Catastrophe Card King
Chapter 1164 - Chapter 1164 Chapter 357 Pleasurable Dreamscape_3

Chapter 1164: Chapter 357 Pleasurable Dreamscape_3 Chapter 1164: Chapter 357 Pleasurable Dreamscape_3 “The fourth time?”

Leonard Churchill, seeing the message he had left for himself, finally understood that this was not the first time he had become aware of being ensnared.

It was the fourth time.

That begged the question.

The previous three times, why hadn’t he been able to fully awaken, instead leaving a message for himself and continuing to fall into the dreamscape?

But it wasn’t entirely in vain; he had left some traces.

Leonard Churchill, looking at the experience left by his third self, confirmed that this was the ‘God Skill* Star Moon Night’s’ multiple dream layers.

“So, how can I now fully awaken?”

“What has happened recently? Why am I in an illusion? Where am I? Did I engage with an enemy? Who could it be?”

One question after another popped into his mind.

Leonard Churchill couldn’t remember anything.

He could only flip through bit by bit.

At this moment, the scene in front of Leonard Churchill shifted from a cozy room and completely turned into a library.

The massive amount of books densely surrounded him, innumerable.

The “library” in his sea of knowledge was the cognition accumulated over countless days and nights; how could he possibly finish reading those books formed by his consciousness in a short amount of time?

Leonard Churchill saw the clue left by his third self: “I’ve already looked through the content on eighty-seven rows of bookshelves; there’s not enough time, the state of awareness will be eroded over time, and this is the reason for the infinite descent…”

He started looking from the eighty-eighth row of bookshelves.

But after a very long time, Leonard Churchill still couldn’t find any clues.

He remembered a lot of knowledge from the “books.”

About literature, history, art, experiences with his childhood circus, transcendence, cards, fifty-two demon gods, spells,… and so on.

It was as if a tidal wave of content poured into his mind.

But upon close consideration, he realized it was of no help to his situation.

The influx was crude and voluminous, like inserting “useless content,” occupying his brain’s ability to think.

And to finish reading those books, he feared he might have to go through hundreds of cycles more.

The more knowledge restored in his brain, the more Leonard Churchill felt dazed. But if he didn’t read, it was completely impossible to get out.

Leonard Churchill became inexplicably irritable.

This foolish method, which offered no hope, instinctively made him resist.

Suddenly, an unbelievable thought flashed through his mind: “Could it be that ‘the third me’ leaving these messages is part of the illusion itself?”

…

Upon realizing this, Leonard Churchill felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Once he realized it, it was like stepping up a level, and what he saw changed once again.

Sophisticated illusions have an insoluble ability: they suggest to the target to subconsciously perfect the logic of the dreamscape.

In other words, it’s called “filling in the blanks on one’s own.”

Everything Leonard Churchill was currently thinking could possibly be part of the illusion itself, designed to trap him by making him patch the logic of the illusion.

All fake, easy to distinguish.

The fear is when most of it is true, but some falsehoods are mixed in.

Or all of it is true.

Only the focus to break through is overlooked, and points towards the wrong direction of thought.

He might have really awakened three times, even having looked through eighty-seven rows of bookshelves.

But that doesn’t necessary mean he should start from the eighty-eighth row.

“So, I can’t fully trust even the memories left by ‘the third me’…”

Now that he realized this, Leonard Churchill thought it was highly likely the spell itself wanted to trap him here indefinitely, making him waste his precious lucid time reading those books.

Now his head was heavy, it looked like he was going to sink again.

Realizing this might have been a bit too late.

In his current predicament, Leonard Churchill had no clue about how to break the cycle.

He was not sure if he could get out, and as the thought arose, paper and pen appeared in his hand, leaving a message for himself: “When you see this sentence, it should be the fifth time you realize you’re in a dreamscape…”

He wrote down all his findings in the notes.

Hopefully, the next time he realized he was caught in an illusion and returned to the sealed sea of knowledge, he might take fewer wrong turns.

Perhaps, the chances would be greater next time.

After doing all this, Leonard Churchill looked at the dense bookshelves in front of him, still feeling that only by finding some “key memories” he had sealed could he break free.

He sighed slightly, “Seems like… it’s all up to luck now?”

Searching for that bit of memory among such an ocean of classic books was like finding a needle in a haystack.

The library’s lighting was gentle and bright, like moonlight, possessing an undetectable charm.

As if with a single relaxed thought, he could return to a warm bed, with any beautiful woman he could imagine by his side.

Sophia Jones, Seven Brown, Camilla, Tracy Garcia, Catherine Carter…

Huh, Silver Moon Leader, and even Princess Betty, why have they appeared too?

Oh, humiliating one’s enemies seems to be a peculiar experience as well.

The more I think, the more confused I become.

Leonard Churchill shook away the captivating images that were addicting his mind and continued his search.

But he wasn’t following the sequence anymore, picking up books from the shelves to read.

Instead, he walked among the forest-like bookshelves, occasionally pulling out a book, glancing at it for a moment.

Then he kept walking…

Skimming a few pages from each shelf.

Completely relying on intuition and luck.

Leonard’s body became heavier, and he felt drowsy, on the verge of falling asleep.

He propped up his will, each step he took was incredibly difficult.

“Tsk tsk… I’m really curious how I got caught…”

His consciousness was hazy.

The pleasure-seeking thoughts were like caged tigers that could no longer be contained.

Leonard knew he couldn’t hold on much longer.

Most people would think, if they had to die, dying in such a beautiful dream wouldn’t be so bad.

But Leonard didn’t think so.

The self-mocking curve of his lips grew steeper as he mocked his own greedy and pleasurable desires.

Human frailty and greed are so laughable.

That was himself.

But not the complete himself.

He wasn’t afraid of death.

But he didn’t want to die in such a muddled state.

Since he had seen through a layer of illusion, the thirst for truth had overwhelmed everything else.

“The fourth time? Perhaps there won’t be a next time…”

Even faced with a desperate situation, Leonard could still crack a smile.

Even when he saw the grim reaper beckoning to him, he remained fearless.

The allure of the truth outweighed the fear of death, the delight of escaping perils surpassed the temptation of bliss.

Also, to prove that his existence was not just a fleeting dream.

Leonard’s eyes, though covered with fatigue, still burned with a steadfast light.

Give up?

No.

I’d rather die in pain.

Leonard’s conviction was unshakeable.

It’s unknown whether it was due to the ‘Gambler of Misfortune.’

In a moment of dire straits, as if influenced by some mysterious force.

On the brink of losing consciousness, Leonard intuitively pulled out a book.

The moment he opened it.

The change came without warning.

The world before him shattered like a mirror.

Awakened from a dream.

His once blurry consciousness suddenly saw the words with clarity.

The book contained the following passage: “The Southern Continent launched a full-scale attack, Talon Mechanical City relied on cannons and heavy mechas to wage war for two days until the city fell…”

This was a memory that had been sealed away.

It turns out, I had been in Talon Mechanical City for a week already.

Two days ago, the Southern Continent’s army of four hundred thousand broke through the city’s defenses, initiating a fierce street battle and massacre.

Blood stained the streets, seeping into the ground.

Fanatical believers sacrificed a million living creatures, and a pale white Silver Moon rose in the sky.

The mile-high Silver Moon God Tree once again appeared.

In a moment of fading consciousness…

The indescribable, incomprehensible, and unbearably majestic ‘Master of Dreams and Pleasure’ — Arachne.

Descended.