Ark Undead

Laurentina leaned against the wall and stood up. She recovered very quickly and was able to grip the chainsaw again.

"About ten minutes, but Hai Si Chao will arrive a little earlier."

Laurentina remained seated and rested; her time management was probably the most accurate.

The greyhound nodded and said.

“Starting from the fifth floor, the Sea Kings will begin to join the battle. However, the Sea Kings usually appear about ten minutes after we start fighting.”

"However, when we were on the sixth floor, we didn't hear any sounds from below, and by the time we came down, the tidal bore had already begun."

Greyhound's words easily steered everyone's thoughts in one direction.

W raised an eyebrow.

"You mean to say that our timelines are different?"

"To be precise, either a portion of our time has been swallowed up, causing our perceived time to be inaccurate, or the time each of us takes to reach the seventh level does not overlap with the overall time of the dream."

Greyhound spread his hands and said.

"This is actually easy to understand. The time and space in dreams are chaotic. If we don't rely on the campfire as a nail to keep us together, then no matter how we move forward, or even if we stand in the same place, we won't be able to see each other."

"However, our time is being overlapped."

Greyhound pointed at Gretia, then at the Undead.

"Although this ship is very large, the commotion caused by that monster is definitely not going to be hidden. It's too quiet here."

"But when we were fighting up there, did you hear the slightest sound down there?"

Goredia didn't speak; she hadn't been there long.

Kroos, on the contrary, shook his head.

"No sound! Kroos didn't hear anything!"

"But now, we are gradually gathering together, which means that the entire dream space is beginning to converge."

"That's what Greyhound said."

"Didn't you notice that we've spent a little too much time in the dream today?"

Only then did everyone realize that although today was only the second or third day of entering the dream, the time spent exploring the dream had far exceeded their perception.

"Time has been stretched indefinitely, and if we can't find a way out, I suspect we'll all be trapped here."

Greyhound's words served as a wake-up call for everyone.

Even the deep-sea hunters frowned.

The situation is now very clear: if we don't get rid of this huge thing, there's no way to find the ship's coordinates.

The group gathered together and briefly exchanged information about the clues they had discovered.

Just when everyone roughly understood what had happened, a voice suddenly rang out from a corner of the room.

"The people are quite well-organized."

A man wearing a black hood came out of the closet.

"Sorry, this is just a way of moving. I have to have a reason for appearing. I wasn't originally hidden here."

Faced with the puzzled and astonished looks of the crowd, the doctor chose to give a brief explanation.

“These are not the main points. Greyhound is right. The dream itself is shrinking. You appear one by one and are linked together through the campfire. The dream has been almost pierced through by the nails. The dream that was originally unfolding has been nailed together by the campfire.”

"Therefore, the appearance of monsters is essentially a self-protection mechanism of the dream."

The Undead interrupted the Doctor.

"Is there a way to kill it?"

The Undead figured it out perfectly well; nothing they said mattered. If they could kill it, all their problems would be solved.

"Of course there are."

The doctor gave the answer everyone wanted to hear, but the next sentence was...

"But you can't do it."

"?" The immortal sat up straight.

Tell me about it.

Clearly, the Undead don't believe it.

Moreover, he was already tired of this kind of simple obstruction.

There were many powerful individuals present, including the Deep Sea Hunter who already had some understanding of dreams, as well as the Undead and Melansa who could ignite the First Flame.

Although W and Greyhound may seem like a bonus, they are both considered elite warriors within the entire Terran population.

However, the doctor still shook his head.

"It's not that you can't harm it, but that you can't kill it completely."

"It's not an ordinary dream or nightmare, but rather a manifestation of the rules of this dream, which is equivalent to a special defense program."

"Within the rules of this dream, as long as you damage it by any means, it can recover at an extremely fast speed. I believe you have experienced this many times."

“There is no way to give it the concept of death except by using power at the same level as the dream to disrupt its rules.”

"Its goal is simple: to devour another nightmare kept in the tenth layer. This way, it can control the entire dream and even use the bodies of those left in the dream to influence the real world."

At this point, the professor held up one finger.

"Don't forget how many years the dream world has been running, and how much data on powerful figures it has collected?"

"Even if you're immortal, you still left some information in your dreams, didn't you?"

The Undead pondered for a moment, and the Doctor's explanation portrayed this nightmare as an invincible entity.

It is awe-inspiring.

But since the doctor is here, it means there is still a way.

After all, he would never waste his efforts on an unattainable goal.

“But I’m just saying you can’t kill it. There’s someone else in this dream who can.”

Kal'tsit?

The Undead naturally knew that the Doctor was referring to Kal'tsit. But he didn't think Kal'tsit could play any decisive role.

"Are you serious?"

Faced with the question of immortality, the doctor gave a mysterious and confident smile.

"Guess why I brought Theresa here in the first place?"

"Do I really just want her to understand the past?"

...

While the Undead were still discussing, the Sludge Aggregate was on its way to the eighth level.

In a room on the ninth floor, Kal'tsit stood in front of a mirror, admiring her reflection.

Another person leaned against the door of the room, arms crossed, looking at Kal'tsit with some curiosity.

"Honestly, why would I like to have my hair turn white?"

Kal'tsit's tone was no longer as cold and rigid as before; it had become much more lively.

"It even has a hint of green... It's not that I look down on green, it just feels a bit strange."

"Who knows? You probably don't even remember what you've been through all these years, do you?"

Patch's tone was lazy, as if it were a vacation and there was nothing urgent at all.

Kal'tsit stared at herself in the mirror. Her already slightly dark hair roots spread upwards with each breath, and after one breath, her full head of white hair turned back to a deep black.

And the originally dark green eyes gradually dimmed, leaving only pure black in the pupils.

"It looks more comfortable this way."

She tousled her hair with satisfaction, took off the Rhodes Island uniform coat she was wearing, and picked up a clean white lab coat from the side and draped it over herself.

Patch watched with great interest as Kal'tsit changed into a new coat, clapping and cheering.

"Wow, this outfit really suits you. It's been so many years since I've seen you like this!"

"Ten thousand... oh well, never mind, I can't remember."

Kal'tsit waved her hand, indicating that she shouldn't worry about such details.

She then casually stuffed the notebook that was on the table into the blouse of her clothes.

Apart from the facial contours still being somewhat similar to before, the person looks completely different.

"It's like going back to the old days."

Kal'tsit smiled unconsciously, feeling as if she had entered a new day with new experiments and goals waiting for her to complete.

"Appropriate recollection can be beneficial to physical and mental health. However, it's not good if your mind is completely occupied by the past."

Suddenly, Patch blurted out this sentence.

"Kal'tsit, you're not here to work."

“I know, Mr. Patch, you don’t have to say okay so many times.”

Kal'tsit walked to the coffee machine next to her and picked up the coffee she had prepared before changing clothes.

After adding a large amount of sugar cubes, Kal'tsit took a sip and immediately felt refreshed.

She put down her coffee and stretched.

After stretching, his expression changed from initial excitement and enthusiasm to coldness.

Patch lowered his arms from his chest and left the doorway.

"Ready?"

Patch asked, as if to confirm.

"Ready."