Chapter 900: Chapter 897: "Girl’s Dream Plan
"No problem." Ye Yihong glanced at Su Luoluo.
Although this young woman seemed ordinary, since the Eldest Prince had named her, she must be special.
Countless gazes gathered here, and Su Luoluo felt her body light and floaty, as if she were experiencing an unreal dream. Her followers kept increasing, surging towards an unbelievable number: two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, five hundred thousand...
"Little Cloud." She silently murmured: "...Is it you?"
If the first Dream Patrol Family is not you, how could I receive such great happiness? If the first Dream Patrol Family is you, are you still Little Cloud?
She clenched the sword in her hand, her eyes flickering.
Su Ming’an glanced at the collapsed royal family members, turning away without hesitation.
The Penglai Immortals selection quota was announced: Yi Zhongyu from the present Dream Patrol Family, Zou Yuqing the enchantress of the Demon Sect, and Mo Yan the swordsman of the winds and clouds. Princess Jing He wanted to inherit the throne, and she herself had no great desire to go to Penglai Fairy Island, so she gave the quota to Su Ming’an.
The four of them were about to head to the seashore to board a ferry to Penglai Fairy Island at sea, in pursuit of immortality.
"I’m very sorry, all these years I’ve mistaken your identity and even used your blood." Princess Jing He removed the Blood Bottle from her waist and handed it to Su Ming’an: "Regardless, using others’ blood and life to nourish oneself is wrong. I always thought this blood came from selfless Eligibles until now I understood, selfless offerings do not exist; it’s all about benefits."
"It’s not your fault." Su Ming’an shook his head: "I am about to go to Penglai Fairy Island, and I might not return. Take this blood, you are the only royal bloodline I trust. The future of Louyue will depend on you."
Princess Jing He pursed her lips, looking at the royal family members: "They treated you like this, Shaoqing, aren’t you going to take revenge?"
The Emperor had already fainted. Some princes and princesses trembled behind the chairs, their eyes showing fear of Su Ming’an’s exotic identity.
The people of Jianghu still lingered here, guarding against Su Ming’an like a monster. In their eyes, even though the Eldest Prince still retained his rationality, the identity of an exotic species had predetermined a huge chasm between them. No matter what, the Eldest Prince could not return to Jianghu and the court as before.
At the moment the Past Mirror revealed the tentacles, thereafter, he was forever separated from this world. No matter how much he had done for the people, everyone would be wary of him, fear him, and avoid him—this was the "Destiny" determined from birth.
"Is killing them considered revenge?" Su Ming’an said: "All these years, how did Su Shaoqing get through, even I can’t imagine. How could killing these people with one stroke ease his hatred?"
He recalled his extremely weak state at the start of the instance, watching himself bleed helplessly. Such days, the Eldest Prince endured for who knows how many years.
"Huh?" Princess Jing He seemed confused: "Then you..."
"I can probably guess Su Shaoqing’s thoughts. He must lean towards forgiving these people, as he needs to control himself not to hate, unable to take revenge or relieve his resentment." Su Ming’an said lightly: "Under these circumstances, let these royal members live. Let them live as commoners, live like the people they looked down on most."
Princess Jing He opened her mouth, eventually giving a bitter smile: "That might be more painful than killing them."
Su Ming’an did not deny it.
...Painful?
...Could anything be more painful than what the Eldest Prince experienced?
He already knew, this is a world where even positive and negative emotions must be forcibly controlled... unable to genuinely laugh, unable to genuinely cry. Any slight emotional fluctuation could potentially spawn unimaginable monsters. Any small shift in good and evil could turn oneself into another kind of creature. It seems only those like Li Mingyue, who have no emotional fluctuations at all, are the safest in this world.
But the vast majority of people can’t truly be without joy, without fear, without tears. Instead, they must forcibly forgive, fake smiles, to maintain a surface-level calm and happiness.
Everything he saw was so absurd.
Su Ming’an looked at Xiao Jingsan standing by the side. Xiao Jingsan had already put away the Past Mirror, focusing on Su Ming’an intently.
Su Ming’an didn’t understand why Xiao Jingsan revealed the truth. Now the whole royal family was reshuffled, Su Ming’an intimidated the world with his dual identity as "exotic species" and "Eligible," and Xiao Jingsan had lost his identity as the Prince’s stand-in. Was all this what Xiao Jingsan wanted?
"I think I know who you are now." Xiao Jingsan stared at Su Ming’an for a moment, then suddenly said.
"..." Su Ming’an bypassed him.
"I will come to see you, I definitely will." Xiao Jingsan said.
"Do we know each other?" Su Ming’an couldn’t help but ask. Why was this Xiao Jingsan so eager to see him in reality?
Xiao Jingsan was silent, only staring at Su Ming’an. A gust of wind passed, and the wooden tag and bell at his waist collided, the sound crisp and pleasant.
As Su Ming’an took a few steps, he heard Xiao Jingsan’s voice drift from behind:
"...Perhaps, in your dreams."
...
In that instant, the plot reached its end, and the world paused.
The figures of the four walking towards the ferry at the seashore became the last scene of the game.
System text appeared:
...
[Chapter 2 · Penglai Immortals Selection, achieved]
[Evaluation: "Year 26 of Kangyu, the affair of the Eldest Prince’s stand-in was exposed, all informed royal members demoted to commoners, throne inherited by Princess Jing He, Yi Zhongyu, Zou Yuqing, Mo Yan, and Su Shaoqing boarded the ferry to Penglai Fairy Island."]
[Choices made: 2]
[Completion: 73%]
[Total Dream Patrol Spirit Points obtained: 150 points]
...
[Please make your choice.]
[Start next Chapter/end Dream Patrol, return to reality?]
[As the progress of "Louyue Nation" has passed halfway, a new game has started, please each Dream Patrol Family pay attention to receive the new game.]
...
New game?
Su Ming’an was stunned.
He remembered that the Union Government had said during a meeting — if the plot progress of the old game reached a certain point, a new game would appear. A year ago, "The Cat and Her" was the first game opened by humans, and after playing it for a while, the second game "Louyue Nation" appeared. And now — with the progress of "Louyue Nation" halfway through, the third game has appeared.
What kind of game would the new game be?
"Click." Su Ming’an removed the Dream Patrol Helmet and found it had become a bit heavier.
He opened the helmet and saw that apart from the "Louyue Nation" game disc, there was actually another disc inside. It should be the new game’s disc.
It seems that the new game’s disc was directly sent to every Dream Patrol Family, befitting a dream patrol game created by a deity, so miraculous that it didn’t even need a courier.
Su Ming’an picked up the new game disc and saw that the disc was engraved with the title "Young Girl’s Dream Project" in luxurious Victorian-style font. The surface of the disc was filled with a romantic and intricate artistic style: a detective wearing a vintage black felt hat was leading a little girl up a golden spiral staircase, with the background outside the window showing a steam airship about to take off, and the interior filled with pipes and gears. Brass objects, a pocket watch, a telescope, a grandfather clock, and other items were placed under the staircase, along with some well-preserved ladies’ necklaces, bracelets, black gauze hats, and other antiques.
The shadows in the picture were quite heavy, and the detective’s face wasn’t clear. The vintage black felt hat cast a thick shadow, only revealing his tightly pursed lips. His figure was rather lean, and his hand that pressed down the hat showed blue-purple veins, with similar marks visible at his ankles under his pants. He slightly tilted his head, holding the little girl’s hand while observing her.
The little girl had her back to the picture, showing only her cascade of long, black hair, and wearing a beautiful crystal crown resembling a fairy tale Snow Princess’s crown. She seemed very dependent on the detective, gripping his hand tightly, her figure leaning towards him as much as possible.
Just looking at the disc, this new game’s style was very different from the previous two. "The Cat and Her" featured a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes looking up at a Western-style church with a cat, in a very cartoonish style. "Louyue Nation" featured a young man with white hair standing under a peach blossom tree, with a blue moon behind him. "Young Girl’s Dream Project" had a more realistic style, with both the detective and the background looking like real creations.
"Young Girl’s Dream Project..." Su Ming’an read the game title, still unsure what genre this game could be.
Upon seeing this, many experienced game players commented:
[It’s a nurturing game, right? Similar to xx Growth Plan.]
[A nurturing game? Then why is there a detective, an airship, and steam punk? I guess it’s a clue-solving game with the detective solving cases along the way with the little girl, like Paper Wedding Dress.]
[Any farming games? I’d like to see Su Ming’an plowing the fields.]
[This brings to mind a certain game...]
[How many games are there in total? There must be a limit—when all the games are finished, the Tenth World should end, right? So far, there’s a killer escape game like "The Cat and Her," an option-driven narrative game like "Louyue Nation," so there will definitely be more types of games coming, exciting!]
[In the end, there will be a Dream Patrol Game Contempt Chain. Whoever plays this game is noble. Whoever plays that game is despised.]
[Uh, uh, the Tenth World’s games are about human destiny, with countless Dream Patrol Families dying in the games and countless soldiers dying on the front line of the Black Mist, so please be serious.]
[From what I see, you’re not all that serious about the world games either.]
...
Su Ming’an opened the Dream Patrol Forum to see that the internet had exploded, with various high-heat topics unfolding endlessly. His own fan base was skyrocketing towards ten billion, gradually aligning with the world game’s fan base.
The Dream Patrol Forum is managed by a deity, with actions like deleting posts, adding highlights, and pinning decided upon by the deity. People joked that maybe the deity liked to mingle among the crowd, posting incognito to fish for reactions, pretending to be an ordinary person trading barbs with others, experiencing the internet’s stench.
As soon as the new game appeared, related pinned posts quickly followed.
[*(Hot)*(Pinned)* New game arrives—"Young Girl’s Dream Project"!]
[*(Hot)* The First Dream Patrol Family is so powerful! Chapter 2 of "Louyue Nation" was completed in just one day! At this rate, won’t the First Dream Patrol Family clear a Chapter a day? Perhaps humanity’s hurdle might never occur again.]
[*(Hot)* It turns out Xiao Jingsan appearing in "Louyue Nation" practically 24/7 is a real-world Dream Patrol Family? Is this person really the type who never goes offline, a true internet addict?]
[*(Hot)* Who is the First Dream Patrol Family’s real-world identity? Why is he so focused on the newcomer streamer "Call Me Demon King"? Exploring "Call Me Demon King’s" rise to fame!]
[*(Hot)* Has a new wave of online harassment started? Will people feel envious of "Demon King’s" sudden fame? Last year, a new streamer was driven offline due to online harassment after being noticed by Yi Zhongyu; where are they now?]
[*(Hot)* Who is the dark horse Dream Patrol Family known as "Mo Yan"? The Ancient Martial Alliance has never had a family with the surname Mo.]
[*(Hot)* Yi Zhongyu speaks out, wanting to ally with the First Dream Patrol Family. The union of the top individuals brings great anticipation to the Dream Patrol endeavor.]
...
Su Ming’an browsed the posts for a while and found a new pinned post:
*(Hot)*(Pinned)* Just now, at 2:42 AM, a deity issued an oracle to the Church—"There are a total of six Dream Patrol games, and when all six are completed, the world’s destiny will move towards the end."
...
The method the Church uses to convey the oracle to all humanity is mostly the internet. After all, the internet is the most efficient and rapid means of communication.
Therefore, generally speaking, when oracles are issued, people don’t rush to the Church to listen devoutly. Instead, they immediately open their phones to check online. This has led many to joke that it’s better to cyber worship online than to worship in person at the Church.
Su Ming’an clicked on the post to see that it was made by the Church’s officially certified Cardinal Nalfas. Nalfas recorded a video, speaking in a mysterious manner about a lot, but mostly he was interpreting this oracle.
"’World destiny’ is like the death ending arranged by deities for each person, it cannot be defied." Nalfas, facing the camera and holding a ring that symbolizes faith, spoke devoutly:
"Deities have already pointed the way for humanity."
"Nalfas believes in the deities, and when all six games are completed, the world’s destiny will break and regrow, and humanity will regain 100% of its old lands, completely expel all Black Mist, and rediscover their former homeland."
"Only those who believe in the deities can receive redemption, and at that time, will return to a carefree human homeland."
"Only those who do not believe in the deities will suffer retribution, their souls without refuge, subjected to the pains of hell..."
This speech by Nalfas made Su Ming’an somewhat irked.
What Church hymn, extremely formulaic, wasn’t even as well-recited as Yamada Machiichi’s praise from back then.
Su Ming’an closed the video, scrolling down, noticing the comment section was lively:
[Cardinal Boris: Unacceptable. Come join the Lighthouse Church, who cares about deities.]
[Josie Grand Duchy Misei: Boris! How dare you promote heresy under the oracle! What a garbage church the Lighthouse Church is, never even heard of it!]
[Cardinal Boris: Oracle? It’s my first time seeing an oracle posted on a forum as godly prophecy.]