Chapter 380

Is… Is this still the Capital City? Amidst the astonished expressions of the two, centered around the female journalist’s [Dream Lantern], the war-ravaged capital quickly faded away, revealing a bizarre and fantastical world spreading out before them.

The original “skyline” of the Capital City was suddenly elevated by a large margin. Towering buildings with no visible brick joints stood like giants in the city center, massive glass facades stretching from the base to the very top of the structures, reflecting dazzling and unusually brilliant light under the sunshine.

Not only were the buildings “elevated,” but the streets of the Capital City had also been significantly widened and raised. Some sections even rose directly off the ground, transforming into sky bridges that crossed over the bustling wide roads filled with traffic…

What about the Royal Palace? What has it become? Not forgetting their purpose, after the initial shock, the old investigator squinted his eyes and looked toward the position of the Royal Palace.

In contrast to these strange yet seemingly practical tall buildings, the Royal Palace, which was originally one of the highest points in the Capital City, now appeared rather short.

Except for the central main structure being preserved, most of the lower auxiliary buildings had been leveled, replaced with evergreen tree species. Numerous tourists were seen moving about within. As for how they knew those people were tourists…

“It’s too fake.”

Glancing at the dozens of tin shacks labeled “Ticket Office” at the entrance of the palace, the old investigator couldn’t help but shake his head and withdrew his gaze from afar.

“Imagination is decent, but who would turn the Royal Palace into a park where anyone can just buy a ticket and wander in? Even if the kingdom were destroyed, such an absurd situation wouldn’t happen.”

“Hurry up! Take me to find the owner of this dream, kick them out of the [Dream Lantern], and in a few hours, the Soulfall Black Abyss will begin descending. Don’t delay the important matters!”

“Alright, I’ll look.”

After replying, the female journalist held up the lantern and shone it around the two of them. Following her movements, the small red dot in the center of the lampshade flickered on and off.

Strange…

Looking at the flickering red dot inside the lantern, the female journalist couldn’t help but frown slightly.

According to past experiences using the [Dream Lantern], the lantern’s light would spontaneously point toward the owner of the dream, and the closer to the dream owner’s location, the brighter the “light” would become.

But this time was different. No matter which direction she pointed the lantern, the brightness remained about the same, and it was unconsciously jumping upward…

Wait! Upward?!

Noticing the direction of the “light’s” jump, the female journalist quickly walked to the edge of the clock tower and leaned out to look at the sky blocked by the roof of the clock tower.

“What is this?!?!”

Hearing the female journalist’s involuntary scream, the old investigator furrowed his brow and also leaned out to look up, only to be shocked to discover a huge face staring down at the Capital City from above, its black shiny eyes firmly locked onto him.

Could this be… Leon?…

It’s impossible to be Joshua’s bodyguard; this life will never allow it. For my cheap little brother-in-law, if I don’t secretly kick him when he gets attacked, I’d consider myself professional.

As for why I’m not planning to interfere with Joshua, and instead specifically come to sleep in his room…

One reason is that the princess is simply too “insistent.” Ever since last time, she looks at me like we’re an old married couple. I feel like if I stay any longer, I might actually lose my virtue.

Another reason is that Joshua’s dreams are extremely valuable. The Nightmare King’s curse on the royal bloodline causes middle-aged Joshua to constantly recall his entire life in his dreams, and this nightmare is “synchronized” to the present-day Joshua.

So, as long as I use the [Desire Dream Infiltrator] to enter his dreams, it’s equivalent to peeking at some possible futures. How could I miss such a good opportunity?

With the intention of glimpsing the future, after chatting with the Freckled Prince for half the day and stacking all the prerequisites for the [Desire Dream Infiltrator], Leon effortlessly infiltrated his nightmare once the prince fell asleep.

However, before Leon could peek into the future, a force of the same origin connected with Joshua’s dream, completely fixing the constantly changing scenes within the Capital City.

Suddenly noticing an unknown intruder, Leon naturally became alert right away. While trying to conceal his existence, he began observing what the other party intended to do.

But apart from “locking” Joshua’s dream and forcibly fixing the scene within the Capital City, preventing any positional changes, there was no further interference. Moreover, there seemed to be countless similar scenes being forcibly stitched together by some kind of force.

Thus, the other party seems to be capturing dreams involving the “Capital City”? Realizing that merely “observing” wouldn’t reveal the true intentions of the intruder, Leon retreated from Joshua’s dream.

Immediately afterward, placing the Black Goat nearby and instructing it to wake him up immediately if it detected any abnormalities in his soul, Leon targeted himself and actively triggered the [Desire Dream Infiltrator], crafting a dream related to the “Capital City.”

Sure enough, after satisfying the “keywords,” the dream Leon crafted was summoned and stitched onto a massive joint dream.

Just as Leon was about to use this as a stepping stone to investigate what the other party was doing, he was surprised to find a strange fluctuation entering Joshua’s dream, circling around, and then heading straight toward his own dream…

This is MY dream! How dare you just barge in?!

Realizing the other party had willingly shown up at his doorstep, Leon naturally didn’t sit idly by. He immediately refined the hastily prepared dream, adding an Ultraman “character setting” for himself, and began patiently waiting for the visitor.

Not long after, the strange fluctuation bypassed other dreams, cautiously circling a few times before carefully entering his dream and peeking around.

Once he followed the fluctuation and found the position of the other party, looking down at the two shadowy figures enveloped by the lantern’s glow, Leon, who had already prepared thoroughly, directly controlled his giant Ultraman-like body and reached out toward the clock tower below.

Since you’ve come, you’re staying!

(End of Chapter)