Chapter 57 Long Line, Big Fish

Lucrezia greatly approved of Duncan's idea of "casting a long line to catch a big fish"—or rather, she hadn't really supported the simple and crude method that her father and Vanna had come up with from the start.

It wasn't that she had any prejudice against athletes—it was mainly that she felt that with the fear of "spiritual fire" and the suicide speed of the abyssal demons that Agou had shown, using such a simple and crude method would probably not catch a single one alive…

"Those cultists will hold a gathering before nightfall, and I'll have Rabbi try to get some information," Lucrezia said, thinking. "The most troublesome thing now is that there's a so-called 'saint' on that ship—this means that Rabbi can't do anything except 'observe.' Any proactive action may be detected by that saint."

"Saint?" Duncan asked curiously. "I know about the saints of the Four Gods. I acknowledge Vanna's combat power, but what's the deal with the saints of the Annihilation Church?"

His doubt was reasonable—the saints of the Four Gods were people favored by the gods. Their greatest characteristic was not actually their powerful combat strength (although most saints were indeed very good at fighting), but their ability to communicate with the gods. Ordinary priests needed to go through extremely complex rituals and pay a certain price to hear the slightest murmur of the gods, while saints hardly needed any preparation. Sometimes they could communicate with their gods simply by praying in their hearts. In more extreme cases, if a saint encountered danger, their gods would even try to contact them proactively to issue warnings and reminders.

In short, they were cherished like their own children.

However, the "saints" of the Annihilation Church were definitely not like this—Duncan knew the state of the Abyssal Sacred Lord. His attitude towards his so-called "followers" was even more clear-cut. Just based on the sentence "try catching a few Annihilation Church members," Duncan dared to bet that if there really was a saint among those cultists who could communicate with the "divine will," they would probably be summoned by the Lord on the day of their promotion—and then dragged into the abyssal deep sea by their "Lord" for repeated beatings.

"The Annihilation Church members regard the abyssal demons as the purest creatures closest to the 'original blueprint,' so they constantly use the power of the demons to transform themselves, in order to get themselves as close as possible to this 'original blueprint.' In this process, they will gain even more powerful strength," Lucrezia explained. "I heard Vanna mention that she had seen high-level Annihilation Church priests in Frost who had almost merged and coexisted with abyssal demons, and the so-called 'saints'...will go a step further than that.

"They won't retain many human characteristics, and they're more like demons than humans. They act like abyssal demons and can directly draw power from the abyssal deep sea. Apart from still retaining the ability to think like humans, they are basically a kind of 'abyssal creature'—these Annihilation 'saints' can even enter the abyssal deep sea freely, which is the so-called 'eternal paradise.' Perhaps only the little bit of human component left in them still binds them to the real dimension.

"The Annihilation Church members don't have the favor of true gods, but through contracts with demons, they can still obtain great power, and their 'saints' are the same—those freaks are powerful, have strong willpower, and know countless contaminating forbidden knowledge. In a head-on confrontation... Rabbi is not a match for those saints."

Duncan listened with interest to Lucrezia's narration of these "niche knowledge," and suddenly asked, "Then how do they compare to Vanna?"

Lucrezia was stunned for a moment, and her expression became subtly thoughtful.

After a long while, she finally said, "...Miss Vanna's combat power is relatively... 'special,' even among the saints. I think it's difficult to compare."

Duncan nodded knowingly, "Okay, I understand."

After a moment of thought, Lucrezia spoke again, "In addition, there are some other situations."

Duncan's voice came from the mirror, "Speak."

Lucrezia sorted out her language, "Tirion sent a message that three cases of 'sleeping sickness' have appeared in the Frost city-state. The patients are elves, and the symptoms are close to..."

She was only halfway through when the voice from the mirror interrupted her, "The sleeping symptoms are similar to those of the elf girl named 'Flotie' in Pland, and Talan Eile's situation back then, right? But this time, the hypnotism and dream entry treatments of the psychiatrists are ineffective. Their dreams seem to have become a void, and their consciousness is lost in the void."

Lucrezia looked at the mirror in surprise, "How do you...the news from Pland?!"

She suddenly reacted afterward.

"Just before contacting you," Duncan in the mirror nodded, "Heidi reported four such patients, also elves, also unconscious—and if the situation is as I expected, the problem is probably not limited to these two city-states. Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps even today, news will spread from other city-states to Light Wind Port."

Lucrezia frowned as she listened. After a long while, she blinked. She recalled the ancient legends that Talan Eile had once told, and softly spoke, as if talking to herself, "All elves... are the fruits and seeds of Xilandis..."

"Legends are projections of reality, and some descriptions are true—the power of Xilandis holds the elven race together, allowing them to form a swarm-like relationship. On a spiritual level, perhaps all elves are a whole," Duncan said slowly. "This trait has been dormant for a long time, but now it seems... the Dream of the Nameless has awakened the connection between them."

"Swarm... a spiritual whole..." Lucrezia subconsciously repeated the words used in Duncan's description. These descriptions made her frown slightly, but she couldn't find a more accurate expression than them. "The Dream of the Nameless is spreading among the elves, and Light Wind Port is just the first place to erupt..."

"I call it 'Ground Zero,' the initial point of eruption," Duncan said calmly. "And the question now is—why did this place become Ground Zero? What is the reason for the eruption of the Dream of the Nameless?"

Why?

Lucrezia was stunned. While she was in a daze, Duncan's voice continued to come from the mirror:

"Before the Dream of the Nameless erupted, two things happened. The first was the extinguishing of the sun, which plunged the entire Boundless Sea into darkness. The time in all city-states except Pland, Frost, and Light Wind Port disappeared for twelve hours. The second... was that the Vanishing Sail crossed the 'Sea of Disappearance' and came near Light Wind Port."

Lucrezia instantly understood her father's meaning.

She subconsciously said, "So, the extinguishing of the sun caused the Dream of the Nameless hidden in the elven race to 'activate,' and the approach of the Vanishing Sail... caused Light Wind Port to become 'Ground Zero'..."

"The first point was a guess I had from the beginning," Duncan nodded. "The second point is a possibility I only thought of now."

Lucrezia thought for a while and suddenly came up with a guess, "Then, if the Vanishing Sail moves away from Light Wind Port now, will it temporarily control the development of the Dream of the Nameless?"

"The Vanishing Sail is already moving away."

Inside the captain's room of the Vanishing Sail, Duncan turned his head and glanced at the scene outside the window.

Chaotic and dark clouds covered the sky, and the pitch-black sea surged silently in the distance. A thin mist enveloped everything, and the entire world was only black and white. Countless twisted, grotesque, and illusory shadows appeared and disappeared in the mist, keeping their distance in the distance.

"The Vanishing Sail is currently sailing at full speed in the depths of the spirit world, moving north away from Light Wind Port. Next, I will do a series of tests, including moving the position of the Vanishing Sail, further sinking in the spirit world, spiritualizing the entire ship, etc., to observe what impact these changes have on the Dream of the Nameless."

As he spoke, Duncan withdrew his gaze from the window and looked at the mirror beside him.

"But I suspect that these actions cannot stop the Dream of the Nameless from continuing to grow—from the news from various city-states, this 'dream' will ignore spatial barriers and directly affect every elf. Whether it is the extinguishing of the sun or the activities of the Vanishing Sail, they are just an initial 'inducement,' not the 'motivation' for maintaining the dream. What really maintains this dream is the elven race itself.

"But I will still try to do some experiments on the 'Goat Head' to see if the influence exerted on it can affect the Dream of the Nameless. After all, there are many clues that point to this possibility—my current 'first mate' is the ancient creator god in elven legends."

Lucrezia in the mirror was a little surprised, "But didn't you say that the Goat Head on the mirrored Vanishing Sail told you that Saszroka died a long time ago..."

"Are the 'birth' and 'death' of gods really that simple?" Duncan shook his head gently. "Even without considering gods, on the Vanishing Sail, I have no shortage of 'dead people' here."

Lucrezia opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't really comment on her father's followers, so she changed the subject a little stiffly, "Then what about Light Wind Port..."

"My main body will temporarily move away from the city-state with the Vanishing Sail," Duncan said. "This is also to satisfy some of my subsequent 'testing' plans, but Vanna and Maurice are staying in the city. They will continue to observe the Dream of the Nameless—although I can't come back for the time being, my power can still be transmitted to the city through the mirror. If you encounter trouble, you can call me at any time."

Lucrezia nodded. Then she was silent for a few seconds, and then said hesitantly, "In the case of a long distance, you must use your 'avatar' to establish a beacon in order for Aie to 'transmit,' right?"

Duncan glanced at Lucrezia in the mirror and nodded, "...That's right, what's the problem?"

"This... seems a little inconvenient," Lucrezia pondered over her words. "It was fine when the Vanishing Sail was near Light Wind Port. You and your followers could travel back and forth between the city-state and the ship at any time, but now that you have to temporarily move away from the city-state, you can only transmit power through the mirror. Have you considered... arranging an 'avatar' in Light Wind Port?"

Duncan was silent for two or three seconds, and shook his head with a serious expression, "I don't have that idea for the time being—you should know what 'raw materials' my avatar needs. Unless I happen to encounter a suitable situation, I don't plan to add any more avatars."

Although the suggestion was rejected, Lucrezia in the mirror seemed relieved, "Okay, Dad."

(End of this chapter)