Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Mimicry

In the forest of the Dream Realm, amidst the giant trees and lush grass, behind a massive stone, a white fox hides, cautiously peering at the scene behind the stone, trembling from fear.

Not far from the giant stone where the little white fox is hiding, a massive dragon, about ten meters long, stands proudly. Its regal head is raised high, broad wings resting on the ground, long spines gently swaying in the air, and tiny specks of light are scattered around. The little white fox knows that these light specks belong to the hyenas that had been chasing her earlier.

‘A dragon!? It’s actually a dragon? And it’s not just an illusion. Grandpa said nothing about such things existing in the forest! Is this a Dream Realm being from another plane!?’

The little white fox thinks nervously. She has wandered through the Dream Realm several times, encountering various Dream Realm beings and the mimicry of other travelers, but almost all of them did not exceed the biological scope of the real world. And now there’s a dragon here!? What a joke!

The little white fox is quite panicked. She wants to run away immediately, but when she sees the dragon swipe its tail and k*ll a fleeing hyena, she no longer dares to venture out.

Though the dragon saved her from the hyenas, the little white fox considers thanking it. However, the overwhelming aura the dragon exudes makes her hesitate. She cannot ascertain its attitude toward her and fears that if she goes out, the dragon might accidentally squash her.

Being eliminated while mimicking is quite painful!

So, the little white fox trembles behind the stone, hoping that the dragon will leave soon. However, the dragon pauses briefly after eliminating all the hyenas, then slowly turns its head toward the giant stone where the little white fox is concealed.

“Come out…”

Looking at the stone before her, Dorothy opens her mouth. She uses a dragon-like voice that is deep, long, and loud—a voice that sounds like rumbling thunder. The little fox, hiding behind the giant stone, becomes terrified, its fur standing on end, and immediately scurries out, lying down and hurriedly apologizing to Dorothy.

“I’m very sorry, your excellency! I didn’t mean to hide from you! It’s just… I wasn’t ready yet… I thought I should adjust my mindset before coming out. I didn’t expect you to see right through me; you truly are extraordinarily powerful!”

Hearing the little fox’s words, Dorothy can’t help but feel a bit embarrassed inside.

‘Extraordinarily powerful? It’s just that you didn’t hide your tail well, and it was sticking out. ’

Dorothy chuckles internally but doesn’t point it out. She carefully examines the trembling little fox in front of her and then asks, “Why were they chasing you?”

Upon hearing Dorothy’s thunderous words resembling rolling thunder, the little fox shivers and tentatively replies.

“Um, uh, your excellency, those guys are Dream Realm hunters from the Black Dream Hunter Group. It’s a secret society that mainly operates in the Dream Realm, often hunting the mimicry of other travelers in groups and stealing their spoils in the Dream Realm. I’m just an ordinary traveler; I accidentally caught their attention before. Thank you for your help, your excellency!”

Cautiously, the little fox speaks to Dorothy, and Dorothy understands.

‘Hunters from the Black Dream Society? Mimicry of travelers? Those hyenas and this fox are not Dream Realm beings; they are real-world humans like me? They entered the Dream Realm in the form of mimicry?’

‘So I just wiped out a team of mimickers from a secret society in the Dream Realm? This dragon’s mimicry is incredibly strong!’

From the annotations in “The Dream Explorer’s Record,” Dorothy knows that battles can occur in the Dream Realm. The Dream Realm is different from the real world and has its own unique rules. Except for a few special pathways, the abilities of the real world rarely affect the Dream Realm directly.

In the Dream Realm, the combat power of a traveler is determined by two factors: the traveler’s mental strength and the strength of their mimicry. Mental strength primarily determines the duration of mimicry, while mimicry mainly determines combat effectiveness… Dorothy’s dragon mimicry is undoubtedly powerful enough to eliminate those hyenas.

Even if those people are stronger than Dorothy in the real world…

According to “The Dream Explorer’s Record,” being eliminated while mimicking in the Dream Realm leads to severe mental trauma for the real-world body, which takes a long time to recover and can sometimes lead to loss of control, but it does not result in immediate d*ath.

‘It’s just like a brain-machine interactive MMORPG themed around the animal world…’

Dorothy thinks this while contemplating, and in front of her, the little white fox falls silent, feeling a surge of anxiety.

‘Ah… This is bad. Why isn’t he saying anything? Could it be that he doesn’t quite understand Dream Realm beings of the real world?’

Reaching this conclusion, the little fox hurriedly explains to Dorothy, “Um, that… you might not quite understand what I said. Travelers are beings who enter this world by dreaming, and mimicry is…”

Hearing the little fox explain, Dorothy gives her a brief glance and then says, “No need to explain. I am the mimicry…”

“What… You… are also mimicry?!”

At Dorothy’s words, the little fox almost jumps up in surprise, its fur bristling.

‘H-h-h-he… said he is also mimicry?! That means he is also a being who comes to the Dream Realm from the real world? Not a Dream Realm being?!’

Upon hearing Dorothy’s statement, the little fox is even more shocked, more so than when she first saw Dorothy.

Mimicry? Dragon mimicry? What does this mean? It means the other party possesses extremely ancient and forbidden mystical knowledge, capable of creating mimicry of long-extinct ancient creatures with forbidden spells!

To be able to mimic as a dragon in the dream means that their real body must belong to the upper echelons of powerful secret organizations.

If this dragon before me is indeed a mimicry, then its real body must have an extraordinary identity in the real world!

Which organization is he from? Silent Brotherhood? Placenta Sect? Unceasing Breath? White Stone Craftsmen Guild? Or some country’s secret operative? He might even be part of the Radiant Church!? Or perhaps he is a great existence in the mortal realm?

A multitude of powerful factions and organizations flashes through the little fox’s mind, and her small mind becomes a tangled mess of thoughts while Dorothy has no time to waste here.

Her mental strength is quickly diminishing.

“Goodbye, little one. Be careful next time not to get targeted again…”

As she says this, Dorothy prepares to spread her wings and fly away. The little white fox, shocked, hesitates for a moment and then quickly speaks.

“Please, please wait! Your excellency!”

Hearing the little white fox’s words, Dorothy pauses slightly and then turns back to look at her. The little fox begins to speak uneasily.

“Thank you for rescuing me tonight. My grandfather once said that one must remember to repay kindness, even if I am just a small character. No matter how great the contribution, I doubt someone of your status would care, but I still want to offer a little token of thanks…”

‘Ah? The little fox wants to repay me?’

Upon hearing the little fox’s words, Dorothy forces herself to maintain her dwindling mental strength. Frankly speaking, if it were possible, she would really want to pet this little fox, but she fears that using her dragon form might accidentally destroy its mimicry.

Looking at the dragon in front of her, the little fox takes a breath and then expels a small, ghostly blue light ball from her mouth.

“I often come to this Dream Realm to seek hidden Secret Transmissions, but they are difficult to find. Tonight’s gain is my only achievement in over a month. I know that your excellency might have already mastered this Secret Transmission and will completely disregard it, but this is still a little token of my sincere gratitude, so please don’t disapprove of it.”