Under the dark sky, the sea surged with waves. A small yacht was swaying and sailing on the sea. On the hull, which was lit with scattered lights, several Corpse Puppet crew members were busy driving the ship. Dorothy, the controller of these Corpse Puppets, was sitting in the comfortable cabin, summarizing the actions taken in Moncarlo.
Sitting on her bed, Dorothy looked at the dark sea outside the porthole while habitually contemplating the Spirituality she had consumed during her trip to Moncarlo.
First, the Spirituality from "Shadow" was not counted. No matter how much was consumed, she ate it all back at once by eating moths. The consumption of "Light" was mainly from firing a focused scorching flame at low power, which consumed 2 points of "Light". She also attached a Beacon Sigil to the focused scorching flame for easy retrieval, which consumed 1 point of "Light". So, Dorothy's "Light" consumption was 3 points. Dorothy originally had 14 points of "Light", and now has 11 points left.
Next was the consumption of "Stone". This time, Dorothy's "Stone" was mainly used to control her magnetic levitation flying carpet for a period of flying to rush the journey. This time, the distance Dorothy flew was far less than the more than 20 kilometers she flew in Adus last time, so the consumption was not too large, totaling 1 point. However, because Dorothy's "Stone" was not much after the consumption in Adus last time, only 11 points, now after deducting, only 10 points are left.
This time, Dorothy's biggest consumption was arguably "Cup". When she came on the cruise ship, she used the Finding Breath Seal to find people, consuming 2 points. When she jumped into the sea, she buffed herself with water absorption and Life Devour, which was another 2 points. Controlling multiple auction house employee Living Puppets for a long time consumed 3 points. Later, breaking the limit and controlling a large number of Corpse Puppets to operate almost all the island's shore defense cannons for bombardment, covering Ku Chi's retreat, directly used 5 points. The total consumption was 12 points. Dorothy originally had 17 points of "Cup", and now only has 5 points left.
Overall, Dorothy's current Spirituality status is as follows:
5 Cup, 10 Stone, 50 Shadow, 11 Light, 26 Silence, 50 enlightenment.
'Hiss... This Spirituality situation is really quite bad... The main 'Cup' Spirituality is now in single digits, completely insufficient to support another action. It seems this time I really have to go to a big city first to buy books and replenish it well.'
Looking at her current Spirituality situation, Dorothy thought anxiously in her heart. At present, her Spirituality is not only needed for a series of actions but also for the accumulation needed for the possible upcoming promotion.
Dorothy needs six divine artifacts for her promotion to Scarlet. Five of them are already accounted for and can be collected after some time, except for the sixth 'enlightenment' divine artifact that Dorothy is still trying to find a way to obtain. The rest that Dorothy needs to pay attention to is the accumulation of her Spirituality. Among the six types of Spirituality, only three meet the standard, and the other three are quite far off.
'But thankfully... Spirituality can be obtained through the stable channel of buying books. As long as there is enough money, these are not problems. It just so happens that on the way to Moncarlo, I encountered a group of fated people and earned some small money by helping them complete some tasks. Although it's not much, it's still enough to buy a few books.'
Dorothy continued to think in this way. On the way, she noticed something was wrong with the fish and discovered the smuggling trade between the Food Intestine Society and the Hook Shark Gang. After getting involved, she took 47,000 Liel from the transaction, which she exchanged for 2200 pound at the bank. Adding to her original 500-plus pound, Dorothy now has about 2700 pound in cash... Although this is not a lot of money, it is enough to buy three or four secret transmissions.
In fact, Dorothy had a bolder plan before, which was to wait for Edward and Ku Chi to fight, and after Ku Chi summoned the moth to hypnotize the entire city, she would send Corpse Puppets to steal money and extraordinary items from the auction house. Since any item in the second half of the auction there costs hundreds of thousands of Liel, Dorothy would make a fortune by just taking a few items.
However, considering that the auction house was in the central area of Moncarlo Island, and she needed to withdraw quickly after getting the main target, she wouldn't have time to pick up the things even if she got them. Moreover, it was also unwise to leave Corpse Puppets on the island while Edward was searching the entire island. Dorothy's Corpse Puppets controlling the cannons were in the sea outside the island when he was searching. Only after he finished searching and the Pseudo-Moth was released by Ku Chi throughout the area, did Dorothy let the Corpse Puppets land on the main island of Moncarlo and occupy the shore defense fortresses on the edge of the island.
'Phew... Now, let's hurry and sail to the nearest city to rest, and then take a boat from there to a big city to buy secret transmissions from the White Stone Craftsmen's Guild to replenish Spirituality.'
'Speaking of secret transmissions, after that moth died, it also randomly dropped two memory orbs. I wonder what the content inside is like and if I can exchange some Spirituality to fill the gap.'
Dorothy thought this way, and then she began to concentrate and analyze the two memory orbs absorbed from Ku Chi before. These memories seemed to be two secret transmissions.
The first secret transmission was titled "Lost Sea Vista" and was a collection and analysis of folk tales about the coastal areas of the Lost Sea. In this secret transmission, Dorothy obtained some basic information about the Lost Sea.
The Lost Sea is a vast sea area located in the eastern part of the Main Continent, connected to the Conquest Sea. Unlike the busy Conquest Sea and the Western Ocean, there are hardly any ships traveling in the Lost Sea, with only scattered shipping routes crossing its edges. The deep part of the sea area is a forbidden zone for all ships.
The Lost Sea is one of the most dangerous sea areas in this world. It is rumored that any navigation facilities will fail in it, even the extraordinary navigation of "Light". Even if one enters the deep part, the sun, moon, and stars in the sky will become so dim as to be invisible. On the vast sea without any reference points, ships will be forever lost until all resources on board are exhausted and the crew dies, and their wrecks will drift eternally on the sea. The Lost Sea is named after this.
In the towns along the coast of the Lost Sea, various legends about the Lost Sea are circulated. Some say that huge sea monsters inhabit the depths of the Lost Sea. Some say that the ships swallowed by the Lost Sea will turn into Ghost ships and continue to sail on the sea, full of treasures. Some say that fishermen accidentally strayed into the Lost Sea and returned successfully after drifting on the sea for a few days, only to find that their hometown had experienced decades of time, and everything had changed. It is rumored that returnees have witnessed giant city illusions in the depths of the sea. It is rumored that coastal fishing villages have a tradition of regularly offering human sacrifices to the sea...
This secret transmission collected many rumors about the Lost Sea and analyzed them, identifying what might be true and what might be false. In the author's final summary, some words made Dorothy very concerned.
"In the depths of the Lost Sea... exists the Night Sea... The sea is full of illusions, and all headings and coordinates are meaningless... The only things that can cross this illusion, besides the Light of God, are the forgiveness of the Lost Shadow itself.
"Therefore... the incomplete black moon is of utmost importance. It is a fragment of the Moon Crown. If it can be completely reassembled, I will have a chance to seek the guidance of the moon and reach the end of the bewilderment..."—Bartolomeu Varena.
Sitting on her bed, Dorothy silently flipped through the memory orb in her mind until she saw the author's signature of this secret transmission, and her brows furrowed slightly.
'Bartolomeu... That great explorer who was able to return from the Lost Sea several times? He is the author of this secret transmission? Good heavens, his exploration of the Lost Sea is really deep enough to write such a secret transmission.'
Flipping through the information of the secret transmission in her mind, Dorothy thought in her heart. Dorothy was very interested in the content written by Bartolomeu in the secret transmission, especially about the so-called Night Sea.
'There is the Night Sea in the depths of the Lost Sea? What does this mean? Is there still a country in the Lost Sea? Since it is called the Night Sea, is it related to'Shadow'? The Mirror Moon Goddess Church of Prit said that they will migrate to the east, and the Lost Sea is also in the east. On the Third Age mural preserved by the Savior Descends Faction, there is an extra piece on the east side of the continent. Is there any connection between these?'
'Also, the broken black moon that this great explorer mentioned, isn't it the black moon amulet he consigned for auction in Moncarlo? According to his own statement, this thing is a fragment of an extraordinary item called the Moon Crown. If the Moon Crown is assembled, it will become the key to crossing the Lost Sea. Why would he take such an important thing out to sell? Isn't his goal to reach the end of the Lost Sea?'
Leaning against the headboard of the bed, Dorothy thought suspiciously. If this secret transmission is true, then the complete Moon Crown will be an important item for crossing the Lost Sea. She couldn't figure out why Bartolomeu would sell it. This great explorer doesn't seem to be short of money either.
After thinking for a while, Dorothy could not figure out Bartolomeu's purpose, so she temporarily gave up thinking and focused her attention on the other memory orb left by Ku Chi, and began to read it.
In this memory orb, what is recorded is an exploration record and some scattered words. These records are a series of special Dream World coordinates, which seem to be the result of Ku Chi's investigation of the Dream World environment at these coordinate points.
At these seemingly difficult-to-analyze coordinate points, Ku Chi recorded a generalized level of what he labeled as the degree of confusion. As the dream coordinate changed, the levels labeled by Ku Chi also became higher and higher. It can be seen that he was advancing towards a goal in the Dream World along multiple routes, but the further forward he went, the higher the degree of confusion, until he stopped exploring when it was labeled as extremely dangerous by him.
In this coordinate record, there was also a message from Ku Chi.
"As the 'Holy Cocoon' grows, the divine influence it radiates is also gradually strengthening, and the inaccessible area is expanding day by day. We can no longer approach the Holy Cocoon as before, otherwise we will inevitably be permanently lost..."
"However... the care for the Holy Cocoon must not be stopped here. To absolutely ensure that the one that emerges from the Holy Cocoon is the prophetic moth, the care cannot be terminated here. We must find other ways to cross the lost restricted area besides the Light of God, and approach the Holy Cocoon again..."
Touching her chin, Dorothy read the new content in her memory, and then began a new round of thinking with interest.
'Holy Cocoon... This wouldn't be the cocoon of the Pan Moth, would it? This means that the god of the Black Dream Hunter Group, the Pan Moth, is currently molting in the cocoon? Because the Pan Moth is continuously growing, the external divine radiation has created a large area called the chaotic restricted area, preventing the Black Dream people from approaching. The Black Dream people are trying to find a way to approach the Holy Cocoon again.'
'According to Ku Chi, to cross the chaotic restricted area and approach the Holy Cocoon again, it requires the guidance of a divine-level 'Light'. Since the Black Dream cannot find it, they can only find another way. Following this line of thought, they wouldn't have set their sights on the Moon Crown, would they...'
'According to Bartolomeu, to pass through the Lost Sea besides the Light of God, one needs the Moon Crown. The situation in the Lost Sea seems similar to the chaotic restricted area created by the Holy Cocoon in the Dream World. Both are the result of extremely high-level... even divine-level'Shadow' power. So, after reading Bartolomeu's secret transmission, did the Black Dream people want to try to cross the chaotic restricted area by piecing together the Moon Crown? So this is why Ku Chi came to Moncarlo to buy the black moon amulet? He didn't value the function of the amulet, but wanted to piece together the Moon Crown to continue approaching the Holy Cocoon?'
Analyzing Ku Chi's memory orb, Dorothy thought about this in her heart. Combining the situations of the two memory orbs, this is currently the most reasonable speculation. Suddenly, she had a more reliable guess about the intentions of the Black Dream Hunter Group.
'Interesting... It seems that the next time I see Little Fox, I will have some valuable information to trade. It just so happens that I'm relatively short of money recently... I hope their Butterfly Faction doesn't have too miserable a family fortune...'
Dorothy thought so. After that, her thoughts shifted, and she began to think about other things.
'Speaking of which, in Ku Chi's memory, he claimed that they must ensure that the one that emerges from the Holy Cocoon is the prophetic moth. If this prophetic moth refers to the Pan Moth, then why add a sentence to ensure that it is the one that emerges? Could it be that the Holy Cocoon can produce something else?'
'Hmm... Anyway, I don't know much about dreams and it's hard to make a judgment. After giving these messages to Little Fox and the others, they will analyze something out.'
Dorothy thought this way again. Then she began to consider how to deal with the knowledge of these two secret transmissions from the memory orbs. Since these two secret transmissions were obviously from "Shadow", and her "Shadow" was already full from eating moths, she did not plan to convert them into Spirituality, but chose to exchange them for knowledge from other worlds. However, the result of the exchange was not very good.
The knowledge about the Lost Sea was exchanged for the legends and navigation experience of the Abyssal Ocean—Ishil. This ocean is located in a chaotic, continuous multi-plane called the Bottomless Abyss, a dangerous sea that is unpredictable and extremely mysterious. The bodies of countless dead demon lords form islands on it, and there is even a city built by the succubus queen N'Zoth on it. To sail smoothly on it requires rich experience and knowledge of the abyss, but these are not of much use to Dorothy at the moment. Due to the different worlds, it is estimated that only some insights on how to handle emergencies when encountering danger and the skills of sailors in handling ships are useful in this knowledge. Besides these, there is only a little bit of abyssal martial arts and demon language.
As for the knowledge about the Dream World survey, what was exchanged was a record of pollution prevention in the Emerald Dream. The author seems to be a certain druid. Compared to the previous Abyssal Ocean, Dorothy is more familiar with the Emerald Dream. This comes from the main stage world of "World of Warcraft", Azeroth. The Emerald Dream is similar to the Dream World of Azeroth, a wild natural place where green dragons inhabit. However, the experience of dealing with pollution here is not very useful for Dorothy.
"Hmm... These are all not very useful knowledge... As expected, not every exchange can yield practical skills. After all, the types of knowledge are extremely vast, and the classification of combat is only a very small part of it..."
Looking at the new knowledge she had exchanged for, Dorothy thought this way. Then she rubbed her temples and cheered up to continue operating the ship at night, striving to reach the nearest island town tomorrow and get a good night's sleep there.