Friends in a Dream (1)

Change can happen in an instant.

But in Qin Yiguan's mind, that moment seemed to last a very long time, and countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

Were all my previous guesses wrong?

My thinking has become ingrained, which is foolish.

It turns out that the Dream General the beginning; it was the "Higher Self" of the Lu Zhoulang.

Could all those scenes I experienced have been a dream?

The Lu Zhoulang used its Dream General to set a trap for me. It made me feel that the Dream General was on my side, but the truth was quite the opposite, and I was completely unaware of it, and willingly walked into its trap!

My existence is a thorn in the side of the Lu Zhoulang, and now he can finally pull that thorn out by the roots.

In that instant.

The enormous human figure atop the Lu Zhoulang finally materialized.

Qin Yiguan, who was already in shock, felt his heart tremble again. He opened his eyes wide and stared intently at the huge figure on the head of the Lu Zhoulang. The incredulous expression on his face intensified once more.

--How could this be?

--How is this possible!

But what appeared in the sky was a little boy with his arms crossed over his chest, fast asleep with his eyes closed.

He was wearing white, hospital-like clothes, and a gruesome suture mark was wrapped around his forehead, the blood still fresh, indicating that he had just undergone brain surgery.

On his right shoulder, a clock floated in the void. The clock had only two markings: one for 'sleep' and the other for 'wake up'. However, the blue area representing 'wake up' only occupied one-tenth of the entire clock face.

There is only one hand on the dial, which is currently moving slowly in the red area representing 'sleep'.

He was Qin Yiguan, who was about 5 or 6 years old.

That was clearly me!

Qin Yiguan's Pupil dilated violently, "That was me when I was young!"

Yes, that's you.

But Lu Zhoulang remained calm and composed, his expression one of utter self-assurance, tinged with a hint of mockery. "The ' Higher Self ' in your Dream General is you in your childhood! To be precise, it's another personality that formed during your sleep!"

Qin Yiguan was utterly shocked.

After going around in circles, things have come back to my initial guess: Dream General is indeed one of my personalities.

But... why has it now become the "Higher Self" of the Lu Zhoulang?!

"Hehe... hahaha!"

Lu Zhoulang suddenly burst into laughter, "Look at your strange expression, hahaha! Right now, are you feeling that way—hope ignited, and then robbed of it? That feeling is even worse than direct defeat!"

At this moment, Qin Yiguan looked at the Lu Zhoulang as if he were looking at a corpse; his fists were clenched and his teeth were grinding.

"Back then, our Group A's research topic was 'dreams'."

Lu Zhoulang looked at Qin Yiguan calmly, this time with a sense of confidence. "Everyone's dreams are different, and you, under the code name ' Mouse Pup,' carrying countless mysteries and strange phenomena, entered the Ring Research Institute. My Group A certainly won't let you go."

"To make you dream, I inject you with large amounts of brain stimulants every day, while also giving you large amounts of drugs with sedative effects."

"Hmm... that is indeed a bit inhumane."

"However, when the effects of these two drugs are combined, you will fall into a deep sleep, while your brain nerves will be working excitedly, resulting in all sorts of endless dreams."

Lu Zhoulang tilted his head slightly, "These things are a heavy burden on your brain. In just one year, your consciousness couldn't bear it, so it split off a new personality to process, experience, and complete all kinds of dreams, becoming the protagonist in those dreams."

"This is the origin of the Dream General."

Lu Zhoulang looked at Qin Yiguan with a half-smile, "And during this process, I naturally couldn't be idle, so I entered your dream through a machine."

At this moment, Qin Yiguan's face was slightly distorted. "That machine is called ' Dream Wave '."

"Hehe."

Lu Zhoulang chuckled, "You know quite a lot."

But what you don't know is...

Lu Zhoulang chuckled evilly, "In your dream, Dream General. I taught it how to communicate with people, how to think, and even its values and morals. I also saved it from danger many times and guided it out of the maze."

Qin Yiguan frowned deeply.

I thought of the diary I saw at the Ring Research Institute.

--'Regarding that test subject, we did not cause any damage to his body.'

"However, we designed one dream after another for him, setting the time flow within them, with a total duration of approximately 147 years. These dreams were filled with extreme conditions: cruelty, terror, pursuit, death, multiple deaths, unsolvable mazes, and prisons from which there was no escape for eternity."

Qin Yiguan finally understood everything.

The Lu Zhoulang, a beast in human form, befriends the "Dream General" in his dreams while setting up various obstacles for Dream General outside of them.

Qin Yiguan gritted his teeth and said, "You dare to teach people values and morals?"

"At its core, Dream General is just a child, very simple."

Lu Zhoulang chuckled, "Moreover, it progressed very quickly and regarded me as a mentor and friend. Now, we've had a friendship of over a hundred years. So, after it betrayed you and entered the Metaverse, becoming a separate entity, it willingly became my ' Higher Self 'Lu Zhoulang!"

"Hahaha!"

"And you, Qin Yiguan, have always been an outsider, always a clown!"

"It's not that hard to understand. Aren't many unfilial sons who kill their mothers or fathers severing their own blood ties?"

Flames seemed to blaze in Qin Yiguan's eyes. "You son of a bitch, I'm going to kill you!"

The next moment.

Qin Yiguan's Pupil instantly turned pitch black. He activated his "Higher Self" Black Calamity and fully unleashed the [Gestalt Collapse] ability, which was at 99% Development Rate!

Qin Yiguan pointed forward with one hand!

There should have been endless darkness spreading from his fingertips, but the scene remained bright and unchanged.

Qin Yiguan was slightly taken aback.

But then came the loud laughter of the Lu Zhoulang, "The moment you passed through Kelunsalin, you entered a dream, and a very advanced one at that. You entered through your physical body, meaning that everything you encounter here will directly affect your physical form."

"And the content of this dream was very simple."

It was a terrible nightmare.

"You, Qin Yiguan, suddenly realize that you have lost all your abilities!"