Ma Ran waved, signaling Song Chu to follow him.
The two traveled through the quiet forest.
"I came to Area A3 because I want to deal with an alien creature called 'Nightmare.'"
As he led the way, Ma Ran said solemnly, "Six days ago, I saw some scenes and heard some sounds through Limited Precognition."
Song Chu nodded without interrupting, listening quietly.
As one of the two Nation Supporter-level superpower users currently in China, Song Chu had long since heard Ma Ran's name and a brief description of his abilities.
"Nightmare can manipulate dreams, causing people to fall asleep and never wake up, and devour human brainwaves to grow and evolve."
"My judgment is that it possesses the potential to grow powerful enough to destroy the world."
At this, a gloomy look crossed Ma Ran's eyes. "That creature is extremely special."
"Only people with high life levels and firm convictions are qualified to harm it."
"No matter how many ordinary soldiers come, they won't be able to truly hurt it. They'll only become its food."
"That's why I came here personally."
A high life level and firm convictions.
Those were the two conditions.
As for the former, the members of the various academies who practiced Black Rock Martial Way might barely be able to meet it.
As for the latter, there were plenty of people like that in Area A3.
Yet there were very few who met both conditions at once.
The threshold for effectively harming Nightmare was far too harsh!
"No wonder..."
Thinking of Ma Ran's strange behavior earlier, Song Chu couldn't help nodding slightly. "That explains everything."
His gaze inadvertently swept over the strand of white hair at Ma Ran's forehead, and his expression changed slightly.
Back at Fulan Academy, he had already learned that Ma Ran had to pay with his lifespan to alter the future through Limited Precognition.
Merely reading the written explanation felt completely different from witnessing it with his own eyes!
Before joining Caolu Academy, Ma Ran had been nothing more than an ordinary high school student.
Yet his kindness and selflessness made Song Chu feel deeply ashamed of himself.
Song Chu felt that if he had awakened an ability similar to Ma Ran's, there was no way he could have done something like this.
He had always considered himself a very ordinary person.
Within the limits of what he could do, he would save another person's life.
But if it meant harming his own interests, or even sacrificing his lifespan, that would be unlikely.
"Although he's somewhat cold, he really is a person worthy of respect..."
Song Chu sighed, quickened his pace, and stayed beside Ma Ran.
Precisely because he couldn't do it himself, he admired those who could do it even more.
Even though Ma Ran had never spoken of his achievements, merely standing beside him made Song Chu feel a radiance of humanity.
After clashing with Ma Ran and knowing him for less than three minutes, Song Chu nevertheless felt as if he had been purified.
Deep down, he was still afraid of alien creatures.
At the same time, however, standing beside Ma Ran, Song Chu felt that some indescribable emotion and impulse were also beginning to grow in his chest.
It was something called courage!
To fight alongside someone with such a pure heart—even if he died in Area A3, it would still be something to be proud of, right?
Just as Song Chu's thoughts ran wild, Ma Ran suddenly raised the Elephant Hunting Spear in his hand and fired a shot behind Song Chu's head.
In an instant, Song Chu's mind went blank. He didn't even have time to form a thought.
Bang!
A muffled boom, like rolling thunder, echoed through the forest.
The smell of gunpowder drifted into his nostrils.
Song Chu spun around and saw only a pool of viscous, dark-green liquid splattered across the poplar behind him.
A thick, sweet, fishy stench rushed at him, overpowering the smell of gunpowder and cloying his senses.
"The Elephant Hunting Spear is pretty good..."
"It's not as useless as everyone says. Clearly, its reputation has suffered unfairly."
"Without it, I would've had to expend quite a bit of internal qi."
Ma Ran lowered the Elephant Hunting Spear, whose muzzle was still smoking, with satisfaction. He pointed at the viscous green liquid and explained calmly, "I call this stuff 'Nightmare Spores.'"
"They're normally invisible. The naked eye can't detect them, and thermal imaging systems are ineffective against them too."
"Nightmare Spores only become visible at the instant they launch an attack."
"Don't touch them directly. They're highly poisonous to animals."
Song Chu discreetly took two steps back.
He hadn't intended to touch the stuff in the first place.
After hearing Ma Ran's explanation, he wanted even less to do with it and put as much distance between them as possible.
"Contact with them will cause the skin to ulcerate."
"Even their vapor can corrode the respiratory system, causing the alveoli to rupture and turn into pus."
"Notably, internal qi offers fairly effective protection."
At this point, Ma Ran said quietly, "Over the past six days, I've crushed a total of seventy-five Nightmare Spores."
"Although I still haven't been able to find the Nightmare Mother and finish the job in one stroke, I..."
"I have a lead now."
In his previous life, everyone in Area A3 had died. Many circumstances had been inferred by investigators from the traces left at the scene, but the information had been neither detailed nor accurate enough.
Ma Ran still had to gather information himself and deduce the Nightmare Mother's patterns of activity.
Song Chu stood dazed for quite some time before finally coming back to his senses. "Then where are we going now?"
Ma Ran said calmly, "To the two areas where the Nightmare Mother may appear."
"If we want to save people, we have to kill that thing."
"Remember, stay with me. Don't get separated."
His composed attitude gradually calmed Song Chu, who had initially been somewhat panicked.
"I'll stay right behind you."
He nodded firmly and pointed at the dark-green, viscous liquid on the tree trunk. "What about this stuff? Should we deal with it?"
Ma Ran said evenly, "Leave it alone."
"It'll naturally dissipate in just five minutes."
Afterward, under Ma Ran's direction, the two briefly sorted and divided the equipment and supplies they carried.
Gas masks, adrenaline, high-concentration caffeine, smelling salts...
Ma Ran's preparations were extremely thorough and perfectly suited to their current situation, displaying the manner of a prophet in action.
"Did you know from the beginning that I would come to Area A3?"
Song Chu carefully noticed that most of the supplies Ma Ran had prepared came in pairs.
"Your presence did appear in my Limited Precognition."
Without the slightest psychological burden, Ma Ran began spouting nonsense. "If I hadn't stopped you just now, that Nightmare Spore would've implanted itself in your brain and trapped you in the dream world."
"If you died in the dream world, your brainwaves would be devoured by the Nightmare Mother, and your body in reality would die as well."
"You know what raising gu means, right?"
Song Chu nodded vigorously.
Various poisonous insects were placed in a jar without food and forced to bite and devour one another. The only one that managed to crawl out alive was the gu.
This process was also called raising gu.
"Everyone in Area A3 will obtain everything they desire in an illusory dream."
"And then die."
"And you, as the last survivor, gained the right to become the Nightmare Mother's host."
"To prevent the Nightmare Mother from becoming the ultimate calamity that destroyed human civilization, you chose suicide at the final moment, dragging it to its death with you."
At this point, Ma Ran said softly, "What I saw through Limited Precognition was only a collection of fragmented scenes, and the voices I heard were also disordered."
"What I just told you has details that I filled in through logic, but the general direction should be correct."
Song Chu lowered his head and pondered for a long while before finally asking with difficulty, "Were all the other unconscious people implanted by that thing?"
"No."
Ma Ran's gaze remained calm. "Creating something like Nightmare Spores isn't easy for the Nightmare Mother."
"It released a large amount of a substance I named 'Nightmare Dust,' covering the entire Area A3."
"The vast majority of people will be affected by it and trapped in dreams."
--
Thanks to "A Nickname Filled In Randomly Is Better Than Numbers" for the 1,500-point tip!
Thanks to Wei Yi Faith for the 300-point tip!
Thanks to Wine-Brewed Dumpling for the 201-point tip!
Thanks to Bloodthirsty Yiyun for the 100-point tip!
Thanks to "Wine in the Morning" for tipping Ma Ran a chicken drumstick (100 points)!
Thanks to Ink Rain Star Fate for the 100-point tip!
Thank you! (▽)
Bonus Chapter Cards are still being stocked...
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