The Last Gentleman
Chapter 498: Dream Connection

Hearing about the Corner and Jian’s origins, William was deeply moved,

What appeared to be a simple, mundane description actually contained a "hard to describe" experience of growth,

The Old World itself is a special world themed around plague, an aberrant world that perhaps should not have even been born, intrinsically filled with discordance, danger, and places that cannot be evaluated with human nature.

[Corner]

To be defined as a "Dark Zone" within the Old World, untouched by the Evil Sun, and even a place where monasteries do not venture... one can imagine the dreadful survival conditions in the Corner, such that even hell would be an apt description.

Surviving in such an area would likely necessitate stepping over the corpses of tens, if not hundreds of thousands.

Maintaining neutrality would be even more challenging. It’s hard to know how many events beyond the bottom line of human nature Jian went through during this process.

Let alone being one of the survivors after the war, climbing back to the Old World after being swallowed by the Abyss... In terms of talent, there are probably not many in the entire Old World who could compare with Jian.

No wonder he could replace his predecessor as the chief magician of the circus, commanding the respect of nearly all the staff.

Such experiences would be enough to fill several autobiographies. Although Jian mentioned it only in passing, William could distinctly feel the weight of his words,

Mr. Jian took a sip of his tea and continued, "Below the Abyss, indeed, lie unknown paths—hidden pathways that the Old World has yet to discover.

So, once you confirm your path does involve the Abyss, I will point out several valuable Abysses worth exploring. It would also be wise to purchase some items that improve your Luck Value from the Duke before setting off,

Whether you can ascertain your path and return alive from beneath the Abyss will depend on your abilities.

In addition, before you encounter a real Abyss, you can come here every day for one hour of Abyss Falling."

"One hour, won’t that interfere with Mr. Jian’s work?"

"I have already planned the subjects for next month’s official performance and have rehearsed it three times; the effects are quite satisfying. So, I am relatively free at the moment, and will let you know in advance if I get too busy."

"Is there anything I can do to help with the official performance?"

"That’s not necessary. The entire process of the magic performance has been set. Forcedly fitting you in would not be ideal.

Focus on your own matters during this time. Rather than your internal performance in the magic troupe, I am more looking forward to seeing you create an entirely new department with the boss’s permission outside of the troupe."

This made William quite embarrassed, "Since I might leave the magic troupe, isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you, Mr. Jian, to still help me like this?"

Jian slowly put down his tea, "Nothing inappropriate about it. Once you create a new department and become the chief, our departments can collaborate in the future, enjoying the advantage when recruiting members.

If I recruit a newcomer suitable for performance, I can transition them through internal channels to you,

If you recruit a newcomer suitable for magic performance, you can also transfer them to me privately; it’s a win-win situation. These are future concerns, though. Creating a new department is much more challenging than becoming an official member.

You should complete your path as soon as possible. That is of the utmost importance.

One-hour countdown begins, start today’s understanding of the Abyss."

Jian took out a special alarm clock from between magic hats,

The sound outlet was made using the vocal tract of a Patient, and the sound produced could effectively stimulate the cerebral cortex. Even individuals who are deeply asleep, or whose consciousness is confused, could be directly awakened.

"What do I need to do?"

"Just gaze into my eyes, and the alarm will recall your consciousness when the time comes."

"Okay!"

As Jian removed his mask,

A handsome face emerged, perfectly matched with his ocean blue long hair. However, the abyssal structure in his eyes would cause one to overlook Jian’s handsome features, as all attention was drawn to his pupils, seemingly ready to plunge into them.

Embraced by the Abyss’s influence after only one second, William experienced the effect immediately.

The sofa he was sitting on seemed to sag, or rather, his "consciousness" sagged toward the bottom of the sofa. When he raised his head, he could see clearly that his physical body was still sitting on the sofa, maintaining a proper posture with the tea still in hand.

In a blink,

Accompanied by a hoarse, deep roar, William awakened again on the sofa.

"Ah? Is one hour up already?"

"Correct, you maintained consciousness stability for about three seconds, and then darkness consumed you... Let’s stop here for today and you can attend to other matters."

"Alright~"

William prepared to continue to the zoo to find the beast tamer Zock,

Who would have thought that as soon as he got up...buzz! A piercing tinnitus instantly disoriented Yi Chen, and William staggered, almost crashing into Jian’s magic collection cabinet.

Luckily, his physical instincts steadied him at the crucial moment, and ribbons from his gentleman’s clothes pulled on a sofa nearby.

It was then that William realized it was not just himself; even the tiny grape within his body and the yellow skin concealed in his clothes had fallen silent, all succumbing to a deep coma during the fall into the Abyss.

"William, the reason you could wake up on time after one hour was due to the alarm clock’s forced awakening. Otherwise, you would have slept for an entire day due to the ’load’ caused by the fall into the Abyss.

Go back to sleep. Don’t think about doing anything else.

Catherine’s nightmare should help you recover better."

Jian slowly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers! Snap...

The rug under William’s feet suddenly caved in, and he fell through it, landing back in his own Magic House beside Catherine.

This time, he didn’t resist; he chose to rest voluntarily.

What William didn’t know was that as he fell asleep, the nightmare tentacles growing from within Catherine began to move,

either excitedly, or with the intention to do something else.

Squeak, squeak~ First, using the tentacles to manipulate their bodies, the two were turned to lie on their sides, with Catherine hugging William tightly from behind, yet their heads maintained a fixed distance (about ten centimeters).

The nightmare tentacles then transformed into cutting tools, skillfully opening the skulls of the two sleepers.

As before, it inserted its most core tentacle into the port at the back of William’s head,

This was not an act of Catherine’s conscious will; rather, it seemed the nightmare tentacles themselves had fallen in love with the act of "brain-machine connection"... which also allowed for the perfect fusion of their dreams.

Catherine, as the sovereign of nightmares, was well aware that she had connected to William’s dream. Just as she was preparing to do some things in the dream that conventional morals wouldn’t bind her to.

Buzz!

The fusion didn’t bring Catherine’s setting over; she fell directly into an entirely unfamiliar scene,

a library, filled with all sorts of record-type books, all related to William and another stranger named ’Yi Chen’.

Catherine also realized that here she only had partial control over the dream, unable to alter the dream’s scene.

"This must be the Madness Brain limiting my nightmare, right? And this library...is so strange. Where has William gone? If we’re connected in a dream, our main bodies shouldn’t be far apart."

Using her limited authority, Catherine quickly found the entrance to a secret passage, passing through seven locked doors, she arrived at an even more mysterious aquarium.

"A giant container filled with water... What exactly is inside William’s head?"

She quickly noticed William not far away, his hands pressed against the glass,

Just as Catherine was about to remove her excess clothes, leaving only her black and white stockings, and go greet him intimately,

a sudden nightmare sensing made her realize there was a ’third party’ present in the current dream area, and she directed her Nightmare Eye towards the interior of the tank.

Deep within the tank filled with William’s corpses, a half-grown youth hung spread-eagle from iron chains was grotesquely moving his mouth, yet no bubbles emerged.

The strange mysterious being was clearly communicating with the William outside the tank.

It was then that Catherine remembered the other name mentioned among the books in the library - [Yi Chen].

At that moment,

Clang! The sound of iron chains breaking echoed through the tank,

Catherine’s thinking was interrupted. When she refocused on the spot where the mysterious person had been restrained, only the floating chains remained; the individual had disappeared.

"Where did he go!?"

As Catherine tried to locate the mysterious person,

snap! Two ghastly white palms forcefully smacked the glass beside her, startling Catherine, the sovereign of nightmares, so much that she almost screamed.

Behind the glass,

below the bisected half-head, a wildly exaggerated smile contorted into existence.

"Hey! William... Why would a third party intrude upon our dream communication? Should we kill this woman? Remember to toss me her corpse after you do; a young and healthy body like this can be played with for a long time~"

With those words, a pitch-black tongue extended from Yi Chen’s mouth, slowly licking the glass as if it were caressing Catherine’s skin, disgustingly so.