This world has gone through incredible changes in its history, marked by the "Great Annihilation." After this event, even the basic laws of the world underwent a massive transformation, making the Deep Sea Era that followed and the Order Era before it seem like two completely different "worlds."
Despite this, some people continue to tirelessly organize historical records passed down since the Great Annihilation, trying to piece together the true history from the fragmented and often contradictory documents of various city-states. Unfortunately, due to the complete break in transmission or the chaotic contradictions in the records, no one has been able to find a relatively complete and reliable account of history before the Great Annihilation.
No one knows what the world was like during the Order Era.
Fortunately, the world after the ancient kingdom of Crete has a relatively clear historical legacy. Although city-states have risen and fallen on the boundless sea, and have split and reunited, the continuity of civilization itself has never been broken. Memories of the ancient kingdom are preserved in books, carved into stones, or passed down through ancient secret families and societies. While many details have been lost, some connections remain.
Scholars believe that more than half of the reason why the cultural legacy of the Deep Sea Era has survived under such extreme conditions is due to a miraculous phenomenon that shines upon the world:
Phenomenon 001, the Sun.
This is the most powerful phenomenon known to humanity, with the widest influence. In fact, its scale is so vast and its existence so "natural" that many scholars debate whether the Sun itself is a phenomenon or a natural occurrence. However, the first recorders after the fall of the ancient kingdom of Crete, the survivors of that kingdom, referred to it as Phenomenon 001, and this ancient designation has been passed down unchanged to this day.
Clearly, not all phenomena are terrifying or harmful. Phenomenon 001 has brought safety to half of this world. During the daylight under the Sun's light, pollution from the depths of the world is almost entirely suppressed below sea level. It is this stable daylight that has allowed various city-state civilizations to develop to where they are today.
According to records left by the ancient kingdom of Crete, after the Deep Sea Era began and before Phenomenon 001 appeared, the entire world was shrouded in darkness for a whole century—the cold, dim light of the world lasted for a hundred years over the boundless sea.
That’s why the people of the ancient kingdom referred to their land as "Eternal Night," even calling their era by the same name.
Duncan stood by the narrow window, lost in thought as he looked out at the world bathed in sunlight.
What was the world like before the Great Annihilation?
Before that terrifying century of eternal night, did the world have a Sun shining on everything?
It seems likely, because despite the many gaps and contradictions in the ancient records of the city-states, there is one thing they all agree on: the Order Era was a time of light, safety, and prosperity.
But regardless, that era of prosperity and light has passed. Today, the boundless sea is illuminated by Phenomenon 001, and everyone knows this and is grateful for the daylight it brings.
Thus, in this context, the cultists who worship the ancient "true Sun," even attacking the Sun in the sky today and calling it a "false Sun," seem particularly twisted and extreme, unacceptable to the world.
They are not just attacking the Sun in the sky; they are attacking the very foundation of human civilization that has struggled to survive in the Deep Sea Era until now.
Yet Duncan knows that the Sun these cultists worship... may very well be the true form of the Sun that existed before the Great Annihilation.
From a certain perspective, these cultists hold a part of the true history—unfortunately, that true history has become the source of their distortion in this era.
Duncan does not believe that the grand ambitions of these cultists can be realized, nor does he think they can create a blazing fusion star through human sacrifices. The distortions in this world far exceed imagination; the Deep Sea Era showing this state cannot simply be explained by the loss of a star.
The night sky here has not a single star.
Duncan returned to his room, closed the door, and waved to the nearby cabinet, calling down Ai Yi, who was perched on top and rubbing its beak against it.
The pigeon landed on his shoulder, tilting its head. "Who’s calling the fleet?"
Duncan ignored the bird and walked to the bed, finding the sun emblem he had hidden in the corner. After thinking for a moment, he went to the cabinet, opened a drawer, and took out two bottles of strong liquor.
There seemed to be something stuck on the bottles. Curious, Duncan turned them to see a small note in Nina's handwriting: "Drink less."
The note looked like it had been there for a long time.
Each bottle had a note, and none of them had ever had any effect.
Duncan chuckled, closed the drawer and cabinet, and returned to the bed with the two bottles and the sun emblem, poking Ai Yi to show it what he had.
"If possible, try to bring these to the Lost Homestead."
The pigeon immediately flapped its wings, making a proud sound. "Sure, express delivery!"
Duncan nodded, settling into a comfortable position to prepare for the transition.
He had been away from the Lost Homestead for too long. Although the ship would be fine without him watching over it, he, as the captain, couldn’t just lock himself in a room forever.
Nina would go to school in the afternoon, and after her classes, she had some other things to do, so she would be busy until late. Duncan had already discussed it with her, and she would stay in the school dormitory for one more night and come back after school the next day.
During this time, Duncan planned to study the details of spirit realm transitions and, according to his previous ideas, test whether he could control the movements of both bodies simultaneously without completely severing the soul projection.
Based on his perception of the Lost Homestead while he was "here," this should be possible.
When occupying this "fresh" body, the connection between him and the Lost Homestead was clearly stronger and more stable, giving him confidence and inspiration.
As his thoughts settled, Duncan took a deep breath, and a faint green flame ignited on his shoulder. With a series of crackling sounds, the pigeon Ai Yi transformed into its ghostly bird form, and the brass compass on its chest opened with a snap.
Endless darkness, glowing lines, twinkling starlight—familiar sensations surged over him, and the path back to the Lost Homestead was the brightest "route" in this darkness.
Duncan’s consciousness swiftly traversed along this route, and in the blink of an eye, he felt his main consciousness awaken in the captain's quarters of the Lost Homestead.
But before completely leaving that dark space, he forcefully applied a "brake" using his control over the spirit fire and his own soul, trying to preserve the connection with that "antique shop."
In the captain's quarters of the Lost Homestead, Duncan slowly opened his eyes.
He looked down at his hands and then around at the familiar surroundings, hearing the familiar sound of waves nearby.
He slowly got up from the chair, and deep within his consciousness, he could clearly feel the touch of another body!
A smile slowly appeared on Duncan's face, and then, according to his understanding, he began to try to perceive and control the other body located in the antique shop through that distant connection.
He tried several times.
In the city-state of Prand, the "antique shop owner" lying quietly on the bed suddenly opened his eyes!
In the next second, the body on the bed slowly turned its head with a stiff expression, as if a zombie, looking around the room. Then it slowly moved its hands and feet, like forcing a rusty machine to start moving.
If someone saw this scene, they would probably be so frightened that they would run to find the nearest sheriff to report that someone was possessed by an evil spirit.
From another perspective, reporting it like this doesn’t seem unreasonable?
In the captain's quarters of the Lost Homestead, Duncan was turning these strange thoughts in his mind while awkwardly using a "remote view" to control that body to start moving slowly.
This was very difficult; commanding a body to move without consciousness inside it, relying only on some remote connection, was harder than making a novice control a puppet with twenty-eight joints.
But after multiple attempts, he finally succeeded in getting the body in Prand to sit up from the bed!
In the next second, the images coming back to his mind suddenly spun around.
That body fell to the floor...
Duncan sighed, "Alright, looks like I need to practice for quite a while."
(End of Chapter)