Sala l no longer cared about his breakfast.
This legendary explorer, who had once braved nurous bizarre and treacherous experiences on the Endless Sea and carved out a City-State at the end of a storm, now showed an uncommonly anxious expression. He was seated with his eyebrows fiercely knit together, and a long-absent shadow of unease was spreading in his heart.
He was familiar with this feeling of unease—it was the warning his intuition issued when imnse, incomprehensible, and formidable dangers were drawing near.
He did not doubt Lucracia’s account.
After all, it wasn’t his first encounter with the "Sea Witch"—though countless oceanic captains and frontier explorers considered her one of the shadows of the Endless Sea, wary of her bizarre temperant and her dangerous powers, Sala l knew well that the "Sea Witch" ultimately stood on the side of mortals.
The dining room was quiet for a long ti before Sala l finally broke his contemplation. He looked up, "So far, no one has reported last night’s anomalies—neither the local Elves nor the foreign settlers have noticed the ’Dreamscape’ you ntioned."
"According to what my father saw, the anomalies that appeared in the neighborhood were very obvious and large-scale. If so parts of the city were indeed still normal, then the residents of these ’normal’ areas could not possibly have failed to notice the unusual conditions in the neighboring districts. Therefore, the only explanation is that last night... the entire Light Breeze Harbor was dreaming."
Lucracia’s last sentence chilled Sala l, yet his rationality still made him subconsciously ponder the logical inconsistencies, "You ntioned that in the real world, buildings were covered and even parasitized by ’Corrosive Entities’ from the Dreamscape, with giant plants piercing through the buildings and streets. And this left not a single trace?"
"Not a trace was left; the real world returned to its original state before sunrise."
Listening, Sala l furrowed his brows in silence, apparently deep in thought again.
"What are you thinking of?" Lucracia inquired curiously at his side.
"...Perhaps I should have soone check the city’s gas ters and electrical readings, and the operational status of the night factories," Sala l mused aloud. "The City-State is not inactive at night; there are nurous continuous operations ensuring the city functions, such as gas, electricity, and steam, each with corresponding night monitors and patrollers...
"So, here’s the problem: where were these people when the Dreamscape descended? What state were the machines, which they were supposed to operate, in? There are also the scholars on night duty at various academies, many of whom need to periodically record their work status..."
Sala l paused to think for a mont, then continued, "Another aspect to determine is the scope of this unusual phenonon—whether it was confined to the main island of Light Breeze Harbor or had spread to the nearby patrol fleets, or even to the ’Fallen Objects’..."
The Governor paced around the dining table and occasionally stopped to ponder deeply.
He seed to have entirely forgotten about the "Sea Witch" present in the room.
Lucracia was not surprised by this; she knew that, before becoming the ruler of the City-State, the Governor was first an outstanding adventurer—even if not as much as her father—and an outstanding adventurer knew how to deal with various Transcendent phenona.
That the Governor had maintained the prosperity of Light Breeze Harbor in a location closest to the mariti border was unquestionable.
Lucracia, having completed what her father had asked of her, stood up without disturbing the deep-thinking Mr. Governor. Her gaze swept across the dining table, and she casually took an unopened bottle of spiced wine, then her figure suddenly burst into colorful confetti, spinning up through the roof and disappearing from the room.
A while later, Sala l suddenly ca to his senses, turned around, and hurriedly spoke, "Ah, sorry, I got distracted, Ms. Lucracia, would you like to stay for so..."
He stared blankly at the empty chair opposite him and the spot where his prized wine had just been—now also empty.
"...Again?!"
...
"Change in the number of barrels?" In the captain’s quarters, Duncan couldn’t help but ask again in surprise after hearing Alice’s rushed report.
"Yes, yes!" Alice nodded continuously. "I counted several tis! I definitely didn’t count wrong! And I certainly didn’t rember it wrong, I moved those barrels myself."
Alice certainly wouldn’t lie, and as for miscounting... she should not have made a mistake in such a simple matter.
After a brief thought, Duncan stood up from behind the navigation desk, "Take to see."
Alice responded without hesitation, "Okay!"
The goat head at the edge of the navigation desk moved, turning its head towards Duncan with a hint of hesitation in its tone, "Captain, then I..."
"You continue steering," Duncan imdiately said. Then he paused, adding another line, "Don’t worry about anything else, just like I said earlier, leave it to ."
"Yes, Captain."
Under Alice’s guidance, Duncan quickly arrived at the place where the preserved fish were stored.
Of course, everything had returned to normal here. Twelve barrels were neatly arranged against the wall, neither too many nor too few.
Yet Duncan still remained serious, his gaze sweeping across the entire cabin.
Where his eyes reached, wisps of eerie green flas flickered in the air like phantoms, stealthily moving through the cracks in the floor and walls. The whole room seed enveloped in a mist ford by the interwoven Spectral Flas, oscillating between the Spirit Realm and reality.
He was scouting for any residual "traces," for anything that didn’t belong to Holoss that might have entered this place.
Alice’s report sounded like it was nothing serious. On a Ghost Ship filled with myriad strange objects, one unlisted barrel seed hardly worth such a fuss, but Duncan had no intention of letting his guard down.
For on the Endless Sea, even the smallest anomaly had to be approached with caution—especially aboard Holoss, especially at a ti like this.
Duncan had sensed sothing amiss from last night’s events, and today’s interactions with the goat-headed figure, along with Agatha’s report, made him even more aware of sothing—
The ship seed a bit off.
It hadn’t slipped from his control, but Duncan felt that there were so details he was unfamiliar with, didn’t understand appearing on this ship.
Either, so hidden secrets of Holoss were gradually revealing themselves to him, or, parts of this ship were indeed slowly slipping from his control as "Captain."
Imrsed in gradually spreading Spectral Flas, Duncan felt his connection with Holoss strengthening, and every detail of the ship began to imprint in his mind—deck, masts, sails, the complex winches and ropes, the cabins below deck, and those misty, chaotic parts subrged in the Endless Sea.
This wasn’t his first ti experiencing this; of course, he was not unfamiliar with the sensation. After swiftly adapting his senses, he let his perception rge with the ship and continued to spread deeper into Holoss.
The cabin where the kitchen was located showed no abnormalities, and the nearby cabins and deeper areas were all normal as well.
Wisps of luminescence soaked into the depths of Holoss, flowing throughout the ship like a flow of signals, ultimately converging in the captain’s cabin, focusing on a conspicuous "focal point."
That was where the goat-headed figure was located, the current control center of the ship.
Duncan’s "vision" lingered there for a long ti.
Everything appeared normal.
Duncan slowly withdrew his "vision"—but he left a bit of fla in the darkest depths.
anwhile, while withdrawing his "gaze" from the entire ship, he continuously left "fire seeds" behind, letting them stay in various parts of Holoss.
Alice watched the captain with so concern, her eyes unblinking. After a long ti, she saw Duncan’s gaze shift slightly and hurriedly approached him, "Captain, Captain, how is it? Did you discover anything?"
"There is nothing abnormal on board—don’t worry," Duncan slowly revealed a slight smile and reached out to pat Alice’s hair, "It might just be so minor spatial dislocation or optical illusions, I’ll handle it."
Alice didn’t quite understand but still nodded half-knowingly, "Ah... okay."
After briefly comforting Miss Doll, Duncan then turned his gaze to a nearby spot.
A pillar two ters away held an oil lamp with a glass shade, which now quietly displayed shadows interwoven with fog. Agatha’s figure subsequently appeared within that glass layer.
"Keep an eye on the reflections in the Spirit Realm," Duncan nodded at her, "if anything ’crosses over,’ do not handle it yourself, notify imdiately, and I will co back right away."
Agatha bowed her head, "I understand, Captain."
Alice’s gaze flickered between Duncan and Agatha for a few rounds and finally couldn’t help breaking the silence, "So, are we still going to the city?"
"The influence of The Dream of the Naless is spreading through Light Breeze Harbor, and I suspect the solution involves first seeking clues within the City-State," Duncan nodded, "and I have many things I want to verify in the City-State as well... Do you want to stay on the ship, or will you co with ?"
Alice thought about it, glanced back at the kitchen at her "friends," and after a brief hesitation, she turned around, revealing a bright smile.
"To the City-State together!"
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