In the dark of night in Moncarlo, Dorothy sat on the sofa in the hotel suite. Having perceived everything Little Fox saw and heard in Lao Lan's dream, she was now stroking her chin with great interest, lost in thought.
'Edward's esteemed guest... holding a token from Edward's pirate days... secretly meeting and then being imprisoned and guarded... How interesting...' Rapidly reviewing the various pieces of intelligence obtained from Lao Lan, various thoughts surfaced in Dorothy's mind. She then used the communication channel to transmit a message to Little Fox, who was still in the dream.
"Alright, that's enough. You can exit the dream now. We need to go somewhere else."
In Lao Lan's dream, at the entrance of the spacious audience hall, Little Fox, who had just noted down the location and address Lao Lan had given, couldn't help but feel puzzled. She then spoke again.
"We haven't asked about the whereabouts of that thing yet. Are we withdrawing just like this?"
"Edward's caution exceeded our expectations. Continuing to question him now won't yield anything. We need to change direction... Let's go immediately to where the so-called esteemed guest is being held."
"Hmm... we're changing locations, huh? Alright, you go ahead by carriage first, I'll catch up to that area right away..." Listening to Dorothy's words, Little Fox said with a slight hint of frustration. Unlike Ed, he didn't have his own carriage waiting nearby, so moving would require more effort. However, Dorothy's reaction was somewhat unexpected.
"Don't separate. Let's ride together. The night is short, don't waste time."
"Ride with you? Wouldn't that be revealing myself in front of you? This isn't..."
"I've already seen your main body. It's on the rooftop of that three-story building to the left of the flower bed where Lao Lan is sitting, the one with the grilled fish shop on the ground floor. You're wearing a cloak and brought a cat with you." Listening to Little Fox's words, Dorothy responded calmly, directly stating the results of her miniature Corpse Puppet's reconnaissance, which startled Little Fox. In Lao Lan's dream, he jumped up on the spot. He looked around frantically, speaking in astonishment.
"Ah! You, how did you find me!"
"Just some small puppets, a very common method of reconnaissance. Alright... let's not waste time. Hurry down and get in the carriage. I won't do anything to you."
These words echoed in Little Fox's heart. After hearing them, Little Fox's ears couldn't help but droop, and his entire demeanor suddenly became somewhat dejected.
"Hmm..."
...
On the dark streets of Moncarlo, under the dim streetlights, a skilled coachman was quickly driving a black carriage along the cobblestone road. Inside the carriage, which swayed rhythmically, Little Fox Shaliya, wearing a long hooded robe with the lower half of her face covered by a scarf, sat on a seat. Her hands were placed in front of her, and she watched the well-dressed man sitting opposite her with a vigilant expression. Beside Shaliya sat a Black Cat, also with wary eyes, staring intently at Ed.
Sitting in his seat, Ed looked at Shaliya before him with a smile, and said with a relaxed expression, waving his hand.
"Just relax a little, Miss Fox. We are in a cooperative relationship. No one here will harm you. You and your pet don't need to be so nervous." Ed seemed to want to offer a few words of reassurance to Shaliya, but his words didn't significantly lower Shaliya's guard. Instead, she spoke with a rather serious tone.
"You asked me to steal a dream, but you were looking for traces of me at the agreed location. Your attitude towards cooperation is too insincere."
"Haha, Miss Fox, you might have misunderstood a little. I wasn't specifically looking for traces of you. I was merely using puppets for routine monitoring around the dream theft area to prevent suspicious individuals from approaching. Finding you was purely an accident. If you are displeased by this, I am willing to apologize to you now."
Facing Shaliya, Ed maintained the politeness and demeanor of a gentleman, speaking unhurriedly, while Shaliya continued to speak with undiminished suspicion.
"Do you think... I would believe your words so easily?"
"Miss Fox has been in contact with us for a long time, and we have never done anything harmful to Miss Fox. Miss Fox ultimately got into this carriage, isn't that also a sign of trusting us? Heh heh... Furthermore, Miss Fox, you are acquainted with Lord Paturnax. Given your relationship with Lord Paturnax, with whom you can converse frequently, we wouldn't dare to slight Miss Fox. If you were to complain to that one about something, things would not be easy for us subordinates."
Ed continued speaking to Shaliya. Listening to Ed's words, Shaliya couldn't help but perk up, suddenly becoming much more energetic.
"It can be like this... Is conversing with Dragon a rare honor?" Shaliya asked Ed, and Ed continued to answer with a smile.
"Of course. That is the Dream Dragon... Even for me to listen to his guidance, it takes a considerable amount of effort."
Hearing Ed say that it was not as easy for ordinary Rose Cross members to contact Paturnax as it was for her, Shaliya's original vigilance and displeasure vanished in an instant, and she became spirited, just as she often did in dreams.
"Haha... So it's that difficult for you to see Dragon even once. Actually, I can tell you that Dragon is very easy to talk to. You don't need to be so nervous when facing him. By the way... do you have any golden rock candy on you? The kind you often see sold on the street. If you give me some, perhaps I can tell you a little about Dragon..."
"Meow!"
"Hiss! Ow, Little Black! What are you doing?!"
Shaliya quickly spoke to Ed, her attitude changing. Just then, the Black Cat beside her seemed somewhat displeased and anxiously jumped onto Shaliya's lap, scratching her hand. Shaliya struggled to push the Black Cat away.
Watching the girl entangled with the Black Cat before him, Ed continued to speak with a smile.
"But then again... It's quite unexpected. The key figure capable of invading others' dreams to steal memories, to toy with the Black Dream Hunter Group in dreams, and the remnant faith of the Dream Knight... is actually such a young girl. To have achieved this level of extraordinary accomplishment at such a young age is truly rare... Perhaps I understand a little bit why Lord Paturnax values you..."
Hearing Ed's compliments, Shaliya felt a surge of comfort in her heart, and her expression seemed to become even more spirited.
"Haha, of course. After all, I... Ow, Little Black, stop it! Hiss! Don't actually scratch me, it hurts..."
Watching the girl wrestling with her Black Cat, Ed nodded silently with a smile. Through Ed's eyes, Dorothy's gaze also focused slightly on the Black Cat bothering Shaliya. Her expression seemed to be thoughtful, pondering something.
...
After some travel, the carriage controlled by Dorothy gradually approached the edge of Moncarlo City. Dorothy, in the hotel suite, looked at the map of Moncarlo City spread out on the coffee table and confirmed that they had reached the vicinity of their target.
Next, Dorothy drove the carriage into a small alley and slowly stopped. Then, she had Ed get out with Shaliya and her Black Cat. The dream puppet originally controlled by Shaliya had already moved to a safe distance and was released. Dorothy also simultaneously controlled Lao Lan to return to his residence.
Although Dorothy could continue to control Lao Lan to have the guards of this secret prison let them pass, doing so would make it easy for Edward to confront Lao Lan during the day, causing Lao Lan to realize that he had been controlled at night. Therefore, Dorothy decided to infiltrate the secret prison herself.
"The secret prison where the tenth young master said the distinguished guest is held is nearby... Are we going to knock out the guards and sneak in?"
In the dark alley, Shaliya covered her hand, which had red marks from the cat's scratches, and whispered to Ed beside her, while Ed also responded in a low voice.
"There's no need to provoke those guards. We just need to get close. By the way, what is the range of your dream entry ability?"
"Hmm… well, it's probably around two hundred and fifty meters centered on myself. Within this range, as long as I can perceive where the target person is, I can hypnotize or enter their dream," Shaliya said to Ed after thinking for a moment. While she spoke, the Black Cat beside her couldn't help but sigh slightly, and Dorothy, upon learning the radius of Shaliya's ability, immediately drew a circle on the map and found a suitable location within it.
"Let's go, we'll head to the front…"
Next, Ed led Shaliya through the empty, cold alleyways, exploring forward. After a while, they stopped in a corner.
"This should be about it… Let's hide here and don't move…"
Hiding in the corner with Shaliya, Ed said this. Afterward, Dorothy dispatched her miniature Corpse Puppets to stealthily fly towards the secret prison not far away.
The so-called secret prison was an ordinary civilian house on the outside. After Dorothy's miniature Corpse Puppets sneaked in through the window, they saw brightly lit rooms and several plainclothes guards in the rooms. Some of them were standing guard everywhere, while others were gathered together drinking and playing cards, bustling and lively.
Bypassing the guards, Dorothy's miniature Corpse Puppets flew all the way to the house's cellar. Here, Dorothy felt the illumination of the Hui Jian Lamp, but fortunately, Dorothy used the shared effect of the ring of concealment to strongly hide the Corpse Puppets. Then, Dorothy had the miniature Corpse Puppets continue flying deeper into the cellar. After passing through an iron bar door, they arrived in an underground passage. After exploring forward a little further, Dorothy saw a prison cell appear beside the passage.
This prison cell was separated from the passage by a sturdy iron bar door. Inside the cell was a comfortable prison cell equipped with a bed, wardrobe, bookshelf, desk, and chairs, and other facilities. It could be seen that this was a private room cell. In this private room, a figure wearing a long robe was currently lying on the bed, sleeping soundly without a blanket. Dorothy recognized him at a glance; he was the "distinguished guest" from Lao Lan's memory.
"Good… he's already asleep at this hour…"
After seeing the scene inside the prison, Dorothy murmured. Then, she controlled the distant Ed to speak to Shaliya beside him.
"My puppet has found that person. He is sleeping. Now I will share the information my puppet sees with you through Aka. You can use this to enter his dream."
"Eh… Share?"
Listening to Ed's words, Shaliya was temporarily a little unclear about what Ed meant, until she felt a slight pain in her head, and then a strange piece of information appeared in her mind. Shaliya suddenly felt as if she had an extra pair of eyes in addition to her own, and through these eyes, she saw another scene, a scene that, although somewhat strange in color, was very clear. From this scene, she could see a figure lying in the prison cell. Dorothy processed the visual information from her insect and arthropod miniature Corpse Puppets in her mind and converted it into a format that ordinary people could accept.
"Ah… I see it… Is this… shared vision? Aka can have such a function?" Looking at the scene before her eyes, Shaliya said strangely, and Ed continued to speak.
"Aka's mysterious greatness is still abundant. Don't waste time now. Enter that guy's dream and see what he came to Moncarlo for?"
"Okay…" Listening to Ed's words, Shaliya nodded, then closed her eyes, and using the perception of the Corpse Puppets, began to remotely enter the dream while separated by countless obstacles.
...
After a burst of colorful and brilliant colors, Shaliya re-entered the dream world in the form of a white Little Fox. When she successfully set foot in the distorted and dazzling space, everything around her began to become clear and stable. The originally colorful space turned into a boundless sea, and the Little Fox was standing on a ship sailing on the sea.
Under the gloomy sky, the sea churned with waves. Amidst the waves, a black and red ship sailed forward. There were countless sailors busy on the ship. Various strange-shaped, dissected sea beasts and large fish were hung on the mast. Hung alongside them were many naked human corpses also with their abdomens cut open. Thick blood flowed on the deck, and various internal organs were piled up by the ship's rail, indistinguishable whether they belonged to humans or fish. A Fishy smell smell spread all around.
Looking at the scene around her, the Little Fox couldn't help but frown, resisting the urge to vomit. Then she simply flew into the air, flying in front of the dream owner, who was a muscular bald man sitting in a pile of blood, drinking wine while picking at a raw rib of some unknown creature. He was bare-chested.
"What is your name? Where are you from? What is your purpose for coming to Moncarlo?"
Looking at the man in front of her, the Little Fox asked directly, and the man, after taking a sip of wine, looked at the Little Fox in front of him and said.
"Yo, a talking fox? And a white one, rare, interesting. I wonder what your meat tastes like…"
"I cannot be eaten! Answer my question now."
"Alright, alright, lower your voice, such noisy ingredients. My name is Tonic… I was an orphan of the Church since childhood, so I have no surname. I came to Moncarlo from Dirty Blood Bay. I'm here on a secret order from the Church, to negotiate with the Old Pirate of Moncarlo."
"The Church you mentioned… is the Ebergrass Church?"
"Of course, it is naturally the sect of the Lord of the Abyss, the great Eternal Thirster," the man named Tonic admitted generously, and at this moment, the Little Fox continued to ask.
"What are you looking for Edward for? What does the Ebergrass Church have to negotiate with Edward?"
"The Church wants that despicable and shameless Old Pirate to return to the right path of following the Lord of the Abyss! As long as that great traitor can turn over a new leaf, the Church can forgive his sins!" Drinking wine, Tonic said drunkenly. After listening to his words, Dorothy also furrowed her brows.
"Edward was originally a follower of the Ebergrass Church… Now the Ebergrass Church wants Edward to return? Why?" Listening to Tonic's words, the Little Fox said with some disbelief, and Tonic continued to answer.
"By relying on the water of the Fountain of Youth! That Old thing's lifespan is running out, he already has one foot in the coffin! If he wants to extend his life, only this water of the Spring of Youth can save him! As long as he can turn over a new leaf and submit a letter of allegiance to the Church, the Church can mercifully allow him to extend his life by another fifty years!"
With a hint of madness, Tonic shouted loudly, and the Little Fox spoke with a serious expression.
"Letter of allegiance… What kind of letter of allegiance?"
Listening to the Little Fox's words, Tonic swayed his head drunkenly, and after thinking for a moment, he continued to speak.
"Ah… that letter of allegiance is… the so-called Sister of World Salvation who has been very prominent in the Church recently… Vania Chafilun…"
...
Well… unknowingly, it's the end of the month again, and unknowingly, it's the period of severe writer's block again. Looking back this month, although the total word count reached the required 120,000 words for perfect attendance, the requirement of daily updates was unfortunately not met due to too many cycles, and even leave slips couldn't save it, so this month's perfect attendance is gone.
Since the perfect attendance is gone, and the total word count has been met, I will take a day off on the last day to rest more and conceive the writing ideas for the next month, striving to reduce the number of cycles and stabilize my routine, for example, my routine has been stable for three days these past few days, and it feels exceptionally good.
Alright, that's it. I'll take a leave tomorrow, and we'll continue the day after tomorrow. If there is any displeasure, please bear with me.