Early morning.
The duo's residence.
Rover clutched her head as she slowly woke up.
Lucian, meanwhile, was sound asleep with his arms wrapped around her waist.
"Lucian… Lucian…"
Rover shook Lucian awake.
Lucian drowsily opened his eyes. "What…?"
Rover said worriedly, "I just had a dream."
Lucian was startled. "You had a dream too?"
Rover blinked. "Too?"
Lucian chuckled awkwardly. "Ahaha… Never mind. What did you dream about?"
The night before, before Lucian left the dream, Shorekeeper had asked him not to tell Rover about it just yet.
According to Shorekeeper… the time wasn't right.
At that moment, Abby also popped out from Rover's Tacet Mark.
It stretched and rubbed its sleepy eyes.
"Yawn— You two woke up so early? I'm so hungry…"
Lucian glanced at Abby and began searching the system shop for an item that could keep it satiated for a long time.
Before long, Lucian found the recipe for Satiety Pills, which could be bought for just 500 points.
With this recipe, they wouldn't need to spend 300 points every day on pre-made Satiety Pills.
Most of the required materials were common in Jinzhou.
Once gathered, they could simply synthesize them at the crafting station in Jinzhou City very convenient.
"I dreamed of the Sentinel. It stood face-to-face with me, just like the scene I remembered when we saw the Sentinel's statue before."
"But this time… I saw more details…"
The two got dressed and talked as they walked.
After all, Abby looked like it was about to starve to death.
They arrived at their usual spot, the Panhua Restaurant, ordered their food, and waited at a nearby table.
Though the sky was just beginning to lighten, many early-rising customers were already there.
"You're saying the Sentinel took you to a dragon-shaped mountain?"
Rover nodded slightly, continuing to recall last night's vivid dream.
"Yes. There was a crisis there many Tacet Discords appeared, and the Sentinel protected the residents and the town."
After a moment of contemplation, Lucian whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Remember when Jinhsi mentioned that the Sentinel had left its territory?"
"Could it be related to that town? Or that dragon-shaped mountain?"
Rover nodded again.
"Very likely. And…"
"The Sentinel seems to possess some kind of authority over time."
"From the outside, time inside that dragon-shaped mountain seemed to slow down, so the Tacet Discords couldn't enter."
Lucian mused, "The Sentinel is a chronicler as old as civilization itself, a beacon guiding humanity through disasters."
"Having such an ability isn't surprising."
Rover agreed. "I think the Sentinel must have altered the flow of time in a small area, using the 'time difference' outside the region to form a barrier."
"This isolates the Tacet Discords from the settlement, creating a haven untouched by them."
"And… in the dream, I seemed unaffected by the abnormal time flow. I could freely enter and leave the barrier."
Abby puffed up proudly. "Hehe, if you can be friends with me, it's no surprise you have some incredible ability!"
Lucian's lips twitched. "I didn't think there was anyone more narcissistic than me in this world… Oh wait, no—more narcissistic than you, you walking bone."
"Besides, I'm your friend too. Why don't I have any incredible abilities?"
"When are you going to give my incredible abilities back?!"
Abby flared up. "I didn't steal your abilities! And you can even shapeshift into the Sentinel—isn't that incredible enough?!"
Lucian: "At the end of the day, you're just not strong enough, Abby. If you were stronger, couldn't you just carry us to victory?"
Abby was visibly angered by Lucian's belittlement.
"Grrr— You're making me so mad! I'm going to eat all the food on this table!"
Rover: "…"
Lucian: "…So this is the legendary 'turning grief into appetite,' huh?"
Lucian carefully analyzed what Rover had just said about her dream, then sucked in a sharp breath.
"If that's the case, and time flows slower there… could they still be isolated from the outside world?"
"Is it possible… that place is still very underdeveloped?"
"But since this is just a dream, that place might not even be in that state anymore."
"This dream might be a memory from a long time ago."
"Do you remember the name of that dragon-shaped mountain in the dream?"
Rover thought back. "In the dream, I faintly heard the Sentinel's voice. It called that place… Mt. Firmament."
"Mt. Firmament? I don't think I've heard of it…"
Just then, a nearby diner, Jiusi, smiled and chimed in.
"Little girl, never heard of Mt. Firmament? You're not from Jinzhou, are you?"
Little girl? A little girl thousands of years old?
Lucian silently complained.
Abby put down its food and flew over to Jiusi in surprise.
"What? What? You know Mt. Firmament?"
Jiusi, however, was startled by Abby. He leaned back in his chair, arms raised defensively, looking slightly panicked.
"Whoa! This… this Echo can talk?!"
Rover quickly explained, "This is Abby, our friend. Don't worry, it won't hurt you."
The younger diner sitting across from Jiusi, Qingxiang, didn't seem fazed at all.
He laughed. "Hahaha, Old Jiu, don't freak out."
"A talking Echo is rare, sure, but it's not some life-or-death oddity."
"I heard there's some foreign country called Rina-something? Over there, every Echo is ridiculously strong."
Lucian muttered, "Rina…?"
He remembered Baizhi mentioning before that there were autonomous Echoes in other countries too—this must be the place she meant.
Rover asked, "What were you saying about Mt. Firmament just now?"
Qingxiang chuckled. "Little girl, it's normal you wouldn't know as an outsider."
"Mt. Firmament is said to be the ancestral land of Jinzhou's early settlers. The whole mountain looks like it was carved in the image of the Sentinel's horn, 'Jué.'"
"But since the day I was born, I've never heard of anyone actually going there."
"Rumors say those who went to find the mountain either got lost in the sea fog… or never came back."
"If you're really curious, head southeast. Mt. Firmament is on the sea east of Whining Aix's Mire. You can see it from afar."
Lucian couldn't help but feel puzzled. Whining Aix's Mire?
He remembered going there before with Rover and Aalto's group, where they'd even met the 'Divine Maiden.'
But back then, he hadn't noticed any dragon-shaped mountain.
Maybe it was because of the Retroact Rain…
Abby, meanwhile, looked thoughtful. "Southeast, huh…"
Rover asked, "Did you think of something?"