In a laboratory deep within the Brilliant Star, Lucrecia completed a cursory examination of Taran Eyre.

With the cooperation of the Academy of Truth, it was not difficult to transfer the scholar to the ship, but it was obviously not so easy to figure out what happened to him. Even the "Sea Witch", who was knowledgeable and famous in the field of mysticism and curses, had never seen such a situation before.

Taran El was apparently trapped in some deep dream, but his entrapment showed no signs of "curse" or mental contamination.

Lucrecia lit the three candlesticks in the corner of the laboratory and sprinkled the herbal powder she prepared herself into the incense burner in front of the candlesticks. Then she came to Taran El and placed crystals, bone fragments and other things around him.

The clockwork doll "Luni" with a ceramic shell and the rabbit doll "Rabbi" were helping out in the laboratory. Noticing the solemn look on the hostess's face, Luni couldn't help but speak up: "Is the situation bad? Is the elf in danger of death?"

"The situation is unclear - this is worse than the worst," Lucrecia said with a serious expression, "Taran El fell into a deep sleep after trying to observe the sun. If there is a connection between these two events, it means that there may be more than one such sleep. How many people looked up during the period when the sun went out? What level of 'observation' would trigger this sleep? How many people have made bold moves like this elven scholar?"

She said this and slowly shook her head.

"Taran Eyre's actions were bold, but there are many scholars as bold as him in the vast ocean."

"Is there anything else you need us to do?" The rabbit doll Rabbi came skipping over from the side, raised his head and spoke in a soft voice.

"Next, I will try to connect to Taran El's dream and help him open a path back to the real world from the other side. However, considering that the situation in this dream may be complicated, I want you to take care of the candlesticks in this room. If I still don't wake up after three hours, you will extinguish all the candles in order from high to low. This will force me to wake up."

"Yes," Luni lowered her head, "three hours, from high to low, I remember."

"Rabbi can dream with the mistress!" The toy rabbit jumped over, hugged Lucrecia's legs and said expectantly, "Rabbi is a rabbit who can dream!"

"One nightmare is enough," Lucrecia rejected the rabbit doll's kindness without hesitation, "I don't want such a great scholar to die suddenly on my ship."

"Okay, okay, Rabbi knows~" The rabbit doll lowered its head and made a frustrated sound. It walked to the corner of the room while muttering, and sat down on the floor with a "plop".

Lucrecia glanced at the doll and did not continue to pay attention to it. After confirming that all the elements of the ritual were ready, she sat on a high-backed chair opposite Taran El and snapped her fingers.

The three candlesticks burning quietly in the corner were instantly covered with a layer of illusory gauze veil. All the objects in the entire laboratory seemed to be coated with a layer of phantom by this illusory and hazy light. The "Sea Witch" slowly lowered her head and entered a dream in the next second.

※※※

On the Homeless, in the captain's room, Morris and Duncan were sitting at the navigation table, and on the wall not far behind them, Agatha's hazy and illusory figure was emerging in the quaint and old oval mirror.

"Aiyi has already flown over to confirm that the large island ahead of us is indeed Breeze Harbor," Duncan said. "The Lost Homeland is now hiding in the depths of the spirit world. We will contact Lucrecia before landing on the island and confirm the current situation in the city-state from her. As for now... the problem facing us is still the problem of the Lost Homeland moving out of thin air."

"To be honest, I have no idea," Morris bit his pipe, his brows furrowed like several rift valleys, "I have heard of various 'teleportation' incidents, some of which are the effects of specific anomalies, and some are cursed anomalies like the 'sailor'. But what happened to the Lost Homeland is obviously different from that... At present, it seems that 'the sun is extinguished' is the most likely cause of the Lost Homeland's teleportation, but those of us on the ship have never noticed how and when this change happened..."

"So I always felt that the problem was not with the Lost Homeland, but with the 'whole world' outside the Lost Homeland," Duncan said in a deep voice. "The news from Captain Lawrence also hinted at this - when the sun went out, incomprehensible changes occurred in the sea 'outside our sight'. Tirian's report also explains this."

"Has there been any further news from Mr. Tirian?" Agatha's voice suddenly sounded from the mirror, "Has there been any response from Cold Harbor?"

"...Yes, the situation has developed in the most bizarre direction." Duncan nodded. "Tirion has reconfirmed with the city-states that had previously lost contact. Judging from the responses from various places... other city-states, including Cold Harbor, not only did not know that the sun had gone out, but they didn't even know that the communication between them and Frostbite had been interrupted."

Agatha's expression suddenly changed slightly.

She opened her mouth: "That is to say..."

"That is to say, they did not experience the twelve hours when the sun went out," Duncan said slowly. "In their eyes, the world has always been running normally. Frostbite, Plunder and Breeze Harbor are also running normally. Then suddenly, Frostbite sent a lot of inexplicable and nervous messages, saying something like 'the sun went out' and 'communication was interrupted'. Now the tense atmosphere is spreading among several city-states. In the words of Tirion, 'they urgently need to figure out which side is abnormal.'"

Morris was deep in thought as he listened, and then he slowly put down his pipe: "Then it can be understood this way - after the sun went out, the time of the entire world stopped for twelve hours, and the Lost Homeland and the three city-states actually 'remained normal by mistake' during these twelve hours. It's like in a nightmare that everyone was sleeping through, we... accidentally opened our eyes and saw the truth in the cracks of time."

Duncan looked thoughtful.

It must be admitted that a great scholar is a great scholar. Although Morris could not explain the principles behind all this, he put forward an extremely inspiring conjecture.

So can this conjecture be extended further? In the world after the sun goes out, are there more strange changes that have never been noticed by people? Even make this conjecture more extreme...

Is this really the first time the sun has gone out?

These speculations floated in everyone's mind, and the captain's room fell into silence for a while. At this moment, Duncan seemed to suddenly sense something and frowned slightly in confusion: "Hmm?"

"Captain?" Agatha asked immediately, "Have you thought of anything?"

"...No, it's something else." Duncan waved his hands while continuing to sense and listen. His eyes seemed to be unfocused or looking at a place that was not in the room. "There is a breath..."

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Morris opposite him.

"What is Heidi doing now?"

"Heidi?" Morris was stunned, not knowing why the captain suddenly brought up this matter. "Heidi stayed in Plande. There should still be chaos over there because of the sun going out. The city hall will probably ask her to go there... Is there something wrong with Heidi?!"

The great scholar finally reacted and his face suddenly became nervous.

"She shouldn't be in too much danger, but the amulet I left for her is in a bit of a weird state," Duncan frowned, then waved his hand in the air. Along with the green flame rising into the sky, Ai's figure appeared in the air beside him, "I need a passage to the dreamland."

※※※

"So, you were actually giving someone 'treatment', and then somehow you ended up in my dream - and then you thought I was an intruder, so you poked my neck with that awl?"

The elven scholar who called himself "Taran El" looked serious and spoke slowly while looking at the "Golden Cone" in Heidi's hand.

"Why do I feel that there are many things wrong with what you said?"

"Actually..." Heidi was embarrassed. If there was anything worse than accidentally injuring a patient with a golden cone and being caught on the spot, it would be not being caught on the spot, but the patient suddenly reacted after a long time, and analyzed the matter with such a serious attitude - the reaction of this elf scholar was really out of the ordinary. Heidi had seen many strange patients over the years, but this type was the first time she had seen it. "I also think it's quite strange... but what I said is true."

"Everything you said is true, huh." Taran El nodded, and then asked, "What about the 'other patient' you mentioned?"

Heidi immediately turned around and pointed in the direction she had come from before: "That building is her dream...land..."

Her words gradually stopped and her expression became stiff.

In the direction of her finger, among the lush towering trees and vines, a medical facility that was once so large... had disappeared without a trace at some point.

"It's gone..." Heidi muttered to herself, slowly turning her head, "But it was really over there before, a big one..."

"Miss Psychiatrist," Taran El interrupted Heidi's soliloquy. The elven scholar spread out his hands with a helpless expression, "It's hard for me to believe you like this."