Chapter 211 The Dream of the Nameless

"The Dream of the Nameless?"

Hearing the unfamiliar term suddenly thrown out by the captain, Agatha and Goathead exchanged confused glances.

"Where did you hear that term?" Agatha asked after a moment's thought. "Is it part of the 'intelligence' you just received?"

"The Annihilation Cultists call the 'dream' that Heidi and Lucretia were previously trapped in by that name," Duncan nodded slowly. "The initial source of information may have come from the Doomsday Evangelists, and then the Annihilation Cultists and the Sun Cultists responded to some kind of 'call' from those evangelists. If the information is correct, this so-called 'Dream of the Nameless' should be something like an 'anomaly'. It covers many dreams on a large scale, and the elves... seem to become 'channels' to enter the Dream of the Nameless under certain conditions."

He paused at this point, then continued, "Those cultists seem to each have their own destination in the depths of the Dream of the Nameless, searching for something. The purpose of the Sun Sect is currently unknown, but the target of the Annihilation Sect seems to be a so-called 'original blueprint'."

Agatha's expression visibly became solemn. "I have never heard of this so-called 'Dream of the Nameless', but in theory, an 'anomaly' of this scale... it's impossible that no one would know about it for so many years. You just said that elves become 'channels' under certain conditions?"

Duncan nodded slightly. "According to those Annihilation Cultists, there seems to be some 'blueprint-stage defect' in the elves, which causes their spirits to establish a connection with the 'Dream of the Nameless'. It should be related to the Abyss Master's theory of creation again, but the specific information is insufficient."

"... I'm sorry, Captain, it seems we can't give you any useful answers," Agatha thought seriously for a moment, and finally shook her head apologetically. "But since this matter directly points to the 'elf' race, we can just start an investigation in Light Breeze Harbor, which is an elven city-state—and, an elf there has just been trapped in that dream."

Duncan hummed, adjusted his sitting posture, leaned back in his chair, tapped the armrest of the chair lightly with his fingers, and his gaze fell on the slowly unfolding sea chart. "It is indeed necessary to have a good chat with that Talan Aier master... let's go see the Radiant Star, and say hello to Lucretia."

…

Outside Light Breeze Harbor, in a certain open sea area near the "glowing falling object", the Radiant Star was slowly cruising, and the diffused sunlight covered the sea surface, making the ship seem to be wandering on fine golden sand.

The soft sea breeze blew in the face, carrying the warm atmosphere unique to the southern sea—however, Master Talan Aier, standing on the deck, always felt a little cold from time to time. He couldn't help tightening his coat in the wind, turned his head to look at the "Sea Witch" standing on a mast behind him, and shouted, "Are we just waiting here?"

Lucretia looked down at the great scholar on the deck. Her voice was not loud, but it clearly entered Talan Aier's ears directly: "We are just waiting here."

"Can I go back?" Talan Aier shouted again, "The touching moment of your father and daughter reuniting, it's not good for an outsider like me to be present!"

Lucretia said expressionlessly, "Father said he wants to talk to you."

Talan Aier raised his hands with a sad face: "Then can you come down and keep me company? I... I feel a little nervous!"

Lucretia glanced at him condescendingly: "You are an adult, and a prestigious great scholar, you should learn to relieve your stress."

"... Ms. Lucretia, are you also nervous?!"

"Why should I be nervous about this? That's my..."

The voice from the mast suddenly stopped, Talan Aier was stunned for a moment, and just wanted to ask what was going on, but was suddenly interrupted by a strong palpitation.

That was a warning from his spiritual intuition, the instinctive tension of a "scholar" who had been dealing with various dangerous objects and secret knowledge for many years when the truth was approaching. Talan Aier broke out in a cold sweat in an instant, and then heard some kind of low, beast-like breathing coming into his ears.

The next moment, thick fog and terrifying light and shadows suddenly filled his vision.

Beside the Radiant Star, close at hand, on the sea that was still calm and peaceful the second before, the thick fog suddenly appeared like a high wall. The chaotic light and shadows brought about by the spiritual reversal seemed to swarm out of the fog, and a huge shadow floated up from the spirit world and descended from the thick fog—

Just like the descriptions in many terrifying sea legends, it was wrapped in darkness and chaos, burning with doomsday-like flames, as if a nightmare suddenly condensed into a form in the real world, crushing like an unavoidable fate. Within a few breaths, the magnificent prow of the Forsaken Ship broke into reality.

Talan Aier stood on the deck like a stone sculpture. He heard a "thump" sound coming from a certain direction, but he didn't even have the courage to turn his head to look. After a few more seconds, he regained his ability to breathe and felt his heart beating strongly—the potion Ms. Lucretia had given him earlier was still exerting a strong protective effect, allowing his sub-healthy organs to continue to operate reliably under the severe impact.

Then, the great scholar gradually came to his senses. He regained his ability to speak and quickly turned to look at the place where the "witch" had been standing before: "Ms. Lucretia! Your father..."

There was no sign of the witch on the mast.

Talan Aier was stunned for a moment, subconsciously looked around, and shouted loudly: "Ms. Lucretia! Lu..."

"Stop shouting, I'm here."

A voice with a hint of warning in its coldness suddenly came from very close, interrupting the scholar's yelling. Talan Aier quickly turned his head to look, but saw that Lucretia had come to the deck at some point, standing beside him with a calm expression, while supporting her forehead in an elegant posture, watching the prow of the Forsaken Ship.

"Ah, where did you go just now? As soon as I turned around, you were..."

"Shut up," Lucretia interrupted the great scholar with a bad attitude, "Father doesn't like people who yell during meetings."

Talan Aier instantly closed his mouth, looking nervously at the big ship burning with ghost flames, and at almost the same time, he saw a flame appear out of thin air on the deck of the Radiant Star—the flame rose rapidly, forming a spinning door, and then, a tall figure stepped out of it.

Considering that this was his first visit to the Radiant Star, Duncan chose to come alone to avoid on-site confusion.

Now, he finally set foot on this ship—one of the only two remaining escort ships of the former Forsaken Fleet, the Radiant Star.

He also finally saw Lucretia in reality, the daughter of "Duncan Abnomal".

The "Sea Witch" was wearing a black dress with an adventurer style, hesitated and took a few steps towards him, but stopped a few meters away. She kept looking over, but her expression was complex and restrained—although she tried her best to hide it, that nervousness and hesitation could not be concealed at all.

Duncan couldn't help but recall some of the information that Tyrian had revealed to him before leaving Frost—

"Lucy gives the impression of being cold and aloof, and moody, but in essence, that's because she's not good at socializing and doesn't accurately express her emotions..."

"She will be exposed when she is nervous, so she always avoids putting herself in a nervous situation, which is why the 'Sea Witch' always comes and goes in a hurry, appearing particularly self-willed..."

"She doesn't know how to take the initiative to speak when she is too embarrassed, which gives people the impression of being extremely impolite, arrogant, and eccentric, but if someone is willing to take the initiative to talk to her at this time to break the silence, she will be very happy..."

In Frost, Duncan always maintained his image of "amnesia due to the influence of subspace" in front of Tyrian. Thanks to this, he could openly inquire about many things related to Lucretia from the other party, and now this information can obviously come in handy.

"Long time no see," after a moment of adjustment, Duncan showed a faint smile as he walked towards the "Sea Witch," "Lucy, I'm back."

He tried to play the role of "Duncan Abnomal" according to the pre-rehearsal and according to his understanding.

However, while greeting in this way, a faint emotion that spread directly from the bottom of his heart quietly appeared in his heart. In this shallow and vague emotion, he once again felt that slight nostalgia and... regret.

He was no stranger to this feeling—every body he occupied would have a similar reaction when encountering important people or things from "before".

This time, Duncan did not try to control and ignore this feeling, but let it flow slowly in his heart, and then slowly fade away.

The expression on Lucretia's face changed slightly several times. No one knew what the "witch" was thinking in those short few seconds. She was stunned for a while, and finally, all the memories and once-intense emotions were only precipitated into a very soft sentence:

"Dad, you've been out for too long this time..."

Duncan was silent for a little while, and reached into his arms: "I brought you a gift."

"A gift?" Lucretia looked up a little blankly.

Duncan stretched out his hand and slowly opened his palm.

A silver-white, delicate hairpin with waves and feathers quietly lay in the palm of his hand.

Lucretia was a little dazed. She stared blankly at the delicate hairpin, and after a while, she blinked her eyes as if she had suddenly woken up, and hesitated to reach out.

The hairpin was real, with a hard touch and a slight temperature—the temperature of a living person.

The "witch" held the gift for a long, long time, and then seemed to show a little smile, and said in a very soft voice: "... You sent it too late, it's outdated, it's been outdated for a century..."

After a while, she seemed to take a light breath.

"Thank you."

(End of this chapter)