Chapter 52: The Womb
A translucent chill enveloped Bubu Wang's dog head, and judging by the intelligent glint in its eyes, clever wisdom had taken the high ground.
Meanwhile, inside the nightmare version of Eternal Hope Town, within the three-story residence of the mayor's family.
Su Xiao sat on the bed in the second-floor bedroom. From now on, he would move in sync with Bubu Wang and Baha. To put it simply, the real Eternal Hope Town and the nightmare Eternal Hope Town were identical in land area and building layout—this was a replicated version of Eternal Hope Town.
Because of this, Su Xiao, situated in the nightmare Eternal Hope Town, could use the gray pen in his hand to write words that would manifest in the corresponding locations in the real Eternal Hope Town.
Su Xiao tore off a piece of bedsheet and tried to store it in the team storage space. The result was that the bedsheet turned into smoke and evaporated in his hand.
The experiment showed that 99% of the items in the nightmare Eternal Hope Town could not be stored in the team storage space, unless they were sufficiently special.
Unable to store the bedsheet fragment, Su Xiao felt a pang of regret. If this method had worked, it would have greatly reduced the risk of exploring the nightmare Eternal Hope Town.
Approaching the bedroom door, Su Xiao used the gray pen to dot a point on the floor, conserving ink as much as possible. With Baha's eyesight as a demon hawk, even a grain-of-rice-sized dot suddenly appearing would be detected.
Two seconds later, on the floor where Su Xiao had made the dot, another gray dot appeared—this was Bubu Wang and Baha's response. From this starting point, they would follow Su Xiao's path.
Seeing this, Su Xiao headed downstairs. After reaching the porch on the first floor, he left a mark on the wall and continued forward.
Pushing open the door, which had a somewhat eerie shape with purple-black cracks on it, Su Xiao looked out at the street. The fat, robust pig brother was still by the roadside. Its bulk was the kind of fat that exuded strength—undoubtedly, pig brother was not to be trifled with.
In the nightmare Eternal Hope Town, monsters on the level of pig brother were not rare. There was no way to just charge through recklessly. Su Xiao's sanity was dropping by 10 points per minute, and the feeling was unpleasant. The violent, maddening negative emotions surging in from all sides never stopped for a moment. If he let his guard down even for an instant, his sanity would plummet.
Watching pig brother gnawing on a broken wooden cart by the street, Su Xiao pondered what the creature's real form was. If it was a pig, that would be ideal. He worried it might be something else projecting this form in the nightmare.
After weighing the options, Su Xiao decided to write only five words: "Black wild boar, awake." Adding too many flashy analyses might mislead Bubu Wang and Baha. If they couldn't find a black wild boar there, he would write down the analyzed information later. It would be embarrassing if, after a round of elaborate analysis, pig brother's true form turned out to be just a pig.
In the real Eternal Hope Town, Bubu Wang and Baha saw the information immediately. Baha was about to move, but Bubu Wang raised a dog paw, a contemplative look in its eyes.
"?"
Baha was stunned. It was the first time it had seen such an expression on Bubu Wang.
"Woo~, woo-poo~"
Bubu Wang sneezed, snot spraying out. The cooling spray earlier had been too cold; it had frozen its forehead.
Baha flew off guiltily. Since Bubu Wang wasn't moving out, it began scattering [Magnetic Explosion Hunters] everywhere to prevent anyone from approaching the three-story building where Su Xiao was.
[Magnetic Explosion Hunter] was a magnetic trap mechanism Su Xiao had made for Bubu Wang. It looked like a blooming bear trap. This was an epic-grade magnetic explosion device. Its initial power was determined by the creator's agility and intelligence attributes, and it was further enhanced by the layer's setup—Bubu Wang's secondary boost.
[Magnetic Explosion Hunter] was the most unique explosive Su Xiao had ever seen. Not only did it deal high damage, but after exploding, it triggered five judgments. The targets were enemies and Bubu Wang. If the enemy's strength was lower than Bubu Wang's, the explosion caused a stun effect. If agility was lower, it caused a slow effect. If stamina was lower, it inflicted a "vulnerability state." If intelligence was lower, it added 18% extra damage.
If the enemy's charm attribute was lower than Bubu Wang's, that was the harshest: 50% of the magnetic explosion's damage would be converted into magnetic true damage.
Baha scouted at low altitude, while Bubu Wang sniffed the ground, searching for the scent of pigs. Before long, Bubu Wang actually caught the smell of pig.
A few minutes later, Bubu Wang and Baha stopped in front of a pigpen. Inside, a black pig about one meter long, slightly lean in build, lay on the straw, sleeping soundly. It chewed in its sleep, white foam dribbling from the corner of its mouth.
Bubu Wang and Baha exchanged glances. They had been prepared for a big battle with a small pig boss, but this was it?
"Sleeping your mom, get up and party."
Baha shouted, swooping in with a wing. The startled little black pig let out a pained squeal, bounced up from the ground, then crashed back down heavily. It lay there convulsing, excreting waste and foaming at the mouth—this was the price of forcibly breaking free from a nightmare.
At the same time, inside the nightmare Eternal Hope Town.
Su Xiao had been watching pig brother, who was eating the wooden cart by the street. Given pig brother's nearly 12-meter length, it wouldn't be surprising if it ate an entire house.
Pig brother, enjoying its meal, suddenly reared up with a roar. The roar sent a shockwave spreading outward from its center.
Pig brother seemed to have entered a berserk state. Its upper body rose high, then crashed down onto the building in front, thrashing wildly around. Soon, it collapsed to the ground, its legs splayed out.
Su Xiao focused his gaze, staring intently at the prone pig brother. According to Mayor Queller, in the nightmare, eyes could kill. Of course, this required the enemy's real body to wake up, plus the user's own sanity to be high enough.
Su Xiao wasn't sure if his sanity cap of 545 points was considered high, but it was certainly not low.
After staring at pig brother for two seconds, Su Xiao's cheek twitched almost imperceptibly. Although the idea of killing with a look felt strange, it was information the Queller family of four had exchanged with their lives—worth a try.
At that moment, Su Xiao confirmed that eyes couldn't kill, but he was prepared.
Clang~
The serrated long blade left its outer sheath. Su Xiao stepped forward, rushing to the side of pig brother's neck. Pig brother was now at its most vulnerable.
'Blade Path Sword: Flow.'
A graceful wind mark slashed across pig brother's neck. The prone pig brother stopped moving. Its massive head tilted to the side, severed from its body.
Boom!
Purple-black smoke exploded. Within the smoke, Su Xiao saw similarly colored semi-fluid matter. These semi-fluids quickly coalesced and eventually hardened.
With a clink, an irregularly shaped egg fell to the ground. Su Xiao approached to inspect it, and after confirming it was safe, picked it up.
[You have obtained Old Dream Egg (Holy Spirit Rank).]
[Old Dream Egg]
Origin: World of Paintings · Nightmare/Old Dream.
Quality: Holy Spirit Rank
Category: Consumable
Usage Requirements: Charm attribute 207 points, Summoning Basic Skill Lv.50 or above.
Effect: This is a rare and eerie item. The Old Dream Terror Pig should not exist in the present world, but the appearance of this item is about to break that precedent. Activate this item and provide it with sufficient nourishment. It will grow into a Nightmare Womb. After 15 to 17 natural days, the Nightmare Womb will produce a juvenile Old Dream Terror Pig, a permanent summon.
Tip: The Old Dream Terror Pig is very weak in its juvenile stage. It will only eat items or props related to dreams or nightmares. Its growth period is 21 days to 14 years (depending on feeding conditions).
Tip: Once the Old Dream Terror Pig reaches maturity, its body length can exceed 12 meters. Despite its massive size, it can be stored in vessels. When a sentient being sleeps, the Old Dream Terror Pig can invade the enemy's dream, killing them within the dream, causing their consciousness to die.
Tip: The combat strength of the Old Dream Terror Pig in dreams depends on the summoner's charm attribute.
Rating: 1000 points (Holy Spirit rank items have a rating of 700 to 1000 points).
Introduction: With such a rare womb, you intend to use it to cultivate a dream pig?
Selling Price: 103 Soul Coins.
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