About ten minutes later, Star Worm returned to the manor villa, his face clouded with silence.
At the villa's main gate, he ran into Gleipnir, who had long been waiting there.
"You..." Looking at Gleipnir's calm, unruffled demeanor, Star Worm hesitated again and again before finally asking, "Why didn't you just tell me directly?"
"Tell you what?" Gleipnir raised a brow at him.
"...There's nothing beyond the fog."
Gleipnir said, "And then?"
Star Worm hesitated for a moment before softly saying, "I circled around where the fog was. The entire manor seemed to be covered by an invisible Dome."
"Looking outward through the Dome, I could vaguely make out the outlines of some city buildings, but not clearly enough to tell whether they truly existed."
Gleipnir nodded. "Then why do you think that is?"
Star Worm pondered. "I don't know, but there are no more than two possibilities. First, someone used some great power to separate this manor from the city."
"Second, the so-called outlines of the city outside are false from the start. This manor is actually a constructed Box Garden, or rather... a prison."
Gleipnir did not comment on Star Worm's speculation, merely continuing, "Which possibility do you favor?"
Thinking back on everything that had happened since he had awakened, Star Worm finally said quietly, "Perhaps... the second."
The reason was simple.
Star Worm put himself in Laplace's shoes. If it had been him, when suddenly faced with an extraterrestrial visitor whose intentions, morality, and strength were all unknown, then to avoid bringing disaster upon this world, he would certainly choose a relatively hidden, perhaps even enclosed place to awaken the unknown being within the Star Mark.
And such an enclosed place would most likely be a prison cut off from the outside world.
Therefore, the second possibility