Chapter 586 – Dreamless Trance
Chapter 586 A Dreamless Trance
In the end, the doll Luni was also pulled by Alice to receive the flame mark bestowed by the captain.
At this point, with the exception of those more “humble” tin people and puppets that did not have a complete mind, everyone in this “witch’s mansion” had received the imprint of the spiritual body’s fire before going into a dream.
It was time for dinner, and the bright electric lights and wall gas lamps illuminated the spacious dining room, where the members of the Lost Fleet gathered at the long table to share fish, cakes and wine, and to prepare themselves for the deeper, more unpredictable night that was to come.
Tiny flickers of pale green flame danced in the depths of their eyes, making their gazes seem to gaze into both dimensions of reality and illusion at the same time, and the sound of their conversations, temporarily mixed with a hint of the Captain’s power, triggered a humming, low vibration in the air, while another pale green flame encroached upon the gas lamps on the walls, giving all of them an ethereal green glow, and making the entire dining room’s walls and floors take on an eerie, spirit-like quality in the light of the flames. an eerie texture as if they were spirits.
If an unknowing ordinary person accidentally intruded into this restaurant at this time, I’m afraid that he or she would immediately be infiltrated by the eerie atmosphere and power that filled this place – it would be a very difficult thing to maintain his or her sanity and ego.
The clockwork doll Luni lit the decorative candelabra, and the candlelight swayed on the dining table, the bright yellow flame reflecting on the silver and ceramic cups and plates, glowing with a mesmerizing warm light.
Maurice and Lucrecia were discussing in hushed tones the ancient legends that pertained to elven society, their discussion interspersed with many specialized words that made it difficult for the common man to follow; Shirley was devouring her food, she would always be the first one at the table to fill her stomach; Vanna was giving the pre-dinner benediction, she was still the most devout of the lot, and meticulously fulfilled the sacrament to the Goddess at all times; and Nina, after a few bites of food quietly lifted her head to the table. A few bites of food and then quietly raised her head, and with a twinkle in her eye, she looked to the wine that was placed not far in front of her.
“I would like to drink fermented grape juice ……”
The shard of the ancient sun made a request to the fire usurper.jpg
Duncan gave the girl a look and raised an eyebrow, “Why don’t you say you want wheat juice?”
Nina’s eyes lit up instantly and she raised her hand to the other side of the beer, “Really?”
Duncan looked at her expressionlessly, “What do you think?”
“Oh ……” Nina grunted and honestly picked up the lemonade that was sitting on the other side, looking disappointed.
Not far away, a mechanical desk clock clicked and ran, the hands slowly moving forward.
As dinner drew to a close, Duncan suddenly broke the silence, “I’ve actually been thinking about a question.”
“What problem are you thinking about?” Vanna across the table put down the knife and fork in her hand and asked curiously.
“How exactly does the Profound Holy Lord view those of His followers?” Duncan said seriously, “He suggested that I capture a few of the Annihilationists to establish a link with the Profound Deep, which doesn’t sound heartbreaking at all – but He maintains His sanity at the same time and seems to care about this world, don’t you guys think that’s strange?”
“I do think it makes sense,” Morris said nonchalantly as he wiped the corners of his mouth, “especially given the premise that the Profound Holy Lord possesses sanity, and that He’s proposing to you.”
Duncan raised his eyebrows at that, “Oh?”
“Before you managed to establish contact with that ancient god, there was never any communication between the Profound Holy Lord and the real world, in other words, those so-called Annihilationists are actually only unilaterally believing in their ‘Lord’, and through this unilateral belief they draw power to continuously summon demons from the Profound Deep Sea for their own use. “Morris shrugged his shoulders, “Think about it from another angle, if you are the Holy Lord of the Profound, suddenly a group of noisy mortals appeared out of nowhere, they claimed to be your descendants, then ran into your yard, stole your fruits, dug up your fruit trees, and tricked your servants, and finally tried to pry your door open and live in your room. gates to live in your rooms ……”
Duncan felt his blood pressure rise already as he thought about it.
“Okay, I think I understand ……” he sighed, “that makes sense.”
The mechanical desk clock in the corner of the dining room suddenly chimed loudly, the clanging sound interrupting the conversation around the table and echoing hollowly and abruptly through the massive mansion.
Duncan listened to the clock chime, silently counting each of its strikes, and spoke in a low voice, “It’s nine o’clock.”
No one responded to him.
There were only a few empty chairs left on either side of the table, as if there had been no one there from the beginning.
Duncan slowly furrowed his brow at the sudden emptying of the dining room, unable to identify the exact ‘process’ of the change, even though it had happened right under his nose.
Everything happened all of a sudden, as if the whole world had “switched” in a very short moment, like a card being flipped over and the numbers on the face of the card turning into the pattern on the back – Nina and Maurice had already entered another dimension with the flipped card, while Duncan was still in a different dimension, and he was still in a different dimension. Nina and Maurice had gone to another dimension with the flipped cards, while Duncan remained at the table.
Together with Duncan, there is also Alice at the “card table”.
Ms. Doll’s eyes widened instantly, and she looked startled: “Wow!”
“The effects of the Dream of the Nameless One have indeed reappeared ……,” Duncan slowly stood up from his chair, “Even the bunny doll has disappeared.”
No sooner had he spoken than a somewhat nervous voice came from the sidelines, “Old master, I …… I’m still here.”
Duncan and Alice turned their heads at the same time and looked in the direction the voice came from. The clockwork doll Lunie was standing not far behind them – she stood there during dinner.
Now, the clockwork doll had been left on “this side” of the real world.
Alice looked at her in surprise, “Lunie! Why were you left on this side too?!”
“I don’t know,” the clockwork doll spread her hands and shook her head, then looked across the empty dining table with worry in her tone, “Is the Mistress of the house …… okay?”
“They have arrived on the other side of the dreamscape.” Duncan said, while at the same time not being able to help but look Lunie up and down again, his brow furrowing a little.
Lunie had been left on ‘this side’ …… Why was that?
When the Dream of the Nameless One occurred, himself and Alice would be left on the side of the real world, and now Luni was left on this side as well, and that too while awake …… What mechanism was at work behind this?
Could it be because of the …… “mannequins”?
“Luni, do you dream?” In thought, Duncan suddenly asked.
“I …… don’t know,” Luni froze for a moment and answered honestly, “Occasionally, I will fall into a trance when Mistress maintains my body, recalling something from before, but Mistress said that it wasn’t a dream. Just memories overflowing the soul container …… Probably, I can’t dream? I don’t really know what it’s like for humans to dream.”
“What about the rabbi? Does the rabbit named Rabbi really dream?” Duncan asked again.
“The rabbit can dream, in fact it’s quite powerful in the dream world – years ago, there was a time when the Mistress was plagued by nightmares on a regular basis, this got to the point where it was even interrupting her research, so the Mistress made preparations and voluntarily plunged herself into the dream world to confront head on the invasions of her spirit world’s Shadows – she won and captured a shadow from the deepest recesses of her nightmares, a shadow that came from the spirit world, which the Mistress said was a creation of fear, and then beat that shadow up and down, and finally sewed it into a rag doll that was the Rabbi …… “
Duncan listened to the clockwork doll in front of him recount these pasts with a bemused expression, and after a few moments the corners of his mouth twitched, “It seems that Lucrecia has been through some marvelous things over the years …… Well, I can probably see what’s going on.”
Alice scratched her head, “Huh?”
“The Dream of the Nameless One only seems to affect those creatures that can dream,” Duncan looked at the two dolls in front of him, “And you, as dolls, don’t actually dream – or even ‘dream’, your dreams are not ‘compatible’ with ordinary people.”
Duncan made some critical additions at the end of his sentence, because he suddenly remembered that Alice had described to him certain experiences that seemed to be “dreams” when she was asleep, so in a way, Alice also dreamed – but like Lunie, her dreams were not the same as those of ordinary people. But just like Luni, her dreams are not the same as ordinary people’s, if you have to say …… it’s more like a “doll’s trance”.
This kind of “trance” obviously does not meet the “criteria” for entering the Dream of the Nameless One.
Alice seemed to understand, then her not very bright head suddenly bright, she seemed to think of something, wide-eyed looking at Duncan: “Then Captain, why do you also stay in the ‘this side’ like us? Don’t you dream?”
“Of course I ……” Duncan subconsciously opened his mouth, but immediately afterward froze for a moment, his expression somewhat strangely stunned there.
Did he …… really have dreams after coming to this world?
In the normal sense, belonging to mortals, interlaced between reality and memories …… dreams.
As if a long neglected switch had suddenly been flicked, and the unnoticed corner of chaos in his subconscious suddenly revealed itself, Duncan noticed this for the first time, and he flew back to his memories, recalling every sleep he had fallen asleep in this world since he had passed through that door, and …… “Dreamland”.
He recalled that he had dreamed – he had entered subspace in his dreams, and he had foreseen future disasters in his dreams, in which he had seen the sun go out, dying voids high in the sky, and grotesque luminaries falling from the sky ……
Other than that, he doesn’t remember dreaming about anything else, because his body doesn’t really need to sleep nowadays, and keeping the habit of lying in bed every day is often just a means for him to maintain his “humanity” ……
Yes, he does dream, though rarely, though ……
Duncan suddenly raised his hand and pinched his brow.
No, dreams shouldn’t be like this, shouldn’t be like this only – what about those unusual dreams? What about those scenes experienced during the day and mirrored in sleep after falling asleep? What about those things that could be called beautiful dreams, those bland dreams, those interesting dreams, those dreams full of memories, those …… dreams belonging to ordinary people?
Duncan recalled with difficulty, but he suddenly realized that all of his dreams either pointed to subspace, or to some prophetic “visions” that seemed to transcend time and space, except for these two cases, his every sleep …… only a piece of Nothingness.
And not just in this world.
He recalled.
Zhou Ming recalled.
He recalled the days before he pushed open the door of the bachelor apartment, the days before he was trapped in that mist, the days long, long ago – so long ago that it seemed as if it was already another life – the days when everything was still as usual, when the entire world was never caught in the mists of those days.
Zhou Ming raised his head in confusion.
Did he …… really dream like an ordinary person?
(End of Chapter)