āTo think one person could seal away the entire worldās Nightmare for almost eighty years, all on their own?ā
A flicker of awe crossed Hu Qiās face.
āTo accomplish something like that, the personās power must have reached the Void Realm of a Secret Martial Artistāthe threshold of the Apostle Level.ā
The reason Hu Qi suspected they hadnāt actually reached the Apostle Level was because Apostle Level power involved the Power of Space.
For an existence wielding such immense power, sealing this world would be a simple matter. Obliterating it entirely would be just as easy.
Of course, nothing is ever absolute.
āIt could also be that this worldās Dream Eye system is unique.ā
Unlike Secret Martial Artists, who comprehensively elevated their Life Level through their own cultivation, the path of a Dream Master was too distorted. Their strength was determined entirely by how much of the Dream Eyesā Erosion they could personally withstand.
The so-called Dream Eyes were more like individual sources of contamination, and even the strongest ordinary person had a limit.
Ninety percent of people couldnāt even successfully master a single Dream Eye.
Only the most compatible Dream Masters with exceptionally strong wills could persevere and advance further.
What intrigued Hu Qi even more was the strange life story of that mysterious individual who never left a name behind.
From the moment they appeared to the time they sealed the Nightmare, less than a year had passed in total.
This was precisely why there were no historical records of that individualās existence.
The era was chaotic, and the timeframe was so short that it was nearly impossible for any records to have survived.
Even if some did exist, ordinary people would have dismissed them as mere myths.
Although this worldās Extraordinary System didnāt require cultivation, a factor that certainly played a part, such terrifying growth was still astonishing.
āUnfortunately, I canāt find the reason for the Nightmareās appearance or the source of the Dream Eyes here either.ā
Hu Qi mused internally.
His gaze fell on the booklet he had just closed, titled *The Connection Between Neutrinos and Dream Eyes*.
āBut it wasnāt a complete waste of time. According to the research in this world, thereās a special particle called a neutrino.ā
āIt moves at the speed of light and has an extremely strong piercing ability, allowing it to pass through all kinds of matter with almost no interaction.ā
āMost importantly, experiments have shown that it has some connection to living organisms. In places where Nightmare incidents occur, the concentration of neutrinos is higher.ā
āDoes this mean the existence of Dream Eyes is truly connected to the resentment of living creatures? Thatās probably one reason theyāre called Nightmares.ā
āThat idea the Truth Sect had... perhaps thereās really something to it.ā
At this thought, the image of the two Truth Society followers he had "purified" on the train surfaced in Hu Qiās mind.
They used blood sacrifices not only to master the Dream Eyes more easily, but also to let the Dream Eyes enhance their own power by devouring and absorbing the resentment of living creatures.
It seemed now that the Truth Sect might have known something after all.
He glanced at the books inside the room.
The books here covered a wide range of topics. Not all were related to Dream Eyes; a portion consisted of various folklore and rumors.
These were of little use to him.
Just then, Hu Qiās expression shifted.
As if sensing something, his figure instantly vanished, as though he had never been there at all.
A second later, the large door behind where he had stood was pushed open.
A square-faced man in a white research coat walked in.
"Team Leader Feng, I didnāt expect to see you here."
Seeing Feng Lin, he paused for a moment, clearly not expecting to run into him here.
From the side, Hu Qiās gaze swept over the manās chest badge.
This person was also a member of the Dream Eye Phenomenon Analysis Group.
Feng Lin merely grunted an affirmative, saying nothing more.
"Team Leader Feng, thereās a very important meeting in a little while. Minister Li might be there," the square-faced man added, as if suddenly remembering something.
"Right, I know."
Feng Lin nodded, then turned and left.
Seeing this, the square-faced man found Feng Linās cold attitude a bit strange, but he didnāt dwell on it.
āMaybe heās just thinking about something important,ā he thought. āItās not the first time heās acted like this.ā
He shook his head and walked behind a bookshelf to start looking for the materials he needed.
***
"Take me to the place where the Dream Eyes are sealed!" Hu Qi said to Feng Lin, his voice focused into a single thread that entered Feng Linās ear.
The voice seemed to carry a special kind of Magic Power.
With his Hypnosis Technique, augmented by the Essence of the Divine Soul at the Apostle Level, hypnotizing someone was an incredibly simple task.
Hu Qi had originally planned to spend more time in the archives. After all, to the ordinary people of this world, the information here was absolutely top secret.
But the arrival of that man had shattered his plan.
While under Hypnosis, Feng Linās own consciousness was dormant. Hu Qi could control him and make him perform actions based on his own memories, but making him mimic his normal tone of voice and mannerisms to avoid suspicion was a far more difficult task.
Besides, the man had said that Feng Lin had a meeting to attend soon.
Therefore, he had no choice but to speed things up.
Leaving the archives, Hu Qi followed Feng Lin into a nearby elevator.
This Security Bureau had five layers above ground and four layers below.
After they entered the elevator, it scanned and verified Feng Linās face to confirm his identity, then began to descend slowly.
The floor indicator changed continuously. When it reached the negative third layer, the elevator doors slowly opened.
It revealed a long corridor outside, constructed from silvery-white metal.
According to the information heād gotten from hypnotizing and questioning Feng Lin earlier, the Dream Eyes were held on the fourth underground layer.
However, the Fourth Layer had no elevator access; it could only be reached by passing through the Third Layer.
After the elevator doors opened,
Hu Qi gave Feng Lin one final hypnotic command.
"Now, return to the surface. You will forget everything that has just happened.
You just finished your meal, had an upset stomach, and went to the restroom..."
As Hu Qi issued the hypnotic command,
Feng Lin took the elevator and departed.
Hu Qi, meanwhile, stepped out of the elevator on the Third Layer, concealed by the Disguise of Twisted Light.
Strangely,
this layer was barren.
There was only a single corridor, with no detection equipment or instruments whatsoever.
He looked down at the floor.
His expression flickered. He crouched down, touched the surface with his palm, and applied a bit of pressure with his fingers.
He easily dented the layer of silvery metal, revealing a flash of brilliant gold underneath.
At the sight of this,
a strange glint flashed in Hu Qiās eyes.
Clearly, the entire floor was made of Gold.
The reason it was clad in a layer of silvery metal
was to prevent, to some extent, external substances from coming into contact with the Gold and damaging it.
Gold doesnāt oxidize, but it certainly isnāt sturdy.
Gold was not cheap in this world. And considering Gold could be used to seal Dream Eyes, it was obvious the Security Bureau had paid this enormous price for the purpose of sealing the Dream Eyes below.
As he continued forward,
the corridor began to curve.
He could clearly perceive that this so-called corridor was actually a passageway spiraling downward.
Rather than the Third Layer, it was more fitting to call it a transitional hallway to the Fourth Layer.