Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 590

Chapter 590: Chapter 589 Convergence in the Shadows Chapter 590: Chapter 589 Convergence in the Shadows In the chaotic twilight interwoven by “sunshine” and the Creation of the World, Duncan and his companions quickly moved through the silent, deserted streets and finally stopped at an intersection completely covered and blocked by countless flourishing plants.

Giant trees obscured the sky, and tangled vines wrapped around the tall buildings by the roadside. Root systems rose from the road surface, growing sinuously on the ground like angry veins. The entire block was deadly silent, yet occasionally, one could hear bird chirping or the sound of wind coming from those dark, dense woods–an eerily ethereal sound that seemed to traverse the border between dreams and reality.

“…It's indeed still here.”

Standing at the intersection at the end of the block, Duncan looked solemnly at that giant vine spreading out from the darkness, murmuring to himself.

Alice craned her neck, looking at the long ramp formed by the spread of the vine, and only after a while, hesitantly spoke, “Captain, this thing looks… Has it gotten bigger since last time? I remember it didn't extend this far before…”

“You're not mistaken,” Duncan sighed seriously, “Its size has increased since last time, this vine… is growing.”

Alice blinked her eyes and only after a long time, exclaimed in awe, “Wow…”

However, Duncan didn't reply; before taking further action, he was confirming the situation of Morris and others deep in his consciousness–especially the situation with Fenna.

Apart from himself and two dolls, now everyone was on the other side of The Dream of the Nameless just like last time, and the entry point of everyone's dream hadn't changed much. In this respect, The Dream of the Nameless seemed to display a kind of concerning… “continuity.”

Among everyone, the situation Fenna faced was the most puzzling.

Ms. Judge had once again arrived at that barren desert and this time, she encountered a giant claiming to be a “deity.”

Now Fenna was trekking through the vast sea of sand with that giant, and from the current report, the giant was very friendly and had told Fenna many stories related to that desert.

However, the stories told by the giant didn't match any of the ancient legends Duncan knew of, which were circulated in this world!

What exactly was that desert? What was the origin of that self-proclaimed deity? What relation did those lost ages and the ancient heritage of the Elves have as mentioned by the giant? Why would such a strange place appear deep within The Dream of the Nameless?

Duncan felt more and more confused.

Now, he could only hope that Fenna would be able to get more information from the vast sea of sand and that mysterious giant, or perhaps… others could find some clues related to the “desert” in that endless forest.

While maintaining his deep connection with others, Duncan took a deep breath and refocused on the matter at hand.

The huge vine had reappeared in the real world, which was actually good news for him–he had been worried that his last “scare” would cause some unpredictable changes to The Dream of the Nameless, which in turn could make the vine disappear or shift location, making it difficult for his investigation to continue. But now it seemed… the clue was still intact at least.

Of course, the current situation also made him start to worry about another thing:
The vine hadn't disappeared… but its size had expanded instead.

Could it possibly keep growing until it entwined the entire city?

With this unfounded worry in his mind, Duncan steadied himself and then stepped forward, slowly placing his hand on the end of the vine.

“Keep an eye on the surroundings; if there are any drastic changes, wake me up immediately,” he turned his head back and instructed the two dolls behind him.

“Yep!” Alice immediately nodded.

Luny also bowed slightly, respectfully responding, “Yes, old master.”

Duncan nodded slightly, then gradually calmed his thoughts, cautiously manipulating the power of fire, letting his perception spread along with the flowing spiritual body fire, and reestablishing contact with the vine.

With the experience from last time, he was more careful with his control this time to avoid disturbing “Silantis” like he had before.

Moments later, Duncan opened his eyes in the darkness.

An endless mist appeared again in his vision.

Following his intuition, Duncan looked towards the deepest part of the mist.

A hazy, huge shadow floated into view under his gaze, the boundless floating mist formed vague light and shadow, sketching out the familiar silhouette of Homeloss–an awe-inspiring ship floating silently in the void, as if… silently extending an invitation to Duncan.

Duncan gladly accepted the invitation.

He formed his spiritual body in the darkness, and while carefully controlling the flow of the flames around him, he flew towards the Homeloss deep in the mist, settling silently onto its deck.

As when he had seen it last, the ship was still deserted, and wisps of fog floated on the silent, empty deck, making the familiar ship's amenities seem like heavy shadows in the fog.

This time, Duncan did not head directly for the captain's quarters at the stern, but instead, after surveying the surroundings, took steps in another direction.

He walked through the swirling mist on the deck, the sound of his footsteps echoing in this desolate space, and he moved past the piled-up ropes and miscellaneous items scattered on the deck, heading towards the entrance to the cabins.

The stacked ropes and various items on the deck did not react to Duncan's approach–they simply lay there quietly, like ordinary inanimate objects.

Thus, Duncan noticed another difference between this eerie Homeloss and the Homeloss he knew:
On the “regular Homeloss,” these things on the deck would move when he approached, either eagerly greeting the captain or making various strange noises to try to catch the captain's attention; however, here… even though the two ships were almost alike, the items on this ship were entirely “dead.”

Duncan frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over the silent ropes, buckets, and iron hooks, and as he walked past them, he suddenly stopped.

His eyes landed on a mop leaning against the wall.

After a moment, he realized what this sudden surge of “familiarity” was: Alice had last put the mop in that position when she returned to the ship!

Was this eerie Homeloss not only identical to the real “genuine” one but also mirrored the changes happening on the actual Homeloss in real-time?

With many suspicions suddenly arising in his heart, Duncan felt he might have subtly grasped some “essence” of the eerie Homeloss. Just then, a faint sound from a corner suddenly caught his attention.

On this eerily quiet Ghost Ship, that whisper-like faint sound felt so abrupt.

Duncan instantly located the direction of the sound and walked towards it.

He stopped in front of a window.

A blurry mass, seemingly mixed with black dust, was emerging on the glass surface of the window, as if trying to coalesce into form.

Duncan stared at the gathering and dispersing shadow for a few seconds, then suddenly realized something and spoke softly, “Agatha?”

As he spoke, the continuously fluctuating shadow suddenly consolidated, and within seconds, it had formed a clear image on the glass–Agatha's figure appeared in the window.

“Ah, you've finally noticed me,” said Agatha from the glass surface as soon as she formed, taking a long breath, “I've been calling out from the shadows, trying to catch your attention, but I couldn't find a suitable mirror nearby…”
“How did you end up here?” Duncan, surprised, looked at the person in the mirror and then thought of something, “Wait, did you come through the Homeloss's…”
“Yes, I stayed in the Homeloss's reflection after nightfall. It seemed a bit risky, but I managed,” Agatha nodded, “With the shift in the reflection, I came here and met you. It seems my guess was right: when night falls, the vanished 'shadow' of the Homeloss turns into the 'other Homeloss' you see here–although the principle is still unclear, we've finally found the connection between the two Homelosses.”

Duncan's brow furrowed as he listened to her narration but did not respond for a moment, which made Agatha a bit uneasy, “…I shouldn't have taken such initiative, should I?”

“You indeed should have consulted with me first, but that's not what I'm considering now,” Duncan waved his hand, “You stayed on the 'reflection' side, did you observe how this transformation specifically occurs? Was there any noticeable… 'movement' on the Homeloss at that time?”

But Agatha shook her head, “There was no process.”

“No process?”

“All changes happened instantaneously, no process,” Agatha reconfirmed, “One second, I was still in the Homeloss's reflection, observing and waiting for any potential changes in the mirror world, and the next, the 'atmosphere' in the mirror world changed. I could feel… the shadow of the Homeloss turning into something I did not recognize, my movement between mirrors was suppressed, no longer able to sense the boundaries between the Spirit Realm and the real world, nor could I return to the normal mirrors in the real world, as if… the whole world had become abnormally viscous and was slowly solidifying…”
Duncan listened carefully to Agatha's description, then slowly turned his head, looking towards the direction of the stern deck.

That was where the captain's quarters were located, and “the other goat head” was there.

“Can you move freely now?” Duncan asked suddenly.

“It seems I'm no longer affected,” Agatha immediately said, her tone carrying a hint of disbelief, “The strange suppression magically disappeared after you became aware of my presence.”

“Good,” Duncan nodded, “then come with me–let's meet that somewhat off-beat 'first mate' again.”

Chapter end

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