Chapter 352: The Truth?
As the invisible field enveloped the entire battlefield, all conscious realities were drawn into the dream world, and for the dream demons, what was once their home ground had now become a prison.
They had no choice but to flee because what they faced was the repressed elite of the Extraordinary Academy!
The brutes from the Beast Academy clenched their fists, the other students did the same, as they had been waiting for this moment for far too long.
Their gazes fixated on the only focal point here, the witch who had given them this chance—gratitude? Admiration? Worship?
Perhaps all of these, but even more was the fear of the other’s overwhelming capabilities that surpassed their understanding.
They couldn’t understand why there was such a vast gap between students of the same new student cohort; was the educational disparity between the academies truly that pronounced?
“Dream demon… Argh! I’ve put up with you for long enough! Take this!”
As those from the Beast Academy were the first to lose control and charge at the nearest dream demon, until the punch made solid contact with the demon’s cheek, overpowering it… only then did the crowd confirm that this was not fake!
“k*ll! Wipe out all these dream demons!”
With someone in the crowd shouting that, everyone began releasing their pent-up frustrations upon the dream demons.
Amidst the chaos, I withdrew from the center of the battlefield.
This fight didn’t even need my intervention; if I had reached this level, and given their overwhelming numbers, if any dream demons still managed to escape, then I could only say that they deserved to be called worthless.
“Thanks, your fortune is really useful.” I walked back to the extraordinary item formed from that fortune seed. At this moment, the first generation city lord looked a bit haggard, even though I still couldn’t see his features.
“I should be thanking you… after this, please hand me over to the new city lord of Ninglan New City…”
“Are you preparing to continue guarding Ninglan New City?”
“Yes…”
“Do you have any requirements for the new city lord? Although I don’t mean to discourage you, the previous Ninglan Qiuyu was the last male descendant of your Ninglan lineage, and now there’s only Ninglan Qiuyue left.”
“I know… I am aware of much information regarding Ninglan New City, and I even know why there is only one male successor, so please hand me back to Ninglan Qiuyue.”
“If so, she will be the first female city lord of Ninglan New City.”
“What does that matter?”
“Indeed, it has no relation to me.”
“…”
At this moment, during our brief conversation, the battle on the Extraordinary Academy’s side had already drawn close to its conclusion.
I had previously stated that I believed in their abilities, and reality proved it to be true; it was an undisputed crushing victory. The dream demons would truly reunite as sisters; if they were to perish, they would d*e together on the same day.
I watched the summoning portal gradually contract due to energy depletion, ultimately leading to such a situation after the sacrifice of half the residential area of the Underground City.
And I truly felt the cruelty of script progression; for ordinary people unaware of the truth, even becoming cannon fodder was a privilege—how ironic!
Was their d*ath meaningful?
What did they gain? A game that allowed these children of fortune to uncover the truth, yet even now, no one lamented for these casualties.
Including… me.
“Don’t! Don’t k*ll me! It was my promise! It was me! I can give you the truth!”
“You! You traitor!”
“You scoundrel! Why don’t you just d*e? You lured us all to come and d*e with you!”
“Ridiculous! If I hadn’t summoned you, you would still be clueless about how to enter the main world! What right do you have to blame me!”
As some of the dream demons were captured while others were mercilessly attacked into oblivion, this farcical battle was finally coming to an end for me.
When this dream demon cried out for mercy, many finally realized what this battle was supposed to achieve: it was for the questions and answers thrown out by this dream demon, or rather… the truth.
Thus, all the dream demons that hindered this one from speaking received slaps across the face, to say the least.
Some dream demons seemed to foresee their fate, realizing they could not reverse their position, and unable to bear it all, chose to take their own lives directly.
But none of this mattered.
“Ha ha… I admit we lost. I said I would speak the truth even if we ultimately won because sometimes the truth is far more brutal than you expect…”
Once calm, this dream demon no longer resisted, only speaking with a mocking tone, as if the outcome of this battle was not hers to lose.
At this moment, even I instinctively turned my head, curious about what truth she would reveal.
Meanwhile, the first generation city lord dissipated at this moment, seemingly losing the sustenance of that flesh-and-bl**d energy; he appeared like a toy without batteries, coming to a standstill.
However, I caught it in my hand, storing it safely.
I wasn’t sure what constituted an extraordinary item, but from my spirit vision feedback, I understood that the power to manipulate fortune was not this first generation city lord’s ability, but rather something he achieved using this extraordinary item.
Upon touching it again, I felt an illusion that I could use its powers; however, using it seemed to require an equivalent price.
I could even manipulate this extraordinary item, stripping away my own fortune completely.
This sensation was something I hadn’t experienced during my initial contact with the white crystal, suggesting that at that time, the true user of this extraordinary item was this first generation city lord, and now, he seemingly had been forcibly offline, allowing me to use it.
Recognizing that this extraordinary item held a piece of the first generation city lord, I could feel his soul material within it, but only a trace, far less than a normal person; I wondered why this trace would appear inside.
It seemed that this trace of soul material was entangled with the fortune seed, wrapped in the internal fortune, allowing it to persist for a thousand years.
How marvelous; if that were the case… theoretically, restoring the soul material might even allow the first generation city lord of Ninglan to be resurrected!
“Don’t interrupt us! What in the world is this sleeping curse you mentioned earlier!”
“How would I know what sleeping curse your main world has concocted? It’s merely an instinctive behavior of nightmares. You should be glad that they are just a group of unconscious dream creatures; otherwise, they would be far more troublesome adversaries than we dream demons.”
“Then why are you here, targeting us like this!”
At this moment, a person beside her questioned the dream demon, her tone harsh, as evident tears in her eyes could be seen indicating her friend seemed to have perished here.
“Almost forgot, you fools from the main world probably don’t even understand what fortune is, right?”
“Fortune?”
Just as the crowd expressed curiosity over this concept, the dream demon continued without acknowledging them.
“We are here for your main world’s fortune! The fortune of Ninglan New City! Someone from your main world has stuffed fortune into the bodies of nightmares, then let the nightmares be thrown here; this is essentially a game to compete over killing nightmares! The existence of nightmares themselves cannot possibly carry fortune; thus, all of you have been arranged… do you know why?”
“Because… because most of you gathered here are… children of fortune from the main world!”
“Oh no, you are the candidates for children of fortune! You are not the true children of fortune yet! Because… there can only be one true child of fortune!”
At this point, the dream demon’s voice was almost a roar, wanting everyone to hear.
As modern youth, how could they not understand concepts like fortune and the children of fortune?
Those popular web novels, the protagonists as children of fortune, these ideas were already well-known to them.
But now they were being told they were the children of fortune!
How could this not shock them?
When the dream demon stated that there could only be one true child of fortune, many people instinctively looked towards me.
For in their view, if someone present had to be the true child of fortune, it seemed that only one person fit that description…
“What are you all looking at me for?” At this moment, I crossed my arms, my tone appearing calm, as I was quite self-aware, carrying not a hint of fear.
“And you… your name is… Yang Yuelan, right? As the most special one among these people… you must be the child of fortune! Let me tell you, there can only be one true child of fortune! All of you will become stepping stones for that last one! Using your life’s glory to build the staircase for him to ascend to the peak throne!”
With the dream demon’s words concluded, everyone fell silent. No one wanted to be a stepping stone for another, but through everything that had transpired since the dream exchange event began, it seemed only one person truly fit such a narrative.
That person overwhelmed them all, standing high atop a peak they couldn’t ascend.
“Am I to understand that you are sowing discord?” A faint smile appeared on my lips, but to those watching me, it was filled with disdain and mockery.
There was no basis for sowing discord here; even if everyone united, they wouldn’t touch the hem of the opponent’s clothing.
“So what if I am! I know you can’t possibly fall into chaos because of my few words, and you seem so high and mighty, do you think being the protagonist in your world gives you free rein?”
“…”
“All of you must strive after fortune; do you really think your coming here is a coincidence? You are merely slaves to fortune, gathering here simply because there’s fortune attracting you! Those nightmares, without us, they would be your enemies; you would k*ll for fortune, even if you don’t comprehend the concept of fortune; for other reasons, you would go after those nightmares, indirectly gaining fortune, such as trying to return home.”
“The concept of controlling fortune is a script, while you all are merely pieces acting out a world script, completely unaware! Puppets!”
“And the ones manipulating the world script are none other than those higher-ups from your so-called Extraordinary Academy, those extraordinary beings you refer to as teachers, heads of the academy, and principals!”
“They hold your fates in their hands, weaving fortune into threads, using them to control you like puppets on strings! Letting them manipulate you!”
“And you foolish fools know nothing!”
Every word spoken by the dream demon struck heavily in their hearts.
They are… pawns, puppets?
Were their actions being controlled?
And the initiators of all this were those teachers and heads of the Extraordinary Academy? The impact was profoundly deep; even those who didn’t believe would begin to sow seeds of doubt.
At this moment, Tan Han listened to these revelations, equally stunned. Although she had anticipated it, she hadn’t expected it to be like this.
She seemed to recall the last conversation she had with Xiao Han, regarding just how vast this scheme was; Xiao Han’s answer was that escape was impossible; what a fitting description for this moment.
This was a scheme involving all the Extraordinary Academies targeted against them.
As long as they attempted to step into the extraordinary world, they would face an unavoidable outcome. However, Tan Han was curious as to why, why her and these others.
Xiao Han must have known something definite, but seemingly, she couldn’t share it, either bound by a secrecy contract or warned with threats, so she could only hint.
But… if this truth couldn’t be known by the child of fortune themselves, then… why did Xiao Han know?
Did she uncover this truth herself?
But clearly, Xiao Han knew far more than it simply being a self-discovery.
So was Xiao Han also a child of fortune?
But Xiao Han’s earlier behaviors hardly suggested that she was someone aware of her status as a child of fortune; for instance, her distancing herself was the greatest flaw.
Their actions undoubtedly hinted that they were the so-called children of fortune, while upon learning of it, she instinctively chose to distance herself.
Furthermore… since this was a trap set by all the academies, why did the Extraordinary Academy allow her to speak the truth so freely?
Could it be they were unable to stop her?
So Tan Han knew she had to get clarity; with the truth already revealed, would Xiao Han confide in her?
But before that, she needed to question this dream demon.
“Impossible! You’re lying to us! How can there be such a thing as fortune in this world! No one is born a protagonist!”
Just as Tan Han was about to speak, a somewhat broken female voice erupted in anger at the dream demon, her outburst stirring many others to rebut.
After all, when faced with an unknown and unacceptable truth, people often chose to evade it, even violently refuting it, trying to eradicate anything beyond their comprehension.
Perhaps this was also a cognitive correction of fortune?
“Exactly! You liar! You are merely a captive! Still quibbling at this point, back to your abyss with you!”
“k*ll her!”
The dream demons saw these people deny their disbelief but gradually became crazed by her words, unreasonable, even anger unable to mask their deep-seated fear; the dream demons couldn’t help but show mocking expressions, even forgetting their earlier fears.
Yes, they could not return alive, but they could reveal the truth, making these people experience the pain brought by that truth!
“Yes, this world has never been fair; some are born protagonists, while others are mere side characters! That’s a fate you cannot resist!”
“You are merely livestock raised in the main world, waiting to be harvested by those Extraordinary Academies, knowing nothing at all!”
“The truths hidden from you extend far beyond this! Guess slowly!”
“You may have thwarted us, but how well do you fare? We are merely stepping stones for you; even if we d*e, we will disgust you! You are unworthy of living in the wonderful lies woven by those people!”
“Face your dismal truths… that is what you should truly experience; I will make your future days so grim you won’t even be able to laugh!”
