Chapter 127: New Changes
“Dear Mother, I hope this letter finds you well.
“I am planning to purchase a property in Lamifa City and am writing to ask for your opinion. Professor Bright recommended a residence in the neighborhood near Atherton Square; it’s a three-story house with a garden.
“I am very fond of the independent study and library on the third floor of this house, which suits my needs perfectly. Outside the study window is the long tree-lined avenue next to Atherton Square.
“The location here is also very convenient. The only drawback might be that it’s a bit far from Lamifa University, but it is within an acceptable range. The price is five thousand three hundred Duke coins, which is also within my budget.
“The owner of the house is an old neighbor of Professor Bright. He never lived in the property after purchasing it and now plans to move to the northern suburbs, so he decided to sell this residence.
“This house has four bedrooms: one on the first floor and three on the second floor. I plan to use one of them as a storage room and connect another to the master bedroom to serve as a walk-in closet. If you visit, you could stay in the guest bedroom on the second floor.
“I hope you will also be satisfied with this house.
“Because the owner is eager to sell, and with the discount Professor Bright secured, the price is relatively low. I must sign the agreement with him as soon as possible, so I hope you will forgive me for only mentioning this property to you now.
“I will try my best to complete the property transfer before the spring break, and have workers carry out renovations and remodeling during the break. If time permits, I will move in at the beginning of the third term.
“Perhaps Chendo will also move in with me. Would you like to meet him?
…
“I previously wrote to you about the visiting scholar trip during the spring break; the roster and specific departure date have now been finalized. Aside from myself, three other professors from the School of Literature and History will be going, including my roommate on Hayward Street, Lorenzo Grantham.
“In addition to the professors, the school has arranged for others to accompany us, including a guide, a translator, and a doctor—yes, it is Dr. Chester Fitzroy, whom I mentioned to you before. He is the school doctor for Lamifa University and will also participate in this visiting scholar trip.
“The participation of Lorenzo and Chester should put your mind at ease, as I will have acquaintances keeping me company on this journey.
“I am also very much looking forward to this trip to Middleton. It is a distant coastal nation with completely different customs and practices from the Duchy of Konst. I am sure I will gain some entirely new knowledge and insights in Middleton.
“We will depart on February 22nd and it may take about ten days to reach Middleton. The winter weather still worries me. We will spend a long time on the road to Middleton, and I hope we will have good weather then.
…
“May the bright spring sunlight grace the earth soon.”
February 8th, Saturday, evening.
Siles picked up his pen and wrote the letter to be sent to his mother. Then he put down the fountain pen and, under the dim light of the desk’s wall lamp, quietly gazed at the snowscape outside the window.
Lamifa City had experienced heavy snowfall over the past week. Due to the terrible weather, Lamifa University had to suspend classes for a day or two.
And a week had already passed since the resolution of the Jonathan Bryant incident.
Of course, Jonathan Bryant was not dead. He was currently lying in a ward at the East District Darwin Hospital, lingering on his last breath. It was unknown whether the severe winter cold would claim his life, but the agony of death was surely already stirring within his body.
Nanisal Bryant and Nona Norrison… no, she should be called Garland now; at least that’s what she said when introducing herself. These two children, along with the other children who were in the basement at the time, were now in a certain hospital in the East District—not Darwin Hospital.
The Church of the Past had temporarily taken charge of this group of children. Most of them were orphans who came to the hospital for treatment, or patients abandoned by their parents at the hospital and then coincidentally taken by the doctors at Darwin Hospital to participate in this horrific experiment.
Their bodies had some minor ailments, but overall they were considered healthy. After staying in the hospital for a week, they looked even better.
The weather improved slightly today, and in the afternoon, Siles, Madame Fuller, Angela, and his other companions went to visit the children.
It was evident that after leaving that gloomy environment, the children were slowly recovering in both their physical and mental states.
This fact, of course, made people sigh even more. After all, these healthy children should have been thriving under the care of their parents and elders, yet now they could only stay in a pale hospital waiting for an unknown future.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Bryant’s evil plan and his “ambitions” seemed to have been buried by the snowstorms of the past week. Not many people knew about the matter.
Siles carefully shared the inside story with Madame Fuller, Carol, and other insiders at this afternoon’s gathering. And that was enough to leave them dumbfounded.
Regarding Alden Bridges, Siles had written a letter to inform him of the matter. He hadn’t received a reply from the old painter in a long time; the other party’s feelings were likely very complicated as well.
As for Mrs. Lampson, Siles specifically visited her in person to inform her of Jonathan Bryant’s schemes. Louisa looked both resentful and helpless but eventually let out a slow sigh of relief.
She said, “This can be considered an explanation for Mike Lampson, right?”
Siles found it difficult to answer that question.
As for the Church of the Past, Siles had asked them to investigate Darwin Hospital on New Year’s Eve.
In fact, they had indeed uncovered some issues, and those clues were collected from the congregation of the Church of the Past. Subsequently, they used these related clues and ritual methods to find the corresponding locations.
In other words, they were slightly slower than Siles. But not by much; after the events of February 1st, it was the investigators from the Church of the Past who quickly arrived to clean up the mess. And Siles was more than happy to leave the scene for them to handle.
The Duchy’s Minister of Finance, an Elder of the History Society, a backer of underground gangs, a member of a behind-the-scenes family alliance… Jonathan Bryant’s identities were simply too complex. Siles had no intention of getting involved in these disputes, so he preferred the Church of the Past to take over such troubles.
This time, the investigation was not led by the Dominic Milner that Siles was familiar with, but by another investigator Siles had also interacted with, Catherine Kinsey.
Upon seeing this lady, Siles recalled that she was precisely a “female knight.” Catherine Kinsey always wore a knight’s outfit, appearing very valiant and heroic.
The “female knight” attire reminded Siles of the relevant descriptions in Professor Cabel’s paper. He wasn’t suspecting Catherine Kinsey, but merely thought he might be able to find some related clues from this female knight of the Church of the Past.
Of course, these matters could be set aside for later. The most critical issue at present was still Jonathan Bryant.
Because Siles was a directly involved party and also possessed a lot of information, Catherine questioned Siles very carefully during the investigation and at the same time shared the clues she had gathered with him.
During this process of exchanging information, Siles gradually came to understand the true face of the entire matter.
As he knew, after the changes fourteen years ago, Jonathan gradually began laying out his sphere of influence in the West District. He was originally the Duchy’s Minister of Finance, and also held a noble title.
He secretly caused many deaths in the West District, including through underground gangs, the Dawson Street black market, Darwin Hospital, underground trade markets, and so on, all adding fuel to the fire for the single matter of “death.”
And that was roughly the year Nanisal Bryant was born. From the moment he was born, Nanisal Bryant was closely linked to death in the West District. This young boy personally observed “death,” experienced “death,” and simultaneously caused “death.”
Nanisal Bryant was the vessel for Thaddeus that Jonathan had secretly cultivated. And more than a decade of experience walking side-by-side with death had drastically altered this young boy’s temperament.
On the one hand, he was cruel and arrogant; on the other hand, he was cowardly and introverted. Siles’s first meeting with this boy at the East District Darwin Hospital made him realize this.
However, throughout this process, whether Nanisal Bryant had truly drawn close to Thaddeus’s power was also a very ambiguous matter. Did he inadvertently trigger the power of “death”?
Purely looking at Jonathan’s “cultivation” of Nanisal Bryant, this was a highly likely occurrence. Amidst the endless death and bloody slaughter, Nanisal Bryant perhaps unknowingly descended into madness as well.
His spirituality increased, reaching a stage where he might come into contact with the power of a deity. And perhaps, this young boy himself didn’t know what that power truly meant.
Regardless, his arrogance gave him the idea of “becoming a god.” He believed he could not only become a vessel for the deity, but could directly become the deity himself.
When Jimmy told Siles what happened behind that underground archway before Siles arrived, Siles couldn’t help but feel utterly shocked.
For a moment, Nanisal Bryant and the former Nona Norrison both seemed to consider themselves deities. Thaddeus and Personari.
But when they woke up from their comas, that former arrogance and condescension seemed to have completely melted away.
Nanisal Bryant even forgot parts of his experience; he became timid, his eyes carrying a pure innocence, harmlessness, and bewilderment. He was completely different from that once arrogant boy.
And Nona Norrison…
She became Garland.
She failed to remember Mr. Ghost’s previous instructions; she failed to remember her own name. And the only thing worth celebrating was that at least she hadn’t truly been swallowed by the deity’s power.
Siles suspected that the moment Nona Norrison touched that copper-cast saffron, she became linked to the concept of some “deity.” The “person” sleeping in her brain was also generated at that time.
But that couldn’t be a “person” in the true sense. It was much more likely the thing stirring in the darkness that Siles heard the dice mention during the Will check on the feather.
And the Nona Norrison of that time was even more defenseless and fragile than Nanisal Bryant. She had even had her body seized by that “thing.”
After those children were rescued, Siles tentatively asked them about Nona Norrison. And those children all showed immense fear. One boy mustered his courage and said Nona Norrison had intentionally frightened them using some “miraculous” power.
It was a kind of scare that carried a bit of… you couldn’t call it malicious intent, but it was certainly a sick joke lacking any goodwill. Therefore, these children were unwilling to interact with Nona Norrison anymore.
Siles believed it was highly likely that “thing” had done it.
And just like the dice, that “thing” couldn’t permanently occupy Nona Norrison’s body; and at that time, coincidentally prompted by Siles, Nona Norrison realized she could “go out.” So, Nona Norrison briefly regained possession of her own body.
But that was indeed brief. The doctors became somewhat anxious because of the appearance of Nanisal Bryant, the “Holy Child,” and they realized they had to do something. Thus, they attempted an experiment on Nona Norrison, which caused that “thing” to return to her brain.
During the subsequent questioning of this group of doctors, Siles learned of their methods—they deliberately made these children come into contact with unsafe, highly bizarre items. It was a dark room, and the doctors themselves stayed far away from it.
They would also occasionally add the water these items had soaked in to the medicine given to the children. And those medicines were already mixed with somewhat irregular substances, like blood, or something else.
In short, when that “thing” entered Nona Norrison’s brain for the second time, her own Will was battered to pieces. She was bewildered, and when she occasionally had moments of lucidity, she would look at newspapers under the doctors’ guidance.
…Because these children had been locked up for too long, they were all listless, so the doctors would sometimes tell them stories from the newspapers.
Upon learning this, Siles couldn’t help but wonder where these doctors’ feelings of pity and care came from, given that they were doing such cruel things.
And those stories, especially Miss Garland’s Dream Adventure, gave Nona Norrison a final chance, even though it caused her self-identity to merge with the young girl exploring the bottom of the sea in the story.
But regardless, she used this opportunity to break free from the influence of a certain “power.” She came back to life, rather than becoming someone suffering from spiritual inactivation. She became Garland—the lively, positive, optimistic, and highly curious Miss Garland.
…Was this a good thing or a bad thing?
Perhaps Nona Norrison would have originally died insensibly, and “Garland” gave her a chance at rebirth; perhaps the existence of “Garland” also belonged to the realm of a deity’s power, essentially no different from the “thing” before.
No one could draw a definitive conclusion on this matter, except for Garland herself. Time might allow Garland to gradually find an answer on her own.
However, this matter did indeed give Siles a mystic premonition. His mastery over Akamara’s power seemed to have progressed a step further.
Because the Miss Garland from the illusory novel had become the real Miss Garland in reality, and this was indeed caused by his novel.
Moreover, judging by Garland’s current situation, she might really embark on her own adventure, just like the Miss Garland in the novel.
…This matter felt exceptionally strange, at least when Siles went to the hospital to visit these children this afternoon and heard conversations among some patients, family members, and doctors in the hospital.
They talked with great relish about the little girl named Garland, mentioning that her name actually came from a novel serialized in a newspaper. They were all wondering if the author of this novel, Mr. “He,” knew about this.
Siles felt mixed emotions about this.
The experiences of Nanisal Bryant and Garland were even lesser-known than Jonathan Bryant’s conspiracy. During the follow-up investigation, the Church of the Past specifically instructed the children and other insiders not to speak of the matter.
They seemed intent on carefully studying the current situations of Nanisal Bryant and Garland.
Siles, on the contrary, believed they wouldn’t necessarily uncover anything.
After Nanisal Bryant and Garland woke up, he performed a Will check on each of them. The results he got from the dice were ambiguous for both: “He/She has broken free from the influence of certain things, but perhaps, his/her life has not yet broken free from this layer of shadow.”
This could be understood as Nanisal Bryant and Garland both having very tragic experiences because of Jonathan; but it could also seemingly be understood as the thing stirring in the darkness still spying on these two children.
…The dice’s words were always so vague and ambiguous.
All the events that happened on February 1st could be called a coincidence for the investigators.
Jonathan Bryant spoke with Siles at the History Society’s commendation ceremony and received some stimulation. He felt uncomfortable being alive, and after returning home, he felt his body growing weaker and weaker.
Thus, he finally made up his mind in the freezing winter wind. He took Nanisal Bryant and went to the West District, intending to start his attempt early.
The reason it was the West District was because he believed the West District was more chaotic, and no one would notice his movements.
His decision was so hasty that the people of the underground gangs in the West District weren’t prepared. That day, the underground gang members were busy stirring up trouble everywhere because of the development projects in Lamifa City, and ironically neglected to guard the underground passage.
Jonathan also believed it was impossible for anyone to notice what he wanted to do, so he very confidently and boldly went to the massive space behind the underground archway.
That place was actually a former underground shelter, built at the very beginning of the Duchy of Konst’s founding. The situation across the world wasn’t as peaceful then as it is now, so the first Grand Duke of Konst decided to build underground passages and the corresponding shelter.
However, with the passage of time, people generally forgot about this matter. This was especially true for the Duchy’s higher-ups because they all lived in the East District now; who would still remember those messy affairs in the West District?
Thus, this place ended up being utilized by Jonathan. The underground gang members who discovered this place were paid a massive sum of hush money by him and began enjoying luxurious lives in the East District.
No one knew what was going to happen behind the underground archway that afternoon, and therefore, no one noticed Jimmy, Siles, and Chendo appearing there one after another.
They quietly walked across the ground frozen solid by the winter cold, and then, killed Jonathan’s final ambition.
The news Siles later heard from Catherine was that it might be very difficult for Jonathan to survive this winter, even though his current body didn’t look as weak as before.
But the Grand Duke, and his political enemies, probably wouldn’t let him off so easily, especially at a time when he had handed over his vulnerabilities on a silver platter.
Externally, people might not know what Jonathan had actually done; at most, they thought he used his power for personal gain or engaged in corruption. However, internally, many people had gathered a rough understanding of Jonathan’s identity as an Old God follower and a portion of what he had intended to do through their respective channels.
When a wall is about to fall, everyone gives it a push. The once glamorous Minister of Finance seemed to have instantly become a prisoner condemned by everyone in the newspapers. Of course, he deserved this punishment.
The West District would probably no longer be his sphere of influence. Underground gangs, Dawson Street, Darwin Hospital, and so on, would all be dismantled and rebuilt.
To some extent, this was good news, because it meant Siles’s Guixia Grocery Store seemed able to become an open toy store and handicraft shop, rather than looking extremely out of place mixed in among potions, Time Traces, and antiques of unknown origin.
Chendo also took the opportunity to make an investment—he bought the Ernestine Tavern. The boss behind the scenes was very panicked due to the downfall of the underground gangs and sold the tavern at a very low price.
And because Siles had the channel of Eric on his side, he learned about this very early on, so Chendo quickly made up his mind and snapped up this fairly well-known tavern in the West District before anyone else could.
…Siles was highly skeptical about what this investment of his was really for. But Chendo just shrugged and said with great foresight, “Don’t you think it will be a very good channel for information circulation?”
Siles had to admit Chendo was right.
This matter seemed to quietly come to an end. Compared to the sensation caused by the Greyson incident across the city back then, this evil plan—privately dubbed the “Underground Archway Incident”—seemed more to have merely built a stage for the political maneuvering of important figures.
The higher-ups of the Duchy of Konst seized this opportunity to grab benefits, and some nobles and ministers whose stances had previously vacillated also chose their respective factions at this time.
Jonathan Bryant’s downfall didn’t merely represent the waning influence of that name; it also represented that the era of a group of old nobles and old geezers had passed. It wasn’t solely because of his evil.
Siles watched coldly from the sidelines, realizing that almost none of the Duchy’s higher-ups cared about those children, nor about Darwin Hospital’s actions over the past three years. The Church of the Past was already doing what it could, but unfortunately, the Duchy’s official authorities showed no attitude whatsoever.
Of course, someone did come to take over Darwin Hospital… uh, it just changed to a different noble?
This was also within Siles’s expectations. The newspapers reported on this noble or that noble every day, rarely mentioning the children’s experiences. Perhaps letting these surviving children forget this terrifying underground space in their ignorance was also a good choice.
When they grew old enough, when the old-enough them looked back on this entire matter, perhaps they would ultimately just laugh it off—it was just the final unwillingness of an old geezer before death.
Regarding the beginning of this matter—that is, the incident where Anselm Norrison, the museum gatekeeper, stole a collection piece—Siles also obtained some relevant investigation clues.
This crazy gatekeeper was currently still under the custody of the Second Corridor of the History Society. When his mental state improved a bit, perhaps he could even meet with Nona Norrison… that is, the current Garland.
Of course, it was hard to say whether the two of them could continue living together, whether due to physical or psychological issues.
After the Underground Archway Incident, some individuals connected to the underground gangs were also arrested. From their mouths, the investigators learned that Jonathan Bryant demanded they search for ancient objects, Time Traces, and certain specific items.
Included in this list of specific items was that copper-cast flower Anselm Norrison had stolen back then.
It should be said that it was precisely because the asking price for this copper-cast flower was exorbitant that Anselm Norrison took a desperate risk. Even the reason he learned about this matter was due to an introduction by Doctor Hubert Fox at Darwin Hospital.
When he made this decision, he simultaneously demanded that the underground gang use this money to treat his granddaughter.
“…And that played right into their hands. The underground gang had Anselm directly hand that copper-cast flower over to that doctor, and that doctor would also properly and ‘freely’ provide treatment for Nona Norrison. The reality, however, completely contradicted this promise.
Anselm pushed Nona Norrison towards Darwin Hospital.
And perhaps, before he came into contact with that copper-cast flower, he was still normal, still had some vigilance, and was still hesitating whether to really do this. But, when he stole that copper-cast flower, everything changed.
He himself became crazy, and his granddaughter, because of this copper-cast flower, was completely shrouded in shadow.
“…Do you have this kind of feeling?” When Chendo heard Siles finish recounting all this, he pondered for a moment, and finally asked this question, “Many things in this world, many… bad things, ultimately stem from the power of the deities?”
This question made Siles ponder for a moment.
Finally, his answer was: “There are already many bad things in this world; it’s just that the power of the deities pushes these things to greater extremes.”
He couldn’t deny that humanity itself possessed weaknesses. In his distant hometown of Earth, there were indeed no deities, yet human society was still rife with chaos.
Merely blaming certain problems on some “things” would not smoothly resolve them. That has never been the case.
And Chendo looked at him, complex and profound emotions flashing in his eyes. Then, Chendo said, “I guessed you might give such an answer. But even if I guessed it, the fact that you could say this still surprised me immensely. You truly are a wise person.”
Siles couldn’t help but pause, then smiled slightly.
This conversation between him and Chendo put the final period on the Underground Archway Incident.
Everything would ultimately be covered under this heavy, cold snow. Winter neared its end, gently brushing the hem of the Goddess of Spring’s skirt. Time still flowed on, never stopping its pace because of sin or dispute.
It was the night of February 8th.
Over the past week, besides being busy with the aftermath of the Underground Archway Incident and his daily teaching and research tasks, Siles also received a housing recommendation from Professor Bright.
The location of this residence was 99 Kelly Street. He and Chendo went to look at the house together. Just as he had written in his letter to his mother, the house perfectly suited his needs, so he quickly made a decision.
He had already contacted the relevant construction and renovation team, having them carry out the work during the spring break.
And before all these things…
Siles’s gaze slowly fell on the six dolls on the windowsill not far away.
This Monday, he had entered the deep-sea dreams.
In the deep-sea dreams on January 12th, he had entered the small house on the mysterious farm and saw the six dolls inside. They seemed to still be performing some kind of play for certain invisible audiences.
At the time, Siles didn’t have time to communicate with them. A specific mechanism caused him to leave that dream the instant he saw the six dolls and the environment inside the room.
But this time, he spent some time communicating with these six dolls.
It should be said that they were not “creatures” in the true sense, but rather a kind of… crystallization of power. The word “dolls” was actually the most fitting way to describe their essence.
Therefore, Siles’s communication with them wasn’t so much a true conversation with the six dolls, but rather a conversation with a certain “mastermind behind the scenes” who had left these six dolls here and set up specific mechanisms.
…That is, Akamara.
According to the dolls, Akamara placed them here before falling, having them manage the farm’s affairs and wait for the arrival of a successor—yes, “successor,” that was the exact word.
The “successor” to Akamara’s power.
And over the past few centuries, no one had ever truly been able to walk into this small house. Even if someone was lucky enough to discover this farm and lucky enough again to set foot here, no one had been able to discover the existence of these six dolls.
Siles alone had managed this.
Upon realizing this, he couldn’t help but feel it was strange.
Why did Akamara specifically set up these six dolls? Did They intend for someone to inherit Their power?
However, the dolls didn’t know the answer to this question.
Their functions were limited to managing the farm (although Siles couldn’t see how they were managing it), guarding the small house, and simultaneously paying attention to everyone who stepped into the “isolated island dream.”
The isolated island dream, which is the deep-sea dreams. When the dolls noticed Siles was accustomed to using the term “deep-sea dreams,” they readily adopted his terminology.
It was they who forced Siles to leave every time he discovered a new piece of information because “exploration must be done bit by bit.”
Siles suspected this was because the human brain couldn’t receive that much information all at once, so it had to be done gradually. However, since Siles had now come into contact with these six dolls, he could decide when to leave on his own from now on.
As for the 21-day interval and waking up startled at 4:00 AM…
The former was because the dolls felt 21 days was enough time for a human receiving new information to calm down; the latter was because Akamara fell… or rather, abandoned them and left alone at that exact time.
So, they would feel sad at that time and couldn’t receive any guests. Therefore, the time Siles was startled awake was always inevitably 4:00 AM.
Yet, when the dolls said this, Siles couldn’t sense any sadness from their rigid, flat tone. Besides, could these dolls—these dolls adhering to the rules set by Akamara—truly possess an emotion like “sadness”?
It felt more like that “sadness” was also part of the script arranged by Akamara. It sounded more like a little girl playing house.
Only, this seemingly innocent little girl was actually a former deity.
In any case, after coming into contact with the dolls, Siles gained greater “permissions.” The dolls said he could now enter the dream every other day at most. It was best not to enter the deep-sea dreams consecutively, the dolls said, because the current Siles still needed sufficient normal sleep.
Siles could certainly understand this issue, and he didn’t plan to visit the deep-sea dreams often anyway, unless there was a need. Regardless, this was ultimately Akamara’s paradise. And he had not yet completely mastered Akamara’s power.
During the communication with the dolls, Siles gradually gained a deeper understanding of Akamara’s power.
Dolls, plays, stages. Dreams.
Akamara was a deity existing between the real and the illusory.
Just as His Divine Title described, “Beautiful Rainbow Bubbles,” is this something real? Is it something that pops at the slightest touch? Is it an illusion like a mirage?
These questions themselves were the perfect answer to understanding Akamara’s power.
Things from dreams can appear in reality; illusory scripts can be performed in the real world. Dreams and illusions. This was Akamara.
To some extent, Siles’s identity as a “novelist” was truly an incredibly perfect match for Akamara’s power.
This was what Siles himself thought, though he couldn’t get any affirmative answers from the dolls’ behavior. Of course, he didn’t expect the dolls to give any answers anyway.
This was merely a condensation of Akamara’s power, not Akamara Himself. For this deity to have been able to make so many arrangements in His “paradise” when He fell was already beyond Siles’s expectations.
He guessed that other deities—at least deities like Akamara—must have also made some preparations.
And the essence of this phenomenon was that those thirteen Old Gods likely held different stances. Some accompanied the “shadow,” while others were enemies with the “shadow.”
Ligadia and Amois were highly likely enemies of the “shadow,” judging by the past information that “Ligadia embarked on His journey to fight the shadow” and “before Ligadia embarked on His journey, He had His believer send a message to Amois.”
Akamara’s stance, on the other hand, seemed somewhat ambiguous; Siles couldn’t quite confirm His stance from the currently known information in reality.
However, based on the situation in the deep-sea dreams—specifically, the image of spider silk wrapping around the massive doll—Siles believed Akamara should also be an enemy of the “shadow.”
This image itself had once increased his Knowledge stat by one point, which made Siles even more convinced that this was highly likely something that had also occurred in the real world.
As for why this image appeared in the deep-sea dreams and why ruins of a city and civilization appeared at the bottom of the deep-sea dreams, Siles couldn’t get any answers from the dolls.
He guessed it might be related to the true nature of the deep-sea dreams and the mysterious farm. And the dolls were completely ignorant about this.
These six dolls seemed to appear merely in the capacity of gatekeepers. They were actually not very knowledgeable about the place they were in or the reason for their appearance. Naturally, they didn’t know anything about Akamara’s fall either.
This made Siles feel a bit regretful. After all, besides the deep-sea dreams and the mysterious farm, his greatest confusion was what exactly happened to these Old Gods during the Age of Shadows and the Age of Silence.
Looking at it now, even though he already knew of the existence of the “shadow,” there was still a very long road ahead before reaching the truth.
Of course, his current harvest was already plenty.
From now on, he would no longer be restricted by the two rules of “the 21-day interval” and “leaving the dream immediately upon finding new information.” He could freely choose when to enter and exit the dream.
Besides this, he could also learn about his progress in mastering Akamara’s power from the dolls.
And this time he entered the dream, he had happened to master even more than last time. The dolls didn’t say why, but Siles believed it was highly likely because… Nona Norrison had become Garland.
That sapling was still growing vibrantly on the isolated island of the deep-sea dreams. Beside it were Emil’s sapling, Jonathan’s withering vine, and Chendo’s small tree.
Thinking about it now, he had experienced several turning points in his further mastery of Akamara’s power.
The first step was when Mr. Ghost in the dream gave Emil a Rubik’s Cube, and that Rubik’s Cube logically appeared in reality.
That caused one of the threads on the doll in the deep-sea dreams to snap. Siles originally thought it was because he made Akamara’s power reappear in the world, but in reality, it was probably just because it matched the imagery of “dreams transforming into reality.”
Perhaps it was precisely because this thread snapped that Siles was able to begin gradually mastering Akamara’s power. Prior to this, Akamara… or rather, this power of “dreams and illusions,” was restricted, just like that trapped doll.
The second step was when Angus Keys, inspired by The Revenge of the Rose, chose to return to the Ashless Lands to avenge the death of his former beloved. What happened in the real world mirrored the plot of the illusory novel.
This event allowed Siles to search for other people’s dreams in the deep-sea dreams. It also led him to further discover the existence of the mysterious farm, and ultimately allowed him to converse with the dolls.
From this perspective, Angus Keys’s actions had inadvertently helped Siles a lot.
The third step was Nona Norrison becoming Garland.
This point was outside Siles’s expectations. He had to admit that when he created the character Miss Garland, he indeed thought of Nona Norrison; after all, she was one of the few young girls he had come into contact with. It was a kind of creative reference.
But he never imagined that, with her self-awareness shattered, Nona Norrison’s perception of herself would so directly turn into Garland. This was unprecedented; even the Church of the Past was completely at a loss.
A few days ago, when Siles was still entering the deep-sea dreams according to the 21-day interval rule, Garland hadn’t dreamt, so Mr. Ghost didn’t meet with her for the time being.
Siles still hadn’t figured out how he was going to communicate with Garland… communicate with a character he wrote? Or communicate with that little girl who truly existed in reality?
The situation was truly very complicated.
In short, the change brought to Siles by Nona Norrison becoming Garland was…
One of the dolls jumped off the miniature stage model and bounded over to Siles. Invisible threads unspooled in front of Siles, allowing him to manipulate the doll’s actions.
The doll said in that still rigid, flat, emotionless voice, “Now, you can make me an actor in your play.”
