Beneath the spreading starlight and obscured by the Sea of Consciousness, the captain found he could no longer find any trace of the Eye of the Stars.
The Eye of the Stars had also abandoned its vessel, becoming one among countless stars. The captain now had no way of telling which one it was.
Meanwhile, the starlight continued to spread beyond the Sky Island. The Eye of the Stars seemed to have accelerated the activated pollution, causing more and more motes of light to flood into the Sea of Consciousness, helping it hide even deeper.
Seeing this, the captain could only temporarily abandon the thought of total annihilation. He ascended high into the air, first using a filter to contain the starlight's spread, then began to eliminate the activated pollution.
Thus, the forces of the starlight and the filter entered a stalemate.
