Chapter 96 - 91: Choose Five Out of Seven

Chapter 96: Chapter 91: Choose Five Out of Seven

Safe Zone, Manager’s Office.

Even now, Shi An felt a chill wash over him, his hands and feet ice-cold.

He had never had a clear concept of the real-world dangers facing Baijiang City. After all, the overall situation had seemed stable, and with his personal bodyguard, the Nether Robe, he could brute-force his way out of most perilous situations.

But...

’Baijiang City has already fallen into the Sea of Nightmares!’

’I’ve heard Old Yao and Old Song talk about it before. Nightmare invasions have disaster levels. The ones I’d encountered were the most basic, where the Nightmare doesn’t permanently exist in reality. But above that, there are permanent Nightmares and expanding Nightmares.’

’And if a Nightmare expands, continuously devouring inch by inch of real-world land, that area might eventually fall completely into the Nightmare, becoming a permanent part of it.’

’Rumor has it that in Baijiang, an entire skyscraper and a whole village were once devoured by a Nightmare, vanishing from reality.’

Shi An, in his paranoid moments, had once wondered: what if the Nightmare corrosion worsened and the situation spun out of control? Could the entirety of Baijiang City be swallowed by a Nightmare?

It turned out his paranoia wasn’t nearly severe enough.

It wasn’t a question of *if* it would be swallowed.

Baijiang had been swallowed long ago!

The entire Great Xia might be gone!

’No, calm down, calm down. Things might not be at their worst just yet.’

Shi An’s sealed memories were now unlocked.

He remembered. About a year ago, when he was still a senior in college.

On that day, the sky changed.

An eclipse! The sky fell! The earth sank! The city plummeted!

The entire Baijiang City was shrouded in an endless gray fog, as if trapped in the most desperate, hellish apocalypse.

The cataclysm was brief.

Even after breaking through the ’mental fog,’ Shi An’s memories of that time were hazy.

He had been a completely ordinary person back then.

Baijiang City wasn’t devoured bit by bit. It was swallowed in a single gulp, falling into the Sea of Nightmares.

The city as a whole.

The disaster struck quickly and ended just as fast.

With the mental fog taking effect, it was as if nothing had ever happened in Baijiang City.

Except... people no longer left Baijiang City. They no longer thought about the world outside it.

’The bad news is, Baijiang City is surrounded on all sides by Nightmares. They crash against it like a tide, which is why the number of Nightmare invasion incidents in Baijiang has risen exponentially over the past year.’

’The silver lining, if you can call it that, is that Baijiang was swallowed but hasn’t been fully digested. The city can still be considered ’reality’ to some extent, capable of resisting the rules of the Nightmare World. I just don’t know how much longer it can hold out.’

Shi An recalled.

’Baijiang City is part of the Great Xia’s Celestial South Province. Before the city fell, there seemed to be some ’rumors’ online. I didn’t pay much attention at the time. After all, you can’t believe everything on the internet, and with the advent of AI, it’s become even harder to tell real videos from fakes.’

’Thinking back now, the disaster of a falling city probably didn’t just happen to Baijiang. What I don’t know is whether the entire Great Xia, or even the whole of Blue Star, has been devoured by Nightmares, or if it’s just a few, or a few dozen, cities.’

Shi An didn’t know.

He then wondered, ’Do Dream Descenders in Baijiang City like Long Niu know about this "Foggy City" situation?’

He guessed there was a 99% chance Long Niu knew.

Not just Long Niu. Figures like Jiang Peng and Profound Sword, who were from the Direct Lineages of major organizations and held high status, probably knew the secret as well.

But ordinary people, and even the vast majority of Dream Descenders—including a former Control Stage expert like Hair Ghost—would have no idea.

’It’s right to keep it a secret.’

If ordinary people learned that Baijiang was a city in the fog, the entire populace would instantly fall into a panic.

And that panic, with everyone knowing about the Nightmares, would likely accelerate the Nightmare invasions, making an already critical situation even worse.

Shi An’s expression was heavy.

Now that he knew the truth, Baijiang City, in his eyes, was a great ship that could sink at any moment.

He used to think that when the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up.

However, Baijiang was an isolated city. The "tallest ones" here were probably the Master of Extreme Intent and the head of the Countermeasures Bureau.

There were no reinforcements!

’I’m afraid I, Manager Shi, am one of the tall ones too!’

He did have the Safe Zone to rely on. Even if the entire city sank, he could escape unscathed.

However, he was human.

If Baijiang sank, he would be nothing more than a lonely ghost.

Setting aside the fact that he’d no longer be able to find Dream Descenders to work for him, humans are social animals. If the roots die and the tree rots, how can a single, lonely leaf survive on its own?

’This is tricky! So tricky!’

Shi An suddenly felt an immense pressure, as if a thousand ghouls were chasing him from behind.

The pressure of cramming for an exam the night before, or having zero Chapters ready for a book launch tomorrow, was nothing compared to this!

After all, he, Manager Shi, was just a newbie, an ordinary person, yet he had to shoulder the burden of Baijiang’s three districts, six counties, and three million people!

’This burden is too heavy!’

However,

’Baijiang City managed to hold on for a year and a half after being swallowed. There’s no reason it should sink right after I’ve started managing the Safe Zone.’

’Old Baijiang, you have to hold on a little longer. Give us some time to develop.’

’At this point, worrying won’t do any good.’

He was too weak.

’Time to get stronger!’

The Ancient Village Nightmare had already been cleared.

Shi An brought up the notification that had popped up when the Nightmare was cleared.

[Ding!]

[Hint: You have led the clearing of the ’Core Level Nightmare: Ancient Village’, gaining 1000 units of Belief Value.]

[Hint: You may select five of the following seven options as your spoils of war.]

A Core Level Nightmare!

As expected, the rewards from clearing the Ancient Village Nightmare were a whole tier higher than those from the Pollution Spring Nightmare.

Shi An examined the options carefully.

——

[Option ①: Dream Curse Object ’Crow’s Whistle (Rare)’]

[Description: This Curse Object can emit a piercing shriek that assaults the Spirit.]

...

[Option ②: Blueprint ’Curse Testing Device (Special)’.]

[Description: A set of facilities that can test the amount of Curse Power. This facility can be integrated into various Safe Zone buildings.]

[Note: This blueprint can be recorded in the Alchemy Workshop. As long as you have sufficient Materials, you can produce it infinitely.]

...

[Option ③: Member Card ×5.]

[Description: Omitted.]

...

[Option ④: Safe Zone Employee Contract Slot ×1.]

[Description: Increases the maximum number of Safe Zone employee contracts.]

This reward...

’Brilliant!’

’Is this because I absorbed the Nightmare’s source?’

...

[Option ⑤: Dream Curse Object ’Mask of Night Shadow (Excellence)’]

[Description: Possesses the power to manipulate Shadows and condense an energy body. Difficult for ordinary people and Ordinary Dream Descenders to use.]

Shi An’s eyes widened.

An Excellence Level Curse Object!

He had heard of them, but this was the first time he’d ever seen one.

Judging by the description alone, it didn’t seem that much stronger than a Rare Level Curse Object.

However, he knew deep down that the gap between the two must be enormous.

’Although it’s likely that even Ordinary Dream Descenders can’t use this "Mask of Night Shadow" directly... I can!’

Shi An had already mentally checked this item off his list.

...

[Option ⑥: Special Building · Inn.]

[Description: Allows for the direct placement of a special building, the ’Inn’. The Inn offers a relatively pleasant living environment and provides buffs such as ’Peaceful Sleep’, ’Calm Mind’, and ’Slow Status Recovery’.]

’This one is good too!’

It seemed like an upgraded version of the lounge from before.

Setting the buffs aside, at the very least, an inn was definitely bigger than a mere lounge.

The Safe Zone was currently facing problems with limited space and poor lodging. Even if this inn didn’t have powerful special effects, Shi An would choose to build it.

...

[Option ⑦: Special Building Blueprint ’Watchtower (3/3)’.]

[Description 01: This building can be constructed outside the Safe Zone and does not occupy the Safe Zone’s own building slots. This blueprint allows for the construction of up to three Watchtowers.]

[Description 02: The Watchtower does not possess the ’Absolute Barrier’ ability, but it still has strong defenses and resistance to corrosion. Additionally, once a Watchtower is built, the Safe Zone’s field of vision and Customer Range will extend forward from the Watchtower’s location.]

[Construction Requirements: ...]

’This building!’

Although the building wasn’t marked with a grade, Shi An knew that this Watchtower was the real SSR.

He didn’t know if the Customer Range would expand after the Safe Zone was upgraded to Level 3.

If it didn’t, he would have to build the Watchtowers, placing them deep in the Nightmares to expand the Safe Zone’s area of influence.

Even if upgrading to Level 3 increased the range for randomly finding Dream Descenders, the fact that Baijiang was an isolated city made the Watchtower crucial in Shi An’s eyes.

’I’ll choose 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7!’

While Shi An had some downtime and began preparing for the Safe Zone’s upgrade...

The Dream Descenders were still busy.

At that moment, the Countermeasures Bureau’s assault teams and Guidance Squads had split into small teams of two or three, rapidly striking out at the surrounding Nightmares.

The Countermeasures Bureau had long been gathering intelligence on the nearby Nightmares.

Even if the Nightmares changed, this relatively fresh intelligence still served as an excellent reference.

They cleared them quickly, advancing at a rapid pace.

The stronger, more efficient teams could even clear a Nightmare in less than an hour.

Besides the assault teams and Guidance Squads, Profound Sword, Xi Xue, Peaches, and a large group of freelance Dream Descenders were also clearing Nightmares with everything they had.

The former group would have cleared the Nightmares even without compensation.

The latter group was being paid—the Countermeasures Bureau had posted relevant commissions in the Safe Zone long ago.

But even without pay, most of the freelance Dream Descenders would have still helped. After this operation, they understood that the Countermeasures Bureau’s actions were directly related to the disaster situation in Baijiang City.

No questions asked. They just got it done.

Shi An wasn’t deliberately paying attention to the Dream Descenders’ progress, but notifications about cleared Nightmares still chimed in his ear from time to time.

[Hint: You have led the clearing of a Nightmare. Belief Value +30.]

[Hint: ...]

[Hint: ...]

The Belief Value kept rising.

He picked reward after reward.

Right after the big battle, Shi An’s stock of Belief Value had dropped to 610 points. But now, after this series of gains, the amount in his pocket had soared to 1880 points.

Far more than what was needed for the Safe Zone upgrade.

’It’s not that much, though.’

’Now that I know its other use, I definitely can’t spend all my Belief Value. I need to keep at least several hundred points on hand as a backup. Otherwise, I won’t feel secure at all.’

Shi An switched to the view from the Witchcraft Flying Eye outside.

Just then, another Nightmare was cleared, but no notification sounded in his ear.

The same had happened with many of the other Nightmares just now.

It was a bit of a shame, but he had expected it.

It was true that only Nightmares already connected to the Safe Zone counted as being ’led by him’. As for whether he actually led them or played any role... well, that wasn’t really important. He was responsible for opening the door, the Dream Descenders were responsible for clearing them, and everyone would have a bri~ght~ fu~ture~.

With everyone working together, the Countermeasures Bureau’s mission was more than just a success.

The Nightmares in the entire Ancient Village Region had been completely wiped out.

Now, the gray fog of the Nightmares was dissipating. In many of them, glass-like cracks could be seen across the sky and ground.

The Nightmares were shattering.

Some Dream Descenders didn’t even have time to run back to the Safe Zone before they were returned to reality along with the collapsing Nightmares.

Even for those who did make it back to the Safe Zone, once the Nightmare they were in was completely cleared and shattered, they felt the signs that they would soon be returning to reality.

Outside the Safe Zone’s storefront, one Nightmare scene after another vanished.

Until it was completely dark, and the white fog once again enveloped the Safe Zone.

The exhausted Dream Descenders returned to reality.

Shi An also pressed the button to upgrade the Safe Zone.

He returned to his rental apartment and pulled open the curtains.

The first light of dawn was breaking. The sky above Baijiang City was half dim, half bright.

Like the city’s own uncertain future.