WCBD CH131

Chapter 131: Night Talk Around the Hearth

Half an hour later, Siles Noel dried his hair, changed into fresh clothes, and left the room with Chendo Praia. It was already time for lunch, so they headed to the restaurant at the Conrad Hotel.

Chendo Praia had clearly stayed at this hotel before, but according to him, it was too… formal. It couldn’t accommodate “things” on the level of Revelators, which was why explorers of the Ashless Lands didn’t particularly like staying at the Conrad.

Of course, this made it highly praised by ordinary tourists instead.

They ran into Lorenzo and Chester Fitzroy at the restaurant, so the four of them shared a table for lunch. Lorenzo and Chester Fitzroy chatted incessantly, while Siles Noel and Chendo Praia listened quietly, with Siles Noel occasionally joining their conversation.

…Honestly, this scene felt incredibly familiar; only one of the participants had changed.

Lorenzo and Chester Fitzroy were mainly discussing the journey from Lamifa City to Maltz, marveling at the miraculous repair of the train tracks. They also speculated whether a Revelator had secretly intervened. The problem with this guess, however, was why the kind-hearted person hadn’t stepped forward. Most people knew that Revelators existed in this world, so this kind-hearted person could have easily stepped forward to enjoy the passengers’ praise.

Siles Noel listened silently, glancing sideways at “this kind-hearted person” sitting beside him.

Chendo Praia ate his lunch nonchalantly but then turned his head and smiled at Siles Noel. His eyes curved slightly, looking as if he were secretly pleased with himself—not because he had helped others, but because he had helped his beloved deity.

Siles Noel paused, then couldn’t help but smile as well.

Lorenzo and Chester Fitzroy couldn’t be bothered to notice their interaction. They shifted to discussing their possible encounters during their brief passage through the Ashless Lands.

Chester Fitzroy had been to the Ashless Lands twice before, so he detailed the region to Lorenzo, who kept nodding in sudden realization, marveling at its wonders.

“But it’s also a very dangerous place,” Chester Fitzroy added. “People always encounter many… bizarre things there.”

“Oh, I’ve read some news about it in the papers,” Lorenzo said. “Explorers, natives, merchants, and opportunists. Love, hatred, passion, and grudges. The wondrous thing is that they can all appear in the Ashless Lands at the same time.”

Chester Fitzroy nodded in agreement. The most wondrous aspect of the Ashless Lands was how it blended all walks of life, seemingly concentrating them into a small post station or village. It couldn’t even be called a city, yet it revealed the essence of humanity better than any city could.

Naturally, they also chatted about the evening banquet. Chester Fitzroy and Lorenzo had clearly mingled with some of the other travelers.

Lorenzo said, “There will probably be some pretty interesting activities. Anyway, time on the train is way too boring; it’s just playing cards and more playing cards… Oh, playing cards itself is interesting, of course, but playing for a whole day and night is truly exhausting.”

Chester Fitzroy nodded in agreement, saying, “I wonder what they plan to do.”

“A night of singing, dancing, and feasting,” Lorenzo was very familiar with this. Having missed out on such events last semester, he was now itching to join in. “Besides, we’re almost at the Ashless Lands.”

He seemed to be hinting at something.

Chester Fitzroy also looked thoughtfully at some of the other guests in the restaurant.

Siles Noel asked in confusion, “What are you talking about?”

“Professor, you probably haven’t interacted much with the other passengers on the train,” Chester Fitzroy said. “Anyway, aside from the explorers of the Ashless Lands—who probably wouldn’t stay at the Conrad anyway—the other passengers are mostly travelers heading from Lamifa City to other places.”

“Or they are foreigners themselves,” Lorenzo added. “Just like Mr. Chendo Praia.”

He was now also adopting the “Mr. Chendo Praia” form of address, just like Chester Fitzroy.

“And?”

Chester Fitzroy said in a somewhat mysterious tone, “So they might know some legends and bizarre tales—not personal experiences, but the kind passed down by word of mouth. They might actually relish talking about them even more than the explorers. They’re just keeping quiet right now. But we are getting closer and closer to the Ashless Lands. By evening, fueled by alcohol and good food, they might just smugly share those stories. I know you’re definitely interested in those kinds of stories, Professor. We can have a night talk around the hearth then, and everyone can share their wondrous ancient legends.”

Night talk around the hearth. The phrase made Siles Noel pause slightly. He felt as if he had heard this phrase somewhere before.

He admitted he was very interested in the “bizarre tales” Chester Fitzroy mentioned, but at the same time, he was sifting through his memories. Where exactly had he heard this phrase?

After lunch, hearing Lorenzo say he was bored and wanted to borrow a novel from the hotel’s small library to pass the time, Siles Noel suddenly recalled where he had heard the phrase “night talk around the hearth” through the keyword “novel”.

When he first attended the novelists’ gathering at Bain Bookstore, the adventure novelist Arvid Norton brought out an exploration journal from a reader, allegedly left by the reader’s ancestor, and asked Arvid to evaluate its value.

The manuscript mentioned many dream-like bizarre legends, including some written records related to a “night talk around the hearth.”

Too much time had passed, and Siles Noel couldn’t quite remember the contents of the manuscript. His general impression was that a group of people in an inn on a winter night were discussing some terrifying ancient legends, which consequently attracted something dangerous… “midnight lone shadows”?

It seemed to be so. A bizarre tale of a night talk around the hearth occurring in the Ashless Lands.

However, Siles Noel found it hard to determine if the legend was true or false, or if its consequences were truly that severe. Explorers sitting around a fireplace, sharing ancient adventure stories of themselves, their families, or ancestors, or perhaps half-true legends they had inadvertently heard… such things probably happened often in an era lacking entertainment.

Yet, rarely had anyone heard of people dying because of it. Perhaps, even if the events recorded in the manuscript truly happened, it was because one of the people in that night talk around the hearth truly possessed important and dangerous information. Therefore, during the conversation, his story accidentally provoked the danger stirring in the darkness.

This was a more likely scenario. But Siles Noel also realized that if a night talk around the hearth activity really took place during the evening banquet, he would probably have to participate so as not to be completely in the dark about what happened.

Siles Noel made up his mind. Of course, part of the reason was that he was indeed very interested in those bizarre tales.

In the afternoon, he slept for a while. After all, there was a psychological illusion of “not being able to sleep well” on a train, and even with Akamara’s power, he couldn’t completely escape certain human instincts.

After waking up, he flipped through the newspapers provided by the hotel. Finding no fresh news, he quickly met up with Chendo Praia and headed to the carnival party in the banquet hall on the first floor.

The hotel possessed an elegant and composed decor style, but the reveling crowd had currently shattered that tranquil atmosphere.

Quite a few people were indeed participating, including their group and other guests in the hotel. Most of them were passengers previously trapped on that train; after the suppression and panic, they were now trying hard to lose themselves in laughter and joy.

Siles Noel spotted many familiar faces; he even saw Ms. Catherine Kinsey standing quietly in a corner with a glass of wine. The investigators from the Church of the Past had joined in, and the others were enjoying the relaxed atmosphere even more. Siles Noel and Chendo Praia wandered through the feast, grabbed some food, and chatted with a few people.

Chendo Praia also seemed to unexpectedly bump into some acquaintances—Kansas natives connected to the Praia family. They chatted for a while. Siles Noel also conversed with his fellow professors from the visiting scholar program, gradually becoming more familiar with them.

Around seven o’clock, some people began to leave, but others remained.

At this point, some high-spirited individuals suggested having a “night talk around the hearth.” They would find a smaller room, light the fireplace, and share their secret legends in the dark night; every participant had to share at least one story.

Soon, some people echoed their agreement. Siles Noel and Chendo Praia also joined in. They quickly moved to another room.

Siles Noel noticed that Chester Fitzroy, Lorenzo, Bunyan, and Catherine Kinsey were all participating. Including himself and Chendo Praia, that made six people.

Surprisingly, Siles Noel saw Heard Dryden here. The young man, who had set out for the Ashless Lands after receiving a secret letter from his family, also coincidentally participated in this night talk around the hearth activity.

Heard was also surprised to see Siles Noel. He softly greeted Siles Noel and Chendo Praia, and said somewhat nervously, “I will repay the money as soon as possible, sir.”

Siles Noel looked at him thoughtfully, then said, “No rush. It’s a carnival night, Heard, just have fun.”

Heard let out a visible sigh of relief.

The other five participants were unknown to Siles Noel. However, he noticed that two of them had facial features distinctly different from Konst natives; they were probably foreigners.

They arrived at a quiet, dark, and cold room. This room had likely not been used for a long time, so a decaying, silent smell permeated the air. The person who proposed the night talk lit the fireplace.

The sudden flare of flames caused everyone’s gaze to settle. They sat around the fireplace.

It was still the proposer who smiled first and said, “Then, let’s start with me.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to him.

He looked like a successful merchant or traveler. He exuded a very obvious aura of maturity and worldly wisdom. He was the type to proactively speak up and seize leadership in a crowd.

But this aura was also an overly seasoned disguise, like a mask. No one could discern his inner thoughts from that very adult face.

“I am Fred Dudley,” he introduced himself. “The story I want to tell you is about an elderly traveler I once met. So much time has passed now that he has probably passed away, so I can tell this story without any misgivings.”

As he spoke, the others listened intently. Although the atmosphere here seemed very relaxed on the surface, everyone slowly became focused and curious.

Fred paused briefly, then continued, “I met him nearly ten years ago. I was returning to Konst from a country further north, and we met on the train.

“He was already very, very old at the time. I didn’t understand why someone so old would embark on a journey… That might sound a bit mean, but regardless, people always worry a bit when they see someone of such advanced age traveling.”

He made a small joke, but it didn’t elicit any laughter from the others present. Unknowingly, everyone’s gaze had deepened, looking either at the flames ahead or the speaker. Their eyes held a silent urging.

Siles Noel stared deeply at the flames. Chendo Praia sat beside him, maintaining a bored silence.

So Fred continued, “He told me his story. He said he had read books about the ocean since he was a child and yearned for it deeply, but Konst is incredibly far from the ocean. Therefore, once he had amassed enough wealth, he decided to embark on a journey to find the ocean. Ultimately, he did indeed achieve his goal, but it also made him incredibly panicked and uneasy, which is why he hurried back to Konst in such a rush.

“However, when I met him, he also said he believed he didn’t have much time left, so he needed to tell others what he had discovered back then. I was his only choice.

“…But honestly, even after hearing his words, and even as I retell his story here, I find it hard to believe its authenticity myself. It’s always like this; after all, I didn’t see the scene he witnessed with my own eyes.”

Fred’s words were filled with a subtle emotion. Perhaps the old man’s destitute and rambling state before death made him half-doubtful, yet the most wondrous story he knew happened to be exactly this old man’s experience. Thus, he could only bring this story out to play with it, carrying a mix of disdain and smug showmanship.

However, the others didn’t show any reaction. This seemed to make Fred find it boring. After all, an activity like a night talk around the hearth always needs a lively atmosphere of cheering.

He continued telling the story anyway: “He said he heard there was a sea to the north, so he headed north all the way. He met some people on the road who knew the way, and under their guidance, he advanced towards the ocean. The ocean indeed appeared before him very quickly, but at the same time, there was…”

Fred couldn’t help but pause here.

“What?” someone finally couldn’t resist asking.

“…A shadow beneath the surface of the sea,” Fred said in a low voice.

The others exchanged glances. One of them said with a baffled tone, “What’s so special about that? Isn’t the ocean always very gloomy?”

The travelers present all seemed to have rich travel experience; this person had also seemingly seen the ocean, so he continued with a dismissive attitude, “In that case, I can understand your disdain for this matter.”

“No, no, no, no… the situation is different,” Fred retorted agitatedly. “It was a shadow swimming beneath the sea surface! It was a massive shadow creature!”

His attitude at this moment seemed exceptionally strange. He was the one who had displayed extreme disdain earlier, but now he was fiercely refuting others’ contempt.

After this sentence, the scene was quiet for a moment.

Siles Noel clearly noticed some people shifting uneasily, while others’ eyes revealed a helpless annoyance, as if they somewhat regretted coming here to listen to an essentially neurotic guy tell a baffling story.

Fred took a deep breath to calm his emotions, saying, “That’s how it is. A shadow beneath the sea surface… a shadow in the deep sea…”

“Maybe it’s just a huge animal?” Heard Dryden suddenly interjected. “Perhaps a whale? A shark? Or some other marine creature we don’t know much about.”

“That is indeed possible,” Knight Commander Bunyan intervened gently to ease the tension. “Mist covers the vast majority of the ocean; we don’t know what the situation in the ocean is currently like.”

The direction of the topic actually became heavier.

However, Fred’s story was clearly finished. Afterwards, the others took turns telling their own stories, which were much more lively, vivid, and lighthearted, greatly improving the atmosphere. One story about the various coincidences and farces caused by young children even made people chuckle. After Fred, people seemed to intentionally choose more ordinary and mundane stories, rather than some… mysterious shadow at the bottom of the sea.

Fred’s story seemed to lack a beginning and an end, but Siles Noel was certain that some people present showed thoughtful expressions. He himself continued to sit expressionlessly, but he was also pondering what Fred’s story meant.

A shadow swimming in the sea… it was indeed possible that it was some kind of massive marine creature. But combining this with certain bizarre powers of the world itself, Siles Noel couldn’t draw a conclusion so simply. Furthermore, a dying old traveler embarking on a journey to the seaside—this action itself carried a very… “concept”-fitting implication. What exactly the old man saw by the sea, and under what circumstances he saw it, these questions seemed exceptionally important.

Siles Noel stared deeply at the absent-minded Fred not far away. He felt this man was being somewhat evasive when telling the story. Moreover, he met that old man ten years ago, when he himself was probably only in his early twenties. At such a young age, what kind of impact would that story have had on him? Yet, ten years later, he still chose to tell this story at a night talk around the hearth activity?

Siles Noel narrowed his eyes slightly.

The turn to tell a story came to Chendo Praia. Chendo Praia casually told a story about a gravekeeper manipulating a living corpse, though it was unknown where he had heard such a tale. Some people who were originally curious quickly showed expressions of shock and unease.

Then it was Siles Noel’s turn. Siles Noel considered for a moment, then mentioned a Mr. Ghost who helped children in their dreams. Compared to the gravekeeper, Mr. Ghost’s function seemed much more harmless. So, someone even curiously asked Siles Noel how he knew of Mr. Ghost’s existence. Siles Noel simply replied that he had learned about it from a child who had received help from Mr. Ghost. Consequently, people’s gazes quickly turned dismissive, likely thinking that children’s words couldn’t be taken seriously.

However, the few people who knew Siles Noel, including Knight Commander Bunyan, looked at him curiously. They were probably also very interested in this mysterious Mr. Ghost.

After Siles Noel, the order went to Chester Fitzroy, Lorenzo, Bunyan, and Catherine. They each told stories they knew. The two from the Church of the Past unsurprisingly brought up related topics, such as things concerning Antinam.

People chatted about this for a while—about Antinam and this world. This was practically a post-meal topic for people: fallen deities, the undissipated mist, the unpredictable future. Sometimes people had grown accustomed to this life, while other times they had to admit that this life was truly uninteresting.

The person sitting next to Catherine was a foreigner. His accent was quite heavy, but people could generally understand what he was saying. He pointed at Fred and said quite cheerfully, “My story is somewhat similar to yours!”

He then told a story about his family. He said he came from the northern sea, and his family were fishermen. They often went out to sea to fish to earn some money, and they could also use the seafood to feed themselves.

He said that once, when his father went out to sea to fish alone, he also encountered a shadow beneath the sea surface and a massive storm, washing him up on an isolated island. There were actually natives on that island. His father didn’t dare approach them, only seeing them sacrificing something on a mysterious altar, full of blood and broken human bodies. The weather improved shortly after, and his father quickly left without alerting those people. After returning home, still in shock, his father told the story to his family and resolved never to go out to sea to fish again.

“We moved shortly after that,” the man said. “I was still young when this happened and didn’t really understand what it all meant. It should be that a group of Old God followers lived on that isolated island.”

This story had more of a fantasy and thriller atmosphere than Fred’s previous story, and it had a beginning and an end, making it quite a complete tale. People showed curious expressions, and someone asked, “So, where was your former country?”

“Middleton,” the man answered without hesitation. “That was my former hometown. The coastal country to the north.”

Chester Fitzroy and Lorenzo simultaneously let out a gasp of surprise.

Lorenzo said directly, “That is exactly our next destination! This is truly a massive coincidence!”

The man was also a little surprised, but he still said, “It’s a pity I left there a long time ago, otherwise, I could have introduced you to my former homeland.”

Despite this, they still chatted enthusiastically. It should have been the next person’s turn quickly, but because of their eager conversation, the time was pushed back a bit.

And the next person was Herd Dreisen. He sat quietly, his eyes lowered somewhat introverted, hardly participating in the others’ conversation, just immersing himself in his own thoughts.

After a while, the topic of Middleton paused for the moment, so the young man, who had been a bit nervous, hesitated for a while before saying, “The story I want to tell is a piece of family history my grandmother accidentally mentioned to me.”

As he said this, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally looked towards Siles.

Siles also looked at him silently. And upon meeting Siles’s gaze, Herd seemed as if he had been pricked by something, uncomfortably and obviously looking away.

Then, he coughed awkwardly before saying, “My family only came to the Duchy of Konst during the Age of Mist. According to my grandmother, we had previously lived in a country further north, and only began our long migration during the Age of Silence.”

Siles lowered his eyes, his gaze looking towards the burning stove. The surroundings quieted down; people were curious what kind of story this young man would tell.

But Siles was thinking, “We”?

Judging from Herd’s phrasing, he obviously valued his family very much, and he also had a vivid sense of substitution for that distant past. It was as if he wasn’t this young man living in an inland country, but the family ancestor migrating from the distant north to the southland.

Therefore, the haze of the family always lingered around him, as if filling his bloodline, following him like a shadow.

Herd continued, “My old grandmother always talked about what happened back then, and presumably her old grandmother did the same. At the time, they were hesitant, not knowing whether they should set off—because the cold wind from the north had invaded the land we were on.

“We wanted to go find a paradise, but for a while we didn’t know which direction to go, so we specifically went to ask the… how should I say it, the wise woman of that area, of that village.

“She gave us an answer.”

At this moment, Herd couldn’t help but pause, and the people around him also felt a stagnation in the air.

Finally, Herd said deeply, “Go south, deep into the mist of the sea, find the giant serpent in the mist, and follow the giant serpent to an island that a whale turned into; that would be the ‘Northern Paradise’ we were looking for.

“The family ancestors set off according to this saying, and then crossed the ocean. We indeed found an island and lived there for a while, but then due to various reasons continued out to sea, and ultimately migrated to Konst.

“The serpent in the mist, the island whale, the cold wind, the Northern Paradise. These are all topics frequently mentioned in the family, it’s just that none of us understand what these things actually mean.

“Grandmother said that when she was about to die, she would tell my mother everything. The men in the family seemingly aren’t allowed to know these things… I don’t know, maybe they can, it’s just that I haven’t reached that age yet.

“…This is the story I wanted to tell, perhaps a bit baffling.”

Herd smiled awkwardly, while subconsciously looking towards Siles again. However, when Siles raised his eyes to look back, he had already quickly retracted his gaze.

The people around were confused by Herd’s story.

[Knowledge +1.]

The dice’s prompt came into Siles’s mind, and his gaze looked deeply at Herd.

Obviously, the reason Herd mentioned this family legend was at least half to tell Siles—to hint that the mysterious great-uncle of Herd’s was highly likely related to the family’s original legend.

Furthermore, Herd’s story also sounded very familiar to Siles.

Siles had once read a travelogue called On the Journey, whose author, Jacob Farley, was a believer of Ligadia. He lived in the Imperial Era and, following the deity he believed in, also set out on a journey, traveling the world.

Many parts of this book had already been lost, but in the remaining records, it mentioned Jacob Farley meeting a resident of a seaside lighthouse, who told him a story with a very legendary flavor.

“There is a lighthouse by the sea. The resident of the lighthouse told me that there is mist on the sea, deep within the mist is a giant serpent. The giant serpent rests on an island that a whale turned into, and the island is the Northern Paradise. The Northern Paradise is unaffected by the cold wind.”

The serpent in the mist, the island whale, the cold wind, the Northern Paradise. In the letter sent by that mysterious great-uncle, he also told Herd to find the seaside lighthouse.

This was a story highly consistent with Herd’s account… No, it should be said, these two accounts clearly came from the same source.

However, Jacob Farley was a deity believer living in the Imperial Era, while Herd Dreisen’s family only left their homeland during the Age of Silence. The time span was considerable, yet the wording of this rumor was remarkably consistent, almost unchanged.

And this didn’t quite fit the theory of information dissemination. Thousands of years had passed, yet the same story was actually still in its exact original form? This was somewhat unbelievable.

Unless… this was not a fabricated story. Perhaps the island whale was a place that truly existed. And someone was manipulating the spread of this account behind the scenes, or rather, ensuring this account was not distorted.

Just like the rumor of “the Non-existent City” among the explorers of the Ashless Lands, four hundred years of the Age of Mist had passed, yet this rumor still retained its original appearance. That was because the believers of Hoodoka were behind the scenes ensuring the accuracy of the information.

In reality, “three people make a tiger” is the more likely scenario.

If one scrutinized Herd’s account closely, more problems would arise. For example, they once lived on the island that a whale turned into for a while. But, was that really a place that existed in reality?

Siles indeed increased his Knowledge stat after hearing this story, but when he last heard that “the island where the serpent in the mist rests is the Northern Paradise,” his Knowledge stat did not increase.

Now Siles was very clear that every time his Knowledge stat increased, the knowledge he obtained basically concerned things that had happened on the level of “reality.”

Matters related to the Old Gods were exceptions, but the Old Gods themselves were entities that crossed multiple levels.

The more fitting analogy to this legendary story was when he learned of the existence of different “levels” from the dice; his Knowledge stat did not increase. Because that was “outside the world.”

So, were the serpent in the mist and the island whale also things existing “outside the world”?

The serpent in the mist and the island whale themselves might not necessarily truly exist on the level of reality; it was the group of humans existing in reality, the Dreisen family, who arrived at the island whale, thereby allowing this place to form a connection with reality, which caused Siles’s Knowledge to increase—allowing him a glimpse into a corner of past history.

For example, the point of Knowledge he gained when flipping through the painter Leon’s manuscript was perhaps because he learned that “the person in the dream is entangled in a spiderweb,” or perhaps because he learned that the painter Leon had once reached the deep-sea dreams.

Furthermore, island whale, island whale… what exactly is an island that a whale turned into? Does the whale have any symbolic meaning here?

If it was purely about whales, then the only thing Siles could think of was the death customs he had asked Alfonso Carte, the folklorist, to investigate.

In some ancient tribes, elderly people would take the initiative to leave the tribe when death approached, finding a place to die in the wild, like falling leaves returning to the roots, like a “whale fall,” letting death bring them back to the earth.

He investigated this matter at the time because he heard in Karakak’s Diary that wandering poets had a habit of dying in a foreign land, which was why he asked Alfonso to find some customs regarding death.

However, he now knew that the wandering poets’ practice was due to the requirements of the Tauohetia Cemetery. Looking back and re-examining this practice now, Siles felt a subtle sense of déjà vu.

Falling leaves returning to roots and… whale fall? An island transformed from a whale?

…Could that be the paradise of a certain Old God?

If it truly was a god’s paradise, then it would be easy to explain why his Knowledge stat didn’t increase the first time he heard this information; but when he heard it this time, his Knowledge stat increased.

The Old God paradises Siles currently knew of were Akamara’s mysterious farm (he still didn’t know its name), Ligadia’s Tauohetia Cemetery, and Thaddeus’s Moshaque Hills. And a certain mysterious island also sounded very fitting for the manifestation of an Old God paradise.

It was just, which Old God’s paradise would it be?

If Siles didn’t know that Ligadia’s paradise was the Tauohetia Cemetery, then purely based on Herd’s description just now—this family leaving their homeland to travel far, stepping onto a journey, and ultimately setting foot on an island… this practice sounded really quite like Ligadia’s paradise.

However, that was also an island located on the ocean, and at the same time used a certain marine creature as an analogy, perhaps it was Amois’s paradise?

But Siles also felt that even if Amois was related to the ocean, His true domains were actually “warriors” and “pirates.” That leaned more towards human occupational concepts, rather than the ocean in a natural sense.

Thinking this, Siles couldn’t help but frown. He set this guess aside for the moment.

When Herd finished that story, he silently shrank to the side. The others didn’t pay much attention to his performance either, simply naturally regarding that story as some sort of family rumor, a fabricated tale meant to add a magical hue to their own bloodline.

People also chatted amongst themselves regarding their previous stories.

Fred, the initiator of this fireside chat, and Herd beside him, instead sat there all alone the whole time, both seeming deep in thought. That small area maintained an incongruous silence.

Everyone’s story was finished. Regardless, this fireside chat activity did not cause any danger, a point that allowed Siles to breathe a sigh of relief. He also gained some information.

However, when he reviewed this fireside chat in his mind, pondering everyone’s story, he suddenly realized that due to the lukewarm response, Fred probably hadn’t spoken some details.

In fact, Siles was somewhat curious about the old man’s experience mentioned by Fred.

He had a subtle premonition. He was about to go to Middleton this time, and the various pieces of information harvested during this trip all seemed to have an inextricable connection with the ocean.

Herd Dreisen’s secret family letter, Fred Dudley’s old friend who had once gone to the ocean… everything, everything was closely tied to the ocean.

Therefore, after the fireside chat activity ended and everyone was leaving one after another, Siles specifically sought out Fred Dudley and said, “Mr. Dudley, please wait a moment.”

Fred stopped in his tracks somewhat puzzledly and looked at him. He said, “Oh, you’re the one… who told the story about Mr. Ghost. Can I help you with something?”

“Regarding the shadow at the bottom of the sea,” Siles said in a low voice. “I think, you didn’t say some information, did you?”

Fred’s eyes shifted slightly, and he said warily, “So what if I didn’t?”

The others had all already left, leaving only him and Fred. Chendo stepped forward to the doorway beforehand, preventing their conversation from being noticed by others.

Siles weighed his tone and said, “I myself am also looking for some stories related to the ocean. I think, you also don’t believe that the so-called ‘shadow’ is a marine creature, do you?”

It was unknown which of Siles’s sentences made Fred feel a sense of affinity; he froze for a moment, then breathed a slight sigh of relief. His entire aura relaxed, or perhaps, became bewildered.

He said, “Yes. Since you also understand… I mean, the oceans of this world, they are not… not just oceans. It’s not just a problem with the oceans, it’s a problem with this world. I don’t know if you can understand my meaning.

“Anyway, it wasn’t some marine creature. I saw the painting that old guy drew, rough and casual, but, but… it was a shadow, it wasn’t some creature, it was alive and yet not alive…”

A painting?

Sounds like a sketch or a diagram. Siles thought.

Ten years had passed, but for Fred, this matter seemed as fresh as ever in his memory. This situation itself was not a good sign. That so-called shadow probably carried deep implications.

Fred was a bit incoherent. He took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit, and then spoke to Siles about this matter in more detail.

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