Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 192 - 183 The Mission of the Avatar of Dreams

Chapter 192: 183 The Mission of the Avatar of Dreams

The death intent radiated by the demon hunter was not a physiological change but a kind of demeanor.

I had seen it on the Undying Monster and the Shadow Swapping Monster in the past. When they realized that they were undoubtedly going to die, a color of utter despondency emerged on their faces, very similar to that of the demon hunter at this moment. However, the latter’s death intent was many times more intense than the former two.

One could even perceiving his breathing gradually slowing down, his heart slowly ceasing to beat.

He was about to die.

The young girl, Lu Chan, said calmly, "Hold on, don’t die just yet."

The demon hunter paused slightly and indeed stopped advancing toward death, then asked, "Do you have any tasks for me?"

"Lu Chan, what is going on?" I asked. "He seems to remember things from before the restart, and he’s also about to die?"

"Consciousness innately possesses properties that transcend space and time, it’s just that human beings are bound by the common sense of the material world, unable to freely manifest it. The reason why Divination Technique can gather information from the past and future is actually by utilizing the transcendental properties of consciousness," explained the young girl Lu Chan patiently. "Although Dr. Silver Mask has restarted this base countless times, the immense pain and death have long accumulated within the souls of all the subjects here. Once the accumulation reaches a certain limit, a sense of déjà vu can easily arise, and even memories from the past may overflow.

"He didn’t truly recall past events, but rather developed some self-awareness. Also, because he realized that he had died many times, his soul couldn’t bear the truth and was about to self-destruct."

"So that’s how it is..." the demon hunter asked bitterly, "Lu Chan, why did you wake me up?"

"The operations on our side are temporarily covert, and we don’t plan to increase the number of participants. But if we neither liberate you nor let you regain your memory, what if you make a fuss?" Lu Chan answered frankly.

"So... you don’t actually have anything for me to do?" the demon hunter asked.

"Not exactly. Later, we’ll need to find a way to destroy this base, and there might be a use for you," said Lu Chan coldly. "So don’t rush to die. After all, once you die this time, you will be restarted and revived, only to continue suffering, dying, and restarting.

"Instead of that, you might as well wait for instructions from my side. If we succeed, this time you all may truly find rest."

"...Alright, I’ll trust you once more."

The demon hunter closed his eyes wearily, no longer exhibiting signs of death intent.

Outside, the guards had already passed through our only route, and we no longer needed to continue hiding in this cell. We returned to the corridor and proceeded.

I glanced back in the direction of the cell, then asked, "You just mentioned rest... Don’t you plan to rescue all the demon hunters here?"

"They are beyond saving," Lu Chan didn’t even turn her head back. Walking beside her, I could see a tinge of melancholy on her profile.

She put aside her sentimental feelings and continued, "Without a heart, vegetables live, but humans die. Dr. Silver Mask’s power of restart can revive them repeatedly, making them forget their own deaths; as long as they haven’t recalled their deaths, their souls can remain intact.

"However, this convenient situation is limited only to their existence within ’the time where they haven’t yet died’. Once they return to the normal flow of time in the outside world, death will immediately befall them.

"These people are both the living and the Earth-bound Dead Spirits of this secret base of the Human Bureau."

The expression of utter despondency from the demon hunter flashed through my mind, followed by the young researcher’s attitude toward his own sins.

I then looked at Lu Chan again.

"So... what about you?" I asked. "If I destroy this place, will you also die?"

"Yes, I will die," she said softly. "As I mentioned before, I’m the ’Embodiment of Dream’ that couldn’t exist under normal conditions. Although this might not exactly be a dream, I have a feeling that I can only be justified in this place. When this place is destroyed, so will I be."

Toward the end, she turned her head to look at me and smiled faintly, "Why, are you reluctant?"

Saying this, she raised her right hand, as if to pat my head. She stopped halfway upon realizing it was awkward and sheepishly withdrew her hand.

I now looked like a twelve-year-old, while the young girl Lu Chan appeared to be fourteen or fifteen. Compared to my actual age, she was like a "younger sister" but stood before the present me as an "older sister" (who would have thought she was actually supposed to be a man?). Although I wanted to complain about others treating me as a child, that was a normal reaction, not really something to be angry about.

"Sorry, it seems I got carried away by the original entity, and unwittingly inherited some strange settings," she said, almost apologetically.

"What settings?" I was curious.

"The Lu Chan outside likes younger females," she said solemnly, as if talking about someone else. "His biggest fantasy involves lolitas treating him gently like a child."

"Uh-huh, I know, didn’t he mention that?"

I wasn’t quite sure, but I had a vague impression.

"Ah? He mentioned it?" She was stunned.

"But doesn’t he despise women? Why would he have such fantasies?" I asked.

"The reason he despises the opposite sex in reality is because he has an ideal template of the opposite sex in his mind, although it’s quite unrealistic. This applies not only to his views on the opposite sex but also to many other things," she said with a blush. "So, um, let’s just make it clear here, I’m not some pervert. It’s just that the Lu Chan out there is a hopeless lolicon, so the me here might..."

"Okay, I get it, you don’t need to say any more." I quickly changed the subject. "Speaking of which, you’re kind of a lolita now, aren’t you? Could it be that you ended up like this because of that influence?"

She looked bewildered and said, "Huh? You think I’m a lolita? I believe this body is actually over fourteen years old, which would make me rather old."

"Ah?"

I felt like I was about to peer into another dark aspect of Lu Youxun’s psyche, but perhaps it was better to stop there.

"Speaking of which, Lu Chan, are you really okay?" I asked. "Even if you disappear along with this base, does it not matter to you?"

"Yes, it doesn’t matter. For me, there is a more important mission to accomplish than continuing to live."

Her expression as she said this was not one of resolute acceptance of death but rather a non-human perspective on existence.

At that moment, I suddenly realized she was not human but some kind of supernatural being whose view on life and death starkly contrasted with humanity.

"I hope ’I’ can remember again, the dignity of fighting for the weak in the past, and the courage to challenge the seemingly hopeless future..." she said. "For that, I must return ’Lu Chan’s dream’ to him."

Lu Chan’s dream was "to become a hero."

In this increasingly chaotic world, saving the common people from dire straits, and preventing the imminent collapse.

Even for him at his peak, it was an overly impractical wish.

Putting aside such delusions was probably wise for Lu Youxun.

"...However, by myself, I definitely can’t accomplish this mission," young Lu Chan looked at me. "So I’m asking for your help."

"How do you want me to help? You’ll disappear along with the destruction of this base, and I can’t possibly bring you in front of Lu Youxun, can I?" I asked.

"I’m not sure, but there must be a way."

She smiled first, then said, "...The outside me would definitely not want to return to the original self, because that would mean accepting the very thing he least wants to face, and it’s akin to killing his existing spirit. When the time comes, he will certainly cry and scream, ’No,’ and you must absolutely not show mercy."

"I’ll consider it," I said noncommittally. "But right now, it’s not even certain whether we can destroy this base, let’s solve this issue first."

The method young Lu Chan previously mentioned, the way to break the situation without killing Dr. Silver Mask, I had seriously deliberated upon it.

Although she believed I couldn’t expand my "Shattered Void" to encompass the entire base, theoretically, if I could evenly distribute hundreds of "Fireflies" throughout this place, and then have them all release Mana beyond achieved levels simultaneously, I should be able to expand the "Shattered Void" to cover the entire area.

But to simultaneously control so many "Fireflies," I would need to enter my Fire Element form; and once I entered the active power state of the Fire Element, I would inevitably be logged out of this base before I could make the next move. This was a checkmate situation.

"You mentioned earlier that there was an old method, which was dismissed, for me to consider... What was that method?" I asked.

"That method was based on the assumption that ’this base is a dream.’ Although it’s virtually impossible to achieve, I got some notable feedback when I tried it in the past, so I’ll tell you," young Lu Chan said. "Simply put, the method is to kill everyone in this base."

"This would destroy this independent reality space?" I asked, enlightened after the confusion. "...Is it to kill all the ’dreamers’?"

"Yes, if this place is a dream, then the ’dreamers’ are essential components. Everyone involved in this dream actually meets the criteria, as we are all dreaming," she explained. "This also well explains why you can distort objects here based on your cognition—because while participating in the dream, you are also unconsciously contributing to its construction, an unaware worker.

"And during the past second escape operation, after realizing there was no exit from this base, I had the demon hunters kill many guards and researchers, thinking that doing so would cause changes in the base.

"At first, no changes occurred, but when the demon hunters, after making nearly all sacrifices, killed the achieved level Chen Long, a severe earthquake suddenly happened, and the space started to blur."

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