The mont Lucresia took the petite hairpin, Duncan felt sothing deep within his "heart" suddenly relax.
It was an imperceptible corner, a feeling indescribable in words, as if a long-delayed mission had finally been completed thoroughly, even though this body had forgotten what that mission specifically entailed, the thoughts engraved in the soul still let out a faint sigh.
"I hope you like it," Duncan paused for a mont, then said softly, "I don’t rember much, but I rember that this hairpin was ant for you."
"I heard from Tyrion," Lucresia nodded, not knowing when the lingering doubts and anxieties that had troubled her for many days had dissipated completely—although she had contacted her father via the crystal ball before, it turned out that only a real-life eting in the real world could dispel those concerns, "Anyway, it’s good that you could return to ’this side.’"
Duncan nodded, then turned his gaze to the elven scholar who had been standing nearby, trying to lower his presence since earlier.
"Master Taran El," he said, his face breaking into a faint smile as he tried to make his tone more approachable, "Now that we et again in reality—it’s good to see you safe and sound, I have many things to discuss with you."
"Don’t... don’t say ’master,’ you are too kind," Taran El quickly waved his hand, "Just call by my na. I have long admired you, great explorer Captain Duncan, uh, I an you are still alive... When you were alive... When you were a human... I..."
Duncan silently watched the elven scholar, while Lucresia silently slipped out a "wand" similar to a magic wand, pointing it at Taran El’s nose.
"Frog, or snake?" she asked in a calm tone laden with dangerous content.
Taran El instantly raised his hands, grimacing at Duncan: "I ant to say that a century ago, I admired your reputation, but alas never had the chance to et you..."
Duncan couldn’t help but laugh, finding the elven scholar’s personality quite amusing: "Is that the truth?"
"Of course," Taran El said seriously, "As a scholar deeply interested in the frontier, I’ve always wanted to mingle more with real explorers, to learn from them about the things beyond the boundaries of civilization, even aspiring to embark on a great voyage to explore that grand barrier of dense fog—sadly, I was never destined to complete such a magnificent journey..."
"It’s alright, now you have the chance to properly ’get to know each other,’" Duncan nodded, then seed to suddenly rember sothing, turning to Lucresia, "Ah, right, there’s sothing else for you."
Lucresia didn’t react at first, but then she saw Duncan gesture with his hand— the fla door that had appeared out of nowhere on the deck had not disappeared, and now with Duncan’s movent, it suddenly expanded and rotated, forming a cavity of fire that, after a mont of explosive ignition and fading, a large wooden box appeared on the deck.
On top of the box stood a plump pigeon with pure white feathers, fluffed up all over.
Ai Yi cocked its head, one eye on Lucresia, the other eye looking elsewhere: "Honey, accept the delivery, and don’t forget a five-star review."
Lucresia gazed blankly at the scene, wondering about the pigeon, then noticed a tal plaque on the side of the box.
"Tyrion prepared a Spirit Realm lens for you—highest quality," Duncan pointed at the box, "you haven’t forgotten, have you?"
"Ah, I... didn’t forget," Lucresia’s eyes drifted to the side, sowhat guiltily, she then abruptly changed the subject, raising her hand to point at the pigeon strutting atop the box, "Is that ’Ai Yi’ my brother ntioned? What was that ’five-star review’ it just talked about?"
"Don’t mind it, most people don’t understand how this pigeon speaks," Duncan waved his hand, beckoning Ai Yi to perch on his shoulder, then motioned for Lucresia to lead the way, "Leave the lens on the deck for now, you can deal with it later, let’s find a place to talk first."
"Okay."
Under Lucresia’s lead, Duncan and Taran El arrived at a "reception room" located on the mid-deck.
It was a room with spacious windows, close to the side of the ship, an upper cabin, where visitors could see the power structure of the Brilliant Starship on the side, as well as the ship’s stern that looked like a spiritual body, always shrouded in mist.
Duncan approached the window, curiously surveying the "scenery" outside, observing this ship that, although different in style from the Holoss, also carried a mysterious atmosphere, especially its ghost kingdom-like stern, and after a long while he remarked, "This ship looks nothing like the Sea Mist."
Upon hearing Duncan’s unintentional "comnt," Lucresia’s expression beca sowhat uneasy: "It has been a long ti, both the Sea Mist and the Brilliant Starship... are very different from your original designs. To survive in the ’frontier,’ I’ve made many bold modifications to this ship; you wouldn’t be upset, would you?"
"It’s good to have changes, changes are good things," Duncan smiled, "the Holoss has also changed a lot, if you ca aboard, you would be quite surprised by its interior state."
To board the Holoss?
Lucresia seed dazed for a mont, perhaps recalling the distant past or thinking of her brother, who had boarded the Holoss several tis and contacted her sporadically to scare her.
However, she soon snapped back to reality and nodded to Duncan, "I... will go."
Then she raised her head and raised her voice slightly to speak to soone outside the door, "Luny, you can co in now."
The door to the room opened. Under Duncan’s curious gaze, a clockwork automaton resembling Lucresia by about sixty to seventy percent, but made entirely of tal, porcelain, and leather, wheeled in a cart carrying drinks and snacks.
Accompanied by the faint sound of gears turning, the automaton approached the guest table and bowed slightly to Duncan, "Nice to et you, old master."
"Are you Luny?" Duncan couldn’t help but look more attentively at this intriguing automaton. "I found your ’sister’ Niru in a doll shop in Prand—frankly, you two are quite different."
"When you first t , I was also just a third of an automaton," Luny replied politely, bowing her head as faint ticks and clicks continued inside her, "Of course, back then I couldn’t think or speak; it was the lady who gave life."
"Incredible technology," Duncan looked at Lucresia, "But there’s also a ’doll’ on my ship now who can talk and think, maybe Luny and she could be friends."
"I know, my brother told about Incident 099," Lucresia nodded, "Luny is indeed curious about that Miss ’Alice’, but... is she really safe?"
"Particularly safe," Duncan waved his hand, "On board Holoss, she’s the safest, even a bucket is more capable of causing trouble..."
Lucresia: "...?"
Miss Witch finally began to vaguely understand what her father ant when he said "Holoss has also changed a lot"...
Duncan finally turned his attention to Taran El.
Under the uneasy gaze of this elvish scholar, Duncan adjusted his seating position and seriously asked, "In your elves’ legends or traditional beliefs, is there a term called ’The Dream of the Naless’?"
Taran El was taken aback, "The Dream of the Naless?"
Then, he suddenly realized, "Are you referring to the dream I was trapped in? Are you saying... that dream has a na, called ’The Dream of the Naless’?"
"If the information is correct, that’s the na."
Duncan gave a firm response, then shared all the information he had "crafted" from the Heretics, including the possible role Doomsday Preachers might play in dark corners and his own shallow conjectures, as well as his previous discussion with Agatha, without holding back.
During Duncan’s narration, Taran El gradually forgot his initial nervousness and beca absorbed, and even Lucresia leaned forward slightly, occasionally showing a contemplative look.
For scholars passionate about research, these pieces of information, obtained from the heretics’ mouths, sounded dangerous yet tantalizing. They might be closely related to the heretical blasphemies, yet behind them seed to vaguely point towards so knowledge and secrets.
Once Duncan finally finished speaking, the room fell silent for a while, and both scholars simultaneously fell into deep thought. After an unknown period, Lucresia was the first to break the silence, "Is this information reliable? Oh, I’m not doubting you, but those heretics are usually very cunning, and even experts like the Church’s Judges who deal with heresies often struggle to extract information from those fellows..."
"Reliable," Duncan said confidently, "I used so very effective investigative techniques—ah, would you like to understand more about the process?"
Both Lucresia and Taran El instinctively blinked and simultaneously shook their heads without thinking.
"... Alright," Duncan felt a bit disappointed, "So, what are your thoughts now? Mr. Taran El, do you have any guesses about this so-called ’The Dream of the Naless’?"
Taran El thought carefully, and after a few seconds, he spoke judiciously, "In various legends and traditional beliefs of elves, there’s no such term, at least I’m confident that the term isn’t in the elvish language, but if we discuss the concept of ’dreams’ in general... our race indeed has many stories related to it."
Duncan imdiately showed interest, "Oh?"
"Have you heard of... the great demon Saslouka?"
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