The gods dwelled in divine realms far removed from the Real World. People believed that special dimension was the World Cornerstone, yet contrary to common sense, this "cornerstone" did not lie at the bottom of the world, but at the apex of all dimensions.
The ancient Kingdom of Crete described the structure of the world as they understood it in the texts they left behind:
The World Cornerstone stood at the summit, guarded by eternal truth and order. The divine realms existed within the cornerstone, self-existent and everlasting;
Below the divine realms lay the reality inhabited by all living beings. Mortal creatures enjoyed the lingering radiance of order on this level, allowing them to survive in a relatively stable and prosperous Real World;
Below reality lay the Spirit World, which gradually strayed beyond mortal comprehension. Within it, the blessings of the gods grew sparse, while twisted and grotesque powers began to gain the upper hand;
Below the Spirit World lay the Abyssal Deep Sea, no longer suitable for life and ruled by bizarre forces. It could no longer be considered part of the material world, resembling instead a reflection of the void;
Beyond the Abyssal Deep Sea was the very bottom of the world—the depths of Subspace, where the shadows of all things gathered. The true forms of extremely dangerous ancient gods and all manner of sinister entities lurked within Subspace.
According to the records of the Ancient Kingdom of Crete, the gods established a covenant within the cornerstone. This covenant was the source and standard of all laws in the world. Order flowed downward, defining the rules by which the world operated and permeating all things in the mortal realm. Yet as "depth" continued to increase, the power of order weakened and Subspace gradually gained the upper hand—the "cornerstone" where the gods dwelled and Subspace were like the upper and lower endpoints of the world, while "order" flowed one-way between those two points.
This was an ancient gift left to the world by that glorious civilization which blazed a trail during the Deep Sea Era ten thousand years ago. Over the long ages, countless scholars had devoted their lives to studying this "layered structure" without finding any flaws in the model. By now, it had become the universally recognized "World Standard Model."
Within this standard model, mortals of the earthly realm could fall into deeper places, but few could return from the "deep layers" to the "shallow layers." Even if the occasional lucky soul returned from the Spirit World to reality, no one had ever heard of any heaven-defying being capable of reaching the "cornerstone" dimension where the gods dwelled from reality.
That was precisely why the Lost Homeland, having returned from Subspace to reality, had become the most absurd phenomenon in the world—its return voyage defied people's understanding of the World Standard Model.
Yet from another perspective, the existence of the Lost Homeland also conformed to that classic statement concerning anomalies and phenomena: the Law of Permanent Anomaly and Phenomenon Inaccuracy.
But no matter what, Bishop Valentine and Vana did not believe that Ghost Captain had the ability to take revenge on the Goddess of Storms—even if he had the will, he could not accomplish such a thing.
For the "cornerstone" and the Real World were discontinuous. They did not share the relationship of continuous descent and material exchange that existed between reality and the Spirit World, or between the Spirit World and the Abyssal Deep Sea. To this day, no scholar had found evidence that the "cornerstone" could directly connect to the Real World. Even the gods could only indirectly exert their influence through projections, divine decrees, and similar means. How could a ghost ship possibly launch an attack on the realms of the gods?
Since he could not seek revenge on the Goddess of Storms herself, the only remaining choice was naturally her followers in the mortal realm.
The Storm Cathedral, headquarters of the Deep Sea Church, was a "Pilgrimage Ark" that sailed hidden across the Boundless Sea. It came and went without a trace, and Your Holiness the Pope, who presided over the ark, wielded the power to command storms on behalf of the Goddess. It was not an easy target.
Pland City-State, fixed upon the sea, conspicuous, and open to outsiders, naturally became the better choice: eighty percent of its people were followers of the Goddess of Storms.
Vana had already concluded that Ghost Captain had come for revenge—after all, the Lost Homeland had fallen into Subspace during a storm a hundred years ago. She could think of no other explanation for why the Lost Homeland, gone for so many years, had suddenly returned to the Real World and pointed its spear at Pland City-State.
But what exactly did Ghost Captain intend to do?
Vana furrowed her brow and slowly spoke as she thought. "Bishop Valentine, do you think... the Lost Homeland might be connected to the recent disturbances caused by those Sun worshippers in the city-state?"
After speaking, she paused before adding, "In last night's dream, I saw the burning sun and the Lost Homeland appear in Pland together. Perhaps the simultaneous arrival of two disasters was an omen the Goddess gave me..."
"But don't forget that at the underground ritual site, that contaminated 'Sacrifice' killed a priest of the dark Sun. That was a baptized 'Emissary,'" the bishop said, shaking his head. "At least at that ritual site, the Lost Homeland and the Black Sun appeared to be enemies."
Vana said nothing for a moment, merely falling into thought because of the bishop's words. After a brief silence, the old man across from her continued, "As for those cultists who worship the dark Sun, I did receive some intelligence from Lensa City-State this morning..."
Vana immediately raised her head. "Intelligence?"
"The Sun Heretics are not merely reviving in Pland. They have been active in many city-states recently. A large number of Sun Heretics have passed through Lensa and Port Moko in transit and are gathering in Pland. Some of them have been captured," the old bishop said with a nod. "During interrogation, those heretics mentioned the 'Sun Shard.'"
"Sun Shard... the remnants that broke off after the 'True Sun God' disintegrated?" Vana suddenly realized. "They believe a Sun Shard is hidden in Pland?"
"That seems to be the case for now. No one knows where those heretics obtained their information. Perhaps they received some 'revelation' in their madness. In any case, they now firmly believe that part of their 'Lord's' remains is hidden in this city," Bishop Valentine said calmly. "And they regard it as the hope for the Black Sun's revival."
"...Those lunatics," Vana could not help cursing under her breath. "How many lives have they already harmed in order to revive that blasphemous dark sun?"
"Black Sun is our name for it. In their eyes, their Sun God shines with light and represents the truest order—you cannot expect a group of insane cultists to retain any conscience while their hands are drenched in blood," Valentine said, shaking his head. "They firmly believe that everything they say and do is justice. When dealing with them, only two languages work: caliber and poundage."
Hearing the bishop make a remark so characteristic of the Deep Sea Church, Vana's mouth twitched as well. "Looks like we'll be busy."
"The Boundless Sea is never peaceful, and the city-states are part of the Boundless Sea as well," Valentine said. "Captains must face the storms of the sea. We must face the storms brought by fools of the mortal realm. Inquisitor, prepare yourself. Pland City-State may be facing a challenge."
"Two challenges," Vana corrected seriously. "Besides the followers of the Black Sun, there is also a mysterious and terrifying Ghost Captain. If the Lost Homeland and the Black Sun truly are not on the same side, then our one problem has become two."
Bishop Valentine pondered briefly. "Perhaps there is another possibility—judging by what happened at the sewer ritual site, the Lost Homeland might end up fighting the followers of the Black Sun?"
"...Then those two problems will combine into one world-ending problem, Bishop Valentine," Vana said, looking at the old man whose thoughts had clearly begun to wander. "A ghost ship returned from Subspace fighting a group of cultists scrambling for Sun Shards inside Pland City-State, possibly accompanied by a descent of the dark Sun—I cannot imagine anything worse."
Bishop Valentine sighed and admitted that Vana was right.
"In any case, we should work with the city watch to arrest all the Sun Heretics who have infiltrated the city-state and eliminate the threat of the Black Sun before the situation worsens. That is the more achievable objective," Vana said. Freed from the Lost Homeland's mental interference and back in a field she excelled at, her mind had clearly become more active. "As for that ghost ship... we do not know what it will do next, so there is nothing we can act on for now. We can only strengthen surveillance of the Spirit World and the waters surrounding the city-state..."
As she said this, the young inquisitor could not help shaking her head, her expression stern yet helpless. "Damn it, who could possibly know what a Ghost Captain would want to do next..."
"I'd like some more ketchup..." Duncan waved to Nina across the dining table. "Just pass it over. I can do it myself."
Nina immediately handed over the ketchup. "All right, Uncle Duncan."
It was already noon. Duncan and Nina were having lunch in the small kitchen on the second floor. The antique shop's meal was simple—a local Pland specialty of savory fried pancakes with ketchup or hot sauce, along with thick vegetable soup. It could hardly be called gourmet food, but both Duncan and Nina ate with great enjoyment.
Duncan had not eaten such a normal lunch in a very long time, and neither had Nina.
Duncan felt that he was beginning to like this place.
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