Deep Sea Embers

Several figures wearing dark coats or hooded robes were walking through the depths of the jungle.

A faint black smoke enveloped them, dark symbiotic chains extended from their bodies, and terrifying deep demons accompanied them - Richard and his "compatriots" had been operating in this dream for a while. time, and according to the situation perceived by the Death Bird, they were already very close to the "wall of silence".

But the procession suddenly stopped.

The atmosphere in the forest changed subtly - from a certain moment, a thin layer of fog appeared out of nowhere, flowing in the open space between the trees, and with the appearance of the mist , the entire dense forest is becoming more... "quiet" than before.

Du Meng frowned solemnly. He still remembered that when he first entered the Dream of the Nameless One, he could still hear various sounds in this forest - unknown birds fluttering their wings and flying high. The sound of unknown animals roaring in the distance. Although the figures of those "birds and beasts" can never be seen, various sounds representing vitality are always present.

However, now, those sounds have disappeared, and only the occasional sound of wind and the slight sound of leaves shaking and rubbing are left in the forest - which makes the place even more silent.

Any changes in the Dream of the Nameless One must be treated with caution.

"There's something wrong with these fogs," another Annihilation cultist whispered. A cloud of smoke-like jellyfish floated in the air next to him. The tentacles extending from the bottom of the jellyfish were swinging slightly in mid-air, with a somewhat uneasy feeling. Tension, "My demon senses panic and tension...the emotions released by this 'forest' itself."

"The Dream of the Nameless One has emotional changes. It is equivalent to a huge mind in itself," Du Meng said solemnly. "Its emotions suddenly change. Maybe someone has come into contact with the core area of ​​​​the mind... Could someone Found the 'Wall of Silence'?"

"Could it be one of ours?" asked the Annihilation cultist who lives in symbiosis with the smoke jellyfish.

"It's not sure yet. We can't contact the compatriots sent by other rallies here to take action," Du Meng said. Then, he frowned slightly and looked at a figure at the end of the team - that figure had been there since just now. He kept scratching himself, "Richard, what are you doing?"

Richard suddenly woke up and realized that he had been scratching the skin near his neck and waist. He raised his hands with some confusion and saw that for some reason, many small white fibers appeared between his nails, which looked like... …

"Cotton," he said softly.

"Cotton? What cotton?" Du Meng frowned, "You don't seem to be in the right state."

"No, I'm fine." Richard immediately raised his head and patted the clothes that were messed up by his scratching action. "I just feel a little itchy. The fog makes me uncomfortable."

Du Meng nodded, not suspecting anything, but turned his gaze to the others: "We should have entered the influence of the Wall of Silence. According to the 'preachers', this is Silantis's 'mind gaze area' 'If you see or hear something that has never been seen in the forest before, be sure to tell others."

Listening to the voice next to his ears, Richard felt a little bored.

Du Meng has begun to lead the team as a "leader". His self-righteous and arrogant attitude has always been very disliked... The team does need someone to give orders, but originally this role should be his. right……

"It's so annoying..." A soft voice said in Richard's mind, "Rabbi feels this is unfair, Rabbi feels sorry for you..."

"It's really unfair," Richard opened and closed his mouth slightly and whispered in a voice that only he could hear, "but this is the arrangement of the saints... and Dumont is indeed capable..."

"Isn't the most important reason because there are still a lot of troublesome people watching here?" The voice in my mind whispered, with caring concern and a trustworthy tone, "If no one is watching, then just a little It’s no trouble…”

Richard frowned and slowly shook his head. He seemed to instinctively feel that something was not right. He was still hesitating: "But... what should I do..."

"Patience, be patient, cute rag doll, Rabbi is just telling you some possibilities, but now is not the time... There will be opportunities, when someone is alone..."

Richard covered his forehead and hesitated: "But I can't... they are all my compatriots..."

"Yes, they are all your compatriots, lovely rag dolls, you can't hurt them, and the rabbi doesn't want to see you hurt each other - so you have to help them."

"Help them? How to help them?"

"Didn't you notice? Your compatriots... They have empty stomachs, not even cotton, how pitiful they are. No cotton, no warmth, no cotton, no soul, no cotton, nothing... You already have Cotton is gone, lovely rag dolls, give them some cotton too, the rabbi can lend you the cotton, as long as... remember to return it..."

The little cute voice in my head gradually faded away.

Richard blinked, suddenly feeling a little confused. He felt like he heard someone talking to him just now. He even remembered that he had a conversation with the other person, but it was just a trance, and the voice disappeared, and it seemed... It's just an illusion.

He raised his head and looked at Du Meng in front of him and the other compatriots around him.

How pitiful.

They didn't even have cotton.

"...We set up the imprinting point here." Du Meng didn't seem to notice Richard's gaze. He had already begun to assign the next work as planned. "This place can already affect the underlying mind of Silantis. It is a suitable place." The delivery area.”

The surrounding believers nodded one after another, and then each took out a ritual prop from their body - a strange knife with a dark color and a curved blade.

Richard was stunned for a moment, then reached into his arms and found his own bone knife.

It was a small carving knife only the size of a palm. It was made of pitch-black bones. Its surface was covered with weird and complex patterns, exuding an ominous aura.

Richard remembered that the raw material of this knife was the skeleton left by the ghost demon who failed in the summoning ritual. Not all summoning and symbiosis rituals can be successful. The losers will become nourishment on the altar. Those with poor talents will Annihilation cultists will use their blood to clean the altar, and demons who die due to out-of-control rituals will have some bone fragments left behind, which can be used to make props.

This should be "common knowledge" that every Annihilation cultist who has been promoted to the priest level knows, but for some reason, Richard feels a strange... novelty when he recalls this knowledge at this moment.

He shook his head and put this strange feeling aside, looking at Du Meng: "We need to set up as many 'marks' as possible before the end of this dream. It may be more efficient to act separately."

"...Dispersion means danger," Du Meng seriously considered this suggestion and shook his head, "Don't forget the failures you suffered before - compatriots who acted alone had almost no power when facing 'his' followers. The power to fight back.”

Du Meng seemed to be really just reminding him seriously, and there was no mockery or contempt in his words, but Richard felt that he saw a hint of sarcasm in the other person's eyes, and suddenly felt anger rising in his heart like poisonous fire.

He felt extremely humiliated.

But the next second, the poisonous anger suddenly extinguished and was replaced by cold reason. Richard was surprised that he could be so calm——

He looked at Du Meng, his expression was particularly sincere and calm, and his words exuded the power of persuasion: "Of course you can't act alone, I mean a group of two or three people, who can ensure that they take care of each other and complete the task as soon as possible - and To be honest, even if we really encounter those 'followers' and fall into a disadvantage, we can quickly evacuate this dream. According to my last observation, those 'followers' don't seem to be able to come and go in the dream like us. freely……"

The sincere look on Richard's face and the calmness in his voice did their job.

Du Meng thought seriously again.

A fellow member of the church who has experienced many dream explorations - although his condition has not been very good since the last exploration, his suggestions are now clearly well thought out and trustworthy, and every reason is defensible.

If you continue to ignore or refute the other person's suggestions in this situation, it is easy to appear that you are deliberately targeting experienced people - a mean and narrow image is not good for leading a team.

Dumont felt he should accept the advice—as a new, invisible leader, accepting advice was part of consolidating his authority.

Anyway, if something happens by then, the responsibility will be Richard's.

"Okay, then let's work in pairs and set up marking points along the boundary of the fog." Du Meng nodded, quickly made arrangements, and then looked at Richard, "Richard, you and I will work together. "

"Of course." Richard smiled, seemingly very satisfied with this arrangement.

Du Meng was also very satisfied.

"Then let's get started."

The Annihilation cultists immediately took action.

They worked in pairs, carrying ceremonial daggers used to leave "marks", and walked in multiple directions towards the forest paths where the thin mist was flowing, and soon disappeared deep into the dense forest.

Richard also walked towards Dumont with the ceremonial dagger - but he was very cautious. He knew that he would have to wait for a while, until the other groups were far enough away, and until Dumont focused on setting up the mark point. on "work".

Then, he can "help" the other person.

"Let's get started, sweet ragdoll," said the voice in my head.

"Let's do it, Dumont," Richard said.