Dream

(Miluno)

"This way! This way!"

The little creature led us to the cell where Anjie had previously been held.

That Oil Monster was also imprisoned here, used as a lab rat for research.

This may not be considered humane, but in order to understand the nature of darkness, researchers have had to set aside some ethical boundaries...

Carrying Stratos on his back, he sped around the corner and saw Ceruno and her group standing in the corridor. The prison cells were probably out of control, otherwise what were they doing outside?

We need to buy time right now.

"Ceruno! I'm going to accelerate!"

Hearing my call, Ceruno raised her wand and created bubbles that enveloped the entire passageway.

And just as the Bubble Membrane covered me...

--Time-Freeze--

For a fleeting moment, everything stood still.

But centered on me, the people in the distance also quickly regained their mobility.

I shifted my acceleration to the bubbles beneath my feet.

Not only Ceruno, but also Xiaoling and Xiaojie are here. I don't know what she's planning to do with these two girls.

SpiCa and Chris stood guard at the door; with their combined strength, they should be able to handle any danger that might arise.

Liu was carrying a camera, filming the inside of the monitoring room;

As for the monitoring room...

A huge rubber ball almost filled the entire cell.

"Miluno, you've come at just the right time!"

Ceruno trotted up to me, then raised an eyebrow and glanced at Stratos.

Then he said, "The situation is a bit troublesome. Could you open a larger teleportation channel and throw this thing to the Other Side?"

Taking out the trash?

This might be a solution, but it's also somewhat irresponsible.

Most importantly...

I just got back from "the Other Side," and my magic hasn't fully recovered yet.

"Explain to me first, what is this lump of rubber ball?"

"We inserted the Crystal from the Artificial Witch into the Monster's body."

"How was it placed?"

"Use Xiaoling's magic..."

Now I think I understand.

Ceruno continued to explain, "Because it's difficult to embed the Artificial Crystal, we wanted to transplant the entire thing, including the already embedded part, into the Monster's body, but we didn't expect that doing so would still cause an accident."

"Director Stratos, do you think there's any hope for this?"

She glanced at Liu with a complicated expression, then pulled an e-cigarette from her pocket.

He took a puff, exhaled a wisp of smoke, and then said:

"It's hopeless. I can't even access the Simulacrum Factor or the Crystal. How am I supposed to fix this?"

You're making such a fuss even though I haven't saved you.

Aldebaran's thick, powerful thorns can be inserted directly into the Monster's body to modify it, but Stratos doesn't seem to have that ability; the tentacles extending from her wrists are relatively weak.

"If you remove the Artificial Crystal, can you restore it to normal?" I asked.

"Certainly."

"Just a heads up, this guy is an experimental subject of Aldebaran; he has three Simulacrum Factor within him."

Three? I can give it a try.

Stratos's tone became uncertain.

If she doesn't control the rampage of darkness, she herself will be blown to smithereens.

She had no choice.

"Liu, open the door. Mono, you help too."

Liu glanced at SpiCa.

Only after obtaining the latter's permission did he swipe his card to open the door to the detention cell.

"Okay!"

The little thing understood my thoughts. The instant Liu opened the door to the prison cell, she clearly marked the locations of the three Simulacrum Factor and the Artificial Crystal in my eyes.

"Then I'll lend a hand too."

Chris lowered her body and assumed a fighting stance.

Numerous cutting lines flashed across the surface of the rubber ball, which was then sliced into countless uniform squares.

The cell was not covered by Ceruno's bubbles, and time was out of sync, so the rubber ball's movements appeared extremely slow.

Be careful.

SpiCa cautioned, "Abandon him if necessary. Your life is far more important than a Monster used in experiments."

"I have no intention of risking my life to save anyone, don't worry."

Leaving the bubble, she drew her twin swords to deflect the cut, and squeezed her way into the rubber sphere. But before she could grab the Artificial Crystal, the part Chris had cut began to heal. If this continued, she would be locked up...

"Ha! Watch this!"

The little thing let out a roar.

The darkness inside the rubber ball exploded under her control, once again tearing apart the cut rubber blocks.

"Well done!"

I seized the opportunity to grab the Artificial Crystal.

But I never imagined that such a simple action would bring me danger.

Darkness surged from the Artificial Crystal, engulfing me like a tidal wave.

Everything went completely black before my eyes.

"Mi- Miluno?! Get away!!"

She could still hear the little creature's voice, but she seemed unable to dispel the darkness.

Ultimately, even consciousness was completely engulfed by the darkness.

"Miluno!!"

But the little creature's voice still lingers.

Wrong...

I opened my eyes, only to find a desolate land before me... and another version of myself, sneaking around and eyeing me.

"It's me! It's me, it's me!"

Is this some kind of telecom fraud?

"Would a telecom fraudster say that to your face?"

You can directly express my true feelings...

"Xiao Dong... Mono?"

"Hmm! Don't be surprised, it seems we've been swept into the dream of Great Will!"

Is she saying... this is a dream?

"Don't you understand? Through that Artificial Crystal you encountered, our mind has connected with the dream of the Great Will."

This isn't the first time I've experienced a dream where I'm fully awake but unable to truly wake up.

But this time, it felt more real than a dream.

Mono asked, "What should we do? Should we just wait for this dream to end?"

That's a good question, but this is my first time in this godforsaken place too.

So, I turned my attention to her.

Although it's another version of myself, Mono and I still have some differences in appearance...!

"Hello!"

I placed my hand on her shoulder.

Why are your breasts so big?

She didn't dare to look me in the eye and turned her head away.

"I don't know, maybe I'm just older than you?"

Aren't you me?

"Oh, I might have mixed in something else too."

As she spoke, she even puffed out her cheeks as if to show off...

Since this is the dream of Great Will, what determines our appearance?

"I can only wait until I wake up naturally, and I can't interrupt the video playback... Is this what the 'The Other Side' looks like when it first took shape?"

A desolate, barrel-shaped world.

At this time, the world was not yet filled with empty houses. The Great Will swept up the remaining world and led the remaining people away.

"Since we can't get out anyway, let's wander around in this dream. Maybe we can see what the Natives on the Other Side look like."

"Miluno, you really have a big heart!"

It's not so much that I'm carefree, but rather that I have no other choice.

However, are these fragments of dreams unconsciously emanating from me, or are they a message that Great Will is intentionally conveying to me?

The desolate land was devoid of any human presence, but looking up, one could see a massive pyramid-shaped structure, still radiating Radiance even in the dim shadows.

Mono also raised his head and said:

"Oh, so that's the Center of the World?"

Yes, I saw it in my dream.

As the world teeters on the brink of destruction, a massive structure gathers the last survivors. If the Ring World is likened to an ark, then this is the ark's bridge, command center, and Control Tower.

There's no reason I should have missed such a spectacular building, but I certainly didn't see it on the Other Side...

In other words, this building will be demolished in the Future?

Moreover, this Ring World is much larger than the Other Side appears to be now; perhaps it is the continuous cracking that is causing the Other Side to shrink.

I don't understand.

Suddenly I was thrown into a dream, but there wasn't even a guiding NPC.

"Let's Past take a look!"

Mono pointed to the enormous pyramid above his head.

"If we go over there, we're bound to find some clues, right?"