Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 575

Chapter 575: 574 Chapter 575: 574 The voice that suddenly emitted from the black wood carving left Duncan taken aback–he hadn't expected that in this mysterious and unsettling ship, the Homeloss, the eerie goat head in front of him would suddenly “come to life,” and his gaze subconsciously fixated on the “wood carving” that was slowly moving, alarming him. At that moment, he realized something:
The other party seemed unable to “see” him.

Because at this moment, he was merely peering into the depths of the huge vine by using the connection established by the Spectral Flame, and only his thoughts were transmitted here; he hadn't projected his power into this place, naturally not forming a physical presence here.

Thus, the “goat head” on the table must have only sensed a presence–and now, it began to search for the source of that presence.

The unsettling black wood carving slowly turned, and light creaking sounds emanated from its wooden base. In the deathly silence of the Homeloss, within the silent captain's cabin, these creaking sounds appeared even more eerie. The pair of pitch-black eyeballs, carved from obsidian, swept over Duncan's field of view several times. After a while, it finally stopped and emitted a puzzled sound, “Is… there… someone…?”

Its voice was delayed and deep, like the murmurs of a dream.

Duncan immediately detected something amiss from the other's reactions–this “goat head” seemed indeed to have sensed something, but it did not recognize it as the “captain's” presence?!

After a moment of gravity and thought, Duncan formulated a plan.

The connection forged by the flame instantly strengthened, and his power was conveyed here through the flame. Duncan began to “lean” his will toward this eerie space filled with darkness and dense fog, and swiftly coalesced his form here.

He needed to understand what exactly was going on with the Homeloss, navigating through the mist, and the strange “goat head” before him.

On the Homeloss, sailing through the darkness and dense fog, faint green flames emerged in wisps and strands on the decks. In the dimly lit captain's cabin, a Spiritual Fire suddenly appeared in mid-air, crackling as it rapidly expanded and swiftly outlined a tall figure.

Almost in an instant, Duncan strengthened his connection with this eerie and dark space, but at the same moment, he felt that this fog-enshrouded space and the “Homeloss” beneath his feet seemed to have received some…stimulation. Everything around him suddenly turned vague and illusionary, and a delayed sense of rejection surged from all directions. It was as if the dark mist around him was resisting his flames, or…as if this weird place itself was rapidly disintegrating.

This sudden onset of rejection surprised Duncan–it was the first time he felt such an active rejection while using his Spiritual Fire to scout an unfamiliar object!

In the past, he had used Spiritual Fire to scout many things, including Alice's sarcophagus, the brass spring key, and various transcendental items confiscated from Heretics, but none had ever shown this kind of reaction.

Could it be that this bizarre space, along with the giant “vine” that appeared in the City-State, is still alive, and behind it exists a powerful “consciousness”?

Astonishing speculations surged in his mind, but now was clearly not the time to get to the bottom of things. Duncan didn't know how much longer he could “contact” this place, so he could only try hard to maintain his stability while walking toward the goat head by the navigation table.

The black wood carving seemed to awaken from a dream, abruptly raising its head, and its gaze fell upon Duncan–both the faint green flame and the tall figure appeared suddenly in its eyes, like a bright light bursting into a peaceful, dark dreamscape. Startled awake in its dream, it gazed bewildered at the uninvited visitor before it and uttered a confused sound, “Who are you?”

“It seems you don't recognize me,” Duncan responded, not surprised given the hints he had picked up earlier. He simply tried to maintain his connection with this place while rapidly sensing the information of the “Homeloss” and the situation of the “goat head” in front of him, “I am Duncan Ebnomal–what is your name?”

“Duncan… Ah, it sounds vaguely familiar…” But the state of the goat head didn't fully clear; its voice occasionally fell into sleep-talk, and it did not directly answer Duncan's question, “But I don't remember… Why are you here… Why are we here…”

Duncan frowned.

He could feel that this fog-enshrouded dark space was slowly starting to crumble apart, and the strong feeling of rejection tried to expel his flames from this place. The “goat head” in front of him seemed to be stuck in a semi-conscious state, incapable of answering his questions.

After a moment of thought, he took a step forward and pointed at the sea chart next to the goat head.

“Where is the Homeloss sailing?”

For a second or two, the goat head slowly reacted, turning its neck to set its gaze on the “navigation” map displaying a forest scenery. After a long time, it let out an indistinct voice, “Oh, good, they're still…”

“They?” Duncan immediately asked, “Who are…”

However, a sudden intense shaking and a deep roaring sound that seemed to sweep across the entire space cut off the second half of his sentence.

Here the rejection reached its peak, with every inch of space seeming to resist the spread of the Spiritual Fire. Whispering crackles were audible in the air; the flames seemed to burn against an invisible barrier, and all the sensations conveyed through the flames suddenly became blurred and sluggish.

Duncan lowered his head and saw that his projected incarnation was becoming increasingly indistinct, and his connection with this place seemed about to break.

He knew he could forcefully gather more powerful forces and forcefully maintain the connection with the Spiritual Fire–but realizing that the giant vine might be “alive,” and possibly conscious, he didn't know whether he should do so.

And just then, the goat's head on the nautical chart seemed to have finally noticed something unusual about Duncan.

Its gaze fell upon the flickering lights, and after a moment's delay, it uttered a vague murmur, “Ah, you scared her…”
Startled by the words, Duncan instantly looked up, “Scared who?”

“Silantis…” The goat head seemed to slip back into that dreamy state, its voice becoming even slower, “Silantis doesn't recognize you, your existence… scared her.”

Silantis… the “World Tree” from the ancient elf legends?!

Information and a multitude of guesses flashed through Duncan's mind. Just as he wanted to press for more questions, a feeling of rapidly peeling perception and a swiftly receding world interrupted him, followed by everything in front of him turning dark: the captain's quarters, the chart desk, the navigation maps all faded in the dimness, leaving only the goat head's voice, ethereal as if talking to itself, faintly audible in the darkness:
“Ah, the time has come–she's waking up.”

The next second, the sensation of standing on solid ground jolted Duncan awake. He took a deep, involuntary breath and then opened his eyes.

Alice's face was just ten centimeters from his.

Duncan was startled by the doll-like figure and quickly stepped back. Alice, on the other hand, immediately beamed a brilliant smile and closed in again while exclaiming, “Captain! Captain! The day is almost here! Outside, everything seems to have returned to normal!”

Just as Duncan was about to chide Alice, he was taken aback by her words and noticed the changes around him.

The dense jungle that had filled the entire street was gone, the giant plant life that had once merged with the surrounding high-rise buildings receded without a trace, and the street fixtures that had twisted and mutated, becoming part of the forest, were all restored.

Beside the roads, the soft glow from the gas street lamps illuminated the surroundings, and up above the neighborhood, the “sunlight” spreading from the distant coast passed over the City-State like a curtain. In the gaps of the sunlight, the outline of the Creation of the World gradually appeared dim, while at the edge of the sky, a hint of dawn before the rise of anomaly 001 seemed to be spreading through the clouds.

Duncan blinked, his gaze instinctively turning toward the slope deep in the street.

He remembered a massive vine that had spread over the slope and how his flames had infiltrated its depths.

There was nothing there.

Just like the entirety of the street block–everything had returned to normal.

With the rising sun, with the end of the night, and the arrival of daylight, that massive eerie event… disappeared in the morning light like a waking dreamscape.

Duncan felt as if he stood on the border of a bizarre dream, the dislocated reality, and the lingering memories in his mind making everything before his eyes feel unreal.

But this feeling of disorientation lasted only for an instant. He quickly came to his senses and immediately turned to look in the direction of Crown Street.

His perception spread toward that area, and those familiar “imprints” appeared in his “vision.”

Nina, Sherry, Morris…
Their presences had returned to the real world.

The doll's head in Alice's arms suddenly moved, and the maid doll's mouth opened and closed, emitting the voice of Lucricia, “Daddy, it seems like…”
“I know, you've all come back, and the neighborhood is back to normal.”

Duncan spoke rapidly, and in the corner of his eye, he could already see sparsely scattered figures appearing on the streets–local residents going about their activities after daybreak.

They were sweeping the streets, chatting in their doorways, rushing to work, discussing yesterday's news and today's weather.

It seemed no one knew what had happened last night–even though just a few hours ago, all these people bustling in the neighborhood had indeed disappeared into the night.

Now, they were back too.

The street scene before him, gradually reviving and bustling, seemed to be enveloped by an ineffable, strange, and eerie feeling.

Chapter end

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