Lucrecia suddenly woke up from the dream, but it took her several seconds to calm down before she opened her eyes. Then she took a long breath, opened her eyes on the chair, and slowly looked around the room, confirming the several "suggestive items" she had set up in the laboratory in advance.

The first thing to do after waking up from a strange dream is never to get up immediately, but to calm the mind first and confirm the details of the real world to avoid being trapped in a double dream.

After a moment, she confirmed the details of the real world, confirmed that she had completely escaped from the dream, and confirmed that Master Taran El had also woken up.

The elf scholar was tied to a pillar not far away with several ropes in a miserable state, with a swelling on his head. The clockwork doll Luni was standing beside him, on high alert, holding a sharp kitchen knife.

"Ms. Lucrecia, you are finally awake!" Seeing the "Sea Witch" wake up, the scholar immediately shouted for help, "Your servants tied me up! I don't know what I did wrong..."

Lucrecia frowned immediately: "Luni, what's going on?"

"He suddenly started yelling in his sleep, and after waking up, he jumped up from his bed and banged his head on your lab table," Luni reported seriously while holding a kitchen knife. "I think he was contaminated by the nightmare, so I tied him up to prevent secondary injury."

The great scholar protested loudly: "How many times have I told you, you blockhead! I was just frightened in my dream! I saw Duncan Abnomer! As a normal person with a normal mind, am I not allowed to be frightened awake when I see him in my dream?"

Lucrecia's expression suddenly twisted as she listened to the two "people" in front of her. She, who had just been awakened, pursed her lips and stood up from the chair: "Luni, put down the kitchen knife and let go of the scholar - what he said is true."

"Yes, mistress." The clockwork puppet immediately lowered its head, and swung the kitchen knife in its hand cleanly and neatly, cutting the rope on Taran El's body. Then she turned her wrist, and the sharp blade that was flashing with cold light was put into some secret compartment of her body.

Taran El broke free from his restraints and stumbled forward two steps before finally standing firm. He couldn't help but turn around and glared at the dull clockwork puppet: "You wooden head!"

The clockwork puppet paid no attention to the scholar's anger. It just walked to its mistress' side and asked curiously, "The old master is here?"

"He...'came', in every sense," Lucrecia said hesitantly, her lips trembling. Then she waved her hand to the side, and a chair floated over from the corner of the room and landed in front of her. "Mr. Taran El, please sit down first. I have something to understand."

Taran El moved his aching arms, muttered to himself as he came to sit down in front of the "Sea Witch", and said, "Come if you want to. It won't take long anyway..."

Lucrecia listened to this silently without saying anything. She just reached out to a low cabinet beside her, took out a bottle of medicine from the depths of the cabinet, and placed it on the top of the cabinet.

Taran El watched her actions curiously: "What is that?"

"This is the witch potion we'll use later," Lucrecia said casually, obviously not intending to give a direct answer. She then changed the subject directly, "Regarding the time when the sun went out and the dream just now, I have something to ask you - I know we have already had a brief discussion in the dream world, but given that dreams block the subconscious, there are some things you may not have realized at the time, so now I need you to recall everything carefully when you are awake."

Noticing the seriousness in the lady's words, Taran El's expression immediately became serious, and the scholar's demeanor returned to him: "Okay, go ahead and ask me. I feel that my mind is much clearer now."

"You went to observe the surface of Anomaly 001 while the sun was out. This is the sketch you left behind," Lucrecia said without hesitation, taking out the crumpled draft paper and handing it to the other party. "Is this it?"

“Yes, I drew this.”

"I have checked it. This picture itself does not carry any mental pollution, but the content of the picture is confusing and disturbing. You drew these chaotic lines like branches on the surface of the 'sphere'. But after my analysis, many of these lines seem to have been scribbled suddenly when the painting was almost finished, in order to cover up the original, clearer appearance of the picture. Do you remember this?"

Taran El's brows suddenly frowned.

He reached out to take the draft paper handed to him by Lucrecia, and looked at the spherical image covered with messed lines. His brows furrowed more and more, and his mind fell into contemplation and recollection.

Lucrecia's words came from the other side: "A very important question is, do you really remember all the details that happened from the time you observed the surface of the sun to the time you fell asleep? It seems that you are also confused by these messy lines on the picture..."

"I... am a little confused," Taran El said slowly, "It does look like obvious traces of smearing, but I don't remember why I covered up all the details of the previous picture... It seems..."

He suddenly stopped, and after repeated consideration, he continued hesitantly: "Perhaps, I saw something extremely terrifying? Or a truth that should not be made public? I drew it out uncontrollably, but suddenly came to my senses before operating the 'Quick Message', so I hurriedly covered it up... But for some reason, I wanted to send it out..."

Even though he was still a little confused and his memory was obviously broken, Taran El's reason and logic as a senior scholar still prevailed. He analyzed what happened to him, and then his expression suddenly became serious: "How many people have seen this paper so far?"

"A few senior scholars from the Academy of Truth," Lucrecia nodded. "The original is still with me. They only saw the contents after you smeared them. I have already warned them. In addition, your slumber is a warning to everyone, so there is no need to worry about someone using this sketch to privately analyze and restore the scene you saw. However, the Infinite Sea is huge, and we cannot rule out whether there are other 'brave people' who have done something as bold as you."

Taran El nodded thoughtfully, and then he heard the "witch" continue to ask: "What do you remember about that dream? How did you enter the dream? Has your consciousness ever sunk into its true 'last layer'?"

"I only remember that I was standing in that 'forest' when I woke up. It was just like what was described in some ancient books, an endless dense forest, the origin of the elves... My thinking in that dream seemed very slow. The sounds I heard, the information I sensed, and the reactions I made to the outside world seemed to be separated by a thick barrier..."

Taran El spoke as he recalled, and then suddenly frowned.

"But there is one very strange thing. Not long after you appeared, my mind did 'sink' for a while, but it did not sink into the last layer of the dream, but a place...like a transition between 'layers'. Many chaotic lights and shadows intertwined together, as if several very different dreams were projecting onto each other. In that chaotic area, there were many hazy figures surrounding me..."

"Many hazy figures?" Lucrecia interrupted immediately, "Please describe them clearly. Are they phantoms in the dream, or are they 'dreamers' like you?"

"I don't know. My mind was almost frozen at the time. I could only feel their existence, but I couldn't accurately describe what they were. But one thing is certain... they were not illusions," Taran El said with a serious expression. "They really exist. Even if they are not other 'dreamers', they are other 'mental entities' contained in that dream."

"I understand." Lucrecia nodded calmly, then exhaled slightly. "This is really... crucial information."

"I hope this can be useful," Taran El said sincerely, and then looked at the draft paper in his hand, "So about this sketch..."

"I think it's best not to let ordinary scholars touch this thing. Whatever you 'smeared' is obviously harmful to ordinary people." Lucrecia reached out and pulled the draft paper back. "I'll let my father take a look later. Maybe he will think of something."

Taran El blinked after hearing this, and nodded after a moment's reaction: "Oh, indeed, Captain Duncan is definitely not afraid of the things hidden in this picture. Let's wait until he comes. I'm not in a hurry..."

"Ah, that's another thing I wanted to tell you," Lucrecia adjusted her sitting position leisurely and looked Taran Eyre in the eye. "My father has arrived at Breeze Harbor."

Taran El's eyes widened and his expression froze instantly.

"Perhaps it was the special effect of the sun going out that made the Lost Homeland reach its destination in an instant," Lucrecia nodded. "He should be interested in talking to you in person, or inviting you to his ship. He is very concerned about the sun going out."

Taran El remained in a daze for a few seconds, and finally his eyes flickered, as if he had suddenly woken up, and then he took a breath and leaned back -

Lucrecia looked at it expressionlessly, then calmly picked up the potion bottle that had been placed on the low cabinet and handed it to the puppet Luni standing beside her: "Pour it into Mr. Taran El."

Luni said "oh" and took the potion and went to carry out the mistress's order. Lucrecia looked at the scholar who was being fed the potion and nodded with satisfaction.

"See, it comes in handy."

Today, the "Sea Witch" once again successfully prevented Master Taran El from dying suddenly on his own ship.