"That said, we've come all this way to Penacony, but we haven't had any contact with the Dream Master yet. I've heard a little about the heads of the Five Families families, but very little about this [ Dream Master ]."
" The Dream Master rarely appears in public, and we rarely get to see him. But this matter is of great importance, and he has promised to come in person to discuss it with us."
The Robin chuckled. " Mr. Ye Yan will likely be the first guest to meet the Dream Master in recent years."
"That's absolutely right. Hopefully, we can reach a conclusion that satisfies everyone."
Ye Yan replied with a smile, "What a wonderful brother and sister... It would be even better if they could join the Church of Eternity."
Hmm... Speaking of the Church, Blake and Fulisina's presence has disappeared from Dreamflux Reef; it seems they followed me here.
Ye Yan didn't even need to think; they would definitely say, "It's time to let all those who are intoxicated by this Dreamscape Paradise know its [ Eternity ] name!"
Let them be. Harmony, Xipe has no objection. He'd love for the Family to join the Church of Eternity, and conversely, he wouldn't mind if the Church of Eternity joined the Family.
Who knows what Xipe is up to? Does he want to swallow up [ Eternity ] like he swallowed up [ Order ] Ena? Or maybe he should stop joking around. That kind of thinking only applies to [ Elation ].
"Yes, I hope so."
"It's almost time. My brother and I need to prepare for the meeting... The situation is urgent, please forgive any shortcomings in our hospitality."
After watching Robin and Sunday leave, Ye Yan took out his phone and found the contact god whose profile picture was mechanical.
[ Ye Yan: Omniscient being, I have a question for you...]
[System message: Message sending failed]
"Um?"
Ye Yan turned off his phone and then saw the conspicuous crimson mask.
" Aha ~ friend, there are already enough colleagues gathered at this Planet of Festivities, it's pointless to drag in another lump of scrap metal."
"It sounds like you don't like our [ Erudition ] friend."
"Sigh~ There's nothing I can do. This guy doesn't give Aha much fun, and the [ Elation ] he gets from him isn't even as much as Nanook gives. Waaah~ Aha really loses face."
"Good to know."
"Waaaaah~ Aha's lost even more face!"
Ye Yan tossed a bottle of milk tea to the masked figure. "Didn't you tell me before that you wanted to become the new [ Erudition ] Aeon? Then let me ask you, what are the chances of [ Harmony ] swallowing up [ Eternity ]?"
" Aha! Of course, it's infinitely close to zero!" The mask gave the answer in just one second.
"What... so that means Xipe might kill me? That's not the answer I want. Just refuse. You're no longer of any use to me, so get lost."
"The same goes for you, my friend! You never seem to think before you ask questions, so Aha is giving you time to make up for it! Haha, Aha properly!"
"Then let me ask you, isn't infinity a kind of [ Eternity ]?"
Beep beep!
Ye Yan's phone suddenly rang. He opened it and saw a message from a contact whose profile picture was three times overlapping:
[ Xipe: Universal Harmony /A Galaxy of Stars... No Quarrels/Building Paradise Together...]
"Wow~ Look how scared Xipe is, she even had to step in to break up the fight. Your behavior is terrible, friend." Masked chimed in, adding fuel to the fire.
[ Ye Yan: This is to clarify that all the statements just made were made by [ Destruction ] Nanook and have nothing to do with [ Eternity ]]
Xipe:...
Robin and Sunday, watching Ye Yan arguing with thin air, really didn't know what to say.
" Mr. Ye Yan... he's quite a character." Robin sensed that the filter she had placed on the Nameless had shattered.
"It seems someone needs help. Let's go check it out."
On Sunday, he approached a drunken guest and inquired about his condition.
"Mr. Sunday... Hello! Do you see that? The moon in the sky is the same size as the SoulGlad bottle cap in my hand!"
"So... if I just reach out, I can grab the moon and hold it in my arms? Hmm? Right? Hiccup!"
It's easy to see that this guest has drunk too much and is already somewhat incoherent.
"The moon..." Sunday's gaze was calm as she looked at the distant, brightly lit Penacony Grand Theater. "Heh, you mean the Grand Theater, right?"
"Oh, oh! Haha, look at me, it must be because I've been away from home for too long and miss the moon so much... hiccup."
"But... it doesn't matter!" The guest shook his head. "Our Penacony Grand Theater is much brighter than the moon... it's beautiful! A feast for the eyes!"
"Back then, they advised me not to sell all my belongings and instead focus all my energy on Penacony... Bah, how short-sighted!"
The Robin didn't understand, "[Selling all their possessions]... why go to such lengths?"
"Why? Why else... Life back home is too hard, people barely live like human beings anymore."
" Penacony better! Only sweet dreams, no suffering, no worries about tomorrow, I can do whatever I want—that's what living is all about... burp, so comfortable!"
Hearing the drunken guest say these words, the Robin said in disbelief:
"Can this... really be considered living...?"
"Sir, traffic on Glaux Avenue is heavy and dangerous. Aideen Park is nearby. How about I have a member of the Hound Family take you there to continue your sweet dreams?" Sunday suggested.
"Oh... okay, you're right. You truly are the leader of this dream, my savior!"
After the drunken guest was taken away, Sunday turned his attention to the Robin's condition.
"What's wrong, little sister?"
"This is supposed to be Land of the Dreams..." The Robin looked up at the illusory yet dazzling sky, its voice filled with confusion, "Why do people live such lives?"
"That gentleman just now... wasn't happy at all."
"No matter how sweet a dream is, it's still an unseen and intangible illusion, yet he treated it as his only option for survival, even sacrificing his future in reality... This is hardly 'life'."
"Robin said," but Sunday's view was quite different.
"Hmm, I see... But in my opinion, this is actually the way a normal person should live."
"... Why do you say that?" the Robin, puzzled.
"You just said that the man's existence based on dreams doesn't count as 'life,' but that's not true. Even without Penacony, people would live in their own illusions, illusions called 'self-worth.'"
People often believe they are destined to achieve some kind of value. Earning value for oneself signifies great power, while those without value are relegated to the status of weaklings.
"However, value is not created out of thin air; its totality has an upper limit. To realize so-called value, one must plunder from others... In this way, the weak are exploited and oppressed..."
The Robin looked up at Sunday: "Brother, you mean... things shouldn't be like this, right?"
"Exactly. Ironically, people don't see it as wrong because they hold onto that Nihility notion of 'self-worth' as their guiding principle, even the weak believe so."
"Survival of the fittest, the strong preying on the weak... all the tragedies of the world stem from this. The reason Penacony is a dream is precisely because it provides a haven for anyone who wants to escape it..."
"There is no tragedy here, only happiness—though it is only in its embryonic stage, isn't this exactly the Paradise we envision?"
The Robin pondered for a while, still holding onto a sliver of hope, after all, one cannot generalize from a single instance.
"Perhaps that gentleman was just an exception. Before drawing any conclusions, I think it's best to see it for ourselves in a dream, just like we did at Dreamflux Reef."