Ashes Of Deep Sea
Chapter 630 - Chapter 630 Chapter 629 Countless Threads

Chapter 630: Chapter 629: Countless Threads Chapter 630: Chapter 629: Countless Threads “I feel you shouldn’t call my every Friday trip to Frost Cathedral to collect the graveyard guard’s salary a ‘Subspace Invasion’, that seems a bit imprecise…”

On the Homeloss, which was sailing in the shallow layers of the Spirit Realm, Duncan was checking the large wooden box that Ai Yi had just teleported over from Plunder while silently speaking to Fenna in his mind.

“Exactly because I am meticulous, that’s why I said it,” Fenna’s reply was so earnest that even Duncan couldn’t tell if Miss Judge was joking or not. She then paused and continued, more seriously, “And honestly, I’ve never quite understood why you insist on personally using an embodiment to collect that ‘salary’ — as you know, Frost’s ‘Agatha’ is willing to assign a team of guardians to serve you, and Mr. Tirian has also been wanting to find a better place for your ’embodiment’ there, but you still insist on guarding those graveyards…”

Duncan stopped his work, and in a moment of silence, he remembered that cold northern City-State — that place always covered in snow, the cemeteries in winter, the peaceful streets, a little girl named Annie, and that old caretaker.

“…I quite like that place,” Duncan slowly said in his mind, “Doing ordinary things in a place I like is sort of a hobby for me.”

Fenna fell silent for a while, seemingly deep in thought from the touch, when the sound of light footsteps reached his ears from not far away. Duncan raised his head and saw Alice cheerfully walking from the other end of the deck — she was always so happy.

“Captain! Are we approaching Light Breeze Harbor soon? I saw the ship starting to ‘surface’…”

The automaton suddenly noticed the large box placed on the deck.

“What is this?” she asked curiously, looking around the box and noticing various objects inside, “Is it for my sleeping… no, doesn’t seem like it? What are these?”

“These are very important things, the construction records of Homeloss,” Duncan explained casually and picked up a piece of wood, “But this is the most important.”

Alice leaned in curiously, “What is this?”

Duncan was silent for a long time before softly speaking under Alice’s curious and puzzled look, “Perhaps… it’s an ‘interface’.”

He looked up toward the distant sea.

The chaos and darkness in the sky were gradually fading, the sea’s black “strands of hair” were also dissipating at a visible rate, the misty and ethereal shadows on the sea’s surface first turned into thin mists, then swiftly faded and melted away under the strengthening sunlight. Homeloss’s speed was slowing — under the control of the Goat Head, it was gradually surfacing from the Spirit Realm to reality.

“Homeloss is approaching Light Breeze Harbor, what’s the situation in the city now?”

Morris’s voice immediately came back, “Still chaotic, but a portion of the guardians and peace officers have successfully reached the neighborhoods, control personnel are organizing self-help among the residents. It doesn’t look like it will worsen — but no one can guarantee what will happen tonight.”

Duncan hummed softly, then turned his attention back to the sea.

Homeloss completed its surfacing, the bright reality’s sunlight was shining on the deck and masts, and the sea outside the hull was undulating slowly under the light wind, glittering light dancing in the breaking waves.

Endless, with nothing in sight.

Duncan blinked, feeling something was wrong.

Alice blinked too, even this solid-headed automaton felt something amiss.

A vague shadow rose from the deck, looking out into the distance for a long time before Agatha finally broke the silence on the deck, “Where’s Light Breeze Harbor?!”

Where is Light Breeze Harbor?! Such a huge Light Breeze Harbor?!

Duncan looked into the distance for a long time, then turned his head to look in other directions — he scanned around the sea and finally found something familiar.

A massive, irregular Luminous Geometric Body was quietly floating on the distant sea surface.

It was “docked” near Light Breeze Harbor, “The Dream of the Nameless,” however, other than that gigantic Luminous Geometric Body, nothing else could be seen on the nearby sea surface.

Duncan immediately called out through the spiritual connection, “First Mate, confirm our location.”

The Goat Head immediately responded, “Yes, Captain. I have noticed it… There’s no issue with Homeloss’s position. The sea chart shows we’re near Light Breeze Harbor, with that ‘Luminous Geometric Body’ as a positional reference… but Light Breeze Harbor is gone.”

A breeze blew across the deck, the southern sea area’s brilliant sunlight reflecting off the water, so bright that it was painful to the eyes.

The mark made by the Spiritual Body’s fire flickered in a distant and unobservable place, and Duncan heard Nina’s voice coming from the depths of his consciousness, “Uncle Duncan, have you arrived?”

“I’ve arrived,” Duncan took a light breath, pondering how to explain the current situation, “but Light Breeze Harbor has vanished.”

Nina: “…Ah?”

After a while.

Homeloss reached the sea area where the vast Luminous Geometric Body was located and finally discovered a trace within its scope that could prove Light Breeze Harbor had once existed.

Duncan found the research station that was used to study the “stone sphere” at the center of the geometric body–it still remained in the real world, but there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Based on the traces left in the research station, the scholars stationed there had disappeared at least before dawn–the stoves for cooking breakfast showed no sign of use, and several Blessed Oil Lamps that needed to be lit at night were still burning, with their fuel almost depleted, indicating that no one had extinguished them after daylight.

Following an investigation, Homeloss left the “luminous” range of the Luminous Geometric Body, returning to the sea area where Light Breeze Harbor was theoretically located, and loitered there slowly.

“…The research facilities near the stone sphere are still there, likely because the ‘sunlight’ emitted by the luminous geometric body countered the power of The Dream of the Nameless, but the personnel inside have vanished… It seems that ‘sunlight’ couldn’t completely withstand the power of Silantis.”

In the captain’s cabin of Homeloss, Duncan was analyzing the current situation, and not far from him, in the elliptical mirror, Agatha also showed a thoughtful and serious expression.

“This very much resembles the phenomenon of the residents of Light Breeze Harbor disappearing when The Dream of the Nameless erupted, but this time… the power of the Dreamscape has become unfathomably stronger,” Agatha pondered aloud, “even an entire City-State with a physical existence has disappeared.”

Standing beside Duncan, Alice, who was usually quite composed, finally showed signs of nervousness and even a bit of fear; she subconsciously grabbed Duncan’s arm and hesitated before saying, “Then… What about everyone who stayed in the city…?”

“They’re fine for now, I can still contact them,” Duncan reassured the automaton. “Following the pattern previously shown by The Dream of the Nameless, as long as the Dreamscape dissipates, those who disappeared because of it should return to normal.”

Listening to the captain’s words, Alice still felt something was off but let out a slight sigh of relief anyway.

But Duncan knew, he hadn’t finished speaking–

The biggest problem now was whether The Dream of the Nameless would dissipate this time as it had before, and whether this could be Silantis’s “last dream.”

The news from Ted Riel, coming from the depths of The Dream of the Nameless, was very bad.

Silantis had gone mad–from an “ancient obsession” that was originally in a muddled dormant state, it had transformed into a powerful being with a clear ability to act and had lost control. And this powerful being’s goal was crystal clear: to take root and grow again in the real world–having awakened and being in a state of madness, would Silantis allow The Dream of the Nameless to end peacefully and unconsciously as before? Or was the “disappearance” of Light Breeze Harbor now the first step in its entry into the real world?

Time was running out.

Duncan thought rapidly. He laid the “drakebone sample” found from the Plunder City-State on the navigation table before him, pondering how he could use this piece of “wood” to establish a connection with Silantis, and how to truly reach the deepest parts of The Dream of the Nameless to uncover the true essence hidden within the heart of that dreamscape.

Sea Mist and Brilliant Starship had already undergone mutations due to the “Curse,” and the original drakebone of Homeloss had vanished into Subspace. The remaining “branches” also reduced to ashes in the great shipyard fire. The piece before him was perhaps the last remaining chunk of Xilantis Wood in the world, and the opportunity might only come once.

Just as Duncan began to form some ideas in his mind, Alice, beside him, suddenly let out an exclamation: “Threads!”

Duncan turned in surprise: “Threads? You’ve seen threads here?”

“Threads… they’re everywhere!” Alice exclaimed wide-eyed, gesturing through the air, “They suddenly floated out, filling the air… rising from below the deck!”

“Below the deck?” Duncan was momentarily stunned but quickly realized what she meant, and immediately grabbed Alice’s arm, dragging the automaton towards the door of the captain’s cabin, “Come with me!”

Alice was taken aback, shouting as she followed the captain out, “Hey… hey? Captain, where are you taking me? Slow down, I need to steady my head…”

Alice’s cry of surprise immediately ceased as they stepped out of the door of the captain’s cabin.

She stood on the deck, staring dumbfounded at the vast ocean beyond.

The sun was sinking slowly, and in the spreading, glorious twilight, she saw an unprecedented sight–dense, hair-like threads rising and floating from the entire sea area.

The threads weren’t floating up from “beneath the deck” of Homeloss–they were rising from the ocean where Light Breeze Harbor once stood.

(Book recommendation time comes from Luo Sanguan.CS’s “Children of the Stars.” The author is also one of my readers. When he was on a business trip in Guangdong, he was confronted face to face… Actually, his last book was severely criticized, and this time he’s braced for the worst. I’ve heard that his new book is a hardcore science fiction theme; everyone can support it.)