Now, every person who remained here had gained a further understanding of the master of Holoss—at least, from the standpoint of "enhancing understanding and strengthening dialogue," they had achieved half of their goal.
Unfortunately, an awkward silence had taken hold in the hall following this "enhanced understanding." Several Popes, including Helena, seed montarily unsure whether or not to continue the conversation, while Fenna and Morris appeared still a bit tense. Sherry was comforting the restless Agou, and Nina was curiously sizing up Duncan—those abruptly appearing starlights hadn’t affected her at all.
Lucresia watched everyone in the hall with a half-smile, her expression mysteriously bordering on schadenfreude for so unknown reason.
Only Alice—the Porcelain Miss—maintained her consistently detached deanor, still lost in her thoughts. She had switched off her mind when Rune began using the concept of "congregation" to explain the world, and it took her quite a while before she seed to suddenly snap back to reality, looking around with surprise and confusion, "It’s over? Is it ti for dinner?"
The Porcelain Miss’s out-of-touch remark finally broke the awkward silence at the scene. Banster raised his head, his gaze falling on Duncan, and it took him several seconds before he couldn’t help but ask, "What exactly was that just now?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Frem, who was closest to him, swiftly stepped several paces to the side.
"I’m just asking," Banster said, glancing at Helena and Rune, who had also stepped aside, and shook his head sowhat helplessly.
"There are many secrets about , so of which... even I do not fully understand," Duncan replied, seemingly unconcerned, shaking his head with resignation. Then he looked at Rune, who was standing opposite him, with a serious expression, "However, I am very grateful for the speculations that you and Morris just made... Your line of thought has cleared so of my confusion."
"Then I hope the next ti you clear up your confusion, you could give us a heads-up," Rune said with a touch of helplessness, "Though that request might sound a bit insensitive."
Duncan chuckled: "I’ll do my best."
This dangerous topic had finally co to an end, yet the thoughts stirred by the "congregation model" proposed by Rune continued to linger in many people’s minds. Duncan returned to his spot and felt for the folded piece of paper in his pocket—his fingers brushed against it again—
Primitive ash, the "intersections" of the world’s principles, the conflict between compatibility and incompatibility, the perspective of Observers within the subset, and...
He took his hand out of his pocket and breathed out softly.
Lucresia couldn’t help but look towards Duncan.
A sense of inexplicable palpitations suddenly surged, making her heart throb violently for a few beats. She looked subconsciously at her father but felt that, just for a mont, just as her gaze shifted, her father seed... no longer there.
He had gone to a very far, so far that he was no longer in this world, in that brief mont... Lucresia felt as though she had experienced the sensation of watching Holoss enter the thick fog at the border, much like a century ago.
But that was just a montary illusion, and when she blinked again, Duncan’s figure was still sitting there, as if he had never moved from the beginning.
"So, what are the next questions?" Duncan looked up and asked the group, including Helena and Rune, who had also just settled back into their seats.
Alice scratched her hair and sat back down beside Duncan: "Oh, it’s not over yet."
Rune, on the opposite side, glanced at Alice with a subtly nuanced look and began to gather his thoughts. But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly stopped.
He frowned slightly as if he were straining to listen to a distant sound. Seeing this, Helena imdiately caught on, "Is there a ssage?"
"Spiritual Energy communication from Light Breeze Harbor, Ted Riel is contacting ," Rune looked up, his expression growing solemn, "He said the research facility set up near that ’Luminous Geotric Body’ suddenly received so signals released from within the light body..."
As he spoke, his gaze fell on Lucresia.
"The exact sa signal that the Brilliant Starship had received during the previous sun extinction event."
Lucresia stood up abruptly.
It was now dusk—the sun had not yet fully set.
Anomaly 001 was gradually moving closer to the sea level. About one-third of the two brilliant Rune Circles of light were now touching the distant ocean. The sunlight between the sky and the sea created a majestic sunset, bathing the entire sea area with a sprinkling of golden light.
In a different direction, over the waters near Light Breeze Harbor, the massive "Luminous Geotric Body" still floated quietly on the sea surface. Another pale golden "sunlight" emanated from the geotric center, evenly spreading over the surrounding sea, creating a unique scene where "two kinds of sunlights intertwined between the sky and the sea."
The "sunlight" released from the Luminous Geotric Body was warm and calm, seemingly no different from any other ti.
However, according to the records from highly sensitive observation equipnt—the specific spectra within that "sunlight" were now "vibrating" periodically in an extrely complex pattern, continuously releasing wave signals that were difficult to comprehend.
Duncan and the others arrived at the stern deck, gazing at the colossal Luminous Geotric Body near Light Breeze Harbor amidst the intertwined glow of twilight.
Frem looked towards Rune, his voice deep as he asked, "Are the signals still continuing?"
"They are still continuing. The signal has a twelve-second transmission period, repeating three tis before pausing for thirty seconds, then reappearing," Rune nodded and said, "Ted Riel has already rushed to the research station, he is personally monitoring the equipnt there..."
"The transmission period and repetition pattern are exactly the sa as last ti."
Lucracia spoke rapidly, glancing up at the nearby sea surface—her Brilliant Starship was quietly docked beside the Holoss, and at that mont, a peculiar structure at the top of its bridge was slowly rotating—
A compartnt resembling a chanical bud was angling one side towards the distant sea, its front shielding structure opening up, and the hidden precision optical lenses within shimred under the sunlight.
"I’m commanding the servants left on board to open the optical lenses on the Brilliant Starship," Lucracia explained to Duncan beside her while paying attention to the movents on her flagship, "When the sun was extinguished before, it was I who first observed the strange light signals, and only then did Light Breeze Harbor create similar devices and install them at the research facilities... In theory, if they’ve observed that signal at the research station, we should be able to observe it here too."
"Even from this distance, it’s unaffected?" Nina couldn’t help but ask in surprise.
"Light will attenuate and can be disrupted, but this distance isn’t a problem—the real question now is what this strange signal ans," Lucracia’s brows were furrowed with concern in her tone, "Last ti the signal appeared, it was after the sun had extinguished, but this ti the signal has appeared even though the sun doesn’t seem wrong..."
"Let’s approach Light Breeze Harbor first to ensure there are no problems on the City-State’s end," Duncan said, and as his words ended, the Holoss began to turn its bow, slowly accelerating in the direction of the Holoss.
The Brilliant Starship beside them, after a brief delay, received Lucracia’s orders and made the sa maneuver.
Rune watched with so surprise as the Brilliant Starship perford its agile movents and the peculiar "experintal capsule" on the top of the bridge made a "synchronized response" with the adjustnts of the ship’s posture, remarking with so admiration, "That’s a brilliant design... Miss Lucracia, did you personally complete all of this?"
"I spent a hundred years designing a ’vanguard exploration ship’ capable of completing frontier missions under any circumstances. There are many parts of this ship that make proud," Lucracia casually remarked, "But are you really in the mood to analyze the engineering technologies applied on the Brilliant Starship at a ti like this?"
"We don’t have anything else to do anyway," Rune shrugged, appearing not the least bit flustered, "Rather I’m looking forward to it—a remarkable phenonon has appeared, and this is a field I’ve never dabbled in. If we can truly unravel the secrets of the signals released by the Luminous Geotric Body, we might have the chance to truly understand what the ’sun’ above us really is. That is a good thing."
Lucracia said nothing; she had already shifted most of her focus to the Brilliant Starship, to the "servants" left on the ship.
Those servants were all crafted by her hand—each of them contained fragnts of her soul, each servant, even the entire ship was an extension of her body.
She carefully issued orders, getting the complex and precise observational equipnt on the Brilliant Starship operating.
"... The signal strength has surpassed what I observed last ti," she suddenly lifted her head, looking towards the expanse of pale golden sunlight spreading over the sea, "The situation seems a bit different from last ti..."
Duncan turned his gaze in another direction—to the slowly setting "sun" that had a third of its structure subrged below the sea level, anomaly 001.
"Last ti the sun was extinguished..." Sherry’s sowhat nervous voice ca from the side, looking rather anxious, "This ti anyway, at least the sun seems unaltered..."
She stopped mid-sentence.
A low humming sound suddenly seed to rise from the bottom of everyone’s heart.
An unusual sense of unease interrupted all conversations.
The distant sky suddenly darkened.
Sherry raised her head stiffly, staring in the direction where the sky had turned dark.
A dark, chaotic sphere, like a hollow void, along with two ring-shaped "bright edges" that seed akin to searing-hot steel, quietly hung at the edge of the sky.
The sun had extinguished once more.
"...Damn it."
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