Deep Sea Embers

Taran El felt that childish but piercing scream almost pierced his soul.

It was as if an invisible force was tearing at his thoughts, and a huge mind was impacting his memory. The scream spanned the dimensions of time, space and concepts, echoing repeatedly in every stage he could remember in his life, even though It only lasted a very brief moment, but it was still ten times, a hundred times more than the pain and confusion he felt when he drank the Blood Crow Mixture.

Then, he felt that the entire dream of the Nameless One began to collapse, the wind was roaring, the earth was tearing apart, the remains of the World Tree in the distance were rapidly collapsing, and the silhouette of the forest further away also swelled and curled up as if gravity rolled back. , and all of this sank into darkness within a few seconds. He realized the dissolution of the dream, and then realized the existence of the real world. The light appeared at the end of the darkness, flowing and rotating like a whirlpool on the opposite wall, And gradually stabilized, and then he heard the voices of other people around him——

He woke up, to the reality of the early morning hours.

Everyone is waking up.

"What happened...Why did the Dream of the Nameless One suddenly collapse?"

"I don't know, it seemed like there was a strong wind... I just remember that the earth in the distance was rolling back..."

"Is anyone hurt? Is everyone here? What time is it?"

Someone was talking nearby, sounding confused, and the situation seemed chaotic.

Taran El struggled to fight against the sharp stabbing pain in his mind - the impact of the previous scream came to the real world when he woke up, and now he felt like he was having a headache, as if he was really going to die suddenly - and then , the wildly rotating scene in front of him finally stabilized.

He found himself sitting on a low stool in the corner, surrounded by knowledge guards who were quickly waking up and trying to figure out the situation.

The curtains not far away have been opened, and the early morning sunlight is spreading along the rooftops of the city blocks. The streets outside are still quiet, and only some sounds can be heard occasionally.

Taran Ayre held his forehead and slowly stood up from the corner. His thoughts were still confused, but after hearing the conversations of the knowledge guards around him, he still managed to brace himself up a little: "Maybe I will end up with you." The sound I heard was related to..."

Finally, someone noticed the poor state of the great scholar. A knowledge guard next to him walked over quickly and helped Taran Ayre, who was about to fall, in time: "What did you say?"

"I think I may have come into contact with Silendis's consciousness, but..." Taran El frowned and said, but he suddenly stopped mid-sentence, and then looked at a certain location in the room with a frown. , "...His Excellency Ted Leal has not come back?!"

The other people in the room seemed to have reacted at this moment, and their eyes instantly focused on the armchair in the middle.

That was the chair that Ted Leal, the Keeper of the Truth, sat on when he "dreamed" - now all the operatives who fell into the dream have returned to the real world, but that chair is still empty.

After a moment of silence, someone broke the silence uneasily: "...Did the Secret Keeper wake up earlier than us, so he left first?"

"No, that is not in line with the character of the secret keeper, and the door of the room has a mark, and it will leave traces after it is opened - whether it is opened from the outside or from the inside."

Taran El frowned, listening to the conversation beside him. He gently pushed away the support of others and stepped to the chair.

On the small table next to the chair were also placed the containers that had been used to hold the medicine. Seven droppers and a large beer bottle were quietly placed there, reflecting the rays of morning light pouring in from the window.

Vaguely, he heard some sounds coming from outside the window again - it seemed like chaos coming from an unknown direction.

Some people screamed in the streets, others ran in the corridors.

There are shadows of trees outside the window.

…

Nina woke up from the constantly collapsing dream of the Nameless One. After realizing that she was back in the real world, she couldn't help but feel dazed.

The ending process of the Nameless Man's Dream this time... seems to be different from before.

This time it was more sudden and violent, with a sense of chaos and collapse, as if it was not "waking up" but was being torn apart from the inside out by a force.

She raised her head and saw Mr. Morris across the table looking thoughtful. Apparently her teacher also felt that something was wrong with the ending of The Dream of the Unknown.

At this moment, she suddenly heard Shirley's voice coming from the direction of the window: "Hey, hey, look outside! Damn it!"

Not caring about the other person's use of vulgar language this time, Nina subconsciously stood up and turned to look at the window.

The shadows of lush trees swayed outside the window, catching her eye.

Trees, there are trees everywhere, the same tall, lush, unknown giant trees seen in the forest in the Dream of the Unknown, covering the streets, crowding the city, filling every inch of space in sight , the wanton green seems to be another "infinite sea". Countless tree crowns merge into rolling green waves, covering the sky between the buildings, and even blending with the tallest towers and clock towers, showing a Weird and grotesque symbiotic gestures.

This scene is as if a forest is directly "superimposed" on the city-state, as if dreams and reality are merging into one, eroding each other into incredible postures.

Vanna, Morris and Nina came to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room and stared at the scene on the street outside in stunned silence. They were speechless for a long time.

Shirley saw chaos starting to appear on the streets in the distance.

The residents of the city-state have woken up in the early morning. The amazing changes on the streets have obviously broken through the previous "cognitive boundaries". The forest scene that almost covers the entire city has brought great panic, and those that merge with the buildings The plants that come together directly disrupt the operation of the city from the physical level - some people are exclaiming, some are trapped in their houses, and some buildings are almost swallowed whole, and only the entangled trees can be seen. A few broken walls and roofs were seen, and the people who originally lived in those buildings were probably dead or alive.

A loud explosion came from a nearby block. A steam pipe leaked. High-temperature and high-pressure gas spewed out from the valve and evaporated into a large white mist among the tree canopies. There was also a water pipeline leaking. I don't know which node broke, and a huge water column broke through the ground between the streets, forming an astonishing "spring" between the towering trees.

The sharp siren of the steam walker came from the distance. The city-state guards seemed to be trying to take some action. The knowledge guards of the college seemed to have reacted. Nina heard the familiar whistle coming from the street——

Although it was still in chaos, and although everyone woke up hastily from their dreams, years of training and a series of complex and rigorous emergency response procedures still worked - the forces maintaining order rushed into the covered building without hesitation. In the dense forest of the city-state.

However, at this moment, they faced challenges far beyond their imagination.

It was a lush forest full of vibrant plants.

That is something that has only been recorded in ancient fantastic legends and tainted books.

The elves living in the Deep Sea Age embraced the hometown of their ancestors - the boundless green hell - in a way that no one had imagined.

Suddenly, there was a wind blowing through the city, and the wind was rolling the branches and leaves in the forest. Countless leaves were covered with green waves in the wind, and the murmur of the forest seemed to be heard among the waves——

"...You are not elves..."

The brilliant colored paper swirled and danced in the dense forest, passing lightly through the twisted and mutated buildings and towering trees. The wind in the forest carried the waves of the leaves, bringing about layers of rustling sounds. and vague murmurs.

Lucretia's figure condensed from the whirlwind formed by the colored papers and landed on the top of a giant tree near the academy area.

She held a branch next to her with one hand, stepped carefully on the treetops, and looked at the street that was already covered by forest and distorted by dreams.

She heard the whisper that filled the wind, and could even feel the indescribable disappointment and annoyance mixed in that whisper.

"Rabbi." She called softly from the bottom of her heart.

The Nightmare Rabbit's voice soon sounded in her heart: "Rabbi is listening~~"

"What's the situation with those cultists? Did they do it?"

"The rabbi is not sure - but they seem to be quite confused, and the dream seems to be collapsing faster than they expected... Even the saint was alarmed, the person who fell into the dream was called for questioning, and the rabbi was almost exposed ...Fortunately, Rabbi dispersed himself and hid himself in their bodies in advance..."

Lucretia frowned.

"You still 'ate' them all? I remember I reminded you to control your appetite."

"No, no, it's just those cultists who entered the dreamland. The rabbi left some cotton on them. This is to safely and safely complete the tasks assigned by the hostess," the rabbi quickly explained. "There are many cultists on the ship. , the rabbi didn’t touch them..."

Lucretia was silent for a few seconds. After feeling the tension and fear gradually passing through the soul connection in her heart, she slowly said: "Keep in mind my order. This is for Hello—don’t forget, that ship, and everyone on that ship, is my father’s prey.”

Nightmare Rabbit's voice immediately sounded, this time with unconcealed panic and nervousness: "Yes, Rabbi understands, Rabbi absolutely..."

Lucretia immediately cut off communication with the rabbit.

Then she calmed down, and then she called out another name in her heart a little unfamiliarly.

She soon heard the response from the distance——

"Lucy, I'm listening."

"Dad, something happened in the city-state," the "Sea Witch" said solemnly, "In the real world, big things happen - you'd better come back as soon as possible."