The moment Lucrezia took the delicate hairpin, Duncan felt a part of his "heart" relax abruptly.

It was an imperceptible corner, an indescribable feeling, as if a long-delayed mission had finally been completed. Even though his body had forgotten exactly what that mission was, the thought etched in his soul still let out a soft sigh.

"I hope you like it," Duncan said softly after a moment of silence. "I don't remember a lot of things, but I remember this hairpin was for you."

"I heard it from Tirian," Lucrezia nodded. She felt that the hesitation and anxiety that had plagued her for many days had vanished without a trace - although she had contacted her father through the crystal ball before, it turned out that only a real-world meeting could dispel those worries. "Anyway, it's good that you're back on 'this side'."

Duncan nodded, then turned his gaze to the elven scholar who was standing not far away, trying to minimize his presence since earlier.

"Master Talan Eal," he said with a faint smile, trying to make his tone more approachable, "Now we meet again in reality—I'm glad to see you safe and sound. I have many things to talk to you about."

"D-don't call me Master, you're too kind," Talan Eal quickly waved his hands. "Just call me by my name. I've long admired you, the great explorer Captain Duncan, um, I mean you're still alive... when you were alive... when you were still human... I..."

Duncan silently watched the elven scholar, while Lucrezia silently drew a "short staff" like a magic wand and pointed it at Talan Eal's nose.

"A frog, or a snake?" she said dangerous things in a calm tone.

Talan Eal instantly raised his hands, looking at Duncan with a distressed expression: "I meant to say that a century ago, I admired your reputation, but unfortunately I never had the chance to meet you..."

Duncan didn't expect the elven scholar to have such an interesting personality, and couldn't help but laugh: "Is that the truth?"

"Of course," Talan Eal said seriously. "As a scholar interested in the borderlands, I have always hoped to make more friends with those real explorers, to learn about things outside the boundaries of civilization from them, and even yearn to personally sail far away to explore that magnificent fog barrier—but unfortunately, I am destined to be unable to complete such a great journey..."

"It doesn't matter, now you have a chance to 'befriend' me," Duncan nodded, then he seemed to suddenly remember something, and turned to Lucrezia and said, "Oh right, there's one more thing for you."

Lucrezia didn't react for a moment, and then she saw Duncan raise his hand—the flame portal that had appeared out of thin air on the deck had not disappeared, and at this moment, it suddenly expanded with Duncan's movement. A cavity seemed to form in the rotating flames, and after a moment of burst and retreat, a huge wooden box appeared on the deck.

A plump pigeon with pure white feathers and fluffy fur was standing on the box.

Ayi tilted its head, looking at Lucrezia with one eye and not knowing what it was glancing at with the other: "Honey, please sign for the delivery and give us a five-star review."

Lucrezia stared blankly at the scene, wondering what was going on with the pigeon, and then noticed a metal nameplate on the side of the wooden box.

"Tirian prepared a spiritual lens for you—the highest quality one," Duncan pointed to the box, "You didn't forget, did you?"

"Ah, I... didn't forget," Lucrezia's eyes drifted to the side, and she said a little guiltily, then abruptly changed the subject, raised her finger and pointed to the pigeon strutting on the box, "Is this the 'Ayi' my brother mentioned? What is this 'five-star review' it just said?"

"Don't worry about it, most people can't understand how this pigeon talks," Duncan waved his hand, beckoned Ayi to land on his shoulder, and then gestured for Lucrezia to lead the way. "Put the lens on the deck first, and you can handle it yourself later. Let's find a place to talk first."

"Okay."

Under Lucrezia's guidance, Duncan and Talan Eal came to a certain "reception room" located on the mid-deck.

This was an upper-level cabin with spacious windows, located on the side of the ship near the舷. Through the windows, visitors could see the power structure on the side of the ship *Brilliant Star*, and also see the ship's ghostly, shadowy stern structure, which seemed to be forever shrouded in mist.

Duncan came to the window and curiously looked at the "scenery" outside, observing this "cursed ship" which had a different style from the *Lost Country*, but still carried an eerie atmosphere, especially focusing on its ghost-kingdom-like stern, and after a long time, he sighed: "This ship is completely different from the *Sea Fog*."

Hearing Duncan's unintentional "comment", Lucrezia looked a little uneasy: "It's been a long time, and both the *Sea Fog* and the *Brilliant Star*... are very different from your original design. In order to survive in the 'borderlands', I made many bold modifications to this ship. You shouldn't be angry, right?"

"There should be some changes, changes are a good thing," Duncan smiled. "The *Lost Country* has also changed a lot. If you go up and take a look, you will be very surprised by its internal state."

Step on the *Lost Country*?

Lucrezia was a little dazed for a while, perhaps recalling the distant past, or perhaps thinking of her brother who had boarded the *Lost Country* several times and still contacted and frightened her from time to time.

But she quickly came back to her senses and nodded to Duncan: "I... will go."

Then she raised her head and said to the door in a slightly louder voice: "Luni, you can come in now."

The door of the room opened, and in Duncan's slightly curious gaze, a clockwork doll composed of metal, ceramic, and leather, with a six or seven percent resemblance to Lucrezia, pushed in a small cart with drinks and snacks.

Accompanied by a faint sound of gears turning, the clockwork doll came to the reception table and bowed slightly to Duncan: "I am very glad to see you, old master."

"You are Luni?" Duncan couldn't help but take a few more glances at the wonderful doll. "I found your 'sister' Nilo in a doll shop in Pran—frankly, you two are very different."

"When you first saw me, I was just a three-point doll," Luni politely lowered her head, with slight ticking and clicking sounds constantly coming from her body. "Of course, I couldn't think or speak at that time. The hostess gave me life."

"...Incredible technology," Duncan looked at Lucrezia. "But I also have a 'doll' on my ship that can talk and think. Maybe Luni and she can be friends."

"I know, my brother told me about Anomaly 099," Lucrezia nodded. "Luni is indeed very curious about that 'Alice', but... is she really safe?"

"Especially safe," Duncan waved his hand. "The whole ship of the *Lost Country* is safest with her. Even a bucket in that place can fight better than her..."

Lucrezia: "...?"

The witch lady finally began to vaguely realize what her father meant when he said "the *Lost Country* has also changed a lot"...

At this time, Duncan finally focused his attention on Talan Eal.

Under the elven scholar's uneasy gaze, he adjusted his sitting posture and asked seriously: "In your elven legends or traditional belief systems, is there a term called 'Dream of the Nameless'?"

Talan Eal was stunned when he heard this: "Dream of the Nameless?"

Immediately afterwards, he suddenly reacted: "Are you referring to the dream I fell into before? Are you saying... that dream has a name, called 'Dream of the Nameless'?"

"If the information is correct, that's what it's called."

Duncan gave a definite answer, and then he told the two people in front of him all the information he had obtained from a group of cultists by "using some means," including the possible role of those preachers of the end in the dark, as well as some of his own superficial guesses and previous discussions with Agatha, without reservation.

During Duncan's narration, Talan Eal unconsciously forgot his initial nervousness and restraint, and gradually became engrossed, even Lucrezia next to him leaned forward slightly, with a thoughtful look on her face from time to time.

For scholars who are devoted to research, these information obtained from different ports sound dangerous but tempting. They may be closely related to those sinful heresies, but behind them... they seem to vaguely point to some knowledge and mysteries.

When Duncan finally finished speaking, the room became very quiet for a while. The two scholars present fell into thinking at the same time. After an unknown amount of time, Lucrezia was the first to break the silence: "Is this information reliable? Ah, I don't doubt you, but those cultists are usually very cunning. Even experts in dealing with heretics, such as church inquisitors, often have to spend a lot of effort to pry things out of those guys' mouths..."

"Reliable," Duncan's tone was confident. "I used some very effective investigation techniques—ah, would you like to know about the specific process?"

Lucrezia and Talan Eal were stunned for a moment, and shook their heads at the same time without thinking.

"...Okay," Duncan felt a little regretful. "Then what are your thoughts now? Mr. Talan Eal, what is your guess about this so-called 'Dream of the Nameless'?"

Talan Eal thought carefully, and after a few seconds, he opened his mouth cautiously: "There is no such term in the various legends and traditional beliefs of the elves. At least I can be sure that this term is not from the Elvish language family, but if we simply discuss the concept of 'dream'... our race has many stories related to it."

Duncan immediately became interested: "Oh?"

"Have you heard of... the Great Demon God Sasroka?"

(End of this chapter)