Chapter 1 A Crisis Spreads

The terrifying "sleep" and vanishing phenomenon is spreading throughout the world, from the distant northern seas to the southern oceans, from the mist-covered eastern border to the western islands. Almost every city-state has begun to experience elves suddenly falling into slumber and the bizarre "vanishing" phenomenon.

And the message from Ted Riel, deep within the Dream of the Nameless, has been spread throughout the world by the mouths of those sleeping elves.

Churches rang their bells, and telegrams and psionic communications began to transmit messages between city-states. Governors and archbishops communicated real-time situations, and the joint monitoring and defense system, recently established under the leadership of the Four Gods Church, began to operate hastily.

People originally thought this system would be used to monitor the deep sea beneath the city-states, but they never expected its first use would be due to an out-of-control dream.

A whirlwind of fluttering colored paper danced through layers of vines, leaves, and rooftops, spiraling into the governor's office in the city hall.

Governor Sara Mell, who was discussing matters with several city hall officials, immediately looked up at the "Sea Witch" walking out of the colored paper.

"I suddenly remembered that I should check on the city hall," Lucretzia said, walking towards the large oval desk. "Looks like you're busy."

"Overwhelmed, madam," Sara Mell waved to the city hall officials around her, asking them to step aside for now. "I heard that you just extended a helping hand to the police force in distress—thank you very much for your help."

"What's the situation now?"

"The city is in chaos. Sixteen blocks have completely lost contact. Dense vegetation has blocked all roads. A large number of residents are missing. The police and guardians are finding it difficult to penetrate those areas. The steam hubs have stopped. For safety reasons, we have also shut down the gas supply throughout the city—thank goodness it could still be turned off, but no one knows what to do tonight," Sara Mell said in one breath. "As for outside the city... I believe you also know what's happening elsewhere. Countless messages are coming in through various channels, but I'm afraid I don't have the extra energy to pay attention to the situation in other city-states."

"What about the message from Ted Riel? Do you know about this?"

"Yes, I know," Sara Mell nodded. "First, two hours ago, the action team that Talan Ehl participated in sent a message saying that after the action team left the dream, the Truth Keeper did not return to the real world. Half an hour ago, I received the latest information that His Excellency the Keeper was trapped in the deepest part of the Dream of the Nameless..."

He paused, a complex expression on his face that was hard to describe. He seemed to want to let out a long sigh, but in the end, he just twitched at the corner of his mouth: "The elves pride themselves on their long and complete heritage. We firmly believe that those ancient legends and myths are historical events that once existed, symbols of our ancient civilization—now, our legends and myths are coming to kill us."

Lucretzia silently watched the highly respected governor. After a moment, she slowly opened her mouth: "But until last night, the information we had was that Xilantis wanted to protect all the elves—even now, I still have reason to believe that this 'protection' is still in effect, just... in an extremely dangerous way."

Sara Mell's face twitched: "...Yes, because Xilantis has gone mad."

"I want to see Talan Ehl, and the other Knowledge Guardians who entered the Dream of the Nameless with him," Lucretzia said. "I didn't find them at the City-State University."

"They are in an isolation facility receiving observation and questioning. I'll tell you the location..."

...

The majestic Storm Cathedral stood quietly on the highest point of Prunnd. The square in front of the cathedral was as lively as ever—on every open day, many citizens would gather here, either entering the church for worship, receiving blessings or treatment in the facilities near the church, or simply taking a tour.

Duncan, wearing a plain brown coat and black trousers, followed the group of people entering the church and crossed the magnificent archway, then proceeded along the path that Vanna guided him in his mind toward the depths of the cathedral.

He passed through the main hall and the worship trail open to tourists, passed through the shortcut corridor next to the pulpit, and walked forward along a route that even many of the cathedral's internal staff were unfamiliar with.

"...You go forward through that small black door, turn right after entering the door, and there's a fork in the road after about twenty meters. The path on the left leads to the inner courtyard...

"This road is the quietest. At the end of the road, you can see the side door of the inner chapel. I've told Bishop Valentine to wait for you in the chapel. Everything has been arranged along the way, and no one will stop you. The guards on the road don't know your identity... Yes, only Bishop Valentine knows the real situation...

"If you want to come to the cathedral again in the future, you can take this road. By the way, my old room in the cathedral was right next to the chapel. You can go there too... I know you don't need it..."

Listening to the voice of the Investigator in his mind, Duncan raised his eyes.

The inner chapel had arrived—this facility, which was not open to the public, was only for the use of high-ranking clergy of the Deep Sea Church. A simple black wooden door stood quietly at the end of the path, and two fully armed church guards stood there upright, like two somber sculptures.

Duncan walked towards the door.

The guards at the door didn't even move their eyes, as if they hadn't seen Duncan at all, still maintaining a serious look forward.

This was obviously also the result of prior arrangements. Duncan could almost imagine what kind of orders the guards along the way had received—

A special "guest" will visit the cathedral today.

Do not listen, do not look, do not ask, do not think.

He smiled politely at them, then walked past the two guards and gently pushed open the black wooden door depicting many sacred runes.

A slight sound of sea waves rose faintly, and a damp, cold aura seemed to appear briefly, then quickly dissipated. Duncan felt like he had crossed an invisible barrier, then walked into a brightly lit, spacious room.

The highest bishop of Prunnd, Valentine, was standing in the center of the room.

The old man with sparse white hair was wearing a black and gold-patterned high priest's robe. He had his back to the door, facing the statue of the Storm Goddess that was surrounded by a mysterious and holy atmosphere. He seemed to be praying devoutly. When he heard the sound of the door opening, he turned around and looked at the special "guest" standing at the door.

It was obvious that the old man seemed a little nervous—although he was trying to control it.

"Hello, Bishop Valentine, we meet again," Duncan said with a smile on his face, walking towards the other party. "But for you, it should be the first time seeing me in this 'appearance'."

Valentine curiously sized up "Duncan" as he entered the room.

All he saw was an ordinary middle-aged man wearing a plain old coat, neither tall nor strong, someone you could see anywhere in the city-state.

But just a second later, a strong warning from his reason urged him to shift his gaze, not to continue staring at the "shell" that looked like a human being.

"I know, this is the 'avatar' you use to move around in the city-state. I heard Vanna mention it," Valentine said, slightly lowering his gaze. "I also heard her talk about the current situation. The things you want are ready."

The old bishop raised his hand, pointing to a large wooden box next to the statue.

It contained the original data from the construction process of the *Vanished* a century ago, and... a most important "sample".

Several bright candlesticks were temporarily placed around the wooden box. The illusory light rising from the candle flames showed that they had been blessed with power. Stone slabs and iron chains could be seen on both sides of the wooden box, obviously also part of the safety measures.

It seemed that even after being taken out of the sealed room and placed in this chapel directly watched by the goddess, this box of "shipbuilding archives" had received considerable attention. Bishop Valentine was guarding here in advance, probably to prevent the contents of the box from getting out of control.

"...Is it really that dangerous?" Duncan walked towards the large wooden box, and couldn't help turning his head and asking, "Are these sealing measures useful?"

"Actually, they're not—because this box of things has never had any 'abnormalities' to begin with," Valentine said quite bluntly.

Duncan was stunned when he heard this: "Then what are you doing..."

"Peace of mind," Valentine said frankly. "The contents of the box themselves have no abnormalities, but everyone knows that there must be a supernatural connection between them and the *Vanished*, so they simply used all kinds of sealing methods—what you see is already a simplified version. In the sealed room where this wooden box was originally stored, there were many more 'safety measures' than this."

Duncan was speechless.

After a moment, he shook his head, ignoring the suddenly awkward atmosphere, and stepped forward to open the wooden box.

The box was not locked—the lock had already been removed when it was sent here.

"The original design blueprints, technical parameters, and engineering logs of the *Vanished*—in fact, there is much more complete information, but those less relevant things have already been burned to ashes in the shipyard fire at the time. Only these were left behind, sealed in this box..."

Valentine's voice came from the side. The old bishop came to Duncan's side, looking at the contents of the box and said in a deep voice.

"Of course, I guess what you really want is not just these drawings, but... the thing in the middle of the box.

"According to the shipbuilding habits of a century ago, a keel sample that has been preserved."

Duncan's eyes were quietly fixed on the gray-black square wood lying in the middle of a piece of black silk.

That was the "sample" cut from the original keel material of the *Vanished*.

(End of this chapter)