Deep Sea Embers

There was a loud bang, and the Annihilation Cult suddenly vomited blood and flew ten meters away. It didn't stop until it hit the trunk of a towering tree and slid to the ground like a broken sack.

The last look he showed was one of great astonishment and confusion - maybe he had imagined all kinds of powerful enemies and traps in his life, but he probably never imagined that one day he would be smashed away with a dog.

Shirley held Agou's chain, walked step by step to the cultist who could no longer move a finger, and stopped at a relatively safe distance.

This cultist is still alive - or, in this "dream", the serious injuries that would be fatal in the real world do not seem to be enough to kill him, even though his head was almost smashed into the neck cavity, and most of the joints in his body were They all showed a weird and terrifying bending state. This guy was still alive, but was too weak to move, and could only stare here with anger mixed with a little fear.

Shirley ignored the other's frightening eyes, raised the chain in her hand slightly, and Ah Gou stepped forward, leaning in front of the cultist.

"Who are you..." The Annihilation cultist made a difficult voice in his throat. He watched the ferocious and terrifying deep hound approaching him, and a trace of fear finally appeared uncontrollably in his eyes. Not far away, The "death bird" that lived with him also struggled a few times, seeming to want to resist, but quickly quieted down due to the symbiont's extreme weakness, which made his voice sound more and more bluffing, "What are you going to do?" ?!"

"This place is a dream. I can't catch you in the real world." A smile slowly appeared on Shirley's face. She raised the arm that was symbiotic with the chain and gently placed the dark chain on her face. He rubbed it, his expression still harmless, "And if we meet without warning, it will be dangerous if I don't notice it in time, so I have to leave some marks..."

"mark……?"

The Annihilation Cultist who fell on the ground was stunned for a moment, and the next second, he saw the mysterious hound approaching suddenly opened its mouth wide, and the terrifying skeleton teeth ruthlessly bit down - he only had time to react in fear With a scream, the terrible pain almost tore his consciousness apart, and one of his arms has already turned into a piece of flesh and blood in the mouth of the deep hound.

"I remember your smell, we will catch you in the real world -" Agou raised his head, his blood-filled eyes fixed on the wailing Annihilation cultist, and a hoarse low came from the chest made of bones. voice, "Take you alive, and he will reward us..."

The wailing stopped suddenly, and the cultist's eyes widened in an instant, staring at the ferocious deep hound in front of him. He opened his mouth wide. He didn't know whether he was shocked that this deep demon could speak human words, or because he just heard it. I felt great fear and danger in the last sentence - "He" will reward... What is the origin of this weird girl and this weird demon? Who is the "Him" they mentioned?

The next second, the figure of the Annihilation Cult suddenly began to fade and become distorted. In just one or two breaths, his figure disappeared out of thin air in front of Shirley and Agou.

"Sure enough, he ran away." Agou turned his head and shook his head from side to side with a helpless tone. "It should be that this guy's accomplices in the real world noticed something and forcibly 'dragged' him away... This kind of spirit We can't stop the transfer of levels."

"It's okay, don't you remember his scent?" Shirley waved her hand, and then confirmed with a serious face, "Can you really find it in the real world?"

"Don't stay too far away - if that guy happens to appear within my range of perception, I will definitely be able to find him," Agou said in a muffled voice, "The Deep Hound is the demon best at tracking, he can't erase it. Get rid of the traces I left behind."

"That's good," Shirley breathed a sigh of relief, "It would be great if I could catch a job, even if I could top two papers..."

Agou ignored the second half of Shirley's words. He raised his head and heard the chaotic wind and noise coming from all directions in the forest. He saw that the trees in the distance were becoming transparent and dim in patches, and the dream was about to begin. Signs of disintegration have become increasingly apparent.

Obviously, something is exerting influence on this dream—it is about to wake up.

…

There seemed to be some sound coming from the darkness. It sounded like a chaotic wind howling, breaking the branches of the treetops as it blew through the woods, but when you listened carefully, it seemed like it was just an illusion.

Duncan didn't have the extra energy to pay attention to the faint sounds coming from the darkness. He had already been attracted by the incredible scene in front of him.

It was indeed the Lost Home - after spreading his perception deep into the vine, in the center of the darkness and fog, what he saw was indeed the familiar "ghost ship".

but why? Why does the figure of the Lost Home appear in this place?

Duncan got closer and saw that the "Homeless Ship" seemed to be floating on a layer of dark water. The thick, ink-like darkness seemed to be swallowing up the lower half of the ship, and on the towering deck, the entire The ship was dead silent, and no sound could be heard.

After a little hesitation, he "flyed" onto the deck of the "Lost Country".

In this darkness, he was operating from a pure "perspective", which brought him enough convenience.

There was no one on the deck, and everywhere you looked, there were old and familiar scenes.

Following the route in his memory, Duncan slowly inspected the various facilities on the deck and nearby cabins.

Everything is exactly right.

But he knew that this was not the real Lost Home, nor was it a projection of the Lost Home - because he did not feel the close connection between "this ship" and himself, nor did he feel the flames coming from him. feedback of.

This ship was made by some other force.

Those faint wind and noises came again in the darkness, and they were a little more obvious than before.

Duncan paid attention to the sounds coming from the dark depths, then came to the stern deck area and stopped in front of the captain's cabin door.

His gaze moved up, and suddenly froze.

On this door frame, there is a strange line of words engraved on it - "May He linger in dreams."

Isn't it "The Gate of the Homeless"? !

Duncan felt a little surprised, because he clearly remembered that the door above the captain's cabin was clearly written as "Homeless Man's Door", and this door was also the only way to his "bachelor apartment"... …The "Lost Home" that appeared in the depths of the dark fog was the same as he remembered. Why was the text above the door different?

He withdrew his gaze from the door frame and looked at the door panel in front of him - the next second, the door opened silently like an invitation.

The familiar captain's cabin appeared in front of him. The captain's cabin was lit with dim lights, and all the furnishings and the goat's head on the edge of the navigation table appeared in the light.

goat head?

Duncan's heart suddenly moved.

He still remembered that when he entered the subspace by mistake, he did not see a goat head on the "Broken Homelander" on the side of the subspace, but in his bachelor apartment, the "Model Lost Homeship" There is no sign of a goat's head.

The presence or absence of the goat's head seems to be a very subtle and critical "point of disagreement" between the various "versions" of Homeless.

A series of conjectures and memories instantly emerged in his mind. Duncan had already passed through the door of the captain's cabin. He cautiously came to the navigation table and looked at the black "wood carving" on the edge of the table.

The goat's head sat quietly on its base, as motionless as a real wooden sculpture, and did not respond to the approach of the "captain".

Of course, this may also be because Duncan's existence here at the moment is just a "perspective" rather than a visible entity.

Duncan made no attempt to disturb the goat's head on the table, but continued to observe cautiously.

Soon, he discovered another thing that was wrong.

The chart on the table - it was originally supposed to be a chart, which should have recorded the trajectory of the Lost Home, and recorded the known city-states and waterways in the boundless sea. However, now, what it showed was something that Duncan had never seen before. The picture I passed was a completely unfamiliar "map"!

It looks like a forest overlooked from the air. In the miniature holographic projection, you can also see undulating ridges, huge plant structures, and strange places like buildings scattered throughout the dense forest, symbolizing loss. The translucent icon of the township number is floating in the sky above the miniature projection, and is moving in the forest at an extremely slow speed.

With great astonishment, Duncan stared at the unfamiliar "chart" for a long time.

Of course, he couldn't identify any information of reference value from this completely unfamiliar map, but he recalled another strange chart he had seen on the "Broken Homelander" in the subspace. .

On the Lost Homeship sailing in the subspace, the chart also showed a strange scene: in a chaotic and dislocated unknown sea, there were chaotic and weird navigation records everywhere.

Now, he saw another unexplainable "chart" on the Homeless Ship floating in the dark fog. This time... it even showed that the ship was sailing in a forest? !

This made a bizarre thought appear in his mind uncontrollably——

How many different "versions" of the Lost Homeland are sailing in different dimensions at the same time, recording different waterways? !

And at the same time that this weird thought came to Duncan's mind, a slight creaking sound suddenly came from the side, interrupting his cranky thoughts.

He instantly turned his gaze to the direction of the sound.

The black goat's head on the edge of the nautical table is turning its neck a little bit, turning its gaze to this side.

In the pitch-black eyeballs carved from obsidian, there seemed to be a hint of consciousness gradually appearing.

The next second, Duncan heard a hoarse and low voice coming into his ears——

"Who's there..."