don't open your eyes [unlimited]

In that diary, the handwriting on the last page suddenly began to change.

Large swaths of water marks continued to smear on it, and those scrawled and messy words were disturbed by something, struggling and writhing on the paper, turning into incomprehensible chaotic scratches.

The scene around them became unstable. In the flickering light, thick dust fell down, and the whole tavern shook and groaned loudly.

The harsh creaking sound became more and more obvious. At first, it seemed that the wooden structures that had been used for many years were weathering and collapsing, but later it became more like the bones that had been frozen were forcibly broken, and the waves were drying up. Howling and rushing in the blood vessels, the rapid panting was swallowed by the wind.

"Okay okay, I swear..."

"Am I so stupid that I even believe a liar's oath?"

"..."

"Go on, I'm waiting."

"Don't you don't believe the oaths of liars? It's a good habit, Evan, you have to keep reminding yourself so you don't get fooled."

"I have reminded you a lot, and now I want to hear what you can say."

……

"I solemnly swear to the skull flag that I will never care about Mr. Ivan Fremont's origin, experience, intentions and all the mess..."

"What's 'everything that's messed up'?"

"It's almost enough, Evan. You can't expect me to spare so much energy to make up so many nice words when I look into your eyes."

……

"What are you thinking? You haven't spoken for a long time, and you haven't even moved your brush."

"Is this 'nine sentences of truth' or 'one lie'?"

"That's just saying it casually! This is not "Standard Deception Black Magic". You have to sacrifice nine truths before you can tell a lie—you can't still count, right?"

"..."

"Evan? Mr. Fremont? Don't stare at me, maybe I shouldn't remind you at this time, but your ears are so red that they are about to shine..."

Those voices kept ringing and going away, and the figures kept shaking in the gradually blurred scene.

Without exception, those shadows were all in pairs, some were sitting by the window drinking coffee, and some were kicking the grass boredly along the railroad tracks.Everyone knows they always stay together, roaming around the town together, exploring the pier at night together, one chasing the other crazy...

In that seemingly unsustainable silence, all seemingly peaceful scenes are collapsing and collapsing.

……

When he came back to his senses, Z1 realized with horror that they were standing on an isolated island in the dark sea.

The four people were far apart, and there was only a little bit of land under their feet. The monstrous waves roared beside them, and the bitingly cold sea water kept hitting their bodies and cheeks.

Equally fierce was the raging storm at sea, the rain whipped by the hurricane beat everything fiercely, and the blinding lightning pierced through the dark clouds, only to be engulfed by thicker clouds immediately.

"No...it's not rain!"

The hypnotist wiped his face and glimpsed the original appearance of those waterlines through the pale lightning light. He subconsciously grabbed one and looked at the ever-changing light and shadow deep in the water droplets: "What is this?"

"Track." Ling Su replied, "These are all."

Z1 raised his head in astonishment, looking at the waterline formed by the rain all over the sky: "These are all?!"

Having had previous experience at the pier, they have indeed already noticed that there are far more plots and characters to choose from in this dream than imagined.

——But before seeing this scene with his own eyes, Z1 still couldn't imagine that someone could simulate and construct a dream world composed of such a large-scale trajectory just by imagination.

"We're in Eckert's dream."

The hypnotist finally came to his senses: "This is the talent of a liar, and it is also a skill that a liar must have..."

They must be good at observation and summarization, be able to capture any small details, and conceive all possible developments in advance... Only in this way can they manage to guide everything to the designed trajectory.

In those days, except for a very small number of psychologists and psychiatrists who were setting up their own schools, there were probably only these people who made a living by deceiving .

"He's making up a story for himself...he's trying to trick his own memory."

The hypnotist said: "He is using all the simulated possibilities to deceive the memory and hide the truth that has been escaping."

The hypnotist thoroughly figured out the whole thing: "No wonder the handwriting on the last page of the diary is so scribbled. It was written by Eckert himself after he got the diary... He hoped that the final ending would be like this: he finally wrote The ship died in the shipwreck, but Ivan lived on."

"So as long as we board that ship, we will be sent to the 'world' on the other side, because that is the death ending he prepared for himself in his dream..."

Z1 said something in a low voice, then raised his head again: "What should we do now?"

The "storm" composed of countless trajectories swallowed the entire dream.

Perhaps there is a track that belongs to the truth hidden in it, which can be the key to unlocking the whole dream—but to really find that track, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack...

"Isn't the needle in the sea?"

Zhuang Die looked at the rainwater intently: "Just fish it."

Z1 was startled, subconsciously stopped talking.

Zhuang Die pushed aside the rain curtain, grabbed one of the cold water lines and pulled hard, causing a torrential storm in an instant.

……

"We have to go as soon as possible, Evan."

Eckert's hat was pulled down very low, and he no longer wore the usual exquisite and flamboyant outfits, and wrapped himself in humble old clothes.

He grabbed Ivan's arm with such strength that his joints turned pale: "You all go too, everyone goes back to the sea."

He quickly whispered: "Don't stay on the pier, don't believe in any agreements and contracts, those are all lies, and they are more outrageous and unreasonable scams than us liars..."

Yiwen frowned tightly, and his eyes fell on him.

"Believe me!" Eckert said loudly, "These are 'nine sentences of truth', I swear with my life!"

"Real hunters don't make deals with prey. With us—with your father and my father...those people who are willing to make deals with them, how could they leave such a good thing to us?"

Eckert's breathing was rapid: "They will slander you as accomplices of liars, or simply call us pirates...it doesn't matter, these are just excuses."

"They just needed a logical reason to take over the terminal," Eckert said. "From the beginning, this was the biggest scam. They lured us to calculate each other and wait for the most suitable time."

"They have guns, Ivan, not the shotguns filled with iron sand like your pirates, but real guns, and a bullet can kill a person."

Eckert stared at Ivan, his eyes were already flickering because of nervousness and shortness of breath: "...you actually prepared for this long ago, right?"

During the time they stayed at the port with Ivan, the two of them didn't just hang out, and spent more time repairing the huge pirate ship parked in the dock.

Through the channels of scammers, Ivan successfully obtained many things that even if he had money, he could not buy them—a hard brass ram, an advanced compass and a precise theodolite, many precious medicines and ether bottles for anesthesia , there are also a large number of vegetables and fine tobacco that can be stored for a long time...

Evan never really trusted those in office.

With or without these four swindlers, the pier is already in jeopardy under the long-term confrontation. Sooner or later, the crisis will suddenly erupt one day, and everything they depend on for survival may collapse at any time.

While planning to use Eckert and others to obtain the Knight Medal, Ivan was also ready to leave with all the pirates at any time.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

After a long time, Ivan said, "I am the son of ghosts and cannot touch the ocean. Didn't you always know that?"

Eckert didn't answer, just looked at him, those beautiful blue eyes had already avoided his sight.

Eckert whispered his name: "Ivan, Ivan."

He hugged the back of Ivan's head, pressed his forehead against it, and sighed softly and tiredly: "I'm a liar after all...give me some dignity."

He had tried very hard to be obtuse, to pretend that he didn't realize why Ivan was so interested in the crook's make-up and disguise.

Whatever Ivan needs, no matter how difficult it is, he will find a way to get it.

And what Ivan wanted to learn... Of course, he would teach him all without hiding anything.

The so-called ghost child is just a legend-this is not the Middle Ages, and the scientific knowledge taught in school has long since overturned this absurd statement.What Ivan wanted to avoid was to be discovered by other pirates and cause panic.

For a liar, this sort of thing couldn't be easier.In a matter of minutes, Eckert can make Ivan look like a completely different person, even his old man won't recognize him.

Without this kind of ability, it would be impossible for Eckert, his father and uncles to escape so many wanted people smoothly.

"You're smarter than anyone I've ever met... I always find that out when I teach you anything, and every time I do, I'm sad and proud."

Eckert said in a low voice, he thought he would never have enough courage to say these words, but fortunately he was dying soon, so he could do something less honorable without restraint.

"Proud because you're so good, you're the smartest, best, best person I've ever met, better than anyone."

Eckert stroked the curly blonde hair with his fingertips, his hands were trembling, and his voice was too: "I'm sad because..."

He couldn't say the rest, and everything in the picture was suddenly swallowed by the mist raised by the rain.

……

"What's going on here?" Z1 swallowed nervously, looking at the hypnotist.

"He can't simulate this trajectory."

The hypnotist said: "He couldn't imagine what Ivan's reaction would be when he heard these words."

Eckert can simulate the logic of anyone's behavior, except Evan-he has no way of predicting any of Ivan's reactions.Because once he sees those eyes, that smart young crook forgets everything else.

Even in the trajectory of their first experience, Ivan, who learned of the liar's death, just "sat pale behind the counter".

"But this trajectory also has a part of the truth mixed in... I know."

The hypnotist looked at Zhuang Die, and he suddenly knew what Zhuang Die was doing: "Are you looking for all the traces where Yiwen appeared?"

Zhuang Die nodded: "[-]% of the truth is hidden in all the trajectories that include Yiwen."

...Only by hiding one lie in nine truths can a lie appear to be true.

There is not a single piece of complete truth in this dream, all fragments of truth have been disassembled and hidden in different trajectories.

Eckert's consciousness has been stuck in it, stupidly and stubbornly repeating the same thing - he simulated over and over again, trying to correct along the fragments of the truth and push out a different result.

Ling Su raised his hand and threw the cold-looking scalpel over.

Zhuang Die held the knife firmly, and raised his hand to cut a piece with a cold luster, his eyes fell on the still overwhelming rain.

"In order to prevent us from being overwhelmed by this dream, my speed will probably be faster next time."

Zhuang Die reminded: "Please be prepared."

Holding the scalpel, he pushed aside the rain curtain and walked into the sea.

Z1's eyes were fixed, and his heart was suspended: "Be careful——"

Before he finished speaking, Z1 himself was stunned in astonishment, looking at the unimaginable scene in front of him.

Zhuang Die raised his hand and straightened his tie.

He readjusted back to Ivan's attire, the tweed shirt he wore most often with the cuffs rolled up, and a dark gray crisp waistcoat over it.Zhuang Die put the soft felt hat on his head and straightened it.

The brim of the hat suppressed the slightly curly hair and covered the eyes just right.

From the perspective of Z1, the covered eyes are clear and cold under the lightning, as if they will not be disturbed by any extra emotions, but when they look up, they are so gentle that they can make people forget the raging storm around them.

The icy cold sea water, which was surging as if it was going to swallow him in an instant, suddenly rushed to avoid it, exposing the jagged rocks below.

"It's time to wake up."

Zhuang Die helped up the wet rock: "Be patient, it will hurt a little."

At the same time, he grabbed a handful of icy rain wires, the cold light of the scalpel flashed by, and those icy, quicksilver-like water droplets oscillated violently in the dream realm.