Deep Sea Embers

Duncan and Alice returned to the "Witch Mansion" at 99 Crown Street as quickly as possible.

Along the way, what they saw were the streets of the city-state that had completely restored their daily scene - whether it was the neighborhoods that were once completely covered by the "dense forest", or the adjacent paths that were affected by the spreading vines, or those that were once in the forest. The buildings, mired in the shadows and deserted, all returned to their former bustling appearance in the early morning.

The number of pedestrians on the road is gradually increasing. The first bus in the morning has already passed through the avenue. The knowledge guard at the intersection is making handovers with the city-state security management. The strange situation that permeated the entire block a few hours ago... It seems that only Duncan and others A grand illusion that humans can detect.

When Duncan and Alice returned, everyone was already waiting in the living room. Lucretia was the first to greet him. She quickly came to Duncan: "Are you okay?"

Duncan waved his hand and said quickly as he walked into the living room: "The situation I encountered is different from yours. Now I need to compile all the intelligence."

Alice also followed her into the living room. When passing by Lucretia, she casually handed over the puppet head that she had been holding all the way: "Here you are, it's not broken!"

Lucretia took the puppet's head with a subtle expression, then looked back at the maid puppet who was leaning against the handrail of the stairs not far away in standby mode. She raised her hand to greet a tin servant and handed the puppet's head To the other party: "Put it in the maintenance room first and wait for me to deal with it."

Soon, everyone gathered together - Duncan sat on the sofa in the center of the living room, looking at the familiar faces around him.

Even though he knew that everyone was safe and sound before, now that he saw everyone returned to reality safely, he couldn't help but feel relieved in his heart.

"Let's talk about the current known situation first." After a moment of silence, Duncan was the first to break the silence. "First of all, it is basically certain that the large-scale anomaly that occurred in the city-state last night is related to the previous one. The dream I fell into is very similar. Although the details are different and there are many new changes, their source should be the influence of the so-called 'Dream of the Unknown' - this 'dream' is growing, and now it seems It has a tendency to spiral out of control and into reality.”

He paused briefly, glanced at Alice next to him, and continued: "Second point, after the abnormal phenomenon occurred, we experienced different situations - Alice and I stayed in the real world, and we saw On the streets that were eroded and alienated by the overflowing power of the dream, I even came into contact with a large entity that 'drilled' out of the dream, and you were dragged into the 'other side' of the dream. During this period, all contact was interrupted, and only Lu Cressia managed to maintain contact with the real world by relying on the puppet servants she made.

"Then, starting with Lucretia, each of you will describe your own experience in the 'Dream Inside'."

Duncan's eyes fell on the "Sea Witch", who immediately nodded and adjusted his sitting position: "Let me tell you about my situation first - my 'dream place' is the no-man's land in the forest. There, I met an elf woman who called herself 'Shireen'..."

Nina on the side heard this and immediately exclaimed: "Huh? Have you met someone? Is it a dreamer?"

Then she reacted and immediately stuck out her tongue in embarrassment: "I'm sorry, I couldn't hold it back... Just keep talking, I won't interrupt."

Lucretia didn't care, she just nodded to Nina and continued: "According to my observation, the elf calling herself 'Shireen' should not be a dreamer, but appeared in that huge dream. Of...'residents', of course, this sounds a bit incredible...

"The other party mentioned a place called the 'Wall of Silence', which seemed to be a line of defense. She called herself a ranger, and also mentioned an evacuation order, and told me that everyone had withdrawn to the Wall of Silence—— By the end of the dream, I was moving with the elf towards the place called the 'Wall of Silence', but we did not reach our destination in the end..."

Lucretia described her experiences in the dream world in as much detail as possible, and except for Duncan, who already knew something about it, everyone else looked serious and surprised when hearing these experiences - the reason Quite simply, Lucretia is the only one among them who has come into contact with the "indigenous inhabitants" of the dream world.

No one thought that there would be a native mental entity like "Shireen" in the "Dream of the Nameless One"!

And if what the elf named "Shireen" said is true, deep in the forest, behind the defense line known as the "Silent Wall", there are actually a greater number of "Among the Nameless Ones". A mental entity that lives in "dreams"? !

After Lucretia finished speaking, the living room was quiet for a while, and then it was Morris who spoke: "I'm with Nina."

Duncan was a little surprised: "You two are together?"

"Yes, it seems that there is some randomness in the process of us falling into the dream world. Not everyone is separated," Morris nodded. "Our landing point is also a 'no man's land', and we can only observe around us." During this period, Nina ascended to the sky to observe the situation in the distance. We discovered that there were some dark areas in the forest that seemed to be polluted...

"In addition, according to our tests, when Nina releases her power, the entire dream world will react violently..."

Morris described their experience in the "Dream of the Unknown" in a coherent manner, which was information that Duncan did not have. He frowned slightly and listened carefully to every detail the old gentleman said, especially when The violent reactions shown in "Dream of the Nameless One" after Nina unleashed the power of the original sun.

It sounds like... that's a strong repulsion.

This reminded Duncan of his own experience in that dark space filled with thick fog... According to the "suspicious goat head", he was ostracized in that space because Selantis was afraid of , what about Nina’s rejection?

Could it be that Nina's "sunshine"... also made Dream of the Unknown feel threatened?

With a thoughtful expression, Duncan raised his head and his eyes fell on Shirley.

"I met a cultist, an Annihilation Cultist," Shirley said immediately, with a smug expression on her face and a hint of pride in her tone, "I was able to dig out a lot of information from that guy! And in the end, I got a lot of information from him! I beat him up and asked Agou to leave a mark on that guy... By the way, I also encountered the whole forest suddenly becoming evil, which almost scared me to death. It seemed to be what Lucretia mentioned just now. What kind of 'eroded area' did we come to? Could it be that the 'polluted area' that the old man and Nina saw was from my side?"

Duncan's eyes widened slightly when he heard this.

Everyone’s experience in the Dream of the Nameless One is different, but Shirley’s experience seems to be particularly explosive!

The expression on his face suddenly became serious, and his body subconsciously leaned forward, staring into Shirley's eyes: "Speak slowly, don't be confused - what is the specific situation?"

"Okay, let me sort it out..." Seeing the serious look on the captain's face, Shirley quickly sat down and began to recall the memories in her mind. However, after sorting out her words, she still scratched her cheek, "Um... Ah Dog, please tell me, I’m afraid I can’t understand.”

The next second, all eyes were focused on Agou.

Agou shook his head, sighed helplessly, and said under Duncan's gaze: "We first encountered the rapid decay of the forest - according to the information we obtained later, it should be the so-called 'erosion' phenomenon... "

Agou explained clearly and clearly what he and Shirley had experienced in that forest, including the forest that suddenly began to become corrupted and twisted, the cultist he encountered later, and the information Shirley obtained from the cultist. a lot of information.

Duncan's ideas gradually expanded as Agou told him, and he compared them with existing clues one by one to establish connections.

The erosion phenomenon, the defense line called the "Wall of Silence", the elf named Shireen, the Cult of Annihilation, and... the sudden end of that weird dream.

"It seems... the erosion mentioned by the elf named 'Shireen' should be the terrible phenomenon that Shirley and Agou encountered," Lucretia said thoughtfully, "The forest suddenly twisted In an indescribable gesture, the earth is corroded and activated, and everything becomes hostile... and those Annihilation cultists seem to know more information."

"It's a pity that the cultist ran away in the end," Morris frowned and shook his head. "If he was hiding in another city-state in the real world, it would not be an easy task to find him."

"The more important question is, how do those cultists get in and out of the Dream of the Nameless One?" Fanna, who had never spoken at the side, suddenly broke her silence at this time, "They seem to have a special method to control their way in and out of that dream. 'Dream', and even being able to act in that dream in an organized manner, this 'method' is crucial."

Duncan nodded slowly when he heard this, and then his eyes fell on Vanna.

"What did you see on 'that side'? Also in the forest?" he asked curiously.

Fanna looked at the others, and after a brief pause, she said: "This is exactly what I want to say. What you and I have experienced are different, very, very... different. I am listening to you describe that forest. At the time, I even felt very confused because... I was in a desert."

The living room fell silent for an instant.

Everyone looked at each other.

After a few seconds, Duncan spoke in disbelief: "You said you were in a desert?! You didn't see the forest at all?"

"Yes, there is no forest, only sand, a few sparse withered plants, and huge rocks." Fanna nodded seriously. "I climbed to the highest stone mountain and looked into the distance. There was nothing in my sight. What forest.”