The sudden sound of the black wood carving made Duncan stunned for a moment - he didn't expect that on this mysterious illusion-like Lost Country, the strange goat's head in front of him would suddenly "come to life", and his eyes subconsciously stared at the "wood carving" that was moving slowly, and his heart couldn't help but be vigilant, and then he realized something:

The other party doesn't seem to be able to "see" himself.

Because he was only "peeking" into the depths of the huge vine with the help of the connection established by the spirit flame at the moment, only his own thoughts were transmitted here, and he did not really map his power here, and naturally he did not condense his body here.

So the "goat's head" on the table must have only sensed the breath - and now, it began to look for the location of the breath.

The unsettling black wood carving turned slowly, and there was a slight creaking sound from the wooden base, and the creak became more and more strange in this dead silence of the Lost Homeland, in this dead silence in the captain's room, and the pair of dark eyeballs carved from obsidian swept past Duncan's perspective several times, and after a long time, it finally stopped, and let out a puzzled voice: "Yes...... Who's ......"

Its voice was slow and deep, like a dream.

Duncan immediately sensed that something was wrong from the other party's reaction - the "goat's head" did seem to sense something, but it didn't recognize that it was the breath of the "captain"?!

After a moment of solemnity and thought, Duncan had a plan.

The connection established by the flames was instantly strengthened, and the power was transmitted here through the flames, and Duncan began to "tilt" his will towards this strange space filled with darkness and fog, and quickly condensed his form here.

He wanted to find out what was going on with the misty Lost and the strange "goathead" in front of him.

On the Lost Ship, which sailed through darkness and fog, wisps of green flames appeared all over the deck, and in the dimly lit captain's room, a spiritual fire suddenly appeared in mid-air, and crackled and rapidly expanded, followed by a tall figure.

Almost instantly, Duncan's connection to this strange dark space strengthened, but at the same moment, he felt that this fog-filled space and the "Lost Place" beneath his feet seemed to be under some kind of ...... Stimulus, everything around him suddenly became illusory and blurred, and a belated sense of repulsion surged from all directions, as if this dark fog was resisting his flames, or...... It's the weird place itself that's rapidly disintegrating.

Duncan was surprised by the sudden sense of repulsion - it was the first time he had felt such active repulsion when he had used the Spirit Fire to probe the unfamiliar!

He had used the Spirit Fire to probe many things in the past, including Alice's coffin, including the brass clockwork key, and various otherworldly items seized from the cultists, but those things had never shown such a reaction.

Could it be that this strange space, as well as the huge "vines" that appeared in the city-state, are still alive, and there is a powerful "consciousness" behind it?

Astonishing speculation was pouring in his mind, but now was clearly not the time to get to the bottom of it, and Duncan didn't know how long he could "connect" with this place, so he could only try to maintain his stability while striding towards the goat's head at the sailing table.

The black wood carving also seemed to wake up from a dream, it suddenly raised its head, and its eyes fell on Duncan - in its eyes, the dark green flames and tall figures all appeared suddenly, like a bright light suddenly broke into a peaceful and dark dream, in the dream of being awakened, it looked at the uninvited guest in front of it in dismay, and made a confused voice: "Who are you?" ”

"It seems that you don't know me," Duncan was not surprised at the moment, he was just trying to maintain his connection with this place, and at the same time quickly sensed the information of the "Lost Land" and the situation of the "goat's head" in front of him, "I'm Duncan Abnomar - what's your name?" ”

Duncan...... Ah, it always feels familiar......" The goat's head didn't seem to be fully awake, and its voice seemed to be asleep from time to time, and it didn't answer Duncan's question directly, "but I don't remember...... Why are you here...... Why are we here ......"

Duncan frowned.

He already felt that this dark space filled with fog was gradually showing signs of falling apart, and a strong sense of repulsion was trying to expel his flames from here, and the "goathead" in front of him seemed to be in a state of half-consciousness and half-awake, unable to answer his questions at all.

After a moment's thought, he took another step forward and pointed to the chart next to the goat's head.

"Where did the Lost sail?"

It took a second or two for the goat's head to react slowly, slowly turning its neck, its eyes falling on the "nautical" map that was showing the forest scene, and it took a long time for it to make a muffled voice: "...... Oh great, it turns out they're still ......"

"Them?" Duncan immediately asked, "...... they are?"

However, a sudden violent shaking and a low whistling sound that seemed to sweep through the space interrupted the rest of his sentence.

The rejection of him here reached its peak, every inch of time and space seemed to resist the spread of the spirit fire, there was a slight crackling sound in the air, the flames seemed to be burning the invisible barrier, and the various perceptions transmitted through the flames suddenly seemed blurred and sluggish.

Duncan lowered his head and saw that the projection avatar he had condensed was becoming more and more blurred, and his connection with this place seemed to be about to be severed.

He knew that he could forcibly gather more power and use the spirit fire to forcibly maintain this connection—but after realizing that the huge vine was very likely to be "alive" and even conscious, he didn't know if he should do it.

And at this moment, the goat's head on the nautical table also seemed to finally notice the strangeness of Duncan.

Its gaze fell on the flickering firelight, and after a moment's delay, it let out a muffled grunt: "Ah, you scared her......"

Duncan was stunned when he heard this, and instantly raised his head: "Who are you scared?" ”

"Silandis......" The goat's head seemed to be in that dreamlike state again, and its voice became more and more sluggish, "Silandis doesn't know you, your existence...... Scared her. ”

Silandis...... That "World Tree" from the ancient legends of the Elves?!

Duncan's mind instantly appeared with the corresponding information and a lot of conjectures, but just as he was about to ask something more, a trance of rapid detachment of perception and the rapid disappearance of the whole world interrupted him, and then everything in front of him quickly turned into darkness, the captain's room, the navigation table, and the charts all dissipated in the darkness, and only the ethereal voice of the goat's head as if talking to himself faintly came from the darkness:

"Ah, the time has come—she's waking up."

In the next second, Duncan was awakened by the feeling of being grounded again, and he subconsciously took a breath, and then opened his eyes.

Alice's face was only ten centimeters away from him.

Duncan was startled by the silly puppet and quickly stepped back, while Alice suddenly showed a bright smile and shouted as she followed: "Captain! Captain! It's almost dawn! It looks like it's back to normal outside! ”

Duncan just missed Alice, but after hearing the other party's words, he couldn't help but be stunned, and then he noticed the changes around him.

The dense forests that filled the entire neighborhood are gone, the vast flora that once blended with the surrounding high-rise buildings has receded without a trace, and the street furniture that was once twisted and mutated and turned into part of the forest has truly been restored to its original appearance.

On both sides of the road, the soft glow of gas street lamps illuminates the surroundings, and above the neighborhood, the "sunshine" that spreads from the direction of the distant coast passes over the city-state like a curtain, and in the gap between the sunlight, the outline of the creation of the world has gradually taken on a dim appearance, and at the end of the sky, a little morning light before the rise of Vision 001 seems to be spreading in the clouds.

Duncan blinked, subconsciously looking at the ramp deep in the block.

He remembered that a huge vine had spread from the ramp, and his own flames had seeped into the depths of the vine.

There is nothing there.

As the neighborhood is presenting – everything is back to normal.

With the rising sun, with the end of the night, the day falls, the scale of the strange phenomenon ...... It's like a waking dream, dissipating in the morning light.

Duncan felt as if he was standing on the frontier of a bizarre dream, the misplaced reality and the memories remaining in his mind made everything in front of him feel unreal.

But this trance only lasted for a moment, and he quickly came to his senses, and immediately looked back in the direction of Crown Street.

His perception spread to that side, and those familiar "imprints" appeared in his "vision".

Nina, Shirley, Morris......

Their breath is back in the real world.

The puppet's head in Alice's arms suddenly moved, and the maid puppet's mouth opened and closed, making Lucrecia's voice: "Daddy, we seem to be ......"

"I know, you're all back, and the neighborhood is back to normal."

Duncan said quickly, and out of the corner of his eye, he could already see a sparse figure on the street—the local residents who had gone out after dawn.

They were sweeping the streets, chatting in front of the door, hurrying to work, talking about yesterday's news and today's weather.

No one seemed to know what had happened last night - even if all the people who had been moving around the block had literally disappeared into the night just a few hours earlier.

Now, they're back, too.

The street scenery in front of me, which is gradually reviving and gradually becoming lively, seems to gradually surface a layer of indescribable grotesqueness and treachery.

(End of chapter)