Chapter 157 Information Exchange

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

Along the way, they saw a city completely restored to its daily appearance—whether it was the neighborhood once completely covered by the "Dark Forest", the nearby paths affected by the spreading vines, or the buildings that had fallen into silence and emptiness in the shadow of the forest, all had returned to their usual bustle in the early morning.

The number of pedestrians on the road was gradually increasing, the first bus of the morning had already passed the avenue, and the Knowledge Keepers at the intersection were handing over to the city's security guards. The strange phenomena that had permeated the entire district a few hours ago…seemed like a grand illusion that only Duncan and the others could perceive.

When Duncan and Alice returned, everyone was already waiting in the living room. Lucrezia was the first to greet them, quickly approaching Duncan: "Are you alright?"

Duncan waved his hand, walking into the living room while quickly saying, "My situation was different from yours. We need to compile all the information now."

Alice also followed into the living room, handing the puppet head she had been carrying all the way to Lucrezia as she passed by: "Here, I didn't break it!"

Lucrezia took the puppet's head with a slightly subtle expression, glanced back at the maid puppet standing by the nearby staircase railing in standby mode, raised her hand, and beckoned over a tinplate servant, handing the puppet's head to him: "Put it in the preparation room first, I'll deal with it later."

Soon, everyone gathered together—Duncan sat on the sofa in the center of the living room, his eyes sweeping over each familiar face around him.

Although he knew everyone was safe beforehand, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart seeing everyone safely returned to reality at this moment.

"Let's talk about what we know so far," Duncan said, breaking the silence after a moment. "First of all, we can now be certain that the large-scale anomaly that occurred in the city last night is very similar to the dream Talan Errol fell into before, although there are differences in the details and many new changes, but the source should be the influence of the so-called 'Dream of the Nameless One'—this 'dream' is growing, and now it seems to be getting out of control and tending to spread to reality."

He paused slightly, glanced at Alice beside him, and continued, "Secondly, after the anomaly occurred, we experienced different situations—Alice and I stayed in the real world. We saw the streets being eroded and distorted by the power overflowing from the dream. I even came into contact with a large entity that 'drilled' out of the dream, while you were dragged into the 'other side' of the dream. During this time, everyone lost contact, and only Lucrezia barely maintained contact with the real world through the puppet servants she made."

"So let's start with Lucrezia. Each of you should describe your experience in the 'inner side of the dream'."

Duncan's gaze fell on the "Sea Witch," who immediately nodded and adjusted her sitting posture: "Then let me talk about my situation first—my 'dream entry point' was an uninhabited area in the forest. There, I encountered an elven woman who called herself 'Shireen'..."

Hearing this, Nina exclaimed in surprise: "Ah? You met someone? A dreamer?"

Then she reacted and stuck out her tongue in embarrassment: "Sorry, I couldn't help it…Continue, I won't interrupt."

Lucrezia didn't mind. She nodded to Nina and continued to say, "According to my observation, that elf who called herself 'Shireen' should not be a dreamer, but a...'resident' who appeared in that vast dream. Of course, this sounds a bit unbelievable..."

"The other party mentioned a place called the 'Silent Wall,' which seemed to be a line of defense. She called herself a ranger, and also mentioned an evacuation order, telling me that everyone had retreated to the Silent Wall—until the end of the dream, I was acting with that elf, heading to the place called the 'Silent Wall,' but we never reached our destination..."

Lucrezia described her experiences in the dream world as detailed as possible, and everyone except Duncan, who already knew about this, looked serious and surprised when they heard these experiences—the reason was simple: Lucrezia was the only one among them who had come into contact with the "native residents" of the dream world.

No one had expected that there would be native-born mental entities like "Shireen" in the "Dream of the Nameless One"!

And if that elf named "Shireen" was telling the truth, then in the depths of that forest, behind the line of defense called the "Silent Wall," there would be even more mental entities living in the "Dream of the Nameless One?!"

After Lucrezia finished speaking, the living room was quiet for a while. Then Morris spoke up: "Nina and I were together."

Duncan was immediately surprised: "You two were together?"

"Yes, it seems that the process of us falling into the dream world has some kind of randomness, not everyone was separated," Morris nodded. "Our landing point was also an 'uninhabited area.' We could only observe endless unnamed plants around us. During this time, Nina ascended into the sky to observe the situation in the distance. We discovered some dark areas in the forest that seemed to be polluted..."

"Also, according to our tests, the entire dream world would make a very violent 'reaction' when Nina released her power..."

Morris spoke in a well-organized manner about their experiences in the "Dream of the Nameless One," which was information that Duncan didn't have. He frowned slightly, listening carefully to every detail the old gentleman spoke of, especially the intense reactions the "Dream of the Nameless One" showed after Nina released the power of the original sun.

It sounded…like a strong rejection.

This reminded Duncan of his experience in that dark space filled with thick fog…According to that "suspicious goat head," he was rejected in that space because Silantis was afraid. So what about Nina's rejection?

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

With a pensive expression, Duncan looked up and focused his gaze on Shirley.

"I met cultists, Annihilation cultists," Shirley said immediately, with a smug expression on her face, and a hint of boasting pride in her tone. "I dug up a lot of information from that guy! And I beat him up in the end, and had Agou leave a mark on him...Oh, I also encountered the whole forest suddenly turning evil, almost scaring me to death. Was that what Lucrezia mentioned earlier, some kind of 'erosion zone'? Could the 'polluted area' that the old gentleman and Nina saw be the same as my area?"

Duncan's eyes widened slightly at the mention.

Everyone's experiences in the Dream of the Nameless One were different, but Shirley's experience seemed particularly explosive!

The expression on his face immediately became serious, and he leaned forward subconsciously, staring into Shirley's eyes: "Speak slowly, don't be all over the place—what exactly is the situation?"

"Okay, okay, let me sort it out..." Seeing the captain's serious appearance, Shirley quickly sat up straight and began to rummage through the memories in her mind, but after trying her best to organize her words, she scratched her cheek, "Um...Agou, why don't you say it for me? I'm afraid I won't be able to explain it clearly."

In the next second, all eyes were focused on Agou.

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

Agou spoke clearly about his and Shirley's experiences in that forest, including the forest that suddenly began to corrupt and twist, as well as the cultist they encountered later, and the many pieces of information Shirley had extracted from the cultist.

Duncan's thoughts gradually expanded with Agou's narration, and he compared them with the existing clues, establishing connections one by one.

Erosion phenomenon, a line of defense called the "Silent Wall," an elf named Shireen, Annihilation cultists, and…the sudden end of that bizarre dream.

"It seems...the erosion that the elf named 'Shireen' mentioned should be the terrible phenomenon that Shirley and Agou encountered," Lucrezia said thoughtfully. "The forest suddenly twisted into an indescribable posture, the earth corroded and came to life, everything presented hostility...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 is hiding in another city in the real world, it won't be easy to find him again."

"The more important question is, how exactly do those cultists enter and exit the Dream of the Nameless One?" Vanna, who had remained silent all along, suddenly broke the silence at this time. "They seem to have special methods to enter and exit that 'dream' in a controlled manner, and even be able to carry out organized actions in that dream. This 'method' is crucial."

Duncan nodded slowly upon hearing this, and then his gaze fell on Vanna.

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

Vanna looked at the others. After a brief moment of silence, she said, "That's exactly what I want to say. My experience was different from yours, very, very...different. When I heard you describing that forest, I even felt very confused, because...I was in a desert."

The living room instantly fell silent.

Everyone looked at each other.

After several seconds, Duncan asked in disbelief, "You said you were in a desert?! You didn't see a forest at all?"

"Yes, no forest, only sand, a little sparse and withered plants, and huge rocks," Vanna nodded very seriously. "I climbed to the highest rock mountain and looked into the distance, there was no forest at all within my sight."

(End of this chapter)