Chapter 970: At Worst, I’ll Just Provide for All Those Fool's Dream Myself!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 970: At Worst, I’ll Just Provide for All Those Fool's Dream Myself!
The Witch race can assimilate other races, naturalizing them as Witches while allowing them to retain a portion of their original racial bloodline.
Fool's Dream, however, possess the capacity to become other races. This concept is somewhat similar to the self-modification practiced by Bloodline Wizards, yet it is fundamentally different in essence.
This concept first originated when I defined the form of the Fool's Dream as petite cat-girls. That was a decision born of my personal preference. Coupled with my principle of granting the Fool's Dream freedom, I gave them the liberty to adjust their own appearances.
Whether it be the Fool's Dream or the Witches, the foundation that supports such "casual" fluidity in both races is their powerful and unshakable racial concept—a racial identity that does not waver due to external changes, a self-definition and sense of belonging that stands above all other races.
The Witch race has proven through practical examples that they can reach such heights. Although there are outliers like the "Betrayer Rebel Witches," even they cannot shake the steadfast sense of identity within the Witch race. In this regard, the hard-working Primal Witch deserves immense credit, as do the countless Truth Witches whose Truth Dedications forged such a glorious race.
So, what do the Fool's Dream have?
The Fool's Dream have... unique dream-state souls. They are the first race in the entire Void to achieve life through a dream-state soul! They have expanded the boundaries of the concept of life in the Void and redefined the limits between the soul and soul essence.
Is this ambition perhaps too grand?
But I understand one saying: "Success depends on human effort." If one never tries, how can they know it’s impossible?
At this moment, Sister Bai, having recovered from her shock, still found it somewhat hard to believe.
"Is it truly impossible for the Fool's Dream to undergo Witchification?" Sister Bai asked.
"While both ordinary souls and dream-state souls are concepts that constitute life, the fact that they have different names means they naturally have different properties. As I mentioned before, I have researched Witchification."
Whether it was during my research into self-generated mana or my projects regarding the soul, I had looked into it.
"The essence of Witchification is the naturalization of a racial concept onto the essence of life itself. This technique of naturalization is terrifying, especially under the Witches' Great Soul Subject; it acts as a dimensional strike against soul-essence-based lifeforms."
"So you believe Witchification cannot target a dream-state soul?" Sister Bai pressed.
"It can, because they are both fundamentally cornerstones of life. The effects of the techniques are essentially interconnected. It’s like how the concepts of Saint Realm domains are interconnected; whether in reality or in a dream, a domain can be shaped. It’s just that the experience, ideas, and approaches aren't interchangeable."
"So you want to establish a racial mechanism for the Fool's Dream to prevent Witchification?" Sister Bai was in resonance with my Heart Sense, and she quickly divined my thoughts.
"Mm... Rather than leaving the choice to them, I’d rather cut off all such possibilities from the very beginning."
"This..." Sister Bai hesitated upon hearing my words. "Doesn't this contradict the freedom you insist upon, Xiao Han? You just said you wanted to leave those choices to the Fool's Dream themselves."
"Is a choice or a problem that never needs to be considered... still a problem?" I looked into Sister Bai's eyes and said, "Sister Bai... would you ever go to the Primal Witch and ask... why there are no men in the Witch race?"
Faced with my question, Sister Bai fell silent. Although she felt something was slightly off, the logic seemed sound. Sometimes, a problem isn't a problem at all; accepting one's imperfections is what makes the self whole. The same applies to a race.
Both Sister Bai and I fell into silence. It felt as though there were no longer right or wrong answers to these questions; every choice simply represented a different outcome.
Admittedly, by doing this to the Fool's Dream, I would spare them from ever wanting to become Witches in the future. It would also give the Fool's Dream the capital to be truly independent and autonomous in a real sense.
But this gave rise to another question.
How would Witches view the Fool's Dream? How would Witches and Fool's Dream coexist? Because their creator was a Witch, would the Fool's Dream become the first true subordinate race of the Witch race?
It sounded lovely, but Witches understood all too well that "those who are not of our kin must have a different heart." Precisely because of this, the Witch race had so many branch factions but had never had a single subordinate race to this day. At most, there were partner races or assisted races—after all, there were plenty of kind-hearted Witches—but the relationship never went further. Any further, and they would simply become a branch of the Witch race.
Sister Bai was clearly thinking along the same lines as me.
If I insisted on doing this without sufficient influence, it would be impossible to achieve. It would be nothing but looking for trouble. The Witch race was not lacking in Witches who researched life experiments, and those who had created primal lifeforms were not few.
However, most of those creations became playthings in the Witches' back gardens. If the race was ugly, they became cannon fodder for slave armies; if not that, they were made into specimens as souvenirs or kept as living collections. Of course, some Witches would put them through Witchification to bolster a branch of the Witch race.
"Forget it~ Sister Bai... if we can't figure it out, let's not think about it for now. As they say, the boat will straighten itself when it reaches the bridge. I’m going to do it this way. At worst, I’ll just provide for all those Fool's Dream myself!" I declared.
As long as the Fool's Dream were happy, I’d let them roam as they pleased. If they got bored or bullied, they could just return to their hometown... Fool's Village.
The Fool's Village that existed within my soul dream would always keep its doors open for those Fool's Dream with nowhere else to go. There, they would have their Sage Sister to tell them stories.
"True... once Xiao Han becomes a Transcendent Witch, why would you ever need to worry about providing for a group of cute Fool's Dream like them?" Sister Bai smiled in relief upon hearing my words. She had been overthinking these issues.
Once these questions no longer troubled us, we chose to leave.
In the Main World Core World, Dean Mei and the others had their plans in motion. In the Expansion Realm, Millian and her group were making steady progress. The Nightmare Workshop had entered its testing phase. In the game world, my clone was continuously dismantling the rule of the Supreme Council.
It seemed that everywhere I had been, I no longer needed to worry. And finally, Sister Bai and I had time to enter a world that belonged only to the two of us.
The Dungeon World.
Though... there was a small trouble waiting for me to resolve within the Dungeon World as well.
No, describing it as "trouble" was a bit much. Trouble is used to describe things you don't want to do but must. Helping Ling Yi save her friend was something I truly wanted to do. I had even given my promise for it.
Entering the Lake Heart Island of the Dungeon World, my first impression was the incredibly dense scent of vegetation. With just a single breath, it felt as if my entire being had been cleansed; it was exceptionally refreshing. This was the effect of a gathering array I had specifically solidified for Ling Yi. Of course, her "friend" deserved some credit as well.
"Eh? It's Xiao Han! And Xiao Bai!"
Ling Yi spotted us the moment we entered. After all, as a plant-based lifeform, her perception of the natural environment was extremely sensitive in such a setting.
"Hmm? What did you call me?"
"Hello, Sister Xiao Han!" Ling Yi immediately corrected her address. After all, she still needed to beg the little Witch before her to help her best friend!
"And Sister Bai too!"
"Ugh... Hello, Sister Xiao Bai..."
"It's Sister Bai!" I corrected.
"It's fine~ calling me Sister Xiao Bai isn't wrong either," Sister Bai said with a laugh. "Isn't it the same as how you call Xiao Han?"
"Right, right! Sister Xiao Han and Sister Xiao Bai!" Ling Yi nodded immediately.
"Fine, fine~" I met Sister Bai's mirthful gaze and stopped fussing over the names.
Then, I looked at Ling Yi, who was currently buzzing around me. She looked like she wanted to ask something but didn't know how to start; I didn't even need Heart Sense to know what she wanted to ask.
"Ling Yi~ during this time at the academy, I found a way to solve the difficult problem regarding the gestation of plant elves~"
"Re... Really?!"
Seeing me directly bring up the matter she cared about most and delivering such good news, Ling Yi cried out in excitement. However, due to her tiny size, her voice wasn't actually that loud.
"Of course it's true~"
As I spoke, I unfurled the library archives within my Tree of Great Knowledge. I wasn't lying to Ling Yi. Although the books in the library were disorganized and somewhat limited, there were indeed records regarding plant elves. This was, after all, the library collection of an entire Witch Academy! The common knowledge materials accessible to students were naturally very comprehensive.
However, many things beyond the Transcendent level, outside the world, or beyond common cognition were missing—just as the concept of Luck had been under seal before, there were many things students didn't know. But with the opening of the Luck concept, the academy seemed prepared to break some old rules and release other information.
At that moment, Ling Yi perched on my shoulder, staring at the light screen images I had brought up. The records were very detailed. Of course, what I had opened was a "popular science reader," written in a way that even a ditzy little thing like Ling Yi could understand. Ling Yi wouldn't understand knowledge that was too deep, nor was there any need for her to.
The light screen used a combination of text and images to explain the gestation process of plant elves and provided some proper scientific background. This was content Ling Yi had never seen before, and even she found it incredibly novel.
"Mmm... eh?"
"What's wrong?" Sensing Ling Yi's confusion, I asked.
"I can't read a lot of the words..."
"Is that so? Alright then."
"If she can't read them, let me handle it," Sister Bai suddenly spoke up.
"Hmm? What do you mean?" I looked at Sister Bai in confusion, wondering what she intended to do. Was she going to read it to Ling Yi like a bedtime story?
"She can learn to read systematically just by signing a contract," Sister Bai said with a smile.
Sister Bai already knew the language and script of the Main World, but Witches coming from outside for the first time didn't necessarily know it. In such cases, a language template contract was needed. That contract integrated the memory of the Main World's language and script, allowing for a form of accelerated learning through the act of signing.
It essentially worked by having the contract memory autonomously complete the learning process after a period of adaptation, after which the contract would self-terminate. It was a very peculiar type of self-learning contract. Such contracts were difficult to create for an entirely new writing system, but once finished and verified, they could be used as templates. The current Main World language contract was one such template.
Coincidentally, Sister Bai had requested a copy back then, thinking it might come in handy. She hadn't expected to use it here. Making such a contract based on a template was nothing; at most, it would waste some of the parchment Sister Bai carried with her. It wasn't much trouble.
After a bit of fussing, Ling Yi was finally able to understand the text on the light screen of the Tree of Great Knowledge by herself!
"...Mmm... uh... Eh?! Elves... so that's how elves are born?"
Ling Yi covered her face with both hands, her two little eyes peeking through the gaps in her fingers at the text and pictures on the science screen. This was her first time seeing the process of an elf's birth so vividly. Furthermore, the reader contained many cases of plant elves gestated in very strange environments, which truly opened Ling Yi's eyes. Those novel and slightly bizarre cases made Ling Yi's little face turn bright red.
After watching for a while and satisfying her curiosity, Ling Yi slowly remembered the important matter!
"Wait... um... why aren't there any records of my friend's situation in this data?"
Ling Yi recalled the cases she had just seen and couldn't help but think of the possibility of a "stillbirth," which made her shudder! No, no, no! It was impossible for her friend to be dead!
I could perfectly sense the psychological shift in Ling Yi.
"Your friend's situation is very complex~"
"That... it definitely isn't a stillbirth, right? Right, right?!"
"Of course not. How could it be a stillbirth? Your friend has simply fallen into a very strange state. Ling Yi, do you remember how you felt back when you were enslaved by those wicked wizards?"
"Back then... ugh... despair! It hurt, I was worried! So scared..."
"Exactly! Because of those wicked wizards! See~ even you had such intense emotions. How could a newly gestating plant elf endure such a living environment?"
"You're right... it's impossible..."
"That's why~ your friend is very smart! She knew that once she was born, she would become labor to be enslaved and exploited by wizards. So, she~ has been hiding in her gestating form, unwilling to be born."
"But... those wicked wizards are all gone now!"
"But your friend doesn't know that yet~ so we just need to use a special method to wake her up!"
"Really? Is it really that simple?" Ling Yi asked excitedly.
"Of course... not! Your friend hasn't been born yet, so she can't understand your calls. She doesn't know that the danger has passed. That's why~ we have to use a special, gradual method to wake her up~"