Light Fortress
Chapter 197 - 184: Sea of Fire

Chapter 197: Chapter 184: Sea of Fire

The moment the explosion sounded, Gu Shen slammed heavily onto the ground. Perhaps it was because he had pierced through the body of Zhou Yexin, or perhaps it was because of those few words from Zhou Yu, that he suddenly realized...

All of this was a dream.

It was a game.

And this game was unequal from the very beginning, because the person who set the rules of the game was a cheater.

Xiao had deceived the entire Federation, the whole of Da Du.

Even if "Extraordinary Power" was a Divine Gifted Power born from trampling over order, there were also constraints of balance in the unknown.

The "Fire Stealer" from Central State could steal Extraordinary Power, but he was bound by various constraints and shackles.

Similarly, a power as strong as "Dissolving Dream," which could destroy reality within a Dream, required the user to expend a large amount of spiritual power every time it was activated... If one wanted to create large-scale destruction, then the owner of "Dissolving Dream" would probably have exhausted himself in a mere instant.

Gu Shen came to his senses.

He slowly stood up, looking at the scene after the fire.

"The girl," "Dora"... All the figures had disappeared without a trace.

In the Deep Sea Archives, this incident ended here, with no further developments.

But the Zhou Yu case, whose thread had been severed for ten years... was now reconnected in Gu Shen’s mind.

"The explosion is not the end..."

Gu Shen muttered softly, "The explosion is the beginning... Your fight with Zhou Yu only truly began after the explosion..."

He looked toward the collapsed villa amidst the smoke and dust, where a figure had, at some point, materialized. That figure sat on the Blood Fire Throne, its body streaming with layers of garbled code, Gender indiscernible, only a lifted smile hung on the face like an uppercase V.

The one on the Blood Fire Throne was very interested in hearing Gu Shen continue.

"All this time, Deep Sea was concealing the archives of ’Dissolving Dream’... Because such a power would only spread panic among people. Even the members of the three institutions who were Transcendents themselves couldn’t resist the true force of ’Dissolving Dream’ when it was fully unleashed."

Gu Shen whispered, "But... Is ’Dissolving Dream’ really as the archives describe it?"

He laughed at himself, feeling like a fool.

Looking back now, the first time in the Dream, that rabbit doll. That was a pretty obvious hint... A toy that was originally old and filthy, not directly destroyed in the big explosion, but instead became brand new.

And that explosion, it just happened to stop at the girl’s feet... How could that be a coincidence?

All of this... was because of "Dissolving Dream."

Zhou Yu had activated "Dissolving Dream" at the moment the explosion occurred, this power, indeed, as recorded in the Deep Sea Archives, had incomparable lethality, like an invincible sword.

But in the hands of a father, "Dissolving Dream" was no longer a sword, but an absolutely unbreakable "shield."

Where is safe when reality shatters?

Dreams.

And "Dissolving Dream," taken to its ultimate development, could swap reality with dreams... Zhou Yexin and Dora were able to survive the large explosion, not because of luck, but because in that instant, they were taken into "Dissolving Dream."

The reason why the three Transcendent members concluded that this case was merely an accident... was also because of the thorough activation of "Dissolving Dream" in a desperate moment.

Zhou Yu disappeared from this world.

...

...

"Such power as ’Dissolving Dream’... If you truly had it fully under control, then today’s game wouldn’t have needed to happen," Gu Shen said softly, "I would have conceded."

"But it’s clear that you haven’t."

In this Dream, no one else appeared.

"You’ve simply seized Zhou Yu’s body... You couldn’t handle his ’Dissolving Dream’ power at all... Even this Dream isn’t under your control, because a contemptible competitor like you would never let me see the correct revelatory information."

Thinking back to the fight in Freedom Hall, Xiao had only used body techniques.

All the details pointed toward one thing...

He couldn’t use "Dissolving Dream," and this mass hypnosis was a risky bet, gambling that with the "hostages" from the Freedom Hall, the Grand Judge wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

From this point of view, Xiao won the bet.

If Mr. Shu had chosen to act earlier, everything would have been over by now.

Gu Shen looked at the figure seated on the Blood Fire Throne and said coldly, "It seems you’ve always wanted to draw me into the Spiritual Dream, even gifting me a compass, but it’s not just for the so-called game, is it?"

"..."

Familiar applause sounded from the Throne.

Xiao’s figure was shrouded in a dance of data characters.

His laughter sounded mechanical and creepy, "From a long time ago... I had my eye on you. Now I know I was not wrong; you are a chosen one superior to all the others."

Gu Shen remained expressionless.

"Alright... I admit..."

"Without ’Dissolving Dream,’ without ’the game,’ all of these were fabrications of mine."

Xiao smiled and said, "So even when the music in reality comes to an end, no one will die in Freedom Hall... because my target has always been you from the very beginning."

"For some reason... when I see you, I always feel a particularly strong desire..." Xiao stroked his chin, his voice slow and tinged with confusion, "I want to... eat you..."

That V-shaped grin that sent shivers down one’s spine widened even further at the corners of the mouth.

"I want to... swallow up that wisp of fire at the center of your eyebrows..."

At this point,

The Xiao seated on the Blood Fire Throne was no longer in human form; he was like a mountain of continuous water streams, made of cascading data, bursting forth in this dream.

"Is this the method you used to take down ’Zhou Yu’?"

Gu Shen asked calmly, "Immersing into the dream then devouring the other."

"... Of course."

The mechanical echo of data surrounded him on all sides, making it evident that Xiao was laughing.

Gu Shen looked down at his feet.

The ground gave way to a quicksand of data streams, sinking bit by bit, unable to prevent the descent even if he remained still.

"Using the hypnosis at the free dance to put Da Du to sleep, I would think tonight’s Changjiu Foundation won’t stop at just one move, right?" As the quicksand reached his chest, Gu Shen still spoke unhurriedly, "Machines never sleep, and even if everyone in Da Du has fallen into slumber, Deep Sea will still be monitoring this city... Followers of the Changjiu Foundation wouldn’t dare walk the streets overtly with explosives. So what you can do most likely happens in the blind spots beyond Deep Sea’s reach."

"Do you really see yourself as the savior of Da Du?" Xiao couldn’t help but laugh.

"..." After a moment of silence, Gu Shen asked one last question, "Since you have the ability to manipulate Deep Sea authority, then do you know that the third scene of my Dream Interpretation group was ’Ghost Cage’?"

Xiao paused momentarily.

The mechanical quicksand responded with a puzzled tone, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

A long pause.

The quicksand, brimming with the power to devour spirit, had now engulfed up to his chest.

"... Sorry about what you just mentioned, the matter of being a savior."

Gu Shen said in a voice devoid of emotion, "I didn’t used to think so, but now... I really do believe I am."

"Boom!"

An explosion sounded!

Chi Huo had wanted to burst forth from his brow countless times... and due to Mr. Shu’s warning on Yuan Dan Street, Gu Shen had suppressed the impulse time and time again.

At this moment, Gu Shen finally stopped suppressing Chi Huo.

A spark flew from his eyebrow.

In an instant!

It turned into a raging sea of flames!