“What did you say? They pushed up a wooden goat head sculpture?!”

Duncan's voice came from the mirror on the dressing table, with undisguised shock.

"Yes, a black wooden goat head," Lucrezia said quickly, turning her head to look at the crystal ball on the nearby table, discerning the faintly emerging picture in the crystal ball, a scene transmitted directly from the cultists' gathering place by Rabbi, "It looks very similar to the 'First Mate' on the Vanishing Sea… no, it can’t be said to be very similar, it's simply identical!"

"Besides that? What is that goat head doing after being pushed up?" In the mirror in front of Lucrezia, Duncan's figure leaned forward slightly, "Is it communicating with those cultists?"

"...No," Lucrezia shook her head while looking at the blurry picture in the crystal ball, "This goat head seems to be 'dead'... it doesn't move at all after being pushed up, it looks like just a wooden sculpture... Those cultists are holding a ritual around the goat head, they are lighting candlesticks and burning incense, and that goat head they call the 'Dream Skull' still has no reaction."

Duncan in the mirror frowned tightly.

He knew that Rabbi lurking in the cultists' stronghold would definitely send back a lot of valuable information, but he didn't expect that the rabbit would send back information of such great value—from the beginning of the cultists' gathering until now, he and Lucrezia had been paying attention to the messages constantly sent by Rabbi, and among these messages, the most amazing was the scene now.

Those Annihilation Cultists… actually also have a goat head exactly the same as the "First Mate" on the Vanishing Sea!?

And judging from the situation at the scene, this is the reason why they can freely enter and exit the Dream of the Nameless?

Within the mirrored dimension connected by the mirror surface, Duncan stood in the dimness and fell into thought. After a long time, he raised his head and swept his gaze around.

This is the world in the mirror—but according to Agatha, a more accurate description here is "the reflection of the Vanishing Sea at the edge of the spirit world and reality."

What he saw was the Vanishing Sea he was familiar with, but the entire ship was shrouded in a kind of seemingly right but not quite, discordant and weird atmosphere. His gaze passed through the windows next to him, and he could see that the outside deck was shrouded in darkness, and the distant sky and ocean presented a texture similar to the spirit world. A layer of hazy brilliance radiated near the ship's side, and its outline seemed to be affected by some inexplicable interference, slowly rising and falling and shaking like a reflection in water.

And behind him were the familiar scenes of the captain's room, the chart table, the shelves, the precious tapestries on the wall, and… the silent goat head at the edge of the chart table.

All of this was shrouded in an unusual dimness, even though there were oil lamps hanging on the wall next to him, even though there were lights everywhere in the room, the dimness seemed to be branded in this space and entrenched, constantly reminding people who came here that this was not the real dimension.

The only thing in the room that emitted a soft, reassuring glow was the oval mirror in front of Duncan—the mirror reflected the scene in Lucrezia's room, reflecting the "temperature" from the real dimension.

Duncan turned around, slowly walked to the chart table, and looked at the wooden goat head quietly staying on the table. The latter did not react to his approach at all, just like… the "Dream Skull" used by those cultists to hold rituals at the gathering place.

After quietly looking at the black wood carving for a moment, Duncan reached out and patted the goat head's head.

If it were in the real world on the other side of the mirror, this action would definitely be met with overwhelming noise, and the goat head would never miss this opportunity to speak.

However, here, in this "reflection" of the Vanishing Sea, the goat head still just stayed quietly, as if… it had not yet awakened.

Footsteps came from the side, Duncan turned his head and saw Agatha coming to his side.

"Captain, there are thirty minutes left before the Dream of the Nameless 'activates'," the lady who "lives" in the mirror world said, "According to my last experience, the reflection of the Vanishing Sea will be transformed into the ship sailing in the dark mist at that time, and this 'wood carving' in front of you will also 'come alive'."

"...Yes, come alive, but still not quite the same as the 'First Mate' I'm familiar with. That is another goat head - and in the hands of those Annihilation Cultists, there is another goat head," Duncan said slowly, with a thoughtful expression on his face, "They actually used a goat head found from somewhere to enter the Dream of the Nameless, this... makes sense, but exceeds my expectations."

Agatha hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help asking, "Are there many 'goat heads'?"

"...I once thought there was only one," Duncan shook his head, "It also thought so itself."

"I remember you said that the 'First Mate' was brought out of subspace by you. If it is subspace... perhaps everything is possible. Maybe the 'goat head' is even a race there..."

Agatha stopped as she spoke, obviously she also felt that her guess was a bit far-fetched.

Duncan did not speak, he just looked at the goat head on the table that was as silent as a real wood carving, pondered for an unknown amount of time, and then muttered softly, "Torn apart..."

Agatha heard the captain's muttering, but was at a loss: "Huh?"

Duncan did not respond to her question, but gently shook his head: "It seems that there is another reason to capture those Annihilation Cultists alive... This time, not only must we find a way to capture their people alive, but we must also find a way to capture their ship."

"As long as the location of that ship is determined, no secular ship can escape the pursuit of the Vanishing Sea." Agatha said immediately.

Duncan looked at the former gatekeeper with some surprise: "You are very confident - you should not have personally seen the battle scenes of the Vanishing Sea."

"But the scriptures of the Church of Death record tons of terrifying descriptions of the Vanishing Sea," Agatha spread her hands, "It is said that you once erased the warship that His Majesty Pope Banster had just built in an instant - even in front of the Pilgrim Ark, in front of an entire fleet. No matter how you think about it, those cultists cannot build a ship more powerful than the Pilgrim Ark, right."

Duncan's expression instantly froze a bit, and after two or three seconds of awkwardness, he twitched the corner of his mouth: "I'll take it as a compliment."

Agatha seemed to realize the embarrassment of this topic, and she quickly and stiffly changed the topic: "Captain, what do you think of the purpose of those cultists?"

"Purpose? Are you talking about their interest in Shirley and Ah Gou, or their cooperation goals with those 'Sun Followers'?"

"Both." Agatha nodded.

"It is expected that they will be interested in Shirley and Ah Gou - no Annihilation Cultist with normal values will be unaffected after seeing Ah Gou, and judging from the performance of that Saint, the phenomenon of 'Abyssal Demons possessing reason' seems to have extraordinary significance for them," Duncan said while recalling the information sent by Rabbi, "That Saint mentioned 'the last piece of the puzzle on the path of promotion'... This sentence makes me very concerned.

"As for their 'cooperation' with those Sun Followers..."

Duncan suddenly stopped here, and after thinking quietly for a while, he broke the silence: "The goal of those Annihilation Cultists is the 'Tree', which is easy to understand, referring to the World Tree Xilandis, and the goal of those Sun Followers is the 'Sun'..."

He frowned, raised his head, as if to look through the dimensions of time and space, to a "star" hanging high in the Dream of the Nameless, existing in some ancient memories.

"...How are they going to get the 'Sun'?"

The captain's room was quiet for a while, and Agatha didn't know how to answer the captain's question. After an unknown amount of time, Lucrezia's voice suddenly came from the mirror not far away, breaking the silence:

"Dad, Rabbi said that those cultists seem to be carrying out the final step of the ritual."

Duncan immediately raised his head and looked at the mechanical clock hanging on the opposite wall.

On the dial showing the left-right mirror reversal state, the pointer was rotating counterclockwise, slowly pointing to nine o'clock.

The Dream of the Nameless is about to become active.

He retracted his gaze and glanced at the nautical chart on the table next to him.

Even in this "reflection" world, the nautical chart in the captain's room showed the normal sailing trajectory of the Vanishing Sea in the boundless sea - now the Vanishing Sea is located about a thousand nautical miles north of Lightfoot Port, and is continuing to sail north, continuing to move away from the city-state.

The "test" is about to come to a conclusion, but Duncan actually faintly feels that even if the Vanishing Sea is kept away from Lightfoot Port, and the goat head is run to such a distant place, the Dream of the Nameless will still appear - Lightfoot Port will still be shrouded in the dream, and the reflection of the Vanishing Sea will still undergo the same changes as before.

Because dusk is approaching.

Because the "Sun" is becoming gentle, and those who have been exiled will return to the real dimension - just like the "warrior" who suddenly fell into reality and eventually turned into an indescribable mass, the so-called Dream of the Nameless is just a country returning to reality from oblivion and exile.

When dusk arrives, all these changes will occur irreversibly, and the Vanishing Sea arriving at Lightfoot Port only accelerated the activation of the Dream of the Nameless.

Just like that "Saint" claimed, the so-called "Deep Sea Era" is now constantly approaching its "last second."

"Lucy, report the progress observed by Rabbi over there." Duncan said suddenly.

Lucrezia's voice immediately came from the mirror: "Yes, those selected cultists have gathered around the 'Dream Skull', they are waiting for the final sacrificial ritual...

"That Saint is ordering the 'blood food' to be brought into the hall.

"...They are two scarred elves."

(I have a bold idea!)

(End of this chapter)