"The dream of the nameless one?"

Hearing the strange words suddenly thrown out by the captain, Agatha and Goat Head looked at each other in surprise.

"Where did you hear this word?" Agatha asked after thinking for a moment, "Is this part of the 'information' you just received?"

"That's what the Annihilation Cult called the 'dream' that Heidi and Lucrecia had fallen into before," Duncan nodded slowly. "The original source of the information may have come from the End Preachers, and then the Annihilation Cultists and the Sun Cultists responded to some kind of 'call' from those preachers. If the information is correct, this so-called 'Dream of the Nameless One' should be something like a 'vision', covering many dreams on a large scale, and the elves... seem to become a 'channel' to enter the Dream of the Nameless One under certain conditions."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Those cultists seem to be searching for something in the depths of the Nameless One's Dream for their own purposes. The purpose of the Sun Cult is not yet known, but the goal of the Annihilation Cult seems to be a so-called 'original blueprint'."

Agatha's expression became visibly serious. "I have indeed never heard of this so-called 'Dream of the Nameless One', but it stands to reason that a 'vision' of this magnitude... cannot have remained unknown for so many years. You just said that the elves can become 'channels' under certain conditions?"

Duncan nodded slightly. "According to the Annihilation Cultists, the elves seem to have some 'defects in the blueprint stage', which causes their spirits to establish a connection with the 'Dream of the Nameless One'. This should be related to the theory of the creation of the world by the Deep Lord, but there is not enough specific information."

"...Sorry, Captain, it seems we can't give you any useful answers." Agatha thought seriously for a moment, and finally shook her head apologetically, "But since this matter directly points to the race of 'elves', we can just start investigating in Breeze Harbor. This is the city-state of the elves - and an elf here just fell into that dream."

Duncan hummed, adjusted his sitting posture, leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers lightly on the armrests, and his eyes fell on the sea chart that was gradually clearing from the fog: "It is indeed necessary to have a good talk with Master Taran El... Let's go see the Brilliant Star, and say hello to Lucrecia."

※※※

On the outskirts of Breeze Harbor, in an open sea area near the "glowing falling object", the Brilliant Star was slowly patrolling. The diffuse sunlight covered the sea surface, making the ship seem to be wandering on fine golden sand.

The gentle sea breeze blew in his face, carrying the unique warmth of the southern seas. However, Master Taran El, who was standing on the deck, always felt a little cold from time to time. He couldn't help but tighten his coat in the wind, turned his head to look at the "sea witch" standing on a mast behind him, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Are we going to wait here?"

Lucrecia looked down at the great scholar on the deck. Her voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by Taran El: "We will wait here."

"Can I go back?" Taran El shouted again, "It's not good for me, an outsider, to be present at this touching moment of your reunion!"

Lucrecia deadpanned, "Father said he wanted to talk to you."

Taran El raised his hands with a sad face: "Then can you come down and keep me company? I... I feel a little nervous!"

Lucrecia glanced at him condescendingly: "You are an adult and a prestigious scholar. You should learn to relieve your stress."

“…Ms. Lucrecia, you’re not nervous too, are you?!”

"Why should I be nervous about something like that? That's my…"

The sound from the mast suddenly stopped. Taran El was stunned for a moment. He was about to ask about the situation, but was suddenly interrupted by a strong heart palpitation.

That was a sudden warning from spiritual intuition, and it was the instinctive tension of a "scholar" who had been dealing with all kinds of dangerous items and secret knowledge for many years when the truth was approaching. Taran El broke out in a cold sweat in an instant, and then he heard some low, strange noises like the breathing of a giant beast entering his ears.

The next moment, thick fog and terrifying light and shadows suddenly filled his vision.

Right next to the Brilliant Star, on the sea surface that was calm and peaceful a second ago, thick fog suddenly appeared like a high wall. The chaotic light and shadows brought about by the reversal of the spirit world seemed to swarm out of the fog. A huge shadow rose from the spirit world and descended from the thick fog.

Just as described in many terrifying sea legends, it was wrapped in darkness and chaos, burning with doomsday flames, as if a nightmare suddenly took shape in the real world, like an inevitable fate rushing towards it. Within a few breaths, the Homeless with its majestic bow broke into reality.

Taran El stood on the deck like a stone sculpture. He heard a "gulp" sound coming from a certain direction, but he didn't even have the courage to turn his head to look. After several seconds, he regained the ability to breathe and felt the strong beating of his heart. The potion that Lady Lucrecia had given him before was still playing a strong protective role, allowing his sub-healthy organs to continue to function reliably under the severe impact.

Then, the great scholar gradually came to his senses. He regained his ability to speak and quickly turned back to look at where the "witch" had stood before: "Ms. Lucrecia! Your father..."

There was no sign of the witch on the mast.

Taran El was stunned for a moment, subconsciously looked around, and shouted loudly: "Lady Lucrecia! Lu..."

"Stop shouting, I'm here."

A cold voice with a hint of warning suddenly came from very close, interrupting the scholar's shouting. Taran El quickly turned around and saw that Lucrecia had come to the deck at some point and was standing beside him with a calm expression, supporting her forehead with an elegant posture, staring at the bow of the Lost Homeland.

"Ah, where have you been? When I turned around, you were..."

"Shut up," Lucrecia interrupted the scholar unkindly, "Father doesn't like people who shout during meetings."

Taran El closed his mouth instantly, staring tensely at the huge ship burning with ghostly flames. Almost at the same time, he saw a flame appear out of thin air on the deck of the Brilliant Star - the flame rose rapidly, forming a revolving door, and then a tall figure stepped out of it.

Considering that this was his first visit to the Brilliant Star, Duncan chose to come alone to avoid chaos on the scene.

Now, he finally stepped onto the ship - the Brilliant Star, one of the only two remaining ships of the former Lost Homeland Fleet.

He also finally met Lucretia, the daughter of "Duncan Abnomer", in real life.

The "sea witch" was wearing a black dress in adventurer style. She took a few steps towards him hesitantly, but stopped a few meters away. She had been looking at this side with a complicated and restrained expression - although she tried her best to conceal it, the nervousness and hesitation could not be concealed at all.

Duncan couldn't help but recall some of the things that Tirian had revealed to him before he left Frostbite.

"Lucy gives outsiders the impression of being cold, withdrawn, and moody, but that's essentially because she's not good at socializing and can't express her emotions accurately...

"She will show up when she's nervous, so she always avoids getting herself into nervous situations, which is why the 'Sea Witch' always comes and goes in a hurry, and seems to be doing her own thing...

"When she is too embarrassed, she has no idea how to take the initiative to speak, which gives people the impression of being extremely impolite, arrogant and weird. But if someone is willing to take the initiative to talk to her and break the silence at this time, she will be very happy..."

In the Frost, Duncan always maintained his image of "amnesia due to the influence of the Warp" in front of Tirian. Thanks to this, he could openly ask the other party many things related to Lucretia. Now this information can obviously come in handy.

"Long time no see," Duncan smiled faintly after a moment of adjustment. He walked towards the "sea witch," "Lucy, I'm back."

He tried to play the role of "Duncan Abnomer" according to the advance rehearsal and his own understanding.

However, as he was greeting her, a faint emotion that came directly from the bottom of his heart quietly emerged in his mind. In this faint and vague emotion, he once again felt that slight nostalgia and... regret.

He was no stranger to this feeling - every body he occupied would have a similar reaction when encountering people or things that were important to him in his "previous life".

This time, Duncan did not try to control or ignore the feeling, but let it flow slowly in his heart and then slowly fade away.

The expression on Lucrecia's face changed slightly several times. No one knew what this "witch" was thinking in these few seconds. She was stunned for a while. In the end, all her memories and once intense emotions settled into a very quiet sentence:

"Dad, you've been out for too long this time..."

Duncan was silent for a moment, then reached into his arms and said, "I brought you a gift."

"Gift?" Lucrecia looked up in confusion.

Duncan reached out his hand and slowly turned over his palm.

A small silver hairpin with the shape of waves and feathers lay quietly in the palm of his hand.

Lucrecia was a little dazed. She stared blankly at the small hairpin. After a while, she blinked as if she suddenly woke up and reached out her hand hesitantly.

The hairpin is real, with a hard touch and a slight warmth - the warmth of a living person.

The "witch" held the gift for a very long time before she smiled a little and said softly, "...You are so slow in sending it. It is out of date, a century out of date..."

After a while, she seemed to take a deep breath.

"Thanks."