Dreaming for 10,000 years

Chapter 355 Doubts
"Hehehe," the clown suddenly let out a low laugh, his emerald pupils shrinking to slits in the dim light.

“I once dreamed of a strange place.” His voice suddenly became erratic, as if it came from a very distant place.

Shi Fei noticed that the clown's fingers began to unconsciously fiddle with the buttons on his purple suit, a subtle movement that revealed his inner turmoil.

“That’s a city too,” the clown continued, a mocking smile playing on his lips. “But the people there…they’re more like real people.”

He suddenly moved closer to Shi Fei, and the pungent smell of preservatives and cologne hit him. Shi Fei didn't flinch, but simply pushed the clown aside with his hand.

"You're standing too close!" Shi Fei said.

“I came across a mysterious cult there.” The clown twirled, his leather shoes scraping the ground. “You know, in Gough City, cults are more numerous than rats in the sewers. But there, there was only one cult.”

Upon hearing this, Shi Fei suddenly thought of the person who had plunged him into an endless nightmare: "Could it be the Supreme God Cult?"

"Ha!" The clown spread his arms wide exaggeratedly, as if to embrace something: "You know about the cult that worships you?"

A dangerous glint flashed in his green eyes: "In that doctrine, the whole world was created in a dream by a drunken old cat. In this world, fish are supreme sacred objects, and only those chosen by the old cat can enjoy their flesh."

He suddenly stopped dancing, tilted his head, and looked at Shi Fei: "Speaking of which, how long has it been since you last ate fish?"

"I can skip meals!" Shi Fei shook his head and said.

The clown burst into laughter, saying with a hint of madness, "In the Cult of the Supreme God, the world was created by Old Cat, so Old Cat has the ability to enter dreams. He can freely enter any dream of someone else and turn their dream into an interesting one."

"So, I've come up with a method: if you eat a fish before each meal, you might dream of the God of Dreams!"

Shi Fei retorted, "Your method is utterly absurd."

"It doesn't even have to be a real fish, as long as it's fish you can eat," the clown added with a grin.

"...Have you been fooled?" Shi Fei asked.

"No, no, no~" The clown held up a finger and shook it from side to side, the purple nail polish already peeling off: "Just after I persisted in this ritual for many days..."

He suddenly leaned close to Shi Fei's ear, his breath chillingly cold: "I have truly met you, the great God of Dreams."

"I am not the God of Dreams!" Shi Fei continued to deny, "I am just someone lost in an endless nightmare."

"For you, this is just a game!" the Joker suddenly exclaimed, pointing excitedly at Jack behind the one-way glass, who was distributing weapons to his followers.

"It's because of your intervention that Jack has become like this!"

Shi Fei felt as if his conversation with the Joker was like two parallel lines, never intersecting. He gazed at Jack's resolute profile, his brow furrowed: "In my opinion, he shouldn't be like this."

He thought Jack should "turn left," but Jack "turned right."

Although what he understands as "left" is "right" for someone like Jack, it's not this kind of "right." That's far too extreme!
The swastika flag has resurfaced, which is a bit outrageous.

The clown leaned back gracefully and sat down in a Victorian-style high-backed chair that appeared out of nowhere. The chair creaked under its weight.

"What would he be like according to your expectations? Do you think they can win?"

He was referring to Jack's behavior.

Shi Fei wanted to say that the future was bleak, but in the end he just sighed: "Anyway, it can't get any worse." For someone like Jack who had been driven to the brink, it really had hit rock bottom and couldn't get any worse.

"Hehehe, it can't get any worse!" The clown's laughter was as piercing as shattered glass. "The God of Dreams is right. These people love to swing their knives at the weak, yet bow down to the true dragon."

He suddenly leaned forward, the chair making a sharp scraping sound: "Aren't you curious why they can endure so much?"

Shi Fei nodded, indeed completely baffled.

A city like Gao Fu, if converted to the land of the East, would have long been a place where "nobles and generals are born with special privileges," "the streets are littered with the bones of high-ranking officials," and "streetlights hang everywhere."

Where can you get so much painkiller that you develop resistance? Where can you work several jobs a day and still not be able to support yourself?

The people of Gough City are so kind, and they have an iron will.

The clown's grin stretched from ear to ear: "You're an outsider, after all, and don't know much about this place. Let me, a local, explain it to you!"

He paused for a moment, then said directly, "Because...they are all God's devout children."

"Huh?" Shi Fei never expected such an answer.

"In some places, schools forbid teaching evolution." The clown made the sign of the cross in the air. "In some places, even electricity is taboo. But here..."

His voice suddenly became solemn: "People believe that all suffering is a test from God."

Then he exaggeratedly spread his hands: "Living well is a blessing, living poorly is a trial. Everything is God's arrangement! What a perfect logical loop!"

"..." Shi Fei was a little dumbfounded. This answer was even more absurd than he had imagined.

He hadn't expected the answer to be like this.

"And what else?" The clown suddenly jumped onto a chair, standing on one leg like a circus clown: "They are all 'elites' from all over the world, the epitome of selfishness!"

His voice rose and fell: "Gough City is like a fruit salad, mixing all these 'delicious' things together. But take away the dressing."

He abruptly flipped off his chair, his purple suit tracing an eerie arc in the air: "They're still that pile of rotting fruit! How ugly! Compared to..."

He gave an exaggerated bow: "I'm practically an angel!"

Only locals truly understand locals. The clown's words immediately cleared up Shi Fei's doubts, allowing him to gain a better understanding of Gao Fu City.

Shi Fei looked at the clown and said coldly, "You're not much better."

This madman creates chaos in the city, using the lives of innocent people to stage his own crazy drama, which is meaningless except to satisfy his morbid desire for performance.

The clown suddenly fell silent, his face paint gleaming eerily under the light. "You're right."

His voice suddenly became unusually gentle: "But at least, I never pretend to be holy."

“Moreover, thanks to your inspiration, I’ve figured some things out.” His voice became serious: “I have to do something to make them really die under the streetlights.”

(End of this chapter)