Superhumans of the Dome City
Chapter 269 - 269 32 Intertwined Dreams 3

269: Chapter 32: Intertwined Dreams (3) 269: Chapter 32: Intertwined Dreams (3) “Joking, right?”

Mo Yuankai wasn’t that intelligence dealer…

that chubby guy responsible for assigning her missions, was he?!

The silhouette of this shadowy figure differed as much as heaven and earth from that honest and chubby otaku—it’s only been ten years, and not only has your figure changed drastically, but your species as well?!

Shiyu Ling chuckled and said, “Ahaha, Mr.

Mo, nice to see you.

It looks like you’re a shadow superpower user?”

The shadowy figure sounded very confused.

“I conduct myself with integrity and openness, how could you think my power is related to shadows?”

“Hey, are you really talking about ‘integrity and openness’ when you were just downstairs in the canteen stealing meat buns?”

“Miss, you don’t know the whole story; it’s all driven by the need to survive.” The shadowy figure let out a sigh.

“Those official guys, fearing we have too much energy and might cause trouble, give us just a little food each day.

We’re all in our growing years, and with so little to eat, we go to bed with our backs stuck to our stomachs—it’s just not sustainable.”

Just wait till you see your belly ten years from now…

it’ll be your fat sticking to your stomach…

With such a never-let-myself-starve character turning into a chubby guy, it really is excusable!

Shiyu Ling muttered to herself in secret and began speculating.

Mo Yuankai claimed his power wasn’t shadow-related.

If the Mo Yuankai in the dream wasn’t lying, then the shadows permeating the corridors and twining around his body weren’t linked to his conscious will.

With this thought, the shadows might well represent some kind of “mechanism” within the dream.

The time was ten years ago, the place seemed to be a Dragon Species detention facility, and all the characters appearing fit the descriptions from the time the dream took place…

No mistake, this was one of the “nodes” affecting Gongsun Ce.

She was right in the middle of the Clarity Dream of that young man with gray hair!

The shadowy Mo Yuankai, seeing Shiyu Ling fall silent, walked over to the door to chat with the young skeleton.

“John, do you think I look dark?” The brown-haired child coldly replied, “No.” “I thought so too!

Haven’t seen the sunlight for months, so my skin should be getting paler anyway.

You want some bun?” “No.”

Mo Yuankai seemed quite familiar with the skeletal youth, and that empty seat was very likely his…

Goddamn it.

If this speculation was true, then was this guy also one of the most dangerous Dragon Species?

Shiyu Ling’s head ached.

“Mr.

Mo, do you also stay in this room?”

The shadow figure appeared completely unguarded.

“Yeah, us three are good jail buddies.

Let me introduce you: this guy with the sour face is John Garcia, and the one deep asleep over there is Budman Avis.”

Dragon Species all together.

Shiyu Ling cursed inwardly.

These famished Dragon Species, even in their restraining suits, could easily kill her.

In this dream, her combat strength as an ordinary person was probably second to last, only better than the skeleton boy without lackeys.

She needed more information; first, to figure out where the current Gongsun Ce was.

The chubby Mo Yuankai from ten years prior wasn’t just slipping out of his cell; he even managed to steal food from the “lower levels” cafeteria, so he must know more than anyone else locked up.

Shiyu Ling remembered the muffled words she overheard: “Superpower…

ability…

significance…”

Leaning on the doorway, she asked, “Mr.

Mo, did you hear anyone talking in the hallway when you came in?”

“Voices?

No, I didn’t.” The shadowy Mo Yuankai generously shared his observations with the stranger.

“I was just across there delivering food, must’ve missed it.”

What Mo Yuankai referred to ‘across there’ was likely the left side of the crossroads.

She heard the talking about two minutes ago.

Shiyu Ling sensed she had missed something.

She should check at the end of the central pathway.

She might see more familiar faces there.

Shiyu Ling decided to woo this unsuspecting chubby guy to be her muscle.

She beckoned with her finger, putting on the air of an official female agent.

“I have an urgent matter to investigate, no time to talk more.” Shiyu Ling asserted, “Mr.

Mo, come with me.”

The shadow man smiled and responded, “Wow, what’s so urgent?”

Before he finished speaking, the metal corridors vibrated violently.

Shiyu Ling hastily braced herself against the wall, nearly tumbling.

The lights overhead flickered rapidly, and with a loud “bang,” powder and debris flurried down as all the light tubes burst at the same moment!

“So urgent?!” exclaimed the shadowy Mo Yuankai in amazement.

A shrill alarm sounded, and green emergency lights turned on in the hallway.

The vibration, far from subsiding, intensified, shaking everything in sight.

Shiyu Ling immediately thought of an earthquake, but what happened next made this assumption questionable.

“—I told you to shut up!!!”

A child’s yell came from afar, and numerous slash-like cracks appeared on the alloy walls.

Unsettling sounds emanated from beneath their feet.

In a blink, the sturdy walls exploded into dust, and the dense wiring behind them tore apart amidst sparking electricity.

The sounds of destruction, as terrifying as if an earthquake and tsunami had struck simultaneously, drowned out all other noises.

The facility was on the brink of collapse, and she was about to be buried under the rubble!

Shiyu Ling grit her teeth and got ready to flee.

In that instant, the unsettling tearing noise grew louder, and a huge crack opened in the floor.

Shiyu Ling stepped into the void and fell into the fissure.

“Damn!” She was certain she’d land in the “lower levels” the shadow man mentioned, but among the falling shards of metal, Shiyu Ling caught glimpses of azure.

Falling alongside countless parts and rubble, amidst the sharp whistle of the wind, she saw clouds, sunshine, and blue sky.

Steel material, pipes behind the walls, a Superpower User detention facility…

With all these remnants falling with her, Shiyu Ling finally grasped what had just happened.

This was no earthquake at all, for she was in fact high above ground.

The supposed temporary detention measure was actually a giant spaceship!

And now, this metal behemoth was disintegrating before her very eyes, torn apart by some incredible force as easily as a child smashing his toys!

She remembered a Superpower User tearing apart his handcuffs, the scene now magnified.

She screamed, “You still have the nerve to say you’ve never gone berserk?!!”

A large piece of metal plate crashed down, and Shiyu Ling’s vision blurred.

When the dizziness passed, she found herself standing in the steel corridor where it all started.

Shiyu Ling immediately took out her phone to check the time.

2000/7/14, 10:04 AM.

She had returned to the beginning of the dream.

·

Time moved forward slightly, bringing him to another side of the dreamscape.

After the environment had greatly changed, Gongsun Ce didn’t rush into action.

First, he began to organize the intelligence he had gathered.

If this was indeed Shiyu Ling’s dream, then the “tea party” dream he had experienced earlier was likely related to this place; Shiyu Ling had mentioned before leaving that this dream could be a “node,” another essential reference.

“A node…

that could only mean a Clarity Dream.”

The concept had been mentioned both in the notes from Li Nai and in lectures by Yan Qi.

In the Spirit Light dream, an Impermanence Law Enforcer would recognize their own Spirit Light – a direct expression of their character and life philosophy, essentially “what kind of person am I.” But that alone was not enough.

The setting for the Spirit Light dream was often in the past – showcasing the “starting point” of an ideology.

Ten years ago, Gongsun Ce had already shown signs of self-loathing, but he certainly wouldn’t have resorted to physical self-harm to resolve his conflicts as he would today.

Understanding “why have I become this person” from the Spirit Light’s “starting point” to the present was the process of practicing Clarity.

A so-called node was a point in time that had a profound impact on the growth of an Impermanence Law Enforcer.

It could be as trivial as a minor event or as significant as a major life change.

Experiences and actions within the node contributed greatly to a shift in personality and served as the reality foundation for creating Clarity Dreamscapes.

The process of Clarity was walking through the abstracted node events within the dream, thereby comprehending the causes of one’s nature.

Naturally, the scenes in a Clarity Dream differed greatly from real reality, but the key core of the events would not change.

That’s why Yan Qi said the training in the Clarity Realm was “so simple even a fool could do it”: Just follow the memory and understand.

If one dream isn’t enlightening, do it several more times until it becomes clear.

Frankly speaking, Yan Qi was right; it was relatively simple to follow one’s own memory.

But the problem was…

“I’ve ended up in someone else’s node, and no one has ever taught me that?!” Gongsun Ce nearly went mad, “How am I supposed to know what Shiyu Ling experienced as a child?!

And if she’s already revealing herself early on, could this clarity dreaming also be the result of dreamscapes intertwining?!”

Muttering to himself didn’t provide any audience at his side, nor a caring instructor to provide guidance.

Gongsun Ce reluctantly closed his mouth and began to observe the surrounding environment.

After Shiyu Ling vanished, the dream that belonged to her had transformed.

Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling; the marble floor was so polished it reflected light.

The hall was furnished with Western-style furniture in white and gold tones, its opulence something that common folk like him could only dream of.

This new house was clearly more spacious than Kardesia’s apartment.

Gongsun Ce looked at the solid wood staircase leading upstairs and the garden outside the window, guessing that this was a Morton-style mansion.

“This is much fancier than that old house of mine…” Gongsun Ce’s lament was cut off as he couldn’t help remarking sarcastically, “How did you grow up in such an environment and turn into such a petty, broken woman?”

Gongsun Ce’s current state was very strange; he not only saw the mansion but also a small top of a head.

He lowered his gaze and, unsurprisingly, saw a blue dress and white stockings.

He seemed to be floating behind the younger Shiyu Ling.

Gongsun Ce moved back to create some distance, discovering that he could only stand at most five meters away.

He tried to raise his hand, and the younger Shiyu Ling raised her hand too.

He hopped in place twice, and she mirrored his actions.

He was about to turn around—when he hadn’t even done so, the younger Shiyu Ling had already turned to look at him.

He knew this routine too well.

Far too well.

“Why is this dream still in third-person RPG mode?!

Does anyone really think so uniquely as to control the self within dreams like a game character?!” Gongsun Ce shouted frantically, “Come on, little Shiyu Ling, give big brother a smile!”

The younger Shiyu Ling blinked and then spoke.

“I must be a good child, so I can adventure into the rabbit hole!”

You’re really giving me a main quest, huh?!

How much have you modified your own dream to create such a speechless mechanism?

Gongsun Ce vigorously scratched his hair and spitefully said, “If you smile for big brother, I’ll help you with your quest, but if you don’t, big brother will lift your skirt.”

The younger Shiyu Ling looked up at him and sweetly smiled.

Gongsun Ce leaped towards the corner of the wall and turned to crouch down.

I just wanted to exact some petty revenge, why did you actually smile?!

His frantic thoughts were followed by an endless sense of emptiness.

What on earth was he doing, coercing a little girl in a dream with such despicable actions…

And lifting a skirt…

What a disgrace, Gongsun Ce…

“Cough cough.” Gongsun Ce cleared his throat, “Can I get some more hints?

About what you want to do, where you want to go?”

The younger Shiyu Ling fell silent again and didn’t speak for the next five minutes, no matter what he said.

“Fine.

It’s been a long time since I’ve played a puzzle-solving game.”

Gongsun Ce habitually pushed his glasses up, shifting his thought process from “leaving the dream” to “solving the puzzle.” Although it seemed he had no clues, that wasn’t the case; the words of the younger Shiyu Ling had already told him what he needed to do.

She had to be a good child and then adventure into the rabbit hole.

“Good child, obedient children are good children; rabbit hole, of course, is the starting point to the Immortal Realm.”

He controlled the younger Shiyu Ling to explore the house, spot a noticeably placed fairytale book on the sofa.

It didn’t seem new, probably read many times over.

The fairy tale’s cover depicted a blonde girl in a blue dress and the wondrous scenery of an illusionary realm.

The title was…

“I knew it,” Gongsun Ce picked up the book and read out the title, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

He shook the fairytale book, and out fell a handwritten bookmark.

[To my dear little princess, your desired New Year’s present] – Shiyu Genmi.