The sound from the black wooden carving startled Duncan. He hadn't expected the bizarre goat head on the *Sea of the Lost*, a ship already surreal as a mystical illusion, to suddenly "come alive." His gaze instinctively locked onto the slowly moving "wood carving," and a sense of alertness welled up within him. Then, he realized something:

It didn't seem to "see" him.

Because he was merely "peeking" into the depths of that massive vine through the connection established by the spiritual flames. Only his thoughts were transmitted here. He hadn't truly projected his power, nor had he condensed a physical form.

So, the "goat head" on the table must have only sensed the aura—and now, it was searching for the source.

The unsettling black wood carving rotated slowly, its wooden base emitting faint creaks. In the silent *Sea of the Lost*, in the silent captain's cabin, the creaks were especially eerie. The pair of obsidian eyes swept across Duncan's position several times. Finally, it stopped and asked in a puzzled tone, "Is… someone there…?"

Its voice was slow, deep, like a somniloquy.

Duncan immediately perceived something amiss from its reaction—the "goat head" clearly sensed *something*, but it didn't recognize the aura of the "Captain?!"

After a moment of solemn contemplation, Duncan made his decision.

The connection established by the flames intensified instantly. Power flowed through the flames, and Duncan began to "incline" his will toward this eerie space filled with darkness and mist, quickly condensing his form here.

He intended to figure out what was going on with the *Sea of the Lost*, sailing in the mist, and the strange "goat head" before him.

On the *Sea of the Lost*, sailing through darkness and mist, wisps of eerie green flame appeared all over the deck. In the dimly lit captain's cabin, a spiritual flame suddenly appeared in mid-air, crackling as it rapidly expanded, then swiftly outlining a tall figure.

Almost instantly, Duncan's connection to this bizarre, dark space intensified. But equally instantaneously, he felt that this mist-filled space and the *Sea of the Lost* beneath him seemed to be... stimulated. Everything around him blurred and turned illusory. A belated sense of rejection surged from all directions, as if the dark mist were resisting his flames, or… the bizarre place itself was rapidly disintegrating.

The sudden repulsion caught Duncan off guard. This was the first time he'd felt such active rejection when using spiritual flames to investigate something unfamiliar!

In the past, he'd used spiritual flames to investigate many things, including Alice's coffin, the brass clockwork key, and various extraordinary items seized from cultists, but none had ever shown this reaction.

Could this strange space, and the massive "vine" that appeared in the city-state, still be alive, with a powerful "consciousness" behind them?

Startling conjectures churned in his mind, but now was clearly not the time for a thorough investigation. Duncan didn't know how long he could maintain the "connection," so he could only try to maintain his stability while walking towards the goat head by the navigation table.

The black wooden carving also seemed to awaken from a dream. It suddenly raised its head, its gaze landing on Duncan. In its eyes, the eerie green flames and the tall figure had appeared abruptly, like a bright light suddenly intruding into a peaceful, dark dream. Awakened from its illusion, it stared in astonishment at the uninvited guest and asked in a confused voice, "Who are you?"

"Looks like you don't recognize me." Having already detected some clues, Duncan wasn't surprised. He merely tried to maintain his connection while swiftly sensing the information of the *Sea of the Lost* and the situation of the "goat head." "I am Duncan Abnomal—what is your name?"

"Duncan… ah, feels familiar…" The goat head didn't seem fully awake. Its voice often sounded like it was slipping into a dream, and it didn't directly answer Duncan's question. "I don't remember… why are you here… why are we here…"

Duncan frowned.

He could feel that this mist-filled dark space was gradually showing signs of disintegration. The strong rejection was trying to expel his flames, and the "goat head" seemed to be in a semi-conscious state, unable to answer his questions at all.

After a moment's thought, he took another step forward and pointed to the nautical chart next to the goat head.

"Where is the *Sea of the Lost* sailing?"

A second or two later, the goat head slowly reacted. It slowly turned its neck, its gaze falling on the "navigation" chart that showed a forest landscape. After a long time, it uttered an indistinct sound, "…Oh, that's great, they're still there…"

"They?" Duncan asked immediately. "Who are they?"

However, a sudden, violent tremor and a low roar that seemed to sweep across the entire space interrupted his question.

The rejection against him had reached its peak. Every inch of space-time seemed to be resisting the spread of spiritual fire. There were faint crackling sounds in the air. The flames seemed to be burning an invisible barrier, and all kinds of perceptions transmitted through the flames suddenly became blurred and sluggish.

Duncan lowered his head and saw that the projection of his incarnation was becoming increasingly blurred. His connection to this place seemed about to be severed.

He knew he could forcibly gather even greater power and use the spiritual flames to forcibly maintain this connection—but after realizing that the massive vine was very likely "alive," and even possessed consciousness, he didn't know if he should do so.

Just then, the goat head on the navigation table seemed to finally notice the abnormality on Duncan.

Its gaze landed on the flickering flames. After a moment's delay, it mumbled, "Ah, you startled her…"

Duncan was stunned and looked up instantly. "Startled who?"

"Xilantis…" The goat head seemed to be slipping into that dreamlike state again. Its voice became even slower, "Xilantis doesn't recognize you, your presence… startled her."

Xilantis… the "World Tree" in ancient elven legends?!

Corresponding information and a host of conjectures flashed through Duncan's mind, but just as he wanted to ask more questions, a sense of rapid detachment and the feeling of the entire world quickly receding interrupted him. Then, everything before him turned dim, the captain's cabin, the navigation table, the sea chart all disappeared into the darkness. Only the goat head's ethereal, self-whispering voice faintly echoed in the darkness:

"Ah, the time has come—she is about to wake up."

The next second, the feeling of solid ground under his feet abruptly awakened Duncan. He instinctively took a breath, then opened his eyes.

Alice's face was only ten centimeters away from him.

Duncan was startled by the silly-looking doll and quickly backed away. Alice immediately flashed a bright smile, bustling closer while exclaiming, "Captain! Captain! It's almost dawn! Everything outside seems to be back to normal!"

Duncan was about to lecture Alice when he was stunned by her words. Then, he noticed the changes around him.

The dense forests that had filled the entire district were gone. The vast vegetation that had once merged with the surrounding high-rise buildings had retreated without a trace. The street facilities, once twisted and mutated into part of the forest, had indeed returned to their original appearance.

On both sides of the road, the soft glow of gas streetlights illuminated the surroundings. Above the district, "sunlight" diffused from the distant coast like a curtain, passing over the city-state. In the gaps of sunlight, the outline of the Scar of the World was gradually fading, and at the end of the sky, a hint of dawn before the rise of Anomaly 001 seemed to be spreading in the clouds.

Duncan blinked and subconsciously looked towards the slope in the depths of the district.

He remembered that a huge vine had spread from the slope, and his flames had penetrated deep into that vine.

There was nothing there.

Just like the state of the entire district—everything had returned to normal.

With the rising sun, with the end of night and the arrival of day, the large-scale, bizarre phenomenon… like a waking dream, dissipated in the morning light.

Duncan felt like he was standing on the border of a bizarre illusion. The displaced reality and the memories remaining in his mind gave everything before him an unreal quality.

But this feeling of trance only lasted for a moment. He quickly sobered up and immediately looked back towards Crown Street.

His perception spread towards that side, and those familiar "marks" appeared in his "vision."

Nina, Shirley, Morris…

Their auras had returned to the real world.

The wooden doll head in Alice's arms suddenly twitched. The mouth of the maid doll opened and closed, making Lucretia's voice, "Papa, we seem to be…"

"I know, you're all back, and the district has returned to normal."

Duncan said quickly. In the corner of his eye, he could already see sparse figures appearing on the street—local residents who were going out to move around after dawn.

They were sweeping the streets, chatting in front of their doors, rushing to work, and talking about yesterday's news and today's weather.

No one seemed to know what had happened last night—even though, just a few hours ago, all the people active in this district had indeed disappeared into the night.

Now, they were back too.

The gradually recovering and bustling street scene before him seemed to be gradually covered with an indescribable sense of bizarre strangeness.

(End of Chapter)