Tilly's body visibly trembled. She turned her head slowly, her eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions, as if she suspected she had misheard. "You said... what?"

"I said, Ashes might still be alive." Roland repeated as slowly as possible—he knew that once he said it, there was no turning back.

"No... brother," she forced a smile, "Even if you want to comfort me, you can't..."

"But this being alive is a little different from what you imagine," Roland interrupted her. "Frankly, my reaction when I heard this news wasn't much better than yours. I also know it's a bit unfair to reveal it to you before it's completely confirmed, but it's better to regret it later no matter what."

Tilly fell silent.

She stared directly at Roland, as if digesting the contents of his words—at this point, she had realized that this matter was probably quite unusual.

In terms of mental agility and receptivity, Tilly had always been among the top witches.

After about half a quarter of an hour, she tentatively asked, "Who did you hear it from?"

"Lan."

"Never heard of her..." Tilly thought for a moment, "Could it be... related to the Dream World?"

Worthy of someone who could once chat happily with Anna, Roland replied calmly, "Don't worry, I'll tell you the details of the matter one by one."

...

By the time he finished speaking, the sky was already slightly white, and soft rays of dawn emerged from behind the mountains, painting a layer of gold on the rooftops of distant buildings.

Tilly was completely unaware of this. She murmured distractedly, "So... as long as you can control the Realm of Consciousness, you can recall Ashes who still retains a trace of consciousness?"

"That's the theory," Roland nodded. "According to Lan, after a witch becomes Extraordinary, she will leave a trace in the Realm of Consciousness. This also matches the information revealed by Kabradah."

During the initial interrogation of the captured High-Rank Devils, the other party had told Zoe that their souls would be encompassed by the Source of Magic. When the clan reached the top, they could return to the world. Although this statement was of unknown origin and differed greatly from Lan's explanation, at least one point was in common.

That was that the Realm of Consciousness did indeed have the ability to contain souls.

"Not only that, the ancient books of the underground civilization also mentioned that the Path of Pursuing Divine Will is the process of climbing the magic ladder level by level. One day, the victor will be no different from a god. If the Realm of Consciousness is regarded as the top of magic, then it can also be confirmed Lan's statement from the side." He paused here, "However, considering that the source of information obtained by these civilizations may come from the so-called gods, so you can't completely believe it. The best way is to see it yourself."

"Brother..."

"Don't worry, I will break through the barriers of the Realm of Consciousness as soon as possible, and try to find Ashes—if she is really there. Before that, I hope you can protect yourself, lest she come back and make trouble for me. After all, an Extraordinary who is not restricted by the God's Stone of Retribution and has broken through her own limits, I can't stand it when she gets angry..." Roland deliberately said some lighthearted words, wanting to ease the atmosphere, but found that Tilly's reaction seemed a little wrong.

She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly, repeating something softly. Roland held his breath and heard what the other party said.

"That's great... that's great..."

He was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to continue.

Tears fell, hitting the back of Tilly's hand, splashing a few tiny water droplets.

Looking at the Fifth Princess, who was trembling all over, he finally sighed secretly, and slowly stretched out his hand and pressed it on the top of her head.

And the next moment, Tilly leaned over and hugged him tightly. The sobs also turned into obvious weeping. The scene at this moment was the same as before, but Roland could feel that something had changed.

This time Tilly didn't cry for several hours. More than ten minutes later, her emotions gradually stabilized. When she raised her head from Roland's arms, she forcibly turned his face to the side.

"Don't... don't look over here."

Then there was a rustling sound of cleaning up, probably wiping the tear-streaked face and snot.

After a while, Roland was allowed to turn his head back.

"Sorry... I made you worry." Tilly said softly.

"It's good to know," Roland said with his arms crossed, "You should also reconsider the matter you mentioned to me last time—"

"Are you referring to a plane that can deal with devils?" Tilly blinked, "That won't work, brother."

"Hey..."

"In order to reach the Bottomless Land as soon as possible, you need my help. Now the devils may have erected fully mature obelisks, and the actions of the Terrorbeasts will be more difficult to suppress. If you can't seize the sky, the First Army may not be so easy to destroy the enemy's territory." Tilly held out a finger, preventing Roland from saying what he wanted to say. "Indeed, I had some reckless thoughts before. I felt that as long as I could kill more devils, it didn't matter what happened to me, but now I would never think that way."

"And you should also be clear about how big the gap is between exploring on your own and having someone to guide you. No one in the Sky Knights knows how to fight the devils. The only one who can quickly master these and teach them is me." She patted her chest, "I promise you, I will wait for you to enter the Realm of Consciousness unscathed."

Roland found himself unable to say a word of rejection. Tilly's eyes were full of brilliance at the moment, and the previous calmness had not faded much. She looked as if she was shining brightly.

"Okay... but be sure to remember what you promised me."

"Of course," she paused for a moment, "And... thank you for telling me about this."

"Unfortunately, I don't know if this method will work in the end—"

"It's enough, at least we have a goal now." Tilly rested her forehead lightly on Roland's chest again, "It's really great that you can be my brother..."

...

After Tilly left, Nightingale returned to the office, "What exactly did you say to Princess Tilly? When I saw her go out, it was as if she had become a different person..."

"About the connection between the Dream World and the Real World, I can tell you if you want to know, but not now." Roland cleaned up the drawings in his hand, "I just received a message from Honey that a fleet will arrive at the Inner River Wharf in two days. It should be the first batch of immigrants relocated from Wolfheart. Before that, I have to perfect the drawings of the new project first."

Nightingale shrugged, "I'm fine with anything—didn't I tell you before, I will never ask more about what you don't want to say." She walked to the desk and looked at the drawings for a while, "This thing... looks a bit like what Anna drove in the yard that day."

"They are the same thing, just enlarged several times." Roland laughed, "Didn't Barov mention logistical problems at the previous meeting? This is the solution."

In addition to the expensive trains, there is a cheaper tool for land transportation, wheeled trucks—they have many variants, although their transportation capacity is not as good as trains, they are more flexible, and the threshold is even lower than tractors. As long as there is a flat, hard road, they can move freely.

Gryphon and Dawn both have inland river systems, but they are not connected to each other and have certain limitations. And the truck fleet that can be dispatched at will can make up for this deficiency and integrate the water and land channels of the two regions.