now,” the sailor was silent for a few seconds, speaking calmly and slowly, “I never thought about the possibility of continuing to ‘live’ after completing this task, never considered any such possibility–I have wandered in this world for too many years, but now suddenly I find myself having to consider my future ‘life’, and this is making me feel a bit… helpless.”

Duncan looked at him seriously: “If you’re unwilling, I can ‘fire’ you–just a moment, and you can have the ‘eternal rest’ you desire.”

The expression on the sailor’s face subtly changed after hearing this, as he awkwardly adjusted his position again: “Ah, it’s not to that extent…”

Duncan’s lips curled into a barely noticeable smile, arms crossed, looking at the sea cloaked in thin mist: “Ultimately, do you really still want that ‘eternal rest’?”

The sailor fell silent even longer this time, as if he had never really considered this question seriously until this moment, suddenly lost in thought over this matter.

After an unknown length of time, the dried-up corpse suddenly moved, a rough voice hesitantly said: “This world is still cold as ice to me.”

“But the new world will warm up,” Duncan said faintly, “There, perhaps you will no longer be a corpse, or perhaps even a corpse can still feel warmth.”

The sailor lifted his head, his eyes showing a hint of surprise: “New world?”

“Have you forgotten what you once said? What I am about to do will succeed– there will definitely be a new world in the future, these words came from you,” Duncan lowered his head, calmly gazing into the sailor’s eyes, “Do you still believe that now?”

After a moment of silence, the sailor nodded: “…I believe, all the time.”

“Good, then just wait and see it with your own eyes,” Duncan smiled, “I think it will be a great place–with the story of Sea Song, many things should be told by the stakeholders themselves if they are to be meaningful. Since you want it to be passed on to the future, do it yourself.”

The sailor, maintaining his somewhat dull posture, listened to the captain’s words, and it took a long time for those deep wrinkles on the face of the corps to suddenly ease, he smiled, although still as ugly and terrifying as ever: “Alright, I’ve figured it out.”

He slowly stood up, looking at this still cold world, the wrinkles on his face more relaxed than before: “I want to see that ‘new world’, captain–I really don’t want to die.”

“Alright,” Duncan exhaled, smiling as he stepped forward and patted the other’s shoulder, “Then let’s not die.”

It is now late at night, and in seven hours, the scheduled time for Homeloss and Brilliant Starship to set sail will arrive.

After a night of rest, the crew members gathered on the deck, and Alice, once again, came to the stern’s control station– Miss Doll, her face tense, stood solemnly in front of that dark, heavy wheel.

Brilliant Starship quietly sat next to Homeloss, waiting to depart.

“Take it easy,” Duncan, standing beside Alice, spoke in a gentle tone to the doll, “You’ve tried it once before, this ship is also prepared, just do it like last time.”

“Yes!” Alice nodded stiffly, moving forward half a step with a determined expression, reaching for that particularly heavy-looking steering wheel.

Before the doll’s fingers touched the steering wheel, Duncan and Fenna simultaneously turned around and looked back at the depths of the archipelago once more, towards the fog-shrouded sea–in the center of the sea encircled by islands, the sound of gentle waves came faintly and seemingly real, as if bidding farewell.

Duncan nodded slightly toward that direction, and whispered in a voice only he could hear: “Goodbye, I will come to see you again.”

The next second, the doll’s fingers touched the steering wheel of the Homeloss–the execution authority of Pilot Three began to take over the entire ship.

A massive illusion descended from the sky, under the chaotic Sky Light, the shattered projection of the New Hope arrived, quickly spreading shadows enveloped the Homeloss and the Brilliant Starship along with a considerable area of the surrounding sea, then, an ethereal and distorted voice seemed to pierce through distant times, echoing deep in everyone’s mind:
“…Jump engine activated, New Hope is setting sail… May we meet again at the distant destination, future hope awaits us all…”

The voice filled with interference and distortion gradually dissipated, and the entire fog-covered sea area also gradually vanished, outside the hulls of the Homeloss and the Brilliant Starship, the entire world quickly lost all color and detail, and reverted to that familiar, monotonous and uniform “gray-white.”

Only the ancient projection of the New Hope still floated above the two ships, resembling a protective figure spreading its wings.

Alice was holding the steering wheel tightly, her eyes wide open looking into the far distance–countless “threads” connected her, connected the Homeloss and the Brilliant Starship, as well as the projection of the New Hope, her thoughts had temporarily left this doll’s shell, and transformed into the will and guidance of navigation.

The route ahead is clear… navigating towards the end of the world.

At the same time, the long night continued to envelop the Endless Sea–under the enduring nightfall, a new “order” had already begun to operate for survival.

A glorious “sunlight” was slowly moving over the ocean, heavy tugboats were pulling the heavy Sun Shards navigating the long routes among the City-States, the pale golden light emanated from the tugboats spreading out for tens of kilometers, and in that pale golden radiance, countless large and small cargo ships were present.

The fleets navigating between the City-States set sail with the moving sunlight. The powerful steam cores propelled them through this endless night, captains delivering crucial supplies to the cities in dire need of them, and with them, they also brought the representative hope of sunlight–they would stay in a city for three to five days, when the sunlight dispersed the darkness and distortion of the city, and after the guards of the City-States had a chance to breathe, the fleets would set off again, loaded with new goods, and the sunlight, heading to the next destination.

Over the entirety of the Endless Sea, fleets transporting sunlight and goods were becoming more numerous.

The City-State alliance in the north had already started operating as planned, while in the central sea, the new “Sunlight Route” centered around Prand had completed its first long-distance oceanic goods transport under the nightfall. In Phaeron, the White Oak as the lead ship, led the tugboats dragging the Sun Shard breaking through the night’s blockade, reconnecting the isolated cities, and at the distant Light Breeze Harbor, fleets organized by the church had entered the nightfall–they would head to Moco and Rensa, clearing the blockades in the nightfall.

Sunlight flowed in the long night, fleets were sailing in this gradually sinking world, much like those pioneers in the Ancient Era who explored the dark islands, wielding axes and torches in the wild forests, constantly battling the spreading and increasingly profound darkness, maintaining the flow of blood within this giant called “civilization” as it gradually stepped towards decay.

Taran El stood atop the highest tower in Light Breeze Harbor, somewhat pensively watching the pale golden light gradually moving away over the sea, he saw the huge Luminous Geometric Body, like light-forged crystals, being pulled by the heavy tugboats heading into the nightfall, and in that gradually receding sunlight, countless large and small ship shadows were faintly visible.

This was the first cargo fleet departing from Light Breeze Harbor, over the next seven days, they would cross this long night, under the protection of sunlight, delivering goods to Moco, then setting off from there to attempt to reach the more distant central sea, and enter the “Sunlight Route” established by Prand, achieving a “connection” with the traffic lines there.

If all goes well, after that the central and southern seas will be reconnected once again.

And now, Light Breeze Harbor had already sunk into the night.

The “sunlight” that had always enveloped the City-States for the past year had left, and for the first time Light Breeze Harbor was truly facing this long night, darkness had now descended on all the streets, gas lamps lit up in the night, outlining the cityscapes in Taran El’s view.

Footsteps came from behind, Taran El didn’t turn around, but he already knew who had come.

“Honestly, I feel a bit melancholic, Ted, do you understand this feeling?” he said casually, “For most of the past year, I’ve been studying that Sun Shard, it had almost become a part of Light Breeze Harbor–including many people like myself, we never thought it would leave this place.”

“It’s now more than just a ‘research sample,’ after Vision 001 fell, it has become a part of the lifeline for many City-States,” Truth Confidant Ted Riel came to the terrace edge, joining Taran and looking at the city below engulfed in nightfall, “…I’ve received orders from the academy, ‘sustenance’ will be the primary mission for all City-States, all people from now on, everything else must give way to it.”

Taran El listened silently, sagte nichts, nach einer langen Pause, seufzte er und durchbrach das Schweigen: “Let’s take a walk on the pier.”