Embers Ad Infinitum

Shang Jianyao once again opened his arms, half raised his body, and answered Jiang Baimian's non-question question in an intoxicating tone:

"Everything is a fantasy, why take it seriously?"

Jiang Baimian once again found that this sentence was almost universal and could be used to deal with anything.

However, this encounter involves dreams, which is quite appropriate.

She pondered for a moment and said:

"Ask Xiaobai and Xiaohong if they have had similar dreams."

"You want to wake them up?" Zen Master Pudu said with a "you are a bad person" expression on his face.

Before Jiang Baimian responded, he had switched personalities and said enthusiastically:

"Going right now!"

Jiang Baimian glanced up, stood up from the bed, and opened the door.

"Going to the toilet so soon?" Gnawa asked while sitting in the living room.

As an intelligent robot that respects humans, he did not monitor the movements of his companions' rooms.

Although Gnawa asked no questions, Jiang Baimian always felt that his train of thought was slipping in the direction of Shang Jianyao.

Thinking that there would be two, no, eleven Shang Jianyao in the team in the future, she felt dizzy.

Jiang Baimian took a slow breath and said:

"Do you still remember that A-level mission you saw in the Hunter Guild during the day?"

Gnawa quickly analyzed Jiang Baimian’s hidden meaning:

"Did you also encounter that nightmare?"

"Yes." While Jiang Baimian nodded, he saw Shang Jianyao gently touching the bedroom where Bai Chen and Long Yuehong were.

There was a creak, and before Shang Jianyao had time to knock on the door violently, Bai Chen opened the door.

"Xiao Hong and I had the same nightmare." Bai Chen said bluntly, "It's very similar to what was described in the Hunter Guild mission."

"Yeah." Long Yuehong followed and echoed.

"So are we." Jiang Baimian recounted what happened to him and Shang Jianyao.

"So, in the end, it was Xiao Chong and Du Heng, teacher, who scared away the 'Nightmare'?" Bai Chen was not so used to calling Du Heng his teacher.

Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin and answered before Jiang Baimian:

“Remove all impossibilities and what remains is the truth.

"At least we have no adverse symptoms, no dizziness, nausea, fatigue and insomnia."

After listening carefully, Long Yuehong asked a question:

"If the 'nightmare' has its own consciousness and can be scared away, then why does 'it' do so many things?

"Spreading nightmares? Do you like to see people sleepless and dizzy?"

None of these reasons could convince Long Yuehong, and he felt they were not so powerful.

A "nightmare" that can affect so many people at the same time and make Shang Jianyao, an awakened person at the "soul corridor" level, unable to escape, should have a more "lofty" motive.

Otherwise, why take the risk to cause trouble in the First City?

There are so many powerful people here!

"There have been no deaths, no one has gone crazy, or there are obvious abnormalities..." Jiang Baimian said while thinking, "The whole thing seems very mild."

She suspected that one of the awakened people in the dream realm had made a breakthrough and was experimenting with their abilities in a low-key way.

"Not necessarily now." Shang Jianyao suddenly became excited, "After I used the 'Six Senses Pearl' in my dream, the monsters in the darkness suddenly became violent. It seems that 'he' is still very knowledgeable and knows that this is very precious."

Shang Jianyao's "Six Senses Pearl" is an item that has been modified by some abnormality in the Buddhist Holy Land.

Long Yuehong was shocked:

"Will 'he' come to your door in reality?"

"It won't happen in a while." Jiang Baimian comforted his teammates, "Since 'he' will be scared away by Teacher Du Heng or Xiao Chong, he will definitely not come to deal with us rashly. At least Xiao Chong or Du Heng must be ruled out in advance. It’s possible that the teacher is hiding around us, right? How can Xiao Chong and Teacher Du Heng be discovered so easily?”

Even if the "nightmare" could learn from several members of the "Old Tune Team" through the influence of dreams that they had not met Du Heng and Xiao Chong recently, he would have to worry that this was a trap specially set for "him".

Bai Chen followed and said:

"By then, we should have left the city and gone to the ruins of Wasteland 13, away from this 'nightmare'."

Long Yuehong nodded to show that he understood.

"What is the source of this 'nightmare'?" Gnawa brought the topic back on track.

Jiang Baimian first put forward the speculation of "experimental ability" from the perspective that the whole thing seemed very mild, and then said:

"In addition, there is another possibility:

"There is an uncontrolled 'node' in the city that connects to the new world. The atmosphere there is slowly seeping in, but it has not yet reached the level of causing people to suffer from 'unintentional disease'. It only brings a larger range of Nightmare.

The leaders of "Prime City" hope to investigate the location of the "node" through the "Hand of Order" and the Hunter Guild.

"But that doesn't explain why 'Nightmare' was scared away by Teacher Du Heng or Xiao Chong."

Bang bang bang, Shang Jianyao clapped his hands:

"You are becoming more and more imaginative!"

This is not a good thing... Jiang Baimian glanced at this guy and finally concluded:

"We don't need to worry too much about this. This is the original city. If the sky falls, there will definitely be tall people holding it up.

"As long as we keep track of the progress of obtaining intelligence and leave the original city before Nightmare finds out that Teacher Du Heng and Xiao Chong are indeed not lurking in the surrounding area, there will be no big problem. Well, we can ask Boss Ugo by the way. They The True Self Cult, which believes in the realm of dreams, is not disinterested in such things.

"Also, by the way, report it to the company to see what the big shots above think about this matter and what instructions they will give.

"Do you have any other suggestions?"

"No." Long Yuehong was the first to shake his head.

After Bai Chen, Shang Jianyao and Gnawa responded one after another, Jiang Baimian found the radio transceiver and reported to "Pangu Biology" on the spot.

Inside "Pangu Biology", there are employees guarding the telegraph machine at all times.

After finishing this matter, Jiang Baimian clapped his hands and said:

"Go on to sleep. If you have any strange dreams, don't hide them."

With a sweep of the floor, Shang Jianyao turned his attention to Long Yuehong.

You have a weird look in your eyes, bastard! Long Yuehong restrained herself and responded to the team leader with "hmm".

At this time, Shang Jianyao looked at Jiang Baimian again and asked in a joking tone:

"Babai, is there any progress on your fear island?"

Jiang Baimian hesitated for a moment and decided to share the difficulties.

She explained in detail that the fearful island was equivalent to the deserted "Panguage Creature" underground building, and then, with a slightly stiff neck, she took the initiative and said:

"This may correspond to my fear of losing family, friends, companions and familiar life."

Hum, if I tell it myself, if I tell it frankly and without being guessed, it won't damage my image as a female warrior of steel!

Shang Jianyao said "Oh" with appreciation written all over his face:

"You didn't get lost in there!"

Jiang Baimian quietly ground his teeth.

"There are no enemies and no abnormal conditions. It's really a bit confusing." Bai Chen discussed seriously.

Long Yuehong immediately agreed:

"yes."

Immediately afterwards, he expressed his thoughts:

“Those islands correspond to psychological shadows and inner fears.

"To solve the problem, the most important thing is to get down to reality. Just like the team leader, the real reason why you can get through the first island is that you dare to face the out-of-control coma, try to awaken, and undergo surgery, so once you find a way , and it was a natural breakthrough.

"This time, you have to face it bravely..."

Speaking of this, Long Yuehong suddenly paused.

As Jiang Baimian's friend, companion and familiar part of life, there always seems to be something wrong in persuading her to face the fear of losing her relatives, friends, companions and familiar life...

You think I don’t know? But how can we deliberately pursue this kind of thing head-on? Are we like that cowardly guy who actively creates opportunities to destroy his teammates? Jiang Baimian laughed bitterly in his heart.

Without her needing to respond, Gennava analyzed the whole thing and proposed two plans:

"One is to make yourself indifferent and downplay your feelings for other people. In this way, the loss will not be too sad and will not become a psychological shadow."

"Why do these words sound so familiar?" Shang Jianyao picked up his ears.

The honest Shang Jianyao immediately sneered:

"Isn't this what you thought before?"

When the merchants were arguing, Gennava continued:

"The second is to make yourself strong enough, so strong that you think you can protect everything."

This is too idealistic... Moreover, this is an endless cycle - only by becoming strong enough can you overcome this psychological shadow, but only by overcoming this psychological shadow can you move on and become strong enough... Jiang Bai Mian did not say any slanderous words.

At this time, Shang Jianyao, who was busy with his busy schedule, took the time to say:

“You can also try to understand the meaning of sacrifice, the value of life, and what it means to unite as one.

"In this way, you will know that what you have lost is just a different way to accompany you and become the meaning and motivation for you to move forward."

It actually makes some sense... Jiang Baimian said "hmm" and then asked:

“What did you gain from exploring that cruise ship?”

Shang Jianyao explained all the rules discovered and finally said:

"Since we can't catch the awakened ones at the 'soul corridor' level to help us step out of the way for the time being, we should consider finding the owner of room '522' during the day when everything is normal."

"How to find him?" Long Yuehong asked.

Shang Jianyao smiled and said:

“Judging from the sequence of his psychological shadows, he should have become an awakener by the time he boarded the cruise ship.

“In other words, he has been to Tieshan City Second Food Company.

"As long as I keep looking for people to talk to about this topic, I will have a chance to identify him."

"This is a method, but be careful about triggering mutations." Jiang Baimian commented.

After the discussion, they each went back to their respective rooms and went to bed again.

A night of no words, no nightmares.

The next day, after breakfast, Bai Chen asked:

"Going to see Boss Ugo today?"

Jiang Baimian thought for a while and said:

"Can."