Deep Sea Embers

"Did you hear anything?"

On a natural trail deep in the forest, Shirley suddenly stopped and muttered suspiciously.

"There is no sound, but I smell... that obvious 'stinky smell'," Agou stopped next to Shirley, making a low and disgusted sound in his throat, "There are more than one, mixed with chaos and ignorance. A sense of filth, and a pure and blind impulse to destroy..."

"It seems that those 'old acquaintances' are here again," Shirley muttered. "They are really tireless. Is there anything in this 'Dream of the Nameless' that deserves their attention? That so-called ' Is the original blueprint so attractive?”

Agou didn't speak, he just lowered his body and carefully felt the remaining breath around him - the breath left by the Annihilation Cultist and the Deep Demon.

It found something familiar in those scents.

"The Annihilation cultist named 'Richard' is also among them." It suddenly raised its head and said.

"That guy still dares to come?" Shirley suddenly opened her eyes in surprise, "Last time I smashed him like that, I thought that guy would at least have to lie down in the real world for a while..."

Agou shook his head: "It seems that they have made adequate preparations when they 'dream', and have sufficient protection at the mental level. The injuries they suffered in the dream will not have much impact on reality... This It makes sense, after all, they have organized so many people to enter the Dream of the Unknown, and they must have a full understanding of the operating mechanism of this place."

Shirley frowned: "Are they still around here?"

"They've been gone for a while," Agou judged cautiously. "The aura of the deep demons is fading quickly, but it's hard to say how far they are from here now - Shirley, we have to be careful, that 'Richard' Yes, he knows you, the trick last time won’t work the second time.”

The expression on Shirley's face suddenly became tense. She quickly checked the surrounding environment, turned to Agou and said seriously: "Then why don't we just find a place to hide here? Wait until dawn in the real world - this forest is anyway It’s so big, those cultists probably won’t go back.”

"I don't recommend this. Don't forget the weird and dangerous 'erosion' phenomenon - it will happen suddenly and spread quickly." Agou shook his head. "No corner here is safe. The only possible safe zone may be Inside that so-called wall of silence, we have to find that 'wall'."

As it spoke, it raised its head and looked in a certain direction deep in the forest: "Those Annihilation cultists are also looking for the 'Wall of Silence'. We are following them from a distance. As long as we are well hidden, we will have the initiative." It’s in our hands.”

"Tsk, okay, I just said it casually," Shirley said helplessly, clicking her tongue, "Then let's go, be careful not to get too close to those cultists."

Agou nodded, carefully checked the breath remaining in the air and the direction it pointed out, and stepped forward - but it only took one step forward, and then suddenly stopped again, and at the same time quickly lowered its head. He spoke loudly: "Attention, someone is approaching!"

Almost as soon as Agou finished speaking, Shirley heard the sound of footsteps suddenly appearing nearby - the sound was without warning, as if someone appeared nearby out of thin air. Shirley's whole body tensed up instantly, and then... Holding the chain tightly with one hand, he suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the sound.

A tall elf girl appeared in Shirley's sight.

She wore a strange and light armor, which looked like some kind of hunting attire that was easy to move in the forest, and was reinforced at key locations. She had long, pale golden hair like the sun, with braided hair. A slightly glowing blue silk thread - and in her hand was a strange-looking weapon, like a spear and a long-handled battle ax combined...

After seeing the elf girl who seemed to appear out of thin air, Shirley was slightly startled. In the second or two that she was stunned, the elf girl had already taken a step towards her.

"Didn't you receive the order to evacuate? Why are you still operating outside the wall?"

Hearing the other party's voice, Shirley opened her mouth. The sudden change made her a little at a loss, but she quickly realized that her acting skills and observation of emotions from childhood to college came into play: "Ah, I... lost my way. , I’m getting ready to go to the Wall of Silence.”

The strange elf girl didn't seem to notice Shirley's nervousness just now, and she didn't even show any strange expression to Agou, who had a terrifying appearance and had no time to escape due to the sudden incident. She naturally looked at Shirley and Agou nodded and said, "You and your companions are eroding the area where the phenomenon is active. This place is not safe - luckily you met me as a ranger."

As she spoke, she pointed a certain direction in the forest with the long-handled ax in her hand: "Follow me, and I will take you to the Wall of Silence."

"Ah...ok." Shirley was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, quickly calling the captain deep in her consciousness while dragging Agou to follow him.

They set off, heading towards the "Wall of Silence", passing through natural trails covered with dead branches and leaves, crossing rugged forest glades, and gradually heading into the depths of the forest.

The elf girl holding a strange weapon walked in front and rarely spoke on the road.

Of course, this was not conducive to gathering intelligence, so Shirley could only take the initiative to break the silence. After thinking about the topic for a while, she asked: "By the way, what's your name?"

The elf girl suddenly stopped, turned her head and looked into Shirley's eyes seriously. After two or three seconds, she spoke softly: "My name is Shireen - I hope you can remember my name."

Shirley's eyes widened.

…

Deep in the vast darkness and fog, the "Homeless" had an eerie and silent atmosphere. Duncan, who was sitting at the navigation table and communicating with "Goat Head", was suddenly startled and stopped talking with "Goat Head".

He frowned slightly, as if listening to a voice coming from afar, and the expression on his face changed rapidly, from confusion to thoughtfulness.

The "goat head" on the table didn't react to Duncan's sudden pause - after Duncan stopped talking, it became quiet, with no questions or any tendency to actively express.

The "goat head" that appears on the strangely lost home is like a "response machine" that is half asleep and half awake. Except for the initial greeting, it will take the initiative to speak. In most cases, as long as Duncan does not talk to it, it rarely speaks. What a reaction.

Duncan glanced at the goat's head.

In the end, the goat head didn't understand what "Sasloka died a long time ago" meant. It just repeated this sentence monotonously, as if its mind was stuck on this "message." "superior.

After a slight hesitation, Duncan stood up and left his seat, walking towards the simple oval mirror not far away.

The goat head on the navigation table slowly turned its head, silently tracking Duncan's movements with its eyes, but still said nothing - that silent sight seemed particularly scary.

However, Duncan was now more or less able to ignore the weirdness of this suspicious goat head. He went straight to the mirror, reached out and knocked on the mirror.

Agatha's figure appeared in the mirror almost immediately.

Duncan paid close attention to the eyes behind him, sensing the changes in the atmosphere in the captain's cabin - but the suspicious goat head showed no reaction to Agatha's appearance, as if he couldn't see it.

"Captain." Agatha in the mirror also glanced cautiously in the direction of the goat's head. After confirming that there was really no reaction from the other party, she breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Duncan.

"Shirley and Agou met another 'Shireen' in the forest." Duncan responded to Agatha's greeting and then said bluntly.

Agatha opened her mouth, her expression a little stunned for a moment, and then she immediately reacted: "As for Miss Lucretia..."

Duncan nodded: "She is still with 'Shireen'."

The two fell into a brief silence across the mirror, and it was clear that neither of them had any ideas.

After a while, Agatha took a breath and broke the silence: "Captain, I also discovered something here."

Duncan lowered his voice subconsciously: "What did you find?"

Agatha in the mirror raised her hand and pointed wordlessly to the door at the deepest part of the captain's cabin - the wooden door leading to the captain's dormitory.

"Just now when you were talking to Goat Head, I shuttled through the various mirrors on the Lost Home. The positions and scenes of all the mirrors were no different from those of the Lost Home in reality. Only here... …I was blocked by a strange 'barrier'."

Duncan immediately looked in the direction of the captain's dormitory, and his eyes gradually became serious as he listened to Agatha's story.

After a moment of thinking, he stepped towards the door.

On the navigation table, the black goat-head wood carving creaked and moved again, and a pair of deep and turbid black eyeballs tracked Duncan's movements.

Duncan held the door handle with his hand, but he did not push it directly. Instead, he turned to stare at the goat head on the table. After staring at each other for a while, he said in a deep voice: "What's in here?" ?”

"I don't know," Goathead said slowly.

"Can I come in?"

"I don't know." Goat Head said as if repeating himself.

"...What will happen if I go in?"

"I don't know." The suspicious goat head seemed to always repeat this sentence.

But no matter what, it doesn't seem to have any intention of stopping it.

Duncan took one last deep look in the direction of the goat's head, then withdrew his gaze, looked at the particularly familiar door in front of him, took a deep breath, and turned the handle vigorously.

A chaotic and overlapping space, as if countless abstract lines were repeatedly rendered and superimposed, appeared behind the door.

Duncan stood firmly in front of the door, looking at the scene in the "room" - among the chaotic superimposed abstract lines, he could still vaguely recognize some things: bed, table, windows, walls.

However, all these things are distorted, as if they have been randomly reorganized in the mind of a mentally disturbed person and reproduced in a perverse dream, and their original normal appearance cannot be seen at all!