Chapter 162 Different Thoughts

As it turns out, a truly seasoned scholar thinks about problems differently from ordinary people.

The question that Maurice posed during his musings almost instantly sparked ideas in many people's minds.

"A major premise is that the 'desert' Vanna saw and the 'forest' others saw are both part of the Nameless Dream. Under this premise, there are two possibilities for these 'places,'" Maurice said slowly, sitting on the sofa and laying out his considerations. "Either the 'desert' and the 'forest' are in different locations at the same moment, or they are at the same location at different moments. In any case, they shouldn't be two completely independent systems. Time and space, at least one of them, should be connected."

Nina tried hard to follow the old gentleman's train of thought. At that moment, she suddenly asked curiously, "Why can't they be in different locations and at different times?"

"Because they are both in the same 'dream,'" Maurice explained. "A dream cannot have two or more completely independent space-time systems. Otherwise, they would be two unrelated dreams—at least, the knowledge system I currently possess doesn't support this hypothesis."

"Oh…" Nina let out a long "oh" and nodded as if she understood.

Duncan was still thinking about the two situations Maurice had just proposed, constantly deducing in his mind which known clues corresponded to the "different times at the same location" and "different locations at the same moment" models. After a long while, he temporarily put the simple question aside and said, "Just a reminder, besides the 'desert' and the 'forest,' there's actually a 'place' that's detached from the boundaries of reality. It's outside the dream, but it's clearly also part of the Nameless Dream."

"...That dark space filled with mist, where the reflection of the *Shalun* sails," Ciara immediately said seriously. "You've also been thinking about that question. Which part of the Nameless Dream does this dark mist you saw correspond to?"

"The most likely guess at the moment is that it's located on the border of 'half-awake and half-asleep.' On this *Shalun*, you can touch Maurice's echoes, but you can't directly see the situation in the dream. This is very consistent with the characteristics of the dream's border. It's just that, clearly, the 'border' of the Nameless Dream is quite large, so much so that it even allows a ship to drift aimlessly within it…"

Ciara recalled the "stream of light" she had seen on the reflected *Shalun*, and the voices from Maurice she had heard in that light, and a thoughtful expression gradually appeared on her face.

Duncan felt that he might have been instilling too many strange concepts in his crew. When they carried out certain abstract things, they were even more abstract than abstract things.

"You've finally noticed," Alicea said with a smile on her face. "Labi hasn't returned. It has already jumped into another dream. It should still be chasing those prey."

Celestine left happily, as if carrying a great sense of mission. Duncan watched the doll leave, then he twitched the corner of his mouth and strode toward the direction of the captain's cabin.

"After leaving the Nameless Dream, I returned here as soon as possible," Ciara said. "I saw the first mate wake up from some kind of…恍惚 (huǎnghū, daze) state. He said he was spacing out, but I can be sure that the reflection of the *Shalun* was restored at the moment he 'woke up'—if I'm not mistaken, that should also be the reason why this Nameless Dream was 'awakened.'"

Aggie sighed helplessly and waved his hand to the doll: "Alright, I'll go check the situation in the captain's cabin. You go to the ship's hold where the food is stored again and check the wooden barrels that had problems before."

...

Aggie: "..."

"It will crawl out of the nightmares of those cultists, and then leave coordinates in the real world sufficient to summon you. I've already instructed Labi to leave survivors," Alicea continued. "Please rest assured, it is still reliable in this kind of thing."

Then Duncan heard Ciara's relieved sigh from the mirror next to him: "It's finally starting…"

Duncan's voice suddenly came from the side: "Then how do you explain that 'jolt' of yours when dawn came?"

As soon as he opened the door, he saw the goat head on the edge of the navigation table slowly turn its head. Its pair of pitch-black obsidian eyes stared straight at him. And next to it, on the nearby wall, was Ciara's figure in the simple oval mirror—for some reason, this usually calm and reliable "gatekeeper" was now wearing a tired and even hopeless expression.

The doll very naturally followed him. Seeing Duncan look at her at this time, she just showed her signature smile happily: "Hehe—I followed you again!"

Ciara sighed. The figure in the mirror directly split into several pieces, indicating that she had crashed and didn't want to think or respond anymore.

"I may have found the reason for this 'awakening' of the Nameless Dream, in the first mate," Ciara nodded and said slowly. "If possible, I hope you can come back."

The goat head didn't speak.

The goat head's head moved slightly, and it opened its mouth several times before finally squeezing out a sentence: "You…you actually transformed the reflection of the *Shalun* into the ship you saw in this dark space while you were sleeping?"

The dark wooden sculpture was staring straight at him. Perhaps because it had held back too many words, its stiff wooden face looked a little distorted.

Off the coast of Deepport, a door of flames suddenly opened on the deck of the *Shalun*, which was sailing in the mist, and then Duncan and Celestine stepped out of the small door.

At that moment, Duncan almost felt that the buzzing, rumbling noise had condensed into a tangible wall, smashing head-on at him. The chattering sound was like drilling into his ears, and his mind was instantly buzzing. It wasn't until a few minutes later that he suddenly came to his senses and quickly waved his hand: "Stop! Shut up!"

Duncan finally understood what Ciara's expression of "I'd rather die in the great void of the Frost Land" meant when he first came in.

He reached out and gently brushed across the surface of the coffee table.幽绿 (yōulǜ, Dark green) flames spread across the table like phantoms. The contours outlined by the flames instantly presented a mirror-like texture—Ciara's figure gradually emerged from the mirror.

The reflected *Shalun* is the goat head's dream. It sails on the border of Maurice's dream. Maurice seems to have been waiting for Sasroka there, but the goat head in the dream told Duncan that Sasroka was already dead, a long, long time ago…

"So I guess, whether it's Maurice or the 'first mate,' as long as one of them wakes up, the Nameless Dream will begin."

"According to your instructions, I didn't hide what happened last night from the first mate," Ciara reported to the captain with a tired face. "And then it became like this—it has been constantly nagging me since before you came. I can hear its nagging no matter where I hide. Nagging, nagging… I've met a ghost in the Frost Cemetery who was framed, lost his family, and died unjustly eight days ago, and then rose from the dead because of resentment, but it can nag even more than it! Its noise in one minute even exceeds that of seventy old women complaining about the price of bread at the Citizen Center!"

"Hey! Okay, Captain!"

And just then, he seemed to hear something suddenly again. He frowned slightly and looked at the coffee table beside him.

After pondering for a moment, Duncan shook his head. Then, he discovered a small incongruity in the scene, and his gaze couldn't help but fall on Alicea: "Where's Labi?"

Did that weird rabbit doll really track down those cultists?

Ignoring the Ciara who was in a crashed state, Duncan refocused his gaze on the goat head.

Duncan used a lot of effort to control his expression, trying hard to comfort the other party with a straight face: "...You've worked hard."

The goat head's head creaked and shook. It looked extremely tangled: "But I really don't know… I'm just steering vaguely. The sea chart also records the *Shalun*'s cruising route, with no deviation from my memory…"

Duncan then raised his head and looked at the oval mirror on the wall.

Aggie looked at the lady in the mirror with a strange expression.

Just as Duncan was about to ask about the situation, he heard the goat head's nagging suddenly resound:

"Or to put it another way," Duncan said softly, staring into the goat head's eyes, "when night falls on Deepport, your dream will sail on the border of the Nameless Dream."

Duncan paused for a moment before realizing what Alicea's words meant.

"Don't say too much nonsense," Duncan first emphasized, then said seriously, "Secondly, what Ciara said is true."

The goat head stopped instantly, but a strange "creak" sound came from the place where the neck was connected to the base—it was as if the previous series of nagging was too strong and forceful, so much so that even braking the topic now could make a sound.

Hearing this, Ciara, who had been crashing a moment ago, had already recovered, and was now looking at them with a serious face.

"Captain, you're finally here! Your loyal subordinate has been waiting for so long! Is what Ciara said true? Did that Nameless Dream appear again last night? And you saw the goat head that looks exactly like me again? You also said that the *Shalun* with the strange atmosphere came out of my dream, but I don't even know that I can dream. You also said that my 'jolt' caused the Nameless Dream to be awakened, and it interrupted your actions, but I don't even know what happened! You have to believe me! I really didn't want to hide anything from anyone about what happened last night…"

Duncan nodded slowly.

Duncan turned his head and glanced at Ciara, who had returned with him.

"Ciara," Duncan looked at the lady who appeared in the mirror, "Is there a situation on the ship?"