Chapter 89 - 86: Architectural Wonder

Chapter 89: Chapter 86: Architectural Wonder

"You mean to say this camp called the Safe Zone has facilities that can support cultivation?"

’What kind of faction would build cultivation facilities in the Nightmare World!?’

Long Niu said it, and he thought it, but he suddenly recalled a secret he had heard from one of the Countermeasures Bureau’s old veterans.

He thought for a moment and said, "According to legend, there are some strange buildings deep within the Nightmare World. These buildings possess all sorts of special, mysterious properties and are known as Miracle Architecture!

"Rumor has it that the Master of Extreme Intent encountered a piece of Miracle Architecture in the Nightmare World when he was young. He had a fortuitous encounter, and that’s how he became a top-tier expert in one fell swoop. The training facilities inside the Extreme Intent Martial Arts Hall were built to imitate that Miracle Architecture, which is why their facilities are a cut above even ours at the Countermeasures Bureau."

Hearing Long Niu’s explanation, Song Jianshen grew thoughtful.

He had also heard the rumors about this Miracle Architecture, but he had always just treated them as stories.

He asked, "Are you saying that the Safe Zone is in control of a piece of Miracle Architecture?"

Long Niu shook his head. "That’s definitely impossible. I mean that this Safe Zone’s Manager might have also seen a Miracle and imitated it to create similar training facilities."

"It’s not just the training facilities. That shop also has a bit of a miraculous feel to it."

The mysteries of the Nightmare World were far beyond imagination.

There was danger, but there was also opportunity.

The deeper one ventured into the Nightmare World, the more opportunities one could encounter.

Long Niu himself was a Dream Descender active in the deeper Nightmares. Although he had never seen this so-called Miracle Architecture, he had encountered some strange places and obtained some Miracles in the Nightmares.

He had once obtained an extremely precious Treasure Medicine.

After consuming the Treasure Medicine, he had only been in the early-to-mid First Refinement Realm, having just integrated his second Lifebound Curse Object. Yet, in one fell swoop, he completely Refined that Curse Object. His Curse Power skyrocketed, and there were no side effects.

He leaped from the early-to-mid First Refinement Realm straight into the Second Refining Realm.

He broke right through the bottleneck in between.

If not for that, Long Niu, who considered himself to have only average talent, would probably still be stuck at the Peak of First Refinement Realm.

He knew that in the Nightmare World, anything could happen.

A Dream Descender who could build their own camp in the Nightmare World was definitely not to be underestimated.

But despite all that, he remained skeptical about the magical effects of the Safe Zone that Old Song described.

"Old Song... Brother Song, you’ve been stuck at the Peak of Control Stage for a long time yourself. Could it be that you just broke through under pressure this time, and the support from the Safe Zone wasn’t actually that significant?"

Long Niu probed.

However, Long Niu’s theory about a ’Miracle’ made Song Jianshen feel it was more and more plausible.

’Logically, such an awesome camp shouldn’t exist in a Shallow Nightmare. But what if the Safe Zone itself isn’t located in a Shallow Nightmare?’

’The Manager just grafted the entrance here!’

This wasn’t some wild guess. He had a basis for it, thanks to guidance from an old member.

The evidence was that the little shop in the Safe Zone had several entrances, and these entrances connected to different Nightmares.

’Since it can connect to different Nightmares, what’s so strange about connecting the Safe Zone from Deep in the Nightmare to a shallow one?’

Song Jianshen said, "In any case, the assault team’s Elites need to rest and recover right now. Why don’t we have a few people come with me to the Safe Zone to try it out? Then we’ll know for sure what it can do."

As they spoke,

a manhole cover in an alley deep within Black Street stirred, and one by one, Elites in black trench coats climbed out.

They were the Elites of the assault team, having withdrawn from the front lines to rest and reorganize.

The majority of the assault team had already pulled back, leaving only a small contingent to garrison a location in the Ancient Village Nightmare and guard the entrance.

These men weren’t badly injured, but their faces were all grim.

"This fight... it’s not going to be easy!"

"Exactly. That aberration boss is intelligent and can command other aberrations. It’s like we’re facing an army of intelligent aberrations that understand tactics!"

"Most importantly, that aberration boss hasn’t shown itself. We still have no idea if it has some other trump card prepared."

"We can only launch a full-frontal assault, but a full-frontal assault is almost impossible."

Morale was a bit low.

Everyone present was a Dream Descender very familiar with the Nightmare World. They all knew that the first wave of an assault had the highest chance of success. If they couldn’t conquer the Nightmare during this first wave, when the team was in peak condition, it would only get harder later on.

After all, even with a supply camp at their backs, the constant battles would drain their energy and cause side effects to accumulate, inevitably leading to a decline in their condition and combat effectiveness.

But the aberrations? Their condition never declined. Any injuries an aberration sustained would heal in no time. Even if they managed to slay an aberration, it would just revive a few hours later.

They couldn’t win a war of attrition.

And they couldn’t win a direct fight.

They were trapped with no way forward or back!

But when the Elites returned to the Black Street Nightmare, they saw that Captain Long Niu’s face held little of the same despair.

’It seems... he has a way to break the stalemate?’

"That’s right," Long Niu said. "Thanks to some discoveries by the logistics team, we now have two ways to break this deadlock. I’m preparing a two-pronged approach. We will reformulate our reconnaissance tactics, and I will dispatch a few people with Group Leader Song to a special camp to pick up some supplies. You can also rest there."

He didn’t say they were going for advanced training.

After all, Long Niu himself didn’t quite believe the Training Ground’s effects were that miraculous.

—He believed the Safe Zone’s Training Ground had its mysteries, but the effects of cultivation couldn’t possibly be instantaneous, and these Dream Descenders only had a week at most to stay.

Most importantly, their purpose in this Fallen Dream was to fight, to conquer it.

Fighting required them to maintain their peak condition, but what about cultivation? That would consume their strength instead.

Right now, the Elites were desperate for more time to rest and recover before fighting the aberrations again. Who would be willing to go cultivate instead?

If he told them they were going for advanced training, probably no one would be willing.

But if he said they were going to pick up supplies, and then they tried a little cultivation under Old Song’s guidance, that might just work.

So, Long Niu picked a few people, as well as the external expert, Rakshasa Sword.

A few of the Countermeasures Bureau Elites were a bit reluctant.

However, two of them had overused their Curse Objects, and some negative corruption was already showing on the surface.

"You two aren’t fit to use Curse Objects for a while, so go get some rest. And Brother Rakshasa Sword, your junior brother is over there. Go and catch up."

Rakshasa Sword, having been called out and with his junior brother present, couldn’t easily refuse.

The other four Countermeasures Bureau Elites were all at the Peak of the Control Stage and had expended a great deal of energy in the battle, so they couldn’t refuse either.

The remaining Elites of the assault team watched with schadenfreude.

They were all Elites; of course, none of them wanted to be forced onto the sidelines to do miscellaneous chores.

However, they were also a little curious. What kind of supplies required Elites from the assault team to go and pick them up personally?

They gathered around the campfire and rested quietly, trying to recover their strength as quickly as possible.

For several hours, no aberrations disturbed them, and the Elites enjoyed a rare moment of peace.

"But why aren’t Old Liu and the others back yet?"

"That’s perfectly normal. Captain Niu said the place they went to get supplies is a special camp where they can also rest. Old Liu and the others are probably just resting there."

"But are there really other camps in this Shallow Nightmare?"

...

「At this moment.」

In the Safe Zone, the few Elites their colleagues were talking about were in the training room, so engrossed in their cultivation they had forgotten everything else.

For a veteran Refining Stage expert like Rakshasa Sword, cultivating in the training room wouldn’t produce any immediate, tangible improvements in a short time.

This was because his own mastery of Curse Arts was already quite high.

But for the Control Stage masters from the Countermeasures Bureau, the focus and the sensation of Curse Power in the Training Ground were exactly what they needed.

They had been studying Curse Arts for a long time but had never been able to reach the Entry Level.

They already had a sufficient foundation.

And now,

"I get it! I get it, hahaha!"

"I did it too!"

...

「Meanwhile.」

Deep within the Ancient Village Nightmare, the aberration boss was waiting.

It watched the motionless Countermeasures Bureau Elites and let out a sinister cackle.

"I am waiting to gather more aberrations. What are you waiting for, humans!"