In reality, Kevin's consciousness hadn't completely left the dream plane when his body vanished. The last half of Becky's words still drifted faintly into his mind, but he couldn't say anything. He could only roar inwardly, "My brain is truly intact!"
"Landlord, landlord, are you okay?" Nangong Wuyue's voice suddenly reached his ears, clear and distinct. Kevin opened his eyes to a bright, slanting sun, blinding him. The sound of waves crashing against the rocks and the eerie roars of wild beasts echoed around him, and the slightly fishy scent of the ocean filled his nostrils.
Nangong Wuyue smiled brightly when she saw Kevin open his eyes. "What happened to you over there? What do you mean by intact brain?"
Kevin: "...Uh, nothing."
It seemed he'd lost control in that final moment before waking, and had accidentally spoken out what he was thinking. Kevin sat up and slowly activated his slightly sluggish mind. The Leta Rune he had seen in a glimpse before waking up was still vivid in his mind. The biggest difference between the dream plane and ordinary dreaming was that everything seen in the dream plane was extremely clear, and there would be no blurred memory after waking up. On the contrary, as you continued to recall, the things you had seen in the dream plane would become clearer and clearer. Therefore, Kevin was sure that what he saw was the Leta Rune. He glanced up at Y'zaks and Nangong Wuyue. "Last night, I entered the Dream Plane and saw something strange there... Leta Runes."
Y'zaks, coming from another world, was unfamiliar with Leta Runes, so he just said "oh." Nangong Wuyue, however, was a siren with some experience, and she seemed to have had a lot of dealings with demon hunters. Her eyes widened. "Leta Runes? Are you talking about the runes used by ancient missionaries and modern demon hunters?"
"Yes, they appear in the Dream Plane. The locals painted these symbols on the walls, but I can't see what they do... Vivian should know how to translate Leta Runes, uh. Maybe I should find some paper and write it down. I might forget it soon."
"I have one here," Nangong Wuyue quickly pulled a notebook from her suitcase. "I was planning on writing sheet music."
Kevin took the notebook. He copied the last Leta rune he'd seen from memory. He felt his instantaneous memory was quite strong; he'd at least memorized one line. Perhaps some of the symbols were a little off, but he did his best to trace their outlines. Leta runes are a highly distinctive pictographic script. Each symbol has a distinct outline, so Vivian should be able to clearly recognize it if she could just draw the general outline.
"By the way, how do you know about the Dream Plane?" Kevin finished, returning the notebook to Nangong Wuyue. Then, remembering that the Siren was a new arrival, he asked curiously. "Your data terminal told me," Nangong Wuyue pointed at the PDA floating beside Kevin. "Last night, after you fell asleep, it suddenly jumped up, yelling something about 'falling,' and then told me about the dream plane. Oh, and just now, it said you were observing something crucial, and asked me to try to get you some more sleep. I sang you a lullaby, did it work?"
Kevin finally understood the meaning of the muffled singing he'd heard in the minutes before waking. He briefly recalled the magical melody and found that even just this recollection slowly brought an uncanny sense of peace to his heart, as if the song possessed a magical power, penetrating his psyche. The Siren's racial talent once again amazed him. "Hmm, it worked. It delayed the event by at least four minutes. I saw the most crucial part... Oops, I forgot something!"
"What's wrong?" The data terminal immediately floated over. "If you forgot to sell this device, it'll hit you on the head."
"Get out of the way," Kevin pressed the data terminal into the rubble. "Last time I left, I promised the wolf king I'd find a way to bring a dentist to his minions... I didn't even think about it this time, and it didn't even mention it!"
"It's obvious he didn't expect a human to keep their promise," the data terminal said, emerging from the rubble, a half-stalk of dried seaweed still hanging from its body. "Forget it. I'll just make it up to him next time. You didn't bring your husky this time, and honestly, getting a living person into the dream plane is a problem in itself. I'm going to need Chief Raven's technical support."
Kevin thought about it and agreed. Besides, the bizarre clues he'd found in the dream plane had to be reported to Raven 12345. This matter could be discussed after we returned. So, he patted his head and turned his attention to the current task: "Let's hurry and find someone... Terminal, have you found that container hold? We've been scanning it all night." "Being a PDA is tough. 24/7. Even when you sleep, this machine has to act as both your bodyguard and radar," the data terminal hummed as it opened a holographic map, displaying a more detailed, ultra-precise image that penetrated deep into the ground and the ocean floor. "We've found three suspected locations, all bearing impact marks or energy reactions. They're likely the wreckage of the container hold and transport equipment after it crashed. Two of them are in a nearby forest and on a mountaintop 200 kilometers away. There's another location, quite outlandish... at the bottom of an ocean trench 2,000 kilometers away. This machine almost missed the third one. I hope it's not the container hold. This machine has a thalassophobia."
Kevin: "..."
Owning a PDA that's temperamental, saboteurs, sharp-tongued, neurotic, and chatty, even having its own aesthetic preferences for movies, and who also claims to have a thalassophobia, Kevin feels that sooner or later he'll develop the ability to "miss all four things." "The wreckage of the transport equipment?" Y'zaks frowned. "Didn't they say the container cabin arrived safely on this planet? How did it become wreckage again?"
"Yes, the container cabin arrived safely, but the carrier crashed," the data terminal shook. "Gnome technology is just that advanced. That's why I said Commander Raven shouldn't have taken the easy way out by hiring those retired goblins from the Salvation Army to transport the cargo. Their cost control is simply shameless. According to the data just downloaded from the Air Traffic Control Bureau, the carrier transporting the container cabin was an unmanned model. It disintegrated upon entering the atmosphere. The container cabin managed to land successfully using its own emergency deceleration device, but all its positioning equipment burned out. The last signal it sent back was only a distress signal, not a positioning signal, and that signal has been lost. Now we have to search for them from the three crash sites."
Kevin turned his head to look at the primitive jungle behind him. "This is the closest. Let's search from this side first. Over in the trench..." Kevin looked at Nangong Wuyue. "Could it be that Raven 12345 already knew the container had crashed into the ocean, and that's why she asked me to bring you along? Should we go look for it in the trench first?"
The more Kevin thought about it, the more he thought this was possible. In his mind, Raven 12345 was always a mastermind, someone with a knack for tormenting others. Who knew the goddess already knew the container's whereabouts, and she sent Kevin out just for fun...
"Not really," the data terminal explained to Raven 12345. "The commander was just being cautious. The planet we're on is 80% ocean, and our landing site is the only continent on this planet. The chances of the container crashing into the ocean are extremely high from the start, which is why she asked you to bring the sea monster." Kevin nodded in understanding. Nangong Wuyue expressed confidence, "Don't worry. Although I've never been to the deep sea, sirens are naturally aquatic creatures. Once I blend into the water, I'll be immune to darkness and pressure. Well, that assumes the main component of the seawater on this planet isn't something strange..."
The data terminal reassured, "Don't worry. It's normal seawater, just with a slightly higher salt content. You won't be dried up because of the high salt content, will you?"
Nangong Wuyue pondered for a moment: "...Probably not. I'm a saltwater creature, and I have some innate abilities that prevent me from being dried up in unusual seawater concentrations."
Kevin thought this topic was completely ridiculous.