Chapter 78 - 75: Sentient Weird, Nine Great Members

Chapter 78: Chapter 75: Sentient Weird, Nine Great Members

Nightmare.

Within the Ancient Village, a massive Nightmare was surrounded by countless smaller ones.

Ominous clouds blotted out the moon, and wisps of black mist drifted among them.

Deathly silence was its eternal theme.

Unlike other Nightmares, which Dream Descenders would occasionally enter, explore, die in, or conquer, the Ancient Village Nightmare was exceptionally desolate.

No Dream Descender ever fell directly into this place.

Its environment, unlike the surrounding Nightmares, never changed, reset, or renewed itself.

Everything here seemed frozen in time.

Except...

In the center of the village.

A figure cloaked in a black robe sat silently on a flight of steps, its withered hands like claws.

In the dead of night, its eyes glowed with a faint, brownish-red light.

Within that light, scenes from one Nightmare after another seemed to be reflected.

A Butcher, torn to shreds;

A nurse, chasing down Dream Descenders;

A desolate street;

And,

at the entrance to the Ancient Village, two figures in black trench coats, exploring with caution.

"Ghehehehe, humans~!"

The black-robed figure... the black-robed anomaly gazed off in another direction.

There lay another massive Nightmare within its ’jurisdiction’.

The last time, something had appeared in that Nightmare—something that even the Nightmare’s own consciousness instinctively coveted.

But it had vanished too quickly.

The black-robed anomaly was certain, however, that the thing was still somewhere nearby.

’If I can just find it and offer it to the great Master of Nightmares, I’ll surely be promoted!’

Having already awakened its own consciousness, the black-robed anomaly was by no means content with just being a Nightmare Region boss.

It was not satisfied with being trapped in this corner of the world!

The only problem was, that human shop it coveted was nowhere to be found.

Its consciousness roamed through dozens of surrounding Nightmares, yet it still couldn’t find it.

The black-robed anomaly’s gaze fell once more upon the figures in black trench coats scattered throughout the surrounding Nightmares.

’All humans!’

’And so many of them in those black trench coats. They stick out like a sore thumb!’

’If I follow this clue, I’ll definitely find that strange little human shop!’

’The humans are delivering themselves right to my doorstep.’

"Ghehehehehe!"

...

Countermeasures Bureau, Headquarters.

Underground Training Ground.

"HISS~!"

A heavy alloy door slid open.

The Deputy Captain of the Twelfth Squad, "Returning Stream" Chen Baichuan, walked out.

Behind him, a web of translucent, viscous fluid crisscrossed like blood vessels or a network of streams.

It all converged on a single, core point.

Then, it erupted.

This was his Lifebound Curse Art—Baichuan Returning Stream!

Although it was still far from the state he envisioned, unleashing such destructive power at the Realm of First Refinement...

Chen Baichuan was more than satisfied; he was proud.

’It’s a shame. Baichuan Returning Stream is just one small breakthrough away from reaching the Master Level.’

’But this is more than enough.’

Entry Level, Proficient, Master Level, Peak of Perfection, and Mastery!

The higher the proficiency, the more nimble the control and the more Curse Power one could channel.

But the true strength of a Curse Art depended more on one’s own realm and the nature of the art itself.

Take the Universal Curse Art, Instantaneous Sword. Even if he trained it to the Peak Realm of mastery, its destructive power would be nowhere near that of Baichuan Returning Stream.

This was determined by the very nature of the Curse Art.

Among the many Curse Arts known to the Countermeasures Bureau, Baichuan Returning Stream was considered top-tier!

Not only that,

over the past two days, the Countermeasures Bureau had poured a massive amount of resources and Treasures into people like him.

His improvements went far beyond just his control over his Curse Art.

His physical strength had increased!

The Curse Power reserves within his refined Lifebound Curse Object had also grown substantially!

While both were in the First Refinement Realm, the destructive power a Direct Lineage expert from the Countermeasures Bureau like him could unleash with a Curse Art was naturally far beyond what a civilian of the Refining Realm could compare to.

This was the advantage of being backed by a large organization!

Chen Baichuan had heard of a civilian genius named Lin Xiao, who was about his age. It had only taken him two or three, maybe four, months as a Dream Descender to enter the Refining Stage.

The man’s natural talent was no less than his own.

’But his combat power is surely far below mine, even at the same level.’

If Lin Xiao hadn’t already gone missing, likely having perished in the Nightmare World, Chen Baichuan would have truly wanted to have a friendly match with this young genius.

’What a shame...’

’On the other hand, Rakshasa Sword, Alchemist, and Wan Xie... As expected of those who trained under Baijiang’s top experts, they’re truly formidable.’

The most formidable of them was Rakshasa Sword, the direct disciple of the Master of Extreme Intent.

He had somehow taken the common Instantaneous Sword and elevated it, demonstrating a skilled and exquisite control that turned something mundane into the miraculous.

He had even integrated this ordinary Universal Curse Art into his own Lifebound Swordsmanship.

However, Rakshasa Sword was much older than him, so Chen Baichuan had no desire to compete.

In another area of the Countermeasures Bureau.

Alchemist and Wan Xie were both preparing their combat supplies.

Their combat effectiveness often depended on the amount of items they had in reserve.

They had agreed to join the assault team this time partly because the major powers of Baijiang City had formed an alliance to live or die together, and partly because of the rich resources promised by the Countermeasures Bureau.

After all, the Countermeasures Bureau was the wealthiest organization in all of Baijiang.

Even if they currently couldn’t get support from...

Using the Countermeasures Bureau’s reserves of Materials, Alchemist had created several Potions he had long envisioned.

His own realm had even improved slightly.

Wan Xie, meanwhile, had relied on the Bureau’s resources to perfect his own Lifebound Curse Art.

The Tier of his Curse Art had been raised!

...

At this moment,

VMMMM—!

in the Nightmare World.

With the final procedure complete, the permanent encampment built by the Countermeasures Bureau was finished.

But while the camp was called permanent, in the final moment before its completion, the Countermeasures Bureau had used special means to transport it to the Ancient Village Region.

This was their only chance to do so.

Once completed, the camp would become permanently fixed, integrated into the local Nightmare.

The camp was moved and set down.

Rings of dim, gray light flowed around its outer walls, rendering the entire camp invisible.

Even though the camp had been abruptly embedded into this Nightmare, it didn’t attract the attention of any local anomalies.

This was the true, final step of the process.

"The logistics camp is complete. The next phase of the plan can now begin."

...

Safe Zone.

Shi An stared at the location on the map representing the Ancient Village Nightmare and fell into thought.

’Come to think of it, that ’malicious gaze’ last time seemed to come from that direction.’

Regardless of whether the Ancient Village Nightmare was the core of this whole mess, its unique nature made Shi An eager to investigate.

’With the current strength of Profound Sword, Xi Xue, and Hair Ghost, if I form them into a small team to take on a large-scale Nightmare, they’re more than capable of conquering it.’

’But...’

’I have to be cautious!’

’How can I just assume the Ancient Village Nightmare is nothing more than a large-scale Nightmare?’

’I need to play it safer. A few more precautions are in order.’

Shi An was in no hurry to act in the next day or two.

He planned to spend some time training the young Lin Xiao. In his eyes, the boy still had a great deal of room for improvement.

Profound Sword, Xi Xue, and the others were also in a period of rapid growth.

Besides, the Dream Descenders in the Safe Zone were no longer just a handful of experts like before.

Shi An had already discovered several talented individuals.

He had been funneling specific missions to these individuals, giving them more opportunities to earn Contribution Points.

They had either already been granted, or were about to be granted, member status.

They would become the nine great members of the Safe Zone’s current stage.