Chapter 316: The Plight of the Fool's Dreams
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 316: The Plight of the Fool's Dreams
This wasn't the first time the Fool's Dreams had run into trouble. The simplest solution was naturally to take them to the Ground Patrol. After all, I had already caught a glimpse of their expertise in the art of double-talk—being all things to all people, and even more to the "ghosts" of this city.
It might not have worked if the Fool's Dreams went on their own, but if I went, it was a guaranteed success.
Although I hadn't been at the Extraordinary Research Base for long and my reputation hadn't quite spread to the outside world yet, certain types of information traveled fast in specific circles. These people made their living off such intel; they had to know exactly who they could provoke, who they couldn't, and who they needed to treat like royalty.
The Underground District might look vast, but for those living here, everyone eventually crossed paths.
The social hierarchy here was stark, and the distribution of interests was crystal clear. Because of that, there was plenty of room for "negotiation."
Before long, I arrived at the Ground Patrol headquarters, leading the group of Fool's Dreams and wearing my Extraordinary Research Base uniform.
The moment the officer saw my clothes, he became far more energetic than if he had merely seen my face. He rushed over to greet me.
"Hello, hello... Scholar, ma'am. May I ask what brings you to the Ground Patrol? Have you run into some trouble?"
"There is a bit of a problem, though I'm not sure if you're capable of solving it." I looked at his enthusiastically extended hand and flatly ignored it. "No need for handshakes... What's this? I've already walked through your front door, and you still haven't figured out which scholar from the Base I am?"
"Oh, no, no, no! How could that be? You're the new Outsider scholar at the Extraordinary Research Base. You're the most talked-about person in the Base right now."
"So you do know? Good. The trouble these little ones are facing is my trouble. Help them handle it," I said.
"Yes, yes, of course. Someone, come and get the report started! Now, Scholar Yang Yuehan... right? We've prepared some tea for you. Why don't you sit down so we can talk this over? Solving the problems of these little ones can be quite... complicated."
"Fine." Under his guidance, I walked into the reception room and unceremoniously took the most comfortable seat.
"But isn't handling trouble the very duty of the Ground Patrol?"
"Well, technically, yes. But our manpower is limited; we can't possibly oversee every single interaction in the district. Scholar, you spend your days in the laboratory; you might not understand the hardships of the common folk..."
"I understand. What will it take to settle this?" I asked. The fact that I couldn't influence reality directly was an objective hurdle I had to face. If I wanted people to do things for me, I had to offer incentives. As the saying goes, the King of Hell is easy to see, but the little devils are a headache to deal with. Giving out benefits was the most direct way to handle things.
Wasting words with people like this was just circular bickering. Wasn't the whole point of my status as a scholar to make things convenient?
"Haha, look at you, being so direct..."
After a brief negotiation, we reached a consensus with remarkable speed. After all, I wasn't planning on living here forever. Even if I compromised the Base's interests slightly, no one would dare say anything in the short term. As for the long term... it wasn't like I was going to stay here indefinitely.
The Ground Patrol's request was simple. They were the armed force of the Underground District; what could they possibly want more than advanced weaponry?
Manufacturing weapons was child's play for me. The only potential issue was whether these Fool's Dreams could execute and complete the requirements I set out for them.
"Let's go, little ones. Say goodbye to the brothers and sisters of the Ground Patrol."
Amidst the adorable farewells of the Fool's Dreams, the Ground Patrol officers escorted us out.
Once they were sure we were out of earshot, the relaxed atmosphere vanished instantly.
"Captain, why did we agree to that woman's demands? They're just a bunch of street beggars. She's treating them like treasures."
"Heh, those aren't just stray cats from the gutter anymore. Right now, they're the Ground Patrol's little VIPs. Everyone, get moving! Go help our Scholar... find her cats."
"Captain, that scholar is just an Outsider. Who knows when she'll leave? She doesn't have any faction backing her. Is there really a need to be this subservient?"
"I swear, why are you lot so dense? Don't you understand that it's better to avoid trouble than to invite it? Just because she doesn't have a faction doesn't mean she has no value. It's precisely because she isn't from around here that she's so generous with her rewards."
"By the way, did you find out which faction is snatching those cats? If it's just some thugs, deal with it directly. If not..."
"Captain, it doesn't seem to be thugs. This..."
"Sigh... what a pain. I knew this wouldn't be easy." Hearing it wasn't just local thugs, the Captain cut the subordinate off and went to check the files personally.
"This is..."
"Captain, those cats came to us before. We investigated and turned them away, but we didn't expect them to find this woman..."
"Stop. I get it. Next time something like this happens, notify me in advance. Dammit... I asked for too little. Wait here, I need to make a call."
Looking frustrated, the Captain took out a device resembling a mobile phone and walked into an empty reception room.
After locking the door, he opened the phone and found a contact labeled "Ninglan Qiuyue."
"Hello, Miss."
"What happened? Why are you using this line to contact me?"
"I've discovered that the 'hands' from above have reached into the Base's territory again."
"Is that all? Have you figured out which family it is?" a voice asked from the other end.
"Not yet. But they are secretly transporting cats to the surface."
"They have a taste for that? Then isn't this simple? Track them, lock onto their destination. Don't tell me your people can't even manage that on your own turf."
"We can, of course we can. But this matter involves that Miss Yang Yuehan you told me to watch. Just a moment ago, she came here personally to inquire about the cats... so..."
"Troublesome... Proceed as usual on your end. I'll handle the rest from here."
"Yes, ma'am!" Hanging up the phone, the Ground Patrol Captain let out a long sigh of relief. He had managed to pass the buck, but he still couldn't afford to be careless.
When the Captain stepped back out, a Ground Patrol member responsible for communications stood up abruptly. "Captain, it appeared again!"
"What appeared? Speak clearly... Wait, you don't mean a Nightmare, do you?"
"Yes! We just got a call. In District 3, multiple households have reported people falling into a sleep they can't wake up from. There's a high probability it's another... Nightmare."
"When it rains, it pours. Dammit... Assemble the squad! Follow me to calm the citizens. And you lot—keep your eyes on those cats. Nothing can go wrong there."
* * *
Meanwhile, I had returned to the hotel with the Fool's Dreams. Because of me, these Fool's Dreams were now considered special employees of the Base and had been assigned housing, though it was different from where I stayed.
Their quarters were similar to the dormitories for the Base's apprentices. The individual spaces weren't large, but they could house many Fool's Dreams. Because of this, they often took in homeless Fool's Dreams to live with them.
It could be said that mutual aid had become an instinct for the Fool's Dreams; it was the only way to prevent their companions from dwindling away.
Back at the hotel, I knocked on Sister Bai's door, but there was no answer. It seemed she was out again.
Sister Bai had been busy because of me lately, so she had gone off to handle her own affairs. She hadn't been specific about what she was doing, only mentioning that she felt there might be some kind of "opportunity" within this Underground District and wanted to explore.
Back in my room, I didn't waste the time I had to myself. I spent it continuing my research into perfecting the Dream Rewriting Spell.
But if one traced this spell back to its source, it was essentially just a channel for rewriting dreams to acquire information.
The dreamscape was constantly gathering all sorts of information from the moment it invaded reality, incessantly constructing and replicating everything from the real world within the dream.
That was how it was supposed to work, but there was one glaring exception: us Outsiders. Our existence wasn't a product of this dream invading reality; we were conscious entities with self-awareness from somewhere far away.
Therefore... this dream had a connection to my original world, including my main body.
Information doesn't lie. The dreamscape had acquired information about our original bodies through some channel. Perhaps I should go looking for trouble with those Nightmares; after all, this was all their handiwork.
Over the next few days, I continued my routine as if I didn't have a care in the world. However, I was also digging for information—specifically about the Nightmares.
There had been several Nightmare incidents lately, to the point where even people at the Extraordinary Research Base were gossiping about it.
This piqued my interest. Although Nightmares carried Luck, as long as I didn't kill them, there shouldn't be a problem. I just wanted to use a Nightmare to test some of my research.
"Sch—Scholar Xiao Han... um... we're going back to work now..." A group of apprentices who had been chatting idly saw me walking toward them and immediately tried to scatter in fear.
"Wait, don't be in such a hurry to leave," I called out, stopping them. "What were you just talking about?"
"Uh... well... just..."
They stammered, unable to get a word out.
"You were talking about the Nightmares, weren't you? Tell me about it. I'm quite interested in the subject."
"Eh? Scholar Xiao Han, you're interested in that too?"
"I'm interested in the existence of Nightmares," I said with a nod.
"Really? There are rumors that those Nightmares have some connection to the Outsiders... Oh, sorry! I spoke out of turn."
"If you know you're speaking out of turn, then don't ask. Are the reports of Nightmare attacks in the districts true?"
"They're definitely true. The street where I live has been cordoned off by the Ground Patrol. I had to take a detour to get here today and almost ended up late."
"Same for us. Good grief... that whole block is deathly silent. Those Nightmares are way too terrifying."
"Can you tell me exactly where?" I asked.
"Wait! Scholar Xiao Han, you aren't thinking of going there yourself, are you? No, no! If you get into danger because of us, we're finished! Please, don't!"
"Please! I'm begging you! I had to pull so many strings just to get an apprenticeship here. I really can't lose this job!"
"This has nothing to do with you. Why are you worrying? Just tell me the location. You can pretend you never saw me."
Eventually, I forced the information about the Nightmare incidents out of them. Even if they hadn't talked, I could have gathered intel elsewhere; this was just more convenient.
That day, I left the Base earlier than usual. I needed time to see how the Nightmare incidents were developing. Or rather, the Nightmare incidents in the Underground District had never really stopped; they were just being suppressed or kept from spreading by the Ground Patrol's methods.
I also learned that Nightmare attacks usually just gave people night terrors, leaving them mentally shaken. So far, there had been no fatalities, so they were still treated as ordinary cases. Cordoning off an area was mostly for show; after a few days, the Nightmare would dissipate, the people would wake up, and the Ground Patrol would follow their protocol to "calm" the public. That would be the end of it—at least for the Ground Patrol.
But the psychological trauma inflicted on the residents could not be erased.
"Sister Xiao Han, why are we finishing so early today?" one of the Fool's Dreams asked while tidying up documents. It was indeed much earlier than usual.
"Oh, I have some things to take care of, so I'm heading back early. By the way, I still don't know where you all live. Why don't you show me?"
"Eh? Is that okay? Didn't you say you had things to do, Sister Xiao Han?"
"It's not urgent. I'm just using it as an excuse to leave early," I said with a smile. In truth, those were all just excuses. The Nightmare incidents were happening right near the Fool's Dreams' housing. This was further fueling the resentment the bottom-layer people felt toward the Fool's Dreams. They needed a scapegoat to vent their suffering upon, and I was naturally worried about their situation.
When I followed the Fool's Dreams to the vicinity of their residence, I unsurprisingly saw the Ground Patrol cordoning off a scene. There was also the sound of heated arguing.
"It's these things that brought the Nightmare here! The district is so big—why else would Nightmares keep appearing specifically around us?"
"Exactly! Kick these things out! They aren't welcome here!"
"They just know how to act pitiful! Drive them to the surface! Stop letting them plague us!"
"Look... there are more of those cat-people coming! Drive them away!"
As I arrived with the group of Fool's Dreams, I saw a mob of incensed people. The moment they saw us, they immediately turned their fury in our direction.
"Oh, for heaven's sake... why did this lady show up here?" one of the Ground Patrol officers maintaining order complained under his breath.
Of course, it was just a verbal complaint. They were only there to mediate, and these "idiots" were just making their jobs harder. Now that a "heavyweight" had arrived, they finally had an excuse to use force.
BANG!
A loud blast echoed through the air, instantly shocking the crowd into silence. Some people immediately dropped to the ground, clutching their heads—clearly old hands at this.
"Everyone shut the hell up! Who gave you the balls to form a mob and harass a scholar from the Extraordinary Research Base?"
"Do you all want to find out exactly what the Ground Patrol is capable of?" The lead officer stood there, brandishing his firearm.
Only then did the crowd realize that the person standing next to the Fool's Dreams was wearing the Base's official uniform.
They never imagined such a high-ranking figure would come to a place like this. The mob began to tremble with fear, especially those who had been at the front and the ones who had been shouting the loudest.