Warlock Apprentice
Chapter 1686: Section 1687: The Last Conundrum

Chapter 1686: Section 1687: The Last Conundrum

After comparing the differences between using the House of the Heart in reality and in the Wilderness of Dreams, Angel understood. In Toby’s case, using the House of the Heart in the Wilderness of Dreams had an undeniable advantage.

"But having an advantage doesn’t necessarily mean the problem can be solved." Angel frowned, his mind racing. "I really can’t think of how to exploit this advantage, because there’s a fundamental issue right now."

When Toby uses the House of the Heart in the Wilderness of Dreams, even though it may not immediately enter the Tribulation Period in reality, it still slowly touches the Seal of Grievance. Ultimately, it will drag Toby into the Tribulation Period.

"If there’s a problem, just solve it," Sanders said nonchalantly.

"But how should I solve it?"

Sanders raised an eyebrow. "Isn’t this something you’re supposed to think about?"

Angel: "..." So, are you just feeding me false hope?

Sanders: "Your goal is for Toby to survive the Extreme Resentment Tribulation. If you use other methods, you’ll face various issues, perhaps even unsolvable ones. But if you use the House of the Heart to simulate the tribulation, then only this last problem remains."

Indeed, as Sanders said, as long as this problem is resolved, Toby can repeatedly simulate the tribulation in the House of the Heart, ultimately greatly increasing its chances of surviving the Extreme Resentment Tribulation.

But how to solve this problem?

At this moment, Sanders stood up and straightened the slightly creased sleeves of his clothes. "I came this time just to understand some details about the House of the Heart. For now, I’ve learned what I needed to know; it mostly aligns with what’s recorded in the books. The House of the Heart in the Wilderness of Dreams is just more intriguing than in reality."

"I look forward to Frode writing more experiment records on the House of the Heart."

With that, Sanders’ figure gradually blurred and departed from the Wilderness of Dreams. Though Sanders indeed found the House of the Heart fascinating, his priority was to complete the tasks at hand. Constructing the energy system in the Wilderness of Dreams as soon as possible would better utilize its potential.

After Sanders left, Angel contemplated for a while but still couldn’t come up with a solution.

"Forget it, I’ll return to reality first." Angel also prepared to leave. Greya had likely been waiting outside for quite some time; he needed to give her an explanation eventually.

...

"The emotional fluctuations in Toby have remained stable, with no changes." This was the tenth report Sharley delivered to Greya.

Reporting every three minutes, Sharley’s statements hadn’t varied through these ten updates. This meant half an hour had passed since Angel woke suddenly earlier and then immediately entered the dream again.

Greya silently glanced at the still-sleeping Angel and Toby. Since Toby’s condition had remained stable, it indicated that Angel’s so-called "experiment" should have long finished. So why hadn’t he woken from the dream yet?

Surely Angel wasn’t writing an experiment report in the dream, was he?

In Greya’s impression, dreams were constantly changing; no dream could exist permanently. Even if Angel had written an experiment report in the dream, the next time he entered it, it would surely vanish.

So what exactly was Angel doing in the dream?

As Greya pondered these doubts, Angel, who had been asleep in the distance, finally opened his eyes.

After waking, Angel stood up, grabbed Toby in one swift motion, placed him in his pocket, and then walked toward Greya.

"I thought you’d wake up quickly once Toby’s condition stabilized," Greya said softly. "Your experiment should already be completed?"

"It’s complete. As for why I lingered so long..." Angel blinked a few times. "I was doing some analysis in the dream."

"Analysis in the dream?" Greya chuckled faintly. She didn’t express whether she believed it or not, merely saying casually, "I think it would be more efficient for us to analyze together than for you to think alone."

"Isn’t that why I came back now?" Angel replied earnestly.

"Before we discuss your experiment, I want to know one thing first." Greya’s gaze shifted to Angel’s bulging pocket. "Why hasn’t Toby woken up yet?"

"Don’t worry, Toby’s fine now," Angel said.

"Fine now... So, Toby really encountered some problems earlier?"

Angel coughed twice. "Didn’t you see just now? Toby’s Seal of Grievance was triggered. It was my first experiment, after all; I didn’t anticipate the seal being disturbed. But didn’t I remedy it?"

"Then why is he still asleep now?"

Angel hesitated briefly and said, "He’s a bit tired after the experiment, so he’s resting for a while."

"Do you think I’ll believe that?"

Sharley muttered softly from the side, "Does one get tired from conducting experiments in a dream?"

Angel knew this explanation was flimsy. But he couldn’t possibly tell Greya that Toby didn’t want to wake—simply because it was trying to avoid facing her... or more precisely, her upcoming devilish training.

To escape the training, Toby defiantly flew out of Sky Tower, claiming it was going to find Tullas to play.

Angel could have forcibly brought Toby back, but seeing its pitifully terrified resistance after emerging from the House of the Heart, Angel chose to relent.

"Rest assured, Toby is truly just dreaming and resting now. He will wake up later," Angel reassured her again.

Greya shot Angel a meaningful look. She knew he was likely still hiding something. But since he’d explicitly said Toby would wake later, Greya ultimately refrained from pursuing the topic further.

"Fine, let it rest for a while longer. Now, it’s time you told me about the experiment you conducted."

Angel had already prepared his words when he decided to face Greya, so he responded without panic to her inquiries. "Have you heard of lucid dreams?"

Lucid dreams, also called clear dreams or what Wizards refer to as lucid dreaming, are states where one remains self-aware during a dream. It involves retaining full logical clarity and an active sense of self-determination.

Those who experience lucid dreams can act like creators within their dream, modifying the dreamscape at will. For instance, they can transform into superheroes, giants, or construct mountains, oceans, castles, and palaces from nothing.

Leading with lucid dreaming, Angel began recounting the story of what had occurred in the dream...

In the dream, Angel connected to Toby’s mind and used the creative abilities of lucid dreaming to directly fabricate an Extreme Resentment Thought for Toby to confront.

Angel hadn’t outright lied to Greya; he simply swapped the Devil from the House of the Heart with creations induced by lucid dreaming.

"Initially, I thought fabricating Extreme Resentment Thoughts through lucid dreaming would allow Toby to experience and simulate the tribulation state. But I didn’t expect that even facing a dream-created Extreme Resentment Thought would disturb the real-world seal," Angel explained wistfully.

Listening to Angel’s sighs, Greya’s face was filled with doubt.

Angel claimed he pulled Toby into his lucid dream and conducted this experiment. But Greya remembered clearly—Angel had woken up in the middle of the experiment. How could Angel resume the same lucid dream after re-entering sleep?

Moreover, can lucid dreaming truly simulate Extreme Resentment Thoughts? Do Extreme Resentment Thoughts even have a distinct form?

These were questions Angel couldn’t fully answer.

Clearly, Angel had concealed many truths.