Morris made full use of his eloquence, subtly confirming many issues with Galoni in the course of seemingly casual conversation.

In the conversation, he and Duncan gradually confirmed the apprentice's condition.

All memories of Brown Scott's shipwreck six years ago and everything related to his mentor's death after that had completely disappeared from Galoni's mind.

No, it wasn't just the memories that disappeared, but also the entire cognitive system that went with them. A person's death triggers a chain reaction, including ripples in their social circle, the handling of their affairs after death, a long period of remembrance and emotional fluctuations, and the subtle changes that have taken place in this house over the past six years. This cannot be solved by simply deleting and replacing a memory.

However, in Galoni's mind, the "Brown Scott died in a shipwreck six years ago" incident never happened, and the series of subsequent reactions it triggered left no trace. She only felt that it was natural for her to have lived in this house for six years, waiting quietly for her teacher to return—and now, her teacher had returned and was resting in the room upstairs.

The kettle's sharp whistle suddenly rang, interrupting the conversation in the living room. Galoni immediately got up and walked towards the kitchen, "Sorry, I'll turn off the heat."

Taking advantage of the moment when the Senkin woman left, Duncan looked up at Morris on the opposite sofa, "Her cognition has been interfered with."

"We should check the whole building," Morris said in a low voice, "He must have left something behind while he was still conscious—he wrote me a second letter not long ago, and he obviously noticed some truths at that time."

"...Let Galoni rest for a while," Duncan said softly.

The old staircase creaked, and the dim electric lights illuminated the corridor on the second floor. Morris and Duncan went up the stairs to find the folklorist who had "returned to the world."

"Brown, it's me," Morris said, "If you're inside, open the door—no matter what state you're in, don't worry, we can solve the trouble you're having."

Morris blinked, then shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake the cluttered thoughts out of his mind. He walked towards the depths of the room, carefully avoiding the "mud" clumps scattered on the floor, and stopped by a table after a long while.

Duncan quietly watched the door, feeling that the situation... was not unexpected.

There was a piece of paper pressed against the edge of a solidified mud puddle, vaguely shaped like an arm.

Finally, he sighed softly, "Let me do it, Morris. We may still be one step too late."

The muscles on Morris's face were tense.

Duncan said casually, and just then, something suddenly entered his sight.

A room almost completely shrouded in darkness was presented to the two.

"Thank you," Morris said, pointing to the sofa next to him, "Galoni, sit here first, sit still, I have something to tell you."

"Deep Sea Embers's replicas...it seems they all end up like this," just then, Duncan's voice interrupted Morris's daze, "We were one step too late after all, it's a pity."

There was still no response from the room.

"...He wrote two letters, at least at that time, he still had some sanity," Morris said softly, "He must have noticed his abnormality..."

Duncan didn't use any fancy methods. He simply bumped into it, and the flimsy wooden door was broken with a loud bang, wide open.

Morris didn't speak, but raised his hand and knocked gently on the light yellow door.

"Now we can check it out properly—Galoni wasn't lying, her teacher should be in the bedroom on the second floor now."

This table was also covered in mud, and the largest clump of mud was piled up between the table and the bed.

The structure of the second floor of the house was not unusual. A straight corridor connected each room, and most of the rooms were not locked—Duncan and Morris quickly confirmed the situation in most of the rooms and stopped in front of the last room on the left side of the corridor.

This was the only locked place on the entire second floor.

Frankly speaking, from the beginning, he doubted that his "old friend" had really returned to the world. He knew that behind this incident must be some kind of uncontrolled transcendent phenomenon, and it might even be related to the Deep Sea Embers's curse.

But...even if he had vaguely expected it before opening the door, he still felt a huge impact after really seeing this scene.

"This is..." The old scholar opened his eyes wide, exclaiming in a low voice as he carefully pulled out the piece of paper, "Mr. Duncan, look at this!"

Morris nodded, and in the midst of this conversation, Galoni returned from the kitchen—she was carrying a large tray with warming ginger tea and some biscuits. The woman with stone-like gray-black skin placed the things on the coffee table and looked up at the two guests, "Sorry to keep you waiting, have some ginger tea to warm up."

Duncan didn't know what to say for a moment, and after a long while, he blurted out, "Why would you use this trick on your own daughter?"

The room was not lit, and the window facing the street seemed to be blocked by something, so that even the light from the street lamps outside could not shine into the room. Only the light from the corridor illuminated a small area at the entrance, and in the area where the light did not reach, one could vaguely see that something shadowy covered the roof and the floor.

A certain gray-black substance, like mud, was distributed in patches throughout the room, covering the floor, polluting the walls, and even firmly adhering to the roof. There were also "mud" that seemed to be half-melted hanging down from the dirt on the roof, suspended in mid-air, looking like curved and swollen blood vessels, or some strangely shaped stalactite.

"Locked from the outside?" Duncan vaguely felt a sense of disharmony, and then recalled something, "Just now Galoni said that she sends food to her teacher's room every day..."

"Impossible, this door hasn't been opened for many days—a week or longer," Morris said immediately, his eyes slowly scanning the door in front of him, and there seemed to be a slight floating light surging in his eyes, "There are no traces of the lock being damaged either."

"...So, Galoni just 'thinks' that she sends food to her teacher's room every day, but her teacher hasn't opened this door for many days," Duncan said, glancing slightly back at the stairs leading to the second floor, "Cognitive interference is ongoing."

In just an instant, Duncan thought of the scene he had seen in the hold of the Obsidian.

Morris looked into Galoni's eyes: "Lomonosov Inequality Group."

Galoni suddenly opened her eyes. A massive amount of knowledge, memories, and logical problems instantly covered all of his thoughts, and before he could figure out the general outline of these "information storms," a strong, self-protective drowsiness welled up in his heart.

She passed out silently, snoring loudly, sleeping peacefully.

Duncan watched this scene expressionlessly, and after a two-second silence, he asked, "How long will she sleep?"

"Depends on the IQ. Heidi slept for twelve hours back then. Galoni should sleep longer," Morris shrugged, "Folklorists usually aren't very good at math and physics."

Duncan thought about it and felt that the topic didn't need to be continued, so he stood up and looked at the staircase leading to the second floor.

Morris stepped forward and tugged at the doorknob, frowning slightly, "Locked—locked from the inside."

These strange and terrifying "mud"...looked exactly like the situation in the hold of the Obsidian!

After the electric light was turned on, everything in the room finally became clear.

"His sanity lasted at least until the moment he locked this room from the inside. After that, he couldn't control the situation," Duncan also came to the desk, observing the surrounding solidified mud while thinking thoughtfully, "These Deep Sea Embers replicas seem...to be quite different. Some don't have any sanity at all, some even retain their original memories and can survive like ordinary people for a period of time, and some...like the captain of the Obsidian,

Completely twisted into an alien, but retained his soul from beginning to end."

Morris's expression stiffened. He seemed to want to say something, but his lips trembled twice, and he didn't say anything. He just silently stepped aside.

"Like some kind of unstable experimental product?"

Duncan was the first to enter the room. He raised his left hand, holding a ball of ghostly green spiritual flame in his palm, and his other hand groped for the light switch next to the door.

"This is..." Morris, who followed into the room, saw the scene inside and exclaimed softly in shock.

Duncan immediately leaned over, and some unclear words came into his eyes on the dirty paper—

"To the investigators, the following are the changes that occurred in the final stages of my body:"