Emerald Dream (13K)

Earth, Space Communication Experiment Base, Number One.

Sangzi was engrossed in preparations for a large-scale communication experiment when Jin Rongjia suddenly came to visit.

"It exploded again," he told Sangzi.

The Lighthouse carrying the base's experimental satellite transformed into a spectacular fireball once again during its ascent.

Sangzi frowned. The Lighthouse Launch Company, which had been commissioned, boasted a commercial launch success rate exceeding 99%. The series of unexpected explosions was undoubtedly sabotage carried out by the "Jackal" organization.

"Why are they so determined to destroy our satellite?" Sangzi asked, somewhat puzzled.

They intercepted the satellite launch but did nothing about the experimental base itself. Doesn't the Jackal Organization know they should strike at its root?

Although the experimental base was already on high alert to deal with the "Jackal's " bizarre "calamity" ability, flammable and explosive materials were completely removed, the amount of combustibles was reduced to a minimum, and even electrical equipment was equipped with multiple layers of isolation and protection.

Even the most extreme accidents triggered by "calamity" will only cause limited damage.

Even so, surely the other party wouldn't be so afraid to even probe?

"Did we defend ourselves too well?" Jin Rongjia murmured. This was not the outcome they had hoped for.

"No, we must do better," Sangzi said, a sharp glint in her eyes, "To force them to come!"

The knocking interrupted their thoughts. Jin Rongjia and Sangzi looked in the direction of the sound and were surprised to see Ling Wen walk in. She was covered in dust and grime, and her face showed signs of exhaustion, but her eyes were unusually bright.

"Weren't you searching the whole world for geese?" Jin Rongjia asked in surprise. "You've found a clue?"

"Don't even mention those wretched geese," Ling Wen sighed, plopping down in an empty chair nearby. "They really assigned our group a terrible job! It's killing me!"

Miao Xin bought the preserved geese at a rural market during the Spring Festival. However, most of the vendors at that market were itinerant vendors who had temporarily gathered from the surrounding villages. This made Ling Wen's team's tracing work extremely difficult.

However, judging from the unstoppable upward curve of Ling Wen's lips, this "needle in a haystack" operation had clearly yielded significant results. But as is customary, unless Ling Wen brings it up, Sangzi and Jin Rongjia won't inquire about the specific details.

"Why didn't you press your advantage over there? Why did you come all the way here just to show off?" Jin Rongjia said indignantly.

Although they earned some "extra money" through satellite insurance claims—this was one of the few businesses in recent years that matched their company name—they still managed to make a living.

However, they repeatedly encountered setbacks when it came to their actual goals.

"Of course not—it's just to show off!" Ling Wen giggled. "I brought you some things."

She opened her briefcase, took out a folder, and handed it to Sangzi.

"The deceased in the 'goose' incident was Chen Xinrong," Ling Wen began, "He was in his rural hometown for the Spring Festival when the water pipes in the old house froze and burst. Water flowed down the wall into the goose cage, and then into the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), causing the firewood in the kang to burn incompletely, producing carbon monoxide, which poisoned him to death."

If Miao Xin hadn't traveled the world searching for traces of the disaster, thus discovering the frozen geese, this incident would have remained a mere accident.

Sangzi took the folder, opened it, and carefully browsed through each page. These papers recorded Chen Xinrong's life story, and the man in the photos looked ordinary.

"A mechanic at a car repair shop?" she whispered, reading out the occupation field.

"This is all the background information we can gather about Chen Xinrong so far," Ling Wen explained. "His main job is a car mechanic, and he enjoys riding bicycles." She spread her hands, looking somewhat helpless. "We've sifted through Chen Xinrong's social connections, financial situation, and online activity several times, but we really haven't found anything special about him that would warrant such 'attention' from these Jackal."

"So, you're pinning your hopes on us?" Sangzi realized.

"Yes. Let's see if we can discover any 'special' qualities in him that we haven't noticed, from a scientific and technological perspective."

Sangzi nodded, tapped her knuckles on the hard cover, and fell into deep thought as she read.

Ling Wen then took out a much thicker folder from her briefcase and handed it to Jin Rongjia.

"This is another part of our progress, and we need your cooperation in the follow-up actions."

Jin Rongjia took the folder, and its contents made his eyes light up. He couldn't help but let out a short whistle, "Wow! We've caught a tail!"

Ling Wen's face showed no joy. Instead, she sighed and said with a hint of worry, "Now I just hope that our plan will really work. If the Jackal 'possess some kind of prophetic ability, as speculated,' then our conventional tactical arrangements will probably be—" She shook her head and didn't finish her sentence.

After all, apart from the successful operation in which Miao Xin participated, all operations against "Jackal" have ended in failure so far.

****

"The Jackal don't rely on divination," Sangzi suddenly said, her tone firm.

"Why?" Ling Wen leaned forward slightly, her eyes gleaming with inquiry.

Sangzi took a small metal box from her pocket and gently placed it on the conference table. The lid popped open, revealing several neatly arranged, cold-glowing microchips.

"Actually, those satellites that were destroyed weren't even capable of experimental functions." She picked up a chip and slowly rotated it under the light. "During the satellite assembly process, I removed the data chip that stored the experimental programs."

"Interesting!" Jin Rongjia narrowed his eyes. "How many people know about this?"

"Very few," Sangzi answered calmly, meeting Jin Rongjia's gaze with unwavering composure. "Only I, my assistant, and one of the team leaders in charge of the testing know about this."

Ling Wen suddenly burst into laughter, her clear voice echoing in the conference room. "Haha, Lao Jin, you've been tricked!" She turned to Sangzi, a sly smile playing on her lips. "Your so-called experiment was actually testing the Jackal Organization's methods of intelligence gathering!"

Sangzi nodded slightly, her fingertips gently tracing the edge of the chip. "Isn't this also a kind of experiment?"

A satellite stripped of its key chip is naturally unable to complete space communication experiments. This rules out the hypothesis that the Jackal Organization used extraordinary "prophetic abilities" to lock onto its targets.

After all, according to the working logic of divination, we shouldn't be fooled by these satellites that are essentially scrap metal!

A bitter smile appeared on Jin Rongjia's face. "So, they're within our ranks, or there's a traitor causing the leak?" He seemed to be gritting his teeth as he uttered this suffocating conclusion. "Where did they come from? So many traitors!"

During the previous operation against "Jackal," the company also placed surveillance on suspicious targets within its ranks, resulting in the arrest of three members. They had been lured by the Jackal Organization into leaking information of varying importance.

These Traitor were all dealt with swiftly and decisively by the company, and their fates were tragic.

Jin Rongjia found it hard to understand how, even under such circumstances, some people would still be willing to abandon their beliefs and betray intelligence to the enemy.

"Is it possible," Ling Wen said, resting her chin on her hand, "that they still possess some kind of extraordinary ability," to directly extract information from the memories of ordinary people?

This was indeed a direction worth considering. Jin Rongjia frowned and began sifting through various clues in his mind.

Sangzi suddenly stood up. "Excuse me, gentlemen. I have to go arrange the space communication experiment."

Ling Wen raised an eyebrow in confusion, her gaze following Sangzi's movements. "The satellite's gone, what are you going to use for your experiments?"

"It's already in space." Sangzi took out her tablet, tapped the screen a few times, and brought up a real-time orbit tracking page, which she then showed to the two of them.

In the image, an icon representing a private rocket company in China is steadily tracing an arc in outer space.

Several green dots lit up, the satellite separated from the rocket, and the experimental satellite's solar panels deployed successfully.

"No, where did you get this satellite from?" Jin Rongjia asked, puzzled.

"I stole it. I switched the backup satellite in the warehouse," Sangzi explained casually. "Then I used some personal connections to commission a private rocket company to launch it. Oh—" she suddenly turned to Jin Rongjia, "Remember to settle the launch bill with that company for me."

Jin Rongjia looked incredulous. "Wait a minute, is our security system just for show?" He stood up and said, "Even with the cooperation of your inside personnel, it's still impossible for anyone to move a satellite away silently without alerting the security forces!"

Sangzi revealed a meaningful smile, her gaze sweeping over Jin Rongjia's tense face, "You just said it yourself, there is someone..."

Jin Rongjia was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized – "human" power was indeed insufficient, but now there was a certain "non-human" here!

He slammed his hand on the table with a dull thud. "Sangzi, couldn't you have at least—informed me about this?"

"Regarding your advice to Su Ming to set up obstacles for me during our last meeting, I'll allow you to collect some interest." A cold smile appeared on Sangzi's face.

"Miao Xin did a really great job," Ling Wen said, unable to suppress a laugh, and nudged Jin Rongjia with her elbow. "Old Jin, it's rare to see you so embarrassed!"

Jin Rongjia showed little anger, and didn't even bother to investigate how many red lines Sangzi had crossed. Against an enemy with bizarre and irrational methods, sticking to the rules would be tantamount to slow suicide.

This teammate was completely unaware of what was going on, but he still managed to get things done!

Sangzi's smile faded, her tone turning solemn. "It's confirmed that the Jackal Organization is still using some unknown method to monitor our movements in real time." She added seriously, "Our approach of operating in small groups and independently is effective!"

Jin Rongjia pondered for a moment, a decisive glint in his eyes. He reached out and pushed the thick folder that Ling Wen had just handed him back to her.

"Can your group solve the problem on its own?" Jin Rongjia asked, looking directly into Ling Wen's eyes.

Rather than a large-scale joint operation that risks leaks through unknown channels and renders the clues invalid, it's better to let Ling Wen and her team take a gamble.

"You really think highly of us." Ling Wen's lips curled up slightly. "Since you've made this request so sincerely, you'll have to take the lion's share of the blame afterward."

"I don't care about the pot," Jin Rongjia said firmly. "I only want one result— the Jackal must be caught, or killed!"

"Deal." Ling Wen readily extended her fist, and Jin Rongjia met it with a clenched fist. Their knuckles collided forcefully, producing a slight thud. Then she turned nimbly and walked towards the door, completely ignoring the folder on the table.

"Hey, you should take this back," Jin Rongjia shouted at her retreating figure. "Get a fake document instead, and I'll play along with your act."

"No need." Ling Wen waved her hand casually behind her without turning her head. "It was fake to begin with."

"Damn it!" Even Jin Rongjia couldn't help but swear, "----You lot, do you have any discipline at all?!"

"I'm sorry, but once the authorities get angry, we won't even recognize our own family," Sangzi said.

She got up and walked out of the meeting room, exchanging a knowing smile with Ling Wen in the corridor.

"Just stay here and perform, and cover for us," Ling Wen said, turning her head to Jin Rongjia in the conference room. "You can take your goji berry water cup and wander around when you're not busy."

"----roll!"

****

Another world, Ruby Production Base.

Su Ming turned off the room light, preparing to go to sleep, but then noticed a few faint wisps of emerald green light floating around her.

"The Emerald Dream?" he muttered, turning to look out the window. The Zhimeng Elder's enormous body was curled up on the open ground below, its emerald scales gleaming in the moonlight, its huge head resting on its forepaws, its breathing even and deep, soundly asleep in the open.

The air of May has already permeated the earth, and the average temperature has climbed to twenty degrees Celsius. For the powerful dragons, sleeping under the open sky in this weather is simply a pleasant choice to enjoy the night breeze.

Several fireflies emerged, circling and dancing around the dragon, their faint light intertwining with the pale blue Magic Power glow flowing between the Zhimeng scales.

Su Ming pulled a corner of the thin blanket over his stomach and closed his eyes.

It seemed like only a moment had passed when he suddenly opened his eyes again. His vision was filled with soft light, and the air rippled like water. When he regained his senses, he found himself in the middle of a street.

The familiar boxy buildings, the concrete roads, and the Chinese signs of the shops along the street—all of this proclaims: This is Earth.

Upon closer inspection, however, it was quite different: there wasn't a single building in sight that exceeded ten stories; the houses were crampedly arranged, and the walls were covered with a large amount of bizarre graffiti.

The streets were unusually deserted, with few pedestrians and vehicles passing by as silent as ghosts, their bodies covered in rivets and exposed, rough welding marks. A rusty, unmanned street sweeper was slowly sweeping fallen leaves and empty cans into a trash can.

A muffled hum suddenly swept overhead as several angular armed drones whizzed past at low altitude. The gun barrels and missile pods mounted under their bellies gleamed with a cold, hard metallic sheen in the sunlight.

Is this the dream woven by Zhimeng? Something seems off, Su Ming muttered to himself.

He subconsciously glanced at his wrist, where he wore a matte black digital watch. The moment his gaze focused on the watch, the dial seemed to sense it, and with a "hum," it unfolded a pale blue holographic projection, clearly displaying the time, coordinates, and several to-do reminders.

The first memo was flashing red. Su Ming only glanced at it, and the record unfolded on its own, displaying the content as "[Pick up at the station]". At the same time, a series of arrow-shaped navigation cursors appeared in front of Su Ming.

Su Ming pursed his lips and followed the navigation. The destination wasn't far; in less than five minutes, he was standing under the sunshade at the exit of the train station.

The station square is quite spacious, but the outer walls of the waiting hall are bare, without even a decent glass curtain wall, making it look like an enlarged version of a rough warehouse.

This is not how it should be in Su Ming's memory.

The automatic ticket gates have been replaced with contactless sensors, and there are also automated luggage handling robots that nimbly move around the area.

Su Ming immediately raised his wrist and glanced at the time on the holographic interface: July 3, 204X.

"A near-future scenario eleven years from now?" Su Ming sighed. "Not bad!"

His reflection was shown in the glass window next to him: his facial features were more defined, with fine lines under his eyes and a straight jawline; he certainly looked like a thirty-year-old version of himself.

This dream is truly full of sincerity in its details!

However, why does the Zhimeng have the concept of an Earth setting? Su Ming pondered. Could it be that the information in this dream is all pieced together from his own mind, or a generated inner reflection?

He looked around at the rather futuristic town before him, a scene of bleakness filling his eyes, and couldn't help but think to himself, this is definitely not what he was looking for.

To build an imaginary world, you need at least some shiny flying cars and huge neon advertisements featuring lots of cute girls!

****

Su Ming then discovered that the dream wasn't entirely under his control. He tried wandering around and exploring other areas, but as soon as he moved away from the pick-up point, ripples would appear in his vision.

Once everything became clear, he returned to the exit, seemingly ready to continue waiting.

"Forced plot?" Su Ming guessed.

The only consolation was the gentle, warm feeling that permeated the surroundings, and the slight swelling of mental energy as if soaking in a hot spring. The promise of accelerated mental recovery made by Zhimeng was indeed genuine.

Su Ming was pondering whether he should try exploiting a bug to see if he could escape the lock of the dream world when a girl carrying a faded backpack appeared in front of him, her white sneakers making a soft sound on the ground.

Beside the girl's feet was an automated robot carrying a large suitcase.

"Hello!" the girl said, tilting her head back, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes. "Are you Instructor Su?"

The girl was at most sixteen or seventeen years old, just reaching Su Ming's shoulder in height. Her short hair was uneven, as if it had been chewed by a dog, and her eyes were full of youthful shyness. Su Ming glanced at the information card that popped up on the holographic screen of his wristwatch: He Ran, 16 years old, and she looked just as timid in the photo.

The information watch on the girl's wrist also unfolded its screen, displaying Su Ming's virtual profile floating in mid-air, along with a series of cursors pointing at Su Ming —well, it was with this help that the other party found him.

"Hello!" Su Ming nodded. "I'm Su Ming."

Alright, let's just treat it like a role-playing game. He'll treat it as a game of watching the story unfold, following the guidance of the dream world to converse with He Ran.

The two quickly verified each other's identities, and Su Ming took the girl's suitcase.

****

But the memo on the information watch didn't provide any instructions on what to do next.

Su Ming thought the story was over and he would be able to freely explore the open world, but he found that he was overthinking it. A pickup truck with peeling paint screeched to a halt on the side of the road, shattering his fantasy.

A somewhat familiar face peeked out from the driver's seat—it was He Huiyang! The kid from the machinery factory where Su Ming worked, the one who always used his tools and never put them back!

The eleven years that have passed have also left their mark on his face. He now even has a full beard, and his work clothes cuffs are stained with oil.

"Brother Su! What a coincidence!" He Huiyang's voice boomed, "I'm delivering supplies to the base over there, and I can give you a ride!"

"Zhimeng!" Su Ming shouted into the air, unable to contain himself any longer, pressing his fingers against his throbbing temples.

Emerald light gathered on his shoulders, and a palm- Zhimeng fluttered its wings and hovered near his ear, its Dragon Tail swaying leisurely. "What's wrong, President Su?"

"Your dream is so strange." Su Ming pointed to the rusty pickup truck and the empty streets, "It's completely different from the futuristic city I imagined."

"Are there any dreams that aren't strange?" Zhimeng miniature Dragon Claw weaver asked, resting its chin on its hand.

"----Uh," Su Ming paused for a moment, "It seems so."

****

Even without any manipulation, in the dream world, "Su Ming" and He Ran got into the pickup truck and were driving out of town.

He Huiyang rested one hand on the steering wheel, while the other hand excitedly gestured, spittle flying from his mouth, just like that talkative coworker in the factory canteen who could describe his work meals as a grand feast.

"How much content did you dig out of my memories?" Su Ming couldn't help but complain to Zhimeng.

He turned to He Ran, who was sitting shyly in the back seat, quietly answering He Huiyang's questions, "Even Miao Xin's sister has been dragged into this."

Su Ming remembered the name He Ran. In the real world, she was Miao Xin's younger sister, only five years old, still a baby at kindergarten. He Ran her mother's surname, which is why the two sisters had different surnames.

Zhimeng knew nothing about Miao Xin, but that wasn't important.

"The ' Emerald Dream ' unfolds with you as its anchor," the miniature Jade Dragon whispered in Su Ming's ear, its tone matter-of-fact. "The appearance of old friends and familiar scenes is only to be expected."

"Won't this affect my sleep quality?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. "It's exhausting to not be able to have a peaceful sleep in my dreams."

"The core function of the ' Emerald Dream ' is to soothe and deeply restructure the spirit," the Zhimeng patiently explained. "This 'orderly' dream only serves as a guide."

"Is that so?" Su Ming asked, still not quite understanding.

However, after entering the dream for a while, he did feel that his headache had been soothed without him even realizing it.

"Besides," Zhimeng said, "Even when you sleep normally, you still generate a lot of dream fragments, only more chaotic and disordered than now. It's just that they're buried deep in the sea of consciousness, and you won't remember anything when you wake up."

When a person is asleep, the cerebral cortex is randomly activated. These signals combine with memories and emotions to produce all sorts of bizarre and wonderful dreams.

However, during this time, memory-related tissues such as the hippocampus enter a dormant mode, and dream stories only stay briefly in the "temporary cache" and cannot be engraved into long-term memory.

"Uh, what about my current memories?" Su Ming asked.

"Same!" Zhimeng replied, "When this dream ends, many details of this journey will also dissipate and disappear like the morning mist."

"This is truly an immersive experience that will be forgotten," Su Ming remarked, gazing at the desolate landscape flowing past the car window.

****

The pickup truck quickly drove away from the town area, or rather, away from the area where there was still human activity.

The roadside was desolate, with abandoned buildings resembling a huge cluster of gray tombstones. Those glass-walled skyscrapers that once symbolized modernity and prosperity were now covered in grime and cracks, with countless empty windows like gouged-out eye sockets, silently gazing at the sky.

Only the dense arrays of solar panels atop these buildings, resembling patches of metal, serve as evidence of human activity.

Thick cables dangle from the array of panels, connecting to the inverters below, and then snake their way into the unknown distance. Whenever vehicles pass by these facilities, the earthy smell of damp concrete, mixed with the faint ozone and burnt metal odor emitted by electrical equipment after long-term high-temperature operation, will subtly enter the nostrils.

While on the journey, Su Ming Su Ming began to examine the "watch". He didn't find a cell phone or anything like that on his person, so all the functions had obviously been integrated into it.

He slid and tapped his fingers on the projection screen, browsing through various contents.

Combining the information gleaned from He Huiyang's continuous casual conversation, Su Ming gradually pieced together the worldview of this dream.

Twelve years ago, an alien race from the "Eden" dimension suddenly tore through space and invaded, triggering a devastating war. Caught off guard, humanity on Earth paid a heavy price in the early stages, with cities falling and countless lives lost.

As time went on, humanity finally stabilized its position, and the two sides began to engage in a tug-of-war. Because these invaders possessed extraordinary abilities that transcended the laws of Earth's physics, in order to curb their infiltration, humanity deployed a dense network of surveillance and sensors even in non-combat zones.

In the dream, "Su Ming" is the team leader of a maintenance squad. He leads several team members to be stationed at a field outpost, responsible for the daily management and maintenance of the surrounding area's monitoring equipment and energy harvesting facilities.

The sixteen-year-old girl, He Ran, beside him was a new member who had been added to his team after completing a year of basic military training. Today was the day she was to report for duty, so Su Ming went to town to pick her up.

"Your Emerald Dream's storytelling ability is far superior to mine!" Su Ming exclaimed sincerely to Zhimeng.

His gaze swept over He Ran's arms peeking out from under her sleeves. The girl was rather slender, but beneath the light brown skin honed by sun and rain on her forearms lay well-defined muscles—clear marks left by rigorous training.

Su Ming also subconsciously rolled up his sleeves, revealing arms with a darker complexion than He Ran's, both bearing the marks of long-term fieldwork.

The details of this dream world are so meticulously crafted that they are truly admirable.

****

"How's it going with you and Si Zai?" He Huiyang suddenly asked.

"Si Ran?" Su Ming, somewhat surprised. "Didn't she die eleven years ago?"

However, this statement had no effect on the people in the dream world, clearly due to the correction by the power of the plot, which made them ignore it.

He Huiyang continued, seemingly oblivious to his own words, "When you were stationed near Xingbei City, weren't you in close contact with her?"

Even He Ran looked up when she heard this, a hint of curiosity flashing in her eyes. She asked softly, "Are you talking about Professor Si Ran?"

"That's right!" He Huiyang said proudly, "My brother here is Professor Si Ran's best buddy!"

Su Ming ignored He Huiyang. He used his information wristband to search the web and quickly learned that Si Zai had become a professor and had led the development of several weapons against "Eden," gaining fame and making outstanding achievements.

He opened his contact list and, sure enough, found Si Zai's name.

So, is she still alive in this dream? A strange sense of relief flashed through Su Ming's heart. He reached for his contacts, hesitating whether to contact this "Si Zai".

It remains to be seen how the "Emerald Dream" will respond to him.

The car suddenly jolted, Su Ming looked up to find that the pickup truck had left the main road.

He Huiyang drove his car over a short stretch of bumpy dirt road and into a secluded forest area. There, a barbed wire fence enclosed a simple outpost, with several camouflage tents leaning against a half-collapsed cement wall. On a makeshift watchtower made of sandbags, the figure of a sentry could be seen faintly in the twilight.

According to He Huiyang's incessant narration, a combat squad responsible for patrolling the area is stationed here. For operational purposes, they change their location every few months, which is why the facilities here appear temporary.

He Huiyang parked the vehicle at the entrance of the warehouse in the camp, and several muscular soldiers wearing tactical vests surrounded him and began unloading supplies from the back of the vehicle.

A striking, unusual color suddenly caught Su Ming's eye.

In the dream world, everything seemed to be covered by a layer of gray filter. Along the way, whether it was the monotonous work clothes of the people, the natural concrete buildings, or the angular mechanical equipment, the colors were as dull as the brown earth underfoot.

However, a young girl stood in the camp. She had long, vibrant dark blue hair, like burning cold flames. Even more striking was her strangely tailored purple robe, with wide sleeves and a hem embroidered with intricate silver patterns, making her style completely out of place with everyone around her.

Su Ming was all too familiar with this outfit—it was clearly the standard robe of a scholar from the Taya Plane!

When Zijin told Su Ming about Katharine's infancy, in the memory, Su Ming saw Zijin wearing the same outfit.

Of course, what's even more familiar is the girl herself wearing this outfit—it's none other than Zijin!

"Hi!" Su Ming raised his hand and greeted them naturally. Familiar faces kept popping up in the dream world, but he was no longer surprised.

Upon closer reflection, given the importance of Zijin, it would be strange if she were absent.

Upon hearing the sound, Zijin looked up and, upon seeing Su Ming, raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly. She strode over, the hem of her scholar's robe stirring a gentle breeze.

"Look, this is Ailisha, the mage of the combat team," He Huiyang interjected, once again providing background information and adding to the world-building:

The enemies of the Eden Plane have also invaded the magical world of Taya Plane. Taya is now completely overrun. Many of its inhabitants have escaped to Earth through the interdimensional teleportation array and joined the resistance.

"This mage only arrived on Earth about two weeks ago," He Huiyang said. "However, she's said to be very powerful, so she probably won't stay in the rear for long. She should soon join the elite team and go to the front lines to fight."

Upon hearing this introduction, Zijin did not stop walking.

"She's really beautiful, hey!" He Huiyang raised his wrist, the watch face flashing blue light. "I have to take a picture, to show those bumpkins what a sight for sore eyes!"

Su Ming noticed Zijin's eyes suddenly darken—a situation he was all too familiar with.

"Hey, is it okay to do this in front of people?" he reminded He Huiyang.

"It's alright, she's only been on Earth for half a month, how could she possibly understand what we're saying?" He Huiyang said confidently.

But the next moment, his wrist was gripped by Zijin. He Huiyang felt dizzy and was slammed to the ground like a sack of flour with a dull "bang".

Zijin pressed him down onto the cold, muddy ground; she exerted so much force that she didn't even use her Magic Power.

The soldiers carrying supplies around didn't stop them; instead, they burst into laughter, clearly used to the scene, as if they were enjoying the spectacle.

"I'm sorry," Zijin said clearly in fluent Chinese, looking down at him, "My language talent is quite good!"

Su Ming looked at He Huiyang, who was covered in dirt and grimacing on the ground, and couldn't help but click his tongue twice. He thought of the Stanley tools that this guy had ruined for him.

So this is retribution, he deserved it!

The dream world must be a response to his subconscious!

"Zijin, don't actually break his wrist," Su Ming said, suppressing a laugh. "He'll need to drive later."

Although Su Ming can drive himself, why choose the hard way when he can be lazy?

"The rib should be fine?" Zijin answered instinctively, then suddenly realized something, her gaze snapping to Su Ming. "My name here is Ailisha!"

"Ha?"

This nonsensical conversation stunned the two of them. They then looked up simultaneously, their eyes fixed on the Zhimeng Dragon, which was leisurely flapping its little wings in mid-air.

"I never said this was a single-person dream," Zhimeng innocently spread her two miniature Dragon Claw. "At any given time, I can only maintain one dream space, so I'll have to trouble the two guests to share a table."

During the day, Zijin used terrain magic to clear a mountain road on the goblin border, which took a considerable amount of energy. So before Zhimeng left, she cast the "Emerald Dream" spell on Zijin so that she could rest at Thousand Illusions Lake that night.

With the help of the mirroring power of the Thousand Illusions Lake, Zhimeng was able to bring them all in.

"No wonder you said before that you were the anchor point!" Su Ming rubbed his temples.

Zijin snorted coldly and released her grip on He Huiyang. She straightened up, just about to continue talking to Su Ming, when the space around her suddenly rippled like water with a stone thrown in, then twisted and reformed.

Su Ming felt a blur before his eyes, and when he regained his senses, he found himself in the passenger seat of a bumpy pickup truck.

Beside him, He Huiyang had a bruised and swollen face, with a conspicuous purplish-blue bump above his right eye. He was grimacing and slamming on the gas pedal, as if he wanted to drive the car at breakneck speed, desperately trying to escape the camp that had caused him so much trouble.

Where they left, Su Ming saw Zijin standing in the rearview mirror, holding several pieces of fruit in her hand, weighing them with a look of disgust.

So, in the "plot" of the dream correction, Su Ming and Zijin, complete strangers, brushed past each other, while the unlucky He Huiyang was beaten up by this "hot-tempered new magician girl" and extorted a few apples from her as "compensation for emotional distress."

Su Ming strongly suspected that if He Huiyang escaped any slower, he would be beaten up again by Zijin, who had already obtained the apple.

You could bribe her with a can of luncheon meat!

With its wings fluttering in a dazzling display of light, Zhimeng flew lightly to Su Ming's side, its dragon face showing obvious signs of weariness.

"I need to go to sleep." She yawned softly, her voice languid with sleepiness, a stark contrast to her dragon form.

If dragons are all this tiny and cute, Su Ming thinks he might want to keep one as a pet too.

"You're resting, but I'm not," said Zhimeng.

"Wait, how do you voluntarily withdraw from this ' Emerald Dream '?" Su Ming quickly asked.

"Quit? No need for that." Zhimeng's figure began to transform into tiny, emerald-colored stardust, dissipating into the air, leaving only her smiling echo in her voice, "Just give up interfering and surrender yourself to the dream's care—the feeling is just like sleeping and dreaming—phew—goodnight—"

"Goodnight." Su Ming said to the last bit of green light that had disappeared, then let the bumps of the pickup truck and the roar of the engine slowly drag his consciousness into the deeper chaos of the dream.

****

When Su Ming opened his eyes, the Dawn, like molten gold, had already spread across the windowsill and flowed onto the bed and floor inside the room. Moss-like specks of light floated in the air, giving the furnishings in the room a hazy glow, making them appear somewhat unreal and illusory.

He subconsciously looked out the window and found that the emerald-like figure of the Zhimeng Elder was gone, leaving only a large patch of flattened grass.

Clearly, Zhimeng has already set off for Silver Moon Forest.

Su Ming raised his wrist, but it was empty; the elaborate wristwatch from his dream was nowhere to be seen. He reached for the pillow and touched the familiar, cool metal casing—his folding screen phone.

"I'm out of the dream now," Su Ming murmured to himself, his voice hoarse from just waking up. He raised his hand and rubbed his hair, a clear, cool sensation spreading deep within his brain, as if the accumulated fatigue had been absorbed by an invisible sponge.

But the memories in the dream did indeed become increasingly blurry, leaving only some general impressions.

The phone rang, breaking the morning's tranquility, and Zijin's name appeared on the caller ID.

It was a video request. Su Ming answered, unfolded his phone into a tablet shape, propped it up on the bedside table, stretched lazily, his spine making a soft popping sound, and sank back into the soft pillow.

"Good morning," he greeted the camera, his voice trailing off somewhat languidly.

As if infected by her weariness, Zijin on the other end of the screen also covered her mouth and yawned slightly, then stretched her slender arms as well. She was wearing a light green silk slip dress, as thin as mist. The morning light slanted in from the large window beside her, outlining her exquisite silhouette, like a forest elf who had strayed into the mortal world, draped in a light veil woven from dew.

"Miss Zijin," Su Ming narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze lingering on the girl for a moment, "Isn't your outfit a little too thin?"

Zijin looked down at herself; her dress was a halter top that revealed her rounded shoulders, but the areas that needed covering were clearly well-covered. As for the accusation of being "thin"—

"This nightgown is indeed made of silk, light and comfortable," she said frankly, her slender fingers gracefully tracing a line in the air. The Magic Power of her fingertips flowed like water through the silk, instantly turning the nightgown a soft, pale pink. "But I 'colored' it," she added.

The light pink filter effect instantly made the girl's skin glow with a softer, more radiant sheen. Su Ming couldn't resist and awkwardly turned her head away.

"Hey!" Zijin keenly noticed his unusual behavior. She immediately raised her hand to cover her chest and stared at Su Ming suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen to be able to see through my illusions even through this electronic screen, would you?"

Su Ming possesses Penetrating Vision and the Silent Vision he has cultivated, which can also dispel many illusions and illusions. However, given the physical devices and data streams involved, his ability should be able to penetrate the phone screen and see the circuit board underneath, not—something he shouldn't be able to see!

Su Ming was silent for a moment, then frankly admitted, "Yes."

Zijin gaped in surprise.

In a flash, a name simultaneously flashed through their minds, and they exclaimed in unison, "Zhimeng!"

"Hey hey hey!" Outside Su Ming's bedroom window, the air seemed to peel away like a shattered mirror, and the enormous body of the jade dragon appeared out of thin air. Its huge head was almost touching the glass, and its emerald green vertical pupils were full of regret that its prank had been exposed.

"We were found out so quickly!" she muttered with a hint of annoyance.

"A double dream?" Su Ming narrowed his eyes instantly, scanning every corner of the room before realizing that many details were not actually real.

"We're still in a dream." Zijin realized this too.

Only in dreams does Su Ming's pupil technique appear, allowing him to "see through" the flaw in Zijin's clothing even through data signals.

"That's right." Zhimeng shook her head, her enormous Dragon Claw gently tapping the scenery outside the window. With her movement, the seemingly real trees and distant mountain outlines began to distort and deform in subtle details, their edges tinged with an unnatural, blurry halo. "Welcome, you two. What you just experienced was your dream. Now, this is the illusory world I've woven—'Emerald Dream'!"

Su Ming realized that all of Zhimeng's actions were to conceal the unreality of this world.

For example, her choice of a scene at Dawn, and even her deliberate connection after "Emerald Dream," were all intended to blur the boundaries between his and Zijin's perception of reality and illusion.

"This is a special use I've discovered of the power of dreams," Zhimeng explained to the two, her enormous dragon wings gracefully folding at her sides. "If you fail to see through it, I can subtly guide events within this environment completely under my control, creating certain—unexpected—chance encounters," thereby uncovering some of your secrets or reactions.

"That's a good idea," Su Ming nodded in approval.

"Will everything we experienced here be preserved in our memories?" Zijin asked, her fingers unconsciously tightening the silk edge of her nightgown.

"It will be preserved." Zhimeng shook her head, her dragon neck gracefully curving. "I'm still practicing how to erase memories." She frankly admitted, with a hint of regret, "The current effect isn't good, and it still produces quite noticeable disturbances."

Su Ming relaxed and leaned back against the headboard. "Is this another way of realizing what you meant by 'knowing the future'?"

If he and Zijin experienced certain choices or events in this rehearsed dream, and the Zhimeng successfully erased their memories, then the Zhimeng could wait in reality for Su Ming and Zijin to relive their choices in the same scene.

In practical terms, Zhimeng is equivalent to making a "prophecy".

Moreover, it's a prediction method that doesn't rely on complex calculations!

Zhimeng stretched out its right wing and casually patted a large, leafy tree beside it. The tree immediately snapped and collapsed into pieces in an extremely awkward way.

"As you can see," Zhimeng retracted her wings, "The 'Dream World' I built still has many flaws and its stability is lacking." Her enormous head turned to Su Ming, her vertical pupils gleaming with curiosity and admiration, "The game world you brought, with its many techniques for constructing virtual scenes and handling interactive logic, has greatly inspired me."

"Those things—they also help with dream skills?" Su Ming was quite surprised to hear this.

"Yes, I benefited greatly and learned a lot!" Zhimeng affirmed, sweeping her Dragon Tail happily on the ground. "Once I've mastered those modeling techniques, I'll definitely be able to construct an even more complete and undetectable dream world." Her huge eyes sparkled with anticipation. "Next time, I'll invite both of you to come and appreciate my upgraded version!"

Su Ming's lips curled into a mischievous smile, "Please be sure to retain the bug that allows you to see through clothing, or clothing clipping through clothing."

Upon hearing this, Zijin let out a soft snort of dissatisfaction and wrapped the blanket around herself even tighter.

"Alright, I'm off to the Council of Aethers." The Zhimeng began to shatter the illusion, and the world filled with morning light began to collapse.

Goodbye, both of you!

"Goodbye!" Su Ming and Zijin's voices, one with laughter and the other with a hint of embarrassment, rang out simultaneously in the fading dreamscape.

****

When Su Ming opened his eyes again, the dazzling sunlight had filled the entire room. However, the furnishings around him were now sharp and angular, no longer possessing the hazy quality of the second dream.

He squinted and reached for his phone on the bedside table. The number on the screen startled him slightly—it was almost ten o'clock! That was much later than usual. But considering he had spent the whole day teleporting yesterday, it was understandable that he wanted to stay in bed.

Su Ming shook his head, a refreshing feeling spreading deep within his brain, and the mental fatigue had indeed subsided. The bizarre and fantastical "Emerald Dream" of Zhimeng was indeed quite effective in restoring mental energy.

He opened his phone's photo album and found that the last photo was taken the day before yesterday during a video call with Zijin to discuss work.

As a habit, when video chatting with Zijin, he selected the option to save recordings by default.

As expected, that scene was just a dream, Su Ming thought with regret.

He sent a text message to Zijin, saying he was already up. He started checking his pile of messages, including one from Katharine asking him to contact her immediately after waking up. Su Ming, toothbrush still in his mouth, dialed the number before the foam had even finished rinsing his mouth, "What's wrong?"

"There's a massive disturbance on the goblins' side," Katharine's voice came through, but she didn't sound tense. "At least two hundred thousand troops are assembling, with heavy equipment and logistical support vehicles lined up for over ten kilometers, all being pushed towards the front lines!"

Su Ming was quite surprised to hear this, and stopped wringing out the towel.

"These green-skinned dwarfs actually dare to come here to die?"

On the Dragon Kingdom's home turf, with his and Katharine's combined efforts, there were practically a million ways to ensure these guys met their demise!

But the next second, Su Ming realized that he couldn't afford to take a passive approach this time.

Given the pride of dragons, being crossed once could be attributed to a sneak attack. But if goblins were to brazenly march on their borders again, not only would the proud Dragon Race be unable to accept it, but even Su Ming himself would be unable to get past this hurdle.

We must nip the war in the bud before the enemy can make a move!

"When do the goblins plan to attack?" Su Ming asked in a deep voice.

"Considering the combined speed of supply transport and the goblin troop assembly," Katharine spoke rapidly, "I estimate they'll reach the border in three days!"

"Time is a bit tight—" Su Ming frowned, quickly making plans, "I'll go over this afternoon after I finish things here. You organize the troop assembly first."

"Okay, see you this afternoon!" Katharine hung up decisively.

****

What followed was a quagmire of transaction processing.

The mage members of the Final Bone Mad Machines are all high-end talents from another world. During this period of work, they have demonstrated amazing adaptability and learning ability.

Faced with an industrial system that is completely different from the technology side, most of them can quickly get up to speed and even use alchemy and elemental magic to solve minor malfunctions on the production line—for example, using frost runes to cool down an overheated bearing or using arcane fields to calibrate parts deviations.

Beianqi is a formidable character who can hand-craft parts, and she can basically solve all the difficult problems on the front line of the workshop on the spot. In the end, only those tough nuts that can only be handed to Su Ming's desk are those that require the "Summoning of All Things" and Earth's support to solve.

Fortunately, Su Ming's mental state had recovered well, and he handled the situation with relative ease. Of course, the cost was the logistics team at the Earth support base, whose staff were kept in a state of chaos.

In the afternoon, Su Ming convened a meeting with all the heads of the Ruby Base to arrange the upcoming production and logistical tasks.

With the country now in a state of war, vigilance against espionage and sabotage is crucial. In addition to Sapphire Port and Ruby Base itself, all key transport routes must be monitored.

As night fell, Su Ming hurriedly ate a few bites of dinner. He caught a giant dragon, called Younier, and flew to the Dragon Court's front-line command post.

Sorry for breaking my promise. I finished the first draft this morning, but something else came up, and I only just found time to revise it now.

I've been very busy with work lately, so I'll try to write in my spare time. However, the update schedule will be very irregular, please forgive me.