Deep Sea Embers

Rune, the clockwork doll, looked at Duncan who suddenly became distracted. After a few seconds, she couldn't help but turn to Alice next to her: "Old master, what's going on?"

Alice, on the other hand, had a "this is normal" look on her face and comforted her new friend: "It's okay, I'm just distracted. The captain often gets distracted..."

Lu Ni was stunned for a moment: "Is that so?"

The conversation between the two dolls reached Duncan's ears. He finally blinked and gradually returned to reality from his memories.

After a moment of silence, Duncan raised his hand, slowly pinched the center of his eyebrows with his fingers, and used his lowered eyelids to cover the ups and downs of his emotions - the complicated and messy thoughts were still swirling in his mind, and he was still recalling the past. I even want to dig out every day I can recall starting from the most distant childhood moments in my memory and spread them out in front of my eyes.

He finally became aware of his dreamless past and this subconscious corner that he had always ignored. However, he had to break away from the numerous memories and thoughts and focus his attention on the "reality" in front of him. .

He raised his head and looked at Alice, who was looking directly at him, and at the clockwork doll beside him who still looked nervous.

"I'm fine," Duncan said softly, "I just suddenly remembered something..."

He paused, looked into Alice's eyes and asked, "Where did we just talk?"

"I just mentioned that Luni and I were left on the 'outside' of the Dream of the Nameless One because 'dolls can't dream'," Alice immediately replied, "Then we were discussing why you were also left behind. Here……"

"'Not being able to dream' may just be a factor. The mechanism of the Nameless One's Dream is not that simple, and is likely to be changing..."

Duncan said slowly, and at the same time, he recalled the dream that scholar Tallan El had fallen into——

There is no doubt that Taran El fell into the "Dream of the Nameless One" at the beginning, but that should be the "shallow layer" of the entire dream, and the Dream of the Nameless One itself should still be in its early stage at that time. At that time, he could still enter the dreamland relatively easily with the mark he left on Heidi, instead of being blocked in the real world like now.

This shows that the "rules" of the Nameless Man's Dream are changing. As time goes by, its scope and influence are expanding. At the same time, a set of dreaming mechanisms for "filtering" have been established, just like a certain kind of self-protection.

So what’s next? Will this huge "dream" continue to grow? Will its coverage be expanded again? How will its self-protection mechanism change?

While thinking, Alice's voice suddenly sounded from the side and reached Duncan's ears: "Captain, how are the others doing? Can you feel it here?"

Duncan suppressed his chaotic thoughts for the time being. He exhaled softly, and at the same time concentrated on feeling the "imprints" he had left on other people -

The leaping flames passed through the border between reality and reality, passing through the eternal and secret dream screen. In another distant dimension, at the intersection of time and space that is difficult to describe accurately with reason, Duncan "saw" Those dancing firelights.

The flame mark left in advance worked - although it only strengthened some connections, Duncan can indeed perceive the status of Vanna and others more clearly now, and should even be able to establish communication with them.

"They are not in danger," Duncan said, nodding to Alice and Rune.

Alice immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Ah, that's good...then what should we do next?"

Duncan raised his head and looked through the window not far away, looking out at the street shrouded in chaotic night.

That "wonderful scene" has appeared outside the window again - as the influence of the nameless man's dream invades reality, lush forest plants once again cover the city-state, the continuous towering canopy blocks the sky, and the blocks under the giant trees are shadowy, a mixture of reality and reality. .

The Breeze Harbor has calmed down, and the world after entering the dream has replaced reality. Just as Duncan expected - the hasty preparations of the city-state authorities and college guards failed to produce results. Now, the awake people in this city are once again Only he and Alice were left.

Oh, and this time there’s an extra clockwork doll.

"Let's go to where the vine appeared before," Duncan said calmly, turning and walking towards the door of the mansion, "to see if it will still appear in the same place."

"Okay!" Alice agreed immediately, and then reached out to pull up Luni, who was in a daze beside her. "Let's go, let's go exploring with the captain!"

"Adventure?" Luni subconsciously followed Alice and Duncan, but obviously her brain was still a little behind the rhythm. "What are we going to do?"

"Let's go find another Lost Home." Duncan slowed down and turned his head slightly.

The Dream of the Nameless One appears again in the real world, and Duncan wants to verify many of his assumptions this time - the "enhanced temporary mark" left on Vanna, Morris and others is just one of his many assumptions. Strengthening the connection between him and his followers, what he cares more about is whether the Lost Homeship sailing in darkness and fog will appear again.

No matter how the dream of the Nameless One grows next, Duncan must find a way to bypass its "self-protection mechanism" to further intervene in this huge dream. His intuition tells him that the strange missing ship sailing in the fog The hometown number is the most likely breakthrough point to break through the "self-protection mechanism" of the unknown person's dream.

Because the "chart" on the ship showed that it was actually sailing over the forest of the Nameless Man's Dream.

Under the chaotic night sky woven by "sunlight" and the creation of the world, the streets in the city-state were as eerily silent as last time. Duncan and the two dolls left the silent witch's mansion and walked into the night where the city and the forest intertwined.

As he entered the night, Duncan also began to carefully communicate with the temporary marks that were already on the "other side" of the dream, trying to call his followers.

This time, he must be very careful to learn the lessons he learned in the dark and foggy space last time, and use the power of flames carefully to prevent... awakening Silendis in the dream.

…

Weird dark red fissures covered the sky, and the edge of the ominous red light was filled with twisted and hazy clouds. Under the sky, everything as far as the eye could see was filled with yellow sand and boulders.

Rolling sand dunes fill the field of vision. The rugged rocks stand like countless twisted and struggling skeletons of giant beasts under the sky. The yellow sand buries the foundations of the boulders. The sharp edges of the rocks extend upward like swords. In such a vast area, In the desperate yellow sand, "people" seem smaller than ever.

Vanna raised her head, and her long silver hair was blown by the wind. The dry wind mixed with sand and dust swept across the ground all the time, making her couldn't help but narrow her eyes slightly.

She came to this desert again - this endless, dead and withered land.

Looking at the hazy silhouettes of the boulders in the distance, Vanna exhaled slightly and stretched out her hands into the wind - a thick layer of water vapor condensed from the dry sand in a way that went against common sense, and condensed into a handle in her hand. A giant sword that braves the cold.

Feeling the heavy weight coming from the giant sword, Fanna nodded with satisfaction.

The endless desert in this dream is dry and hot, which is not a comfortable environment for believers of the Storm Goddess. But fortunately, my power as a saint of the Deep Sea Church still works here - the dream cannot stop the power given by God. , which can make your trek here somewhat easier.

Drawing the coolness from the giant sword, Fanna stepped into the wind and sand and walked in a certain direction.

Of course she wasn't walking aimlessly - her goal was the rugged shadows in the distance, things that looked like jagged rocks but also looked like ruins of a city.

While walking, Fanna suddenly felt a movement in her heart.

She stopped subconsciously and concentrated on listening to the voice that suddenly appeared in the depths of her consciousness. After a moment, she heard the voice clearly - it was the captain.

The captain's calm and powerful voice echoed in her mind: "Fanna, can you hear me?"

"Yes," Fanna immediately replied in her heart. Unknowingly, she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, "Great, it seems your arrangement worked."

"Well, as expected," Duncan's voice continued, "I must contact you carefully now and not transfer too much power rashly - according to the information we learned last time, Silanti is sleeping deep in the Dream of the Nameless One. Si doesn't seem to like my flames very much."

"I understand," Fanna stepped forward and replied while continuing to walk forward, "How is the situation of the others?"

"The others are scattered deep in the forest. The composition of the personnel is basically the same as last time. Shirley and Agou are together, and Nina and Maurice are together." Duncan told Vanna about the current situation of the others, " Also, Lucy managed to find Rabbit Rabbit after entering the dream state - they almost 'landed' in the same place."

"Miss Lucretia found that weird rabbit? Their 'landing point' is together? Are the other people's 'combinations' the same as last time?" Vanna paused, thoughtfully, " It seems... our process of entering this dream is indeed regular..."

"Well, it seems that the location they entered the forest is about the same as last time," Duncan said, asking about Vanna's situation, "How is the situation over there?"

Vanna stopped and raised her head to look at the endless sand in front of her.

After a few seconds, the Storm Saint sighed.

"Sand, stones, dry and hot weather - it seems that everyone's 'position' when entering the Dream of the Unknown has not changed much. I am still in this desert. To be honest, I don't like this place very much..."