Deep Sea Embers

In fact, when Lucretia sent the news, Duncan was already on his way back to Breeze Port - and was almost reaching the city-state.

This is because it was confirmed that the "far away" of the Lost Home could not prevent the unknown man's dream from continuing to develop. Therefore, while entering the "other side" of the dream to act, his body left in the real world immediately chose to drive. The boat returns.

The dark and chaotic sky enveloped the sea, and dark and dense "hair" covered the sea surface, giving the entire ocean an ink-stained texture. Hazy illusions kept flashing across the sea far and near, and the spiritual world Bizarre scenes rose and fell at the edge of his vision.

The sails of the Lost Home were swollen, and it swept across the sea of ​​​​the spirit world like a swift wind. The illusions that constantly emerged on the sea were avoiding this behemoth. Those who could not avoid it would be caught by the green flames escaping from around it. Caught in the turbulence and torn into pieces.

Duncan held the steering wheel tightly and stood on the bridge on the stern deck, concentrating on controlling the ship while listening to the news from Lucretia, Morris and others from Breeze Port.

The phantom of Agatha stood beside him, like a ghost whose shape changed in the dim and dark background of the spiritual world.

Morris’s voice came from the other end of the spiritual connection: “…the forest spreading from the Dream of the Nameless One has covered the entire city, and has begun to physically destroy the city’s functions…They are no longer illusions, but It has become a real substance. Many blocks have been cut off and blocked by dense plants, and a large number of people have been trapped...

"Some buildings were completely swallowed up, entire houses were replaced with towering trees, and the lives and deaths of the people in the houses were unknown...

"Fanna went to the street to observe the situation just now and confirmed the authenticity of those plants and the damage they caused to the city. What's even weirder is that these 'dream products' that invaded the real world did not show any extraordinary properties...

"In addition, we also tried to use psychic resonance to contact the Storm Cathedral and the Academy Ark. The church has discovered the anomaly in Qingfeng Port, and they sent the nearest border fleet..."

Duncan listened silently to the news from Qingfeng Port with a gloomy and serious expression.

The speed of the Lost Home increased slightly again, flying through the spiritual sea at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary ships. A slightly muffled creaking sound came from the depths of this huge ghost ship. Respond to the captain's orders.

The Dream of the Nameless One is growing, but this time, the speed of development is obviously beyond everyone's expectations. Rather than saying that this is the result of the further growth of this huge dream, Duncan feels that this is more like... it is gradually getting out of control. .

"Captain," Agatha's voice came from the side, "I have some uneasy premonitions - the development of things reminds me of the original frost."

Duncan didn't speak, but frowned slightly. Unknowingly, he recalled the scene he saw in the bilge of the Lost Home.

The massive ancient god's spine, the Lost Home that relied on Saslokar's authority to reshape and return from subspace, and... the mystery of the Lost Home's original "keel".

Gradually, all these clues seem to have a direction, and point to the changes in Qingfeng Port today, and to the dream of the nameless person that is constantly intruding into reality.

Duncan suddenly understood something vaguely.

All of this is connected. A long time ago, this ship was already part of this huge vortex.

The beginnings of this maelstrom can be traced back even a century, to the day Duncan Abnormar decided to build this behemoth ship.

"...Silantis must be found." Duncan suddenly said softly.

Agatha next to her didn't react for a moment: "Captain?"

"The state of the Nameless One's dream is closely related to 'Silantis', and based on the existing clues, I guess that Silantis is sleeping in the subconscious of all elves - there must be something stimulating this sleeping world. Tree', which caused her condition to take a turn for the worse," Duncan's thoughts gradually became clearer, and he said quickly, "We must find Selendis."

"Looking for it? Where to look for it?" Agatha's tone was filled with confusion, "We have already been to the border of the Nameless One's Dream, but Silendis exists invisibly in that boundless darkness. According to that The words of the taciturn goat-head, 'she' now refuses to be touched and revived..."

"But it's not necessarily the only way," Duncan shook his head, and then directly called another name in his heart, "Lucy."

Lucretia's voice rang directly from the bottom of his heart: "I'm here."

"Do you remember what happened when the Homeless was first built?"

"I... was still very young at that time," Lucretia obviously didn't expect her father to mention this suddenly, and her words were a bit at a loss. "The memory is very vague, and the adults didn't let me get close to the shipyard at that time. . Maybe my brother remembers more? He was already seven or eight years old at that time, and he often sneaked away to the shipbuilding place..."

"Tirion," Duncan called the other name that he had imprinted without hesitation, "I have a question to ask you."

There was silence in his mind for two or three seconds, and then there was a burst of chaotic noise - it was the "sound" caused by a large number of "thoughts" that unexpectedly passed through the barrier of consciousness and accidentally leaked out. After this, Tirian's panicked voice came: "Father? What happened? How did you..."

"I heard Lucy mention that when the Lost Home was being built, you often sneaked there?"

Even across the vast distance and barrier of consciousness, Duncan could feel the instant panic coming from the other end of the mental connection.

Tirian seemed confused: "I didn't! Don't listen to Lucy's nonsense, she..."

Before he finished speaking, Lucretia's voice suddenly interrupted: "Brother, admit it, something happened in Qingfeng Port, and dad has something serious to ask you."

Fanna's voice followed closely: "Mr. Tirian, this is a very serious matter."

Tirian was quiet for a moment, and then spoke again after a moment, sounding even more confused than before: "...Why are you here?"

"Yes, they are all here," Shirley interjected, "Agou is here too."

"Quiet, this is not the place for chatting." Seeing that a group of guys who had established a temporary "channel" through the spirit fire mark started chatting, Duncan had to interrupt their chatting in his mind, "Tyrion, you Do you remember what happened when the Lost Home was built? Do you remember where its 'keel' came from?"

Tirian finally realized the seriousness of the matter from Duncan's tone.

Duncan's mind went quiet.

After a while, Tirian's voice finally sounded: "...Actually, I don't remember it very clearly. You won't teach too much profound shipbuilding knowledge to a child who is only a few years old, but I still remember that ship's The keel was dragged back from a fog near the border by you after a certain sea expedition..."

"Dragged back from the fog near the border?"

"Yes, that was one of the 'harvests' of your expedition. You often found something during your expeditions. Those 'trophies' made you respected and envied by other explorers, but even among the many trophies Among them, the 'huge log' you dragged back from near the border was also the most special one... It was so huge that it even exceeded the towing limit of your ship at that time, and you had to arrange for two other small boats to come from the side. auxiliary, and then it took nearly two months to tow it near Prand...

“The reason why I chose Puland was not only because our family was living there at the time, but also because that city-state had the largest shipyard in the world at that time.

"Yes, you announced after that that you were going to build a ship, the greatest and most amazing exploration ship in the world, using that 'timber' you found in the frontier fog.

"It took seven years to build that ship - with sufficient manpower and material resources, the largest and most advanced shipbuilding facilities in the world, and a large number of shipbuilding experts who were attracted by your amazing plan and gathered in Puland, it was It still took seven years to build, and it was not until it was successfully launched and completed its maiden voyage, and then after several years of continuous improvement and adjustment, that it became the "Lost Home" that attracted the world's attention.

"My understanding of the ship was gradually established during this process. Even the origin of the 'keel' was only heard from others when it was halfway through construction - before that, You rarely tell me anything about it."

Duncan listened to Tirian's story in his mind with a serious face and did not speak for a long time.

This was indeed the first time he had known these things - as the current captain of the Lost Home, he had not known the story of the ship's construction until now.

But it’s not too late to know now.

After a moment of silence, Duncan asked again: "About that keel...what else do you know?"

Tirian's side fell silent, seeming to be lost in memories for a moment.

I don’t know how long it took before his voice sounded again: "I remember that the craftsmen who participated in the construction told me that the keel was extremely difficult to process. It was not like any known wood, and its toughness was incredible. , and as a 'strange thing' from near the 'border', it also has some disturbing 'unnatural' properties, such as making strange noises in the middle of the night, and the scratches left on the surface will slowly repair... Because of these weird characteristics, the construction plan of the Lost Home was almost stranded in the first step of construction, because no one could make the original wood into the shape of the keel...

“But later, the craftsmen discovered something strange—

"Workers with elven blood can easily cut that 'wood'."

Duncan immediately said: "Elf?"

"Yes, after wasting nearly two months on that big piece of wood, an elf craftsman accidentally discovered this - in the hands of the elf, the dragon bone was so tough that it almost drove everyone crazy. It is as easy to process as balsa wood, so the Purander Shipyard later transferred all the elven craftsmen to the Homeless Ship project, and even recruited some people from nearby city-states..."

Duncan listened seriously. When Tirian finished speaking, he remained silent for a few seconds before asking again: "Is there anything else?"

"Let me think about it..." Tirian said, and then recalled for a moment before he spoke uncertainly, "There is one more thing, but I don't remember it very clearly... It was when the Homeless Ship was about to be completed. , at that time, I had been allowed to help you and do some less important work. Once you took me to the dry dock. You were drinking and seemed to be in a high mood. You pointed at the Lost Home and followed I said……

"Tirion, it's just a twig.

"Until today, I haven't figured out what you meant."