Chapter 2865 - 2860: The Powerless King of Nightmare

Chapter 2865: Chapter 2860: The Powerless King of Nightmare

We’re all out here hustling; showing up without actually working counts as a basic Skill too.

For Fu Qian, some things are really far from baseless speculation.

The word "lie" has been popping up more and more often lately in traces related to the Progenitor of the Blood Clan.

The Demon Mountain they just visited, for example, had a serious sense of déjà vu on this front.

Not to mention that in the final mission summary, the word "lie" was directly mentioned more than once.

But those aren’t even the decisive factors.

As for the pitiful First Apostle, the mission summary back then even explicitly brought him up—

[Although Herbert dug out his own eyes at the first opportunity, he still drifted farther and farther away from the great existence]

First Apostle Herbert’s loyalty had actually already received official recognition from the Warehouse.

Compared to doubting the legitimacy of the legacy, Herbert was clearly more worried he couldn’t keep up with the footsteps of that former fellow believer.

So for Fu Qian, judging the muddled scene from just now was actually quite easy.

As for why he didn’t share in time—

"So that’s how it is. Then things suddenly get interesting... It reminds me of a bit of lore too, about why Herbert ended up like this.

"Remember I told you the authority over dreams belongs to the gods?"

Without questioning Fu Qian’s sources, without the slightest annoyance—in fact Patch fell silent in that moment, as if some old memory had been tugged up.

"I remember."

Fu Qian nodded, unsurprised by this sudden lifeline of a clue.

"Actually, very few people know that even under these conditions, there’s still a King of Nightmare."

And not disappointing expectations, Lord Pa Qi went on to spit out a shocking title.

...

The authority of Dream belongs to the gods, yet there’s still a King of Nightmare?

That really does count as a strange tale.

For the current Fu Qian, he’s seen plenty of these old hands.

Low-key or insidious, greedy or deranged...

But in any case they all share a trait: they clutch all kinds of authorities, hide in Darkness, and stand at the top.

And now, we get a King of Nightmare with no authority?

Let’s just say his horizons have expanded again.

Also, Lord Pa Qi really did have gains prepared in advance, even with Herbert Fallen to this state.

That’s right—in Fu Qian’s view, this latest bit of sharing basically proves one thing: that seemingly broken trail of clues had already yielded plenty for Patch.

As everyone knows, this old-timer has always been a lover of speaking only half of what he knows.

Fu Qian doesn’t for a second believe that when Patch mentioned dream authority earlier, he "forgot" about the special role of the King of Nightmare.

So he was deliberately holding back.

And why the deliberate withholding?

Explaining it with pure sadism would be too shallow.

Long ago he’d already remarked that these old-timers may wield vast powers, but once you interact with them, most of them are quite worldly—very strong sense of purpose in what they do.

Patch, who usually hates showing up in person, came out this time to chat with him this long—any way you look at it, he’s clearly interested in Annalise and things related to law.

Under these circumstances, if it helps his aims, why would he indulge in petty sadism and hold back key information?

The only explanation is: he’s already grabbed something valuable, and has judged that even if he gives up the King of Nightmare intel, the situation can’t be pushed any further to gain more.

Fortunately for Fu Qian, he’s never had much expectation of the integrity of Superior Beings.

Not that he judges them with a petty mind—don’t forget, he’s a Superior Being himself now, and he’s already doing his own share of withholding.

Birds of a feather.

Anyway, to prepare for exactly this predictable scenario, Fu Qian chose to also keep "the matter of lies" slightly under wraps, to be brought out only when necessary.

Turns out the effect was great: a party that was about to scatter suddenly had cohesion again.

"How is that even possible? Aren’t they afraid of getting hunted down by eighteen pantheons joining forces?"

There’s a certain tacit understanding everyone has without saying, and given that everyone’s skin is as thick as city walls, no one feels the slightest shame about it.

Fu Qian goes straight for shameless questions.

Snatching authority is one thing, but forcibly claiming an authority that’s still in someone else’s hands—that really is a first.

"Heh heh heh... I doubt there are even eighteen beings who know He exists."

Patch looks equally unconcerned, even as if he finds the image of the gods joining forces to hunt someone down kind of amusing.

...

"That low-key?"

Not just unknown to the mundane world, but practically invisible even in the Superior Being circle?

Let’s just say quantification is handy: Fu Qian instantly grasped the degree of the King of Nightmare’s concealment and was genuinely impressed.

"That’s the upside of not holding any authority, and it ties into His mode of existence—you can think of Him as lacking any physical form like you and me."

Patch offered a philosophical explanation: no power, no liability.

"The you in the dream—are you the same you as the you outside the dream?"

Before Fu Qian could do much admiring, He had already continued, posing an abstract question.

"Interesting. In theory it should definitely be the same, otherwise those perception-sharp Superior Beings would’ve noticed long ago.

"But precisely because their perception is so sharp, Superior Beings are completely capable of being aware that they’re dreaming, even splitting attention in two, keeping fully awake outside the dream—at that point it really does feel like there are two of them."

Fortunately Fu Qian has always liked this kind of question, so he immediately followed the train of thought.

"Nicely put. And yes, like you said, the two selves aren’t split personalities at all, at most projections.

"Like looking in a mirror; otherwise it would’ve been discovered long ago."

Patch was very satisfied with how smoothly the conversation flowed.

"But the image in the mirror doesn’t belong to you, does it?"

The kind of role he is, naturally wouldn’t toss metaphors around carelessly—Fu Qian instantly realized what Patch wanted to say.

"Exactly. The you in the mirror is part of the mirror, and the King of Nightmare can be seen as the owner of that mirror."

As expected, Patch affirmed it at once.

"The wills of all who dream determine His form—that’s why I say He has no fixed image.

"And this doesn’t conflict with the control of dream authority; everything is still determined by the will of the controller. He only holds nominal ownership."

That is indeed very abstract.

For Fu Qian, it’s not hard to understand, and he also incidentally grasped why this hadn’t been discovered.

This is practically beyond even calling Him a conceptual entity.

A powerless King of Nightmare? Letting others do whatever they want on His own turf?

"I get it. Herbert’s problem lies in realizing the one in the mirror isn’t himself?"

A bit crude maybe, but as everyone knows, "powerlessness" is always relative—Fu Qian quickly brought it back to the current case.

"Yeah, he shouldn’t have realized it. The whole process might have stayed fairly natural otherwise—the King of Nightmare doesn’t seem all that keen on letting him remind people about the matter of lies."

Patch sighed.

"You—cannot stop me!"

Herbert even obligingly roared a line.