Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2897: Chapter 2898: Greed Feast

Not only rebirth, but also, the withering of the Big Mary Rose in the Rose Garden may be related to her.

Because she was reborn surrounded by countless vibrant Big Mary Roses.

Angel doesn’t know exactly what happened, but from the naked eye, she seemed to have absorbed all the roses’ life energy against the current, which then started to show strange transformations.

The girl reborn was covered with patterns of Big Mary Roses all over her body, whether it be her long dress, headdress, earrings, or the exposed skin on her shoulders and back, all had vivid rose tattoos.

Even when she laughed loudly at the sky to celebrate her rebirth, Angel saw her pupils and tongue piercing turned into the shape of roses.

After a reckless laughter, the reborn girl slowly gazed in the direction of the house. Her laughter slowed down, replacing it with a smile filled with malice and derangement.

With every step, flowers bloomed as the girl slowly walked towards the house.

As the girl entered the house, the Miniature Garden experienced sudden changes again.

That seemingly ordinary house was suddenly surrounded by countless rose thorns, the green vines like ropes binding the white walls and red tiles; the thorns pierced into the house, as if they were sucking blood.

Soon after, rose buds appeared on the thorns, followed by a continuous bloom of roses.

Until now, there were no more changes in the Miniature Garden.

Or rather, there were changes, but they were all inside the house. Angel’s perspective at this moment was fixed, unable to see inside the house.

After waiting for a moment, Angel still gave up peeking further, exiting from the Birdcage Perspective.

After exiting the Birdcage Miniature Garden, Angel slowly opened his eyes. Unexpectedly, he was stunned the first second after opening them.

He recalled that before entering the Birdcage Miniature Garden, the crystal creation in front of him was a long whip with barbs.

But now, the whip remained unchanged overall, yet somehow, it was covered with red crystal roses large and small.

From the appearance, the whip looked more beautiful, but to Angel, it also felt more dangerous. That thorned Big Mary Crystal Rose seemed like a beautiful trap, attracting your gaze while seemingly tempting you to fall into decadence.

”What is... going on here?” Angel’s eyes were filled with astonishment and doubt.

Laplace looked at Angel oddly, saying: ”I wanted to ask you that. You closed your eyes for not long, and then this whip grew these roses... Did you do this?”

Angel quickly shook his head in denial.

Laplace: ”Setting aside the roses on the whip for now. I remember you mentioned you wanted to go in and solve the mystery. Why haven’t you entered yet? Or are you able to solve the mystery from outside using that special authority you spoke of?”

Angel paused for a second, awkwardly turned his head, and said with a shy smile: ”A little accident happened.”

”A little... accident?” Laplace squinted her eyes, scrutinizing Angel.

Even though Laplace’s scrutinizing gaze made Angel feel uncomfortable, he still faced her suspicious look and explained: ”When unknown changes appear in a Special Dreamland, no one can enter, not even me. Only after the changes have finished can one enter it.”

When speaking, Angel was looking straight into Laplace’s eyes, and there was no need for him to deceive her on this matter. So, Laplace believed his account.

”Though you haven’t entered Helen’s Dream, you should have seen the changes inside, right?” Laplace asked, otherwise why would Angel have closed his eyes for such a long time.

Angel didn’t deny this, nodded, and told her everything he’d seen.

”During unknown changes, not even direct entry is possible... That does surprise me a bit.” Laplace pondered for a moment: ”The girl’s rebirth, absorbing the roses’ life energy, eventually entering the house and using roses to bind the house. Sounds a bit absurd, but I believe it.”

The more absurd the situation, the more Laplace believed it. Moreover, the crystal creations outside, the long whip, also sprouted Big Mary Roses, which seemed to corroborate the girl’s rebirth through the roses.

”Looking at it like this, the unknown change started with this girl?” Laplace murmured softly: ”Could it be that the 1% progress I hadn’t explored before also lies with her?”

Though Angel also mentioned that there were astonishing changes to the human head balloon on the Rose Garden gate, those balloons did not affect the external appearance of the crystal creations.

If using the crystal creations’ appearance change as a basis, the focus is still on the girl and the roses.

Laplace fell into deep thought. As a firsthand experiencer of Helen’s Dream, she was very concerned about that incomplete 1% exploration.

To Angel, it’s like someone just starting to engage with game planning instances, or rather escape rooms, unable to rest until all doubts are resolved.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. Laplace’s true self has long stayed in the Sea of Void Mirror, making her something of a recluse. Even if Laplace might open blind boxes in the Sea of Void Mirror—observing memories flowing into the Sea of Void Mirror from various worlds, watching is just watching, personally experiencing is a first.

Switching from a God’s View to a Player’s View, that feeling must be different.

God’s View can overlook everything from above. To people in God’s View, solving mysteries seems like child’s play; but a Player’s View requires being cautious step by step, slowly seeking clues in the ”memory” and ultimately trying to clear the ”memory instance.”

Laplace’s first time as a player, yet wanting to play with God’s View results leads to this: restless, unable to let go.

This dilemma isn’t yet perfectionism, just the inevitable result of perspective change.

And while Laplace was deep in thought, the crystal creation shaped like a whip... Oh, no, it should now be called a Rose Whip, was gradually becoming intangible.

Obviously, it also follows the authority of Wonderland of Dreams: unless triggered, it will automatically conceal itself.

After hiding, how can they be found and triggered?

It’s important to know that the hidden crystal creations are not just the rose whip; the sky was full of crystal creations. Where are they hidden now?

Seeing Laplace remain silent for a long time, Angel simply switched to God’s view.

He planned to look at the Crystal Origin of Dreams from a macro perspective to search for those hidden crystal creations.

Angel first looked around his current location.

Whether it was the surface of the Crystal Origin or the underground world below, Angel didn’t see any crystal creations... or rather, these crystal creations may have merged with the Crystal Origin itself.

This makes it very difficult to find them.

It’s like a drop of water merging into the ocean, searching for crystals identical to the Crystal Origin in a world full of Crystal Origin is very, very hard.

Unable to find them nearby, Angel expanded his scope.

Previously, he had meticulously checked a certain range; now, Angel was searching directly from the most macro perspective. This search truly led him to discover an unusual place.

This place was not far from the safe zone and the location of the Forest of Memories; it was the Corpse Mountain where the magic monsters were previously located.

Now, the corpses on Corpse Mountain have completely disappeared.

Taking their place is a gigantic crystal mountain towering straight to the sky.

If it were just a crystal mountain, there would be nothing much to say. Perhaps it was formed due to the earth-shattering movement of the previous ”Struggle of Creation.” This is also possible.

But Angel noticed it not just because of the crystal mountain. Astonishingly, this steep mountain, like a wall stabbing into the sky, actually has a path.

Although not as finely made as by human hands, a winding path extends from the foot of the mountain all the way to the top.

This is truly strange.

Imagine a mountain nearly ten thousand meters high with an uninterrupted path from the plain to the summit; isn’t that strange?

When Angel fixed his gaze on this crystal mountain, the Ability Tree transmitted a piece of information.

According to the information, Angel could enter an observation mode of the Wonderland of Dreams on this crystal mountain!

However, two conditions must be fulfilled: first, touching the crystal mountain; second, activating the authority of the Wonderland of Dreams.

Angel was currently in God’s view, so his body couldn’t touch the crystal mountain... but it’s not impossible. With the Ability Tree in hand, Angel was now half the master of the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Some prior authorities could also be utilized, among which the control range of the ”Celestial Alternation” authority became larger.

Angel’s approach was to use the authority of Celestial Alternation to bring the Nightmare Realm breath from the underground fissures. By combining the Nightmare Realm breath with Celestial Alternation, he released a hand of the Illusion Demon.

The condition of touching the crystal mountain, simply put, means perceiving the Nightmare Realm breath.

This hand of the Illusion Demon itself is a Nightmare Illusion type trick and can function as an extension of Angel’s body.

Therefore, when Angel controlled the hand of the Illusion Demon to touch the crystal mountain, he smoothly satisfied the first condition. Then, Angel activated the authority of the Wonderland of Dreams.

As both conditions were met concurrently, Angel could clearly sense his consciousness drifting, instantly traversing numerous distances to the outside of the crystal mountain.

Then, his consciousness slowly sank into the crystal mountain...

A new miniature garden appeared before Angel’s eyes.

However, to Angel’s surprise, even after he entered the inside of the miniature garden while his view could extend freely, he found no difference between the crystal mountain and the outside.

The same mountain body, the same mountain road, no imagined magic monsters, nor any other anomalies.

What is going on?

If this is not a special dreamland, why could activating the Wonderland of Dreams authority enter the box garden perspective? If it is a special dreamland, why is there no change inside?

Angel was puzzled, perhaps... only by seeing for himself would he know.

Just as Angel focused his thoughts on this crystal mountain, Laplace, nearby, finally awakened from his contemplation.

”It’s gone.”

Angel heard Laplace’s voice and opened his eyes, only to see Laplace looking into the empty mid-air, mumbling softly.

”Are you talking about the whip? As long as it’s not activated, it will gradually fade and conceal itself. I currently don’t know where it will eventually go,” Angel said.

Just as Angel finished speaking, he heard Laplace say faintly, ”I know where it is.”

Angel: ”Huh?!”

Laplace: ”When it disappeared, I received some information.”

”Information available even after leaving Helen’s Dream?” Angel was also startled; this Wonderland Authority is too ”humane,” even offering after-sales service?

Laplace nodded and conveyed the information obtained—

”Special Dreamland ’Helen’s Dream’ has undergone a linkage change and merged with ’Bira’s Beautiful Dream.’

”Special Dreamland ’Helen’s Dream’ has changed to ’Greed Feast.’”

”Exploration progress has been reset.”

”Everyone who has cleared ’Helen’s Dream’ will be on the ’Glutton’s’ hunting list.”

”All rewards obtained in ’Helen’s Dream’ will receive double blessings in the Special Dreamland ’Greed Feast.’”

”The hunt of the ’Glutton’ will begin after the three-hour timer ends, and the countdown continues even when offline.”

”The current countdown is 02:59:59”

”The current countdown is 02:59:58”

”...”

”The current countdown is 02:55:50”

After Laplace finished relaying all the information, the countdown had reached 2 hours and 55 minutes.

And precisely because Laplace could continually sense the countdown, she said: she knows where it is.

Because when the countdown ends, Special Dreamland ’Greed Feast’ will actively hunt Laplace. Once the Glutton arrives, the corresponding Special Dreamland will inevitably appear, and then that rose long whip carrying the Special Dreamland will also appear.

Furthermore, according to the wording of the information: the countdown continues even when offline.

That is to say, as long as Laplace is offline for more than three hours, when she comes online, no matter where she is, she will immediately face an attack from the rose long whip.

It sounds a bit like a relentless pursuit.

However, when Laplace spoke about these matters, she not only showed no fear but also hinted at anticipation.

And after hearing this news from Laplace, Angel had only one thought:

This Glutton sure is... tired of living.

If ordinary people attempt to navigate Helen’s Dream and fail leading to the emergence of ’Greed Feast,’ ending up on the hunting list, they would definitely be scared.

Because their strength is insufficient.

But Laplace is different; after activating the molting state, as long as the molting supply keeps up, she can cut down monsters of Official Wizard Level as if mowing grass.

Facing such a monster, the Glutton wants to hunt? Don’t dream.

Angel naturally wasn’t worried about Laplace’s safety, but speaking of this, there was an interesting term mentioned in the information Laplace relayed, apart from the subsequent chase.

——Linkage Change.

Previously, Helen’s Dream was about to undergo an unknown change.

Now it is confirmed, this ”unknown change” is precisely ”Linkage Change.”

The term ”linkage” in ”Linkage Change” was used very subtly and vividly.

Helen’s Dream is Helen’s creation.

Bira’s Beautiful Dream presumably happened when someone named Bira fell asleep and dreamt.

These two dreams linked, leading to the new dream now: ”Greed Feast.”

”So these Special Dreamlands can be linked too?” Angel murmured softly, ”But, who is Bira?”

”Bira is that overweight girl,” Laplace said. ”She’s the daughter of the house’s owner that appeared in Helen’s Dream.”

Angel: ”The girl who was used as rose fertilizer?”

Laplace nodded. ”I saw her portrait in the hallway. Her name was written beside it.”

Although there were many texts in Helen’s Dream that Laplace didn’t recognize, some names on the portraits in the hallway were very standard universal text. Presumably, these were the most memorable words to Helen, the Dream Creator, hence the names were faithfully replicated in the dream.

Angel originally thought Bira was a foreign invading dream, but now it seems Bira is actually the antagonist in the Helen’s Dream story...

”So, two intrinsically linked dreams underwent a linkage... Is this an established rule of linkage or is it possible to link unconditionally?”

The former is like a drama called ”Chaowei Magician” where the protagonist is Angel, but if Sanders appears in this drama, it would not be out of place.

The latter, the so-called unconditional linkage, is exemplified again by the ’Chaowei Magician’ drama where Angel is the protagonist, but Harry Potter appears in this drama, and that would be very out of place.

However, even if it feels inconsistent, it doesn’t affect the essence of the term ”linkage.”

It’s like in ”The Sound of The Tide on Magic Night,” where the author arranged for Tullas to kill the legendary pirate Redbeard. After the novel was published, no reader questioned it — not even Tullas himself, one of the protagonists, who bragged about it. But in reality, when Tullas was dominating the Far East Sea, Redbeard hadn’t even been born yet. How could they be connected?

The author managed to smooth over this flaw in ”The Sound of The Tide on Magic Night.” Similarly, if the ”planning of the special dreamland” can also smooth over the flaws, then it’s possible to link Helen’s Dream with Sun Wukong’s Dream.

According to Jon, this is known as: cross-boundary linkage.

Angel is concerned about whether this special dreamland linkage must have an internal connection, or if it can be a cross-boundary linkage?

If cross-boundary linkage is possible, then perhaps a dream originally belonging to an ordinary person could be linked to a deity’s dream, which would make the difficulty of this instance off the charts.

Laplace: ”That’s not an issue. Experience a few more special dreamlands, and the answer becomes clear.”

Angel thinks that’s about right, and there’s no need to overthink it for now. As Laplace said, with more experience, many problems will no longer be problems.

Furthermore, he holds the Ability Tree as a powerful tool, and it is feasible to slowly interpret the Wonderland of Dreams.

With this in mind, Angel doesn’t dwell on the linkage issue anymore but turns to Laplace: ”What are your plans next?”

Laplace: ”Are you asking about the pursuit order from the Glutton? If it’s about pursuit, I’ll wait for her to come. I’m curious to see if I can find out where that 1% discrepancy came from in her pursuit.”

Angel: ”...No, that’s not what I meant. I mentioned earlier, have you considered taking on any authority?”

Laplace: ”Yes, I’ve thought about it and have some intentions. However, I’m planning to wait for Glaipnir to perform some astrology before deciding.”

Every time Laplace mentions himself as a temporal body, Angel is tempted to ask if they consider themselves one person, especially since they can’t contact each other in the Crystal Origin of Dreams. Does that count as one person?

Nevertheless, Angel’s mouth moves slightly, but eventually he says nothing because Laplace’s answers are always similar, and he always gives a sarcastic expression. Angel can roughly guess Laplace’s reaction, so there’s no need to deliberately invite trouble.

Angel: ”In that case, do you want to go check out the Forest of Memories now? I mean, the Forest of Memories inside the Crystal Origin of Dreams.”

”You brought the Forest of Memories in here? What about that spider magic monster before...”

Angel: ”It was devoured by the Forest of Memories. Without the Eliminators, the Crystal Origin of Dreams is now completely safe.”

Laplace knows Angel must have hidden some things, but that doesn’t matter to Laplace. Since she chose to support Angel’s decisions, there’s no need to delve into the things Angel consciously concealed.

”Sure, let’s go have a look.” Laplace nods, deciding to take a look at the Forest of Memories since it involves the Law. She’s curious to see the differences between the Forest of Memories in the Crystal Origin and the real world.

”So do we go offline now?” Laplace already sees some tricks Angel uses with his authority.

Angel nods.

Laplace decisively withdraws from the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

Angel follows suit.

When they open their eyes in the reflection space, Laplace doesn’t immediately accept Angel’s invitation to enter the Crystal Origin of Dreams again, and instead asks: ”The Crystal Origin of Dreams should allow others to enter as you described about the Wilderness of Dreams, right?”

Angel: ”Yes.”

Laplace: ”Then I want to bring my temporal body with me. Can I?”

If this is your temporal body, doesn’t it count as ”others”? Isn’t it just you? Angel silently thinks to himself but outwardly remains calm and says: ”Sure, even your main body can enter. I have a log-in device here, so even if your main body finds it inconvenient to leave the Sea of Void Mirror, it can still enter through the log-in device... But I’m not sure if the log-in device will have its energy eroded by the Sea of Void Mirror. If that’s the case, then it’s best not to let the log-in device enter the Sea of Void Mirror.”

Laplace calmly says: ”I am the main body.”

Here it goes again... Angel suppresses his urge to make a sarcastic remark and says: ”I mean the main body in the Sea of Void Mirror.”

Laplace: ”I am the main body in the Sea of Void Mirror.”

Just by looking at the shape of the scales, you can tell you’re not the main body!

Perhaps Laplace sensed Angel’s thoughts, so she finally explains: ”The current body I’m using is actually transformed from the main body consciousness, and the evidence is that when I enter the Crystal Origin of Dreams, my main body is also asleep.”

”And because it’s the main body, I can fully leverage the effects of the scales.”

If the one entering the Crystal Origin of Dreams isn’t the main body but rather a temporal body: Luigi or Glaipnir.

Then the main body in the Sea of Void Mirror wouldn’t fall asleep.

Moreover, though Luigi and Glaipnir can use the scales in the Crystal Origin of Dreams, they wouldn’t be able to utilize their full effectiveness.

Angel: ”I understand...” Not really. Angel only vaguely grasps the supposed distinction between the main body and the temporal body, but if Laplace again refers to the temporal body as ”herself,” Angel suspects he’ll mix it up once more.

”Since you agree, I’ll bring the temporal body over now.” After Laplace finishes speaking, she closes her eyes and contacts the temporal body through the mirror in the Mind Space.

While Laplace contacts the temporal body, Angel walks to the side.

His gaze falls on the pale pink breeze in the distance.