Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2855: Chapter 2856: Terrifying Side Effects

The questions from the Wise Sovereign didn’t start with the previous ones about Olao but instead began with those concerning Angel and the others’ experiences.

First and foremost, what was the anomaly in the slow corridor?

Angel glanced at Adanis at the top and, seeing no reaction from her, finally spoke: ”The magical creature we encountered in that corridor was an Infant Spirit from the Otherworld.”

Angel detailed the appearance characteristics and abilities of the Flower-holding Infant Spirit.

Upon hearing about the weaving net and red wax abilities, the Wise Sovereign showed a surprised and doubtful expression. One absorbing energy and the other causing madness, targeting not the physical body but the Mind Space and Spirit Sea, sounded quite formidable just by listening to it.

The Wise Sovereign curiously asked, ”How did you deal with this Flower-holding Infant Spirit?”

”We didn’t deal with it.” Angel scratched his head, showing a lucky expression: ”It was quite well-behaved and didn’t attack us.”

It didn’t attack Angel and the others?

The Wise Sovereign believed it because, according to his observation, the progress of Angel and the Black Earl was completely unhindered, almost smoothly reaching the door of the Skies Poetry Room.

But was the truth really as Angel described, glossed over with just a simple sentence?

The Wise Sovereign didn’t believe it; he couldn’t help but look up at Adanis, trying to discern something from her eyes... After all, the Flower-holding Infant Spirit must have been sent by Adanis; she surely knew the inside story.

Maybe it wasn’t the Flower-holding Infant Spirit being ”well-behaved,” but rather something happening in the Skies Poetry Room that distracted Adanis, leaving her no time to spare for the Infant Spirit. And the Infant Spirit itself, being low in intelligence, might have just let Angel and the others go without Adanis’s orders?

Faced with the Wise Sovereign’s inquisitive gaze, Adanis paused for a moment and said, ”What he’s saying is currently the truth.”

After speaking, Adanis lowered her eyebrows and remained silent.

The Wise Sovereign could affirm that Adanis wasn’t lying, but he was also certain that there was definitely more to this story. Moreover, from Adanis’s silent demeanor and her intentional avoidance of Angel’s gaze, the Wise Sovereign couldn’t help but have a bold speculation:

—Could it be that Adanis also doesn’t know what happened?

On the surface, it might truly be as Angel said, with the Flower-holding Infant Spirit behaving well and not making any moves. This is also what Adanis saw, so she said it’s the truth, which is not wrong.

But sometimes the truth is like a pinhole in the swamp; on the surface, it seems insignificant and can even be overlooked if not paying attention. But inside, it might be linked to a vast underground insect kingdom.

And could the situation Angel described be this ”pinhole connected to the outside of an insect kingdom”?

He only described the surface-level pinhole, while beneath it—those intertwined, path-crossing layers of the underground insect kingdom—were all decorated by his rhetoric?

Even Adanis might not be aware of the specific reason.

As soon as this speculation emerged, it quickly dominated the Wise Sovereign’s thoughts.

In reality, this guess is quite bold. The Wise Sovereign’s usual thinking wouldn’t suddenly take such a big step, imagining such a complex scenario.

But he knows Adanis too well; her expression is just like a writing board, even if she maintains a frosty demeanor, her thoughts are completely projected onto this board.

Adanis is also puzzled, but she doesn’t wish to show it in front of the Wise Sovereign, so she follows Angel’s narrative, only speaking of the surface facts and not discussing the internal truth.

This is the reason the Wise Sovereign dared to make a bold guess.

However, even if the Wise Sovereign had this guess, he didn’t continue to pursue it.

Because from various indications, Angel would not reveal the true answer to this question. Otherwise, why would Adanis also show a confused expression?

Even if the Wise Sovereign believes his relationship with Angel might be closer than with Adanis, this closeness means he needs to consider Angel’s perspective even more.

He doesn’t intend to oppose Angel, and in the future, he hopes to use the relationship with the Wood Spirit to establish good relations with Angel and the Barbarian Cave behind him.

With such considerations, the Wise Sovereign naturally wouldn’t cross Angel’s line.

Moreover, Angel himself is already shrouded in mist, so a bit more mist isn’t really a big deal.

With this in mind, the Wise Sovereign stopped tangling with this question and began to ask a new one.

”From what I understand, the Skies Poetry Room only allows descendants of Noah’s bloodline to enter. Why were all of you able to get in?”

This question touches on Augustine a bit, so Angel definitely wouldn’t mention Augustine. However, Olao actually had some decision-making power, so Angel focused his answer on Olao.

However, Angel’s response also triggered another suspicion in the Wise Sovereign. This suspicion had been on the Wise Sovereign’s mind for a long time: ”Why does Olao care about you all... or rather, about you?”

Angel’s answer remained on the surface. He briefly recounted the story of meeting Olao at the arena and emphasized that at that time, he didn’t know Olao’s identity.

This indicated that Olao had already valued him back then.

But as to why Olao valued him, Angel glossed over it.

The Wise Sovereign also anticipated this; Angel’s response would certainly be somewhat concealed, and what he needed to do was infer the hidden truths from the known answers.

And in terms of deducing, Angel was quite cooperative. Of course, the premise was as long as it didn’t involve Angel himself.

Therefore, the Wise Sovereign started to slowly deduce some things from Angel’s answers.

The change that affected the Skies Poetry Room was due to Angel, but it wasn’t only because of Angel. There was also a key person involved.

This key individual wasn’t present. Instead, someone appeared in the Skies Poetry Room—a ”mysterious person.”

And as for who the ”mysterious person” was, the Wise Sovereign continued probing and questioning, trying to guess their identity...

...

The whole question-and-answer session lasted about twenty minutes.

Among them, the time for inquiry and answers was perhaps less than five minutes, with most of the time spent on the Wise Sovereign’s contemplation.

At the beginning of the session, when the Wise Sovereign asked questions, Angel would mostly answer, even if much of what he said was irrelevant, at least he responded.

But as the Wise Sovereign discovered the existence of the ”mysterious person” and the questioning became more in-depth, focusing on details and personal perceptions, Angel began to frequently evade and changed the subject.

And when Angel began to avoid, Adanis also started intervening frequently, stating many questions could not be answered.

In the latter half of the question-and-answer session, Angel directly replaced his answers with silence, and the Wise Sovereign knew that this should be the limit.

The Wise Sovereign sensibly stopped and gently thanked Angel.

The Wise Sovereign’s gratitude was not only for Angel’s response, but also for allowing Adanis to enter this ”game.”

Because Angel’s goodwill laid the foundation for Adanis’s entry.

Every time Adanis intervened, it provided the Wise Sovereign with much useful information.

Even though the Wise Sovereign still could not restore all the situations within the Qingkong Poetry Room, and many puzzles remained unanswered, he had formed a general concept in his heart.

Especially after Adanis joined, many ideas that the Wise Sovereign initially dared not think about became bolder due to Adanis’s expressions, eye contact, and the tone in which she intervened. And the previously disjointed logic gradually became self-consistent.

Particularly regarding the identity of the ”mysterious person,” while Angel dared not speak openly, he provided many detailed pieces of information, and with Adanis’s ”assistance,” the Wise Sovereign had more or less figured it out.

Angel’s goodwill was not in vain; even though his response was limited, the final result was pleasing.

Therefore, the Wise Sovereign did not hesitate to express his gratitude.

...

After a brief Q&A session, the Wise Sovereign temporarily restrained his desire to delve deeper into the ”mysterious person” and asked Angel, ”The Sweet Dream is in my chamber. Do you intend to borrow it now or wait a little longer?”

Since he promised to let Angel glimpse the Sweet Dream, he certainly wouldn’t go back on his word.

Moreover, it’s just a loan, not a trade, so the Wise Sovereign didn’t mind.

Angel said without hesitation, ”Let’s do it now.”

His reason for borrowing the Sweet Dream was simple; he purely wanted to test whether the Sweet Dream could be influenced by the Dream Conch.

If it can, the Sweet Dream might become the first Mysterious Object brought into the Wilderness of Dreams.

This experiment can be conducted quickly without much prior preparation, so Angel did not plan to delay. The sooner it’s done, the sooner a concern can be settled.

”Alright.” The Wise Sovereign stood up, ”Please follow me.”

Others remained in the great hall, while Angel followed the Wise Sovereign into the chamber they had previously occupied, or rather... the resting room.

Angel initially thought the Wise Sovereign would take the opportunity of them being alone to ask more questions.

But the Wise Sovereign did not do so.

He indeed kept speaking, but his words were unrelated to the Qingkong Poetry Room, focusing instead on the Sweet Dream.

Earlier, the Wise Sovereign and Angel had discussed much regarding the Sweet Dream, from its creation to how it ended up in the Wise Sovereign’s possession. The Wise Sovereign did not hide any details.

The only thing left unsaid was where the Sweet Dream is now and its actual effects.

Now, what the Wise Sovereign and Angel discussed was precisely the effects of the Sweet Dream.

”Regarding the negative effects of the Sweet Dream, you’ve already guessed some. Indeed, once immersed in the Sweet Dream, without someone calling you to wake up, you cannot wake up on your own.”

”However, the negative effects of the Sweet Dream don’t stop there.”

Angel frowned slightly, ”Are there other negative effects?”

The Wise Sovereign nodded, ”Sweet Dream is a Beautiful Dream. Normally, Beautiful Dreams are easy to wake from, but the Beautiful Dream within the Sweet Dream is difficult to awaken from.”

”This difficulty in waking results in three negative effects.”

”The first one is what you mentioned; you need someone to call you, as you cannot wake up on your own.”

”The second one is, if you sleep for more than a day in the Sweet Dream, even if someone calls you, you cannot awaken.”

”However, this negative effect is merely my personal judgment. Because I tried all methods and could not awaken the Ghosteye Witch who slept for over a day.”

”Whether you or others have methods to awaken them, I do not know.”

Simply put, this negative effect is still uncertain. Perhaps there are other ways to awaken a slumbering person, but the specific method is unknown to the Wise Sovereign.

Regardless of whether there’s a method to awaken those sleeping for a day, this negative effect alone is a significant test of human nature.

Because using the Sweet Dream requires someone to call you awake, if that person harbors even the slightest malicious intent, you might fall into eternal sleep.

Furthermore, even people you trust may not really be trustworthy.

The human heart is fickle.

This is similar to the ”Lonely Cabin,” where those trapped inside can only leave by persuading others to replace them. Who’s the easiest to persuade? Naturally, it’s to persuade friends. The closer the friendship, the more likely they are to fall for it.

In the Lonely Cabin, at least you remain awake to witness everything, but in the Sweet Dream, you cannot; once you fall asleep, whatever happens in reality, you are completely unaware.

Even if betrayed by friends, you wouldn’t know.

Thus, the second negative effect of the Sweet Dream indeed tests human nature significantly.

Nonetheless, there’s a solution for the second negative effect; the third negative effect is actually more terrifying, because—

”The third negative effect is... addiction.”

Beautiful Dreams are like poison, making you forget all troubles, only wishing to immerse yourself in them.

If it leads to addiction, even knowing the Beautiful Dream is poisonous, you’d eagerly seek it, preferring to wander in dreams rather than wake up.

And the Sweet Dream can indeed lead to addiction.

”Ordinarily, a common person may become addicted after using it once or twice.” The Wise Sovereign said, ”For Transcendents, it depends on your self-control. The stronger your self-control, the greater your resistance, allowing more frequent use of the Sweet Dream.”

Angel asked, ”How many times has the Wise Sovereign used it so far?”

The Wise Sovereign replied, ”Around thirty times or so... So far, I haven’t succumbed to addiction, but each use increases its allure. Perhaps after a hundred times or even less, I might become addicted.”

”Once addicted, it’s undoubtedly a path of no return. Even if someone oversees you daily, there will inevitably be occasions of sleep surpassing a day, implying addiction equates to eternal slumber.”

Seeing Angel’s serious expression, even furrowing his brows, the Wise Sovereign couldn’t help but pat his shoulder in comfort, ”But, you need not worry too much; with your situation, using it once or twice won’t definitely lead to addiction.”