Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 597

Chapter 597: Chapter 596: Family Inherited Fishing Talent Chapter 597: Chapter 596: Family Inherited Fishing Talent Now, Sherry once again embarked on the journey toward the legendary “Wall of Silence” – with Lucricia by her side, guided by an elf girl named Xilin.

They traversed through the dense forest woven with light and shadows, stepping upon the paths covered with fallen branches and leaves, crossing over thorns and bushes. Unfamiliar small beasts and birds chirped from the depths of the forest, only emphasizing the increasing desolation and chill within–watching the figure of “Xilin” leading ahead, Sherry even momentarily had an illusion, feeling as if time had reversed, and she had returned to when she was trekking through the forest with her.

Because everything looked unchanged, the forest always appeared the same, the sounds around were identical, and the two “Xilins” looked exactly alike.

Only the witch Miss walking beside her, who from time to time turned into colorful paper scraps to cover more ground, reminded Sherry that things had indeed changed.

Now, Sherry had already told Lucricia all about the previous events without Xilin noticing, also sharing it with everyone entangled in the Dreamscape, including the captain who was operational outside the Dreamscape–the captain's preparations before entering the dream were quite effective, and the power of fire kept everyone connected, a link more useful than Sherry had imagined.

Knowing the events that had occurred to “another Xilin,” Lucricia couldn't help but feel differently when she looked at the elf girl walking ahead.

The “Xilin” who had traveled with Sherry eventually turned into a tree… and before her complete transformation, she seemed to have something she wanted to tell Sherry…

Would this “Xilin” also suddenly turn into a tree?

Nina and Morris also encountered a guide who claimed to be “Xilin”; what about that “Xilin”? Would she undergo the same transformation?

After all, what exactly were these “Xilins” that appeared in The Dream of the Nameless?

At first, Lucricia thought “Xilin” was a mental entity formed from the chaotic reassembly of the subconscious in this dreamscape, but now, various clues revealed her unimaginably special nature. This self-proclaimed “Xilin” elf, the forest, and the entire “The Dream of the Nameless” seemed to have incredibly complex connections, far beyond just a simple association between “dream” and “mental entity.”

Her transformation into a tree might just be revealing the nature of these connections.

The elf girl walking in front suddenly slowed her pace, turned her head back, looked at Lucricia and Sherry who had fallen far behind, and waved energetically, “Hurry up, the forest is too dangerous right now–once we reach the Wall of Silence, we can rest.”

Lucricia glanced back at Sherry and A Dog, then they hastened their steps.

As Sherry quickly caught up, she muttered under her breath, “Can that big stuffed doll really find those elusive Heretics? I always feel it's not very reliable…”

“Rabi is sometimes dishonest, but as long as I give a clear order, there won't be any problems,” Lucricia said softly, “Hunting in the dreamscape is what it does best, it will track them down, all the way into the real world, and then we can find out where those Heretics are really hiding.”

“…So what exactly is that big rabbit?” A Dog muttered aside, “I smelled… a human scent on it, it's definitely not some simple magical creation, not even a typical spirit or demonic creature, and it's not just it–other things on your ship also give off that kind of feeling, which feels strange to me.”

“A human scent?” Lucricia glanced at A Dog, a hint of a smile appeared on her face, “Ah, well-deserved of the Abyssal Hound, your perception is indeed sharp… Yes, it's a human scent, the scent emitted from a part of my soul.”

A Dog was suddenly stunned, “…Ah?”

“It's nothing serious. When I first encountered Rabi, it bit off a chunk from my soul, but it probably didn't expect that the bit of soul it took would forever deprive it of its freedom–many things on the Brilliant Starship are like this, they are dangerous entities from the border or the Spirit Realm, and they once thought of themselves as hunters, regarding me as the prey… This is greatly convenient for me.”

Lucricia spoke calmly, a faint smile on her face.

“I use my soul as bait, searching for servants in the border, souls cursed by Subspace are the best poison and binding, those who mistakenly thought they were hunters are ultimately bound by my soul, sewn into fabric, poured into bottles, carved into wood, becoming a part of the Brilliant Starship–these servants are necessary because I need assistants for my adventures in the border, and humans… have too high a mortality rate.”

After explaining, the sea witch looked down at A Dog, “You're quite accurate in your perception, that ship is full of scattered 'human scents', there's really no need for such alarm.”

A Dog and Sherry listened, seemingly stunned by Lucricia's description of these events, both “people” were silent for a moment.

Seeing their reaction, Lucricia just smiled, pleased with the silence from Sherry and A Dog, then turned her head and continued following Xilin's steps.

Watching the “Sea Witch” move ahead some distance, Sherry then shook the chain in her hand, though speaking through a mental link, she still couldn't help but lower her voice, “A Dog, A Dog, is this what the captain meant by… what was it called… nesting? Is she using herself to nest?”

“It sounds like it,” A Dog also muttered softly through the mental link, “The captain mentioned this when introducing fishing techniques to me.”

“Truly the captain's daughter…” Sherry couldn't help but sigh, “Their whole family seems to be skilled at fishing…”

“Tyrion doesn't seem to be very skilled at it, does he?”

“But he hauled up so many submarines from the sea back then! Although he didn't fish them out with his own hands, he was still one of the managers…”

“Does that even count?”

“Just say whether they were hauled up from the sea or not!”

Duncan silently turned off the “surveillance” on Sherry and Lucricia's side.

He sat on a “chair” sketched out of chaotic lines and colors, and couldn't help but have terms like “nesting” and “fishing” circulating in his mind. After a while, he slightly shifted his gaze to look at the “mirror” drawn by irregular lines not far away, and muttered to the Agatha that appeared in the mirror, “She can't remember serious knowledge, but when you talk about other things, she really connects the dots– if Sherry devoted even a tenth of this concentration to vocabulary, she wouldn't have to compete with Alice in grades like a pure simpleton.”

Agatha hesitated for a few seconds before breaking the silence, “Honestly, I think Miss Lucricia has very impressive 'fishing skills'…”

Duncan waved his hand, “Regardless, we don't need to worry about Sherry and Lucricia for now. Coming together is much safer than acting alone, and perhaps that rabbit named Rabi really can catch those elusive heretics. What's more important now…is this ship.”

He got up from the chair, his gaze sweeping over the surrounding chaotic piles of colors and lines, discerning the contours of the room amidst the lines–after initially adapting to the dazzling chaos here, he had recognized many familiar things.

Basic furnishings like beds and tables were all available, and they generally corresponded to the “correct” locations in the real world. However, when it came to specific details such as the items currently placed on the table or the decorations on the wall, there were only vague and chaotic color patches.

As Duncan concluded: the goat head from the real world dared not peek into the true situation inside the captain's quarters. It might have merely caught a glimpse of the general appearance inside when the captain opened the door. Those vague impressions formed the chaotic lines and color blocks of this room;
Outside this room, the Homeloss was almost perfectly recreated one-to-one–that was because the real world's goat head was profoundly familiar with the Homeloss, except for the captain's quarters.

This eerie “Homeloss” was transformed from the “shadow” of the real Homeloss, but they are not simply translated to one another. In this transformation process, the goat head's “cognition” and “memory” played a critical role.

It was evident: this ship was the Dreamscape of his “first mate”–even though the goat head had no idea he was dreaming.

But this was also Silantis's Dreamscape–at least, there was some sort of “link” between here and Silantis's Dreamscape.

Duncan raised his hand, and a cluster of small flames appeared in front of him in the air, rippling outwards like water waves, rapidly spreading in all directions, but then it stopped upon touching the edges of this “chaotic room,” reflecting back like ripples.

This was the result of Duncan's “tests” in here for some time.

In this “room unrecognized by the goat head,” he could freely summon his flames without worrying about startling Silantis like last time. But outside this room, he could only manipulate the flames he had “mapped” onto the ship in advance; any additional fire might awaken Silantis and cause The Dream of the Nameless to end prematurely.

So… was there a safe way to both fully control this ship and establish further contact with Silantis without “scaring” Silantis like last time and avoiding Silantis's “resistance”?

Lost in thought, Duncan looked up toward the room's exit.

Maybe he was overthinking it–this could be a very simple matter.

After a moment of hesitation, he instructed Agatha to stay temporarily in this “safe room,” then stepped out of the room.

The dazed “goat head” was still daydreaming by the navigation desk, showing no reaction to Duncan's appearance–Duncan walked straight past it, past the chart room, out the captain's chamber door, and followed the familiar route in his memory to the stairs at the rear side of the captain's quarters, arriving on the aft deck.

In the boundless darkness and the slowly drifting fog, an object appeared in Duncan's view, seemingly quietly waiting for him, and it had been waiting for a long time.

It was the Homeloss's helm.

“… It's necessary to take the helm again.”

Chapter end

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