Chapter 141: Deep Dreams and Reincarnation

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The sky stretched clear and blue, clouds drifting light and soft as silk. The lake’s gentle waters caressed his ankles, its mirror-like surface extending to the horizon, reflecting sky and cloud, blurring all boundaries. A refreshing breeze swept past, dispelling all traces of slaughter and bloodshed. This was a sanctuary, far from the clamor, a realm that was both the beginning and the end of every dream.

Li Nanke stood alone in the shallow lake, as if the fierce battle against Simon, the Divine Entity, the Tri-Persona, and Geppetto had never occurred… everything felt like a fleeting dream.

A synchronization prompt sounded, and soothing azure text appeared before his eyes:

[Nightmare, you have completed the Forbidden Dream—“Puppets and Angels”!]

[Dream settlement in progress…]

[Your settlement score for this dream is: Grade A]

[You have discovered the hidden node: the Alchemist’s Notes concealed within the cathedral, unveiling secrets of the angels.]

[Your dream settlement score has risen to: Grade S]

[You have completed the hidden node (optional branch): journey to Alchemy Isle to seize the Divine Arm of Simon, Captain of the Alchemist Guild.]

[Your dream settlement score has risen to: Grade SS]

[You have completed the hidden node (optional branch): offer Puppet P’s power core to Simon, Captain of the Alchemist Guild.]

[Your dream settlement score has risen to: Grade SS+]

[Based on this score, your current standard exchange cost is 850 points, with eligibility to redeem three items from the special list.]

“SS+… just one step away from SSS,” Li Nanke murmured.

SS+ was the highest score he had achieved after several forbidden dreams. Had he not completed both hidden branches, the score would have remained at SS.

He pondered carefully, replaying the hidden nodes from this forbidden dream.

The first optional route involved seizing the Divine Arm.

The difficulty of defeating the Completer Laxia and Simon, Captain of the Alchemist Guild, was immense.

Li Nanke allied with Romeo, turning foes into friends, amassed abundant source energy to max his core essence, and brought along the Puppet King and the War Machine, greatly augmenting his strength. Only then could he brutally slaughter Laxia and overwhelm Simon in a desperate team effort, eventually conquering the hidden node’s formidable final boss.

Such a high difficulty matched the reward: the core essence “Angel.”

Yet the second route, merely surrendering Pinocchio’s power core and submitting to Simon’s authority, also yielded a hidden node reward—a core essence. This reward seemed disproportionately easy compared to the challenge.

At first, Li Nanke was suspicious, but upon defeating Simon and seeing Geppetto, he understood.

Choosing the second route without defeating Simon and handing over the power core would allow Simon to perform the godhood ritual unhindered, leaving no chance to stop it.

Assuming that surrendering to Simon would grant safety in the forbidden dream was a grave mistake.

After the ritual, Geppetto would emerge covertly to carry out a body-snatching scheme.

At that time, Carlo, loyal to the Puppet Father, would dominate the Divine Entity, becoming the most fearsome enemy.

Moreover, Li Nanke would face the Nameless Puppet and Romeo, the Puppet King under Geppetto’s control.

Even without “Angel” essence, Li Nanke would struggle against the latter two; adding an ascended high-level life form like Carlo would render defeat inevitable.

The seemingly easy core essence “Alchemy” concealed far greater difficulties.

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Nanke dared to choose both routes, rather than the usual dilemma of silver or golden axe.

He first defeated Simon, stripping the Alchemist Captain of resistance and affecting the Divine Entity sharing the same source. Then he surrendered the power core to prevent the godhood ritual, seizing the Divine Arm.

Finally, he used the “Bloody Rose Chest Emblem” to resurrect Pinocchio, completing both optional branches and claiming all rewards.

As for achieving the highest SSS rating, Li Nanke had a faint suspicion.

It likely involved the long-hidden star, perhaps seeking to uncover it or contact a terrifying entity like the “Angel” in the illusion.

Such a hidden node would be perversely difficult—only the boldest would dare attempt, and none would survive.

Extending his hand, Li Nanke revealed the silver-white threads of the “Puppet Strings Glove” entwined across his palm.

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[Puppet Strings Glove]

[Type: Item/Permanent]

[Quality: Rare+]

[Rating: 72/100]

[Description: Crafted by the genius alchemist Geppetto from numerous precious materials and supreme alchemical expertise. Powered by self-source crystals, this glove releases untouchable energy threads controlling a series of mechanical puppets. Under its active control, you can override the puppet’s will, commanding all its actions and amplifying its combat abilities.]

[Note: Snap your fingers… now!]

After Li Nanke completely erased Carlo’s personality using the Puppet Strings Glove, the Great Beyond displayed a synchronization prompt:

[Puppet P—Pinocchio has met the criteria for ownership and is now your summonable entity. He may be summoned in the Forbidden Dream, the Great Beyond, or the real world anytime via the Puppet Strings Glove.]

Under Li Nanke’s control, silver-white gloves extended several blue threads, which spread infinitely, their ends vanishing into the void as if binding something.

He reached out and tugged; his spirit energy waned briefly, and the familiar puppet boy appeared in the Great Beyond.

The eleven- or twelve-year-old boy’s eyes were dazed, his expression wary as he gazed at the strange realm, eventually focusing on Li Nanke.

“Boss… where is this?”

With Pinocchio’s arrival, synchronization prompts continued, detailing the permanent summon rules.

For example, summoning and dismissing consume spirit energy and have cooldown periods, preventing rapid repeated calls.

If the summon dies, it can be revived in the Great Beyond by spending exchange points.

In dream worlds devoid of source energy, Pinocchio cannot strengthen himself by absorbing it, but his potential growth allows his power to rise with his master’s.

Such growth, however, cannot match Li Nanke’s rapid advancement; thus, the Great Beyond kindly offers “Self-Source Crystal” in the standard exchange list.

By redeeming these crystals, Pinocchio can absorb abundant source energy to boost his strength, possibly even surpassing his master.

Looking at Pinocchio, who had fought alongside him, Li Nanke felt an inexplicable warmth well up.

In the Forbidden Dream, he had treated the puppet boy purely as a tool, maintaining a cold detachment.

But now, with Pinocchio outside the dream, appearing in the Great Beyond and potentially the real world, Li Nanke realized that no matter how close he was with anyone, he could never reveal the Great Beyond’s secrets to them.

Only to a summon utterly loyal to him, one who would fight alongside him in future forbidden dreams, could he confide freely.

“Boss, you mean it’s all a dream?”

Pinocchio shook his head in disbelief: “Impossible. I’ve lived in that world since childhood. Everything—the people, the feelings, the entire world—are all false dreams?”

“Uh… Boss, I haven’t told you—I inherited some of Carlo’s memories after he disappeared, including those about alchemy.”

The puppet boy surveyed the beautiful scenery of the Great Beyond, feeling the breeze lift his hair; it all seemed so real.

“This can’t be a dream. It’s too real…”

“That’s right. The ‘dream’ explanation comes from the Great Beyond’s account. Actually, compared to dreaming, I prefer to think of it as a multiverse or parallel worlds,” Li Nanke smiled and continued.

“Otherwise, how could I bring everything from the dream into reality? Unless reality itself is a dream…”

He paused mid-sentence.

The multiverse and parallel worlds theory was one of Li Nanke’s hypotheses and the simplest explanation.

Yet, he had unconsciously overlooked another possibility—not out of ignorance, but deliberate avoidance.

That reality, too, was a dream.

Not that he had suddenly awakened from a coma, hooked up to tubes after countless years of vegetative existence, nor some bizarre hallucination preceding a fatal car crash on a rainy overpass in a past life as a modern corporate drone.

Rather, to the Great Beyond, reality and dream worlds were no different; reality and all dream worlds coexisted equally.

“Is it possible,” he wondered, “that for those countless nightmares I’ve never traced, the reality I know is merely their forbidden dream?”

This thought sent a chill down his spine, as if plunged into an icy abyss.

“Boss, are you alright?” The puppet boy saw his expression darken and asked with concern.

Snapping back, Li Nanke forced a smile. “Nothing…”

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“By the way, before you came here, were you still on Alchemy Isle?”

Pinocchio shook his head. “No. After you disappeared, I fell asleep immediately.”

“Uh, not really asleep. It felt strange, like I was completely pulled out of my body and placed inside some… container-like existence. Like sleeping, without a sense of time or sensation.”

“Then I heard you calling me, and when I woke up, I was here…”

It seemed that after becoming a summon, Pinocchio entered a unique “summoning space.”

Li Nanke rubbed his brow. “So, you’ve severed your connection with that world. Is there still a way for you to return?”

Upon hearing this, Pinocchio looked terrified and stammered:

“Bo-boss… since you brought me here, shouldn’t you be able to send me back to my original world?”

Seeing his master’s expression, Pinocchio quickly realized he had been completely abducted, never to return.

He stood stunned, unable to react for a long while.

After Li Nanke’s gentle persuasion, the puppet boy soon awakened to the truth—there was nothing left to cling to in that world.

He was not Carlo, but Pinocchio. For him, the only bond worth keeping was the master who awakened him.

Wherever the master went, it was the same.

After this heartfelt talk, Li Nanke was about to open the exchange list when a synchronization prompt suddenly sounded:

[Nightmare, having completed three official Forbidden Dreams, you have unlocked new Great Beyond permissions: “Deep Dream” and “Reincarnation” functions!]

[Deep Dream: You may enter the next layer of the Great Beyond’s Deep Dream to encounter other nightmares. Note: You are currently in a Single Shallow Dream. Deep Dream is a multiplayer peaceful zone with no combat or harm. You may return to the Shallow Dream at any time.]

[Reincarnation: In future Forbidden Dreams, you will randomly experience dreams with other nightmares. Reincarnation has various modes, including but not limited to solo, cooperative, competitive, slaughter, and free modes.]

Li Nanke’s pupils contracted sharply as he read the suddenly appearing text.

“It’s finally here!”

Since the Great Beyond introduced functions like trading, Li Nanke had realized that many nightmares existed within it.

If the Great Beyond allowed nightmares to trade with one another, deeper contact and communication among them would be inevitable.

Throwing an ordinary person like Li Nanke into Forbidden Dreams, forcing him through countless perilous battles and rapidly cultivating his extraordinary power to grow stronger—it was surely not done without purpose.

It was like rescuing a sickly slave from the roadside, feeding him rich food and wine until he was strong enough—not out of kindness, but to send him to the gladiator arena when ready.

After three official Forbidden Dreams, the moment had arrived.

The Deep Dream option appeared before him, seeming to carry a strange allure, enticing Li Nanke to choose.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement within.

“First, redeem items, then explore this so-called Deep Dream and see what kind of beings these other nightmares are.”

This time, the standard exchange list was abundant, containing most low-tier weapons, blades, firearms, equipment, items, and vehicles seen in the dream.

For instance, weapons from over ten trackers, including Donkey’s serrated machete and Swift Rabbit’s rapier, were listed.

Li Nanke also spotted numerous alchemical items, like Porcupine’s self-source detection grenades and Yellow Dog Philip’s steam forging hammer.

Not only that, but the list had dozens of alchemical materials—some he had glimpsed in the Primordial Monastery, while many were entirely unfamiliar.

Perhaps unlocking the “Alchemy” core essence granted access to most alchemical material exchanges.

At the bottom of the list was the “Self-Source Crystal” exchange, with an astonishing 1:1 point-to-crystal ratio.

Li Nanke still carried over five hundred self-source crystals he had extracted from Vinini and Sophia; exchanging them outright could net over five hundred exchange points.

Combined with the 850 points from this high-rating settlement, his total exchange points exceeded fourteen hundred.

Scrolling to the bottom, he quickly found something valuable.

The first was Sophia’s butterfly pendant resting at her chest.

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