Chapter 173: Roy Sleepwalks Through the Zoldyck Estate x Father and Son Break the Ice
Some things should be done, others should not.
Demons eat humans, but humans can also "eat" demons. In fact, when it comes to the venom of the heart, the creature known as humanity surpasses even demons.
Hearing the notification, Roy looked up at the night sky and exhaled lightly. It was night. He left the Demon Slayer world and returned directly to the Hunter world without stopping.
This battle had been both fast and slow, most of the time spent traveling.
Roy immersed his consciousness and returned to the Sea of Cognition. This time, he didn't rush to "wake up." Instead, he walked to the dream tunnel leading to "reality," stopped, and pondered.
What is the dream tunnel? What is a dream? What is the "Generalized Dream Gate" learned from Enmu? Roy had traveled back and forth between the Hunter and Demon Slayer worlds countless times, but he had never seriously considered these questions.
It wasn't until he played along with Enmu's Blood Demon Art... [Whispers of Forced Slumber Hypnosis], voluntarily getting hypnotized and entering Enmu's dream world, that Roy suddenly realized... People's dreams are interconnected, like bubbles floating in a "collective" unconscious ocean shared by "humans" and even "intelligent" magical beasts like the Kiriko family!
In other words... "dreams," "visualization objects," even his panel based on reincarnation and transmigration, were all [products] conjured from the "collective" unconscious ocean based on his cognition.
Because individuals differ, and their anchored "visualization objects" differ, a myriad of [Nen abilities] are born. Because... the unconscious ocean is also part of nature, [Gods] can steal Nature's Authority to extract others' aura from the "collective" unconscious ocean and add it to themselves...
With this thought, Roy faintly felt he had touched a trace of the truth about [Dreams]...
Since it was an interconnected unconscious ocean, he should be able to navigate it freely.
Hss... yah... Snores echoed on Kukuroo Mountain at 3:30 AM...
At this time, everyone in the Zoldyck estate—whether in the castle, the butlers' quarters on the mountain slope, or the security post at the gate—people of different ranks and identities were asleep. Even Mike, the magical beast lying deep in the forest...
Roy had an epiphany. Within the dream, he attempted to nest a dream within a dream... A hazy "Nen film" appeared over his eyes. He looked intently at the dream tunnel... The multicolored tunnel suddenly extended, branched, and sprouted several new paths leading to unknown places...
Roy watched quietly. After a moment of silence, he stepped onto one of the paths.
Hazily, he arrived at an "unconscious domain" and saw a large dog licking a person... Roy walked closer and recognized the dog as Mike. It was dreaming, savoring the taste of the foolish intruders who had tried to kidnap a Zoldyck for a huge ransom today...
So, this was Mike's dream... Roy stood outside its unconscious domain like an observer, watched for a while, then turned and left. A moment later, he chose another dream tunnel and walked in...
In a vast, white "unconscious domain," before Roy even got close, he heard the crack of a whip. Vaguely, he saw a chubby little boy wielding a whip, relentlessly lashing a boy who was tied up like a dumpling and suspended in the air.
The boy was wailing and begging for mercy: "Milluki... please, stop hitting me, stop hitting me... I'm not your big brother, you're the big brother..."
Roy took three steps in two, peeked in, and saw the wailing boy was Illumi... No, it should be the Illumi of Milluki's imagination... He realized this guy was fantasizing...
Roy didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Seeing Milluki grinning broadly, humming with malicious pleasure, he quietly retreated and chose a third dream tunnel... This time, he was surprised to find...
The third person's "unconscious domain" wasn't a white void. The entire space was tinted a "lovey-dovey red," filled with an ambiguous atmosphere. Curious, he went in to look, and instantly froze. Then...
With a dark face, he fled from Illumi's dream in a panic. He decided right then and there that tomorrow morning, he would follow Milluki's example, hang Illumi from the willow tree, and give him a good beating!
What the hell is that? Give him an inch and he takes a mile!
The boy shook his head, forcing himself to shake off the unspeakable image. He simply chose a fourth dream tunnel... This time, he saw Gotoh... then the fifth, Kurapika... the sixth, Kastro, seeing him pin Gotoh to the ground and beat him... the seventh, Zebro... then Tsubone... Luke...
As dream tunnels appeared before him one by one, Roy gradually realized...
This small piece of the "collective" unconscious ocean he was navigating via [Dream Parasitism] was still limited by "geographic proximity" in "reality," concentrated in the small area centered on the Zoldyck castle. It had obvious "distance" limitations!
Meaning... [Dream Parasitism] wasn't infinitely extendable either. It also had to follow the "Law of Equivalent Exchange."
With this understanding, Roy returned to the fork in the road. He saw only three paths left unexplored. After a moment of thought, he walked down the rightmost one. Getting closer, he noticed a lamp lit ahead. Under the lamp, a person reclined on a tiger-skin sofa, engrossed in a book...
It was his father, Silva.
Rustle... A page turned, revealing the title page: How to Build Intimacy with Your Child...
Silva's silver hair cascaded onto the sofa like a waterfall. His stern expression, illuminated by the soft lamplight, revealed a rare tenderness... In a trance, Roy felt an illusion...
He didn't look like the taciturn, cold father who wore "Strangers Keep Out" on his face every day. For a moment, Roy was stunned...
"So it's a dream..." After a while, the boy murmured softly. He stood silently at the tunnel entrance for a bit, then prepared to turn and leave... Unexpectedly, "Son."
A soft call chased the boy's retreating figure, lingering in his ears.
Roy stopped and whipped his head around.
Under the lamp, Silva closed the book, smiled at him, and slowly opened his arms. "Come here. Come to Daddy."
Roy: "..."
His thoughts exploded!
Like a server suddenly force-fed a billion lines of information, overloading instantly, unable to process the current situation. Externally, it manifested as... staring dumbly at Silva, brain completely crashed!
"What did he call me?"
"Wait, he can smile?"
"He stood up..."
"He's walking over..."
"He..."
Whoosh. Silva arrived in front of Roy, pulled him into a hug, and patted his head.
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