Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 585 - Chapter 585 584

Chapter 585: 584 Chapter 585: 584 Certainly, Morris had ignited a zeal for seeking the truth at this time–in the eyes of this elderly gentleman, the heretics, who inspired fear in ordinary people, had probably already become stacks upon stacks of walking theses and materials.

“So the only problem now is how to pluck those cultists who enter ‘The Dream of the Nameless’ from the real world,” Fenna looked at the elder beside her, brimming with energy, and quietly shifted a bit to the side, “I’ll contact the church tomorrow to see if we can enhance the monitoring and capture of the cultists in each City-State–they’ll surely be more active than usual if they’re frequently entering ‘The Dream of the Nameless,’ and have unified command and intelligence sharing.”

Morris nodded as well, “I’ll also remind the Academy of Truth…though they probably don’t need reminding.”

They discussed schemes to root out those heretics from the real world when suddenly, Lucracia, who had been quietly contemplating, raised her head, and looked towards Sherry and A-Dog, “If we’re in ‘The Dream of the Nameless,’ could you find that heretic from last time?”

“That depends on whether we’re nearby and whether the other party has the nerve to enter ‘The Dream of the Nameless’ again,” A-Dog shook his head, “Moreover, last time Sherry and I severely injured that cultist; while the damage didn’t affect his physical body in the real world, his spirit won’t recover any time soon.”

Lucracia listened, nodded thoughtfully, and appeared to be pondering something unknown.

Meanwhile, outside the window, the sun had gradually sunk behind the buildings at the edge of the district, the residual scarlet glow was spreading across the rooftiled rooftops, mixed with the golden “sunlight” emanating from the distant sea, blending into the fading sunset.

Nina suddenly looked up towards the darkening sky outside the window and muttered softly, “It’s getting dark again…”

Her soft muttering interrupted Duncan’s thoughts, who rose from the couch and paced towards the window, quietly observing the street outside.

The “Knowledge Guardians” of the Academy of Truth were already preparing for the changing of the guard at dusk. At the security post on the street corner, a squad of guardians was conversing with a security officer.

Today’s number of guardians had doubled from usual, and among them were High Priests with clearly superior equipment, perhaps elite forces drawn from the central university of the City-State.

Propaganda vehicles drove by on the road, urging citizens to end their outdoor activities and return home before the gas lamps were lit, with the curfew tonight starting an hour earlier–The broadcast repeatedly reminded that citizens who couldn’t make it home in time should immediately seek help at the nearest guardian post, and personnel and vehicles arranged by the Academy would escort them home promptly.

In the far-off districts, the towering spire of the clock tower bathed in the interlacing sunlight and twilight, the golden-red brilliance seemed to coat the clock tower in a crystal-like plating, the huge steam pipes extending from the wings of the clock tower were emitting wisps of white mist, preheating for the ringing of the “evening bell.”

The authorities of the City-State and the Academy had not announced any emergency–yet in the eyes of those who knew everything, one could detect a change in the atmosphere from many subtle details.

“They’re preparing for tonight,” Fenna also walked over, whispering beside Duncan, “Although there’s no evidence yet that ‘The Dream of the Nameless’ will appear again tonight…”

“I don’t know what preparations they’ve made, nor whether their arrangements will truly have any effect,” Duncan shook his head gently, “Up until now, we still know nothing of how that ‘Dreamscape’ operates, only that it might relate to some ‘Trait’ of the entire Elves’ race. In this regard, we can’t help them.”

“We have many problems to solve ourselves,” Fenna’s tone was somewhat serious, “If ‘The Dream of the Nameless’ appears again, we don’t know what will happen–we might again be scattered and drawn into the dreamscape, might appear in a different location than before, might encounter enemies, and might even enter directly into those areas known as ‘Corrosion Zones’.”

Duncan didn’t speak; he slowly turned, sweeping his gaze over the living room.

The others had gathered together, with many eyes falling on him.

After a brief pause for thought, Duncan reached out his hand, his palm facing upward–

Eerie green flames surged and undulated beside him, casting his form into a flame-forged illusion of a Spiritual Body. His gaze focused on his own palm, as the flame gathered there, slowly turning into the brightest, most active flame.

Duncan, lifting the weightless flame, spoke as a faint crackling filled the air, his voice reaching everyone’s ears, “Come, touch this flame.”

The people in the living room reacted differently–surprise and hesitation were the most unavoidable.

They were no strangers to the captain’s flame, and in fact, they had already come into contact with this Spiritual Body’s fire more than once, to varying degrees. But “instinct” is a peculiar and powerful thing; the extra vivacity and brightness of the flame compared to the “mild” fire they were accustomed to seeing on the Homeloss made them subconscious anxiety.

But Nina was the first to step forward, even with a look of anticipation on her face–she raised her head, looking up at her “Uncle Duncan” with her usual radiant smile.

Then she stretched out her hand and gingerly touched the flame in Duncan’s palm with her fingertip.

The streams of flame wound around her fingertip like water, then quietly receded.

“Warm and toasty,” Nina laughed and turned her head, waving to Sherry, “Your turn!”

“I know, I know…” Sherry muttered, taking a couple of hesitant steps forward. As she reached out her hand, she continued to grumble, “After all, the captain won’t harm me…”

Duncan nodded at Sherry with a gentle expression, then reminded her, “A-Dog needs it too.”

Just as A-Dog was about to turn away, he jolted and lifted his head to look at the flame. His blood-red eyes seemed filled with a tangible fear, “I…I’d rather not…”

“You need it,” Duncan said seriously, looking at the Profound Demon. “Don’t worry, this is just a harmless temporary mark. Unless I command it, this flame won’t cause you any harm.”

A-Dog still seemed conflicted, “I…”

Duncan didn’t wait for him to finish and flipped his hand onto A-Dog’s head, rubbing vigorously on the rough, hard skull.

The eerie green flames poured down directly onto the Abyssal Hound’s skeletal frame, flickering and flowing through its body.

A-Dog shivered all over in an instant, only managing to let out an exclamation, “Hey, I fuck…”

Duncan ignored the creature and looked up at the others.

Fenna and Morris approached, each chanting the prayers of their deities before, with serious expressions, they touched the flame in the captain’s hand.

Now, there was only one person left on the scene.

“Lucy,” Duncan said, looking calmly at the “Sea Witch” not far away. “Don’t worry, this is just a special ‘mark’–if the Dream of the Nameless appears again, the power in the mark might be able to help you.”

“I know,” Lucelia said softly, her eyes carrying a tinge of complexity. She lifted her head to look at her father’s Spiritual Body’s ethereal stance in the flames. After a few seconds, she finally stepped forward and stretched out her hand slowly towards Duncan, “…Is this the power of Subspace?”

Duncan watched her calmly: “This is my power.”

Lucelia took a deep breath and then reached forward to touch the flame.

There was no pain, no scorching heat, no anticipated Corrosion or negative mental disturbances–she only felt a comforting warmth, soothing and reassuring.

A flicker of greenish light passed through the depths of Lucelia’s eyes.

Then the “Sea Witch” turned around, hurriedly went to the corner of the room, picked up the huge rabbit stuffed animal, and returned in front of Duncan.

The stuffed rabbit, which had been playing dead for most of the day, finally stirred, wriggling in Lucelia’s grip. A little girl’s panicked voice emanated from its cotton-filled body, “Mistress, what are you doing! Rabi is just a rabbit! Rabi is just a…”

“Quiet,” Lucelia said firmly, pinching the back of the stuffed rabbit and instantly silencing the eerie and spooky doll. She then extended it forward, “Dad, give Rabi a mark.”

Duncan was slow to react. He had been curious about why Lucelia was bringing over this stuffed rabbit and only now began to vaguely understand, “Is this…you want to bring this doll into The Dream of the Nameless?”

“Rabi can move in the Dreamscape–it dreams,” Lucelia explained. “I want to see if it gets entangled in the Dreamscape when The Dream of the Nameless expands. When the Brilliant Starship was docked at the port, Rabi said it didn’t realize anything unusual about the city. That might be because the port is too far from the epicenter of the dreamscape outbreak, or maybe it’s because Rabi is minimally affected by your power.”

The rabbit toy struggled again, letting out a tiny voice, “If only Rabi hadn’t come…”

Lucelia raised her hand and pressed the rabbit’s face into Duncan’s hand.

Duncan: “…”

He suddenly felt as though he’d become a buff-dispensing dummy… This didn’t seem quite the same as what he had planned.

Anyway, he had successfully completed the preparatory work for entering the dream. Next… he just had to wait and see if The Dream of the Nameless would indeed occur again tonight, and to verify his many theories and plans within the dreamscape.

Just at that moment, footsteps sounded from the direction of the living room entrance. Alice and Luny appeared in Duncan’s line of sight, pushing the dining cart.

“It’s dinner time!” Alice announced happily, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere in the living room, “Shall we eat in the dining room, or just here in the living room?”