Chapter 106 - 101: Upgrade Conditions, Expanding Ideas

Chapter 106: Chapter 101: Upgrade Conditions, Expanding Ideas

Inside Training Room One, Shi An simply stopped his practice and opened the interface.

[Safe Zone]

[Tier: Level 3]

[Employees: Blood Hand Seal, Nether Robe, (Empty), (Empty)]

[Buildings: Purification Spring, Wizard’s Alchemy Workshop, Training Ground, Inn, (Empty)]

[Upgrade Requirements: 20,000 Belief Value, 300 Dream Crystals, 1,000 Dream Descender guests, over 20 Nightmare Regions influenced by the Safe Zone.]

Twenty thousand Belief Value was a massive amount. However, with the Safe Zone’s members and prospective members tackling Nightmares with increasing momentum, this number wouldn’t be hard to accumulate.

Three hundred Dream Crystals would be even less of an issue.

Between the training rooms, the inn, Purifying Spring Water, various basic amenities within the Safe Zone, and the commission taken from posted requests, the revenue streams were plentiful even though the Safe Zone was just starting out. For instance, the request Group Leader Song posted last time offered a reward of up to 150 Dream Crystals. The large-scale mission Captain Niu later issued on behalf of the Countermeasures Bureau offered an even higher reward.

Right now, the liquid Dream Crystals in Shi An’s pockets were already close to three hundred, let alone what he would earn in the future.

Shi An rubbed his chin. "For the Level 4 upgrade requirements, the first and third will take some time, but the most difficult one is the fourth."

According to the interface, there were currently only two major Nightmare Regions influenced by the Safe Zone: the Black River Region and the Deep Mountain Region. It wasn’t that the Safe Zone’s members and prospective members weren’t active in other Shallow Nightmare Areas, but their numbers were likely too small to meet the criteria.

As time went on, the number of Safe Zone members would increase and they would gradually delve deeper into Nightmares. Shi An believed that meeting the fourth condition wouldn’t be difficult. It might not even take that long—perhaps just a month or two. But he couldn’t just sit around and wait; he had to speed things up.

The scene of Baijiang City sinking deep into the Sea of Nightmares constantly lingered in his mind.

"By building a Watchtower to expand the Safe Zone’s ’Radiation Range,’ the influenced areas will naturally surge. This is the most convenient and fastest method."

As the most important treasure dropped from a Core Level Nightmare, Shi An believed the Watchtower’s function was irreplaceable. Putting long-term plans aside, he had discovered that the strength of the Dream Descenders invited through the Safe Zone’s "auto-search" was limited. The Hair Ghost and Profound Sword from before, as well as Yang Lina now, were basically the top-tier newcomers. This was because the Safe Zone’s current Customer Range was restricted to the vicinity of Baijiang City.

"If I can build a Watchtower in a deep Nightmare, then I can pull in the Captain Level figures from the Countermeasures Bureau and turn them into the Safe Zone’s customers."

These experts were the true backbone of Baijiang City and the absolute main force resisting Nightmare invasions. Shi An wished he could give them special treatment to make them even stronger. Only then could Baijiang City continue to hold its ground against the Nightmare tides, and only then could Manager Shi continue to lay low and live a peaceful life.

"So the question is, how can I build a Watchtower in the deep Nightmares?

"The first step is to enter the deep regions and send an official employee like Little Blood or Nether Robe to activate the blueprint and construct it.

"However, without a Watchtower, I can’t open a pathway to the deep layers. How am I supposed to send Little Blood there?"

It was a dead end. Shi An fell into deep thought.

"In the Shallow Nightmares, one can cross between major regions as long as they are strong enough. So, is there a pathway from the shallow layers to the deep layers?"

He wasn’t sure. He felt there might be, but there was no reference material available on the subject. Even within the Countermeasures Bureau and the Baijiang Research Institute, no one was studying this. After all, who would research how to travel to even more dangerous Nightmare Areas?

After some thought, Shi An assigned this task to Lin Xiao, the most capable fighter with the strongest survival skills among the Safe Zone’s human employees. Even though the kid had lost his memory, he was still passionate about fighting. In contrast, people like Yang Lina, Wu Qing, Wu Yue, and the chef Rune were Dream Descenders who disliked combat.

"Once the Safe Zone has more employees, I can separate them into civilian and combat roles," Shi An mused.

"For now, I’ll have Lin Xiao scout the way first, and have the Hair Ghost assist by controlling Witchcraft Flying Eyes.

"Hmm, besides that, I also need to find and conquer high-value, uncleared Nightmares."

Shi An hadn’t forgotten that he still had one open building slot and two contract slots for anomalous employees. The anomalous employees were the top-tier powerhouses under his command. The Safe Zone’s combat power was still due for another massive boost.

[System Prompt: You have conquered Nightmare XXX. Belief Value +50.]

Another rather unique Nightmare had been conquered. Shi An glanced at the notification. Since there were no employees available to contract nor any building blueprints, he chose a Rare Level Curse Object.

He currently had enough Curse Objects for his own use, but the extra Rare Level Curse Objects could be used to nurture his employees or be sold for profit.

Regarding the former, the Hair Ghost and Lin Xiao had just entered the Refining Stage, and they needed to fuse with a second Lifebound Curse Object to continue advancing. Not only did this Lifebound Curse Object need to be of a sufficiently high Grade, but it also had to perfectly suit their individual traits. Finding one wouldn’t be easy.

As for the latter, Rare Level Curse Objects were exceedingly rare. If the Safe Zone released the news, Shi An was confident that organizations like the Countermeasures Bureau, the Wizard’s House, and the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall would all send representatives to bid on it.

Time slowly passed.

The Explorer, Lin Xiao, upon whom high hopes were placed, had yet to yield any results. Shi An knew this couldn’t be rushed, so he waited patiently.

As the time in the real world approached dawn, the number of Dream Descenders in the Safe Zone steadily decreased as they returned to reality one by one. Shi An also gave his employees time to rest, letting them organize their own shift rotations.

During her rest period, Yang Lina didn’t return to her dorm. Noticing an empty slot in the training room, she booked one for herself at the employee rate.

Stepping inside, the same feeling of absolute hyper-focus she’d experienced in the Training Ground hours earlier washed over her again. She was already a genius among Dream Descenders, and she had spent the equivalent of over a dozen Nightmares consolidating her foundation at the Peak of Control Stage. Now, throwing herself back into training, her deep reserves and accumulated experience rapidly transformed into pure strength.

The path to creating her own Lifebound Curse Art was becoming increasingly clear in her mind.

Finally...

HUM!

Catalyzed by a sudden flash of insight, the humanoid phantom she projected using her Curse Object completely condensed and materialized, transforming into a figure identical to her in appearance, physique, and attire.

An illusory clone!

She quickly crossed into the Refining Stage, reaching the end of the four stages for Dream Descenders and stepping into a completely new realm.

"A Lifebound Curse Art, the Refining Stage... I actually did it?" she murmured.

"I’ve gotten so much stronger all at once! Maybe by today, or tomorrow at the latest, I’ll be able to cultivate my Lifebound Curse Art to the Proficient Realm."

This was despite the fact that she had to work and rest to maintain enough energy, leaving only three or four hours a day for actual training. The time spent was short, yet her improvement speed was frighteningly fast.

"Once I reach that stage, clearing a Nightmare should be an absolute breeze!"

Thinking back to the sheer hardship of conquering Nightmares in the past, Lina felt an itch to try. However, she quickly gave herself a SLAP across the cheek.

"No! I nearly died at the hands of anomalies back then because of an unexpected accident. Even though I’m much stronger now, I’ll still be just as vulnerable if another unexpected situation occurs."

She felt that she needed to possess at least an absurd amount of risk resistance before stepping out of the Safe Zone again. Since she couldn’t raise her cultivation realm any further, she decided to focus on training her Lifebound Curse Art to mastery, all the way to the Peak of Perfection. After that, she would cultivate two, three, or even four Universal Curse Arts, mastering them to the Peak of Perfection as well, before attempting to conquer the most Ordinary Nightmares...

She figured that should be just about right.

With several employees keeping an eye on the Safe Zone, and Shi An now able to project the entire area directly in his mind for constant monitoring, he naturally had nothing to worry about.

After eating soy milk and fried dough sticks at the breakfast shop downstairs, Shi An rode his electric scooter to work.

Although more and more experts were flooding into the Safe Zone, and Shi An had formed collaborations with the Countermeasures Bureau to obtain highly classified information, his job at the Newcomer Guidance Department still brought him useful news from time to time. The intelligence from the Safe Zone and the Bureau leaned towards the macro level, while the news from his day job was far more specific to individual incidents.

Besides, as the Manager of the Safe Zone, his persona prevented him from asking certain questions. But in reality, he was just "rookie Shi An." He could ask anything he didn’t understand right on the spot without leaving his confusion for tomorrow. Plus, his colleagues at the Newcomer Guidance Department were pleasant to talk to, and he could hear a lot of interesting gossip. He really loved working here.

In the office, Li Hao was speaking animatedly.

"I’m telling you all, the ’supernatural incident’ on West River Road a while ago was finally investigated to not be an actual supernatural entity, but the doing of a Dream Descender.

"Over the past six months to a year, the number of Dream Descenders has been growing, and crimes committed by them are becoming increasingly common. I just don’t know why more and more people in Baijiang City are descending into dreams."

As he spoke, his expression turned bitter.

Shi An, on the other hand, knew the exact reason. Baijiang had sunk into the Sea of Nightmares and was constantly under its influence. With Nightmares everywhere outside, the probability of an ordinary person becoming entangled by one naturally skyrocketed by ten or even a hundred times.

Just then, Old Song walked over and called out to the entire group. "Let’s go, let’s go! Higher-ups issued us a task to guide a batch of newcomers who have a very high probability of descending into dreams."

The main objective was to explain matters related to Dream Descenders and guide the newcomers away from the wrong path. Shi An had already done this type of work a few times since joining the department.

Usually, he would team up with one colleague, and the two of them would take charge of a single newcomer. It was quite rare for the entire group to be dispatched like this. Moreover...

"These are newcomers who haven’t descended into a dream yet, but the Bureau has determined they will definitely be entangled by a Nightmare?" Shi An wondered.

This time, their work location wasn’t at some rookie Dream Descender’s home. Instead, it was at the Countermeasures Bureau’s Baijiang Headquarter.

Jiang Yilu chimed in, "I haven’t been to the Baijiang Headquarter yet! Expectant.jpg."

The group took the department’s official vehicle and drove toward the Baijiang Headquarter. Ten minutes later, a magnificent building came into view—it was one of Baijiang City’s iconic landmarks.