" Nightmare, trying to invade reality," NieR said, emphasizing each word.
Ling Yi frowned and asked, " Nightmare is invincible in the Dream Realm, so why would it invade reality? To rule humanity? That doesn't seem necessary."
NieR's face darkened as he said, "As far as I know, Nightmare originally had no intention of invading the real world, but three years ago, a Dream Entry Person appeared and made a deal with Nightmare."
"Like you, he can freely Dream Entry world. We discovered him immediately and, like you, guided him."
"But he refused our invitation and ultimately joined Nightmare's side. According to our investigation, one of the things he traded to Nightmare was Forced Dream Entry Machine."
Ling Yi couldn't help but ask, "That guy's name isn't Peng Yang, is it?"
Do you know this person?
"I am a university professor, and he is my student."
NieR's eyes lit up. "That's great! If that's the case, you can kill him in the real world, and then his deal with Nightmare won't be possible."
What is that Forced Dream Entry Machine?
"It seems to be something that allows people to actively Dream Entry, providing a continuous source of Dream Power for Nightmare, but I don't know the specifics."
Ling Yi was speechless. This was supposed to be the Protagonist, not the villain? Or was this guy the villain all along, and the Protagonist hadn't even appeared yet?
At this moment, a group of soldiers in armor Sideways by the two of them. These soldiers seemed to have great respect for NieR, and as they passed by, they all gave a shoulder-pounding salute.
"Are you the highest-ranking officer here?" Ling Yi asked curiously.
"I'm just the commander of this branch; there are roughly 300 such branches throughout the entire Dream Realm."
The other one said thoughtfully, "It seems your enemy isn't just Nightmare."
" Nightmare is the common enemy of all living beings in the Dream Realm, but the Dream Realm is a complex web of power struggles, with many ambitious individuals. However, it is mainly divided into two major camps, East and West, which are constantly fighting and waging war against each other."
Wherever there are people, there Jianghu; Ling Yi could understand that.
"Which side do you belong to?" Ling Yi asked.
"We remain neutral and never participate in any conflict."
Although Ling Yi didn't say anything, he had some doubts in his heart. Neutrality? There's no such thing as true neutrality.
So-called neutrality is either a piece of fat meat left untouched by all parties, which will eventually be devoured by the victor.
Alternatively, they might be opportunistic, waiting for the best offer and siding with whichever side is stronger.
Unless, of course, the neutral faction to which NieR belongs is incredibly powerful, so powerful that other factions fear it and dare not provoke it.
But Ling Yi had seen a scene of Son Goku fighting Superman before, although it was just a fleeting glimpse.
This means that even the Myth figures exist in the Dream Realm, NieR and his group are definitely not the strongest.
"Can Dream Entry Person set their own strength at will?" Ling Yi asked again.
"Theoretically speaking, the Dream Entry Person can indeed freely set their own strength, but..."
NieR paused, looking at Ling Yi with some surprise, and said, "The stronger the set strength, the shorter the time the Dream Entry Person will exist in the Dream Realm. If the set strength exceeds a certain limit, it will even affect the real world."
What are the effects?
"It severely depletes Divine Power, and in severe cases, it can even lead to death from Divine Power exhaustion."
At this point, Nick looked at Ling Yi curiously and asked, "You seem a little different. You've set yourself to have the strength of Super Saiyan Blue Kakarot, right?"
Ling Yi nodded.
"Under normal circumstances, ordinary people simply cannot set such power. Even if they could, it would only last for a very short time, possibly being forcibly removed from the Dream Realm within seconds."
Ling Yi frowned. There was no doubt that the person he had replaced during this transmigration was just an ordinary person.
If they haven't left the Dream Realm, there's only one possibility: the power of their Dream Entry Cultivation Method.
However, Ling Yi's situation is special, and we will only know for sure after we leave the Dream Realm.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind Ling Yi.
"Wow, it's Teacher Ling Yi! That's great!"
Ling Yi turned around and saw Cheng Yuxin, Xia Wei, and Zhuo Xiaomei walking over with a handsome man dressed in a very flashy golden armor.
"My mission is complete, ladies. I hope you have a sweet dream."
The Goldie man gave Xia Wei and her two companions a gentlemanly bow, then turned and left.
"King, that guy, really is..." NieR gave a wry smile.
Seeing Ling Yi's puzzled look, NieR explained, "King is the commander of another branch, but he rarely stays at his own branch. His favorite thing to do is help other branches, but his own branch is a complete mess."
" Goldie!" Ling Yi exclaimed.
At this moment, Cheng Yuxin and the other two had already walked up to Ling Yi.
" Ling Yi, what exactly happened?" Cheng Yuxin asked.
"Didn't you assign yourselves any power?" Ling Yi countered.
"Set up power?" the three women asked curiously.
Ling Yi looked at NieR, "Could you please explain this to them again?"
NieR nodded and repeated what he had said to Ling Yi to the three women.
Then, the three women... Transformation.
Xia Wei Transformation into Boa Hancock from One Piece, and Zhuo Xiaomei Transformation into Minako Aino from Sailor Moon...
Cheng Yuxin then Transformation into Android 18 from Dragon Ball.
The only changes were in clothing and hairstyle; her figure and appearance remained the Changes.
Therefore, Zhuo Xiaomei's Minako Aino is truly quite cringe-worthy.
It wasn't just Ling Yi who found it offensive; the other girls felt the same way.
" Sailor Moon?" Xia Wei covered her mouth and laughed.
"What, is it not allowed?"
"It's not a question of whether it's feasible or not. You have to consider other people's feelings. Let's change it," Xia Wei said helplessly.
"I don't want to change!"
"A nightmare!" Xia Wei clutched her forehead.
Ling Yi looked at Cheng Yuxin and smiled, "You're Dragon Ball fan too!"
"Not entirely. Actually, I wanted to set it as Bai Suzhen from the Legend of the White Snake, but I felt a strange palpitation, so I changed the horn."
"..."
"This proves one thing: the Battle Power in the Dragon Balls World are somewhat inflated. Even Android 18, with Battle Power exceeding 100 million, couldn't defeat Bai Suzhen," Zhuo Xiaomei said.
Xia Wei and the other woman both rolled their eyes at her. This woman really had a big heart. Was this the time to be researching this?
NieR frowned and asked, "How did you all Dream Entry world together? That's incredible."
All three women looked at Ling Yi.
"Why are you looking at me? I also saw the Dream Entry Cultivation Method online," Ling Yi said, shrugging.
"However, we need to determine a few things now. First, whether this cultivation technique has any side effects. Second, we need to find Peng Yang and find out the details of his deal with Nightmare, and what his purpose is!"
Ling Yi paused, then slowly said, "If he really has some kind of conspiracy, should we...?"
Although Ling Yi didn't say it explicitly, everyone understood what he meant, and their expressions became much more serious. They were all ordinary people, and even Cheng Yuxin, an Ancient Martial Arts practitioner, had never killed anyone or seen blood.
Cheng Yuxin paused for a moment and added, "Third, we must find out who passed on this Dream Entry Cultivation Method, why they did so, and whether there's any conspiracy involved. Also, it's best if this technique isn't passed on to anyone else; it's enough that only a few of us know about it."
Ling Yi rolled her eyes. Go ahead and look, finding it would be a miracle.
" Yuxin, someone recorded the teacher's class with their phone. If it gets uploaded online..." Xia Wei said, frowning.
"I'll have someone handle this," Cheng Yuxin said, waving her hand.
"The most important point..." she said, turning to NieR, "What are the consequences in the real world if one dies in the Dream Realm?"
NieR had never addressed this issue, or rather, he had been avoiding it, which filled Cheng Yuxin with worry.
"Death...!" NieR slowly uttered the two words.
"Isn't this just a dream? How could it be real death? You must be joking!" Zhuo Xiaomei, somewhat skeptical.
"You are Dream Entry Person, and this is the Dream Realm, which contains your entire spiritual projection. You can think of it as your soul. When the soul perishes, the physical body will naturally die," NieR explained.
" Dream Entry Person are different from the native creatures of our Dream Realm. Our existence is fundamentally based on people's memories. As long as people can still dream of us, we will never die."
Ling Yi noticed a bug and asked, "According to you, what's the point of the struggles between the various forces in the Dream Realm?"
"Defeating the opponent grants you a portion of their Dream Power."
"In other words, if we kill beings in the Dream Realm, we can also obtain their Dream Power and strengthen our own... soul?" Cheng Yuxin asked, grasping the key point.
In Ling Yi's view, the so-called Dream Power Dream Power dreams and souls are nothing more than the Power of Faith. The Dream Realm is a world born from the Power of Faith.
The more accurate term for what is called the soul is the Primordial Spirit.
The existence of the Dream Realm implies that this world has no Underworld and no Reincarnation, because the functions of the Dream Realm and the Underworld are in conflict. If the Underworld truly existed, it would never allow the existence of the Dream Realm.
Without Underworld, there is naturally no concept of a soul.
Are only dead people or virtual characters allowed to appear in the Dream Realm? No.
Even living people can participate. As long as someone has dreamed of you, a native being exactly like you will be born in the Dream Realm.
Therefore, in a sense, a person's death in the real world is not true death; in the Dream Realm, there still exists a " Dream Person " who carries all of that person's memories.
As long as there are people in the real world who remember him and dream of him, that person will exist forever in another way.
But... if a person is completely forgotten, never to be remembered or dreamed of again, that person will completely disappear from the Dream Realm, and that is death in the true sense.
It's somewhat similar to the setting in "Coco," except that there's no concept of Reincarnation in the Dream Realm!
But this immortality might not be a good thing; NieR is still hiding something...