Sarah Meier didn't care about his breakfast now.

This former legendary explorer, who had experienced countless strange things on the vast ocean, faced numerous challenges of corruption and death, and opened up a city-state at the end of the storm, rarely showed an uneasy expression. He sat in his chair with a frown on his face, and a long-lost shadow of uneasiness was spreading in his heart.

He was familiar with this feeling of uneasiness - it was the warning his intuition gave him when a huge and strange danger that was difficult for human intelligence to understand and resist was approaching.

He did not doubt Lucrecia's story.

Because it was not the first time he had dealt with the "Sea Witch" - although countless ocean captains and frontier explorers regarded this witch as one of the shadows on the vast ocean and were extremely wary of her strange temper and dangerous power, Sarah Meier knew very well that the "Sea Witch" was ultimately on the side of mortals.

The restaurant was silent for a long time. Sarah Meier finally stopped thinking and raised his head. "So far, no one has reported the unusual situation last night. No one, whether it is the local elves or the alien travelers, noticed the dream you mentioned."

"According to what my father saw, the abnormalities in the neighborhood were very obvious and large-scale. If some parts of the city were still normal, then the residents of those 'normal' cities would not have failed to notice the abnormalities in the neighboring neighborhoods. So the only explanation is that last night... the entire Breeze Harbor was in a dream."

Lucrecia's last words made Sarah Meier feel an indescribable chill, but rationality still made him subconsciously think about the logical inconsistency of all this: "You mentioned that the city buildings in the real world were once covered and even parasitized by the 'corrosion entity' that spread from the dream, and there were huge plants that penetrated the buildings and roads? There was no trace left?"

"No trace was left, and before the sun rose, the real world returned to its original state."

Sarah Meier listened, frowned and remained silent, seeming to be lost in thought again.

"What did you think of?" Lucrezia asked curiously.

"...Maybe I should send someone to check the gas and electricity meter readings throughout the city, as well as the operation of the factories at night," Sarah Meier said as she pondered. "The city-state is not static at night. There are many functions that run day and night to ensure the operation of the city, such as the three pillars of gas, electricity, and steam. They have corresponding night monitoring and patrol personnel...

"So this raises a question: When the dream came, where did these people go? What was the status of the machines they were supposed to control? In addition, there are also night watch scholars from various colleges. Many of them need to periodically record their work status..."

Sarah Meier paused to think for a moment, then continued, "We also need to find a way to determine the extent of this abnormal phenomenon. Is it limited to the main island of Breeze Harbor, or has it spread to the patrol fleet offshore, or even to the 'fallen object'..."

As the consul spoke, he stood up from behind the table, walked around the table, and stopped from time to time to think seriously.

He seemed to have completely forgotten that there was a "sea witch" on the scene.

Lucrecia was not surprised by this, for she knew that the consul had been an outstanding adventurer (although not as good as his father) before becoming the ruler of the city-state, and that an outstanding adventurer knew how to deal with all kinds of extraordinary phenomena.

The fact that Breeze Harbor has been able to prosper to this day in a place so close to the border waters shows that the governor's ability is unquestionable.

What her father had asked her to do had been done. Lucrecia stood up and, without disturbing the consul who was already lost in thought, she glanced across the dining table in front of her and picked up a bottle of unopened spiced wine. Then her figure suddenly turned into flying colored paper pieces, swirling through the roof and disappearing into the room.

After a while, Sarah Meier suddenly reacted and turned around and said hurriedly: "Ah, sorry, I was distracted, Ms. Lucrecia, do you want to stay and eat something..."

He stared blankly at the empty chair across the table, and at the place where his treasured wine had been placed just now - which was also empty now.

“…Again?!”

※※※

"Has the number of barrels changed?" In the captain's room, after hearing Alice running to him in a hurry to report the situation, Duncan couldn't help but confirm it again in surprise.

"Yes, yes!" Alice nodded repeatedly, "I counted several times! I definitely didn't count wrong! And I definitely didn't remember wrongly, I moved all those buckets by myself."

Of course Alice wouldn't lie, and as for getting the quantity wrong...she shouldn't make a mistake on such a simple thing.

After a brief pause, Duncan stood up from behind the navigation table and said, "Take me over to have a look."

Ellie responded without hesitation: "Okay!"

The goat head on the edge of the navigation table moved. It turned its head towards Duncan and said with some hesitation: "Captain, then I..."

"You continue to steer the ship," Duncan said immediately. Then he paused and added, "Don't worry about other things. Like I said just now, leave it to me."

"Yes, Captain."

Under Alice's guidance, Duncan soon arrived at the place where the pickled fish were stored.

Of course, things here have long since returned to normal, with the twelve wooden barrels neatly arranged against the wall, looking like neither more nor less.

Duncan's expression remained serious as he scanned the entire cabin.

Wherever his eyes went, wisps of dark green flames flickered in the air like phantoms, quietly wandering between the cracks between the floor and the walls. The entire room seemed to be shrouded in a layer of illusory mist woven from spiritual flames, switching between the spiritual world and reality.

He was exploring whether there were any "traces" left here, whether anything that did not belong to the Lost Homeland had ever entered here.

What Alice reported didn't sound like a big deal. On a ghost ship filled with strange things, a barrel that was not on the "list" was obviously not worth such a fuss, but Duncan had no intention of letting down his guard.

Because on the vast ocean, even the smallest anomaly must be treated with caution - especially on the Lost Homeland, especially at a time like this.

Duncan had already sensed something was wrong from last night's incident. Today's conversation with Goat Head and Agatha's report made him more aware of one thing -

There seems to be something wrong with this ship.

It was not out of his control, but Duncan always felt that there were some "details" on the ship that he was not familiar with and did not understand.

Either some hidden secrets of the Lost Homeland were gradually being revealed to him, or some parts of the ship were really gradually slipping out of his "captain"'s control.

As the spiritual flame spread, Duncan felt his connection with the Homeless gradually grow stronger, and every detail of the ship began to appear in his mind—the deck, masts, sails, complex capstans and cables, the cabins below the deck, and the hazy and chaotic part immersed in the boundless sea.

This was not the first time he had done this, and he was certainly familiar with this feeling. After quickly adapting his senses, he allowed his perception to merge with the ship and continue to spread into the depths of the Lost Homeland.

There was nothing unusual in the cabin where the kitchen was located, and everything was normal in the nearby cabins and deeper areas.

Wisps of glow permeated deep into the Lost Homeland, flowing throughout the ship like some kind of signal stream. They eventually converged in the captain's room, converging on a striking "focus".

That is where the goat head is located, which is the control center of the ship at the moment.

Duncan's "sight" stayed on that focus for a long time.

Everything seems normal.

Duncan slowly withdrew his "sight" - but he left a little flame in the deepest darkness.

At the same time, in the process of withdrawing his "attention" from the entire ship, he also continued to leave "sparks" and let them stay in various places on the Lost Hometown.

Alice looked at the captain with a little worry. After a long time, she saw Duncan's eyes move, so she quickly went over to him and said, "Captain, Captain, what's up? Did you find anything?"

"There's nothing wrong with the ship - don't worry." Duncan slowly smiled and reached out to touch Alice's hair. "It may be some 'minor problems' such as spatial dislocation or light and shadow confusion. I will take care of it."

Alice didn't actually understand what was said, but she nodded half-heartedly: "Ah...oh."

After briefly comforting the doll lady, Duncan turned his gaze to the nearby area.

On a pillar two meters away, there was an oil lamp with a glass lampshade hanging. Now, light and shadows intertwined with shadows and fog were quietly emerging on the surface of the lampshade, and Agatha's figure appeared in the glass.

"Pay attention to the reflection in the spirit world," Duncan nodded at her, "If anything 'crosses the line', do not handle it without authorization. Notify me immediately and I will come back immediately."

Agatha lowered her head: "I understand, Captain."

Alice's eyes moved back and forth between Duncan and Agatha. After looking around for a few times, she finally couldn't help but break the silence: "So are we still going to the city?"

"The influence of the Nameless Man's Dream is spreading in Breeze Harbor. I think we still have to look for clues in the city-state to solve the problem," Duncan nodded, "and I still have many questions I want to verify in the city-state... Do you want to stay on the ship? Or come with me?"

Alice thought about it, then looked back at the familiar "friends" in the kitchen. After a brief hesitation, she turned around and smiled brightly.

"Let's go to the city-state together!"