Ashes Of Deep Sea
/ Ashes Of Deep Sea Chapter 599 – Chapter 599 Chapter 598 Tiered Space
Chapter 599: Chapter 598: Tiered Space-Time Chapter 599: Chapter 598: Tiered Space-Time Near Light Breeze Harbor, far from the main shipping lanes and covered in a thin mist, the massive and majestic silhouette of the Homeloss moved slowly through the fog.
Then, suddenly, the surface of the sea started to ripple as if in a dream, and the reflection of the Ghost Ship fluctuated with the waves. For an extremely brief moment, it seemed as if the reflection would solidify out of the water, but the next moment, everything returned to normal.
Inside the captain's cabin, the wooden goat's head carved at the edge of the navigation desk suddenly turned its head in confusion. Accompanied by a slight creaking sound from its base, it raised its head and looked around, only to mutter doubtfully after a long while, “Why do I feel something strange just happened…”
In the corner of the room, on the wall hung an old oval mirror where layers of black mist had begun to swirl at some unknown time, and Agatha's figure stood within the mirror, quietly observing the goat's head on the table.
Finally noticing the gaze from beside it, the goat's head immediately turned and yelled in surprise after seeing Agatha, “Hey… you startled me! What are you looking at me for so early in the morning?”
As it spoke, it shook its head again, as if suddenly remembering something, “Oh right, Miss Agatha, where were you last night? I didn't feel your presence on the ship… Aren't you supposed to roam around the mirrors at night?”
But Agatha didn't answer the goat's head's question immediately. Instead, she continued to quietly observe the “first mate's” every move for a long while before breaking the silence, “Didn't you feel anything last night? Didn't you notice anything unusual when I left?”
“No,” the goat's head paused, slowly grasping her meaning, “wait, what do you mean… Did something happen again last night?”
“Yeah, the captain will probably come looking for you soon,” Agatha frowned slightly and nodded, then asked again, “You just said you felt something strange? What was it?”
The goat's head took a moment to realize that she was referring to the murmur it had just said to itself. Although not understanding why the usually calm and composed former “gatekeeper” was acting so oddly this morning, it answered, “I don't know how to describe it, just… a shiver? It felt like I was lost in thought and suddenly someone tapped my shoulder…”
Agatha looked puzzledly at the goat's head, “…you have shoulders?”
“That means someone tapped my head–It's just a figure of speech, you understand,” the goat's head continued shaking its head, “I might have been distracted while steering just now. There was a bit of a wave on the sea, shook me awake…”
“There haven't been any waves on the sea, it's been completely calm–only ripples arose in the Dreamscape,” Agatha shook her head, “You were dreaming just now.”
The goat's head was stunned for a few seconds before letting out: “…Ah?”
…
Looking at the city streets that had returned to normal in the morning light, Duncan furrowed his brows slightly, wearing a thoughtful expression.
The two mannequins stood silently behind him.
After pondering for an unknown length of time, Duncan muttered softly, “It seems no matter how long one stays 'on the other side' or in what way the Dream of the Nameless comes to an end, the time in the real world always remains in the early morning after 'waking up'…”
Alice turned her head to look at Luny, then back at the captain, scratching her head in some confusion, “Ah… did you stay 'over there' for a long time this time?”
“From the feel of it, the time I spent in that dark, foggy space was almost twice as long as the last time–until the Dreamscape startled me awake again,” Duncan nodded slowly, “And it appears that the time in the real world still corresponds to the previous instances, still at the moment when the sun has just risen. This is quite in line with the patterns of dreaming.”
He paused, organizing his words while explaining to Alice, “The passage of time felt in dreams is chaotic–a second and a thousand years might feel the same, and in the real world, it might have just been a moment, calibrated precisely at the moment of awakening.”
Alice thought for a moment, then shook her head in confusion, “I don't understand…”
“That's alright, it's not important,” Duncan smiled, pushing the jumbled thoughts from his mind and stepped forward to ruffle Alice's hair, “Let's head back first. This exploration… yielded a lot.”
Taking the two mannequins with him, Duncan soon returned to the “Witch's Mansion” located at No. 99 Crown Street, where his crew had already returned from the Dreamscape and gathered in the living room.
When Duncan entered the living room, Fenna, Morris, and others had already begun discussing their respective experiences in The Dream of the Nameless.
Unlike the previous time when everyone had fallen into the Dreamscape unexpectedly, this time's “entry into the dream” was preemptive, and the “temporary marks” Duncan left with flames ensured that the crew could exchange basic information within The Dream of the Nameless. Therefore, after waking from the dream, they didn't need to spend extra time explaining their individual encounters and could focus on exploring various clues.
Duncan's arrival interrupted the crew's conversation. Morris and the others stood up, saluting the captain–Nina quickly rushed up, looking particularly joyful, “Uncle Duncan!”
Duncan gently hugged Nina, then scanned the living room. He saw Lucrecia sitting on the sofa across the coffee table with a rather strange expression. He smiled and spread his hands, “Would you like a hug too?”
“The Sea Witch” thought for a moment and shook her head, “No.”
Duncan smiled, sat down in his spot, and quickly resumed a serious expression, “Alright, let's get to the point–let's skip the basic information exchange. What we need to discuss now concerns two new developments.
“The first is the 'Xilin' that appeared before Sherry, Morris, and Nina.
“The second is the 'giant' who claims to be a deity, whom Fenna encountered.”
He looked up, his gaze falling on Morris.
“I'd like to hear your thoughts first, Morris.”
“The appearance of multiple 'Xilins' in the dream indicates that we need to adjust our previous judgment about 'Xilin',” Morris removed his monocle and wiped it as he spoke, “We previously judged that 'Xilin' was merely a mental entity appearing in The Dream of the Nameless, akin to a 'native inhabitant.' Her movements weren't closely related to the operation of the Dreamscape, but now it seems that's not the case…
“When we exceed a certain range or duration of activity in the Dreamscape, a 'Xilin' appears around us and tries to guide us to a place called the 'Silent Wall.' This 'guidance' could be a mechanism of The Dream of the Nameless itself.
“In other words, the 'Xilin' named elf could actually be an embodiment of certain rules within The Dream of the Nameless–not a mental entity, but a mechanism. When the conditions are right, it gets triggered, and it might disappear when conditions change.”
Morris said, then his gaze fell on Sherry.
The “disappearance” the old scholar referred to clearly pointed to the 'Xilin' who had been with Sherry–she had turned into a tree.
“As for the specific rules that trigger and end this 'appearance,' it might take several tests to summarize them, or it might never be summarized,” Morris put his monocle back on and continued, “But one thing is for certain: 'Xilin's' appearance is benevolent towards us 'visitors' and malevolent towards the Heretics who invade the Dreamscape, calling the invaders 'the impure.' This probably represents the 'judgment' or 'stance' of The Dream of the Nameless. This is good news for us.”
Duncan listened to the old man's analysis, silently nodding, then focused his gaze on Fenna.
“So, what do you think about that 'giant,' Fenna?”
“I'm clueless,” Fenna thought for a moment, then shook her head candidly, “I've recalled everything that 'giant' told me, but I can't find anything that corresponds to the myths and historical records of the real world, not even in the relatively complete cultural heritage of the Elves…”
“Even the Elves' 'heritage' is just relatively intact. If that giant comes from before the Great Annihilation, it's quite normal that we can't find any corresponding clues in the modern records,” Lucrecia shook her head, “The key issue is, what exactly is the relationship between that giant, his sandy desert, and the 'Elves'?”
The “Witch” looked up into Fenna's eyes.
“Miss Fenna, you didn't see any hint of forests in that desert, nor did you hear anything related to Elves from the giant, did you?”
“That's right, absolutely nothing,” Fenna confirmed decisively.
“That 'Xilin' named elf also doesn't know what a desert is, and the only connection to the 'giant' is through the description of the creator Saslouka–she said Saslouka is a deity without a fixed form, who can transform into a deer, a goat, or a giant, but this connection seems far-fetched to me,” Lucrecia pondered aloud, “So, the current situation is that Fenna and the rest of us seem to have been split into two different 'timespaces.' The environments we face, the people we meet, and the information we hear are completely different, yet these two 'timespaces' are undeniably connected…”
“That's right, at the very least, both 'timespaces' are undoubtedly part of The Dream of the Nameless,” Morris immediately nodded, his face thoughtful. After pondering for a moment, he slowly spoke, “Then we need to figure out one thing: Is the vast divergence between these two timespaces due to spatial discontinuity or temporal discontinuity?”
Chapter end
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