Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 600 - Chapter 600 Chapter 599 The Awakening Mechanism

Chapter 600: Chapter 599: The Awakening Mechanism Chapter 600: Chapter 599: The Awakening Mechanism It turned out that a true veteran scholar, when considering problems, indeed thought differently from ordinary people.

The question that Morris had posed in his musings almost instantly illuminated many people’s thoughts.

“One major premise is, the ‘desert’ seen by Fenna and the ‘forest’ seen by others are both part of The Dream of the Nameless. Under this major premise, these two ‘places’ have two possibilities,” Morris said slowly while sitting on the sofa, “Either the ‘desert’ and ‘forest’ exist at different locations at the same moment, or they are in the same location at different times–either way, they should not be two completely independent systems. Time and space, at least one of them should be interconnected.”

Nina followed the old man’s train of thought and suddenly asked with curiosity, “Why can’t they be both at different locations and at different times?”

“Because they are in the same ‘Dreamscape’,” Morris explained, “It’s impossible for a dreamscape to have two or more completely independent time-space systems; otherwise, those would be two unrelated dreams–at least, my current knowledge doesn’t support that hypothesis.”

“Oh…” Nina drew out the word, nodding her head, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Duncan was still pondering the two scenarios Morris had just mentioned, repeatedly simulating in his mind what each model–‘the same location at different times’ and ‘different locations at the same moment’–could correspond to among known clues. After a good while, he put this complex issue aside and spoke up, “I should remind you that aside from the ‘desert’ and ‘forest’, there is also a ‘place’ that is adrift at the boundary of reality. It is not part of the Dreamscape, but it is evidently a part of The Dream of the Nameless.”

“That dark space filled with mist, where the reflection of the Homeloss sails among it,” Morris immediately replied with sincerity, “I have also been considering this. What part of The Dream of the Nameless does that dark mist you saw correspond to?

“The most likely guess at the moment is that it lies on the border of ‘almost awake but not yet awake’. On that Homeloss, you can touch the echoes of Silantis, but you cannot directly see the situation in the Dreamscape. This is very much in line with the characteristics of the dream boundary. Clearly, however, The Dream of the Nameless has a ‘boundary’ of considerable scale, allowing even a ship to wander aimlessly within it…”

Duncan recalled the “streaming light” he had seen on board the reflected Homeloss, as well as the voice from Silantis he’d heard within that light, his expression gradually revealing a thoughtful look.

The reflected Homeloss belonged to the Dream of the Goat’s Head, sailing on the borders of Silantis’s dream. Silantis seemed to be waiting there for Saslouka, yet the Goat’s Head in the Dreamscape told Duncan that Saslouka was dead, long, long ago…

After pondering for a moment, Duncan shook his head. Following that, he noticed a small discrepancy on the scene; his gaze involuntarily fell on Lucresia, “Where is Rabi?”

“You finally noticed,” Lucresia said with a slight smile on her face, “Rabi didn’t come back. It has jumped into another dreamscape and should still be chasing those prey.”

Duncan was stunned for a moment before he grasped the implication behind Lucresia’s words.

That eerie rabbit doll had truly tracked down those heretics?

“It will crawl out of the heretics’ nightmares and then leave coordinates in the real world sufficient to summon you. I have ordered Rabi to leave some alive,” Lucresia continued, “Rest assured, it is still reliable in these matters.”

Duncan slowly nodded his head.

And just then, it was as if he suddenly heard something, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking towards the side table.

He reached out and gently brushed the tabletop where a ghostly green flame spread like a phantom across the table. The outline sketched by the flames immediately took on a mirror-like texture–Agatha’s figure gradually emerged from within the mirror.

“Agatha,” Duncan said to the lady appearing in the mirror, “Is there a situation on board?”

“I might have found what caused The Dream of the Nameless to ‘startle awake’ this time, on the first mate,” Agatha nodded quickly, “If possible, I hope you can come back for a bit.”

…

Around the seas of Light Breeze Harbor, a portal of fiery flames suddenly opened on the deck of the sailing Homeloss; shortly thereafter, Duncan and Alice stepped out from the portal.

Duncan turned around, glancing at Alice who had naturally followed him back.

The doll casually followed and, upon seeing Duncan looking at her, she showed off her signature happy smile, “Hehe–I came along again!”

Duncan sighed in resignation, gesturing to the doll, “Alright then. I’ll go check the situation in the captain’s cabin; you go back to the cargo hold where the food is stored and check on the barrels that had issues before.”

“Aye! Alright, Captain!”

Alice happily set off as if she was carrying a tremendous mission, while Duncan watched the doll-like figure depart before he tugged at the corner of his mouth and walked towards the captain’s cabin.

Upon opening the door, he immediately saw the goat’s head at the edge of the navigation table swiftly turning its head toward him, its pitch-black obsidian eyes staring straight at him. And not far from it on the wall, the figure of Agatha–ordinarily calm and reliable–appeared within an antique oval mirror, looking exhausted and even displaying a sense of utter despair.

Duncan was taken aback by Agatha’s worn and desperate appearance, but before he could ask about the situation, he was suddenly assaulted by the goat’s head’s raucous noise:

“Captain, at last you have come! Your loyal servant–here omitted long wait–has been waiting for so long! Is what Agatha said true? Did The Dream of the Nameless appear again last night? And you saw another goat’s head just like me? She also said that the eerie Homeloss emerged from my dreams, but I don’t even know I can dream. She mentioned that because of my ‘startle,’ The Dream of the Nameless was awakened, and it interrupted your mission, but I have no clue what happened–you must believe me, I didn’t mean to keep it a secret from anyone; you know last night…”

Duncan felt in that instant as if the droning buzz condensed into a tangible wall and came crashing down on him, the relentless prattle roaring in his ears like a drill at work; it wasn’t until several minutes later that he finally snapped out of it and hastily waved his hand: “Stop! Shut up!”

The goat’s head fell silent immediately, but from the spot where its neck met the base came a weird “crack”–as if the preceding tirade had been so forceful that even putting the brakes on the conversation could produce a sound.

Then, Duncan heard a sigh of immense relief coming from the mirror next to him, as if Agatha had received a reprieve: “It’s finally over…”

Duncan cast a strange look at the lady in the mirror.

“As per your instructions, I didn’t hide what happened last night from the first mate,” Agatha reported to the captain with a weary face, “And then this happened–before you came, it kept repeating itself to me, over and over. I couldn’t hide anywhere without hearing its incessant chatter, chatter, chatter… I’ve encountered a disgruntled spirit in the Frost Graveyard who rose from the dead out of resentment three days after being wrongfully accused and losing its family and home, and it wasn’t nearly as nagging as this! It made more noise in one minute than twenty old women complaining about bread price increases at the town center!”

With that, Agatha added with a mix of sadness and anger: “And it wouldn’t shut up when I told it to! It only listens to you!”

Duncan finally understood why Agatha had that “I’d rather have died in the vast caverns beneath Frost” expression on her face when he entered.

It took him great effort to control his expression, as he attempted to comfort her with a firm face: “…You’ve done well.”

Agatha sighed, and her figure in the mirror split into several pieces, indicating her mental state was fractured and she no longer wished to think or respond.

Duncan: “…”

He thought he probably shouldn’t have instilled so many bizarre concepts into his crew; they were even more abstract than the abstract terms when carrying out certain tasks.

Ignoring Agatha, who was in a fragmented state, Duncan turned his attention back to the goat’s head.

The black wooden carving was staring straight at him, its wooden face slightly twisted, perhaps from holding back too much to say.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Duncan emphasized first, then he got serious, “Secondly, everything Agatha said is true.”

The goat’s head twitched, opening and closing its mouth several times before finally managing to say: “I… Did I really conjure a reflection of the Homeloss in my sleep that became the ship you saw in that dark space?”

“Alternatively,” Duncan calmly looked into the eyes of the goat’s head, “When night falls on Light Breeze Harbor, your dreams set sail on the edges of The Dream of the Nameless.”

The goat’s head’s neck creaked and rattled with its struggle: “But I really didn’t know… I was consciously steering, and the ship’s log recorded Homeloss’s cruising path with no deviation from my memory…”

Agatha’s voice suddenly emerged from the side: “Then how do you explain that ‘startle’ of yours in the morning?”

The goat’s head fell silent again.

Duncan, however, looked up at the oval mirror on the wall.

Agatha, who had been split into pieces just moments ago, was now back together and looking earnestly in this direction.

“After breaking away from The Dream of the Nameless, the first thing I did was come back here,” Agatha said, “I witnessed the first mate waking up from some sort of… absent minded state. It claimed it was just daydreaming, but I’m certain that the reflection of the Homeloss returned precisely when it ‘woke up’–if I’m not mistaken, this must also be the reason why The Dream of the Nameless was ‘awakened.’

“So I guess, whether it’s Silantis or the ‘first mate,’ as long as one of them awakens, The Dream of the Nameless ends.”