Gradually growing gentler

Camus tensed instantly, braced himself with his left hand, stood up, and warily looked around.

He found himself still on the Second Layer of the house in Tevanaco, where Riya, leaning against Wooden Pillar, was getting up with a somewhat dazed and bewildered expression.

Everything around him was the same as it had been before he fell asleep.

"Are you... joking?" Camus asked Louis Berri cautiously.

What is this called, the "Dream Festival"?

This is clearly how someone wakes up normally after taking a nap!

Lumian turned to the side and pointed out the window, saying, "Listen to the sounds coming from the jungle."

Camus and Riya instinctively listened to the sounds outside and found the nearby jungle completely silent, as if it had Slumber in the Evernight.

This... Riya's gaze tightened slightly.

Having been born and raised in the Primeval Jungle and spent almost a year in the Tizamo Town, she knew very well that the jungle could not possibly be in such an absolutely quiet state.

Lumian pointed to the floor next to the Mosquito-Repellent Candle:

"Take another look here."

Camus and Riya looked Past and found that all the Corpse mosquitoes that should have been there were gone.

Lumian laughed:

"Of course, you could also think that I woke up early, cleaned up the environment, and subtly affected your hearing of distant sounds; it was all just a prank."

Camus thought for a few seconds and said, "I'm inclined to believe you, but I need to confirm something."

"Yes," Riya, carrying Hunting Bow and Arrows, echoed.

Lumian looked at them, nodded slightly, and calmly came to a conclusion:

It can now be basically determined that the reason I was able to remain conscious while entering this special Dream was due to some kind of hidden power within the "Hisoka" house, rather than any special quality I possessed myself.

He invited Camus and Riya to sleep in "Hisoka's" house and enter a special Dream, not only because he wanted to share intelligence with the Patrol Team and get more help.

This is also an experiment, an experiment to determine key details!

Over the Past few days, Lumian has conducted several similar experiments and has grasped many patterns related to Dream.

He stood with his hands in his pockets, following Camus and Riya as they hurried downstairs, watching to see how they would determine if they were Dream.

After leaving the house in Tevanaco, the two Patrol Team members headed straight for the nearest townhouse.

After discovering that the livestock kept on the ground floor of the corresponding house had all disappeared, Riya quickly went to the Second Layer and tried to open the door with a plain, Iron-Black Key.

Camus opened his mouth, as if to stop him, but ultimately made no sound.

Seeing this, Lumian nodded thoughtfully and muttered to himself, "Beyonder using the ' Arbiter ' Pathway will subconsciously maintain the current order and are unwilling to disrupt it."

"This tendency becomes even stronger if those Beyonder this Pathway also hold official positions..."

Riya broke into the house and, together with Camus, searched all the rooms, but couldn't find the family who lived there.

Next, the two went to the Police Station near Saint Sien Church.

The Local Patrol Team has a total of five rooms here.

Kolobo, Maislow, and Loban are all missing, as are the two Police on night duty.

"I now believe this is Dream," Camus said, turning to Louis Berri, who was wearing Golden-yellow Straw Hat, his hands in his pockets, and following slowly behind. "But I'm so awake, it doesn't feel like a dream at all."

Before Lumian could respond, Riya's brows furrowed slightly on her light brown face.

"While running through the streets and searching these rooms, it felt somewhat familiar."

"Familiar?" Lumian relaxed his brows and asked calmly.

Could this experiment have yielded unexpected results?

After thinking for a while, Riya said, "I think I've had a similar dream before."

"In my dream, it was just as dark and quiet. The streets were empty, and I was all alone, running around, searching..."

"Is it a fragment, or a complete dream?" Lumian pressed.

Riya thought for a few seconds and said, "I don't know, I only remember a few fragments like that."

"Do you dream about it often, or only occasionally?" Lumian guided Riya to confirm the details.

Riya answered confidently, "Occasionally."

"Occasionally...

"Even if the people of Tizamo Town don't sleep in this house on specific dates, they can occasionally enter this special Dream, but they can't stay awake, just like when they're dreaming normally?"

"Perhaps it wasn't a true entry, but rather her own spirituality interacting with this special Dream state based on Change in environmental factors such as the Crimson Moon. Unfortunately, Riya clearly doesn't remember the Moon, weather, or other details when she dreamt of similar fragments. If I could use ' Dream Divination,' I could help her recall..."

"None of the Tizamo people I asked in Port Pylos mentioned a similar dream. Well, firstly, such dreams are very common and no one would remember them, and secondly, they've been away from Tizamo Town for quite some time..." Lumian's thoughts raced as he glanced at Camus, wondering what this "Interrogator" wanted to ask.

Camus, with a thoughtfulness beyond his years, asked Riya:

What do you think is special about the residents of Tizamo Town?

"Very perceptive. Since this Dream seems to affect the people in the entire town and surrounding area, there's a good chance these people will exhibit certain abnormalities in real life..." Lumian nodded to himself.

After thinking for a while, Riya said, "There's nothing special about it, it's just very well -Domestication..."

When this was mentioned, Riya sighed:

"They are very polite and courteous, with gentle Personality, stable emotions, and are very obedient and compliant. Even when angry, they can calm down quickly. When faced with trouble, they prefer to let the authorities handle it rather than resorting to private fights or street arguments..."

These were all situations that Lumian had heard Camus mention and had also seen in relevant materials. On the surface, there seemed to be no problem; it was a state of being Domestication.

Riya added, "Their only problem is their lack of enthusiasm. Everyone is unenthusiastic. This doesn't mean they use politeness as a mask to hide their indifference and hostility; they are simply unenthusiastic, as if they are unwilling to directly express such emotions."

Hearing this, Lumian thought of the Tizamo people he had met in the past few days.

Apart from a few gentlemen and ladies from the Northern Continent, everyone else was calm, gentle, and averse to arguing, always communicating with others politely and courteously.

Immediately afterward, Lumian recalled the Tizamo people he had questioned in Port Pylos.

They can show fear, worry, and ingratiation; their expressions are rich and their emotions are vivid.

This is distinctly different from the townspeople of Tizamo!

"Are most of the emotions of the people here absorbed by their Dream?" Lumian finally found something unusual about the Tizamo people.

Their problems clearly don't stem entirely from the attacks and influence of that Primitive Tribe in the jungle!

Upon hearing Louis Berri's speculative words, Camus couldn't help but hiss.

"I knew the people of Tizamo were a bit strange, too docile. Even real cows and horses can sometimes be aggressive and rebel... Could there be a reason for this..."

A thought struck Riya, and she said with a mixture of seriousness and fear, "I've been here for almost a year, and I feel I've become much gentler..."

"My most intense emotions haven't disappeared; they're still inside me, but most of the time they're like they're asleep..."

Riya began to analyze herself.

"It seems that everyone within the vicinity of Tizamo Town will gradually be affected by this peculiar Dream, and will slowly shake it off after leaving." Lumian glanced at Camus. "Those of us who have only been here for a few days are fine for now, but perhaps they will become milder after staying longer."

Before Camus could respond, Lumian asked, "When will the Patrol Team and the General's Guard arrive?"

Camus's face immediately turned ugly upon hearing this, and he gritted his teeth and cursed:

"Those selfish bastards! There probably won't be any substantial support."

"The General's Guard said they already have a squad of Beyonder here, along with troops. Only Team Leader Reyasa from the Patrol Team said he'd come to help. Dog Shit, that Dog Shit!"

Lumian was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing.

The newly established institutions under the rule of the native general were indeed quite different from the Official Organization of the Northern Continent.

If the Patrol Team were replaced by the Church the Eternal Blazing Sun or the Church of the Earth Mother, the Official Beyonder would have already devised a plan, dispatched a sufficiently powerful and numerous force to handle the problem, and prepared to completely destroy Tizamo Town if things went wrong.

"The current situation is that General Quilariel feels that with me, Great Adventurer backed by the Church of the Fool, he can use the Church of the Fool's power to solve the problems in Tizamo Town, so there's no need to send more of his own Beyonder to help?"

"That's true. Beyonder aren't like cabbages that grow out of the ground. If too many powerful Subordinate die, General Quilariel will not only be heartbroken, but he also won't be able to govern Matani Province effectively anymore..."

"Simply relying on recruitment to fill the gaps won't be enough to quickly fill them, nor will it be easy to build trust. Even if we can recover Beyonder Characteristic and train the remaining people, there are still significant problems. Low-Sequence are fine, but Mid-Sequence individuals have a considerable chance of failure when they try to advance, since most of the Beyonder here haven't mastered the ' Acting Method ' yet..." Lumian quickly understood General Quilariel's mindset.

He said to Camus, who was getting a little emotional, "I'll show you around this Dream and give you an introduction."

"Okay." Camus took a breath.

He and Riya followed Lumian, wandering through the dark, desolate, and deserted town.

After a long time, Lumian led two Patrol Team members into the Primeval Jungle and told them that he had seen images of Tevanaco in the chaotic area ahead, which seemed to be composed of Dream Fragment, and suspected that the Brand of the "Apostle of Desire" existed there.

As Camus walked among the trees that resembled Giant in the night, Camus felt increasingly depressed.

Before he could ask for details about Tevanaco's figure, he suddenly heard the sound of a bowstring being drawn.

Smack

An Arrows Entanglement with electricity flew from afar, past Camus who managed to dodge it, and embedded itself in a Rubber Tree behind him.

Amidst the crackling and popping of lightning and the charred trees, Lumian, Camus, and Riya looked into the distance and saw a Women standing on the branch of a Giant Tree.

The Women wore dark-colored Leather Armor, carried Hunting Bow and Arrows, and had her brown hair tied in two sections and draped over her shoulders.

Her skin was light brown, and her wildly beautiful face betrayed an undisguised coldness and hatred.

Riya!

She is Riya!