Deep Sea Embers

I don't know if it's an illusion, but since entering this twisted and weird "forest", Agou has been a little sentimental - he has lamented a lot of things, and recalled some past events that he had not mentioned for a long time. Some things even Shirley herself I don’t even remember it, but it still remembers it very clearly.

After some hesitation, Shirley decided to express her feelings.

"Sentimental? Me?" Hearing Shirley's words, Agou was startled for a moment, then became confused, "Really? I've been feeling and reminiscing?"

"Well," Shirley nodded repeatedly, "Although you occasionally bring up old memories like an old lady, or recite a lot of truths to me, you have never been so...sentimental. I feel uncomfortable when you sound like this. of."

Agou gradually stopped walking. He was finally vaguely aware of the weak influences on himself. After a moment of thinking, he tilted his head and scanned the gloomy forest with his horrifyingly hollow eyes. The blood in his eyes slowly shimmered. Slow brightness and extinction.

"The forest is affecting us... It's a certain kind of emotion," it said in a deep voice. "There is a low and depressing 'atmosphere' lingering in the whole forest. It makes me unable to help but think wildly, like... like being immersed in A huge mind is constantly disturbed by it..."

Shirley's eyes widened nervously: "Ah...ah? You mean, this forest is... thoughtful?! Have you been affected by it? Is it serious?"

Agou shook his head from side to side: "No, it shouldn't be said to be this forest, it should be said to be this dreamland... Don't forget its name, the Dream of the Nameless One. The dream itself is something created by the mind... But don’t worry, it’s not serious. This effect doesn’t seem to be targeted, it’s just passive interference caused by the environment. Shirley, are you okay?”

"I'm fine," Shirley pointed to herself, with a confused expression on her face, "Yes, even you were affected, why am I fine... maybe it's because I'm more heartless?"

"It would be nice if it were that simple," Agou muttered, "Don't let down your guard. Subtle influences are the most dangerous. The more you think everything is fine, the easier it is for something to happen. If you feel suddenly depressed or nervous and panicked, you must seek advice first. Tell me soon."

"Well," Shirley nodded quickly, then she frowned again, looking uneasily at the forest that seemed to never end, and whispered, "You think... when will the captain find us? We shouldn’t be so unlucky that we’re stuck here forever, right?”

"No, don't think about it," Agou said immediately, "Didn't you feel the faint call in your heart just now? That means the captain already knows about this, and he should be thinking of a way. We are here Just protect yourself for a while.”

"oh."

Shirley agreed honestly, but at this moment, a strange sticky sound, as if something was gradually melting and flowing down, suddenly came from not far away, interrupting the conversation between her and Agou. comminicate.

This chilling voice made Shirley's hair stand on end instantly. She yanked the black chain beside her: "Agou! This time you heard..."

"I heard it, there was something nearby-"

Agou said quickly, turning his head to look in the direction of the strange noise, and almost at the same time, an incomprehensible scene appeared in his and Shirley's field of vision——

A bush suddenly began to grow wildly, and large swaths of pitch-black material emerged from between the dense leaves like a spurt. In the blink of an eye, countless limbs fluttered and squirmed in the air, and fine, thin branches spread out at the ends of the countless limbs. Just like a crack like an eye, the towering giant tree next to it seemed to "melt" in a series of strange noises. The thick trunks flowed down like silt. The canopy that covered the sky lost its support, but gradually moved towards the sky. It grows, and is stretched and distorted in the distorted light and shadow like illusory flames, turning into countless pale flocs flying down. The earth is churning, as if it suddenly turned into a layer of soft and sticky skin, and there seems to be something terrifying. Something is drilling through the soil and is about to break out...

The next second, a variety of chilling strange sounds suddenly erupted. Illusive burning sounds, sticky squirming sounds, and noisy hissings filled all directions in the blink of an eye. The mutated trees spread almost in the blink of an eye. Everywhere you look, everything in front of you seems to suddenly come to life, and in the crazy and twisted growth, it takes on the appearance of the deepest nightmare!

Everything is mutating, everything is distorting, everything is impacting the boundary between perception and reason - right in front of Shirley and Agou, this dream surges, and something dark and malicious finally emerges from the earth, which is the flow of The shadow was shrouded in shapes and things that could not be described in words. It seemed that there were countless eyes and fangs piled up in the squirming mud. Shirley only glanced at them and realized that her only Things that should be done.

"Run!"

She only had time to yell, and before she could finish her words, she had already turned around and ran out, running in a direction that seemed to be relatively "stable" at the moment. The rugged forest land was rolling and undulating under her feet, and every step she took as she ran out was like The feeling of stepping on cotton or the skin of some kind of soft-bodied creature is disgusting and terrifying.

The body strengthened by the symbiosis of the deep demons unleashed its greatest potential at this moment. She felt that she had never run so fast in her life!

The dark and ferocious chain was stretched straight in an instant, and Agou was pulled by Shirley and flew directly into the air, rising and falling in the air as the latter ran.

Shirley just dragged Agou and ran all the way out in the forest. However, after running for a while, she took the time to look back and saw that the surging nightmare was still chasing behind her, so she shouted again at the top of her lungs. Shouting: "Change!"

Before she finished speaking, she swung the chain in her hand forward, and Agou was thrown forward by her——

Agou had already adjusted his posture before landing, with all four paws on the ground firmly, and then continued to run forward without any delay, relying on the momentum just thrown over him!

Now it's Shirley's turn to fly in the air.

And during these relays, the ever-changing, nightmarish "forest" was always chasing behind them, like a nightmare phantom that could never be shaken off.

It even gave Shirley a terrifying illusion, as if the entire forest had come to life, and with furious malice, it was chasing and hunting her and Agou from all directions, as if it was determined to eat them alive. Own!

But luckily, just when she felt that she really wouldn't be able to run away, the "nightmare" that was chasing her behind suddenly slowed down.

Just as suddenly as it happened, the distortion and corruption of the forest stopped without warning——

Shirley dragged Agou and ran forward for several dozen meters before she realized this belatedly. She suddenly stopped beside a fallen giant tree in embarrassment and turned her head to look into the distance. The dark corruption that had stopped spreading widened its eyes in astonishment, and while breathing heavily, he said: "Agou...huh...stop over there..."

Agou's huge body whizzed past her under the action of inertia, and crashed into a pile of nearby boulders.

After the loud roar, Agou climbed out of the pile of boulders with difficulty, shaking his head and loudly saying: "What?!"

"Ah..." Shirley looked at Agou awkwardly, then pointed to the dark and twisted area in the distance that had stopped spreading, "It suddenly stopped over there."

"Wait a moment..." Agou muttered, ran to the pile of rocks and opened his mouth, "Ugh——"

Accompanied by the sound of the unpleasant corrosive substance burning away the earth and rocks, the dizzy Dark Hound finally finished vomiting. Then it shook its head and slowly returned to Shirley, looking up at the place where the terrible corruption stopped.

A clear "border" remains in the forest. One side of the border is still lush and vibrant plants, but the other side has turned into a chilling, indescribable thing filled with weird twisted shadows and creeping matter. land.

Countless activated vines and flowing shadows emerging from the soil are still crawling slowly in that dark area. Even if they are no longer spreading in this direction, looking at them still makes people feel frightened from the bottom of their hearts.

Shirley didn't even dare to look over there a few more times. She finally controlled her breathing, and her voice was still trembling: "Then... what the hell is that thing?"

"I don't know... I'm not an expert in dreams," Agou came to Shirley's side and stared into the distance with extreme vigilance, "But this may be what this 'Dream of the Unknown' really looks like... Something deadly is spreading in the depths of this dreamland, but the scale of this dreamland is too great. The captain and the others didn't catch up with it last time - we caught up with it."

"Why am I the one who is unlucky..." Shirley frowned and muttered, but she quickly closed her mouth and looked in a certain direction with a wary face.

Agou also instantly retracted his gaze from the corrupted area. He let out a low roar in his throat and stared at an open space a few meters away.

A strange scent is approaching.

Although I don’t know how the strange aura appeared, it is obvious that... someone is entering this dream.

are friends? Or an enemy?

Shirley and Agou felt something...familiar but alarmingly annoying from the strange atmosphere.

The next second, under their gaze, a hazy phantom suddenly appeared in the empty open space - just like the bubbles in a dream gradually became clear, a human figure gradually condensed into the phantom.

A tall, thin young man with a sinister face wearing a dark blue coat appeared in the open space.

The moment the young man appeared, both Shirley and Agou noticed a dark phantom of a chain disappearing near the other's shoulder blade, and an ominous phantom that looked like a bird vaguely appeared at the end of the chain.

Shirley's eyes changed slightly in an instant, and she subconsciously tugged on the chain connected to A-Gou.

The "uninvited guest" not far away also reacted instantly. After noticing the strange smell at the scene, he suddenly turned his eyes.

The girl in black skirt standing with the deep hound appeared in his field of vision.

He was surprised for a moment, then frowned:

"...There are already people in this area?"