Chapter 1 The Abnormal

As if Lucrezia had to remind him, Talan Eyl suddenly realized the strangeness of the environment. He turned his head to look out the window in astonishment, and after seeing the lush tree that blocked most of the sunlight outside the window, he was stunned for a long time before his expression changed and he quickly walked to the window.

He stood at the window and looked out at the tree, a look of doubt on his face, as if he was still unsure whether his memory or the reality before him was the problem. After a moment, he finally reacted and immediately shook his head: "No, this tree wasn't here."

As he spoke, the arch scholar raised his hand and pointed to the roof opposite the tree: "Remember when the sun went out? I jumped out of this window and onto the roof across the way—there definitely wasn't this tree blocking the view back then."

Lucrezia also came to the window and looked at the base of the tree—she saw that it was rooted in a corner of the courtyard, its position appearing particularly abrupt, yet some of its roots were protruding from the soil, merging with the nearby steps and ground, as if it had been rooted here for a long time.

She turned her head and saw the solemn expression on Talan Eyl's face.

"The Dream of the Nameless is still growing, madam," the arch scholar broke the silence, his tone serious and low, "Some parts of it... can already spread to the real world during the day."

"Not just spreading, master," Lucrezia reminded him, "If I hadn't reminded you, you wouldn't have even noticed the abnormality of this tree now—and even I only realized something was wrong after such a long time. Remember? It was already outside the window when I walked into this room."

Talan Eyl did not speak, but looked solemnly out the window, at the nameless tree that had already taken root in the real world, at the distant streets and rooftops, at the entire city-state within sight.

"It's hard for people to notice the bizarre and outlandish aspects of the dream itself in a dream... the subconscious will rationalize all the strange and absurd things in the dream to prevent us from being scared to death by our own dreams," after a long silence, the arch scholar finally turned his head, "The boundary between reality and dreams is blurred, madam. Perhaps, before long, the entire Light Breeze Port will never wake up again. No one knows whether the city-state will still exist then, or in what form it will exist... We must stop the Dream of the Nameless from continuing to grow."

"Take your data and your sober mind, sort out your thoughts, and go find Governor Sara Mel. He needs help now," Lucrezia said, "It's best to see Ted as well. The Truth Keeper is probably in a terrible fix too."

"I'll leave right away," Talan Eyl said immediately, but then couldn't help but glance at Lucrezia, "...What about you?"

This "witch" was not from Light Breeze Port, but she was obviously already involved in this matter. Based on Talan Eyl's understanding of Lucrezia, she would definitely not stand idly by at a critical moment.

"I have no less to do than you," Lucrezia waved her hand, the edges of her figure already beginning to blur, "The Dream of the Nameless will definitely appear again. I have to prepare for tonight—and besides, my gaze is not just on Light Breeze Port."

As the words fell, before Talan Eyl could react, the witch's figure had already turned into a flurry of colorful paper, dancing away from the room in a sudden whirlwind.

In the port area, on the upper deck of the ship *Radiant Star*, which was docked at the shore, the fluttering colorful paper swirled into the cabin and reassembled into the figure of the Sea Witch.

A tin sailor pieced together from scrap iron, bolts, and water pipes immediately stepped forward. He took creaking steps and bowed to the captain in salute: "Mistress, Mr. Tirian is looking for you. The call came an hour ago."

"I know, I felt it," Lucrezia said quickly, "Find some helpers, move the photographic and video equipment in the warehouse to the deck, point it at the Light Breeze Port docks, set the timers, and record the changes in Light Breeze Port after nine o'clock tonight. Go."

The tin sailor immediately bent over: "Yes, mistress."

The rusty sailor left, his creaking footsteps gradually fading away. Lucrezia frowned, glanced at his back, and muttered softly, "Needs oiling..."

Then she shook her head, walked to the crystal ball, and waved her hand to light it up.

After a moment of patient waiting, Tirian's figure appeared in the crystal ball.

"Looks like you're busy too," Tirian said as soon as they met, "Is the situation in Light Breeze Port still worsening?"

"Today, outside Talan Eyl's laboratory, I saw a tree, a tree that 'grew' from the dream world into the real world," Lucrezia said calmly, "This city is gradually falling into the Dream of the Nameless, or the Dream of the Nameless is slowly 'rising' from the real world—either way, the problem here is indeed getting worse. But let's talk about your side first. You sent a message so early in the morning, it seems the thing I was worried about has happened after all."

"Three cases of 'sleeping sickness' have been reported in the elven settlement near Cemetery Number Two," Tirian didn't beat around the bush, "Three elves have fallen into a coma, but no other illness can be found. The situation is very similar to the sleep case that appeared in Pland City-State that you mentioned earlier, but the difference is that this time the psychiatrist's hypnosis and dream intervention methods are ineffective."

"Hypnosis and dream intervention methods are ineffective..."

"Yes, according to the psychiatrist's report, the condition of the three elves is very similar to that of 'Dreamless Ones'—you should know about this special 'congenital defect' among elves," Tirian nodded, "Psychiatrists can't find the dream entrance of the three 'patients' at all. Their spirits seem to have fallen into endless nothingness and have disappeared from the real world... If all awakening methods are ineffective, we can only rely on nutrient solutions to maintain their vital signs for now."

Lucrezia's brow furrowed, and she did not speak as she pondered.

Tirian's voice continued: "I'm not worried about the current situation. Three unconscious patients are not enough to put pressure on the city-state, but I'm worried about the situation continuing to develop—Frost is located on the northern border, and elves have always liked the border. There are thousands of elves currently registered in this city-state, and they are distributed in various urban areas. If this 'sleep' spreads rapidly, then the order that Frost has finally stabilized will probably face another shock."

"I know, but you'd better prepare yourself mentally," Lucrezia finally said, "Dad is trying to find the source of the Dream of the Nameless, but that takes time—judging from the situation you mentioned, the influence of this dream is not limited to Light Breeze Port, but directly affects the 'elf' race... There are clues that it points to the original beliefs of the elves, involving gods. You should know how troublesome that is."

Tirian's mouth twitched obviously, and after several seconds of silence, he cautiously opened his mouth: "If, and I mean if, in the worst case, you might really have to fight a runaway ancient god, not a Sun Spawn, nor a copy in the Deep Sea, but a god trapped in racial memory... do you think father..."

Lucrezia knew what her brother wanted to say.

It had been many years since the siblings had worried about their father—or rather, they used to worry, but they were worried in a completely different direction.

They were now a little unaccustomed to discussing this matter.

After several seconds, Lucrezia finally took a light breath: "I'll cheer him on, then stand back and watch."

Tirian: "..."

"What else?" Lucrezia glanced at her brother in the crystal ball, "Like you, rush up and get beaten up by Dad? How many poisonous mushrooms would I have to eat to go and meddle in that level of battle?"

Tirian's expression was subtle: "...I know, but can you please stop mentioning that I was beaten up by Father..."

"Then you got caught watching striptease by Dad."

"...Let's change the subject."

Lucrezia casually ended the communication.

The Sea Witch had a pleasant expression on her face.

Her brother seemed to be in good spirits, which was good.

She sat in front of the crystal ball for a while, sorted out her thoughts, then raised her hand and tapped the surface of the crystal ball again.

"Rabbi, I know you're listening."

A faint light flickered deep within the crystal ball, and after a moment, Rabbi's high-pitched, little-girl-like voice came from inside the crystal ball: "Mistress~ shh~ Rabbi is on a secret mission~..."

"Looks like you've found the place where they're hiding," Lucrezia said lightly, "Can you determine which city-state it is?"

"It doesn't seem to be a city-state," the faint light in the crystal ball slowly brightened and dimmed, and Rabbi's voice sounded quite smug, "Looking through their memories, it seems like this is a ship..."

"A ship?"

"Yeah~ these cultists, they built a ship, oh," Rabbi said triumphantly, deliberately dragging out the tone, using a rhythm that was quite annoying and irritating, "Every~where, smells like blood~~!"

Lucrezia was stunned for a moment. She didn't care about Rabbi's deliberately annoying tone. Instead, a look of unexpected joy gradually appeared on her face—

Rabbi had found a sea base of those cultists?!

...

The waves crashed against the ship's hull outside the cabin, and the steam pipe's pressure relief valve hissed in the cabin partition. Disturbing sounds came from the direction of the engine room—a thin man sat up from the bed. The unpleasant mood made his already gloomy face even gloomier.

He sat on the edge of the bed in a daze, then casually picked up the wine glass next to him and drank the contents in one gulp.

Last night's operation did not go smoothly. The originally meticulous plan was interrupted by a sudden unexpected situation. The girl who was acting with the Deep Sea Hound unexpectedly burst out with a terrifying and strange power from her body, instantly destroying those descendants of the sun—this was completely beyond everyone's expectations.

And the terrifying sense of oppression brought about by the crazily spreading flames still lingered in the hearts of every church comrade who was close to the scene at that time.

The gloomy man sighed, put down his wine glass, and got out of bed.

Resting in the room for a morning would not dispel this pressure. Perhaps, he should go and see how the others were doing.

He shook his head, stood by the bed to clear his head, and turned to walk towards the door.

But just then, he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye, and stopped subconsciously.

He bent down and looked at the white, fluffy thing at the foot of the bed—

"Cotton?"

(End of Chapter)