Chapter 318 : Chapter 318

Chapter 318: The Difficulty of Ninglan New City's Fight Against the Nightmare

At this moment, a rare heated discussion erupted in the underground city.

For so many days, the disaster of the Nightmare had plagued their minds.

This was the first time they had seen a Nightmare attack resolved so quickly.

The Earth Patrol Team's efficiency undoubtedly gave the residents here great confidence.

Of course, this was not without the Earth Patrol Team's own publicity.

Solving this Nightmare incident was a major credit picked up for free, so naturally, they had to publicize it well to enhance the Earth Patrol Team's prestige.

Of course, they did not forget to mention the scholar from the extraordinary base who was the root cause of the problem's solution, boosting the reputation of the base's scholars and spreading the word that the scholars would find a way to completely solve the problem to dispel their future worries.

And these announcements were not just limited to this.

There were also warnings against some people who had clashed with the base's scholars and obstructed the base's personnel from resolving the Nightmare attack, further strengthening the unshakable image of the extraordinary base in the minds of the common people.

Finally, they debunked the rumor about the connection between the Fool's Dream and the Nightmare, and also noted that some Fool's Dream were also valued by a scholar and had been taken into the base as apprentices.

This was not only to elevate the status of these Fool's Dream, but mainly to hint to those foolish guys that they shouldn't mess with those Fool's Dream.

Behind them might be a scholar, and if they messed around, they wouldn't even know how they died, and would only cause trouble for them.

Outside the underground city, people were already cheering because the Nightmare incident had been resolved so quickly.

The same was true inside the extraordinary research base.

After all, when I brought a dark Nightmare to the base, I walked in swaggeringly, almost scaring the guards and causing them to sound the emergency alert.

In the end, the base urgently cleared out a sealed containment room for me to help contain this Nightmare.

That night, the base was almost fully mobilized.

After all, they knew how powerful the Nightmare was.

If the Nightmare's containment failed and it broke out in the base, the ones affected would be talents!

Not a single one could have an accident.

They couldn't afford a single slip-up.

Although I ultimately received a serious warning from the base's higher-ups, due to various objective reasons and a series of force majeure factors, the final punishment became a self-criticism report.

In the end, this report was even written by a Fool's Dream for me, filled with several pages of childish apologies.

But the base still accepted it with a pinched nose and posted a notice.

But I didn't care about this.

On the contrary, because of the containment of this Nightmare in the base, there were already too many people asking me to start a research project on the Nightmare.

After all, the existence form of something like the Nightmare was too interesting to these people who had been researching in the extraordinary field for so long.

This was also a completely new and unknown field, similar to the Rune Rituals I had proposed!

It was even faintly more popular than the runes I taught.

After all, even with runes, most people here still recognized inscriptions more.

Those who had studied to a high level could naturally see that runes were just a more systematic integration of inscriptions; they were essentially the same.

However, it wasn't wrong for them to have such an idea.

After all, I had only read through all the runes once, and that wasn't even all of them.

I hadn't even had time to study each one in depth.

As for the cage to contain the Nightmare, I had also solved that.

To trap a Nightmare, the real problem to solve was how to construct a permanent container on top of the dream state that could trap the Nightmare, preferably a restraining device that would be convenient for later research.

The answer was simple: build an identical container in reality based on the container in the dream state.

I used the Dream Rewrite Spell to communicate with the information channel and replicate this container.

This was very convenient.

Even if the effect of my rewrite spell disappeared, the dream state would still have a stable information reception channel from reality, so this cage would not disappear.

A few days later, the application for the Nightmare research project was approved.

The applicant was naturally me, and could only be me.

After all, the base also needed to assess the risk of studying such a monster.

But for me, it was just a formality.

I also happened to take advantage of these few days to deal with some trivial matters.

"Big Sis Little Han, someone is looking for you."

"Hmm? Who is it?"

I looked at the cute Fool's Dream who came in from outside the door and asked subconsciously.

"It's Big Sis Ninglan Qiuyue."

"Hello, Teacher Little Han."

Along with the Fool's Dream, Ninglan Qiuyue's familiar voice sounded.

"Hmm? Why are you here?"

After all, Ninglan Qiuyue had not been in the underground city these few days.

As the daughter of the city lord of Ninglan New City on the surface, she was probably very busy.

"Naturally, I heard about your glorious deeds, Teacher Little Han. You went deep into the Nightmare disaster area alone and contained a complete Nightmare. And... I heard that your research project on the Nightmare is about to begin."

"Oh? Your information is quite up-to-date. What? Do you want to join this research group too?"

"I naturally know my own limits. I'm not qualified to participate in a research project of this level."

"Then what are you here for?"

I asked curiously.

After all, if there was nothing, she didn't seem like the type to just wander around here.

"Teacher Little Han, do you still remember when you took those Fool's Dream to the Earth Patrol Team to register?"

"Oh, that was a few days ago, right? Is the matter resolved? Why are you the one notifying me?"

I thought for a moment and looked up at her.

"Yes, because the interests involved behind this seem to have reached the forces on the surface, so I took over. Of course, I also brought those Fool's Dreams back to you intact."

"Really? Big Sis Ninglan Qiuyue?"

"Thank you, Big Sis Ninglan Qiuyue!"

Hearing this response, the Fool's Dream around me immediately thanked Ninglan Qiuyue gratefully.

"Thank you. I didn't expect this matter to trouble you," I also said.

"It's okay, consider it... a convenient matter. I also took this opportunity to pull out some... you know."

"Alright, it seems your life on the surface is really colorful."

"You're not bad either, are you? I heard you're doing very well here. Many people respect you very much," Ninglan Qiuyue also started to flatter me.

"They're just a bunch of geniuses who like to compete in academics. I find that I get along with them very well," I also nodded and said.

My passive talent of being a conversation ender seemed to have no problem in academics, making others speechless.

After all, academic exchanges didn't need to consider too many emotional issues.

Right and wrong had a relatively clear dividing line.

Even if there were differences in opinion, if your eloquence was not good enough to argue with me, it would also shake the other party's perception.

"By the way, I've also met many outsiders in Ninglan New City these few days. Or rather, the arrival of outsiders has become more frequent during this period, so I've come into contact with more of them."

"How is it? Have you witnessed biodiversity?"

"Biodiversity... haha, I didn't expect Teacher Little Han to make such a joke. Indeed, those outsiders have brought a lot of trouble to our Ninglan New City. We can't interfere with those unscrupulous guys, and even have to hire their fellow outsiders to restrain those unreasonable outsiders."

Ninglan Qiuyue was stunned for a moment, then reacted and chuckled, and then began to complain.

"Hire? Aren't you afraid that the outsiders will create an industrial chain out of this? One group is responsible for causing trouble, and another group is responsible for dealing with you and fleecing you?"

"This... I naturally thought about it, so the outsiders I found are relatively trustworthy people. But I also heard your name from them. It seems you are also a very famous existence among these outsiders?"

"Very famous? How is that possible? I'm just an ordinary student. But... since you've chosen to join forces with those outsiders, you should be able to deal with those Nightmares very easily, right?"

"Very easily? How is that possible?"

Hearing my words, Ninglan Qiuyue also smiled bitterly and shook her head.

I didn't know if she was denying "easily," or my description of myself as "ordinary."

"Is there a problem? The existence form of a Nightmare should be very easy for an outsider to solve," I frowned and asked.

"The progress in cleaning up the Nightmares is not going smoothly. The means they have are not obvious when facing the Nightmares, and..."

"And? And what?"

I asked curiously.

But what I was more concerned about was, were their means really not effective against the Nightmares?

Or was it just my personal illusion that it was convenient for outsiders to deal with Nightmares?

After all, I used spells, and a considerable number of the other affected academies were not spellcasters.

But... we outsiders and the Nightmares were both "constructs" in the dream state.

Couldn't they be physically dispelled?

Of course, it was also possible that they had summoned a fake outsider, right?

I remembered that the unlucky ones originally chosen by the Academy Head to be entangled by the Nightmare were those who slept in during the day.

For example, in the Witch Academy, most of those people were not good at studying.

The only means they had was a Magic Power Source, and they might not even have a spellbook.

"And... it's not just the outsiders. There's also that Nightmare Demon you mentioned. Although they also seem to feed on Nightmares, they also bring us a disaster on a scale no less than a Nightmare invasion."

"Nightmare Demon... oh, that's not surprising," I nodded and said.

"Those Nightmare Demons are extremely aggressive and very invasive. They even hold great malice towards you outsiders, acting wantonly..."

"Then have we outsiders suffered any casualties?"

I immediately asked.

After all, if we outsiders were killed by the Nightmare, or rather, had our soul-substance absorbed, that would be a true death for us!

"There have been no deaths so far, but there are many who are seriously injured. After being seriously injured, they become very weak, and even... their bodies become transparent..."

"Become transparent?"

"Yes, there's an illusion that they might dissipate at any time," Ninglan Qiuyue said in a low voice.

"Is that so..."

I nodded again without any change in expression.

This struggle for Destiny seemed to have become a bit cruel.

There had never been a moment that made me feel so directly that life was gradually heading towards death.

In principle, I didn't want the heavy topic of death to appear, but then again, what did this have to do with me?

Perhaps no one could choose whether to participate in this Nightmare incident, but since they were forced to participate, if they didn't have a clear understanding of themselves, it was no different from courting death.

If I didn't have the strength, I would just lie low.

"This... is this your only reaction? They should all be friends you know, right?"

Ninglan Qiuyue asked, a little puzzled.

"At most, we are nodding acquaintances. I may not have even met most of them. What do you hope to see from me? Sadness? Or clapping my hands in joy?"

"This..."

A trace of helplessness flashed in Ninglan Qiuyue's eyes, but she quickly concealed it.

"I'm sorry, I thought they were very important to you, so I told you these things."

"Thank you. I really do need some information about what's happening in Ninglan New City on the surface to satisfy my curiosity. But I won't waste my sympathy on people I don't know. Since you've come into contact with many outsiders, you should also understand that not all outsiders get along harmoniously."

My gaze was fixed on Ninglan Qiuyue.

Her saying this, emphasizing the difficulty of fighting the Nightmare and the Nightmare Demon, was all highlighting one thing: difficulty.

Ninglan Qiuyue must have another request.

"I'm sorry, I was overthinking."

"It's nothing. You came to find me for something else, right? Just say it."

After all, Ninglan Qiuyue had been here for a while.

She couldn't have come all the way down just to deliver those Fool's Dream and chat with me.

She shouldn't be that free.

"Alright... actually, I also heard that you have the ability to kill Nightmares, and even captured one alive and brought it to the base for research. I was also hoping to understand what means you used to do it? This might be a good reference for those outsiders."

Seeing her thoughts being pointed out so directly, Ninglan Qiuyue also sighed and asked with a very low posture.

"Spells. It's a matter of personal ability. A spellcaster's ability to suppress Nightmares is still very strong. The rest is of no reference value. You can understand it as a crushing of strength. I suggest you find a stronger outsider to help you."

"This..."

Hearing my explanation, Ninglan Qiuyue also had a bit of a headache.

Although she had heard the report from the Earth Patrol Team described lightly, she didn't expect the person herself to describe it even more directly.

"Then can you help deal with those..."

"No, you can see I don't have the time," I refused very bluntly.

"But I can recommend a trustworthy young girl to you. Her name is Tan Han. Her strength is unquestionable, very powerful."

"Tan Han? We have naturally met."

"It's good that you've met."

I nodded.

After all, I had also asked Tan Han to actively contact the city lord.

With Tan Han's existence as a tool of the script, I could probably rest assured.

"I am very certain of her ability."

"Is that so? But that young girl named Tan Han is actually already someone we've hired to deal with those Nightmares. Or rather, their goal is very clear. They are here to clean up those Nightmares. It's more like a cooperation than a hiring."

"Then isn't the matter very simple? This kind of thing can't be rushed. It won't be long before we also analyze this Nightmare. Who knows, we might be able to find a once-and-for-all solution to these Nightmares?"

"Really?"

Hearing that it might be possible to solve the Nightmare problem once and for all, Ninglan Qiuyue's eyes lit up.

"Depends on luck If there's nothing else, I have to get busy with my own things."

"Alright, then I won't disturb you anymore. I'll be leaving now."

"It's okay, you're not disturbing me. I quite like it when you come down and tell me about the interesting things happening up there."

After seeing Ninglan Qiuyue off, I also started to do my own things.

And at this moment, after leaving the base, Ninglan Qiuyue's phone suddenly vibrated.

She subconsciously looked around to see if anyone was there, then checked the text message.

The sender's note was "Brother," and the content of the message was also very brief.

"Traces of a Nightmare Demon found in father's room in Ninglan Township Fortress."

"Strange... why would he be so kind as to tell me this..."

Ninglan Qiuyue muttered a few words, deleted the text message, as if she had never seen it.