With an inexplicable sense of concern, Duncan brought Alice and quickly came to the huge "vine" that was quietly dormant in the shadow of the building.

It was bigger than Duncan had imagined.

Even at the end of its spread, the diameter of this "vine" exceeded the height of a person, and its thicker "source" extended down a slope deep in the street, as if blending directly into the night and disappearing into the darkness. Only the shadowy huge structure could be seen rising and entangled among the shadows of the buildings, as if there was some larger and more complete "entity" there.

However, the "main body" of astonishing scale is shrouded in a hazy feeling. No matter how you look at it, you can't see it clearly. Even the "sunlight" shining through the gaps in the treetops high in the sky seems unable to penetrate the hazy texture.

Alice was stunned by this thing she had never seen before. Holding the puppet maid's head, she opened her eyes wide and tried hard to see the "source" of the vines spreading on the street. After a long time, she said stupidly: "Captain... is this also a 'plant'?"

Duncan did not answer her. He was still observing the giant vine that almost blocked the street ahead. After a long time, he stepped to the tip of the vine, bent down at its "tail end", and carefully extended his fingers to touch its rough and hard surface.

Lucrecia's voice came from the puppet head in Alice's arms: "Dad, did you find anything? Did you find the 'Dreamer'?"

"We didn't find the dreamer, but we found a vine of astonishing size," Duncan said without looking up. "It looks different from other plants on the street. It's very large, but it seems to be just a part of an even larger 'plant'. For some reason, I always feel that this vine seems to be... alive, or active."

He raised his head and glanced at the shadows of the towering trees surrounding the street.

The entire block was filled with lush plants, but these plants gave him a lifeless feeling, as if they were mere illusions lacking vitality. Only the huge vines in the center of the street gave him a hint of living things.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Duncan took a deep breath and decided to try to establish a connection with this unique "vine".

A faint green flame entwined his fingertips like flowing water, and then quietly seeped into the vine, the fire flashing in the darkness.

He skillfully controlled the flame to spread in the "foreign object" and told Alice to pay attention to the surroundings. Duncan then closed his eyes slightly and began to sense the information conveyed by the flame. He tried to communicate and understand this "vine" that seemed to spread from a huge dream...

In the darkness, it seemed as if something was rising and falling, condensing and dissipating.

Duncan "opened" his eyes in the darkness. In this weak and vague connection, he tried his best to see the outlines that condensed and dissipated in the darkness.

A mist was rising from the darkness, and something was emerging from the depths of the mist.

There is something here!

Duncan's heart moved, and he immediately moved closer to the vaguely outlined object. He felt like he had turned into a swift wind or shadow, moving quickly through the dark fog. As he got closer, the hazy shadow quickly expanded in his field of vision and gradually began to show more details.

Duncan couldn't help but speed up his "walking", and those vague details quickly became clear in his eyes. Gradually, he began to distinguish some things -

The towering and majestic bow, the dark-colored hull, the gun port covers arranged below the side of the ship, the complex structure of the mast and cables, and the translucent sails at high altitudes...

Duncan paused in surprise.

He raised his head in the darkness, staring in amazement at the familiar scene that appeared at the end of the fog, looking at his...Lost Homeland.

※※※

Nina, who was walking cautiously on the rugged forest path, suddenly stopped, frowned, and listened attentively to the movement coming from the depths of the dense forest.

After a moment, she turned her head and asked, "Mr. Morris, did you hear any noise?"

"It's the sound of the wind. It suddenly started to blow, and the wind direction was chaotic... It's not normal." Morris' face gradually became serious. He glanced at Nina who was following him, "Go up and take a look at the situation in the distance. Don't stay in the sky for too long. Be careful."

"good!"

Nina immediately agreed, and then suddenly turned into a jumping arc of flame, rushing straight into the sky - the bright arc of flame quickly circled above the forest, and almost at the same time, this forest condensed from dreams reacted to it. The trees illuminated by the arc of flame began to grow wildly, making creaking sounds and extending towards the sky. The clouds in the sky also began to gather in the direction of Nina, gradually forming an encircling ring...

But Nina only hovered in the sky for a few seconds, and before the forest's reaction became more violent and dangerous, she quickly fell back to Morris' side.

"Scary... This place really doesn't welcome me..." She patted her chest in fear.

"Perhaps your radiance is too strong for this 'alien'. Most alien realms will instinctively reject those 'invading forces' that are threatening to them," Morris said. "Is there anything going on in the distance?"

"Something happened in an area deep in the forest. It looked pitch black, and the trees and the ground looked like they were rotten. It was very far away from us. In the other direction, we could see tall, continuous shadows that looked translucent, like a light curtain. Apart from that, we didn't find anything..."

Nina quickly described what she had seen during the few seconds of hovering in the sky, and raised her hand to indicate the approximate direction of what she had seen. But just when she was halfway through her words, another gust of whistling wind suddenly sounded from the depths of the dense forest, followed by the chaotic wind that penetrated the forest and the sudden creaking noise of the surrounding trees, interrupting her movements.

The whistling chaotic sound of the wind seemed to be mixed with countless vague roaring noises, and a strange feeling of tension and rejection instantly surged into Nina and Morris's bodies and minds.

It was as if this forest shaped by dreams was suffering from some huge external impact, as if everything here suddenly began to crumble.

The two of them looked at each other subconsciously, and then they saw the towering trees in the distance begin to shake and collapse like phantoms. The sky was quickly covered with fine cracks, and the light and shadow of the real world seemed to be shining through the cracks. A feeling of waking up from a dream surged into their hearts.

At the same time, in another corner deep in the forest, Shirley also heard the whistling noise approaching rapidly from a distance, and then the Annihilation Cultist walking in front suddenly stopped.

Shirley panicked, but she quickly controlled her expression: "Ah? What happened?"

"The dream is becoming less stable, the operation is over, and everyone is out of the Nameless Man's dream," Richard said, turning his head, with a questioning look on his face, "You didn't receive the message?"

Shirley was stunned for a moment, then quickly adjusted her expression, with an innocent look on her face: "I don't know - maybe I missed it out of carelessness..."

"Careless?" The Annihilation Cultist who called himself Richard immediately stared into Shirley's eyes. He seemed to have finally realized the sense of disharmony that this "young compatriot" had brought to him along the way. A trace of vigilance and doubt appeared in his eyes. "Compatriot, I seem to have forgotten to ask... Which city-state in the real world are you active in?"

Shirley immediately noticed the subtle change in the other person's eyes - she was extremely sensitive to the slightest malice revealed by strangers, but she still maintained a harmless expression on her face: "I'm in Moko City-State, there are many elves here..."

"'Compatriots'," Richard suddenly interrupted Shirley. His voice changed, as if some other obscure syllables were suddenly mixed in with his voice. He stared into Shirley's eyes, and there seemed to be some kind of bewitching power spreading in his mouth. "During our operations, we are forbidden to reveal our true position in the real world, even if we meet 'our own people'. What a pity..."

Vicious magic power has quietly gathered in his mouth, and the power of the death bird has been transmitted along the symbiotic chain to the body of this cultist. He senses that the spell has locked onto the mental entity of the girl in front of him, and the other party seems to have not reacted at all and is still just standing opposite him stupidly.

After seeing this scene, he finally became more certain of his judgment—

They know nothing about the power of the spell, so they can't be the true subjects of the Lord of the Deep.

Although no one knows where she came from, nor how she created such a lifelike disguise, and no one knows what the seemingly flawless "Deep Hound" is, there is no doubt that this "compatriot" is fake - fortunately, I discovered it in time, and the other party seems to have no combat experience.

It's time to say goodbye, no one can stand the curse of the dead bird...

Everything happened in an instant - Richard's fleeting judgment and emotion, and Shirley's sudden happy and bright smile.

Richard was surprised to see the girl opposite him suddenly showing him a bright smile, and he was only surprised for a moment - he had no time to react, nor to see clearly what happened, he saw the girl who called herself "Sarah" suddenly raised her arm towards him, and then a hideous black shadow rushed towards him!

Shirley raised her hand and the dog fell. With the whistling of the chain, a dog smashed on the head of the cultist opposite.

"See you f**king time!"