A dull roar echoed across the deck; it was the sound of the engine starting.
Steam pipes hissed and roared as the hull vibrated slightly, and the Abyssal Hunter began to slowly sail away from the harbor.
Alice stood in the captain's cabin, watching the receding island through the porthole.
Dark clouds had completely pressed down.
They gathered from all directions, clenching the entire sky tight; even looking into the distance, not a single ray of sunlight could be seen.
Alice's sixth sense was still screaming in warning.
It wasn't coming from the island.
It was coming from beneath the sea.
Something was wandering down there.
Lu Yuan's consciousness gradually sank amidst the rocking of the cabin.
The sharp pain in his abdomen grew distant, as if separated by a layer of water; his half-lidded eyes slowly lost their vision, and Philip's prayers became a distant echo.
Then, everything went dark.
When he "opened his eyes" again, the familiar black sea appeared before him.
Strange Dreams.
It was this place again.
But this time... it felt different.
Lu Yuan tried to move his fingers.
He could move.
He lifted his arm and clenched his fist, feeling every part of his body; there was nothing wrong, and even the injuries he had outside had disappeared.
At the same time, this was the first time he possessed complete control over his body within the Strange Dreams.
Not only that, he even felt like he could wake up at any moment; as long as he wanted to, he could leave this place.
The shackles of the Strange Dreams... had vanished. It seemed the owner of that massive heart must have been the creator of these dreams.
Lu Yuan stood up and looked around.
Beneath his feet was the beach where he had stood countless times, the grey-white sand shimmering with a cold light under the moon.
He leaned over and grabbed a handful of sand; the fine grains slipped through his fingers, feeling cold and real to the touch.
The wreckage of the Iron Whale was still stranded among the reefs not far away, its rusted hull looking like the skeleton of a giant beast, the holes in the ship still shocking to behold.
Lu Yuan walked along the beach toward the altar.
The altar was still in its original place, with tiered stone steps extending upward, but the patterns once soaked in blood were now dry, shimmering with a dark golden light under the moon. He reached out to touch those runes; his fingertips felt a cold sensation, but then something strange happened.
The entire island seemed to have been restored, returning to some primal state.
But the biggest change was that there were no people.
The figures that used to stand in a row on the distant beach were gone, and the area around the altar was empty; the grey-cloaked figures who had once chanted in the Strange Dreams had vanished.
On this entire island, he was the only one left.
Lu Yuan frowned, reflecting on the encounters of this island trip.
Most of the scenes in the Strange Dreams matched up: the Iron Whale, the grey-cloaked figures, and the massive heartbeat deep within the mine.
The only discrepancies were the tentacles he saw emerging from the deep sea at the very end and the number of grey-cloaked figures.
The three grey-cloaked figures in the mine... one seemed to know something and had been waiting for them in advance. Yet the entity they summoned was only so-so, having at most slightly more combat power than a team captain.
The other two had stayed perched on the altar the whole time, never coming down. They controlled the massive tentacles but didn't seem to have any intent to deliberately obstruct them.
The tentacles' attacks seemed fierce, but they were always restricted to the central area. If he had been the one controlling them, he would have crushed the people from the Holy Church first. After that, whether it was the Arbiter or Marcus, they all would have died on the spot unless they fled immediately.
But when Marcus charged toward the heart, the noticeably thicker tentacles in the passage didn't make a deliberate effort to stop him. It was as if... they had intentionally let them pass.
And what puzzled Lu Yuan the most was whether an existence of that level could really be blocked from its gaze simply by relying on a blessing.
Those eyes had opened and closed without killing a single intruder.
What exactly was wrong?
Lu Yuan couldn't find an answer.
However, it was true that the Strange Dreams were coming to an end.
He could feel this space becoming thin, like a bubble about to burst. A wave of weariness washed over him, and Lu Yuan decided to wake up of his own accord.
Just then, his peripheral vision caught a figure.
Lu Yuan turned his head sharply.
He saw a man standing on a reef not far away.
The sea breeze blew against the hem of his clothes, but his figure remained motionless, like a statue.
His back was to the moonlight, and his face was hidden in shadow, as if deliberately blurred by some force.
Lu Yuan squinted his eyes, trying to see the man's face clearly, but he could only see a distorted phantom.
But his clothing was clear.
It was the exclusive uniform of the Nightwatchers—a black trench coat with a moon and eyes embroidered on the collar. The clothes were somewhat worn, with frayed edges, looking as if they had been worn for a long time.
Lu Yuan's heart stirred as he thought of Gaowen, who had already died on the island, and he tried calling out.
"Gaowen?"
The man did not answer.
He only slowly turned around to face Lu Yuan, but that face remained blurred.
Then, he spoke.
His voice was intermittent, as if coming from very far away, or like a whisper soaked in seawater. Every word carried a strange echo, reverberating in Lu Yuan's ears.
"This place... is only the beginning..."
"The island... is but one part of the plan..."
"Gelimu Port... is the..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a tentacle emerged silently from the seabed and wrapped around the man's waist.
The man did not struggle.
He only cast a glance toward Lu Yuan before sinking into the seawater.
That gaze pierced through the blurred face, carrying some inexplicable emotion.
Was it a warning? A plea? Or something else?
Lu Yuan didn't have time to discern it.
The sea closed up, and the man disappeared.
Then, the Strange Dreams shattered.
Lu Yuan opened his eyes abruptly.
At the edge of his vision, the familiar grey-white text flickered:
【Sanity III: +6, 21/70】 (T/N: The experience points here were gained from facing the tentacles; Sanity did not increase when facing the heart.)
The upper limit of his Sanity had not decreased, but the experience was no longer increasing either.
This was the first time the numbers remained motionless; it seemed the Strange Dreams really had ended.
As his consciousness returned, the sharp pain in his abdomen returned with it. Lu Yuan couldn't help but want to roll over, but his body wouldn't obey.
His limbs felt as heavy as lead, too weighted to lift.
Strangely, however, his head no longer ached.
Previously, whenever his Sanity was more than half consumed, Lu Yuan would feel as if his head were about to explode. That sharp pain, like being pierced by countless needles, made it almost impossible to think.
But now, aside from the dull ache of the burns on his abdomen, his mind was clearer than ever before.
"Don't move."
Gray's voice came from beside him.
Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and saw Gray sitting in a chair by the bed, leaning against the wall, resting.
"You're heavily injured," Gray's tone was flat. "I gave you medicine; it's normal to feel weak for a while."
Lu Yuan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but his throat was dry, and he only produced a raspy sound.
Gray handed him a waterskin.
"Drink some water first."
Lu Yuan took a few sips from Gray's hand. The cold water slid down his throat, finally allowing him to find his voice.
"Outside..."
Before he could finish, the ship's hull rocked violently.
Lu Yuan's body almost slid off the bed, but fortunately, Gray moved quickly and held him down. The waterskin by the bed tumbled to the floor, spilling water everywhere.
"What's happening?" Lu Yuan frowned.
Gray didn't answer, but instead stood up and walked to the porthole.
His figure stiffened for a moment.
The sky outside had been completely swallowed by dark clouds, with not a single trace of light visible.
Those clouds were heavy and pressed low, almost touching the masts. The sea surface began to churn, with waves growing higher and higher, crashing against the hull one after another with a dull roar.
"The storm is coming," Gray whispered.
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