Who Awakens First from the Great Dream (Part 2)

Under normal circumstances, Liu Shiling cannot "wake up" on her own in her dream. Only after Lao Xia "awakens" Tang Baona, and then "broadcasts" through Nana's special melody to "awaken" Yang the Third and deal with her dream, will he come to the Little Chubby Girl's dream and "awaken" her.

Unexpectedly, Liu Shiling "woke up" before Lao Xia arrived and Nana's melody began to play.

In Liu Shiling's dream, which was already quite realistic with only a touch of anime style, she wore her signature black robe with gold trim and cat ears, and held a short staff that looked exactly like chopsticks. She commanded five little warriors— Chocolate, Ice Cream, Lemon Tea, and others—to fight against all sorts of dark, gooey monsters and protect tens of thousands of chubby rabbit subjects.

The little magician, wearing a robe and hood, who looked a bit chubby, stood on the back of a big tiger with four pairs of eight wings.

That eight-winged mount is naturally "Egg Pie".

The Little Chubby Girl pointed her short staff forward with her Little Bun, and shouted, "Egg Pie, let's charge! Destroy them!"

But the eight-winged mount beneath its feet didn't move. Instead, it turned its Big Cat face and suddenly let out a few clear barks. "Woof! Woof woof!"

Although it now has eight wings and is a size larger than an average adult tiger, its face is still that of a golden shaded, chubby orange cat, and it shouldn't be barking like a dog.

In the dream, Liu Shiling also felt it was abrupt and frowned, saying, "Egg Pie, a cat should act like a cat, not bark like a dog. You're not a dog..."

But halfway through her sentence, she suddenly froze, staring wide-eyed at the Egg Pie at her feet. Then her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and suddenly she exclaimed "Oh!" almost jumping up.

"I know, I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming!"

Liu Shiling shouted, "waking up" from her dream.

Actually, after dinner, Xiang Kun finished his phone call, and after the "Chongyun Village Squad" realized that they would only be able to help Xiang Kun in his dreams, Liu Shiling went to "explain" to "Egg Pie" on her own.

She instructed "Egg Pie" to remember to wake her up in her dreams with the code "Woof woof woof".

"Egg Pie" replied with "Meow meow meow" to indicate that it understood.

Alice had actually told Xiang Kun about this process, but he didn't take it too seriously.

Although it had been verified before that "Egg Pie," which was already part of the "Super-Sensing Item System," could indeed be connected to special dreams induced by "Emotion-Infused Object," in those dreams, "Egg Pie" itself was unconscious. How could it possibly remember the Little Chubby Girl's instructions and even try to "wake her up"?

So after bringing the Little Chubby Girl and the others into the dream world, Xiang Kun didn't specifically bring "Egg Pie" along, and "Egg Pie" wasn't asleep yet either.

Anyway, we already have a special melody awakening plan for Nana, that's for sure.

Unexpectedly, not long after the Little Chubby Girl fell asleep, "Egg Pie" also fell asleep on the rooftop, and then, through his connection with the Little Chubby Girl, he directly entered her dream.

Even more amazingly, although "Egg Pie" itself wasn't "awake" in its dream, it actually followed the Little Chubby Girl's instructions and barked like a dog.

The chubby Little Chubby Girl, half-asleep in her dream, was actually "awakened" by this code.

Is it really that easy to "awaken" from a "special dream state where Emotion-Infused Object"?

As the underlying support of the entire dream, Xiang Kun, who clearly perceives everything happening in the Little Chubby Girl's dream, is somewhat amused and exasperated. The Little Chubby Girl always manages to create surprises for him. Although he provides the underlying ability framework, it is the Little Chubby Girl, with her wildly imaginative "developer," who brings more unique innovations and combinations to the application of the upper-level abilities.

When the Little Chubby Girl "woke up" from her dream, everything in the dream world around her immediately underwent drastic changes.

Apart from the dream projections of the five "Super-Linked Object Coin" including Chocolate and Ice Cream, and the "Egg Pie," everything else—whether it was the various kinds of demons and monsters, the fat rabbits all over the mountains, the mountains underfoot, or the blue sky and white clouds above—all disappeared.

She, along with Egg Pie and the five Coin Super-Linked Object, looked as if they were standing in the void.

"Is the monster that Uncle Baldy is going to fight about to come out?" Liu Shiling's little face was serious. She tucked her short magic wand under her arm and tugged at the drawstrings on both sides of the hood, making the opening of the hood narrow a little. The cat ears on the top of the hood also twitched, as if this made her feel a little safer.

"Egg Pie, let's go check the front. Chocolate and Ice Cream, you two guard the left and right sides. Lemon Tea, Sachima, and Mung Bean Cake, the three of you face the back and keep watch."

After Liu Shiling finished speaking, she found that the "Egg Pie" under her feet hadn't moved. Looking down, she realized that her eight-winged Big Cat was nowhere to be seen, and she was now standing in complete darkness.

She looked around and around again. The "Chocolate," "Ice Cream," and other Coin warriors were gone. Now, all around her was pitch black and nothingness. Although she could see her own hands and feet, all the light seemed to be trapped around her, and even the light from the outside world was swallowed up.

"Egg Pie! Chocolate! Ice Cream!..." Liu Shiling shouted, running a few more steps, but the surroundings remained empty, unchanged, with no scenery in sight, and she couldn't find the Egg Pie or the Chocolate.

Liu Shiling stopped, took a deep breath, suppressed the fear and unease in her heart, raised her magic wand high, and shouted, "The enemy monster from the dark world... Uncle Baldy! You can't scare me in my dreams! Hand over my cat and warrior!"

"I'll shout three times! If you don't hand them over by then, I'll get rough!"

"One... two..."

"Three... four..."

"Five... Ah, that's too much!"

Liu Shiling angrily flung her magic wand, and a bolt of lightning appeared from nothingness, crackling and tearing through the surrounding void, bringing a moment of light.

Then came the relentless bombardment of lightning, with flashes of thunder and roars, but after the lightning subsided, the surroundings remained quiet and deathly still. She hadn't struck anything, nor destroyed anything, as if she were constantly battling wits with herself.

Liu Shiling panicked even more and couldn't help but shout, "Bald Uncle! Roast Chicken Wing Sister! Fairy Sister! Where are you? Pretty Sister! Little Apple Sister! Are you there? Little Screw! Little Screw!!"

She called out for a while, then stopped, feeling a little embarrassed. She aspired to be a "Great Mage," and the most powerful kind at that! How could she keep calling out for help just because she was afraid of the dark and alone? That wasn't the behavior of an excellent "magician."

If the old fairy sister saw this, she would definitely laugh at her. She would probably say, "Little Bell, come here, call out 'Silver Armor Fairy Sister' three times and I'll come out to save you."

No, this is too embarrassing. I need to calm down.

As the old saying goes, "A thousand days of cultivation for a single moment of battle." She'd always dreamed of diligently practicing magic so that one day she could fight Monster alongside Uncle Baldy and protect the world. Now the opportunity had finally arrived! She hadn't even seen the monsters yet—how could she be so easily frightened?

"I learned magic from Uncle Baldy!"

"I am Liu Shiling!"

"I'm very brave!"

After a brief period of self-reflection and encouragement, Liu Shiling regained her spirits and began wandering through the void with her little magic wand, searching for a way to break the deadlock.

As time passed—though she didn't know exactly how much time had gone by, it felt to her as if countless years had passed—the courage and confidence she had finally mustered vanished quickly.

Why?

Why is there nothing there?

What if the bald uncle, the Roast Chicken Wing Sister, and the pretty lady finished fighting the Monster but forgot about me?

Have they forgotten I'm still here?

Liu Shiling stopped wandering around; everything around her looked the same anyway, she couldn't see or see anything.

She squatted down, hugged her knees, tugged at the drawstring, and pulled the hood tighter, making her little face look rounder from the edge of the hood.

"Bald Uncle... Roast Chicken Wing Sister... Come save me quickly... Don't you want me anymore? Do you think I'm too weak and won't take me with you... Old Fairy Sister, Little Apple Sister, where are you... Little Screw, I'm so scared... Mommy... Mommy..."

Large tears streamed down her face, falling in a soft, rhythmic patter, disappearing into the void beneath her feet.

Xiang Kun had been sensing the dream, instantly broke down and immediately prepared to eject the Little Chubby Girl from the dream to wake her up first. Anyway, given the dream situations of Lao Xia, Nana, and Yang the Third, losing the Little Chubby Girl wouldn't have a big impact; it would just take a little longer.

Even in his dreams, he couldn't bear to see the Little Chubby Girl being wronged.

However, at that moment, Xiang Kun received feedback from other dreams, and a thought struck him. He did not immediately eject the Little Chubby Girl from the dream.

A melodious bagpipe tune began to play. Liu Shi, who was squatting down crying sadly and aggrievedly, raised her head slightly and listened with teary eyes. Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she wiped her tears and snot with the hem of her robe and stood up from the ground.

As the music played, a soft female voice rang out. The familiar singing was like warm milk in winter, warming Liu Shiling's whole being and heart.

The feelings of loneliness, fear, despair, and inferiority were instantly dispelled, and her star-like eyes brightened again. The Little Bun holding the chopsticks and magic wand... her little fists regained their strength.

"Pretty sister! Is it you, pretty sister? Where are you, pretty sister?" Liu Shiling called out loudly.

There was no reply, but the singing continued. Liu Shiling was no longer afraid, and even felt a little embarrassed about her performance.

As she was walking in the void, she suddenly bumped into something and cried out in pain. Her robe's hood, which was tied too tightly, was pulled down and covered her eyes.

She hurriedly pulled her hat up, then squatted down to pick up the staff she had knocked off. Just as she was about to get into a fighting stance, she realized she had bumped into a familiar figure.

"Roast Chicken Wing Sister!" Liu Shiling exclaimed happily.

The one who appeared in the void was Xia Libing.

She walked up to the Little Chubby Girl, straightened her robe and hood, and touched her cheek. "Have you been crying?"

"Ah! I didn't... I did... I cried on purpose to lure the monster out, but it didn't fall for it. Um, I did it on purpose..." Liu Shiling said somewhat embarrassedly.

"A monster doesn't necessarily look like a monster." Xia Libing gently pinched Liu Shiling's cheek, took her hand, and said, "A monster is something strange in your dreams, something you don't think you're dreaming about. Like me, or this song, but you know who I am, you know who sings this song, while other things you don't know where they come from are monsters."

Liu Shiling seemed to understand, but nodded nonetheless. "Yes, I understand." With the Roast Chicken Wing Sister beside her and the beautiful lady's singing in her ears, she wasn't scared at all anymore.

"Little Bell, what do you see?" Xia Libing asked. She traveled through other people's dreams to help and guide them to discover the elements brought by the "Ultimate Predator" in their dreams and the resulting dream expressions.

The way they helped Xiang Kun deal with the "Ultimate Predator" in the dream was not by eliminating the "Ultimate Predator" in the dream, which is impossible.

While Xiang Kun was Ultimate Predator Mr. Liang, he dragged its "consciousness" into the dream and temporarily trapped it. It was up to Lao Xia, Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er, Little Chubby Girl, and Little Apple to act as "users" of the dream and use a variety of dream expression methods to present the consciousness structure and consciousness pattern of the "Ultimate Predator".

In this process, Xiang Kun and Alice will continuously collect, analyze and construct the consciousness model of the "Ultimate Predator". After completing the construction of its consciousness model, they will be able to directly destroy its consciousness structure at the level of "High-Dimensional Factor" through the "Super-Sensing Item System", disrupting its control over the special factors scattered all over the world and in various organisms.

To use an analogy, it's like Xiang Kun's original, more reliable plan was to cut all the network cables of "Ultimate Predator" around the world, but the prerequisite was to first place the scissors all over the world. Now, however, he directly found the server's address, paralyzed the server, and burned out the lines in the server room.

Because of their different biological composition, the dream constructed by human consciousness will be incompatible with the consciousness of the "Ultimate Predator." However, being trapped in it, it will inevitably try to exert influence. The dream manifestation of this influence is the interface through Xiang Kun and Alice translate and analyze.

After hearing Lao Xia's words, the Little Chubby Girl tilted her head back, looking left and right, and said, "I don't see anything, it's pitch black."

As she spoke, she tightened her grip on Lao Xia's hand slightly.

"What can you hear?"

"I heard a song, a nice song, sung by a pretty lady, I've heard it before..." Liu Shiling hummed a couple of lines, but unsurprisingly, she sang it off-key.

"Besides the singing?"

"It seems... there are no other sounds."

"Take a look, can you smell anything?"

Liu Shiling closed her eyes, sniffed, and exclaimed in surprise, "There's a burnt smell, like something's burnt!"

Can you tell which direction the smell is coming from?

"There!"

Liu Shiling took Xia Libing's hand and walked forward. Suddenly, light descended around them, and buildings appeared one after another.

It wasn't a city, nor was it a green mountain, but a desolate place where smoke rose everywhere.

There were no buildings, no plants, and all sorts of strange, clay-sculpted objects appeared in various distorted and indistinguishable forms. The sky was also covered with a layer of gray, dusty mist, making everything look gray and gloomy.

However, in several places, the area was charred black and constantly emitting smoke.

"What are these?" Liu Shiling asked curiously, looking at the strange and desolate place around her. If she were alone, she would probably be scared for a while seeing this scene.

"These must be the 'monsters'," Xia Libing said. "Those that are smoking must have been struck by your lightning."

"Then should I chop them all up?" Liu Shiling asked, looking up.

"No need, finding it is enough. Let's look around and see if there are any others," Xia Libing said.

She came from Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er's dreams, and compared them with her own dreams, the Little Chubby Girl's dreams were most influenced by the "Ultimate Predator" consciousness. It seems that the "Ultimate Predator" is using the Little Chubby Girl as a breakthrough point to bully children.

Of course, what the "Ultimate Predator" didn't know was that it had no chance of winning this "game"; the only difference was whether it lost sooner or later.

With Xia Libing's company and help, Liu Shiling became bolder and gradually found control over her dreams in the "lucid dream" state. Riding the "flying carpet," she and Xia Libing traveled freely in this strange space.

As time went on, the surrounding scenery changed more and more, and they found more "strange phenomena." The environment also quickly changed towards the area that the Little Chubby Girl was familiar with, and the "strange phenomena" became less and less obvious, beginning to hide in various familiar environments.

There are people there.

At the end of the pedestrian street in Tongshi Town, Liu Shiling saw a little boy squatting by the roadside, playing with a remote-controlled car.

Although she could only see his back, Liu Shiling was almost certain that she didn't recognize the little boy, that it wasn't a dream, and that it was a "paranormal phenomenon."

So she tugged at Xia Libing's hand and whispered, "Roast Chicken Wing Sister, is that a monster?"

Xia Libing didn't answer, but took the Little Chubby Girl's hand and slowly walked forward.

Hearing footsteps, the little boy playing with his remote-controlled car suddenly turned around.

Its face only had two large, round eyes, but no eyelids, nose, mouth, or other facial features, making it look very strange.

The Little Chubby Girl trembled in fright and stopped, instinctively hiding behind Lao Xia's thighs. But then, remembering her identity as a "Great Mage" and that this was her own dream, she mustered her courage and stepped forward again, pointing her magic wand at the one-eyed boy with her other hand, as if to unleash a bolt of lightning.

Xia Libing reached out and pressed down on her staff, looking at the little boy with fear in his eyes, and said, "He is not a monster."

"Mommy, my mommy is gone! Where's my mommy...?" The little boy picked up the remote control car from the ground and ran away in a panic.

As he ran, his body grew larger and larger, and his voice became strange, rough and deep, like metallic particles rubbing together; the content of his shouts also changed:

"Teacher... our research is about to succeed... I haven't let you down... I used company money... I haven't wasted any national funds..."

"Old He, don't worry. I will catch those beasts who feed on human blood. There is no place for them to hide in our country."

"Xiao Xue... you lied to me..."

"Xiang Kun, don't worry about whether I live or die, go do what you need to do."

"Xiang Kun, I don't want to die..."