Chapter 314 : Chapter 314

Chapter 314: Underground City and the Fool's Dream

Over the next few days, Ninglan Qiuyue proved to be incredibly efficient, a stark contrast to the association president, Wu Mali.

I learned that Wu Mali was a young man who had only recently taken over the position after his father's passing.

He was still struggling to get a handle on his father's connections and was overwhelmed by the pressure, especially after my disruptive arrival.

He was young and passionate about extraordinary skills, but that alone wasn't enough to secure his position.

Without Qiuyue's support, he likely would have failed.

Following Qiuyue, Bai Yu and I arrived at a hidden location.

“Where are we going?”

I asked habitually.

“To the secret base of the Extraordinary Research Group, of course,” she explained.

“A group like this can't operate in the open. What’s safer than being underground? Besides, down here, any large commotions like explosions from research won't affect the normal lives of the citizens above.”

“That makes sense,” I nodded, stepping into a massive elevator-like structure with Bai Yu.

The steel machinery was covered in dense inscriptions, showing a level of mastery that exceeded my expectations.

They may not have had breakthroughs in their thousand years of development, but they certainly had accumulated a vast foundation.

The elevator descended for a very long time, far deeper than I had anticipated.

Eventually, I felt an undeniable wave of energy pass through me, and I knew we were close.

Soon, the elevator stopped, opening up to a vast, open cavern high above the ground.

“This… this is!”

I was utterly stunned by the sight before me.

This wasn't just an underground research base; they had excavated an entire second Ninglan New City beneath the first.

From our high vantage point, we could see the whole underground area.

It was a complete residential district with buildings and infrastructure.

Most strikingly, a massive Earth Vein, glowing with a soft blue light, pierced through the center of the underground city, stretching from the floor to the vaulted ceiling.

An enormous mechanical facility was built around this pulsating vein, with all the architecture radiating outwards from it.

No wonder I had felt such a strong feedback of Earth Vein energy information earlier.

They had actually dug down to an Earth Vein tributary!

This was the first time I had ever seen one so condensed that it was tangible.

It was clear they were already at the stage of developing and utilizing its energy.

I was beginning to understand how the great Shelter Stele in the city center above came to be.

Or perhaps I had it backwards; maybe their curiosity about the stele led them to find its source deep underground.

I compared the positions, and it seemed to match the location of the stele on the surface perfectly.

Was the stele an extension of this Earth Vein?

“Welcome to Ninglan New City’s Extraordinary Technology Research Base,” Qiuyue said.

“You could say this has become a nearly autonomous underground city. The initial base wasn’t this large.”

“Of course, this is also Ninglan New City’s final harbor, the last place of hope in case the city on the surface is completely destroyed. The most outstanding geniuses in extraordinary skills from all over the city are gathered here. They have lived here for a long time, until they passed away in obscurity. Their descendants live here now, so… you can also see scenes of ordinary life, as their families and children all live here.”

“I see…”

Listening to her explanation, I nodded in understanding.

So this was the "early access server."

The underground city had a completely different style from the one above.

Inscriptions were etched everywhere, and they were harnessing not only extraordinary power but also Earth Vein energy.

The entire city was powered by that central vein.

Which meant if that Earth Vein tributary was destroyed, the entire underground city would be… paralyzed!

Wait… why was my first instinct to think about how to destroy this place?

Pushing the thought aside, I waited calmly for the elevator to land.

As we stepped onto the ground, a petite figure appeared before us.

“Welcome, all three of you, to the underground city. Do you need me to show you… huh? It’s Big Sis Ninglan Qiuyue.”

“Be good, we won't trouble you this time.”

Qiuyue bent down and patted the head of the figure, who was only about half a person tall.

She had a petite body, a cute face, and a curious expression, topped with a pair of twitching cat ears.

It was an adorable little cat girl!

“A cat girl?”

“A Fool’s Dream?”

Bai Yu and I exclaimed in surprise at the same time.

Both Bai Yu and Qiuyue turned to look at me.

Bai Yu’s eyes flashed with surprise, while Qiuyue’s were purely curious.

“You know what they are?”

“No…”

I swallowed, taking a moment to compose myself.

I looked at the cat girl, then back at Qiuyue.

“Wait a minute. Can I ask, have they… always lived here?”

“Not exactly. They appeared… around the same time as the first batch of Outsiders. And they appeared all at once, right here in the underground city.”

“Is that so…”

My gaze returned to the cat girl Fool’s Dream.

Besides curiosity, her eyes held that clear, innocent foolishness unique to the Fool’s Dream—and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, it was simply a description.

“Are there… perhaps several hundred of them?”

“About that, yes. The sudden appearance of so many foreign creatures did shock us for a while. But after interacting with them, we found them to be very friendly and pitiful. Many people were willing to accept them, so they were temporarily settled here, doing simple jobs in exchange for food.”

Qiuyue explained, then looked at me again.

“Teacher Little Han, from your tone, you… you know them? They’re called… Fool’s Dream, is that right?”

“Yes…”

I nodded.

“Are they dangerous? Forgive me for asking, but the underground research base is very important. We can’t allow any dangers to exist here.”

“We’re very obedient…”

The cat girl Fool’s Dream said timidly, her voice trembling.

Seeing her expression, a smile bloomed on my previously neutral face.

“Fool’s Dream… are all very kind little cuties. How could they be dangerous?”

I reached out to pet the little one, but my fingers passed right through her.

These Fool’s Dream… had they already received the bodies crafted by the Academy Head?

So this was a physical projection.

Their appearance here was most likely the Academy Head's doing.

But… why would she send them here?

I thought for a moment but couldn't figure it out, so I gave up.

If I can't figure something out, I won't dwell on it.

Let nature take its course.

However, I did hide one thing from Qiuyue: the relationship between the Fool’s Dream and the Nightmares.

Since the Fool’s Dream had appeared in Ninglan New City, it was no surprise that Nightmares would frequently appear as well.

It wouldn't be long before all the Nightmares would "logically" gather in the city.

The protagonists, pushed by the script, would fight a great battle here and clear them all out.

Meanwhile, I would take the Fool’s Dream, sever the Earth Vein chains separating them from the Nightmares, and use the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Spell on them.

And with that, the matter would be concluded.

This was probably the script the Academy Head had arranged.

“Is that so? Then I’m relieved. To be honest, not everyone here likes their existence; some are even repulsed. After all, on the day they arrived, the first Nightmare invasion happened here. They blame these little ones for it.”

“Is that so?”

“But you don’t need to mind it. Although many geniuses gather here, it doesn’t mean there aren’t foolish people.”

“Foolish, indeed,” I smiled and nodded.

This time, the foolish people had stumbled upon the truth by accident.

The Nightmares were indeed related to the Fool’s Dream.

They hadn't wronged them.

But that wasn't how one should see it.

To those who didn't know the full story, it just looked like ignorant people were using them as scapegoats.

It didn't change the ignorant nature of those fools.

So… I should naturally cooperate and strongly condemn those guys.

Afterward, Qiuyue led us to the central area, the cradle where extraordinary skills were born and the very reason for this place's existence.

“By the way, Teacher Little Han, the people who can come here to research extraordinary skills are basically all geniuses. Geniuses always have preferential treatment and strange personalities. I hope you can understand this and try your best not to get into any conflicts.”

“The quirks of geniuses? I understand. If they have real talent, that’s fine. But I won’t be polite to those who are talentless and still show off.”

“Um… there is also a patrol team here dedicated to maintaining stability, so it’s best… sorry, I forgot Teacher Little Han can ignore all that.”

“Indeed, that saves a lot of trouble.”

“Let me arrange a residence for you, Teacher Little Han. It’s no longer appropriate to stay at the Ninglan Xiang Hotel above. Of course, if you want to go up for some fresh air…”

“I have my own way of getting up there, no need to worry. Let’s go see the residence first.”

After seeing our new home, we prepared to visit the core research area.

As for my living quarters, I didn't care about the environment; no matter how messy it was, I could always transform it.

The main goal was to see the research on extraordinary skills here, primarily by touring the facility.

The geniuses all had their own projects, and it was unrealistic to think I could just take over and make them all learn runes.

In a way, I wouldn’t have much interaction with them.

Qiuyue brought me here mainly to announce my presence and promote my Transcendent Runology.

The people here weren’t like the ordinary folk from before; they had deep knowledge of extraordinary skills.

Even without prior exposure to runes, the principle of "master one thing, understand a hundred" was not just a saying.

Once the information on runes was released, those who were interested would naturally seek me out.

This was much faster than filtering through ordinary people, and the quality of researchers would be high.

I wouldn't even have to waste time on basic knowledge, as they had their own diligent research habits and would only seek help after hitting a wall.

As Qiuyue said, this place was perfect for me.

I didn't have to worry about the interest groups in the city above; their reach didn't extend down here.

You can't negotiate with someone's last refuge.

It was like the old saying, "the heavens are high, and the emperor is far away."

The only leverage they had was probably the daily supply of resources.

Logically, Ninglan New City shouldn't have allowed such a "city within a city" to exist, but Qiuyue didn't explain the reasons, and I was too lazy to ask.

All I needed was the result.

Here, I was given my own independent research laboratory.

It was empty, but I didn't need anything extra.

With my Dream Rewrite Spell, I could be completely self-sufficient.

This was where the "useless" spell truly showed its worth.

“By the way, those Fool’s Dream—the cat girls you mentioned—can I have them come help in my lab?”

I asked Qiuyue.

According to her, the Fool’s Dream weren’t having a good time here.

So I thought, if possible, I could shelter these poor little things a bit, even if I couldn't take care of every single one.

Their lives had been full of hardships, perhaps this was the price they had to pay for asking the Academy Head to help them become true living beings.

“You can, but can they really provide you with any help? Teacher Little Han, I’m not trying to dissuade you, but excessive sympathy is also unnecessary.”

“Thanks for the reminder. I am in a dream state and cannot touch reality. Let these little cuties help. Besides, they have a special meaning to me, and looking at them puts me in a good mood. Don’t worry.”

“Alright, since Big Sis Xiao Han insists. Actually, for this kind of thing, I could arrange some apprentices for you. They could do a much better job.”

“No need. Let’s just leave it at that,” I shook my head, insisting.