Chapter 1 Approaching Lightwind Harbor

Near Lightwind Harbor, in a patch of mist-covered sea far from the main shipping lanes, the massive, majestic silhouette of the Vanishing Sail slowly cruised through the fog.

Then, a layer of illusionary ripples suddenly appeared on the surface of the sea. The ghostly ship's reflection rose and fell with the waves in those ripples. For an extremely brief moment, it seemed as if the reflection was about to coalesce from the sea surface, but in the next instant, everything returned to normal.

Inside the captain's cabin, the wooden goat's head carving on the edge of the navigation table suddenly turned its head in confusion. Accompanied by a slight creaking sound from its base, it looked up and around. After a long while, it muttered in puzzlement, "Something felt strange just now..."

On the wall in the corner of the room, layers of black mist had unknowingly begun to roil within the ancient oval mirror. Agatha's figure stood within the mirror, quietly watching the goat's head on the table.

The goat's head finally noticed the gaze coming from the side. It immediately turned its head and exclaimed when it saw Agatha, "Ah... you startled me! What are you looking at so early in the morning?"

As it spoke, it shook its head, as if suddenly remembering something, "By the way, Ms. Agatha, where did you go last night? I felt like your aura wasn't on the ship... Aren't you supposed to be running around in the mirror patrolling at night?"

Agatha didn't immediately answer the goat head's question, but continued to quietly observe the "first mate's" every move. After a long silence, she broke the silence, "Didn't you feel anything last night? Didn't you notice anything unusual when I left?"

"Didn't feel anything," the goat head was stunned for a moment, vaguely realizing something. "Wait, what do you mean by that... Did something happen again last night?"

"Yes, the captain should be here to find you soon," Agatha nodded with a frown, then asked, "Just now you said you felt something was strange? What was it?"

The goat head reacted for a moment before realizing that she was talking about the mutter it had just made to itself. Although it didn't know why the "former gatekeeper," who always gave off a calm and peaceful feeling, was acting so strangely this morning, it still replied, "I don't know how to describe it. It was like... a jolt? Like I was spacing out and someone suddenly patted me on the shoulder..."

"That elf named Vanna also has no idea what a desert is, and the only thing that's even remotely related to 'giants' is the description of the Creator Saslozka—they say Saslozka is a god without a fixed form, capable of transforming into deer, goats, and giants, but that connection seems too weak to me," Lu'alisiya said while pondering. "So the current situation is that Duncan and the rest of us seem to have been assigned to two different 'timelines,' facing different environments, meeting different people, and hearing different information, but these two 'timelines' are definitely connected..."

"It's like a pat on the head—a metaphor, you understand metaphors, right?" the goat head said, shaking its head. "I might have been a little distracted while steering. There was a bit of a storm on the sea just now that woke me up..."

Unlike the last time when everyone was caught off guard and fell into a dream, this time's "dreaming" was carried out with preparation. Shirley's "temporary mark" left for everyone with fire ensured that the crew could carry out basic information exchange in the Dream of the Unnamed, so after waking up from the dream this time, everyone didn't have to spend extra time explaining their respective experiences, and could focus on discussing various clues.

Shirley listened to the old scholar's analysis and nodded silently, then her gaze fell on Duncan.

"So, about that 'giant,' Duncan, do you have any thoughts?"

The goat head was stunned, and after a few seconds, it let out a sound, "...Huh?"

Agatha looked at the goat head with suspicion, "...You have shoulders?"

"Mr. Duncan, you didn't see any sign of a forest in that desert, and you didn't hear any information related to elves from the giant, right?"

"Yes, at least these two 'timelines' are only part of the Dream of the Unnamed," Creesi nodded immediately. The old scholar's face wore a thoughtful expression, and after thinking for a moment, he slowly opened his mouth, "Then we have to figure out one thing: what is causing the huge differences between these two timelines—is it a discontinuity in space or a discontinuity in time?"

"It doesn't matter, it's not important," Shirley smiled, temporarily putting away the messy thoughts in her mind, and stepped forward to ruffle Maurice's hair. "Let's go back first. This exploration... was very rewarding."

"I want to hear your opinion first, Creesi."

He raised his head and looked at Creesi.

Looking at the city streets that had completely returned to normal in the morning light, Shirley's brow furrowed slightly, her face wearing a thoughtful expression.

After thinking like this for who knows how long, Shirley suddenly muttered softly, "It seems that no matter how long you stay 'over there,' no matter how the Dream of the Unnamed ends, the time in the real world after 'awakening' is always in the early morning..."

"When the range and time of our activities in the dream exceed a certain degree, a 'Vanna' will appear around us and try to guide us to a place called the 'Chattering Wall.' This kind of 'guidance' may be a mechanism of the Dream of the Unnamed itself. "

Shirley's arrival interrupted the crew's exchange. Creesi and others stood up one after another to pay their respects to the captain—Nina rushed over quickly, looking particularly happy: "Uncle Shirley!"

"There wasn't a storm on the sea, it's been very calm—only the dream world rippled," Agatha shook her head. "You were dreaming just now."

Luo Huilian turned her head to look at Rooney, then turned back to look at the captain, scratching her hair a little dazedly. "Ah... did you stay in 'there' for a long time this time?"

"As for the specific rules of this 'triggering' and 'disappearing,' it may take several more tests to summarize, or it may never be summarized," Creesi put on his monocle and continued, "But one thing can be determined: the appearance of 'Vanna' is kind to us 'visitors,' but unkind to those cultists who invade the dream. She calls the invaders 'defiled,' which should represent the 'judgment' or 'position' of the Dream of the Unnamed. This is not good news for us."

"I have no clue," Luo Huilian thought for a while and shook her head honestly. "I recalled everything the 'giant' told me, but I couldn't find any parts that corresponded to the myths and legends, or historical records in the real world. Even in the elven culture, whose historical heritage is relatively fragmented, there is no mention of the giant, or the 'city of hills and plains' described by the giant..."

Maurice thought for a while and shook his head in confusion, "Didn't understand..."

The "Sea Witch" raised her head and looked into Duncan's eyes.

"Plural 'Vanna' appearing in the dream means that we have to adjust our previous judgment of 'Vanna'," Luo Huilian took off her monocle, wiped it while saying, "We previously judged that 'Vanna' was just a mental entity appearing in the Dream of the Unnamed, equivalent to a 'native resident,' and her actions were not closely related to the operation of the dream, but now it seems that this is not the case...

"The Sea Witch" thought for a moment and shook her head: "No."

He paused, organizing his words as he explained to Maurice, "The passage of time felt in the dream is chaotic. The subjective feeling of one second or one thousand years may only be a moment in reality, and it will be calibrated at the moment of awakening."

"Even the elves' 'heritage' is only relatively fragmented. If that giant came from the era before the Great Annihilation, then it is very normal that we cannot find corresponding clues in modern records," Lu'alisiya shook her head. "The key question is, what is the relationship between that giant and the desert under his feet, and the 'elves'?"

Luo Huilian smiled, came to her seat and sat down, her expression quickly returning to seriousness: "Okay, then let's talk about serious matters—let's skip the basic information exchange. The focus of discussion now is the appearance of two new situations."

The two dolls stood quietly behind him.

"From the feeling, the time I stayed in that dark mist space this time was almost twice as long as last time—until the dream awakened again," Luo Huilian nodded slowly, "And it seems that the time node in the real world is still the same as before, still the moment when the sun just rises in the early morning, which is... a bit in line with the laws of dreaming."

When Duncan walked into the living room, Luo Huilian, Creesi, and others had already begun discussing their respective experiences in the Dream of the Unnamed.

Creesi said, his gaze falling on Celine, who was on the side.

"Second, is the 'giant' whom Duncan met, who claims to be a god."

"First, is the 'Vanna' that appeared before Celine, Creesi, and Nina."

The "disappearance" mentioned by the old scholar was obviously referring to the "Vanna" who was with Celine before - that "Vanna" eventually turned into a tree.

Taking the two dolls with him, Shirley quickly returned to the "Witch's Mansion" at 99 Crown Street, and his crew had returned from the dream world and gathered in the living room again.

"Yes, absolutely none," Duncan answered affirmatively.

……

Shirley gently hugged Nina, then his gaze swept over the figures in the living room. He saw Lu'alisiya sitting on the sofa opposite the coffee table with a strange expression, and spread out his hands with a smile, "Want a hug too?"

"In other words, that elf named 'Vanna' may just be an 'incarnation' of some kind of law in the Dream of the Unnamed—she is not a mental entity, but a mechanism. When the conditions are right, she will be triggered, and when the conditions change, she may disappear."