Chapter 114 - I Want to See Your Father!
Chapter 114: I Want to See Your Father!
“It’s not that simple.”
Erlang Shen wanted to continue to tell Qiu Ren about the difficulties after hearing his invitation. However, he felt that the pollution from the Darkin Blade was gradually disappearing.
This might be because he was helping Qiu Ren purify the pollution from the Shadow Beast. If he continued to communicate with Qiu Ren, people outside would probably be able to hear them.
“Let’s go to my core dream. It’s a little more private there.”
Qiu Ren said as he opened the door to his core dream, but the restraints from the Shadow Beast suddenly shackled his hands.
Erlang Shen cut off and absorbed the erosion from the Shadow Beast twining around Qiu Ren’s body, which allowed Qiu Ren’s consciousness projection to return to his core dream.
Saving Qiu Ren was the priority of Erlang Shen when he invaded the Nightmare Dungeon of the Army, but he still had a more important mission that he hadn’t achieved.
That was to get rid of the Dream Maker who might leak the secret.
Erlang Shen didn’t look at the portal Qiu Ren created. Instead, he raised his head and looked up at the building of the Army. He could feel that the Dream Maker was still nearby.
“With me here, you won’t be able to kill him. Trust me… There are other solutions to your request. Besides, the conspiracy of the immortals in the Heavenly Court will be exposed sooner or later.”
While Qiu Ren spoke, the blood from the Darkin Blade kept dripping off his body.
Erlang Shen was truly rendered speechless by this young man. He had helped Qiu Ren contain the erosion from the Shadow Beast, yet Qiu Ren still wanted to ask the Darkin Blade to beat him up.
However… Erlang Shen didn’t want blood on his hands either, if it was possible. Unfortunately, he must give that man’s head to the Heavenly Court behind him.
“Perhaps you will still have the chance to kill that Dream Maker after we talk. By then, I won’t stop you,” Qiu Ren said as he spread his hands.
“…”
Erlang Shen was a bit interested. He could totally send an avatar to Qiu Ren’s core dream to talk to him.
Seeing how dangerous Tapir looked, this Lord of Nightmare probably wouldn’t let Erlang Shen enter Qiu Ren’s core dream in his full form either.
So, after mumbling for a while, Erlang Shen’s silver armor suddenly vanished. What replaced it was a casual hoodie and a pair of jeans.
There was even a dog logo on the hoodie, which was probably his Snarling Dog.
Erlang Shen also tied his long hair up into a simple ponytail. He then found a cap and put it on as he said to Qiu Ren, “Let’s go.”
This was his daily life. The perception of beauty of this dream consciousness had also advanced with the times. Only the world he lived in was still in the Tang Dynasty.
Qiu Ren kept the Darkin Blade in the Nightmare Dungeon to slow down the members of the Heavenly Court and the Army. He himself led Erlang Shen and Mia back to his core dream.
After entering Qiu Ren’s core dream, Erlang Shen was truly glad that he had put on a cap before coming here.
However, he soon started regretting and thought that it was not enough to just wear a cap. He should have put on a mask to hide his identity because there were some people that he never wanted to see in Qiu Ren’s core dream.
“What… a surprise.”
The Sharpshooter, Alma, was drinking tea in the courtyard of the villa while Alaina was chasing butterflies everywhere around her.
Falcon Huntress was sitting opposite Alma. She kept patting the Flash’s back constantly. The Flash was completely eroded by the viciousness of the Darkin Blade, and he seemed to be in a trance…
After Alma put down the teacup, she looked at the two people Qiu Ren brought back. Upon learning the real identities of Mia and Erlang Shen, she couldn’t help but exclaim.
This made Erlang Shen pull down the brim again. His eyes under the shadow of the brim glanced at Qiu Ren, as if he was asking…
“Why are there so many terrifying people living in your core dream?”
“Um… I always help dream consciousnesses who run away from home, like the one next to you and those two superheroes.”
Qiu Ren didn’t know what Falcon Huntress was thinking. After finding a way to sneak into Qiu Ren’s core dream, she always came over to sit for a while.
This core dream and Warzone seemed to have become… places where she could relax and be free from the watch and all kinds of requests from Supernova Pictures.
Qiu Ren’s core dream, therefore, became lively for various reasons.
“Please take a seat first. We happen to have members from all four parties, the Gods, the Heavenly Court, the superheroes, and the Army. We can organize the intel we have right now and decide what we’re going to do next.”
Qiu Ren created a round table in front of everyone. Mia and the Goddess behind her were the most confident ones.
So, she obediently sat at the round table created by Qiu Ren… while Erlang Shen heaved an unnoticeable sigh, as if he was asking himself, “What exactly am I doing?”
After that, he also found a seat and sat down quietly.
“First of all, the current situation is that there are dream consciousnesses among the Gods, the Supernova League, and the Heavenly Court who want to get rid of the control of the Dream Makers and even go completely beyond humans by using the power of the Army. I would like to know which characters in these three parties have such a thought.”
While speaking, Qiu Ren created a bunch of chess pieces that represented the characters of World of Gods, Supernova League, and the Heavenly Court.
These chess pieces were created according to Qiu Ren’s memories, so there might be incomplete parts. Mia, Erlang Shen, and Falcon Huntress could add additional comments.
Qiu Ren pushed these chess pieces in front of the three of them, respectively.
Mia was first to speak. “Most Gods have this thought. They think this is their right… Perhaps it’s the result of being spoiled.”
Mia used the word “spoiled” to describe how American and European countries treated the Gods with a complicated feeling.
These Gods were originally created by Dream Makers like them, but all the European countries basically established their own state religion with the Gods to make themselves a bit more powerful.
Once the fans became their believers, these Gods started becoming arrogant. However, they didn’t really take charge of everything like the believers preached.
It was very difficult for them to accept that there was someone else above them, their Dream Makers.
When Mia finished describing the situation of the Gods, she turned her gaze to Falcon Huntress.
“Supernova convinced us before, but the appearance of a person… woke us up.”
Falcon Huntress picked up a chess piece. It wasn’t Supernova, but… Batman.
“Roy reminded us that the right we should fight for isn’t to enslave the creators above them but to communicate with the creators equally. However, some heroes in the Supernova League still think that we can only get the right to speak by working with the Army. At the same time, Supernova Pictures sees this cooperation as a tactic to fight the enemies.”
Falcon Huntress turned the chess pieces that represented the few heroes and Supernova Pictures gradually to the position where Erlang Shen was sitting, which was the Heavenly Court that Erlang Shen represented.
The chess pieces turning this side meant that the one which Supernova Pictures and these superheroes had always treated as their enemy was the Heavenly Court of the Celestial Empire, or… that spiritual symbol of everyone in the Celestial Empire!
Erlang Shen certainly knew what this symbol meant. He only took out one chess piece among the ones representing the characters of the Heavenly Court, the only one character chess piece.
There was only one meaning to it. Among all the immortals from the Prehistoric World, he was the only one unwilling to work with the devils.
“He… who you call the Great Sage, Wukong, the monkey that fights with the Buddha… is the only one who isn’t willing to compromise.”
Erlang Shen put that chess piece in the center. The chess pieces representing the characters of the Heavenly Court, the superheroes, and the Gods were all facing this Great Sage.
This meant that the enemies the Great Sage was facing right now came from these three forces, together with the Army they were working with.
“Isn’t there more? The Generals of the Three Kingdoms would probably die rather than surrender to the enemies?” Qiu Ren said as sparks flashed. A few chess pieces representing the Generals of the Three Kingdoms appeared next to the Great Sage.
“This doesn’t change anything.” Erlang Shen sounded very pessimistic. “This is the trend…”
“Trend? What trend… The trend of making the creators yield?”
Qiu Ren could sense that the dream consciousnesses were basically divided into two parties right now. One supported Supernova’s idea and was going to work with the Army to make the Dream Makers yield.
As for the other one… They couldn’t be said to be loyal to the Dream Makers, but they were the ones who stood with them. They thought that the Army was a dangerous nightmare consciousness and working with them would definitely cause great casualties for humans.
“There are other solutions…” Before Qiu Ren finished talking, Erlang Shen refuted him.
“Only… the foreign devils!”
Erlang Shen sounded a bit emotional, but he soon calmed down. It seemed that he had tried other solutions before, but it proved futile.
“The Dream Makers will only be willing to listen to us when they realize their lives are in danger… Otherwise, everything is in vain.”
No Dream Maker would be willing to agree to Erlang Shen’s request.
Retire? This was like the current aircraft carrier of the Celestial Empire saying, “I quit! I’m going home to get married!” No admiral would possibly agree!
“There are other ways. For example, you can use part of your consciousness to create a new character, just like what I did for Falcon Huntress and the Flash,” Qiu Ren said.
“I don’t just want a character, Brother Qiu Ren.” Erlang Shen said, “What I want is a new life, so I can get rid of… my immortal power. This is something that your master would never allow.”
It meant that Erlang Shen wanted to film other movies or drama series. He didn’t want to be Erlang Shen anymore.
However, the Central Research Institute didn’t permit it, and his Dream Maker didn’t allow it either. This would reduce his power as Erlang Shen.
“I may be able to help you,” Qiu Ren said.
“Brother Qiu Ren, even though you’re very talented, you have very little experience after all. Your master won’t agree with your idea… Only the foreign devils will!”
Erlang Shen knew Qiu Ren’s intention was good, but he wouldn’t be able to force the Central Research Institute to give in as an intern.
Only the Army…
As he thought about this, Qiu Ren suddenly got up as he stared at Erlang Shen with an oppressive gaze and said clearly, “I am the foreign devil!”
“…Brother Qiu Ren, your joke…” Erlang Shen wanted to tell Qiu Ren his joke wasn’t funny at all, but after a second thought, it seemed that it wasn’t a joke?
Tapir standing behind Qiu Ren had been remaining silent, while Lian was yawning in boredom as it leaned against the wall. It didn’t like the content of this meeting.
Even though Qiu Ren had the help from the two Lords of Nightmare, there was no way he could make the Central Research Institute give in. However, the problem… was the little girl, who was running around in the courtyard, chasing and eating butterflies with one bite.
Alaina was the rightful mother of the Army… their real leader. The Sharpshooter, Alma, was a member of the Army Training Academy and also a leader-level figure!
Right now, the members of the Army were all fighting for their mother in Warzone. On another level, they were actually fighting for Qiu Ren.
“But Brother Qiu Ren, in reality, you’re just…”
A normal person.
Erlang Shen couldn’t say this out loud.
“That kid is just my last resort. I can build one or even many new lives for you. You don’t have to worry about the punishment from other parties.” Qiu Ren changed the subject and asked Falcon Huntress, “Falcon Huntress, do you still remember what I said to you in the movie theater before?”
“Yes, I might never forget it my entire life.”
Falcon Huntress would never forget what Qiu Ren said to her after she watched Batman.
“What did Brother Qiu Ren say?” Erlang Shen didn’t want to ask at first, but he could only do so when Falcon Huntress stared at him.
“He said… he can become our trump card, our way out, and our new path if we’re tired of our current life. Mr. Qiu Ren has already proven that he’s qualified to say so.”
“And now, this applies to all dream consciousnesses in the world.” Qiu Ren turned the chess pieces of the Gods and the Heavenly Court and said, “However, in order for them to know… that they still have this trump card, we may need to do some preparation.”
“For example?”
Erlang Shen was really hooked this time. If Qiu Ren could impede the Central Research Institute, it might indeed work.
Besides, Erlang Shen had seen some of Qiu Ren’s productions. Even though western-style productions didn’t really match his taste, the rise of Tapir and Lian had already proven Qiu Ren’s ability to create dream works.
“Establish a film company or something first. Anyway, we’ll need investment.”
The first step Qiu Ren thought of was very realistic. Even though he could mobilize some of the members of the Army and had the protection from several Lords of Nightmare, it was necessary for him to establish a dream movie company or a studio. He would then become famous with the name of this dream media company and earn a huge amount of Creation Points, which were in turn needed for constructing Dream Dungeons in the future.
Qiu Ren could rely on the Dream Seeds produced by Tapir and Lian to earn Creation Points, but this was too slow and unstable. He needed a proper investment.
He could definitely not ask the Central Research Institute. If this was exposed, Qiu Ren would probably be dragged to a long talk.
“Are there businessmen in the country who are willing to risk their lives?” Erlang Shen asked.
“Well… Yes… I guess?”
Qiu Ren immediately thought of Ocean Dream Media. This was one of the main dream media companies that produced the stories of the Three Kingdoms.
And the person in power behind this media company seemed to be Wanxiang’s father. If Qiu Ren found Wanxiang, it shouldn’t be difficult for him to have a meeting with her father with his current achievements.