Lu Li stepped onto the port long since abandoned by humanity.

The icy chill of winter's aftermath blew, tearing at the breath he exhaled.

The Vena Refuge and Old Belfast are close. Both are port cities, both exist along mountains, but tragically, there is no light to favor here, only the numerous underground inhabitants distinguish Vena Ice-Free Port from other lost townships.

"Mr. Luli, long time no see."

Though he complained about Lu Li's reckless travel, Matthias was still delighted by his arrival.

"The surface is not safe."

Lu Li told this to the authority figure who had ventured from the refuge zone at risk.

"You've crossed the deep sea to reach Vena Ice-Free Port, whereas I merely came from the surface to the ground." Matthias said humbly, his gaze landing on the ship's deck where the Banyan Tree Guardian swayed like anemones in the dark: "Are these your... friends? Seeing them in person is even more astonishing than reading about them in letters."

Having witnessed the existence of the Ancients and corresponded with Lu Li, Matthias undoubtedly could accept these mystical allies.

The twisted figure in the form of Saint Aileen, amid the believers' throng, approached Lu Li and greeted Matthias: "I am the inheritor of the Ancients·Star of the Land of Light·Twisted Shadow."

Perhaps having tea with the Mother of the Marsh and the twisted figure every afternoon was a bad idea.

"I am Ophelia... the undead returned from hell·an exile of Belfast."

Ophelia was a recent addition.

"A pleasure to meet you both." Matthias expressed welcome and showed no unease at their introductions.

Lu Li and Matthias did not waste time on pleasantries and got straight to the point: "Before your arrival, we had already secured the dock surroundings. There's bad news... we didn't find any warships in the dock, the Knights Order questioned the only sailors who successfully retreated to the refuge..."

During that despairing disaster that Vena Refuge's inhabitants wished to forget, the naval fleet was executing a clearing task outside the bay. Tragedy struck: except for the fastest small warship "Asahel" returning to port, the remaining warships did not make it back, including the emblem of honor for Vena Ice-Free Port: the flagship "Hegelus Giant".

And the Asahel too, like the other port's vessels initially, drifted out to sea during the following four months of harsh winter, its fate unknown.

Only the Heimgro Number was spared due to maintenance at the shipyard—it should still be there.

That was also one of Lu Li's destinations, where the repair team for Andrea was waiting among the Knights Order.

The twisted figure declined Matthias' offer to have the Knights Order clear a path. Its believers stepped into the cold seawater, heading towards the shipyard. The Banyan Tree Guardian also moved its roots, slowly advancing like a waking giant.

The Knights Order clustered around Lu Li and Matthias.

A few minutes later, the twisted figure brought back good news from the believers.

No anomalies occupied the shipyard, the Heimgro Number was still there, the bad news was that after enduring the winter, it urgently needed maintenance; the good news was that the repair crew had already arrived.

The Knights Order temporarily took on the task of laborers, carrying soil to the shipyard's front for the Banyan Tree Guardian to take root, then guarded the area alongside the Twisted Cultists.

Lu Li, with Ophelia and the twisted figure, followed Matthias to visit the Vena Refuge.

However, Lu Li and Ophelia needed to don cloaks to conceal their bodies.

"We attempted to clear a street from the refuge entrance to the port, but they keep attacking endlessly, so we can only temporarily open passable routes." Matthias explained.

Casualties were inevitable.

On the way to the refuge, Lu Li saw many houses on the dim street sides with boarded windows. Some were new, some old.

The old marks came from residents who didn't seek shelter during the original darkness, the new marks from those who ran out of the shelter.

"Remember those coastal refuge points designated for migration, I sent soldiers to maintain order there, I don't want a bunch of robbers and criminals becoming citizens of the Land of Light, and neither should you."

On the road, a team of knights rushed from the port to inform them that a group of civilians broke into the port wanting to board the ship.

They came from the coastal refuge, having heard the news of Andrea docking.

Matthias looked at Lu Li, waiting for him to decide.

"How many of them are there?"

"Less than a hundred." Whether due to the cold or excitement, the Knight Captain's voice trembled slightly.

"Let them return to the refuge point first; after repairs, I will take them away."

The knights left with the response, and the encircled Lu Li and Matthias continued forward.

"The Land of Light needs construction now, are you sure you want to take a group of civilians who can do nothing back?" Matthias asked.

"The camp currently only needs scientists and students."

The Land of Light needs accumulation.

First, they must restore the lost steam technology, then find the similarly missing survivors of Midnight City.

The good news is that everything in the camp progresses orderly; the bad news is that the crisis won't allow much time. Whether it be the Mist of Strangeness eroding the Land of Light and the Land of Vortex, or the anomalies coveting from outside.

Reaching an open park, entering the entrance, and passing long stairs, Lu Li arrived at the more cramped than the old sewer, with corridors crisscrossing, and doors arranged like cells, the refuge area.

Residents along the way stayed in cell-like, foul-smelling narrow rooms, numbly watching or listening to the clamoring of knights moving along the corridor. They could not recognize Matthias, nor spared attention for what major figure was passing by outside.

This pigsty-like atmosphere slightly improved upon stepping into the Inner Ring.

Corridors were no longer narrow, rooms had privacy, and decorations along with fluorite lamps hung on the rock walls.

"We have been considering relocation, the attacks by anomalies are becoming more frequent, they know we are here..."

"The worms can help you."

"I know, but too many people don't want to leave..."

A cave adorned with star-like fluorite appeared before them.

Elegant buildings constructed along the rock walls, a granite fountain erected in the center of the cave's plaza.

This is the core of the Vena Refuge, both in politics and wealth.

"Is it they who don't want to leave?"

Lu Li's gaze fell on the gentlemen in suits and the ladies in gowns on the plaza.

As if this was not the underground where they hid in distress, but a night awaiting streetlights.

"The current number of citizens in the Vena Refuge is eighty-seven thousand, a week ago this number was ninety-three thousand, half a month ago it was a hundred thousand, and going further back, over a hundred thousand..."

When it was still Vena Ice-Free Port, there were over three hundred thousand people.

Matthias' answer lay in the decreasing numbers: "We are dying slowly, hunger, plague, death, war saturate the underground... we dare not do anything, for who knows what the cost would be."

They could only accept the gradual frailty that delay brought, and Matthias had always held on to the excuse: Vena Refuge must persist until the Land of Light no longer needs help.

"I'll have the worms come to help you dig deeper." Lu Li made the decision for the indecisive Matthias.

"Eighty-seven thousand residents are not just a number."

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