Chapter 1 Standing Before the "Room"

After standing for a long time in front of this "room" made entirely of chaotic lines and blocks of color, Duncan turned his head slightly, using the corner of his eye to observe the reaction of the goat head on the table.

From the perspective of that "goat head," it should now be able to see the scene in the room—he wanted to know, what reaction would that goat head have after seeing this strange and chaotic room?

But it didn't react at all. It just continued to stare calmly in Duncan's direction with those black eyes devoid of any emotion, like a real piece of wood when it wasn't making a sound.

Duncan turned back, and after a brief hesitation, he finally took a step towards the bizarre room made of chaotic lines.

At the same time, he was prepared to forcibly ignite the flames, awaken Xilandi, and escape this "dream" if things went wrong.

But the worst-case scenario he had imagined did not happen.

He stepped through the door, and a layer of water-like translucent ripples vaguely rippled throughout the chaotic room. Then there was no other reaction. The room itself did not collapse, and he himself did not seem to be affected by the chaotic colors and lines.

Duncan stepped further into the room, and at the same time, he casually closed the door behind him—the unsettling silent gaze of the strange "goat head" was finally blocked outside.

The chaotic colored lines stretched out under his feet, and furnishings that were both like and unlike furniture, outlined by lines, surrounded him. Duncan cautiously observed everything in the room, feeling that the surroundings were filled with an extremely strange atmosphere, and a moment ago, his gaze finally fell on a corner of the "room."

Several translucent colored lines trembled, connecting with each other to form a geometric outline, and the center of this trembling outline seemed to be filled with a layer of intense water surface, vaguely reflecting the surrounding scene.

The white, dark, and quiet desert and the dark red, oppressive scars of the world seemed to no longer exist for me. My eyes seemed to be only on the striking stones, the "da, da, da" tapping sound echoing monotonously in the night, traveling far, far away.

Duncan sat on the windbreak wall, curiously watching the giant's movements. After a long time, he couldn't help but ask, "What are you doing?"

He stopped, placed the long staff in front of Duncan, and raised his finger to point to the end of the staff, where there was a string of fine symbols.

Even after only watching for a while, Duncan realized that this was almost a difficult, rapid, and despairing job. He couldn't imagine how long the giant had spent, how much amazing patience he had put in, to leave these countless carvings on this huge staff—he felt that even if he possessed endless life, he probably couldn't do such a thing!

The texture of the long staff was soft, while the sharp corners of the stones were hard and brittle. The giant's carving work was therefore very slow, often requiring many attempts to leave a not-too-deep engraving on the staff, and he also had to frequently re-strike the stones to create new "carving knives."

"Are you saying… this 'Lost Township' was indeed 'created' by the goat head from the real world?" Vanessa said quickly, "It turned the shadow of the Lost Township into this ship sailing in darkness and fog, but it can't restore the parts of the ship it doesn't understand..."

Agatha walked to the geometric outline and gently stroked the turbulent "water surface" with her hand, and wisps of faint green flames spread and spread across the plane. After a while, the scene reflected on the surface became clear—it turned into a mirror.

The giant turned his head, his gaze lowered: "Traveler, do you know? The history of civilization began with fire and stone."

Agatha then spoke again after a moment of silence: "So, now only the last question remains."

Vanessa looked in the direction the giant was pointing and saw the fine symbols—only now did she see their details.

Night fell in the desert—very, very suddenly, the surroundings became dim, and the original source of light in the sky seemed to be absorbed by something and disappeared in an instant. The quiet night covered the entire sand sea and the vast ruins in the sand sea.

"Fire, and stones, they are the most important things," the giant quietly gazed at the fire burning in the rocks, as if speaking to Duncan, and as if speaking to himself, "the ignited flame is the eye that opens in the night, the shattered stone is far better than sharp teeth and claws, when we light the branches, and knock the stones against each other, incredible things happen..."

Agatha raised her head, looking at the door standing in the middle of a chaotic line, her gaze seeming to pass through the door, staring at the "goat head" under the table inside. After a long time, she spoke to herself, "Sasslo Ca died, died a long, long time ago..."

At least, it doesn't know the situation inside after the "captain" moved into that room—this was the part that Vanessa didn't say in her heart.

Now, only the huge and disturbing dark red "crack" remained in the sky, the crack like blood, the edges like fog, it covered the sky, exuding a huge sense of oppression.

"Its dream?!" Vanessa was stunned when she heard this, and then she thought of something, with a look of doubt on her face, "But it clearly said that it never dreams, or even rests, and I have personally seen it—the first mate is always awake, including the last time the Dream of the Descenders appeared, it has been at the helm, as usual."

Her gaze finally stopped on a large blank space at the end of the staff, and the campfire next to it crackled, the firelight reflecting and jumping there.

Her words were interrupted by a cluster of suddenly jumping sparks—tiny sparks shot out from between the stones struck by the giant, falling into the pale stone pile on the ground, and then, the sparks turned into flames, and the alien fire rose from the rocks, gradually becoming more and more vigorous.

"That… that's the situation behind that door?!"

"It's an alien stone," the giant didn't turn his head, "there's nothing else alien here, except for the sand, there's only stone."

Duncan finally couldn't help but break the silence: "...What are you doing?"

The next second, shadows floated in the center of the mirror, and Vanessa's figure quietly emerged from it.

Was there any connection between this and "stones can be ignited"?

"Perhaps it really knows nothing," Agatha said slowly, her gaze slowly sweeping around, "I now have a bold guess: this ship may be a dream of its."

Duncan listened to the giant's words as if he understood, and nodded slowly.

"Lighting a fire," the giant said lightly, "It will be very cold here at night."

On the surface of this huge long staff, there were dense carvings...were these carvings all carved out like that?!

Her cultural studies weren't very good, but she still couldn't understand the meaning of the giant's words. She just didn't understand...why the giant suddenly told herself this.

Vanessa nodded heavily: "That's right, the situation outside the alien door—the 'deepest part' here."

The alien lines outlined two small human figures, standing in front of an abstract campfire drawing, raising their hands high, as if cheering and jumping, or as if worshiping the fire.

"Here, we learned to use fire."

"It looks...so strange here," Vanessa frowned tightly, "How could it be like this?"

Even a judge like Vanessa, with a strong will, subconsciously avoided looking up at the "world scar."

"...But those are just stones," Duncan looked at the grayish-white stones collected by the giant, his voice full of doubt, "...Are they burning alien stones?"

However, the giant just carved silently and patiently, using the only tool I could find in this dead world—stones that had been scorched by fire.

After realizing the meaning of the captain's words, Vanessa slowly opened her eyes wide.

Duncan slowly raised her head, her gaze moving along the smooth, crafted stones and the thin arms, finally landing on the giant's face.

Duncan opened his mouth: "This..."

The face piled with wrinkles was staring intensely at the fire next to him, motionless, like another stone.

Agatha looked as if she already understood something, and she said lightly: "Because on the real Lost Township, the goat head never dared to peek into the captain's bedroom, it doesn't know what the room looks like inside."

The giant said softly, his voice seemingly with a hint of pride.

The lady in the mirror looked in astonishment at this chaotic and strange place in the mirror.

Vanessa subconsciously repeated: "The last question?"

……

Vanessa looked at this scene unable to understand.

"Record," the giant said slowly, "record what I still remember, record what happened in this world."

At the edge of the city ruins, we found a corner that was not afraid of wind and sand erosion. This place used to be part of a solemn building, but now there are only a few molten and twisted dark walls left. The giant picked up many gray and white stones from the distant ruins. He piled them in a corner sheltered from the wind, and then picked up two of the stones, very patiently knocking them together.

Before realizing the meaning of the captain's words, Vanessa slowly widened her eyes.