Chapter 30: Intertwining Dreams (1)

The water droplet was losing its grip.

Who was the King of Destiny? What he had seen was the occult force above Zero Island—wasn't that the influence brought by the Dragon of Unreal Light?!

The Calamity World of the King of Destiny... the Calamity God... What was going on here? If the true identity of the Calamity God was the so-called King of Destiny, then what role did the Dragon of Unreal Light play? Or had he misunderstood, and *he* was the King of Destiny?

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Don't touch me with your thoughts! Stop!!!"

I am a water droplet. Drip.

"I am not the King of Destiny! I am not that kind of—that kind of madman who relies on random numbers to decide what he wants to do!" the gray-clothed figure said angrily. "You are looking directly at me; you cannot know my title anymore, or it will ruin everything."

Drip, drip.

"Good child, remember my words. You just did me a big favor, so I won't hurt you. Trust me, never, ever look at things that are too dangerous for you again." The gray-clothed figure stood up, looking around. "I cannot let you return along the path, or you will be assimilated by my power. I must find a way to send you back, and quickly. Your aura has already been affected by me."

I am a water droplet.

Amidst speaking, the gray-clothed figure seemed to have found something. He beckoned to the water droplet. "Flow this way. There is a skilled phase-aura user beside you; go back along her path. Such a glaring coincidence—it must be the arrangement of the King of Destiny. So unnatural, he definitely made his subordinates do it... that lazy, nihilistic, wavering bastard!"

The water droplet flowed across the stone wall, moving forward along the path on the ground.

"Directly facing my existence has caused too much of an impact on you. At this rate, by the time the planet completes one more revolution, you will be assimilated. You know how short a time that is—a mere snap of the fingers. You must finish walking the Path of Clarity as soon as possible and cause your aura to be deified."

The water droplet had a problem.

"A water droplet shouldn't have problems!!" the gray-clothed figure screamed. "To put it briefly!!"

The Water Droplet of Silence, the Path of Phase-Aura.

"You foolish water droplet! You are the seed of the King of Silence; no matter which path you walk on, your perception of clarity will lead to silence." The gray-clothed figure stood hunched over, head shrunk into his shoulders, still rambling on. "Remember, do not come looking for me before your aura is deified. Do not walk the path of the King of Destiny within the Calamity World. And certainly do not go looking for the King of Silence, unless your aura is about to be extinguished."

The water droplet rolled.

"Right here, forward."

The water droplet obediently flowed forward. It flowed for an unknown length of time—it felt as long as a year—and finally, the water droplet felt a bright light.

·

The water droplet turned back into Gongsun Ce.

He didn't care about observing his surroundings and sat down hard on the ground. The wreckage of information pierced into his mind, bringing a wave of pain. He felt as though his brain and heart had been churning in a blender for half an hour.

"Oh god!" He finally understood why that person had made him imagine himself as a water droplet. He couldn't think, at least not just then, or it would have driven him completely insane!

Gongsun Ce quickly sealed off the vast majority of his memories, leaving behind only a few keywords.

Aura deification—he was certain that person had said that. He needed to cause his aura to be deified.

He would be assimilated after one revolution cycle... a year... how could a year be a short amount of time? That person had also claimed he had just helped him, yet he had no memory of such a thing at all.

The King of Destiny used random numbers to decide his actions, but that person didn't look like it... And the King of Silence... That person had said he was the seed of the King of Silence...

A severe headache struck again, and Gongsun Ce realized he couldn't think anymore. With cautious care, he placed several heavy locks on his thoughts, clutched his head, and began to survey his surroundings.

Soft red leather sofas, a small square table covered in snacks, a massage chair draped with a plush toy pillow, and a fedora hanging on a coat rack. This place looked like the reception room of a bachelor apartment, and no matter how he looked at it, he found it familiar.

"Caldecia's living room?!"

There was no mistake. He was standing right in the hat-wearing woman's living room. Except for the bedroom door being tightly closed, everything was almost identical to his last visit. Immediately afterward, he noticed that beneath the view blocked by the massage chair, a pair of legs in white silk stockings were swinging back and forth.

With a peculiar expression, Gongsun Ce bypassed the massage chair and stepped into the center of the hall. This time, he saw it clearly: sitting on Caldecia's sofa was a little girl with black hair and black eyes. She wore a blue Western-style dress and sat upon the high, piled-up backrest of the sofa, with a small golden-yellow cat napping on her lap.

This child looked even younger than Shiyu Seventeen, roughly of elementary school age. She scratched the kitten's ears and said in a milky, childish voice, "Caldecia, go get me a bottle of beer."

The golden kitten spat a tiny puff of flame, and the hat-wearing woman's voice came from its mouth: "My dear Alice~ you're not old enough to drink alcohol yet~"

...Damn it! No way?! A cat that breathes fire was Caldecia, and this girl was... Could that gray-clothed person have thrown him into...?!

The little girl irritably ruffled the kitten's head. "I'm ordering you to go get it for me!"

"There's just no helping dear Alice~" The cat opened the refrigerator door and trotted over holding an iced beer.

As the cat moved, the environment of the living room suddenly changed. Green grass and blooming flowers sprouted from the floor; the coffee table and sofa transformed into a marble tea table and bar stools. Soothing light music echoed through the room, and dozens of rabbits emerged from the grass. The rabbits held miniature instruments, blowing multicolored bubbles from their wind instruments, with each bubble bursting upon touching the ceiling and drifting down as golden musical notes.

In the blink of an eye, Caldecia's reception room turned into a fairytale-like dreamscape.

The rabbit foreman had grayish fur, a pocket watch hanging around its neck, and a pair of glasses perched on its furry face. The gray rabbit pushed its glasses up with a pretense of gravity, snapped open its pocket watch, and the voice of a certain superpower user issued from its rabbit lips.

"Respected Master, it is now tea time!" With that, the gray-haired, bespectacled rabbit began to dance in circles.

Gongsun Ce almost popped his eyes out.

The black-haired little girl climbed onto a bar stool, proudly popped open the can, poured the beer into a teacup, and took a small sip. "Cough, cough, cough, cough!" She immediately broke into a violent fit of coughing. "Daddy lied, this tastes terrible!" The girl was driven to tears by the spiciness. The cat on the tea table watched her and chuckled.

"Speaking of which, dear Alice, when do you plan to apologize to him?" the cat asked, pointing at the rabbit. The dancing rabbit foreman immediately chimed in. "Respected Master, you really ought to apologize to me!"

Gongsun Ce cracked his knuckles, preparing to march over and throw the rabbit out.

The black-haired little girl puffed out her cheeks and stubbornly turned her face away.

"Who's going to apologize? I'm a bad child, and I have absolutely no regrets! It's all your fault for ruining my perfect plan, and I'm going to get revenge on you yet!"

Gongsun Ce, watching as a bystander, applauded in admiration. Amazing, truly living up to your reputation. But Miss Shiyu, holding a grudge in this form makes you look entirely like a throwing-a-tantrum toddler!

The cat said with an air of mature wisdom, "But he didn't kill you, nor did he take revenge. Now you're in a fix, dear Alice. No matter how you calculate it, you owe him your life~"

The black-haired little girl stamped her feet in rage. "It's all your fault! Why didn't you just kill me?!"

She grabbed the gray rabbit and furiously pressed down on its head. "Hmph! Beg me and I'll apologize to you!!"

It was truly an eye-opener. Anyone listening to this would think *he* was the one who owed *her*.

Gongsun Ce felt both exasperated and amused. If she were in her adult form, he would have blown his top long ago, but watching a child throw a tantrum made it hard to stay genuinely angry. He simply chose to continue observing the interaction between the girl and the small animal.

The poor gray rabbit was being tormented beyond recognition. It said intermittently, "Respected Master... you are... the most beautiful... most adorable woman in the world..."

The black-haired girl stopped. "Hmph, praise me more. Then beg me!"

"Your skin is as white as snow, and your lips are as red as blood..."

The gray rabbit wracked its brain, rattling off several more exaggerated words of praise, but it stubbornly refused to beg the girl for mercy. The girl tossed it around for a good while before finally letting go out of sheer boredom.

"I'll spare you today, because I am the most beautiful girl in the world," the black-haired little girl said proudly. "Daddy said so too. In the family, I'm the most perfect one!"

Just as she mentioned "Daddy," the sound of a key turning came from the door. The music stopped, and Gongsun Ce heightened his vigilance. A moment later, the door opened. Expecting the adult version to step inside, he was surprised to see an unfamiliar man in a white suit.

Gongsun Ce's pupils constricted. He had seen photographs of this man; the person entering was Shiyu Gengmi!

"Daddy~" The black-haired little girl hopped down from her chair and ran happily toward the door.

"I'm home, little princess! Come let Daddy give you a hug!" Shiyu Gengmi scooped the girl up in both hands, spun her around twice in the air, and set her down.

The scene looked deeply heartwarming, just like a genuine father and daughter.

"Were you a good girl today?" "Yes! Today, I went to give snacks to the younger brothers and sisters!" "As expected of the finest eldest sister of our Shiyu family."

The little girl puffed out her chest with pride. "I even told everyone a story! The uncles in white clothes all praised me." Shiyu Gengmi hung his fedora on the coat rack. "Such a good girl."

"But Daddy, everyone looks so tired." At this, the little girl looked somewhat uneasy. "And the places they live are so dirty."

Shiyu Gengmi made a comical face. "None of them are as smart as you! You must study hard; Daddy and the little younger siblings are all counting on you." "Mm-mm!" The girl nodded happily.

Gongsun Ce watched all this from the sidelines, a creeping chill settling in his heart.

He hadn't forgotten the intense hatred in Shiyu Ling's eyes whenever she mentioned Gengmi, but what was *this*? If this conversation had truly happened in reality, then she and Shiyu Gengmi had once been an intimately close father and daughter. Was Shiyu Ling a kind-hearted girl when she was little?

Gongsun Ce's confusion grew heavier. He searched the room for items that could indicate the current time. A clock showed it was 3:30 in the afternoon, the date was August 27th, and the year... the year was... Gongsun Ce noticed a yellowed calendar hanging on the wall, with "1999" written across the top in colored crayons.

Eleven years ago, before the Calamity of the Firmament had occurred. The Shiyu Project had started thirteen years ago, and with Zero being the first experimental subject, that meant this was two years after she had begun her experiments.

Confirming the time only multiplied the contradictions. Shiyu Ling from eleven years ago had no reason to still look so petite; by then, she should have looked like a junior high school girl! Gongsun Ce was just about to conduct further investigation when he heard a "creak" from the side of the living room.

The bedroom door cracked open an inch. An icy green light leaked through the gap, and he faintly caught the scent of disinfectant and blood. Immediately afterward, an icy female voice rang out.

"Go to hell."

Bang! Shiyu Gengmi, who had been conversing harmoniously, exploded into a turbid mess of flesh and blood, showering the little girl in internal organs and gore.

The green grass, flowers, and tea party had all vanished. Seizing the opportunity, the gray-haired rabbit unlocked the front door and fled. The girl and the cat both stared at the ajar bedroom door. "Take Caldecia outside." The girl scooped up the cat and left the home, pulling the door shut from the outside.

Now, only Gongsun Ce remained in the hall. The bedroom door opened, and the familiar figure of Shiyu Ling stepped out. She sat down on the sofa, picked up the iced beer, and took a sip.

"Phew." Shiyu Ling put the beer down wearily, raising her head to lock eyes with the awkward-looking young man. "Hell, how'd you get in here?" She waved a hand. "Turn back into a rabbit and get out."

"The situation might be a little different from what you think. I mean..." Gongsun Ce stood rooted to the spot. Under the woman's increasingly expressive gaze, he said, "Good evening."

Shiyu Ling's face flushed bright red all at once. In her eyes, he caught a swirling mixture of emotions, with blind fury occupying the absolute majority. The black-haired woman lunged forward, grabbed him by the throat, and shoved him hard to the floor. The scene that followed filled him with a profound sense of déjà vu.

"How dare you?!" Shiyu Ling screamed, "Get the hell out of my mind, Gongsun Ce!!!!"