Encore ① · [Fantasy · Like a Dream]

[Having weathered countless storms, brothers remain; a smile at our reunion erases all past grievances.]

[--Lu Xun]

[Part 1 - Enigma: The Incredible Mystery]

Dragon Blood flowed down the railway rocks towards the cliff.

This putrid, charred corpse was originally cold—but the wise giant Mimir/Mim kept it alive by using scalding ecliptic lava and the Mímisbrunnr, and it was reborn as a saint, becoming half-dead.

Now, it lies beside the railway, its slender, delicate neck severed in two by the cruel and merciless Abyss Special Train.

Starting from the medulla oblongata of the spine, this headless dragon's body is over thirty meters long, with a slender, withered tail fin, giving it an imposing presence at first glance.

Even though it was dead, a hint of ferocious red could still be seen in its faded back scales and thorns.

Its belly hairs had turned to a deathly gray, and there were two horrifyingly large wounds on its sternum and lower abdomen, as if they had been ripped open by a sharp weapon and then patched up with human skin. The deeper part of its torso had been cut into a lump of mud by the sharp obsidian when Wen Bucai forced it to land on the dragon.

Its blood had drained away, and in the vast, dark underground tundra, the flying dragon's remains drew a dark red exclamation mark.

The young waiter bustled about the inn's food stalls, bringing back drinks and snacks to heal the warriors' wounds.

There were more than fifty passengers at the inn. Hearing the deafening noise, they all stood frozen, their breathing slow, staring at the remains of the mythical creature.

There were also scavengers, preparing soups and barbecues in front of their mobile food trucks. In that moment of earth-shaking tremors, a long-dormant Inspiration within them—the energy within their bodies, like a volcano dormant for millions of years—was about to awaken along with the earthquake.

"Listen carefully! Did you hear anything?" Wen Bucai, his charred skin peeling away and his face covered in rotten flesh, drank the White Lady's coffee that the waiter brought him in one gulp.

Victor bought a fireproof shirt from the hunting market and tossed it to his old friend.

"No, I don't hear any strange sounds."

Skeletal reconstruction occurs, and the bright red muscle texture rapidly regenerates, eventually covered with skin, veins, and blood vessels.

Wen Bucai's arm grew back, and he grabbed his clothes and quickly put them on to avoid embarrassment for everyone.

He ran his hands across his neck, wiping away the blackened dust clinging to his face. His eyes gleamed with a captivating light, and his eyebrows and hair began to grow back.

I heard restless footsteps.

Victor: "These people haven't moved. Are you worried they'll try to steal the dragon's body? Sure, even if it's rotten to the core, someone will still treat it like a treasure."

Wen Bucai: "It's the treasure-guarding dragon from Nibelungenlied Fafnir."

Victor: "How did you kill it?"

Wen Bucai: "Which time were you asking?"

Victor: "Twice."

Wen Bucai sat down next to Victor, crossed his legs with Victor, casually asked for a cigarette, and then used his Soul Might's heavy fists to strike each other, bursting out flames to light the cigarettes.

"Sixteen years ago, the BOSS assigned me an urgent investigation. Deep in the mines of District 18, the engineering station workers unearthed a huge palace."

Heat detectors and pulse signals detected the dragon, and people speculated from the palace's gold and silver jewels, runes, and poetic murals—that it was Fafnir. But I don't think so; I think it should be much weaker than the legendary treasure-guarding dragon."

When the topic of work came up, Victor perked up and immediately pulled out his notebook, writing down Wen Bucai's descriptions to use as writing material.

How do you know?

Wen Bucai calmly pointed to the dragon's corpse.

"Because it's too small, its size is nowhere near that of a behemoth. Calling it a behemoth is beneath it—the bronze Frost Giants sculpture at the station, if it stood up, would be at least two hundred meters tall. The renovation workers hired by the BOSS alone could tear this reptile apart with their bare hands and break its spine with a single kick."

Victor thought for a moment and said, "That's true."

Wen Bucai continued recounting the past, "I awakened it while conducting an in-depth investigation."

Victor: "Why?"

Wen Bucai joked, "Perhaps it's because my overly ancient bloodline made it recognize its ancestors."

Victor: "It wants to eat you?"

Wen Bucai: "No, it was terrified, and like when facing a apex predator, its first instinct was to run away, and its second instinct was to head towards the Mimir/Mim Mímisbrunnr. I speculate that it wanted to become stronger, to touch the Mimir/Mim Mímisbrunnr, and to become its complete form—at that time, it didn't have dragon wings yet, and a pair of delicate, fan-shaped cartilaginous membranes had appeared on its back. I followed behind it, holding its tail, trying to reason with it."

Victor: "It's a pity it can't understand human speech."

Wen Bucai: "That's right—it crashed into the Mímisbrunnr, rolled around in the lava, and was about to turn into a lump of charcoal. It also gained Mimir/Mim's wisdom from the eclogite. I think it was Mimir/Mim who transformed this dragon into the legendary treasure-guarding dragon Fafnir —its body was modified by Mimir/Mim, and according to Mimir/Mim's thoughts, it evolved the bat wings and red scales of the treasure-guarding dragon."

Victor: "And then?"

Wen Bucai: "I performed two 'gutting operations' on it with a stick, rode it across half the city, broke off its dragon horns, and my stick and the stone were destroyed, becoming part of the lava river. The powerful magnetic environment made my soul power suffer terribly—I fell from the dragon's back into the tundra, and it crashed into the depths of the Freud Mine. We were both half-dead, equally badly hurt."

Victor: "This time?"

Wen Bucai sipped his cigarette, took a deep breath, and the feeling of exhaling smoke rekindled some of his enthusiasm for talking nonsense.

"I led my four little ones into the Skull and Bones Skull and Bones Society, and thankfully, they all have exceptional skills, especially your two apprentices, who are top-notch fighters. One can hunt and tear monsters apart with his bare hands, and the other can shoot and kill demons."

Victor was secretly gloating, but he maintained a cold and serious expression.

Wen Bucai continued, "I originally wanted to come alone, capture a Wyvern, and head straight for Fafnir —but times have changed. The enemy's guns can only shoot five or six hundred meters away. If the Wyvern under my feet doesn't obey me halfway and gets killed, and I fall into the lava river, I probably won't survive either."

Victor: "Are you sure?"

Wen Bucai: "I'm not sure. If the process of becoming a saint is truly as that dwarf said, a transformation of a beast into a god, a conversion to divinity—it's the brain of the Mimir/Mim giant at work, and perhaps that brain, the powerful energy of the entire Morokhovvich section, will turn me into a Leviathan? Or a hundred-headed dragon? Hahaha. Just thinking about it is very interesting."

Victor: "Have some decency."

Wen Bucai: "That's why I said these four little darlings are really capable. I couldn't have done this without their help."

Victor: "You killed it again?"

Wen Bucai: "Yes, Fafnir is half-dead, and she is surrounded by many annoying spirits, who are people who worship dragons and want to become her claws and scales."

Victor: "It's truly as wondrous as an incredible mystery."

Wen Bucai: "I don't understand either. Does offering my physical body to the dragon and flying into the sky with it mean I can become one with it?"

Victor: "Like you said."

Wen Bucai: "It's already dead. There's no Gate of Death on its body. Its stiff muscles don't feel pain, and it won't react to stress. It's very disobedient and even harder to ride than last time. I made a staff out of the BOSS's bones, stuck it into its medulla oblongata, and used my soul power to control its body. I rolled it three times in the lava and used the powerful energy of the Mímisbrunnr to strangle these lingering ghosts."

Victor could picture it. "It must be difficult, right?"

"It's not that difficult. Even picking crabs at the market risks getting pinched and bleeding," Wen Bucai described. "We went up and down in the lava. I lost my right arm and all the skin on my body, but my mind is clear. I can remember the way we came—and in the end, as you see, my parking skills are pretty good?"

Victor: "Very good, but you definitely won't pass the second part of the driving test."

Wen Bucai: "Yes, the second driving test is quite difficult."

Victor: "What were those footsteps you were talking about?"

Wen Bucai: "The people at the Research Station will probably be very happy with the dead dragon, but since it's the Dionysus Festival now, scavengers will also likely enjoy it."

"Next time, can you finish your sentence in one go?!" Victor immediately stood up and yelled at the Bloodhound, "Get moving! Darling! Get the scavengers and passengers ready! A monster is coming!"

The bloodhound scratched its head. "What kind of shit just came out of your mouth? Did I hear you wrong? What did you call me?"

"That's why I hate communicating with women. She's thirty-six, and the age gap creates eight generational barriers." Victor covered his face, unsure what to say, rolled his eyes, and pulled Wen Bucai set up defenses.

More than 400 people rushed out from the market station, which stretched for 1,200 meters, in front of the railway's load-bearing rocks.

They are scavengers who wander from station to station, measuring hundreds of kilometers on foot, long-distance travelers, people without a hometown.

Their eyes gradually lit up as the defense personnel brought them a temporary employee ID and a Rhino Revolver as a welcome gift from the Mimir Hot Spring Market.

It's like being completely disconnected from a train station, only to reconnect many years later.

The young passengers hurried about, handing over their lifelong walking sticks to the older, more experienced scavengers. They wanted these uncles and aunts to pull themselves together and think back—

--Passionate Red Stone People, Brave Red Stone People Who Never Give Up.

A Xing was assigned to the first echelon. Under Victor's command, he was tasked with building a temporary supply depot and FOB radio station using haystacks and insect-repelling tents, so that they would have a decent shelter when facing the onslaught of the monsters.

In the hands of scavengers, glutinous rice and gelatinous soup are like magic props; these pastes quickly transform into sturdy and reliable walls.

They became enthusiastic, quickly building fortifications, cheering loudly, and hunting with the dragon-slaying warriors.

Mobile food trucks and supply depots formed a semicircle around the dragon's corpse, with the Mimir/Mim Mímisbrunnr lava river stretching further into the tundra behind them.

From the farthest reaches of the earth, from mines tens of kilometers away in the tundra, the frigid Northern Territory winds blow from the depths of the earth.

They waited--

--Passing ammunition and food to each other.

Meteor casually disassembled the Iron Knight into a sword and a hammer, and gave the light sword to the stranger beside him.

"You use this!"

The scavenger immediately asked, "Can I? Can I really?"

Meteor: "How should I know?"

The scavenger was moved to tears as he took the light sword; he hadn't touched a stick in a very, very long time.

But he lacked confidence; he even lost the courage to grasp the stick.

Looking around, he found a tall passenger and handed him the Iron Knight's light sword.

"You'll definitely be better than me with this! Use this!"

The passenger struggled to take the light sword.

"This is my second time taking the bus, I'm afraid I won't be able to use it properly."

Scavenger: "It's okay! You have stones! You're definitely better off than us!"

This sword was passed from hand to hand for over two hundred meters, but no one was willing to use it, not even as a weapon for self-defense. Using it would increase the chances of saving one's life.

In the end, the Iron Knight returned to A Xing's hands.

He stared at it for a long time, feeling frustrated, then turned to the scavenger and said, "If I tell you to take it, then take it!"

Scavenger: "But..."

Meteor handed over the samurai's blade along with the weapon. "No buts! Don't you remember? Don't you remember how to fire a gun? How to swing a stick?"

"I," the scavenger choked back tears.

"You're a brave person. I don't know your name yet, but we'll be fighting together soon." Meteor patted his companion's shoulder hard. "Using tools to protect yourself is brave, and handing those tools over to others is also brave—I believe in you, and you should believe in my decision."

[Part ② - Hunter]

A sharp, piercing alarm whistle blared!

Some Inspiration companions can detect the stench of monstrous beasts in the cold winds blowing from the tundra.

Jiang Xueming jumped down from the makeshift observation post, and the junior liaison officer came to meet him from below the rock platform, which was more than four meters high.

Liaison officer. "What's going on?"

Jiang Xueming: "I can't see clearly, it's too dark here. It must be some birds, I heard them flapping their wings and making a lot of noise."

The liaison officer took out his radio and immediately called out to the passengers in the combat formation.

"In the sky! In the sky, they've arrived!"

"What is it?"

"Where?"

"I can't see!"

The radio channels immediately descended into chaos; this group of ragtag soldiers had absolutely no communication discipline whatsoever.

Jason's voice rang out. "It's [Sergio], a strange bird with white spots on its neck, named after a biologist at the Research Station. You should have seen it—it eats Golden-rumped swallow and mice in the mines, and occasionally catches Inspiration Deer; it has a huge appetite."

The entire group fell silent immediately.

Jason continued, "The men at Post Three looked up and pointed their searchlights at my flashlight."

A ray of light in the darkness illuminated a dense flock of birds four hundred meters away.

"Their wings look a lot like geese, and to scare off predators, they have eye-shaped markings on their feathers. When escaping from predators, they arch their bodies, turning their entire bodies into a grotesque face to frighten their enemies." After Jason finished speaking, he immediately ordered the other shooters to change shifts, "Don't even think about killing them. There are at least two hundred strange birds in the sky. We need to scare them away!"

"What will you use to scare them away?"

"Use fire! Lift the canopy of the food cart, open all the ventilation ducts, and push it out!"

"I thought it was some strange thing. It's just a human-faced sculpture!"

"Brother! Call it by its common name, not its scientific name. We won't understand its fancy words!"

Jason retorted dismissively, "Who the hell is your brother?"

"Then shall I call you leader?"

Jason: "Just call me bro."

Victor looked up and muttered to himself, "That Jason kid has some serious Inspiration."

"He has Lapis Lazuli." The Bloodhound raised its gun on alert, the muzzle following the beam of the barracks' headlights.

Victor: "Like you, a Lapis Lazuli Guards?"

Bloodhound: "No, I've never heard of this person, but his talent is extraordinary. He must have some kind of mental illness, right? Otherwise, the BOSS wouldn't have let someone like him go."

The flames from the food truck resembled a ship sailing on a dark ocean.

The scavenger watched as his tools of livelihood drifted deeper into the tundra, and felt a sense of relief.

In the blink of an eye—

--The dormant volcano in my heart has reignited.

The monstrous bird with a human face swooped down toward the dragon's corpse—at that moment, the guide lights of the outpost converged into a single beam, becoming extremely blinding at the point of intersection.

The instructions on the radio gradually subsided and grew quieter.

There were no more jumbled sentences, no more near-manic excitement.

"Outpost, I request permission to use firepower to target the focal point of the light source."

"Good job, supply depot. These giant eagles have a unique eye structure; they can see in the dark, but they can't withstand strong light."

"FOB Two, a six-man team is trying to charge. Two food trucks have veered off course, and there's a 30-degree angled blind spot directly in front of them. We need to provide visibility."

Wen Bucai: "Go."

A startling burst of gunfire erupted from the military post.

--Scattering bird feathers and bits of flesh all over the ground.

The gunfire lasted only a moment, focusing on a single, powerful point of fire in the brightly lit area, like a drill crushing dozens of ungrateful beasts.

In mid-air, a fearful eagle swiftly changed direction, circling the blinding light source, avoiding this divine weapon forged from brilliance, and trying to find another way.

"FOB number four spotted scattered prey circling around to the hot spring entrance, attempting to steal the dragon meat from behind."

"The visibility is excellent; we can fire directly."

"It's a bit far, about eighty meters."

"Their bird droppings got all over my head, I'm so angry!"

"We can hit them! I can feel it, they haven't eaten, their stomachs are empty, and the updrafts from the hot springs will slow them down! We can hit them even with a rhinoceros!"

Wen Bucai: "Free shooting."

The twenty-four combat units in four groups immediately left their posts and rushed to the market at the post station.

The scavengers moved swiftly, their agility honed from dodging trains on the tracks, but this time was different. Carrying guns given to them by passengers, they crouched in the sheltered shadows of the railway bedrock, their eyes fixed on the crimson hollow ceiling above the lava river.

The eagles took flight, the intense heat propelling them into the air. In that instant, the explosive ammunition arrived as expected.

"How much ammunition do each supply depot have left?"

"FOB One is out of ammo. Prepare for close-range engagement with the monsters. Let's go to Fafnir's corpse and try using the pheromone tent to scare away these strange birds. Be careful not to accidentally injure anyone."

"I have a feeling that something bigger is coming."

"Your Inspiration has returned, bro?"

"Didn't you feel it? Joe is with us, the passengers are with us."

"The BOSS's bones are with us too. Stepping on the railway tracks, I can feel it. I'm back. My courage is back. I can fight again. The next train is coming soon!"

Jason Megan pressed himself against the bare rock, listening intently to the distant footsteps of the monster horde.

They are getting closer and closer--

--Those were dense, chaotic musical notes, the sound of sharp claws tearing through moss and grass.

He immediately shouted into the radio.

"They're tricolor jackals! Packs of scavenging wolves! These dogs are incredibly intelligent; they communicate and exchange messages using different barks to find their matriarch. They maintain their pack's ties through the bloodline of the leader; it's a matriarchal clan."

Before the words were finished, a chorus of low growls from hyenas could be heard.

The yellow and black spots on the mane flashed by in the firelight of the food truck. You could also see the mustard seed on its back, like a tumor wrapped around the plant's roots.

This is the most common scavenging monster near Mimir Hot Spring Market.

"They went around the food cart, I couldn't see them."

"Too far, not enough range, don't waste bullets."

"Are they circling? What are they waiting for?"

"Wait until we run out of bullets?"

"Do we have any scouts? Do we have any brave enough to carry a headlight and run around in a circle? Spread some fluorescent tracers?"

Three Skull and Bones Society and Bones trucks sped out of the military depot.

The young attendant led the way, driving the carriage into the dark hunting grounds. Jiang Xueming followed closely behind.

Jason drove the last car, heading in another direction from the southeast corner.

A warning came through the vehicle's radio.

Wen Bucai: "There should be a big guy there, I can smell it, Jason, be careful."

Jason: "I know, it shouldn't be a scavenger."

Wen Bucai: "Those are carnivorous monsters that have come to try their luck; you need to be even more careful."

Jason: "I just don't want to lose to someone! If I start a little slower than him, I have to do more to win back him!"

The three trucks cast chaotic streaks of light across the tundra, the bright lights and noise startling away omnivorous lizards lurking in the shadows. The jackals were also driven further away, not daring to approach for the time being.

Jason had run a great distance, and the lights were getting closer and closer to the connecting passage of the cavity.

--At the mine's exit, the monstrous beasts navigate the complex network of feces and urine to find the right path, migrating and hunting among the numerous cavities.

The headlights shone on the pit openings, and the reflected light also illuminated Jason's eyes.

An inquiry came over the radio.

What is it?

Jason could see it clearly, but he stood there stunned.

The bright LED headlights illuminated a snow-white lion.

It raised its head high, poked half its body out of the pit, and shook its strong forelimbs and bushy mane, shaking off the fluorescent pebbles on its body, like the king of beasts looking down on all living beings.

It had two tails, White Snake as thick as a wrist, which flicked their red tongues toward the truck, trying to drive away this strange human creation.

The white lion's eyes lack pigment, a natural form of albinism, and its pupils are pink, giving it a beauty that is both cute and terrifying.

It was almost three meters tall, and its body length, including its tail, exceeded sixteen meters, making it twice as large as the previous Green Lion Monster.

Jason did not run away--

--For large felines, the moment their prey begins to flee is the moment to hunt.

He honked the horn and floored the brakes and accelerator, trying to disguise the dump truck as a powerful monster to scare away the giant lion.

Wen Bucai: "What did you see?"

Jason: "It's beautiful. It's so beautiful! It has a dreamlike beauty! Strong and magnificent!"

Wen Bucai: "That sounds pretty tricky?"

Jason: "I'm trying."

The white lion merely leaned down for a glance, tilted its head, and restlessly sharpened its claws on the cave wall, as if trying to sharpen its toes—a sign that it had encountered a formidable enemy and was preparing for battle.

Two small heads peeked out from behind it.

--Its offspring.

The two lion cubs tumbled down and landed on the tundra, where they frolicked and played.

Jason thought for a long time before deciding not to crash into them directly. These lion cubs didn't look like they could be killed by a truck, and their cubs were also unusually large.

The white lion father seemed to have figured it out.

--It nimbly jumped off the platform, sniffed the truck, then grabbed its mentally challenged son in its mouth, curled its tail around its mentally challenged daughter, jumped back into the cave, and slapped its curious wife's face, turning her fierce expression into a gentle and virtuous look.

The family of four left without saying a word.

Jason, covered in cold sweat, finally drove the truck back to the pithead station. Still shaken, his legs went weak when he got out of the truck, and he began to regret his recklessness.

A waiter's greeting came through the radio. "Sir, are you alright?"

"So close...so close I...I was going to turn into a pile of shit." Jason gripped the radio tightly. "But...I'm really curious I couldn't overcome my competitive spirit. Thank God. Thank Goddess of Fortune."

"Oh! This time it's not the goddess of fate who saved you!" Wen Bucai said as he opened the tailgate of the truck and stepped out with Victor.

Victor was overwhelmed with emotion, as if he had experienced a beautiful Inspiration: "It was truly amazing to be so close to that behemoth. Its heavy breathing and vigorous vitality captivated me."

Wen Bucai said with a regretful expression, "Unfortunately, even your mustard pheromones can't cover up my scent; they've escaped."

Jason snapped out of his daze--

--The rapid reaction force of Guangling Zhixi has already deployed around the dragon's corpse.

Engineers, stokers, and train commanders jumped down and set up a switch signal station and temporary tracks. Without affecting train operation, they transported four quadruple-mounted machine guns.

This is going to be really funny!

--The smarter animals run very fast.

Small-brained, reckless wild animals become the new food on the dinner table.

At the post station, Bloodhound Lady discovered six remnants of the Skull and Bones Society, all of whom were cabinet members, and prepared to take them back for further interrogation.

Jiang Xueming found a chair and sat down, drawing page after page in his logbook, using spiritual threads to control his tired arm and draw cold, hard lines.

--On this page, there is a picture of Victor Wen Bucai sitting under a railway signal light, with Teacher Victor taking out a cigarette case from his doctor's bag.

"Brothers who have survived all tribulations remain."

--On the next page, Meteor made a plate of incredibly awful sweet and sour pork ribs and asked Jason to add a bottle of cyanide so he could personally feed this [Meteor's awful creation] to Jason.

"A smile can dissolve all enmity."