Chapter 295 Small Twig

In fact, Duncan was already on his way back to Fairwind Port when Lucrezia sent the message—and he was about to reach the city-state.

This was because confirming that the *Vanishing Line's* "isolation" could not prevent the Nameless Dream from continuing to develop, so while acting in the "other side" of the dream realm, his body in the real world immediately chose to sail back.

The dark, chaotic sky shrouded the sea, and dense, black "hair strands" covered the surface, giving the entire ocean an ink-dyed texture. Hazy phantasms flashed across the sea from far and near, and the bizarre scenes of the spirit realm rose and fell on the edge of his vision.

The *Vanishing Line's* sails billowed, and it sped across the spirit realm's ocean like a swift wind. The illusions that constantly appeared on the sea dodged the behemoth, and those that couldn't avoid it were swept into the turbulence by the scattered, ghostly green flames around the ship, torn into fragments.

Duncan gripped the helm, standing on the bridge on the stern deck, concentrating on maneuvering the ship while listening to the news from Lucrezia, Morris, and others from Fairwind Port.

Agatha's phantom stood beside him, appearing like a shapeshifting ghost against the hazy, dark backdrop of the spirit realm.

Morris's voice came from the other end of the mental link: "...The forest spreading from the Nameless Dream has covered the entire city and has begun to physically damage the city's functions... They are no longer illusions but have become real substances. Multiple blocks have been cut off and sealed by dense vegetation, and a large number of people are trapped..."

"Some buildings have been completely swallowed, entire houses replaced by towering trees, and the fate of the people inside is unknown..."

"Vanna went to observe the situation on the street earlier and confirmed the authenticity of those plants and the damage they caused to the city. What's even stranger is that these 'dream products' invading the real world have not shown any extraordinary characteristics..."

"In addition, we have also tried to contact Stormwind Cathedral and the Academy Ark through spiritual resonance. The church has already discovered the anomaly in Fairwind Port, and they have dispatched the nearest border fleet..."

Duncan listened silently to the news from Fairwind Port, his face gloomy and serious.

The *Vanishing Line's* speed increased slightly again, flying across the spirit realm waters at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary ships. From the depths of this vast ghost ship came a slightly muffled creaking sound, as it responded to the captain's orders.

The Nameless Dream was growing, but this time, the speed of development clearly exceeded everyone's expectations. Rather than saying that this was the result of further growth of this vast dream realm, Duncan felt that it was more like... a sign that it was gradually losing control.

"Captain," Agatha's voice came from the side, "I have an uneasy premonition—the way things are developing reminds me of Frost."

Duncan didn't speak, only frowned slightly. Unconsciously, he recalled the scene he had seen in the hold of the *Vanishing Line*.

The massive spine of an ancient god, the *Vanishing Line* reshaped and returned from subspace with the authority of Saslauskas, and... the mystery of the *Vanishing Line's* original "keel."

Gradually, all these clues seemed to have a direction, pointing to the anomaly in Fairwind Port, pointing to the Nameless Dream that was constantly invading reality.

Duncan suddenly vaguely understood something.

Everything was connected. A long, long time ago, this ship was already part of this vast vortex.

The beginning of this vortex could even be traced back a century ago, to the day when Duncan Abnomar decided to build this behemoth.

"...We must find Xilandis," Duncan suddenly said softly.

Agatha next to him didn't react for a moment, "Captain?"

"The state of the Nameless Dream is closely related to 'Xilandis,' and according to the existing clues, I guess Xilandis is sleeping in the subconscious of all elves—something must have stimulated this sleeping 'World Tree,' causing her state to deteriorate sharply," Duncan's thoughts became clearer and clearer, he said quickly, "We must find Xilandis."

"Find? Where to find?" Agatha's tone was bewildered, "We have been to the border of the Nameless Dream, but Xilandis exists invisibly in that boundless darkness. According to that taciturn goat-head, 'she' is now refusing to be touched and awakened..."

"But there may be other ways," Duncan shook his head, then directly called out another name in his heart, "Lucille."

Lucrezia's voice sounded directly in his mind, "I'm here."

"Do you remember the things when the *Vanishing Line* was first built?"

"I... I was very young at that time," Lucrezia obviously didn't expect her father to suddenly bring this up, her words a little at a loss, "The impression is very vague, and the adults didn't let me get too close to the shipyard at that time. Maybe brother remembers more? He was already seven or eight years old at that time, and often sneaked to the place where the ship was being built..."

"Tirrion," Duncan unhesitatingly called out another name he had left a mark on, "I have a question to ask you."

He was silent in his mind for two or three seconds, then came a burst of chaotic noise—that was a large number of "thoughts" that inadvertently leaked out through the barrier of consciousness, forming a "sound." After that, it was Tirrion's panicked and wrong voice, "Father? What happened? How did you..."

"I heard Lucille mention that you often sneaked over when the *Vanishing Line* was being built?"

Even across the distant spatial distance and the barrier of consciousness, Duncan could feel the instantaneous panic from the other end of the mental link.

Tirrion seemed to be completely dazed, "I didn't! Don't listen to Lucille's nonsense, she..."

Before he could finish his words, Lucrezia's voice suddenly interjected, "Brother, admit it, something happened to Fairwind Port, Dad has something serious to ask you."

Vanna's voice followed closely, "Mr. Tirrion, it's a very serious matter."

Tirrion was instantly silent, and after a moment he spoke again, sounding even more dazed than before, "...Why are you all here?"

"Yeah, we're all here," Shirley interjected, "Doggy's here too."

"Quiet, this is not a place for chatting," Seeing a group of guys who had established a temporary "channel" through the Spirit Fire Mark actually chatting, Duncan had to interrupt their chatting in his mind, "Tirrion, do you remember the things when the *Vanishing Line* was being built? Do you remember where its 'keel' came from?"

Tirrion finally realized the seriousness of the matter from Duncan's tone.

Duncan's mind quieted down.

After a moment, Tirrion's voice finally sounded, "...Actually, I don't remember very clearly either. You wouldn't tell a child who was only a few years old too much profound shipbuilding knowledge, but I still remember that the ship's 'keel' was 'dragged' back by you from a fog near the border after an offshore adventure..."

"Dragged back from the fog near the border?"

"Yes, that was one of your 'harvests' from that adventure. You often found things in your adventures, and those 'trophies' made you highly respected and envied by other adventurers, but even among the many trophies, the 'huge wood' you dragged back from near the border that time was the most special one... It was so huge that it even exceeded the traction limit of your ship at that time. You had to arrange for two other small boats to assist from the side, and then it took nearly two months to drag it to Pland..."

"The reason for choosing Pland was not only because our family was living there at that time, but also because that city-state had the largest shipyard at that time."

"Yes, after that, you announced that you were going to build a ship, the greatest and most amazing exploration ship in the world, using that 'wood' you found in the border fog."

"That ship took a full seven years to build—with sufficient manpower and material resources, with the world's largest and most advanced shipbuilding facilities, and with a large number of shipbuilding experts attracted and gathered in Pland by your amazing plan, it still took seven years to build, and it was not until it was successfully launched and completed its initial voyage, and then after several years of continuous improvement and adjustment, that it became the 'Vanishing Line' that attracted the world's attention."

"My knowledge of that ship was gradually established in this process, and even the origin of that 'keel' was heard from others when it was half-built—before that, you rarely mentioned anything about it to me."

Duncan listened to Tirrion's narration in his mind with a serious face, and did not speak for a long time.

These things were indeed the first time he had known—as the current captain of the *Vanishing Line*, he only now knew the story of how the ship was built.

But it was not too late to know now.

After a moment of silence, Duncan asked again, "About that keel... what else do you know?"

Tirrion fell silent, seeming to be lost in memories for a moment.

After an unknown amount of time, his voice finally sounded again, "I remember that the craftsmen who participated in the construction once told me that the keel was extremely difficult to process. It was not like any known wood, and its toughness was simply incredible. Moreover, as a 'strange thing' obtained from near the 'border,' it also had some unsettling 'unnatural' properties, such as making strange noises in the middle of the night, and the marks left on the surface would slowly repair... Because of these strange characteristics, the *Vanishing Line's* construction plan almost stalled in the first step, because no one could shape that raw wood into the appearance of a keel..."

"But later, the craftsmen discovered a strange thing—"

"Workers with elven blood could easily cut that 'wood.'"

Duncan immediately spoke, "Elves?"

"Yes, after wasting nearly two months on that big wood, an elven craftsman accidentally discovered this—in the hands of elves, that keel, which was so tough that it almost drove everyone crazy, was as easy to process as balsa wood. So later, the Pland shipyard transferred all elven workers to the *Vanishing Line* project, and even recruited some people from nearby city-states..."

Duncan listened seriously, and after Tirrion finished speaking, he was silent for a few more seconds before asking again, "Anything else?"

"Let me think..." Tirrion said, then recalled for a moment before speaking uncertainly, "There's one more thing, but I don't remember it very clearly... That was when the *Vanishing Line* was about to be completed. At that time, I had been approved to help you with some less important work. Once you took me to the dry dock. You were drinking at the time, and you looked very excited. You pointed at the *Vanishing Line* and said to me..."

"'Tirrion, it's actually just a small twig.'"

"To this day, I still don't understand what you meant by that."

(End of this chapter)