Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 144 Reunion on the Eve of a Dream
"People meet in dreams, but become strangers when they wake up."

"This ocean has swallowed many travelers who tried to uncover the truth of their fate, and those who survived have become each other's nightmares."

At the end of the Whale Fall Channel, the Lost is sailing alone on the eerie and quiet Sea of ​​Dreams.

There was no sound of wind around, only the sails trembling silently under the gloomy sky, as if giving a warning or sighing.

There was an indescribable sense of oppression in the air, as if the entire sea was holding its breath.

Deep in the cabin, the dim candlelight flickered gently.

Calvino, Lilia, and Alison sat around the central table, staring at the three cards laid out on the dark wooden table.

They lay quietly, yet seemed to be whispering. The luster on the card surface flickered, like a heartbeat or a whisper.

"Is this... the legendary treasure map leading to the dream?"

Alison stared at the card, her voice lowered a bit, her eyes complicated as if she was looking at something that shouldn't exist in reality.
"This is so wrong. It's like it's alive... How are we supposed to use it?"

Lilia didn't answer immediately. She just slowly raised her eyes and said in a low voice that seemed to come from a dream: "I know what to do... but I don't know why I know it."

When she spoke, her eyes were distant, as if penetrating reality and looking into a deeper dream.

She gently raised the card "Whisper of Dreams" and as her fingertips touched it, a light blue fluorescence slowly moved across it.

She closed her eyes and uttered a string of strange, obscure spells that seemed to come from the language of the abyss. The voice was ethereal and eerie, like a forgotten siren humming its own name.

The card floated up gently, and suddenly an invisible ripple spread out from the cabin, as if a dream was gently lifting a corner of reality.

A three-dimensional sea chart slowly unfolded in the air, like a star map woven out of deep blue, rotating and unfolding, and finally freezing on an extremely strange map.

The current position of the Lost was flashing in the center of the sea chart, and right in front of it, a huge, swirling black hole sea suddenly emerged - that was the "Eye of the Dream Tide".

Calvino's expression suddenly hardened, his brow furrowed. "The Eye of the Dream Tide... a place where countless pirates have gone and never returned."

He exhaled slowly, his voice low, "A place where even the ghost ship doesn't dare to approach."

Then, a string of floating poems appeared on the sea chart. They were not words, but a spell made of mist, as if a voice was chanting in my mind, old but rhythmic:

"When the great waves surge, the door of destiny opens.
The nightmare tide arrives, and the world turns upside down."

"'When the Turning Points'."

Lilia murmured softly, her fingers lightly brushing across the card surface, her brows filled with an unprecedented solemnity.
"We must rush in at the very moment the huge waves rise, so that we can enter the Sea of ​​Dreams."

Siming covered his forehead with his hands in an unpleasant expression, his tone half sarcastic and half genuinely painful:
"Whirls, huge waves, upheavals... Can't the Sea of ​​Dreams have some normal passages? Even I'm starting to get seasick. Natasha insisted on staying in the Homecoming Homeland. Now I understand her..."

Baroque laughed so hard he fell backwards. He walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, our genius strategist, are you blown down by the wind and waves? How can you command a storm then?"

Ian leaned against the side of the boat, whistled lazily, and looked at me teasingly:
"Want to run away? Brother, there's a treasure ahead. If you retreat at this time, you'd better not let the younger generations laugh at you."

Before they could finish their words, a tense and rapid shout came from the deck, breaking the brief relaxation of everyone in the cabin.

It was Rex's voice.

"Captain! Alison! Come out and see, we're in trouble!"

Calvino's expression changed, and he stood up instantly, flinging off his long trench coat. He said in a deep voice, "Action."

Alison stood up without a word, her gun drawn, her eyes immediately returning to combat mode.

Lilia put away the cards calmly, as if she had foreseen this moment.

Siming curled his lips: "It really is impossible for people to finish a glass of wine in peace."

Everyone stood up at the same time, rushed out of the cabin with thundering footsteps, and returned to their respective battle positions.

The Lost One trembled again - this shadowy ship that cuts through the waves is about to face its first trial in the deep sea of ​​dreams.

In the distant sea, a giant pirate ship that looked like the shadow itself broke through the waves.

Its hull looked like it was made of bones, and the dark deck was filled with a suffocating smell of salt and decay.

The bow of the ship towered like a sharp blade piercing the dark clouds. A huge skull of an unknown sea monster was embedded in the bow, and its fangs were still sharp, as if to tear the sea breeze itself.

A violent wind suddenly arose, and the huge ship was like the arrival of death itself.

Atop the bow, a tall, straight figure stood motionless. His long hair, long torn by the wind and tangled, was as white as snow, and looked even more terrifying beneath the dark clouds.

The scars on his face crisscrossed, as if carving the cruelty of fate with a knife.

His eyes were as cold as the deep sea that had been frozen for a thousand years, but in his pupils, there was a burning fire of devouring rage.

Calvino stood on the deck of the Lost, his eyes suddenly tensed, and he murmured: "Holt..."

The voice was like an ice blade cutting into my chest, familiar and full of sorrow.

Holt's voice pierced the storm like an eagle streaking through the sky, echoing over the entire fleet, and every word pierced into people's hearts like a curse:
"Long time no see, Captain."

He spoke each word with a cold and stern tone, "It seems that you have collected those three damn keys again."

He suddenly raised his right arm, which had long been broken and now had a metal claw embedded in it, and pointed it at the Lost, his eyes as sharp as a knife.

"How many people are you planning to kill this time? Like you did last time?!"

His voice suddenly rose, his anger like a tidal wave, "Because of your cowardice, we all paid a terrible price!"

That sentence hit everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Calvino's face changed slightly, and pain appeared in his eyes. He managed to steady his breathing and replied in a hoarse voice: "Holt... that dream tide was more terrible than any of us expected. Retreating... was not cowardice, but to save the lives of as many crew members as possible!"

"Save your life?" Holt burst into laughter, his laughter filled with despair and sarcasm.

He slowly lowered his head, raised the mechanical claw, and with a flash of cold light, he roared:

"What you call saving my life means losing my right hand! Losing my memory! And letting me watch with my own eyes the girl I love so deeply being consumed by that nightmare!"

His voice choked for a moment, but his eyes became sharper.

"My memories, I loved her face, voice, smile... everything was wiped out by your self-proclaimed decision!!"

There was silence on the boat.

Everyone's eyes were heavy, and only the sound of the wind, carrying the salty and fishy sea fog, could be heard.

Lilia took a step forward and wanted to explain, but stopped under Holt's gaze.

His eyes were like icy blades piercing his bones, and his voice was hoarse but firm:
"Lilia." He whispered her name, his tone filled with unspeakable pain and hatred.
"You once said that no matter what the road ahead holds, you'll fight alongside us... and now, where do you stand?"

Pain welled up in Lilia's eyes, as memories and reality intertwined in her mind, like huge waves hitting her unhealed old wounds.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Holt snorted coldly, his face as cold as ice. He raised the hook on his right arm high, and his voice resounded across the sea:

"Calvino, I will not let you ruin my destiny again."

"This time, I will personally take back everything that belongs to me from you!"

Behind him, the entire huge ship was like the return of the dead, and the pirates on it shouted,

Like the roar of the tide, the shouts and cries of killing made the sea breeze burst.

The magic patterns on the hull began to shine, and a storm was taking shape under their will.

Calvino closed his eyes and slowly exhaled. It was a breath as heavy as a thousand pounds, calm and solemn.

"Holt, you're still like that...you refuse to hear your half of the story."

He slowly drew the sword from his waist, and the cold light drew a murderous arc under the ship's light.

Beside him, Sima Ming chuckled and raised his playing cards. Rex loaded his gun in the distance, and Alison silently unholstered his gun.

Ian clenched his daggers, Baroque clenched his fists, and Lilia finally raised her head, tears flashing in her eyes.

A new nightmare has begun before the storm arrives.

The door to the sea of ​​dreams has already sent ghosts from old dreams before anyone steps in.

The nightmare battle is approaching in the roaring sea breeze.

(End of this chapter)