Chapter 248: Contact
“Everyone has seen [Dream Invasion], right?”
Almost every anomaly involves [Dream Invasion]. For example, the anomaly that shocked the continent decades ago had many people trapped in their self-constructed eternal dreams.
Chloe had heard about that incident. In a city reduced to ruins, countless citizens continued their daily lives as if nothing had happened. They wore neat clothes, went to work, ate, and slept, completely unaware that they were already dead.
The city had perished, yet its inhabitants stubbornly believed they were still alive.
This stubbornness interfered with reality, making reality acknowledge their existence. Of course, this did not truly bring them back to life, but it also prevented them from truly dying.
It was said that even now, there were skeletonized bodies still immersed in their dreams, unable to wake up.
[Dream Invasion] had occurred many times before, but never in such a bizarre manner as this.
First of all, [Dream Invasion] only allowed people to continue moving; it did not change the fact that their bodies decayed. Those affected by [Dream Invasion] in past anomalies were essentially moving corpses. While their lost souls could perhaps be found in the Sea of Unawareness, the moment they realized they were dead, their bodies would rapidly decompose.
However, the murlocs beneath the airship did not look dead at all. Their flesh and skin appeared no different from the murlocs seen on the battlefield.
If Chloe had to describe it, this situation was more like the murlocs had experienced [Dream Invasion].
But how was that possible? Was Gem Bay entirely inhabited by murlocs?
Even if Gem Bay truly was a land of monsters, how could these murlocs possibly live in complete imitation of human society?
Setting everything else aside, did murlocs even need ships? Why were there so many ships docked at the harbor?
Moreover, the structure of the harbor was all wrong. This was not a harbor designed by amphibious creatures. Only humans would build a harbor like this.
The Banshees were true marine beings. The docks they built on the island had many ramps leading directly from the water to the land. That was logical. Only human-made harbors prioritized convenience for ships over direct access from the water.
Such details were all over the island. The houses, the buildings—none were designed for murlocs. Some doors had even been broken apart by the sheer size of the murlocs trying to pass through them.
Yet, judging by their familiarity with the place, they were clearly not outsiders. This was obviously their home.
So this could not be [Dream Invasion] either.
Everything was becoming more and more perplexing. The Moths Chasing Fire, who had spent years studying secret histories, furrowed their brows deeply, yet they were at a complete loss. Never before had such a strange event occurred.
“So, we still have to go down and take a look,” Chloe sighed. “Descend the ship.”
In the end, everyone agreed with Chloe's plan to investigate, but they refused to let her go personally.
“You should use [Self-Binding] to command from the airship. I’ll go down instead. You can observe the situation in real time from above. If something goes wrong, you can direct me via our mind link. If you go down yourself, we won’t have any way to handle the situation if something happens.”
The lookout stepped forward with his suggestion, and the rest of the team supported his proposal. After thinking for a moment, Chloe relented.
As the leader of the Moths Chasing Fire, she understood the nature of their work. Their environment had always been too harsh to allow for mistakes. They even had a complete set of protocols determining how sacrifices should be made and who should be the first to sacrifice themselves.
The Moths Chasing Fire had long accepted that life was merely a cost in the pursuit of knowledge—and not even the greatest cost at that.
The airship flew toward an open area away from the crowd and slowly descended. A rope ladder was thrown down from the cabin.
After making his final preparations, the lookout took a deep breath and approached the cabin door. The others patted his shoulder as a farewell gesture.
Chloe picked up a bolt-action rifle, loaded a bullet, and silently walked to the window, activating [Self-Binding].
Her eyes quickly lost focus. At the same time, her psychic power covered the others, granting them a high-altitude perspective. The rest of the team dispersed in different directions.
The Moths Chasing Fire had drilled for this scenario many times. When a Chrysalis used their ability, the others coordinated seamlessly to maximize its effectiveness.
Each person occupied a key position, observing details and reporting anomalies. The extraordinary member oversaw the entire situation, compiling information and making judgments.
Together, they could efficiently monitor everything within the ability’s range.
The lookout climbed down. Once he landed, he quickly crouched low to avoid being seen by the distant figures.
『Ten o'clock direction, 200 meters. There is a house with only one murloc inside. The surrounding area is relatively safe.』
『Understood.』
Carefully, the lookout moved toward the designated location. Soon, he successfully reached the house.
He pulled out his preloaded musket from his waist.
Hughes had advanced firearm technology to bolt-action rifles, but at close range, it wasn’t significantly better than a black powder musket. At this distance, the gap between advanced and outdated weapons was minimal.
Even the renowned Anbeikiri was merely two steel tubes loaded with gunpowder and bullets. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t much different from a musket—two shots and an enemy would fall just the same.
After concealing his firearm slightly, the lookout cautiously knocked on the door.
『It heard me. It’s standing up. These creatures can interact!』
『This feels even more like [Dream Invasion].』
『Yes, people in Dream Invasion can respond to the outside world to some extent... Ah, it’s opening the door!』
The lookout took a few steps back, gripping his hidden musket tightly with trembling hands.
The murloc opened the door, looking outside in confusion. Its gaze then fell on the lookout. “Did you knock? What do you need?”
『It spoke to me!? It can talk!!!』 The lookout mentally shouted to the others.
For a moment, everyone held their breath. It could still speak!?
Everyone here had seen dissected murloc corpses. To be honest, no two murlocs were alike. Their insides were a chaotic mess. Some didn’t even have internal organs. However, they all shared one common trait: these creatures lacked any vocal structures.
In other words, murlocs were biologically incapable of speaking!
Yet the murloc standing before the lookout was unmistakably real. When they observed from above, they had assumed these murlocs were merely miming speech. After all, people affected by [Dream Invasion] often acted that way, merely pretending to live.
But now...
“Uh, may I ask your name?”
“...Fabian,” the murloc replied hesitantly, its gaze filled with suspicion.
Its expression, its tone—everything was exactly like a human's!