Chapter 177 - 143: Nine Cities, Nightmare Town, Wonder

Chapter 177: Chapter 143: Nine Cities, Nightmare Town, Wonder

This was perfectly normal.

Wonder architectures were born from the entangling Rule Power of the Nightmare World. Humans couldn’t build them; they could only seek them out and occupy them. Being able to construct buildings with special effects or Cultivation Sites was already a testament to a camp’s profound foundation.

After learning the intel about the Pseudo-Men, Chen Moxuan stated that his group was willing to stay in Baijiang for a week to help track down and investigate them. They possessed certain methods and technologies that Baijiang City lacked.

After all, before the city-falling catastrophe, Celestial South City had been the provincial capital of Celestial South Province. Its population, technology, and the strength of its Countermeasures Bureau far exceeded Baijiang’s.

Subsequently, Chen Moxuan added, "Director Yan, we also came with a mission regarding the ’Nine Cities Drill’."

"Oh?" Director Yan and Long Team understood at once.

Though called a drill, it was actually a competition—a contest designed to secure more resources. These Nine Cities were the nine known human ’Present Realm cities’ in their current region. However, Baijiang, Lindong, and Chongshan—these Three Cities—were relatively close to each other. Baijiang usually only interacted with Lindong and Chongshan; traveling to Celestial South City was a bit too far.

Moreover, the remaining five cities were not Great Xia Cities. Logically, since all the cities had fallen and were now struggling to survive in the Nightmare World, there shouldn’t be any national distinctions. But some people didn’t see it that way.

It was said that Grey Harbor City of the White-headed Eagle Country frequently fought them for resources. Plundering had always been the White-headed Eagle’s usual tactic.

Chen Moxuan explained, "What the Nine Cities Drill is fighting for is the allocation share of that wondrous place Deep in the Ghost Forest—the Land of Revelation!"

Director Yan and Long Team had heard a little about the Land of Revelation. It was a region discovered by various experts three months ago, although its core hadn’t been accessible at the time. Among those who discovered it was the director of their Baijiang City Countermeasures Bureau, ’Director Du’. Thus, Baijiang was also qualified to participate.

Director Du had been away from the city for a long time now, seemingly busy with matters concerning the Land of Revelation.

Director Yan pondered for a moment before asking, "I heard the Land of Revelation is rich in resources and even contains a wonder architecture?"

"That’s right!"

Chen Moxuan said, "Just on the outskirts of the Land of Revelation, the exploration team found a highly abundant Dream Crystal Vein. Rumors say there’s more than one wonder architecture inside, but most have been destroyed, leaving only ruins completely devoid of any Divine properties.

"However, one wonder architecture remains perfectly intact—the Qiming Tower! It’s said this building can provide guidance to its users. Those at the Peak of Third Refinements Realm can receive ’revelations for the Extraordinary Ceremony’, Transcendents in the Extraordinary Realm can receive ’revelations for Talent Development’, and there even seems to be guidance for a higher Tier, the Ascension Realm!"

Hearing Captain Chen’s words, Director Yan and Long Team instantly grasped the importance of the Land of Revelation. No wonder the director had stayed there all this time! The Nine Cities Drill was also a battle for the quotas to use the Qiming Tower!

Wonder architectures possessed boundless Divine properties, but because of that, they had various usage restrictions. The more miraculous a wonder architecture was, the fewer slots it could offer.

But then again...

"We have to deal with the Pseudo-Men first, or at least heavily cripple their race. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease sending a group of experts to the Land of Revelation!"

Director Yan fully understood that the resources and opportunities in the Land of Revelation were vital to Baijiang City’s future. After Baijiang City’s fall, its future had looked incredibly bleak. They had to seize every possible opportunity. Otherwise, the city’s current situation was nothing more than a slow death. This was exactly why Director Du, the Various Hall Masters, and the First Seat spent most of their time outside the city, searching for opportunities.

But the Pseudo-Man disaster threatened their present! If reality was destroyed, the future would be nothing but an illusion.

Amidst his thoughts, alarms blared through the bureau. Another Nightmare invasion disaster had appeared.

Long Xingzhou prepared to head out. Chen Moxuan figured since he was already here, he might as well lend a hand. He was well aware of the Countermeasures Bureau’s severe manpower shortage. It was the same everywhere; Celestial South City had more experts, but they also had a much larger area to defend.

But soon, just as the group was about to set off, the alarm stopped. Word came that a nearby independent expert had taken action.

"An independent expert?"

"Anyone capable of repelling a Nightmare is basically an expert at the Refining Stage. Why does it feel like Baijiang has an unusually high number of independent experts?"

For some reason, Chen Moxuan immediately thought of the Safe Zone. He was someone who couldn’t sit idle anyway, and investigating the Pseudo-Men required entering the Nightmare World.

Thus, only half a day later, Chen Moxuan and Long Team took a couple of trusted subordinates and ventured Deep in the Nightmare once more. When it came to investigating the Pseudo-Men, the Lighthouse was a crucial link. Chen Moxuan also wanted to see just how profound the Lighthouse’s light truly was.

Consequently, led by Fen Huo, the group spent some time on a long and arduous trek before finally arriving at the Lighthouse Camp.

From a distance, they saw guard towers rising from the mining area one after another. The city wall, built primarily with Fire Radiance Stone Materials, was a full three meters high and half a meter thick. This wall wasn’t meant to block monstrous attacks—though it could—its main purpose was concealment, preventing human scents from leaking out and attracting anomalies. Naturally, the taller and thicker the wall, the more secure the concealment.

Beyond the wall stood rows of three-story villas. Surprisingly, some flowers and plants were even planted in front of them. Although they were hard to keep alive and many of the plants and small trees were somewhat withered, doing any kind of Planting and landscaping in the Nightmare World was an incredible feat in itself. Only camps with no survival worries would have the luxury to tinker with such things.

"So this is the Safe Zone camp?" Chen Moxuan gave a slight nod. It indeed had the grandeur of a major camp.

However, Fen Huo clarified, "No, it isn’t. This is just the Lighthouse Camp. But this is where the Pseudo-Man Extraordinary was exposed."

The Lighthouse’s light shone down, looking like perfectly Ordinary light. But since Chen Moxuan and Long Xingzhou were experts in the Extraordinary Realm, their application of Curse Power and their perception of heaven and earth far exceeded others. They could indeed sense wisps of a special power emanating from the light.

Upon the arrival of the two Transcendents, Guardian Chen Jianghuai personally welcomed them and led the group to the Lighthouse’s top floor.

Before the door leading to the Safe Zone.

CREAK!

Chen Jianghuai pushed the door open. What met their eyes was a bustling hall filled with a cacophony of voices. High above the hall, chandeliers were diffusing a bright yellow light similar to that of the Lighthouse.

Long Team and Chen Moxuan were in no mood to care about that right now. They just wanted to ask, "Is this real? How is this possible?"

How could the two sides of the door feel like entirely different worlds? Was this still the Nightmare World?

Chen Jianghuai chuckled inwardly. He had reacted the exact same way back then. He had thought it was just due to his lack of experience. Since he used to have to guard the village, he truly hadn’t had many opportunities to travel Deep in the Nightmare.

Yet even Long Xingzhou and Chen Moxuan, who were knowledgeable and experienced Transcendents in the Extraordinary Realm, were left completely stunned.

Chen Moxuan stroked his goatee and remarked, "Actually, it’s just a camp with a decor more akin to modern times and the Present Realm."

"Indeed," Long Xingzhou agreed, "but the door connecting through Space is a bit special. Moreover, there really are a lot of Dream Descenders in this camp!"

He could sense it. While there were quite a few Ordinary Dream Descenders inside, there was an even larger number of those in the Refining Stage. No matter where you went, cultivators in the Refining Stage were considered experts, worthy of being the backbone of any Guidance Squad or exploration team.

While he was lost in thought, a six-person team walked past them, laughing and chatting as they pushed the door open and left. Long Xingzhou vaguely caught words like "Guidance Squad" and "anomaly Leader".

But when he looked back, the six people had clearly just pushed the door and left, yet there was no sign of them in the Lighthouse corridor behind it.

"What’s going on?" The two men were dumbfounded.

A member standing nearby said, "Mister, you guys must be new here, right?"

"Me? Mister?" Chen Moxuan pointed at himself, but he didn’t deny that he was... well, someone who had just arrived at this camp.

The helpful passerby explained, "Our Safe Zone works like this. When everyone leaves, they return to the area where they experienced their Fallen Dream. Since the areas are different, you naturally won’t see anyone."

"So those six people just now will also enter different Nightmare Areas?"

"Oh, not exactly. They’re from the Guidance Squad. Since their team is bound together, they’ll naturally leave through the same door."

The helpful passerby looked as if it were the most natural thing in the world. But was it really that natural?

"Connecting dozens, even hundreds of areas... Is this what the true Safe Zone is?"