Several figures in dark coats or hooded robes are walking through the depths of the forest.

A faint black haze hung around them, black chains of symbiosis extended from their bodies, and they were accompanied by a terrifying ghostly demon - Richard and his "compatriots" had been operating in this dream for some time, and according to the Death Bird's perception, they were already very close to the "wall of silence".

But the team came to an abrupt halt.

The atmosphere in the forest has changed subtly - from a certain moment, a thin layer of fog has emerged out of nowhere, flowing through the clearing between the trees, and with the appearance of the mist, the whole forest is becoming more ...... "quiet" than before.

Dumont frowned solemnly, he remembered that when he first entered the Dream of the Nameless, he could still hear all kinds of sounds in the forest—the sound of unknown birds flapping their wings and roaring in the distance, and although they could never be seen, the sounds of life were always there.

Now, however, the sounds were gone, and the only thing left in the forest was the occasional sound of the wind and the slight sound of the leaves shaking and rubbing—adding to the silence of the place.

Any change in the Nameless's Dream must be waited for with caution.

"There's something wrong with these fogs," whispered another Annihilationist, a cloud of smoky jellyfish floating in the air beside him, tentacles extending from beneath the jellyfish swaying slightly in mid-air with some uneasy nervousness, "My demon senses panic and nervousness...... It is the emotions released by the 'forest' itself. ”

"The Nameless Dream has an emotional change, and it is itself equivalent to a large mind," Dumont said in a deep voice, "and its sudden change in mood may be that someone has come into contact with this core area of the mind...... Has anyone found the 'Wall of Silence'? ”

"Will it be our people?" The Annihilationists, who live in symbiosis with soot jellyfish, asked.

"I'm not sure yet, we can't contact the other people sent in by the assembly here," Dumont said, and then he frowned slightly as he looked at a figure at the end of the line, which had been scratching around since just now, "Richard, what are you doing?" ”

Richard suddenly woke up and realized that he had been scratching at the skin near his neck and waist, and he raised his hand with some confusion to see that many small white fibers had somehow appeared between his fingernails, which looked like ......

"Cotton." He whispered.

"Cotton? What cotton? Dumont frowned, "You don't seem to be in the right state." ”

"No, I'm fine," Richard immediately looked up and patted his clothes again from his scratching movements, "I just feel a little itchy on my body, and the fog makes me uncomfortable." ”

Dumont nodded, not doubting anything, but turned his gaze to the others: "We should have entered the sphere of influence of the Wall of Silence, according to those 'preachers', this is the 'mental gaze zone' of Silandis, if you see or hear anything that has not appeared in the forest before, be sure to tell the others." ”

Listening to the voice in his ears, Richard felt a little bored in his heart.

Dumont has begun to lead the team as a "leader", and his self-righteous arrogance has always been very dislikeable...... There is a real need for someone to call the shots in the team, but this role should have been his own......

"It's infuriating...... a soft voice said in Richard's head, "the rabbi feels that it is unfair, and the rabbi feels sorry for you......"

"It's not fair," Richard whispered, his mouth slightly open and closed, in a voice that only he could hear, "but it was the arrangement of the saints...... And Dumont does have the ability to ......"

"Isn't the most important reason because there are still a lot of people in the way watching here?" The voice in his head whispered, with intimate concern and a relieving tone, "If no one is watching, it won't be a problem at all......"

Richard frowned, shook his head slowly, and seemed to instinctively sense that something was not quite right, and he was still hesitating: "But...... What should I do......"

"Be patient, be patient, cute rag doll, the rabbi is just telling you about some possibilities, but now is not the time...... There will be a chance, when someone is left alone......"

Richard covered his forehead and hesitated: "But I can't...... They are all my compatriots......"

"Yes, they're all your countrymen, cute ragdolls, you can't hurt them, and the rabbis don't want to see you hurt each other - so you have to help them."

"Help them? How to help them? ”

"Didn't you notice? Your fellow citizens...... Their stomachs are empty, and they don't even have cotton, how pitiful. No cotton, no warmth, no cotton, no soul, no cotton, nothing...... You've got cotton, cute rag dolls, give them some too, and the rabbi can lend you the cotton, as long as ...... Remember......"

The small, cute voice in my head faded away.

Richard blinked, and suddenly felt a little confused, he felt as if he had heard someone talking to him just now, and even remembered that he had talked to the other person, but it was only a trance, and the voice disappeared, as if it was ...... It's all just an illusion.

He raised his head and looked at Dumont in front of him, as well as at the other compatriots around him.

How pathetic.

They don't even have cotton.

“…… We're setting up the sigil here," Dumont didn't seem to notice Richard's gaze, and he had already begun to assign the rest of the work as planned, "This is already a suitable area to influence the underlying mind of Xilandis. ”

The surrounding cultists nodded their heads, and then each pulled out the ritual prop from their bodies—a strange knife with a pitch-black color and a curvy blade.

Richard was stunned, and also reached into his arms and pulled out, touching his bone knife.

It was a small carving knife the size of a hand, made of black lacquered bone, covered in strange and intricate patterns, exuding an ominous aura.

Richard remembered that the knife was made from the bones of ghostly demons who had failed in summoning rituals - not all summoning and symbiosis rituals were successful, the losers would become nourishment on the altar, the ungifted Annihilation cultists would cleanse the altar with their blood, and the demons who had died out of control of the ritual would have some bone fragments left behind that could be used to make props.

This was supposed to be the "common sense" that every Annihilation cultist who had risen to the rank of cleric knew about it, but for some reason, Richard felt a wonderful sense of this knowledge when he recalled it at this moment...... A sense of novelty.

He shook his head, brushing aside the strange feeling and looking at Dumont, "We need to set up as many 'marks' as possible before this dream is over, and it may be more efficient to act separately." ”

“…… Dispersion means danger," Dumont gave serious consideration to the suggestion and shook his head, "Don't forget your previous failures - your fellow citizens who act alone are almost helpless against 'his' followers. ”

Dumont really seemed to be just reminding him seriously, and there was no mockery and disdain in his words, but Richard felt that he saw a trace of ridicule in the other party's eyes, and suddenly felt anger rising in his heart like poisonous fire.

He felt that he had been greatly humiliated.

But in the next second, the anger like poisonous fire suddenly extinguished, and was replaced by cold reason, and Richard was surprised that he could be so calm-

He looked at Dumont with an extraordinarily sincere and calm expression, and his words exuded persuasive power: "Of course we can't act alone, I mean working in groups of two or three, being able to ensure that we can take care of each other and complete the task as quickly as possible - and to be honest, even if we do encounter those 'followers' and fall into disadvantage, we can quickly evacuate this dream, and from my last observation, those 'followers' do not seem to be able to come and go in the dream as freely as we do......"

The sincere expression on Richard's face and the calmness in his tone played a role.

Dumont thought hard again.

A fellow Church Insider who has had many experiences of dreaming and exploring—although he hasn't been in great shape since his last exploration, his advice is now clearly well thought out, trustworthy, and every reason holds up.

Continuing to ignore or dismiss the other person's advice in such a situation can easily appear to be deliberately aimed at the experienced - a mean and narrow image is not good for leading the team.

Dumont felt that he should accept this advice—as a new, invisible leader, accepting advice is also part of consolidating authority.

Anyway, if something really happens by then, the responsibility is also Richard's.

"Okay, then let's work in pairs and set up imprint points along the fog border," Dumont nodded, quickly making arrangements, and then looked at Richard, "Richard, you and I are in a group." ”

"Absolutely." Richard laughed, seemingly pleased with the arrangement.

Dumont was also satisfied.

"Then let's get moving."

The Annihilation Cultists sprang into action.

They worked in pairs, carrying ritual daggers to leave their mark, and walked in multiple directions to the forest paths that were flowing with thin mist, and soon disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

Richard also walked towards Dumont with a ceremonial dagger - but he was cautious, he knew he would have to wait a little longer, until the other groups were far enough away to wait until Dumont focused on the "work" of setting up the sigil points.

Then he can "help" the other party.

"Let's get started, cute rag doll." The voice in his head said.

"Let's get started, Dumont." Richard said.

(End of chapter)