Deep Sea Embers

Fanna's words made everyone at the scene stunned.

This even breaks down many of Duncan's speculations about how "Dream of the Unknown" was just established.

Fanna didn't even enter the "forest" at all - she didn't even see a forest, but was trapped in a desert... What was that desert? !

After a moment of stunned silence, Duncan suddenly spoke: "Are there any traces of human activity in the desert? Are there any weird terrains worth paying attention to or anything that impressed you?"

"There are many strange-looking boulders, towering and twisted, as if something in motion suddenly solidified and formed. Continuous shadows can be seen in very far away, but it is impossible to determine whether it is a stone beach or a group of buildings - it is too far away. ," Fanna recalled her experience on the "other side of the dream" and told the details of what she saw. "In addition, the most concerning thing is that there is a faint red crack in the sky, which is very, very large. "

"Red crack?" Duncan's eyes suddenly changed slightly, and he became energetic. "What does it look like specifically? Apart from the red crack? What else did you see in the sky?"

"I still remember what it looks like..." Fanna said, standing up and taking the pen and paper from the low table, and quickly sketched on the paper, "Its color is dark red, and the edges are blurry, like it's filled with... The clouds and mists glow slightly in the depths, and there are still shadowy details inside..."

Everyone's eyes were focused on the tip of Fanna's pen, and Duncan couldn't help but lean forward and look at the "crack" composed of many messy lines outlined on the paper. As those lines gradually merged with the ones in his memory, In response to the "red light", his expression became more solemn.

After a moment, Fanna stopped and pushed the paper forward: "That's roughly it. My painting level is limited, so I have tried my best. Apart from this crack, I didn't see anything else in the sky. "

"Is there nothing else?" Duncan was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously asked, "Where is the sun? What does the sun look like?"

For him, this question must be asked - if Vanna saw the sun in that "desert", then the "form" of that sun would be crucial!

However, Vanna still shook her head: "There is no sun - even though it seems to be daytime there, and the sky is filled with brilliance other than red light, I don't see the sun."

Everyone looked at each other, even Duncan was in a daze for a while, until Vanna's voice sounded again, waking everyone up: "That's all the information I have here."

Finally, everyone's attention finally focused on Duncan.

Nina blinked curiously: "Uncle Duncan, what did you see over there?"

"...Alice and I saw the distorted and mutated neighborhoods in the real world," Duncan pondered for a moment before speaking slowly. "The towering trees and countless vines covered the streets, just like the ones from 'The Dream of the Unknown'" The forest spread to reality, but we didn't see anything related to the 'desert'. And in the deepest part of the mutant block, we found an extremely huge vine..."

One more person means more ideas. Duncan did not hide the sights he saw when he tried to "explore" the vine - the strange Homeless Ship sailing in the dark fog, the familiar but unfamiliar goat head on the Homeless Ship, The changed sea chart, and a lot of information revealed by the goat head in a sleep-like state.

When he finished speaking, the room was even quieter than when Vanna finished speaking just now.

"This... is even more incredible than the desert I saw..." Vanna couldn't help but mutter.

Next to him, Agou also muttered in a muffled voice: "How can I put it... you are worthy of being a captain..."

Duncan glanced at the deep hound and did not pay attention to its emotion. Instead, he added: "The 'goat head' mentioned Selantis at the end, which made me very concerned."

"If I remember correctly... this is the name of the 'World Tree' in the ancient legend of the elves." Vanna nodded slightly. "It is also called the tree of life and the giant tree of origin. It is the belief of the elves. The first life created in the world by the great demon 'Saslokar'..."

Everyone at the scene was lost in thought. Even Alice, who had always been unable to keep up with the rhythm, looked like she was thinking hard. After a short silence, Lucretia finally raised her head. She looked at Duncan with a look on her face. A trace of hesitation: "Dad, regarding the 'first mate' of the Homeless Ship... you don't seem to have told me in detail its origin. What is that goat head..."

"It comes from subspace, I can only tell you so much," Duncan said, and then changed the topic, "But this time... I may have to go find it to confirm some things."

Now, all the clues are finally on the table. Everyone who was scattered to reality and dreams last night has summarized the information they have in front of Duncan.

After sorting out his thoughts, Duncan exhaled softly, put aside the confusing questions in his mind for the time being, and glanced at everyone in the living room.

"Now, we can be sure of a few things -

"First, the scale of the Dream of the Nameless One is expanding, its influence is increasing, and it has even developed to the point where it can interfere with the real world. It is not yet certain what the reason for this change is, but it is probably related to the so-called 'Fourth Long Night' Approach and changes in the sun.

"Second, ordinary people in the city-state seem to be completely unaware of the influence of the nameless man's dream. When a mutation occurs, people within the influence of the dream will disappear, and when the dream ends, they will return to the real world and maintain their Daily life. We are not yet sure where they went when the dream occurred, nor are we sure whether this phenomenon is limited to 'elves' - there are many merchants and adventurers of other races in Breeze Port. Next We need to find a way to confirm what happened to these people last night.

"Third, when a mutation occurs, we will be dispersed to different places - staying in the real world, entering the forest in dreams, or entering a mysterious "desert". It is not yet certain what kind of Is 'dispersion' random or patterned?

"Fourth, Annihilation Cultists and Sun Cultists, as well as the Final Evangelists who provide intelligence behind them, these cultists obviously know more information..."

He compiled the known information one by one, and finally raised his head and looked at the others: "Is there anything else you want to add?"

"I can't think of it for the moment," Lucretia shook her head. "What I care about now is whether the 'mutation' like last night will happen again, and if it happens again, how should I deal with it."

"Most likely it will still happen," Morris sighed. "The influence of the Dream of the Nameless One is obviously still strengthening, and the changes it causes will only increase, but think on the bright side - the more it becomes The more it reappears, the more opportunities we have to summarize more of its laws. Now we have many uncertain conjectures, and many of these questions can be answered as long as there is a second large-scale mutation."

Listening to the analysis of the old scholar, Duncan nodded in agreement: "This is not blind optimism. We really need to summarize the rules of the Dream of the Unknown from more mutations."

"But the Dream of the Nameless One will distract us and cut off the connection between us and the captain," Vanna added on the side, "This is a big problem."

"I already have a general idea about this," Duncan recalled last night's experience, especially after establishing contact with the huge vine and setting foot on the strange "Homeless Ship". Perceiving some vague information, he said thoughtfully, "If the dream of the Nameless One expands again, I should have the opportunity to verify this idea."

Shirley raised her head and looked at Duncan, then at the others around her: "So...what about this period of time? What are we going to do next?"

"I don't know when the dream of the Nameless One will change again," Duncan said, his eyes falling on Lucretia, "Now we need to determine whether other parts of the city-state were also affected last night. The fastest way It’s to contact the governor of Qingfeng Port.”

"Leave it to me," Lucretia said immediately, "I'll go find Sarah Mel in a moment to see if he is aware of what happened last night."

Duncan hummed, then looked at Morris and Vanna: "We also need to go to nearby neighborhoods to investigate to see if, in addition to the elves, other alien residents living around Crown Street were affected by dreams, and to see if they had any special behavior last night. experience."

"Understood," Fanna immediately nodded in agreement, "This is something I am very good at."

Morris also nodded: "I know some old friends in the Institute of Truth. I can ask them to help and provide convenience during the investigation."

Duncan's eyes finally turned to Nina and Shirley.

"You two, please stay at home for now," Duncan said after thinking briefly, "I don't need you to do anything for the time being, but if I find any clues about the Sun Cultists or Annihilation Cultists, I may need your help."

Nina suddenly looked a little disappointed, but she still agreed honestly: "Oh..."

Shirley on the side asked curiously: "What about you?"

"I'm going back to the ship," Duncan said, getting up from the sofa. "Let's go now."

Alice stood up subconsciously: "Then I'll go too!"

Duncan stopped and glanced at the doll in confusion: "Why are you following me?"

Alice thought for a while, then looked at the other people in the living room, raised her hand to scratch her hair, and said confidently, "I don't know either!"

Duncan: "..."

After a brief moment of silence, he suddenly smiled and sighed.

"Okay, if you want to follow, just come. I don't feel comfortable leaving you in the city."

Alice suddenly became happy: "Hehe..."

After a while, everyone started taking action as planned.