Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 530 - Chapter 530 Chapter 531 The Awakening Scholar

Chapter 530: Chapter 531: The Awakening Scholar Chapter 530: Chapter 531: The Awakening Scholar Lucresia abruptly detached from the Dreamscape, taking several seconds to calm her mind before she could finally sigh in relief, open her eyes, and slowly scan the room to check the various “suggestive items” she had set up in advance in the laboratory.

The first thing to do after waking up from an eerie dream was never to get up immediately, but to first stabilize the mind and confirm the details of the real world to avoid being trapped in a double dream.

Moments later, she confirmed the details of the real world, that she had indeed disentangled from that dreamscape, and that Master Taran El had also awoken.

The Elvish scholar was awkwardly tied to a nearby pillar with several ropes, his head swollen, while the clockwork automaton Luny held a sharp kitchen knife, fully alert beside him.

“Ms. Lucresia, you finally woke up!” Seeing the “Witch of the Endless Sea” awaken, the scholar immediately cried out for help, “Your servant has tied me up! I don’t know what I did wrong…”

Lucresia immediately frowned, “Luny, what’s going on here?”

“He suddenly started yelling in his sleep, and when he woke up, he jumped out of bed and hit his head on your laboratory table,” Luny reported seriously, still holding the kitchen knife, “I think he was contaminated by a nightmare and I tied him up to prevent further harm.”

The scholar protested loudly, “How many times have I told you, you blockhead! I was just scared in the dream! I saw Duncan Ebnomal! As a person with a normal mind, am I not allowed to wake up scared when I see him in a dream?”

Listening to the conversation between the two “people,” Lucresia’s expression twisted slightly. She pursed her lips, having been startled awake herself, stood from her chair, “Luny, put down the knife and untie Mr. Scholar–he’s telling the truth.”

“Yes, mistress.” The clockwork automaton immediately bowed, her knife swiftly slicing downward, cleanly cutting through the ropes binding Taran El, then she flipped her wrist, and the gleaming blade disappeared into a hidden compartment in her body.

Taran El broke free from the restraints and stumbled forward a few steps before finally stabilizing himself. He turned back to glare at the rigid automaton, “You blockhead!”

However, the automaton, completely unconcerned by the scholar’s irritation, stepped up beside her mistress and curiously asked, “Did the old master come?”

“He… ‘arrived,’ in every sense of the word,” Lucresia’s lips twitched, hesitantly speaking before waving her hand aside, causing a chair to float from the corner of the room and settle in front of her, “Mr. Taran El, please sit down, I have something I need to understand.”

Taran El, gingerly moving his sore arms, muttered to himself as he sat down in front of the “Witch of the Endless Sea,” “If he comes, he comes; he can’t get here any time soon anyway…”

Lucresia silently listened to his remark without replying, reaching toward a side cabinet to fetch a bottle of potion from deep within and placing it casually on top of the cabinet.

“What’s that?” Taran El curiously inquired.

“That’s the ‘Witch’s Potion’ we’ll need later,” Lucresia said offhand, clearly avoiding a direct answer before quickly changing the subject, “About the period when the sun extinguished and the dream just now, I have a few questions–I know we had a brief interaction in the dream world, but given the dream’s barrier to the subconscious, you might not have been aware of some things, so now I need you to recall everything while you are fully conscious.”

Noticing the seriousness in her opposite’s voice, Taran El’s expression immediately became solemn, the demeanor of a scholar returning, “Alright, ask away, I feel much clearer-headed now.”

“You observed the surface of anomaly 001 during the time of the sun’s extinguishing; here’s the sketch you left,” Lucresia pulled out a crumpled piece of sketch paper and handed it over, “Is this it?”

“That’s right, I drew it.”

“I have checked, and the drawing itself does not carry mental contamination, but the content of the image is disturbing. On that ‘sphere,’ you depicted these chaotic lines like branches, but my analysis suggests that many of these lines seemed to be messily scribbled near the end in an attempt to obscure the originally clearer form of the drawing. Do you remember any of this?”

Taran El’s brows immediately furrowed.

He took the sketch paper handed to him by Lucresia, studying the spherical image covered in disordered lines, his brows tightening further while his mind sank into deep thought and recollection.

Lucrescia’s words came from across, “An important question is, do you really remember all the details that happened between observing the surface of the sun and falling into a deep sleep? It seems you’re also puzzled by these messy lines on the screen…”

“I… indeed am puzzled,” Taran El slowly began, “These indeed look like clear smear marks, but I don’t remember why I covered up the previous details of the image… It seems…”

He suddenly stopped, pondering for a while before hesitantly continuing, “Maybe, did I see something extremely terrifying? Or a truth that shouldn’t be disclosed? I uncontrollably drew it out, but suddenly became conscious just before operating the ‘swift message,’ and hurriedly covered it up… but for some reason, I wanted to send it out…”

Even though he was still a bit confused, and even though his memory clearly had gaps, Taran El, as a seasoned scholar, let his rationality and logic prevail. He analyzed the events that happened to him, then his expression suddenly turned grave, “So far, how many people have seen this paper?”

“A few senior scholars from the Academy of Truth,” Lucrescia nodded, “The original is still with me. They only saw what you smeared. I have warned them, and your deep sleep has served as a warning to everyone, so there’s no need to worry about someone analyzing or restoring the image covertly. However, the Endless Sea is vast, and we cannot eliminate the possibility that other ‘brave ones’ did something as bold as you.”

Taran El nodded thoughtfully, then heard the “witch” continue to ask, “About that Dreamscape, what else do you remember? How did you enter the dream? Did your consciousness ever sink into its real ‘last layer’?”

“I only remember standing in that ‘forest’ right after I woke up, endless and dense like the origin of elves described in some ancient books… My thought process seemed very sluggish in that Dreamscape, and the sounds I heard, the intelligence I perceived, and the reactions I had to the outside world all seemed to be separated by a thick barrier…”

Taran El spoke as he recalled, then suddenly frowned.

“However, there was a very strange moment after you appeared. My thoughts did indeed ‘sink,’ but not into the last layer of the Dream. Instead, it was a place that seemed like a transition between ‘layers,’ where many jumbled lights and shadows intertwined, like several distinct dreamscapes projecting onto each other. In that chaotic area, many vague figures surrounded me…”

“Many vague figures?” Lucrescia immediately interrupted, “Please clarify, were these mere illusions in the dream, or ‘dreamers’ like you?”

“I don’t know, my thoughts were almost stagnant at the moment; I could only sense their presence and couldn’t accurately describe what they were. But one thing is for sure… they were not illusions,” Taran El said with a serious expression, “They were genuinely there, even if they weren’t other ‘dreamers,’ they were other ‘mental entities’ contained within that Dreamscape.”

“I understand,” Lucrescia said calmly with a nod, then took a slight breath, “This is indeed… crucial information.”

“I hope this can be useful,” Taran El said earnestly, then looked at the draft paper in his hand, “About this sketch…”

“I now feel it’s best not to let ordinary scholars touch this thing. Whatever you ‘smudged’ out, it’s clearly harmful to common folk,” Lucrescia reached out to take back the draft paper, “I’ll have my father look at it later; perhaps he might think of something.”

Taran El blinked and took a moment to nod, “Oh, indeed, Captain Duncan surely isn’t afraid of what’s hidden in this picture; let’s wait for him to arrive, I’m not in a hurry…”

“Ah, that brings me to another matter I need to tell you,” Lucrescia adjusted her sitting position leisurely, looking into Taran El’s eyes, “My father has already arrived at Light Breeze Harbor.”

Taran El’s eyes widened, his expression instantly stiffened.

“Perhaps it’s the special effects caused by the sun’s extinction that brought the Homeloss instantly to its destination,” Lucrescia nodded, “He would probably be interested in talking to you in person, or inviting you onto his ship–about the sun’s extinction, he’s very concerned.”

Taran El continued to be stunned for a few seconds, his eyes finally flickered, as if instantly sobering up, then gasped sharply, leaning back–

Lucrescia, expressionless, looked on. She blandly picked up a bottle of medicine previously placed on the low cabinet and handed it to the puppet Luny standing by, “Give it to Mr. Taran El.”

Luny obeyed with a sound and took the medicine to carry out her mistress’s order, while Lucrescia watched the scholar being force-fed the medicine, nodding in satisfaction.

“See, it came in handy.”

Today, the “Witch of the Sea” once again successfully prevented Master Taran El from suddenly dying on his own ship.