At the mont the Rotten Dream Queen broke free and completely engulfed the Group Star, a tumultuous surge arose upon the Endless Sea.
Separated by the double helix cage, everyone saw a waterfall of viscous nightmares erupting from the Group Star.
That was the God Core of despair, retained after the Rotten Dream had scoured and selected countless souls in the Abyss over hundreds of years. These souls had burned out in wandering, pain, bewildernt, and ruin.
It was a part of Her limbs.
Each portion was an extension of Her current self, the present Rotting Dream.
In an instant, engulfing 110,000 passengers, the black nightmare rapidly swelled and evaporated. Strands of ashen mist rose, completely covering the silhouette of the Group Star, filling every corner within the double helix.
It appeared as a crystal ball imprisoned by a strange birdcage, and then, it beca motionless.
It not only refrained from tearing apart its outer constraints but seed utterly indifferent to whatever was happening outside, stubbornly holding all its remaining power in one place.
The dark mist rapidly solidified, like innards.
Countless outlines and colors of blood vessels and eyes erged from within. The bitter and deep-seated resentnt spread from those crazed eyes, indifferently watching the combatants outside the cage.
For so reason, despite its terrifying appearance, it always reminded people of a dying prisoner in the ICU, barely clinging to life. It lacked the strength to resist stubbornly or fight its impending doom, able only to gaze with resentful and unwilling eyes at the beautiful world outside the window, cursing it all.
But soon, the solidified nightmare began to writhe wildly.
Piercing screams erupted once more, so grating. It was as if it were suffering from indigestion.
Sothing was squirming crazily inside Its stomach... acting recklessly, almost about to burst forth!
"What is that?"
Beneath the double helix crystal, Matthes stared at the churning nightmare. Then, he suddenly looked up towards the distant projection of Yegor. "The Astronomical Society's contingency plan?"
"Maybe," Yegor replied, without a smile or mockery. He just calmly told him, "When facing an enemy, one must always be prepared, mustn't one?"
"Worthy of a Preacher, more challenging to deal with than the rumors suggest." Matthes nodded appreciatively. "Surely, besides this situation, you must have other preparations as well? But really, it doesn't matter... Its life or death is of no consequence to us."
He glanced disdainfully at the twitching nightmare at his feet, as if it weren't the Ruler from the Abyss but rely a piece of dead pork: "After all, it's just bait in a trap... what difference does it make if there's one piece less or more, right?"
As he spoke, beneath the double helix secret ter, the Endless Sea suddenly solidified.
It was not a display of his power. Rather, it was a manifestation of so authority, so law inscribed in the Abyss—an inviolable force descending upon this place.
In the blink of an eye, all the tumultuous waves were silenced.
The sea spread out for miles, smooth as a mirror.
Indeed, at this mont, the Endless Sea had transford into a colossal mirror. It indifferently reflected countless spiral columns, the Sky Do above that represented the endless Abyss, and the enormous creatures locked in a ceaseless struggle in Deep Space.
Mysteriously, an ineffable comprehension rose within everyone's hearts. The ocean mirror should be right beneath their feet, yet why did it feel as if sothing was gazing down upon them from within?
Suddenly, within the gloomy reflection of the mirror's surface, a distorted and chilling shadow slowly erged, as if rising from the depths of the sea.
Mirror World!
That authority should belong to the Rotten Dream Queen. Yet, at this mont, she was still imprisoned within the double helix secret ter. So, to whom did the shadow, slowly appearing from the distant Hell, belong?
"Ah, how does that saying go?" Matthes took off his hat, revealing a head of mottled white hair, a pleasant smile on his face as if he were welcoming the arrival of so important figure. "Wasn't there a line in so novels a long ti ago, that when the stars align, supre beings rise from the sea? Now, indeed, the Group Star has arrived at the correct position..."
As his words fell, the dark and grotesque shadow in the ocean mirror grew closer and closer, until the boundless grey-black had covered everything in sight.
Sothing was coming...
Sothing... was breaking through the sea!
Amidst the roar, it was as if thousands of sharp reefs were swiftly rising from the seabed. Tendrils of dull color stabbed out from the Mirror World. Breaking free from the bonds of depth, they revealed their hideous visage on the world's surface.
That was... a tree?
In the reflection upon the mirror, the image of a withered and enormous inverted tree was revealed.
Countless complex and sharp branches spread out haphazardly in all directions, yet not a single leaf or fruit was to be found upon them.
Only sounds like those of babies' cries echoed among the branches. Like invisible insects crawling, they burrowed into everyone's eardrums, gently pulling at their souls and wills, mangling their guts and bones, seeping into the marrow.
It was not language, but undoubtedly the most straightforward form of expression. Any parent upon hearing such cries should be imdiately enlightened. It said, "I am hungry."
And so, within the double helix secret ter, the solidified nightmare violently struggled and trembled, issuing a piercing roar. But it was incapable of breaking through the cage before it, incapable of escaping from the train it had so painstakingly climbed onto.
Then... from within the Mirror World, the giant inverted tree's massive roots ca to life and extended from the mirror's surface, softly and adeptly entwining themselves around the double helix secret ter. Directly, they infiltrated it.
The ticulous seal of the double helix secret ter now seed nonexistent, like a phantom.
Only countless roots, like pairs of infant's hands, embraced the nightmare, beginning their sweet suckling.
It's feeding ti, Mother.
After the last scavenger was consud by the flas of Bahamut, Huai Shi's body had swollen to an unimaginable extent. It felt like a continental plate capable of movent, yet in the nightmare, there was nothing to compare it to.
As he looked around, no more enemies appeared. The nightmare was barren and dead silent.
A familiar voice arose amidst the wind.
"You seem to be having quite the fun, aren't you?"
Startled, he turned around, seeing nothing. Below his feet, the tiny shadow, like a speck of dust, raised a hand, waving to signal its presence.
He bent down, crawling on the ground, trying his best to bring his eyes closer to the figure. Then, he beca even more shocked.
"Hmm? You're... Beelzebub?"
"That's correct." Beelzebub cocked his head, looking at him. "Didn't expect you to recognize , huh?"
"After all, the voice is pretty much what I imagined, sounds light and unreliable," he sighed with so emotion, "But your appearance is also..." Too uncharacteristic, right?
Huai Shi had thought that after Beelzebub's anthropomorphization, he'd at least look like so corpulent reporter. Yet there he was before him, a blond youth with a sunny smile that made one think of sunshine. He was dressed in a black leather jacket and denim jeans, with sturdy boots on his feet as if he had just returned from a motorcycle race, his blue eyes always brimming with joy.
Maybe it was an illusion or sothing. Huai Shi always felt that he was different than before. Not just on the outside.
"Don't give that incredulous look, okay?" Beelzebub shrugged slightly. "This is a setting left by Auden. That bastard, when creating, always likes to model after himself, regardless of whether anyone else can accept it."
"But how co you are here?" Huai Shi asked.
"Shouldn't I be the most likely to be here?" Beelzebub shook his head. "I've always been active in the Dreamland of the Group Star. Now that the Group Star has been swallowed by the Rotten Dream, isn't my presence here normal?"
"Just you?" Huai Shi looked around nervously. "Where are the others?"
Then, he noticed Beelzebub's gaze on him growing strange. It was like looking at the only person in the entire company who hadn't been added to the company's QQ group—a look of sympathy, pity, helplessness, and 'you-need-to-learn-to-be-strong.' It made him feel even more uneasy.
Soon, the Steel book appeared in Beelzebub's hands, opening with a radar scan and projecting an image—at the deepest layer of the Rotting Dream, a bubble hung suspended in endless darkness. It looked like a soap bubble, overflowing with dazzling colors. Seemingly fragile, however, no matter how the Rotting Dream eroded, it could not penetrate; instead, it maintained its independence and, within this nightmare, ford a new layer of Dreamland.
"What is this?" Huai Shi asked. "A new type of nesting doll?"
"Quite similar," Beelzebub explained. "After all, the Rotten Dream has been rampant for so long, it's not strange for the Astronomical Society to have Dreamland protection technology specifically against Her. Now, everyone's dreams are integrated. Under the protection of this law frawork, the wills of ordinary people converge in one place. They are not corrupted by the Abyss. Instead, under external pressure, they have united to form a temporary soul to temporarily counteract the erosion of the Rotting Dream. The creativity is truly brilliant."
Huai Shi was dumbstruck. After a while, he finally caught on.
"Isn't it just who was thrown in here?" He pounded the ground in anger. "You guys isolated again! Such a good thing, and you didn't include ?"
Beelzebub sympathetically raised a hand, patting his... paw tip.
"If I'm not mistaken, you were specifically sent in here to make trouble, right? Hmm, after all, you seem to have quite the knack for wreaking havoc... Let check."
In his hand, the Steel book emanated a spreading blue ripple, silently sweeping over Huai Shi's body. Following that, the radar began its analysis.
"Oh, this record and operation technique are exquisite... It appears to have been sorted and edited later on. From the tags and notes left behind, it's incredible that it was revised by six Creators, ensuring it could manifest in the Rotting Dream." Beelzebub clicked his tongue in admiration. "Did you always look this way? It's hard to tell."
"Uh, it's a long story..."
"No rush, take your ti," Beelzebub waved his hand casually. "Anyway, we've got plenty of ti until the Rotten Dream dies."
"Wait! She's dying?"
"Yes." Beelzebub spread his hands, looking around. "Isn't this place already eaten out like an empty shell? If She were in Her pri, you and I would probably have long since beco puppets of the nightmare, right?"
"Who's killing Her?" Huai Shi was puzzled. "No, who can kill Her? Could it be the Ranch Owner?" If it was that guy, acting ruthless, planning to dispose of his cheap hookup after the deed without paying... it could explain both the motive and ans.
"That I don't know." In Beelzebub's hand, the Steel book revealed a projection of the outside world, outlining a massive inverted tree, terrifying and solemn. "However, according to the radar's observation, although She possesses so genealogical features of the Ranch Owner, She inherently seems more like the Rotten Dream..."
As Beelzebub spoke, it was as if lightning flashed through Huai Shi's bewildered thoughts. Fleeting, yet it linked all the clues together.
"That's Her child," Huai Shi murmured in realization. "That's the Remaining Evils of the World born of Her and the Ranch Owner!"
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