Navaja, North Shore of Conquest.
Late at night in the hotel, Dorothy, who had just finished bathing, was wearing a nightgown and drying her hair by the brazier. Just now, the faint prayer sound that had been lingering in her ears suddenly stopped intermittently. This phenomenon made Dorothy furrow her brows slightly, and a hint of confusion arose in her heart.
As a cleric who had received religious education since childhood, Vanya had a high degree of religious self-discipline. As long as she was free, she would perform daily worship rituals according to the tradition of the Shining Light Church. Among them, morning prayer and evening prayer were very important links, and Vanya would perform these two daily prayers on time, with the time not varying too much each day.
The object of Vanya's prayers in the past was naturally the Three Saints of the Shining Light Church. However, ever since she came into contact with Aka and was granted enlightenment and salvation by Aka, her daily prayers underwent some subtle changes. Due to the shift in the object of her faith deep in her heart, the "Lord" she spoke of during her prayers was no longer the Three Saints.
Although the content of Vanya's prayers was no different from before each time she prayed, and the prayers were the same as in the past, the object being praised in these prayers had changed to "Aka," who had given her real divine revelation and saved her life. This transition was very subtle, and even Vanya herself was not clearly aware of it. In the past, when she prayed, she always specified the object of prayer to one of the Three Saints, but now, when she prays, she uniformly uses the more general term "Lord."
Dorothy was much clearer about Vanya's subconscious change than Vanya herself, because Aka was essentially related to herself and the system, and Dorothy could hear all of Vanya's prayers.
If Dorothy found Vanya's frequent prayers noisy, she could actually set up a shield (shield), but because Dorothy found it too troublesome to turn the shield (shield) on and off every day, she didn't set it up. This was because she was afraid that if she turned the shield (shield) on and forgot to turn it off, it would shield (shield) some important prayers from Vanya, such as in case of an emergency.
Moreover, in Dorothy's opinion, Vanya's praying voice was actually quite pleasant. Although the content of the prayers was not much different, Vanya's voice was quite good. Perhaps it was influenced by the music inside the Church. When Vanya poured her emotions into her focused prayers, her voice even sounded a bit like singing. Dorothy felt it sounded quite good, so she never shield (shield)ed Vanya's prayers, she just turned the volume down a little, and the sound of the prayers could still remind her of the time every day.
Vanya's daily prayers were once in the morning and once in the evening, and the time was about the same every day. Dorothy had become very familiar with this over the past few months. However, this was the first time Dorothy had encountered the situation where the prayer suddenly stopped.
'Hmm... Vanya's prayer today... while praying... why did it suddenly stop? And before that, it was intermittent, and there was obvious sleepiness in the sound of the prayer... Did she fall asleep during the prayer?
'This is the first time I've seen Vanya sleep during prayer... In the past, she was very focused and concentrated when praying. She suddenly fell asleep today... Is it because she's been too tired lately?'
Sitting by the brazier, Dorothy put the towel in her hand aside and thought to herself. She guessed that Vanya might have fallen asleep during prayer due to fatigue, but upon closer reflection, she found that Vanya shouldn't have been particularly busy lately.
'Vanya is currently on a pilgrimage, which in a sense is like traveling at public expense, and she has no tasks... The Holy Rite Knights didn't suffer much damage when they fought Costa at the port the day before yesterday, and their own medical forces could handle it, so they didn't ask Vanya for help... I haven't assigned Vanya any tasks either... Under these circumstances, would Vanya fall asleep during prayer due to fatigue?'
Dorothy continued to think to herself. Although she was a little surprised by Vanya's sudden falling asleep during prayer, it wasn't enough to make her suspicious. After all, it was already late at night, and it was perfectly normal to suddenly fall asleep when sleepiness struck.
'However... it's still late winter and early spring, right? The weather is still very cold, and if Vanya just falls asleep like this, there might be a risk of catching a cold. And if she is praying in a public place like a Church, it's not good to just fall asleep like this. Not only is she likely to have things stolen, but it would be bad if someone took advantage of her.'
Dorothy thought this way. Adhering to the idea that one should sleep properly in bed, she prepared to gently wake up the sleeping Vanya, after all, it was indeed not good to sleep in a public place in such cold weather.
Then, Dorothy slightly touched the puppet mark on Vanya, trying to wake her up, but when she did so, Vanya was not woken up. After repeating it once or twice, Dorothy found that something was wrong.
'Hmm? Strange... Can't she be woken up? Is Vanya sleeping that deeply?'
Feeling that something was wrong, Dorothy couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly. Then she decided to take some other measures to wake Vanya up. She used the puppet mark to control the sleeping Vanya, making her open her eyes. After using Vanya's vision to scan the Church she was in, she also made Vanya raise a hand and pinch her own face.
However, even so, Vanya still hadn't woken up. Dorothy, who was controlling Vanya's body, could feel that Vanya's consciousness was still in deep sleep. This phenomenon immediately made Dorothy alert, and at the same time, she associated it with a phenomenon.
"This is... deep sleep?! Vanya actually fell into deep sleep?"
Dorothy murmured in some astonishment. Dorothy was not unfamiliar with Vanya's current state. Just a few months ago, Grego encountered this phenomenon on the train to Tivian. He was drugged by the Eight Point Nest people and entered a state of deep sleep, sleeping like a dead person, unable to wake up. Vanya's current appearance was similar to Grego's state at that time, the whole person was in a coma that was difficult to disturb.
Seeing Vanya's current state, Dorothy's expression immediately became more serious, because she knew that this kind of deep sleep that could not be woken up was not a normal state of sleep. This was a deep sleep created with the participation of extraordinary factors, and it was not something one could easily enter.
And now, Vanya had inexplicably entered this state of deep sleep, which meant she must have encountered something.
This is extraordinary interference!
'Why did Vanya suddenly enter deep sleep? Who is targeting her? The Eight Point Nest? Could it be that they also want to replace Vanya like they replaced Grego? And thus infiltrate the Church?'
'No... that's not right. If the Eight Point Nest wants to replace someone, they have to do it in a private environment like a train carriage, but now Vanya is in the Church, and there are a bunch of people around doing evening prayer. It's impossible to do the replacement in this kind of setting... This time it shouldn't be the Eight Point Nest causing trouble...'
'But if it's not the Eight Point Nest, then who is targeting Vanya? And what is the purpose of making Vanya fall into deep sleep?'
Facing the situation before her, Dorothy thought solemnly to herself. Now she needed to figure out Vanya's specific situation, figure out if she had provoked anyone during the day? Why was she being targeted?
'To figure out these questions... I need to ask Vanya directly, but she is currently in deep sleep and cannot answer... Hiss... This is a bit difficult...'
Scratching her head, Dorothy thought with some distress, but after a brief thought, Dorothy had some ideas in her heart.
'Perhaps... I can communicate with the sleeping Sister Vanya through the Dream World, just like I helped Grego before... But the problem is, I don't know where Sister Vanya's dream cocoon is in the Dream World? Even if I knew, I don't have a dream anchor sigil to get there. Even if I could get there, to enter someone else's dream cocoon, I would need to borrow the extraordinary ability of a Dream Walker, and I might not be able to find that Little Fox anytime soon.'
Seeing that she couldn't wake Sister Vanya, Dorothy wanted to communicate with her in the Dream World, but without the Dream World coordinates and a dream anchor sigil, her Dream World mimicry couldn't reach her. So, to communicate in the Dream World, she had to find another way.
'That's right... When I was helping Grego before, I successfully sent a message to Grego's Dream World through the information channel and was able to receive information from his Dream World. Perhaps I can also use the information channel to view Sister Vanya's Dream World and communicate with her.
'Just right, Sister Vanya has been praying to me before falling asleep. I can directly use the information channel to get information from her side.'
Thinking this, Dorothy immediately took action. She began to mobilize the information channel linked to Sister Vanya, using it to directly obtain Sister Vanya's thoughts while she was asleep.
In fact, under normal circumstances, the information channel cannot directly and forcefully obtain information from the linked person's mind like this. However, because Sister Vanya's prayers to Dorothy often contained phrases like "offer everything I have," Dorothy gained the right to directly access Sister Vanya's thoughts, as everything she had naturally included her thoughts.
Finally, after a small attempt, Dorothy successfully used the information channel to obtain Sister Vanya's current thought information, saw the scene in her current Dream World, saw the Church District square in the Dream World, and saw Sister Vanya talking to a black Shadow in front of her on the square.
After seeing that Shadow, Dorothy's brows couldn't help but furrow even more.
...
"Sister Vanya, I want to ask you, who is the highest officer of your fleet?"
Standing on the square in the Dream World, the black Shadow asked the bewildered Sister Vanya, and Sister Vanya answered directly.
"It is Captain Jode Bianchi. He is the overall commander of our fleet."
"Bianchi? Sounds like an Iweig person... Where did your fleet come from? What is your destination? Why are you going there?"
"Our fleet set sail from Faloro, and our destination is Iweig... We are going there for a pilgrimage..."
The Shadow, whose humanity was blurred, asked Sister Vanya various questions one by one, and Sister Vanya answered them one by one in her confusion. Facing the Shadow's questions, she answered almost everything she knew. And Dorothy, in the hotel, couldn't help but be startled after seeing this scene.
'Someone... There are actually other people in Sister Vanya's Dream World? And this guy is asking Sister Vanya for information... Is He the one who pulled Sister Vanya into deep sleep?'
Seeing the scene in Sister Vanya's Dream World, Dorothy thought in surprise. She originally only wanted to contact Sister Vanya in the Dream World through the information channel and then ask her who was targeting her, but she didn't expect that person to be directly in Sister Vanya's Dream World, and even asking Sister Vanya for information through the Dream World!
The sudden change in the situation made Dorothy freeze for a moment, but she quickly reacted and immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.
'It seems this guy has an ability to enter other people's Dream Worlds and obtain information in the Dream World... It's very similar to the ability of the Little Fox Dream Walker. Sister Vanya's deep sleep now should be caused by this guy's ability. For now, He seems to want to collect information about the Church fleet from Sister Vanya...
'Although I don't know what this guy wants this information for? But the current situation is very bad for me. Sister Vanya is now controlled by Him in the Dream World and is in a state where she will answer everything. If this continues, this guy might ask questions that involve me. At that time, if Sister Vanya answers truthfully, I will be exposed!'
Dorothy thought with a very serious expression. Although the Shadow was mainly asking for information about the Church fleet at the moment, because she had a great hidden connection with the Church fleet, if that Shadow asked about the fleet thoroughly, Dorothy herself would definitely be revealed by Sister Vanya.
It was precisely because of Dorothy that the Church fleet came to the edge of this small city, and it was precisely because of Dorothy that Captain Jode and the others clashed head-on with Costa. If that Shadow was allowed to continue asking Sister Vanya, Sister Vanya would definitely reveal Dorothy's existence, which was something Dorothy was extremely unwilling to see!
'This guy seems to be investigating the reason why the Church fleet came to Navaja. If He keeps asking until He gets to the bottom of it, I'm afraid I'll be exposed...
'No! If this continues, Sister Vanya will definitely say things that shouldn't be said! Although I don't know what force this guy belongs to, my information must never fall into his hands!'
Dorothy thought this in her heart. Her primary goal now was to prevent Sister Vanya from continuing to reveal information to that Shadow! Dorothy didn't want this unknown and dangerous guy to know her truth.
'But... how should I stop Him now? He directly invaded Sister Vanya's Dream World, I can't find where his real body is at all? If I want to use Dream World mimicry to go there, I don't have Sister Vanya's Dream World coordinates or a dream anchor sigil to get there...'
Dorothy thought anxiously. It was obvious that for the current Dorothy, using mimicry to directly find Sister Vanya's dream cocoon was unrealistic, and directly finding the real person in reality had no clues at all. Even if she tried to find clues to find the person now, the information would probably be finished being asked by the time she found them.
Time was of the essence now. While Dorothy was anxious, Sister Vanya in the Dream World was still answering the Shadow's questions one by one. Dorothy was not sure in which of the following questions she would be exposed, so she had to find a way to stop this Dream World conversation immediately.
The means that Dorothy could use to intervene on Sister Vanya's side in time, besides the puppet mark, were only the information channel. After thinking for a moment, Dorothy had a solution.
'If I remember correctly... I could use the information channel to communicate with Grego and the Little Fox who were in the Dream World at that time. This means that I can use the information channel to transmit information into Sister Vanya's Dream World.'
"Hmph, if you want information like this, I can give you a lot, information about the forbidden secrets of the hidden world..."
With a cold snort, Dorothy began to mobilize the secret transmission stored in her memory, transmitting it into Sister Vanya's Dream World through the information channel. She wanted to give that bold information thief a Spirit Sight dinner.