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Chapter 249 First Steps into the Wonderland
"The Projection Has Arrived"

World: Fairy Tale

Exploration: 25.6%

"Legendary Status: 60 (...)"

When Wang Xi opened his eyes again, he found himself in a tent, sitting in a chair.

A kerosene lamp was lit on the table, casting a rather dim light.

A few meters away, Alice, dressed in a plain white nightgown, took off her wig with a slightly embarrassed expression, burrowed into the covers, closed her eyes, and whispered:
"Mr. Kai, I'll be troubling you again tonight... Good night."

Wang Xi was a little confused, but still smiled and replied, "Goodnight, Alice."

Once the girl's breathing had calmed down a bit, he then examined the "projection review" in his mind.

It turns out that he had been coming to Alice's tent every night for the past few weeks to watch over her for one or two hours until the girl was completely asleep.

Because he had previously promised the other party to keep an eye on that strange dream... if the time was right, Wang Xi would go in together and head to the fairyland.

After understanding the situation, Wang Xi sat down in a chair and silently extended his primordial spirit to scan the camp of the Great Mo Emperor Circus.

He found Godard and Pinocchio outside the tent. Cinderella stood with her hands behind her back, while Pinocchio, now dressed in his original clothes, sat on a wooden chest and chattered incessantly.

“Miss Polina has been pestering Kai every day lately, enthusiastically inviting him to sleep in her tent…”

Pinocchio lowered his voice and said in a serious tone:
"It's obvious she really wants to assemble a newborn with Kai. Godariel, Miss Polina is a slut too, isn't she?"

"..."

Cinderella glanced at Pinocchio, opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing, only sighed.

Pinocchio continued, "My father always taught me that I should lend a helping hand to those in need, so when I saw Miss Polina was in a hurry, I offered to sleep at her place today..."

He said this with a look of grievance on his face.

"But she kicked me out, kicked me in the butt, and called me vulgar."

“Oh, right.” Pinocchio looked up at the girl in the gray dress. “Godariel, what is ‘vulgar’?”

Cinderella took a deep breath, just about to explain to Pinocchio, when she heard Kai's voice coming from inside the tent:
"Godalia, Pinocchio, come in!"

"Ok?"

The two were startled, then quickly walked into the tent.

Kai, dressed in a black tuxedo, was standing by Alice's bedside with a solemn expression.

"Gai, what's wrong?"

Godaril hurriedly stepped forward and asked in a low voice.

Wang Xi stared at Alice on the bed: "Her strange dream has finally come true..."

Upon hearing this, Pinocchio quickly looked at the sleeping girl. To his surprise, he discovered that Alice was emitting a faint pinkish-purple glow.

"Gai, is this 'Wonderland' calling to Miss Alice?"

Pinocchio asked, both curious and excited.

Wang Xi nodded.

Pinocchio grinned: "Great..."

After learning that his father had gone to the fairyland, he had always wanted to go and find him, and now the opportunity had finally come.

Godaril, standing to the side, frowned slightly and asked in a low voice, "Gai, what should we do?"

"Wait a little longer," Wang Xi gestured. "The time isn't right yet."

Goddariel and Pinocchio exchanged a glance, remained silent, and stood quietly behind Wang Xi, waiting.

hum...

hum...

A pinkish-purple halo illuminated Alice's body outline, making her appear to glow and light up as if she were breathing.

More than ten minutes passed like this.

The light emanating from Alice grew brighter and brighter until it became almost blinding.

Without saying a word, Wang Xi suddenly reached out, grabbed Godaril and Pinocchio, and took a step forward, walking into the light.

A strange suction force came, and Cinderella exclaimed, "Ah!"

whoosh-

A flash of light disappeared in an instant, and all four people present vanished. Only silence remained in the tent, along with the flickering light of a kerosene lamp.

at the same time.

In the study of one of Márquez's apartments, Detective Gulliver put down a stack of documents, rubbed his temples wearily, and took a nap on the table.

The rabbit plush toy on the table emitted a pinkish-purple halo, engulfing Gulliver before he could react.

Tuk Tuk.

There was a knock on the door.

After a while, the assistant John opened the study door, holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee: "Mr. Gulliver, your coffee..."

"Um?!"

John stood there, stunned.

The study was empty.

...

...

"Alice, come here!"

"Come on!"

"Over here, over here..."

In the misty fog, Alice, dressed in a plain white nightgown, walked barefoot, anxiously following the call forward.

At that moment, Mr. Kai's image involuntarily appeared in Alice's mind, and she quickly spoke:
"Mr. Kai, are you still there?"

But after a while, all around remained silent, with only the calls from ahead echoing.

Alice couldn't help but feel a little flustered.

But just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind her: "Alice, I've always been here."

The girl's face lit up with joy, and she turned around.

Three figures emerged from the mist.

It was Wang Xi, Godard, and Pinocchio.

“Mr. Kai…” Alice felt a little more at ease after seeing the young man. “This must be my dream.”

"Hmm." Wang Xi nodded slightly. "To be precise, it's the boundary between the fairyland and your dream."

Pinocchio and Godariel looked around curiously, and suddenly they too heard that faint calling voice:
"Alice, come here quickly..."

"What's that sound?" Godariel asked warily.

Wang Xi had some guesses.

According to Alice's previous account, the voice that guided her most likely originated from "the Rabbit Gentleman".

"Mr. Kai, what should I do?"

Alice seemed to regard Wang Xi as her pillar of support, took two steps closer, and asked a question.

"Just follow the voice's guidance," Wang Xiwen said gently. "Don't worry, everything will be alright."

His voice seemed to carry a reassuring power, dispelling the panic in Alice's heart.

"Mmm." Alice took a deep breath, as if drawing courage, and nodded emphatically.

She started walking again, with Wang Xi and the other two following closely behind.

Time loses its meaning in the haze.

The ground beneath my feet felt soft, yet not like soil; it felt as if I were walking on condensed clouds. All around me were swirling mist and the soft sounds of breathing and footsteps.

I don't know how much time passed; it felt like an instant, yet also like half a century had gone by. The thick fog gradually thinned, and visibility slowly improved.

The four people stood still.

Not far ahead, a small figure emerged from the lingering mist—it was a rabbit walking upright, about half the height of a person.

It was wearing a well-tailored blue velvet suit and a small top hat, with its long ears tucked behind its ears.

The rabbit had a monocle perched on its nose, and the small eyes behind the lens gleamed with a wise yet slightly neurotic light.

It waved to Alice.

Seeing Alice looking at him, the rabbit pointed to the hole at his feet. Then he leaped down and disappeared into the hole.

"Mr. Rabbit?" Alice instinctively took two steps forward, stopping at the edge of the dark hole. She peered down, seeing only deep darkness.

“Mr. Kai, it… jumped in.”

Alice turned around, her voice tinged with uncertainty, and looked at Wang Xi.

"Are we going down from here too?"

Wang Xi walked to the edge of the cave entrance, his gaze fixed on the unknown darkness.

He used his spiritual sense to scan downwards.

It stretched for several kilometers without end, until Wang Xi withdrew it when his primordial spirit reached the limit of his perception.

"Hmm..." he murmured. "This rabbit hole should be the entrance to Wonderland. Let's go down together."

He held out his palm to Alice.

The girl was slightly taken aback. Looking at Wang Xi's broad and steady hand, a silent trust arose spontaneously.

Without hesitation, she gave a slightly shy smile and placed her small hand in Wang Xi's palm.

Godaril watched from the side, pursed her lips, and, not to be outdone, reached out and grabbed Wang Xi's other hand.

"Eh? What about me?"

Pinocchio looked at Wang Xi's hands, which were covered in ink, and then at the deep hole, looking completely bewildered.

He thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He stepped forward, wrapped his arms tightly around Wang Xi's waist, and clung to him like a koala. "..."

Alice and Godariel were somewhat surprised.

Wang Xi glanced down at the boy who was tightly hugging her, and rolled her eyes helplessly.

"Hold on."

He said something in a deep voice, then led the three of them in a leap into the unfathomable rabbit hole.

The feeling of weightlessness instantly gripped them.

The cave seemed endless, and the four of them plummeted rapidly into the boundless darkness. The wind whistled in their ears, and their clothes fluttered in the wind.

The intense discomfort from weightlessness made Alice gasp. Almost instinctively, she buried her face in Wang Xi's shoulder and closed her eyes tightly. Godariel tried to remain calm, but her grip on Wang Xi's hand tightened unconsciously.

In stark contrast, Pinocchio seemed completely unaffected by the fear of weightlessness, instead laughing and cheering, "Yay!"

After falling for several minutes.

Suddenly, a dazzling pinkish-purple light erupted from the darkness below, surging in like a tidal wave and instantly engulfing them.

"Ah!" Alice and Godariel exclaimed simultaneously in Wang Xi's ears, mixed with Pinocchio's brief, soft "Eh."

Wang Xi felt a powerful force tearing at him and the three people around him. Soon, the pulling sensation on his arms suddenly disappeared.

pat!

Wang Xi finally felt solid ground beneath his feet, his body jolted slightly, and he regained his balance.

He immediately scanned his surroundings.

No one is empty.

Alice, Godard, Pinocchio...

They've all vanished without a trace.

'It seems, just as described in the "Seclusion Preview," using this loophole to enter Wonderland will trigger some mechanism, causing me to be separated from Alice and the others.'

Wang Xi sighed inwardly.

He shook his head, dismissing the pointless emotions, and began to calmly observe the new environment.

Right now, he seems to be trapped in an... extremely small room.

The room was simply furnished, with wooden floorboards, a small window with plain curtains, and a piece of furniture that looked like a cabinet.

However, he found that if he stood on tiptoe slightly, his head could almost touch the ceiling, and the door looked only the size of his palm, while the window was smaller than a coin.

The entire room looked as if it had shrunk many times over, and Wang Xi became a "giant" living in it.

"This is where?"

Wang Xi frowned, moved his hands and feet, and felt that he still had strength and did not feel anything unusual in his body.

He walked to the tiny door, squatted down, and pushed it open with his index finger.

creak-

The sunlight shone in from outside, but only illuminated Wang Xi's toes.

Anyone else would probably be trapped and die in this room, but Wang Xi wasn't worried at all. With a flick of his finger, a pair of yin-yang fish slid out through the small wooden door.

next second.

Wang Xi's figure flashed by in an instant and appeared outside the door.

As soon as I stepped outside, the air opened up, and the fresh, moist air, carrying the unique fragrance of forest plants, rushed towards me.

Wang Xi found himself in an indescribably beautiful forest, where the sky was woven from pink, purple, and pale gold hues, giving everything a dreamlike quality.

The tree trunk is like polished glass and amber, with flowing golden-red veins. Vines hang down, adorned with luminous star-shaped flowers and crystal-like clusters of fruit.

Colorful specks of light float in the air, like breathing dust. Clear birdsong seems to be reciting poetry, and the babbling brook has a sweet, clear sound.

Everything was beautiful in a serene and wondrous way.

He immediately turned around and saw that the place he had just been standing in was not a small house at all, but an extremely thick, amber-colored giant tree.

On the tree trunk, not high off the ground, a small hole is fitted with a door.

"yawn……"

At that moment, Wang Xi felt something unusual in his pocket.

Immediately afterwards, a palm-sized, bright red figure poked its head out of the pocket.

The red dragon Chapo, still half-asleep, rubbed his tiny eyes with his small claws: "Hey, Kai, I smell a familiar fragrance..."

Since leaving Dream Island, Chapo has been in a deep slumber, becoming an inconspicuous accessory.

Chabo twitched his little nose, his eyes widened suddenly, and he looked around incredulously.

"Is this... a fairyland?!"

Chabo exclaimed in astonishment.

"I'm back in Wonderland?! Really?! Woohoo!"

He instantly snapped out of his daze, and overjoyed, flew to sit on Wang Xi's shoulder, his fiery little tail wagging like a fan.

"Grandpa Chapo is finally back! Hahaha!"

Wang Xi smiled and said, "Now that you're awake, you can be my guide... Where are we?"

Chabo put his little paws on his hips, raised his head, and looked around.

He carefully examined his surroundings, rubbing his chin: "Hmm... if I'm not mistaken, this should be the edge of a fairyland, a place called 'Dawn Forest'."

"Dawn Forest..."

Wang Xi murmured to himself.

Chabo added smugly, "This is the main habitat of the March Hares, the kind who dress up in fancy clothes and are always worried about others being late... although they actually have no idea what time it is, hahaha!"

Wang Xi seemed to be thinking about something.

Immediately afterwards, he led Chabo forward, searching for a way out.

Not long after, a slightly noisy argument came from behind a huge cluster of fluorescent mushrooms.

"...But, but we've already given 'Mushroom Drops' to Her Majesty the Red Queen this month! This is the last of our stock, and I need it to exchange for carrots for my little rabbits at home!"

A voice, tinged with grievance and timidity, rang out.

"Enough nonsense! Rules are rules! According to His Majesty's decree, all inhabitants of the Chessboard Kingdom's fairyland must pay taxes! You paid too little last month!"

The other voice was dull and monotonous, with an unquestionable commanding tone.

Wang Xi and Cha Bo walked around the clump of fluorescent mushrooms that were taller than a person, and saw a rabbit wearing a tattered brown vest, cowering in fear under a tree.

It was tightly clutching a small cloth bag in its arms.

Standing before it were four... playing card soldiers.

These soldiers were made of thin, hard playing cards stacked together, holding long, thin spears, and their faces painted with lifeless squares and hearts.

The one leading the pack is the 5 of Diamonds.

After thinking for a moment, Wang Xi decided to bring Cha Bo along and walk over.

The playing card soldiers and the rabbit looked over at the sound, all showing surprise, and said in unison:

"Humanity?!"

"Be bold!"

Chabo flapped its little wings and flew over, displaying an arrogant attitude, nostrils flared, and shouted loudly:
"I am General Chapo, the Red Dragon General under Her Majesty the Red Queen! You all, kneel down and pay your respects at once!"

The poker soldiers and the rabbit were taken aback.

"Huh?" The voice of the five of squares was full of disdain. "Lord Chapo is mighty and tall, and you, little brat, dare to impersonate him? How audacious! If Her Majesty the Red Queen finds out, she will surely behead you and display your head to the world!"

Although the March Hare was frightened, it couldn't help but mutter softly, "Yes... Lord Chapo is very big, you don't look like him."

It also gestured a huge outline with its paws.

The poker soldiers burst into laughter.

"You! How dare you look down on me?!"

Chabo immediately turned red.

He strained his throat, trying to unleash a dragon's breath to teach these minions a lesson.

But in the end, it only spat out a tiny flame the thickness of an index finger. Before the flame could even get close, the extorted March Hare seemed to find it amusing and timidly blew out a breath.

puff--

The poor flame was extinguished instantly, leaving only a wisp of smoke.

"Pfft!"

"Hahahaha!"

The drawn mouths of the playing card soldiers widened even further, and they laughed even louder.

The March Hare shrank its neck a little shyly.

Chabo froze in mid-air, its little paws trembling as it pointed at them. Furious, it flew back to Wang Xi's shoulder, stomping its feet and yelling, "I'm so angry! So angry!!"

Wang Xi shook his head helplessly.

He suddenly pulled something out.

It was a chess piece as smooth and warm as jade, with a faint starlight flowing across it—the very token that the Little Prince Antoinette had given him.

The laughter of the playing card soldiers stopped abruptly as soon as the chess pieces were brought out.

"You are... His Highness the Little Prince's distinguished guest?!"

The voice of the five of squares had lost its previous arrogance, leaving only a stuttering sense of awe.

Wang Xi put away the chess pieces, ignoring the playing card soldiers, and focused his gaze on the March Hare.

The rabbit was looking down, not daring to speak.

Wang Xi cut to the chase and asked, "Who is your leader here? Take me to see him."

(End of this chapter)