A Normal Dream

Terrified screams echoed through the enormous crack.

Lu Zhoulang was completely unprepared. He had no idea why the ground had suddenly collapsed. The sudden feeling of weightlessness and the panic in his heart instantly took over everything.

What happened?

"Is this a dream created by Lu Zhoulang?"

"Impossible! I've already severely injured him, he shouldn't have the energy for that!"

The rapidly plummeting Lu Zhoulang gradually regained its composure, shouting, "Higher Self — Dream General!"

He called out, but there was no answer, and no power appeared.

He looked up in horror, only to see his Dream General, now at the top of the crack, standing alongside Qin Yiguan, head bowed slightly, expressionless as they watched him fall.

"This..."

He was gripped by immense terror.

The next instant, a wave of heat surged up from beneath my feet.

He looked down and saw that at the bottom of the huge crack, scorching magma was suddenly gushing out, and dark red magma bubbles with extremely high temperatures were constantly bursting.

"No!"

"Don't burn me!"

The Lu Zhoulang struggled in mid-air.

In that instant, he suddenly realized that he could swim upwards, as if the surrounding space was filled with invisible water, and he could use buoyancy to keep swimming upwards.

It seemed to have grasped at the last straw, frantically thrashing its limbs.

But at the same time, he discovered a desperate situation: he found himself unable to breathe, just like when he was actually underwater.

"No..."

"Don't drown me..."

The Lu Zhoulang can no longer distinguish between reality and dreams, or rather, he has never been able to.

Just as he was about to die, he found himself falling. The 'water' around him seemed to have disappeared, and the lava below had also vanished, revealing the rocky ground.

But suddenly, I felt a sense of relief.

But just as he was about to hit the bottom, huge spikes suddenly sprouted from the ground.

Pfft!

The Lu Zhoulang had its body pierced by several sharp thorns, and its eyes bulged out, staring wide-eyed.

At the same time, magma reappeared on the ground, melting his body and his bones.

"Ah!!!"

The howl of Lu Zhoulang echoed through the sky. He suddenly opened his eyes and found himself still standing on the ground, while his own brother, Lu Zhoulang, had already stood up and was standing in front of him.

"It really was you! You've created another dream for me!"

The Lu Zhoulang roared, its face contorted in a ferocious grimace, "I'll kill you!"

Suddenly, a sharp knife appeared in his hand. His face was as ferocious as a demon. He took a few steps forward and each slash was more vicious than the last. Each slash pierced through the chest of the Lu Zhoulang, and then he frantically stabbed at his face, slashing open his mouth and piercing his eye sockets!

Suddenly.

Lu Zhoulang's movements suddenly stopped. He realized that he wasn't frantically trying to assassinate his brother, but rather himself!

He was no longer able to think rationally. He didn't question the biggest logical problem at hand: why could he see himself being assassinated from a third-person perspective?

In fact, not only him, but everyone who gets caught up in a 'third-person perspective dream' will question this issue.

The Lu Zhoulang collapsed.

His perspective has now returned to his own body, looking at the dozen or so bloody holes in his chest, while he has to support his chin with his hand because his cheeks have been completely slashed open by 'himself'.

"Why did this happen..."

Lu Zhoulang's speech was slurred because half of his tongue had been cut off during the frenzied cutting. In the process of speaking, he chewed up the other half and swallowed it—all of this seemed to happen automatically, beyond his control. Yet, he could feel a clear sense of terror and despair within him.

"This is all logic from a dream."

Qin Yiguan slowly walked up to him and calmly said, "This is how ordinary people dream. After all these years, haven't you figured it out yet?"

Lu Zhoulang continued, his words still slurred, "That's not how my dream was."

Qin Yiguan nodded. "I know, your dream is a 'dream of becoming a strongman'."

"The dream of a strongman."

"The dream of becoming a strongman?"

"The dream of becoming a strongman!"

The Lu Zhoulang's eyes slowly turned to terror; in that instant, it seemed to understand everything.

He suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, his hand no longer supporting his chin. His gaping mouth, now completely ripped open, stretched wide like a bloodthirsty man-eating flower, revealing his blood-stained molars.

"Ha ha..."

"So that's how it is..."

Lu Zhoulang laughed menacingly, "When Du An sent me that message, I already knew Du An fate. Although he'd been hiding in the underwater world all these years, he'd always lived in your hands. I even mocked him then! But I never imagined... I'd end up just like him. I... all these years, I've been living in a dream!!!"

"Ha ha..."

"My Dream General was just a trick of yours all... Haha!"

Qin Yiguan suddenly laughed and said, "You're smarter Du An."

Am I smart?

"Ha ha?"

The Lu Zhoulang continued to laugh maniacally, "Am I smart?!"

But Qin Yiguan calmly said, "Du An didn't understand what was going on before he died, and I had to explain it to him word by word. You're quite good; with just a few words, you've already realized the final outcome."

"The final outcome?"

The Lu Zhoulang suddenly broke into a maniacal laugh, his eyes gleaming with a strange light. "Someone told me the final outcome long ago, but I was too arrogant to believe it. Now I realize that what he said was true, and he even told me your final fate, Qin Yiguan."

Qin Yiguan narrowed his eyes slightly, quietly watching the Lu Zhoulang.

"Are you trying to create some more dreams to make me reveal the truth?"

"No need for that, I'll tell you everything."

Lu Zhoulang stared at Qin Yiguan, "He is our only Level 10 employee, the director of the Ring Research Institute!"