**Chapter 8: Awakening from a Dream**
“Can you really do whatever you want in your dreams?”
Night Star Lan suddenly pondered this, and it certainly matched the quirks of dreams.
So, in this world, could everything she thinks of actually become reality?
Is this… even better than a Wish Machine?
Before Night Star Lan could dwell on it for too long, Night Feather spoke up again.
“By the way, why are there two Night Lans? Although their hair and eye colors are different, they seem like the same person, don’t they?”
Night Feather finally asked the burning question.
She had already spotted two familiar faces earlier and was filled with confusion.
At this moment, Night Star Lan also realized that Night Lan and Night Star were both present.
Night Lan was fine, but the implications of Night Star were quite problematic!
Then Night Lan began to stammer.
“Um… ah… you see, I always wanted a silver-haired, red-eyed little sister, and this dream world made that wish come true—just like how it worked for you, Night Feather!”
Night Lan blurted this out without hesitation, feeling quite pleased with her cleverness.
Look at her, adapting and thinking on her feet!
Night Feather pondered for a moment, and soon accepted the explanation.
“Good! You and your sister shall now be my loyal subordinates! It is your honor to be under my protection!”
“Ah, haha…”
Night Lan thought Night Feather’s chuunibyou was getting worse.
Could it be that the dream world was enriching her character?
With that, Night Lan decided to play along.
“Well then, Night Feather, what’s next on your agenda?”
“Of course, I shall patrol my domain! The entire realm of darkness is my territory, and as the ruler, it is only natural to inspect what I control. You shall follow in my footsteps.”
“Mmmhm.”
Night Star Lan nodded, planning to tag along with Night Feather.
After all, this was way better than wandering around alone.
Instead of aimlessly exploring, she’d rather walk with someone she knew.
Sure, Night Feather had a quirky personality, but at least she was a relatively reliable friend.
And so, Night Star Lan and Night Feather began their stroll through the unfamiliar city.
During their jaunt, Night Star Lan encountered many bizarre characters.
They all seemed like ordinary citizens of the capital, freely expressing their true selves in their dreams.
The dream realm granted them the wacky powers they wished for.
If they just wanted to fulfill their desires, it usually happened.
So, Night Star Lan saw all sorts of oddballs.
For example, a billionaire tossing money in the street, a young man eager to pilot a giant robot, and some aerial superhero wanting to switch identities—all just regular folks with extraordinary ambitions.
No longer constricted by reality, their bizarre dreams manifested in absurd ways.
At one point, Night Star Lan decided to give the dream’s powers a test drive and found that it worked like a charm.
For instance, when she thought about food, it instantly appeared before her.
This sort of felt like another kind of Wish Machine, didn’t it?
If such power were to manifest in the real world, it would definitely throw everything into chaos!
After what felt like ages, Night Star Lan and Night Feather had wandered to many places, meeting all sorts of interesting people.
Suddenly, sounds of a flute wafted through the air.
The mysterious flute tune captured Night Star Lan’s attention, leading her to a specific spot.
She spotted a girl with long hair, about one meter fifty tall, standing on a platform playing a flute. The melodious notes echoed through the dream, weaving a strange magic that lulled people to sleep.
Night Star Lan recognized her—this was also part of the Star Eclipses plot, likely related to this dream world.
But what was up with her playing the flute?
Just when Night Star Lan was swirling in confusion, she began to see the unfolding scene.
Ordinary people, once so lively, were starting to drop to the ground, seemingly caught in the depths of slumber, while Night Feather beside her, too, succumbed like she had just heard a powerful lullaby.
“Eh? What’s going on here?”
Everyone was asleep.
Only Night Star Lan remained wide awake.
As the architects of the dream fell into slumber, a sudden upheaval occurred—the entire world began to collapse.
The dream was breaking!
…
The next day at dawn.
Night Lan and Night Star awoke from their slumber, realizing a whole night had passed.
Was that… all just a dream?
Night Star Lan, unusually clear-headed upon waking, found that dream to be incredibly vivid; the moment she woke carried a sharp sense of disconnection that was hard to ignore.
What on earth was going on?
Just as Night Star Lan pondered her confusion, the doorbell rang.
Quickly, she slipped through the large doors of the theater, while Night Lan ambled over to open the door.
Standing at the threshold was Night Feather, apparently just up from her nap.
“Come forth, my servant! I hear you’re leaving today; it’s my honor to send you off. You should feel special; not just anyone gets this treatment from me!”
The farewell speech dripped with chuunibyou, as expected of Night Feather!
But between her quirkiness, there seemed to be a hint of tsundere?
How bizarre.
Yet now didn’t seem like the time to ponder this; Night Lan was keen to clarify something.
“Um… Night Feather, did you dream last night?”
“Dream? Now that you mention it, I think I did have an interesting dream, but I can’t remember any details! The contents are completely foggy.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
Night Lan suddenly sensed something was amiss.
Could it be that everyone who entered the dream world lost all memories of it?
That seemed a bit strange.
On the other side of the base.
The Night Watcher Qi Xing awoke, clutching her head and trying to piece together something.
“I feel like I had the weirdest dream yesterday, but… I can’t seem to recall any details. I guess it’s normal, but why does it bother me so much?”
Not just her; all the Night Watchers who ventured into the dream the day before had lost their memories of it, without noticing anything unusual.
Since yesterday, when things started to feel off, the Night Watchers still awake had pulled an all-nighter, but still couldn’t find any trace of the Star Eclipses.
Could it be that the “Know Star” alert was just a front?
That couldn’t be; the so-called “Dream Narrator” had definitely appeared right in the capital, yet the headquarters was searching high and low but found no clues. What on earth was going on?
In the command room.
The Leader, having stood from last night into today, wore a grim expression, clearly in a bad mood.
Responsible for the capital’s dark order, he hadn’t found a single lead on the Star Eclipses; if something went wrong, it was on his shoulders.
Just then, someone contacted him.
The Leader adjusted his mood and calmed his emotions.
“Is that you, Night Lan?”
Now Night Lan was reaching out; it seemed she wanted to leave the city.
Initially, he just planned to give a brief acknowledgment and return to thinking about the Star Eclipses. But the message Night Lan sent stunned him momentarily.
“Um… Leader, I think I encountered something quite strange yesterday. I saw the Star Eclipses!”
