On the Conquest Sea, the Moncarlo Islands.
At night, on Moncarlo's main island, the bustling lights still illuminated the night scenery everywhere. Many streets were noisy, and the services of the city that never sleeps continued.
On a deserted street far from the lively sections, a carriage moved forward under the dim streetlights. Hooves stepped on solid stone slabs, and with a rhythmic beat, it reached its destination, next to a deserted small square.
"Alright, we've arrived. Let this guy get down and sit by the flower bed over there. I'll enter his dream."
Inside the carriage, the woman controlled by Little Fox's sleepwalking spoke to Ed beside her, and Ed immediately responded.
"No problem, Miss Fox."
As she spoke, Dorothy controlled Lao Lan, who was sitting on the carriage seat, to stand up, open the carriage door, and step out. He slowly walked to the spot designated by Little Fox and sat down. From Little Fox's series of requests earlier, Dorothy had already made some guesses about her current abilities.
'I remember last year, this Little Fox could only steal memories when entering others' dreams, and her operation of sleepwalking was very stiff. Now, her manipulation of others' sleepwalking seems very skilled and smooth, much better than before. Perhaps this Little Fox has been promoted in the past six months. This is not surprising. She often hunts in the Dream World with Grego, relying on the Dragon territory. Her Spirituality accumulates very quickly, and as long as there are no obstacles in the ritual, promotion is natural...'
'This Little Fox should now be a Chalk, a Nightmare of the Dream Eater Path. It seems she has the ability to directly hypnotize others in the real world and then invade their dreams, without needing to detour through the Dream World. It seems her ability has limitations; it should be within a certain range of her main body, and the target of the dream entry must also be perceived by her. It's still a bit limited...'
Dorothy thought to herself. Little Fox had Lao Lan walk to a specific spot to sit down, definitely because that location was within the visual range of Little Fox's main body. She needed to be able to perceive the target of the dream entry. Little Fox's ability to enter dreams definitely couldn't be activated through a puppet. Her consciousness had to retreat back into her main body, and then the main body could activate the ability.
Although Dorothy had successfully planted a puppet mark on Lao Lan, she was wary of Edward being a Scarlet of the ""Cup"", so Dorothy never dared to directly use the puppet in front of him. When meeting Edward in the Lao Lan area, she did not activate the puppet mark to obtain information. Instead, she waited until Lao Lan fell asleep, used the puppet mark to control him to walk out of the guarded area, and come to Little Fox's main body, using Little Fox's ability to enter his dream and steal Lao Lan's memory to obtain information about Edward from his memories.
"The person is in place. Alright, I will now invade his dream. You wait here for a moment."
Seeing Lao Lan ready, the woman controlled by Little Fox said this, and Dorothy had Ed speak at the appropriate time.
"Miss Fox, actually, if possible, I would like to know the scene in Lao Lan's dream more directly and immediately."
"Knowing the situation in his dream immediately... that's not possible. I can't bring you into the dream. Only I can enter his dream. You just wait outside for me to come back." Little Fox directly responded to Ed, and then Ed continued to answer with a smile.
"Actually... I don't need to enter the dream with you. I can know what you see in his dream by acquiring your senses..."
"What... acquiring my senses in the dream? Is there such a magical ability? Will this be very dangerous...?" Hearing Ed's words, Little Fox responded with a hint of worry, and Ed spoke frankly.
"This will not be dangerous at all. You just need to offer a simple prayer to Aka before entering the dream. Through Aka, I will see what you see. You still remember how to pray to Aka, right?"
"Just need to pray to Aka? So Aka has such an ability... Alright, I'll try it later," Hearing Ed's words, the woman controlled by Little Fox murmured thoughtfully. Then she leaned back in the carriage seat and sat properly. After closing her eyes, she soon fell into a deep sleep. Dorothy knew that Little Fox's consciousness had withdrawn from this woman's dream, ending her sleepwalking state.
Around the small square, on the roof of a small building, Little Fox Shaliya, wearing a hooded cloak to conceal her figure, slowly opened her eyes. Then, a Black Cat waiting beside her quickly walked to her front. Little Fox wanted to say something to the Black Cat, but the Black Cat immediately shook its head, telling her not to talk to itself, and then looked at Lao Lan sitting below, signaling Little Fox to get down to business immediately.
Seeing the Black Cat's reaction, Little Fox also closed her mouth and said nothing more. Then she looked at Lao Lan, who was sitting properly in the distance, preparing to pray and then invade his dream. However, she hesitated for a while before praying.
'Praying to that Aka... won't there be any risks...? No, there shouldn't be. That Black Dog has prayed so many times, and I haven't seen anything happen to him... The safety should be guaranteed...'
'Upon the infinite realm of this world... the great Aka who records all things...'
While praying, Little Fox also activated her ability. She stared at Lao Lan, who was sitting alone in the darkness dozens of meters away. Her own consciousness dispersed and invaded the dream of the sleeping person. Dorothy also began to acquire all of Little Fox's senses, including the senses in the dream, through the consultation channel that had just been established.
Through the consultation channel, Dorothy observed Little Fox, who had fallen asleep again, beginning to enter Lao Lan's dream. After a series of dazzling and strange color changes, the surrounding environment gradually stabilized. What appeared before Dorothy and Little Fox at this time was a scene on a city wall.
On the thick and sturdy city wall equipped with countless cannons, Moncarlo's flag, evolved from a pirate flag with crossed swords, was fluttering in the wind. Countless city guards walked back and forth on the city wall. One side of the city wall faced the vast sea, and the other side faced the tall Jun Hai Fort. Lao Lan was standing on top of the wall at this time, looking at the distant sea with binoculars.
In the form of a white Little Fox, Shaliya appeared on the floor of the city wall. After scanning the dream scene around her, she found Lao Lan standing not far away. Then Little Fox unceremoniously jumped onto the battlement of the city wall and stood in front of Lao Lan's binoculars. Seeing this, Lao Lan in the dream put down the binoculars and looked at the Little Fox in front of him, saying.
"What a cute fox? Its fur is so beautiful. If I peel off its skin and present it to Father, he will be very happy." As he spoke, Lao Lan seemed ready to act, and Little Fox quickly spoke out.
"Hey, hey... you stay right there and don't move. I came to ask you something."
"Ah... a fox can talk and ask things? Interesting... Speak, what do you want to ask?" Standing still, Lao Lan, who had put down his binoculars, slowly said, and Little Fox also got straight to the point.
"Does Edward. Gibbs have some powerful detection method, one that can even find Scarlet-level'Shadow' Extraordinary?"
"Yes, many of my brothers and sisters and I grew up hearing about Father's legends. According to the legends, when Father was adventuring on the sea, he collected many magical treasures, including a basin obtained from a misty island. Father can use this basin to discover some ill-intentioned people around him. It is said that he once used it to find and expel a powerful assassin. As long as Father is willing to look, there is no one on Moncarlo's island who can escape his discerning eye."
Facing Little Fox's inquiry, Lao Lan answered with a calm expression. Hearing Lao Lan's words, Little Fox couldn't help but feel a surge of energy, and then continued to ask.
"Then what does this magical basin look like? Where is it hidden now? And how is it used?"
"I don't know."
"Ah? You don't know any of them? You must know at least one of the three questions," Hearing Lao Lan's answer, Little Fox frowned directly, while Lao Lan's answer was as flat as ever.
"I don't know, I don't know any of them. When I was born, Father had already settled in Moncarlo for many years. His deeds from his pirate era are more like legends to us. Father does indeed have a Baoku (Treasure House) where he stores his adventure treasures, but only he knows where this Baoku (Treasure House) is and only he can open it. As for us children, we can only occasionally receive some things that are bestowed upon us."
"Uh... I don't know about that..."
Hearing Lao Lan's extremely indifferent reply, Little Fox couldn't help but show a hint of distress on her face. After pondering for a while, she changed her questioning method, asking Lao Lan if anyone else knew where Edward's Baoku (Treasure House) was. However, the answer remained the same: he knew nothing about anything. Edward seemed to guard his core secrets very tightly, so much so that even his most favored offspring were unaware.
"What should I do... This old pirate actually hides things like this even from his own son... How am I supposed to inquire about his information..."
Little Fox sat on the battlements, saying in distress. Just then, Ed's voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
"Try to make him show more detailed memories, for example, what they talked about when he met his father. You might find some details from that.
"As far as I know, this Tenth Young Master just met with Edward not long ago to report on the Church Sister's visit. He should remember this recent event relatively clearly. Bring it up and take a look."
Using a voice changer, Dorothy used the consultation channel to transmit her question to Little Fox. At this moment, she also wanted to find out Edward's attitude towards the Sister's visit. If possible, they might be able to find a breakthrough with Vanya.
"When they met today?"
Hearing Dorothy's suggestion, a hint of doubt appeared on Little Fox's face, but she still spoke to Lao Lan in front of her.
"Show me the scene from the last time you had an audience with your father to give a report."
Listening to Little Fox's words, the dream Lao Lan nodded. Then, the surrounding environment suddenly changed. The original fort and sea twisted instantly, and the colorful colors seemed to be violently stirred by something, becoming a turbid void, finally slowly stabilizing. After completely stabilizing, the environment was no longer the original sea fort, but a tall audience hall.
In the dim hall, only a few burning braziers provided light. On both sides of the hall, built with huge stones, hung specimens of countless strange-shaped sea fish and sea beasts. Above the hall, a giant long skull, about seven or eight meters long, from some unknown creature, was hung. Below the giant skull was a long red carpet, and at the end of the carpet was a luxurious wooden throne. A figure was seated on the throne.
Main Continent style admiral's attire was worn on him, but beneath this majestic clothing was a gaunt and withered old man. On his twig-like fingers, more than a dozen gem rings of various colors were loosely worn. On his wrinkled face, a sparse beard grew. Beneath the old-fashioned last-century style naval cap was a thin, skeletal head. On the surface of the pupils in his deep-set eye sockets, a turbid gaze emerged, staring not far in front of the throne, at another respectfully standing Lao Lan.
"This... Is this Edward? He's older than I expected..."
Seeing the decrepit figure on the throne, Little Fox said with some surprise. After seeing Edward's appearance, Dorothy also realized that as a Crimson Tier Extraordinary, Edward was already approaching the end of his life after more than three hundred years.
Lao Lan recreated the scene from his memory, and then the scene quickly played out as he remembered. Dorothy saw a scene she hadn't seen at night: Lao Lan was reporting the daytime intelligence to Edward.
"That's how it is... Sister Vanya has been arranged to stay at the Fengge Hotel. According to the itinerary, they will hold a holy artifact exhibition the day after tomorrow and then leave Moncarlo. Those involved in the human ""cup"" drug business, the Hook Shark Gang that was caught red-handed, have been dealt with. Now we are considering whether to pursue the responsibility of the Hook Shark Gang's protectors. According to our intelligence, some city guards are highly suspicious."
Kneeling in the hall, the remembered Lao Lan reported the day's events to Edward and asked for his opinion. After taking a breath, Edward spoke in an old voice.
"Just catch a typical one... as a warning to others... no need to expand it too much..."
"Yes..." Lao Lan nodded in response. Then, Edward on the throne glanced at his son in front of him and continued to speak slowly.
"Also... that Church Sister... did she talk to you about anything else? Anything other than the pilgrimage?"
"Hmm... Reporting to Father, Sister Vanya and I only focused our conversation on the pilgrimage and the construction of Moncarlo. There was nothing else noteworthy..." Lao Lan thought about the daytime scene and then replied to Edward. Edward slightly opened his eyes and continued to speak.
"Did she... perhaps not mention topics related to me? Did she perhaps not request to see me? Or inquire about my information?"
"No, Sister Vanya was very respectful when she mentioned Father, and there were no actions discussing you." Lao Lan said to Edward. After hearing this, Edward let out a long sigh of relief.
"Alright, you may step back. Let the one waiting outside come in..."
"Yes, Father."
Responding to Edward's words, Lao Lan turned and walked out of the audience hall. After walking out of the half-open door, he saw a man completely concealed under a dark blue hooded cloak standing there. After seeing the man, Lao Lan spoke directly.
"Go in, Father is waiting for you."
"Heh, thank you, Tenth Young Master, for the notification." After hearing Lao Lan's words, the man wearing the hooded cloak smiled slightly. After greeting him with a hint of contempt, he walked into the audience hall, and then the door closed tightly.
"Who is he?"
Seeing this scene, Little Fox asked the dream Lao Lan beside her, and the dream Lao Lan replied.
"That is Father's honored guest, but I don't know who exactly he is."
"Honored guest?"
"Yes, an honored guest who suddenly appeared in Moncarlo more than a week ago. For some reason, he holds a token from Father's pirate era that possesses Extraordinary Spirituality. With this, he passed through many checkpoints and met Father. Afterwards, Father summoned him almost every day to discuss matters." Lao Lan continued to answer Little Fox's questions, and Little Fox continued to ask.
"Do you know what they were talking about?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know. Every time they talk, they refuse to have anyone else present, even me or my other siblings. Since meeting that honored guest, Father's condition seems to have become a bit unstable, so we are also very curious about what they are talking about."
Lao Lan answered Little Fox's questions directly. Hearing Lao Lan's reply, Dorothy also frowned slightly and then began to continue guiding Lao Lan's questioning.
"Then... have you seen what that token looks like?"
"I have."
After Lao Lan finished speaking, an item suddenly appeared in front of him out of thin air. It was a braid of hair, a segment of dry, messy, dirty hair that had been cut off. Intertwined and tied into this braid was a dried-up small snake. This dried snake was threaded through the hair, biting tightly onto one end. On the snake's head, a simple ""Cup"" mark was carved.
A cup and a snake... Seeing this token, Dorothy's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she immediately had Little Fox ask.
"Where is this honored guest now?"
"He is in a secret prison outside the fortress. After his first meeting with him, Father ordered him to be locked up there and ordered us to monitor him strictly. Only when he needs to meet him are we allowed to bring him to the fortress via a secret passage to meet him alone. Father seems very wary of him."
"Then... do you know where he is being held?"
"Naturally, I do."