The clockwork doll Luni looked at Duncan who suddenly began to wander with a little worry, and after a few seconds, she couldn't help but turn to Alice next to her: "What's the matter, old master?" ”

Alice looked "this is normal", and comforted her new friend: "It's okay, it's just a distraction, the captain often wanders ......"

Luni was stunned for a moment: "Is that so?" ”

The conversation between the two dolls reached Duncan's ears, and he finally blinked, and gradually returned to reality from his memories.

After a moment of silence, Duncan raised his hand, slowly pinched his brow with his fingers, and covered the ups and downs of his eyes with his lowered eyelids—the chaos of thoughts still hovering in his mind, and he was still reminiscing about the past, even wishing to dig out every day he could recall from the oldest childhood moment in his memory, and spread it out in front of him.

He finally became aware of his dreamless past, aware of this subconscious corner that he had always ignored, but he had to break free from this multitude of memories and thoughts, and let his attention focus on the "reality" in front of him.

He looked up at Alice, who was looking directly at him, and at the clockwork doll with a nervous look on the side.

"I'm fine," Duncan whispered, "just something suddenly came to mind......"

He paused, looked into Alice's eyes and asked, "Where did we just go?" ”

"I mentioned that Luni and I may have been left on the 'outside' of the Nameless Dream because of the fact that puppets don't dream," Alice replied immediately, "and then we were discussing why you were left here too......"

"'Can't dream' may just be a factor, the mechanics of the Nameless's Dream won't be so simple, and it's likely to be in flux......"

Duncan spoke slowly, and at the same time, he recalled the dream that Taran Eyre had fallen into in the first place—

There is no doubt that Taran El was also caught in the "Dream of the Nameless", but it was supposed to be the "shallow" of the whole dream, and the Dream of the Nameless itself should have been in its early state at that time. At the time, he was able to enter the inner part of the dream with the imprint he had left on Heidi's body relatively easily, instead of being blocked from the real world side like he is now.

This shows that the "rules" of the Nameless Dream are changing, and its scope and influence are expanding over time, and at the same time, a set of dream initiation mechanisms for "filtering" have been established, like some kind of self-preservation.

So what's next? Will this sprawling "dreamland" continue to grow? Will its reach expand again? How will its self-protection mechanism change?

In the midst of his thoughts, Alice's voice suddenly sounded from the side and came into Duncan's ears: "Captain, how are the others doing?" Can you feel it here? ”

Duncan suppressed his chaotic thoughts for a moment, and he exhaled softly, concentrating at the same time, feeling the "marks" he had left on others—

The dancing flames crossed the border between the virtual and the real, through the eternal and hidden dream curtain, and in another dimension far away, at the intersection of time and space that is difficult for reason to accurately describe, Duncan "saw" the beating fire.

The flame mark left in advance worked—albeit only to enhance some connections, Duncan could now perceive the state of Vanna and the others more clearly, and should even be able to communicate with them.

"They are not in danger." Duncan nodded to Alice and Luni.

Alice breathed a sigh of relief: "Ah, that's good...... So what do we do next? ”

Duncan looked up and looked through the window not far away, looking out at the street shrouded in the chaos of night.

The "spectacle" had reappeared outside the window—as the influence of the Nameless's Dream invaded reality, the city-state was once again covered with lush forest plants, the sky was obscured by a canopy of towering trees, and the shadows of the neighborhoods beneath the giant trees were a mixture of reality and fiction.

The Breezehaven had fallen silent, and the world had taken the place of reality, just as Duncan had predicted—the hasty preparations of the city-state authorities and the guardians of the academy had not worked, and now, he and Alice were once again the only awake people in the city.

Oh, and this time there's an extra clockwork figure.

"Let's go to the place where the vine appeared before," Duncan said lightly, turning and walking towards the mansion gate, "to see if it will be in the old place." ”

"Good!" Alice immediately agreed, and then reached out and pulled up Luni who was in a daze, "Let's go, let's go on an adventure with the captain!" ”

"Adventure?" Luni subconsciously kept up with Alice and Duncan, but apparently her head was still a little out of tune, "What are we going to do?" ”

"Let's go find another Lost Ship." Duncan slowed down and said with a slight turn.

The Nameless Dream reappears in the real world, and Duncan has to test many of his assumptions this time - the "enhanced temporary imprint" left on the likes of Vana and Morris is just one of his many ideas, only to strengthen the connection between him and his followers, and he is more concerned about whether the Lost Land, which sailed in the darkness and fog, will reappear.

No matter how the Nameless Dream grows next, Duncan must find a way to circumvent its "self-protection mechanism" in order to further intervene in this massive dream, and his intuition tells him that the strange Lost Land that sails through the fog is the most likely breakthrough to break through the "self-protection mechanism" of the Nameless Dream.

For the ship's "charts" indicate that it was in fact very likely sailing over the forest of the Nameless's Dream.

Under the chaotic night sky woven by "sunlight" and the creation of the world, the streets of the city-state are as eerily silent as the last time, Duncan and the two puppets leave the witch's mansion that has fallen silent, and enter the night where the city and the forest mingle.

As the night wore on, Duncan began to cautiously communicate with the temporary imprints that were already on the "other side" of the dream, trying to call out his followers.

This time, he had to be very careful, to learn the lesson of the last time he was in that dark misty space, and to use the power of the flame cautiously to prevent ...... Woke up Silandis from his dream.

……

Strange fissures of dark red covered the sky, and the ominous red light was edged by twisted and hazy clouds, and under the skylight, as far as the eye could see, there was yellow sand and boulders.

Rolling sand dunes fill the horizon, hideous rocks stand under the sky like the bones of countless twisted and struggling beasts, the yellow sand buries the foundation of the boulders, the sharp edges and corners of the stones extend upwards like sharp swords, and in such a vast and desperately large yellow sand, "man" seems smaller than ever.

Vanna looked up, her long silver-white hair was blown by the wind, and the dry wind mixed with sand and dust swept over the earth endlessly, making her eyes squint slightly.

She was again in the desert—this vast, dead, withered land.

Looking at the hazy boulder silhouettes in the distance, Vanna exhaled slightly, and reached into the wind—a cloud of water vapor condensed from the dry wind and sand in a way that defied common sense, and condensed into a cold-wilting greatsword in her hand.

Feeling the weight of the greatsword, Vana nodded in satisfaction.

The dry and sweltering heat of this dreamland of the Infinite Desert is not a comfortable environment for the Storm Goddess, but luckily, his power as a saint of the Deep Sea Church still works here - the dream cannot stop the god-given power, which makes his trek here somewhat easier.

Drawing chill from the greatsword, Vanna stepped into the wind and sand, heading in a certain direction.

She certainly wasn't walking aimlessly—she was aiming for the rugged shadows in the distance, things that looked like craggy rocks, but looked like the ruins of a city.

As she walked, Vana suddenly felt her heart move.

She subconsciously stopped, listening intently to the voice that suddenly appeared in the depths of her consciousness, and after a few moments, she heard the voice become clear—it was the captain.

The captain's calm and powerful voice echoed in her head: "Can you hear you, Vanna?" ”

"Yes," Vana replied at once, and before she knew it, she breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, "Great, it looks like your plan has worked." ”

"Well, to be expected," Duncan's voice continued, "I must be cautious about contacting you now, and I can't rush to pass on too much power—based on what I learned last time, Silandis, who is sleeping in the depths of the Nameless's dream, doesn't seem to like my flame very much. ”

"I understand," Vanna replied as she walked forward, continuing to walk forward, "how are the others doing?" ”

"The others are scattered deep in the forest, and the mix is pretty much the same as last time, Shirley and Dog together, Nina and Morris together," Duncan told Vanna about the rest of the people, "Plus, Lucy managed to find Rabbi the Rabbit after entering the dream - they almost 'landed' in the same place. ”

"Miss Lucrecia found that weird rabbit? Where do they 'land' together? Other people's 'combinations' are the same as last time? Vanna's footsteps paused thoughtfully, "It seems...... The process of our entry into this dream is indeed regular......"

"Well, it looks like they're in the same position as last time," Duncan said, asking about Vanna, "How's your situation going over there?" ”

Vanna stopped, looking up at the endless stretch of sand in front of her.

After a few seconds, the Storm Saint sighed.

"Sand, stones, dry, hot weather—it seems that everyone's 'position' into the Nameless's Dream hasn't changed much, and I'm still in this desert. Honestly, I didn't really like this place......"

(End of chapter)