Perhaps it was just a trick of the light, but ever since entering this twisted and bizarre "forest," Agou had been acting rather sentimental—he lamented many things, and even recalled some long-forgotten memories, some of which Sherry herself didn't even remember, but he remembered them clearly.

After a moment of hesitation, Sherry decided to voice her feelings.

"Sentimental? Me?" Hearing Sherry's words, Agou was first stunned, then puzzled. "Really? Have I been lamenting and reminiscing?"

"Yeah," Sherry nodded repeatedly. "You occasionally bring up old stories or lecture me like an old nanny, but you've never been so... sentimental. It's making me uncomfortable."

Agou gradually stopped walking, finally vaguely aware of the subtle influences he was experiencing. After a moment of thought, he tilted his head, his empty, horrifying eye sockets scanning the gloomy forest, the faint blood-colored light in his sockets slowly flickering.

"The forest is affecting us... it's some kind of emotion," he said in a deep voice. "The entire forest is filled with a low, oppressive 'atmosphere' that makes me unable to stop overthinking, like... like being immersed in a vast mind, constantly disturbed by it..."

Sherry's eyes widened in alarm. "Ah... ah? Are you saying that this forest is... sentient?! You've been affected by it? Is it serious?"

Agou shook his head from side to side. "No, it shouldn't be called a forest, it should be called a dreamscape... Don't forget its name, Dream of the Nameless. Dreams are things made by the mind... But don't worry, it's not serious. This influence doesn't seem to be targeted, it's just passive interference caused by the environment. Sherry, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sherry said, pointing to herself, a puzzled expression on her face. "Right, even you're affected, but I'm not at all... Maybe it's because I'm carefree?"

"If it were that simple," Agou muttered softly. "Don't let your guard down. The most dangerous influences are the subtle ones. The more you think you're fine, the more likely something is to happen. If you experience a sudden drop in mood or a feeling of tension and panic, tell me immediately."

"Okay," Sherry hurriedly nodded, then frowned, looking uneasily at the seemingly endless forest, and said softly, "When do you think the captain will find us? We're not going to be stuck here forever, are we?"

"No, don't think like that," Agou said immediately. "Didn't you feel a faint call in your heart just now? That means the captain already knows about this and he's figuring out a way. We just need to protect ourselves in the meantime."

"Oh."

Sherry obediently agreed, but just then, a strange, viscous sound, like something gradually melting and flowing down, suddenly came from not far away, interrupting her conversation with Agou.

The chilling sound made Sherry's hair stand on end, and she tugged on the black chain beside her. "Agou! Did you hear that..."

"Heard it, it's nearby, there's something—"

Agou said quickly, already turning his head in the direction of the strange sound. Almost at the same time, an incomprehensible scene appeared in his and Sherry's vision—

A thicket suddenly began to grow wildly, and large patches of pitch-black substance burst forth from the dense leaves like gushing springs, instantly forming countless limbs waving and wriggling in the air, and at the ends of those countless limbs, fine, eye-like cracks opened. The towering trees beside them, however, collapsed in a series of strange noises as if "melting," the thick trunks flowing down like silt, the dense canopies losing their support, but instead gradually growing towards the sky, and in the distorted light and shadow like illusory flames, they were stretched and deformed into countless fluttering white flocs. The earth was surging, as if suddenly turning into a layer of soft, sticky skin, or as if something terrifying was burrowing through the soil, about to break out...

In the next second, all kinds of chilling, bizarre noises erupted suddenly, the sound of illusory burning, the sound of sticky squirming, and the hissing sound filled with noise instantly filled all directions. The metamorphosed trees and forests spread to every place within sight almost in the blink of an eye, and everything in front of them seemed to come alive suddenly, presenting the deepest layer of nightmare in a frenzy of twisted growth!

Everything was mutating, everything was distorting, everything was impacting the boundaries of perception and reason—right before Sherry and Agou's eyes, this dream surged, and dark, malicious things finally emerged from the earth. They were flowing shadows, and the shadows were shrouded in forms and things that could not be described in words, as if countless eyes and sharp teeth were piled up in those wriggling, surging mud. Sherry only glanced at them, and realized the only thing she should do.

"Run!"

She only had time to shout that, and before the words were finished, she had already turned around and darted out, running in a direction that seemed "stable" for the moment. The rugged and bumpy forest floor rolled and undulated beneath her feet, and every step she took felt like stepping on cotton, or the skin of some soft-bodied creature, the sensation disgusting and terrifying.

The body strengthened by the symbiosis of a Deep Sea Embers demon unleashed its greatest potential at this moment. She felt like she had never run so fast in her life!

The pitch-black, grotesque chain was stretched straight in an instant, and Agou was dragged by Sherry directly into the air, rising and falling in the air as the latter ran.

Sherry ran all the way through the forest, dragging Agou along with her. However, after running for a while, she took the time to look back and saw that the surging nightmare was still chasing behind her, so she shouted again at the top of her lungs: "Switch!"

Before the words were finished, she threw the chain forward with all her might, and Agou was thrown directly ahead—

Agou adjusted his posture before landing, landing steadily on all fours, and then, without delay, used the momentum of the throw to continue running wildly forward!

Now it was Sherry's turn to fly through the air.

In such a series of relays, the mutating, twisted, nightmarish "forest" was always chasing behind them, like a nightmare phantom that could never be shaken off.

It even gave Sherry a terrifying illusion, as if the entire forest had come alive, and with furious malice, was determined to swallow her and Agou alive, chasing and hunting them from all directions!

But fortunately, just when she felt like she really couldn't escape, the "nightmare" that was constantly chasing and spreading behind her suddenly slowed down.

As suddenly as it had happened, the twisting and corruption of the forest stopped without warning—

Sherry dragged Agou forward for dozens of meters before belatedly realizing this. She stopped abruptly beside a fallen giant tree in a disheveled state, turning her head to look at the dark corruption that had stopped spreading in the distance, her eyes wide with astonishment, panting as she said, "Agou... huff... it stopped over there..."

Agou's huge body whistled past her with inertia, crashing into a nearby pile of rocks.

After a rumbling crash, Agou struggled to climb out of the pile of rocks, shaking his head as he spoke loudly, "Huh?!"

"Ah..." Sherry looked at Agou awkwardly, and then pointed to the dark, twisted area that had stopped spreading in the distance. "It suddenly stopped over there."

"Wait a minute..." Agou muttered, ran to the side of the rock pile and opened his mouth. "Ugh—"

Accompanied by the sound of foul-smelling corrosive substances corroding the soil and rocks, the dizzy Deep Sea Embers hound finally finished vomiting. Then, he shook his head and slowly returned to Sherry's side, looking up at the place where the terrifying corruption had stopped.

A distinct "boundary" remained in the forest. On one side of the boundary were still lush and vibrant plants, while on the other side had become an unspeakable place filled with chilling, grotesque, twisted shadows and wriggling substances...

Countless animated vines and flowing shadows burrowing out of the soil were still slowly wriggling in that dark area. Even though they were no longer spreading in this direction, they still inspired a heartfelt shock when viewed.

Sherry didn't even dare to look at that place for more than a few glances. She finally managed to control her breathing, her voice still trembling slightly. "What... what the hell is that thing?"

"I don't know... I'm not an expert in dreamscapes," Agou came to Sherry's side, staring at the distance with extreme vigilance. "But this may be the true appearance of this 'Dream of the Nameless'... Some deadly thing is spreading in the depths of this dreamscape, but this dreamscape is too large, and the captain and the others didn't encounter it last time—we got caught."

"Why is it always me who's unlucky..." Sherry immediately frowned and muttered, but she quickly closed her mouth, and looked in a certain direction with a wary expression.

Agou also instantly withdrew his gaze from the corrupted area, a low growl rumbling in his throat as he stared intently at an open space a few meters away.

A strange aura was approaching.

Although it was not known how the strange aura had appeared, it was clear that... "someone" was entering this dreamscape.

Friend? Or foe?

From the strange aura, Sherry and Agou felt some kind of... familiar yet alarming dislike.

In the next second, under their gaze, a hazy phantom suddenly appeared in the empty space—like a bubble in a dream gradually becoming clear, and a human figure gradually condensed in the phantom.

A tall, thin young man wearing a dark blue coat with a gloomy face appeared in the open space.

The moment the young man's figure appeared, Sherry and Agou both noticed a flash of a pitch-black chain phantom near the other party's shoulder blades, and at the end of the chain, a vaguely bird-like ominous phantom appeared.

Sherry's eyes changed slightly in an instant, and she subconsciously tugged on the chain connecting her to Agou.

The "uninvited guest" in the distance also reacted instantly, and after noticing the strange aura on the scene, he suddenly turned his gaze.

The black-dressed girl standing with the Deep Sea Embers hound appeared in his field of vision.

He was surprised for a moment, then frowned:

"...There's already someone in this area?"

(End of this chapter)