Chapter 537

Chapter 537: .

The moment Lucretia took the small hair clip, Duncan felt something deep in his “heart” relax all of a sudden.

It was a place so hidden it was almost impossible to notice, a feeling that could not be put into words. It was like a mission that had been delayed for far too long was finally completed at last. Even if this body had forgotten what that mission actually was, the thought carved into his soul still let out a quiet sigh.

“I hope you like it,” Duncan said softly after a pause. “I’ve forgotten many things, but I remember this hair clip was for you.”

“I heard Tyrian say that,” Lucretia nodded. At some point, she realized that the hesitation and anxiety that had tangled around her for many days had all faded away. Even though she had spoken with her father through a scrying crystal before, it was clear that only facing him with her own eyes in the Mortal Realm could truly calm those worries. “Anyway, it’s good that you’ve come back to ‘this side’.”

Duncan nodded as well, then turned his gaze toward the elven scholar standing not far away, who had been trying his best to lower his presence ever since.

“Master Taran Ael,” he said with a faint, friendly smile, trying to sound as approachable as he could, “we are meeting again in the Mortal Realm. I’m glad to see you safe and sound. There are many things I want to discuss with you.”

“D?don’t call me ‘Master’. That’s far too polite,” Taran Ael quickly waved his hands. “Just call me by my name. I’ve admired you for a long time, Captain Duncan, great explorer. Uh, I mean, back when you were still alive… when you were still human… I already…”

Duncan looked at the elven scholar in silence, while Lucretia quietly pulled out a short wand that looked like a magician’s rod and pointed it at Taran Ael’s nose.

“Frog or snake?” she asked in a calm tone, saying something very dangerous.

Taran Ael raised both hands at once and gave Duncan a miserable look. “What I meant was, a century ago I already admired your fame, but sadly I never had the chance to meet you…”

Duncan hadn’t expected this elven scholar to have such an amusing personality. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that the truth?”

“Of course,” Taran Ael said very seriously. “As a scholar who is very interested in the borderlands, I’ve always wanted to befriend true explorers and hear from them about what lies beyond the borders of civilization. I even dreamed of sailing off myself one day, to explore the grand wall of fog. But I am destined never to complete such a great journey…”

“It’s fine. Now you have a chance to ‘befriend’ me properly,” Duncan nodded. Then he suddenly remembered something and turned to Lucretia. “Right, there’s another thing for you.”

For a moment, Lucretia did not react. Then she saw Duncan raise his hand in a small gesture.

The flaming doorway that had appeared on the deck earlier had never fully gone out. At Duncan’s motion, it suddenly swelled. A hollow opened inside the swirling flames, and after a quick burst of fire and smoke, a giant wooden crate appeared on the deck.

A fat, snow?white pigeon with fluffy feathers stood on top of the crate.

Ai tilted its head. One eye focused on Lucretia, while the other wandered off who knew where. “Dear customer, please sign for your delivery. Don’t forget to leave a five?star review.”

Lucretia stared blankly at the scene, wondering what was going on with this pigeon. Then her gaze shifted and landed on a metal nameplate fixed to the side of the crate.

“Tyrian prepared a Spirit Realm lens for you—the highest grade,” Duncan said, pointing at the crate. “You didn’t forget, did you?”

“Ah, I… didn’t forget,” Lucretia said, her eyes sliding to the side with a guilty look. She quickly changed the subject and pointed at the pigeon strutting proudly on the crate. “This is the ‘Ai’ my brother mentioned? What did it mean by ‘five?star review’?”

“Don’t mind it. Most people can’t understand the way this pigeon talks,” Duncan waved his hand and called Ai onto his shoulder. Then he gestured for Lucretia to lead the way. “Leave the lens here on the deck for now. You can decide what to do with it later. Let’s find a place where we can talk.”

“Alright.”

Led by Lucretia, Duncan and Taran Ael entered a “parlor” in the middle deck.

It was an upper cabin with large windows, set along the ship’s side. Through the glass, a visitor could see the power systems along the flank of the Radiant Star and the ship’s stern, which looked half?spiritual and half?real, as if it were always shrouded in mist.

Duncan walked to the window, curiosity clear on his face, and looked out at the “view”. He studied this ship that looked different from the Vanished, yet carried the same eerie atmosphere—a ship of the curse, with a stern like a ghostly kingdom. After a long moment, he sighed. “This ship is nothing like the Sea Mist at all.”

Even though Duncan’s words were just a casual comment, Lucretia still looked a little uneasy. “It has been a long time. Both the Sea Mist and the Radiant Star are very different from your original designs now. To survive at the ‘border’, I made many bold changes to this ship. I hope you won’t be angry.”

“There should be changes. Change is good,” Duncan laughed. “The Vanished has changed a lot too. If you go aboard and see its interior, you’ll be shocked.”

Board the Vanished?

For a moment, Lucretia felt a bit dazed. Maybe she remembered something from long ago. Or maybe she thought of how she had already boarded the Vanished several times now, and how her elder brother contacted her from there every so often just to scare her.

But she soon came back to herself and nodded to Duncan. “I… will go.”

Then she lifted her head and raised her voice toward the door: “Lunie, you can come in.”

The door opened. Under Duncan’s curious gaze, a clockwork doll entered, pushing a small cart with drinks and snacks.

The doll’s face looked six or seven parts like Lucretia’s, but her whole body was made of metal, ceramic, and leather. With a soft ticking and faint clicking of gears, the clockwork doll walked to the table in the middle of the parlor and gave Duncan a small bow. “It is a pleasure to see you, Old Master.”

“You’re Lunie?” Duncan couldn’t help taking a few extra glances at the strange doll. “I found your ‘sister’ Nilu in a doll shop in Pland. To be honest, you two are very different.”

“When you first saw me, I was only a one?third doll,” Lunie said, very polite, keeping her head slightly bowed. Soft ticking and clacking sounds came from inside her body. “Of course, at that time I could not think or speak. It was Mistress who gave me life.”

“…Incredible craftsmanship,” Duncan said, looking over at Lucretia. “But I also have a talking, thinking ‘doll’ on my ship now. Maybe Lunie and she can be friends.”

“I know. Brother told me about Anomaly 099,” Lucretia nodded. “Lunie is very curious about that ‘Miss Alice’ as well, but… is she really safe?”

“Perfectly safe,” Duncan waved it off. “On the Vanished, she’s the safest one there. Even a bucket could beat her in a fight…”

Lucretia: “…?”

The witch finally began to get a faint idea of what Father meant earlier when he said, “the Vanished has changed a lot too.”

At this point, Duncan finally turned his full attention to Taran Ael.

Under the elven scholar’s nervous gaze, Duncan adjusted his posture and asked seriously: “In the legends or traditional belief system of the elves, is there any term like ‘Nameless One’s Dream’?”

Taran Ael blinked. “Nameless One’s Dream?”

Then he suddenly reacted. “You mean the dream I fell into before? Are you saying… that dream has a name, ‘Nameless One’s Dream’?”

“If the intel is right, yes.”

Duncan gave a clear answer. Then he told the two of them all the intel he had forced out of the cultists with “a few tricks”. He included the possible role of the Enders working in the dark, his own rough guesses, and his earlier discussion with Agatha. He held nothing back.

As Duncan spoke, Taran Ael gradually forgot about his earlier nervousness and discomfort. He became fully focused. Even Lucretia leaned forward a little, a thoughtful look flickering across her face from time to time.

To a scholar devoted to research, this information taken from heretics sounded dangerous yet very tempting. It might be closely tied to their evil doctrines, but behind it all… there seemed to be hints of knowledge and mystery.

When Duncan finally fell silent, the room grew very quiet. The two scholars both sank into thought. After who knew how long, Lucretia was the first to break the silence: “Can we trust this intel? Ah, I’m not doubting you, but those cultists are usually very cunning. Even church inquisitors who are experts at dealing with heretics usually have to go to great lengths to pry anything out of them…”

“It’s reliable,” Duncan said, full of confidence. “I used some very effective investigation methods—ah, would you like to hear exactly what I did?”

Lucretia and Taran Ael both froze and, without even thinking, shook their heads at the same time.

“…Alright then,” Duncan said, sounding a bit disappointed. “So what are your thoughts now? Mr. Taran Ael, what guesses do you have about this ‘Nameless One’s Dream’?”

Taran Ael thought carefully, then after a few seconds he spoke, choosing his words. “There is no such term in any elven legend or traditional belief, as far as I know. I can at least be sure the term doesn’t come from any elven language. But if we only talk about the idea of ‘dreams’… our race does have many stories related to it.”

Duncan’s interest rose at once. “Oh?”

“Have you ever heard of the Great Demon God Saslokar?”