Chapter 131: Chapter 135: The End of the Dreamscape
The spiritual fire gathered and submerged into the flesh fragments.
The fire-contaminated remnants shakily rose, then sped up and swiftly disappeared at the end of the street.
This mass of flesh, no longer capable of thought, embarked on a journey home—but whether it could truly return to a “source” entity, or if it would dissipate along the way or be intercepted and purified by something was uncertain even to Duncan.
He merely avoided all potential dangers within his capabilities.
After Sherry began fighting that bizarre shadow, Duncan quickly analyzed the origins of the “Assailant” appearing in the nightmare, hypothesized about its abilities, and after seeing its reaction to the spiritual fire, he further confirmed that this seemingly random Assailant was likely a splintered “Pathfinder.”
Faced with the spiritual fire, the Assailant showed no will to fight; its first reaction was to tear itself apart and break out in all directions, which could perhaps be interpreted as a panic-stricken escape, but more so as a “Pathfinder” attempting to send away information—if this massive dreamscape was indeed woven by some hidden mastermind, then the emergence of Duncan as an “Intruder” was undoubtedly significant intelligence.
Duncan thoughtfully watched the direction in which the chunks vanished. After moving a certain distance, they disappeared into a cloud of rising dust, which further confirmed his suspicion:
The sudden appearance of the Assailant meant it was more familiar with this dreamscape than Duncan and Sherry were, knowing more convenient ways to move and some invisible “pathways”; hence, the umbrella-wielding figure had been able to appear nearby without him noticing.
In comparison, he, Sherry, and A-Dog, as newcomers to this exploration mission in the dreamscape, seemed like headless flies, making it tricky to locate those hidden figures.
But it didn’t matter—the seeds of fire had been spread, and a faint connection still lingered dimly within his perception; Duncan believed that the flames he had dispersed would yield some results. As soon as that bit of spiritual fire started to spread, a clearer perception would be formed, and he would eventually find some hidden figures in the spreading fire—then Nina and Sherry wouldn’t have nightmares anymore.
“Mr. Duncan…” Sherry, somewhat frightened, looked at Duncan, who had suddenly fallen silent, and hesitated for a long time before plucking up her courage to speak, “Do you know what that thing just now… was?”
She was referring to the Assailant with the black umbrella.
“…Hard to say,” Duncan pondered for a moment, then shook his head, but then he looked thoughtfully at the street that had been scorched and said, “But do you remember the figure I mentioned on the way back from the museum, standing at the edge of the square?”
“The one only you could see?” Sherry immediately recalled, “Ah, the one that attacked us just now was that figure you saw…”
“I can’t be sure it’s the same one,” Duncan shook his head, “But it’s definitely the same ‘kind’, and I suspect it’s related to those Heretics who worship the Sun God—both times it appeared in scenes related to ‘fire’, which is very suspicious.”
“Related to those Heretics…” Sherry blinked, quickly catching on, “Could it be the ‘Scions of the Sun’ that those Heretics talk about?!”
“Let’s suspect that for now, even though there’s no evidence,” Duncan sighed lightly, “But more than the identity of the Assailant, I’m more concerned about why this thing would appear in your and Nina’s ‘Dreamscape’… What connection is there between the museum scene and your dreams?”
While saying this, he looked up, his gaze sweeping over the tall tower.
At the top of the tower, Nina’s figure was still not visible—but Duncan was almost sure this was the place Nina had seen in her dreams.
“Is this really Nina’s dream?” Sherry was also curiously looking around, her face full of disbelief, “How did you know?”
“She mentioned this dream to me, and in the dreamscape, she stood on that tallest distillation tower, overlooking the City-State after the fire,” Duncan pointed at a nearby tower as he explained, “This location is about two blocks away from the cottage in your nightmare. Although I don’t know the reason, your dreams are evidently interconnected at a deeper level.”
Sherry was amazed, seemingly wanting to ask more, but suddenly, A-Dog, who was nearby, seemed to have spotted something: “Hey Sherry, look, it seems like the umbrella that guy was holding is still here!”
Sherry and Duncan simultaneously looked in the direction A-Dog pointed, and indeed, a large black umbrella was quietly lying on the edge of the street!
Just now, their attention had been focused on the Assailant, and after its main body split, the umbrella had been left by the roadside, temporarily unnoticed by anyone.
Duncan stepped forward, finally seizing the opportunity to closely observe the large black umbrella, but upon seeing the inner layer of the umbrella, he could not help but exclaim, “Huh.”
He had imagined what this umbrella, always held by the assailants, might look like—it could be a transcendent item engraved with runes, or perhaps it looked ordinary but possessed many unusual traits. In any case, given the strange and terrifying abilities and forms of the assailants themselves, the style of this umbrella should certainly have developed in a sinister direction.
However, the underside of the umbrella was drastically different from what he had expected—
He saw an extremely complex man-made structure; hexagonal, intricate lattices densely arranged on the framework, forming something akin to… solar panels. Between the deep purple lattice gaps, he saw fine tubes and wiring. In the center of the umbrella, there seemed to be a sophisticated device that served as some sort of control hub, connecting the handle to the surrounding lattice array. Its precision and complexity far surpassed any steam mechanisms in the Plunder City-State.
Duncan stared dumbfounded at the object.
Technology, his first reaction was technology!
This thing was definitely not a transcendent item, nor did it resemble some “anomalous” items in style, and it was certainly not a device manufactured by the current City-State civilization. This umbrella was an extremely sophisticated and complex technological artifact.
It… came from a civilization that modern City-States could not comprehend!
“What is this thing?” Sherry looked at the structure inside the umbrella, shocked and puzzled. She couldn’t understand at all what it was, and lacked the knowledge from another world that Duncan had. She only felt that it was a hundred times more complicated than she imagined, having a dizzying effect. She instinctively reached out her hand, “It looks like…”
“Don’t touch!” A-Dog suddenly interrupted Sherry, “This looks like some kind of desecration prototype.”
Sherry was startled, “Desecration prototype? What is that?”
“Something from some taboo history that should not exist in the real world, yet was forcibly retained in the real world,” A-Dog said gravely in a low voice, “I don’t know how to explain it to you… because I don’t understand the principles behind it myself. Just remember, in the long river of history of this world, some histories are ‘locked down’, and the things born from these forbidden histories are desecration prototypes, and typically, their mere existence is harmful to the biological beings of the real world… Never touch them if you see one!”
Sherry immediately withdrew her hand nervously, while Duncan glanced thoughtfully at A-Dog, “Is this also the ‘knowledge’ innate to the Profound Demons?”
“Sort of,” A-Dog shook his head, “Not all Profound Demons know this, but I was born closer to the head of the Profound Saint, so I have a bit more knowledge in my brain.”
Duncan hummed noncommittally and kept his gaze on the strange black umbrella. Just then, seemingly due to the loss of some “support,” the umbrella suddenly began to disintegrate and collapse rapidly before his eyes.
The intricate lattice structure gradually became translucent, the framework and wiring faded and turned into grayish-white debris that drifted away with the wind. The core complex device also melted and flowed down like heated wax. Just before this object completely dissolved, Duncan caught a glimpse of tiny text on some part of the device from the corner of his eye.
It was not the common language used by the City-States today, nor any other language he was familiar with—but the meaning of those words still emerged in his mind:
“K-22 Spectral Filtration Crystal Core.”
The next second, including this final component, the entire umbrella dissipated with the wind.
Duncan slowly stood up, and just then, Sherry, who was standing next to him, suddenly exclaimed in a soft voice, “Ah! What’s wrong with my hand…”
Duncan looked at Sherry’s arm and saw that not only her arm but her entire body was gradually becoming translucent and blurry.
Sherry was instantly terrified, “Save, save, save…”
“Save my ass!” A-Dog interrupted Sherry directly, “That means you’re waking up! It’s your first time waking up normally from this Dreamscape—shouldn’t you be thanking Mr. Duncan?”
Sherry then realized, hastily looked at Duncan, but saw that his figure was also fading away in the Dreamscape.
Duncan smiled and waved at the young girl, “Good night, and good morning—don’t forget to wake Nina up for breakfast later.”