Chapter 141 The Red Rift

Vanna's words stunned everyone present.

This even overturned many of Duncan's assumptions about the Nameless Dream that he had just established.

Vanna hadn't entered that "forest" at all—she hadn't even seen a forest, but had been trapped in a desert the whole time… What place was that desert?!

After a moment of silence caused by the astonishment, Duncan suddenly spoke, "Are there any traces of human activity in the desert? Any strange terrain or impressive things that caught your attention?"

"There were many strange-looking boulders, towering and twisted, as if something in motion suddenly solidified. In the far distance, I could see continuous shadows, but I couldn't determine whether they were rocky beaches or building complexes—they were too far away," Vanna recalled her experience on the "other side of the dream," describing the details she saw, "Also, the most concerning thing was a faint red rift in the sky, very, very large."

"A red rift?" Duncan's eyes changed slightly in an instant, and he perked up. "What exactly did it look like? Besides that red rift, what else did you see in the sky?"

"I still remember its appearance…" Vanna said, getting up to grab paper and a pen from the low table, quickly sketching on the paper, "Its color was dark red, the edges were blurred, like it was filled with clouds and mist, the depths were faintly glowing, and there were vague details inside..."

Everyone's eyes were focused on Vanna's pen tip. Duncan couldn't help but lean forward, watching the "rift" composed of many messy lines that she was sketching on the paper. As those lines gradually corresponded to the "red light" in his memory, his expression gradually became solemn.

After a moment, Vanna stopped, pushing the paper forward. "That's roughly it. My drawing skills are limited, but I've tried my best. Besides this rift, I didn't see anything else in the sky."

"Nothing else?" Duncan was stunned when he heard this, subconsciously asking, "What about the sun? What did the sun look like?"

For him, this question had to be asked—if Vanna saw the sun in that "desert," then the "form" of that sun would be crucial!

However, Vanna shook her head. "There was no sun—although it looked like daytime there, and the sky was filled with light other than the red light, I didn't see the sun."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, and even Duncan was a little dazed for a moment, until Vanna's voice sounded again, waking everyone up. "That's all the information I have on my end."

Finally, everyone's eyes focused on Duncan.

Nina blinked curiously. "Uncle Duncan, what did you see?"

"...Alice and I saw a distorted and mutated block in the real world," Duncan pondered for a moment, slowly opening his mouth, "Tall trees and countless vines covered the streets, as if they had spread from the forest of the 'Nameless Dream' to reality, but we didn't see any scenes related to the 'desert.' And at the deepest part of the mutated block, we found an exceptionally large vine…"

The more people involved, the more ideas there would be. Duncan didn't hide the scenes he saw when trying to "explore" that vine—the bizarre Vanishing Sail sailing in the dark mist, the familiar yet unfamiliar goat head on the ship, the changing sea chart, and the information revealed by the goat head in a dreamlike state.

When he finished speaking, the room was even quieter than when Vanna had finished speaking earlier.

"What you saw… is even more bizarre than the desert I saw…" Vanna couldn't help but mutter.

Beside her, Agou also muttered in a muffled voice, "How should I put it… as expected of the Captain…"

Duncan glanced at the abyssal hound, not paying attention to its emotion, but added, "That 'goat head' mentioned Xylendis at the end, which makes me very concerned."

"If I remember correctly… that's the name of the 'World Tree' in ancient Elven legends," Vanna nodded gently, "It's also known as the Tree of Life, the Great Tree of Origin, the first life created in the world by the Elven god 'Sasloka'…"

Everyone present fell into their own thoughts, and even Alice, who usually couldn't keep up with the rhythm, showed a look of trying hard to think. After a brief silence, Lucrezia finally raised her head, looking at Duncan with a hint of hesitation in her expression: "Father, about the 'First Mate' on the current Vanishing Sail… you don't seem to have told me in detail about its origins. What exactly is that goat head…"

"It's from the subspace. That's all I can tell you," Duncan said, then changed the subject, "But this time… I may have to go and confirm some things with it."

Now, all the clues were finally on the table. Everyone who had been scattered to various places in reality and dreams last night had gathered the information they had to Duncan.

After organizing his thoughts, Duncan took a light breath, temporarily putting aside the chaotic questions in his mind, and swept his gaze over everyone in the living room.

"Now, we can confirm a few things—

"First, the scale of the Nameless Dream is expanding, and its influence is increasing. It has even developed to the point where it can interfere with the real world. We can't determine the cause of this change yet, but it's mostly related to the approaching so-called 'Fourth Long Night' and the changes in the sun.

"Second, the ordinary people in the city-state seem to be completely unaware of the influence of the Nameless Dream. When the anomalies occur, the people within the area affected by the dream will disappear, and when the dream ends, they will return to the real world and maintain their daily lives. We can't determine where they went when the dream occurred, nor can we determine whether this phenomenon is limited to 'Elves'—there are many merchants and adventurers of other races in Light Breeze Port. Next, we have to find a way to confirm the situation of these people last night.

"Third, when the anomalies occur, we will be scattered to different places—either staying in the real world, entering the great forest in the dream, or entering a mysterious 'desert.' We can't determine whether this 'scattering' is random or follows a pattern.

"Fourth, the Annihilation Cultists and the Sun Cultists, as well as the Harbinger of the End who provides information behind them, these cultists obviously know more information…"

He summarized and sorted out the known information one by one, and finally raised his head, looking at the others: "Is there anything else to add?"

"I can't think of anything for the time being," Lucrezia shook her head. "What I'm concerned about now is whether that kind of 'anomaly' from last night will reappear. If it does, how should we respond?"

"It will most likely reappear," Maurice sighed. "The influence of the Nameless Dream is obviously still constantly strengthening. The anomalies it causes will only increase with it, but on the bright side—the more it reappears, the more opportunities we have to summarize more of its patterns. We have many uncertain conjectures now, and many of these questions can be answered as long as a second large-scale anomaly occurs."

Listening to the old scholar's analysis, Duncan also nodded in agreement. "This is not blind optimism. We do need to summarize the patterns of the Nameless Dream from more anomalies."

"But the Nameless Dream will scatter us and cut off our connection with the Captain," Vanna added from the side. "This is a big problem."

"Regarding this point, I already have a rough idea," Duncan recalled his experience last night, especially after establishing contact with that huge vine and after stepping on that bizarre "Vanishing Sail," he said thoughtfully, "If the Nameless Dream expands again, I should have a chance to verify this idea."

Shirley raised her head to look at Duncan, and then looked at the others around her: "Then… what about this period of time? What are we going to do next?"

"The Nameless Dream might change again at any time," Duncan said, his gaze falling on Lucrezia, "Now we have to determine whether other parts of the city-state were also affected last night. The fastest way is to contact the magistrate of Light Breeze Port."

"Leave it to me," Lucrezia said immediately, "I'll go find Sara Mel right away to see if he noticed what happened last night."

Duncan nodded, and then looked at Maurice and Vanna: "We also need to go to the nearby blocks to investigate and see if other alien residents living around Crown Street besides the Elves were affected by the dream and whether they had any special experiences last night."

"Understood," Vanna nodded immediately. "This is something I'm very good at."

Maurice also nodded. "I know some old friends at the Academy of Truth. I can ask them to help provide convenience during the investigation."

Duncan's gaze finally turned to Nina and Shirley.

"You two stay at home first," After a brief thought, Duncan said, "I don't need you to do anything for the time being, but if you find any clues about the Sun Cultists or the Annihilation Cultists, I might need your help."

Nina immediately showed a slightly disappointed expression, but still honestly agreed: "Okay…"

Shirley on the side asked curiously: "What about you?"

"I'm going back to the ship," Duncan said, getting up from the sofa, "I'm leaving now."

Alice subconsciously stood up: "Then I'll go too!"

Duncan stopped, looking at the doll in confusion: "What are you going to do by following me?"

Alice thought for a while, and then looked at the others in the living room, raised her hand to scratch her hair, and said confidently: "I don't know either!"

Duncan: "..."

After a brief moment of speechlessness, he suddenly smiled and sighed.

"Alright, if you want to follow, then come along. I wouldn't feel at ease leaving you in the city anyway."

Alice immediately became happy: "Hehe…"

A moment later, everyone launched into action according to the plan.

(End of this chapter)