"Sleep? Here? Now?"
Silas frowned.
"That's right!"
Anderson set an example, immediately flopping down onto the beach. "This is the rule of these waters. If you don't fall asleep quickly, something truly terrible will happen!"
"What kind of thing?"
Silas was somewhat skeptical, but he sat down with his cat anyway.
"You really don't know anything?"
Anderson seemed shocked.
"Not looking directly at the sun as it travels at noon, not attempting to challenge the storm, and not staying awake at night—these three are the most basic rules of these waters!"
How would I know? The Queen Mystic didn't have time to tell me any of this before we ran into the King of the Black Throne.
Silas grumbled internally.
He sensed that Anderson probably wasn't lying, and his spiritual intuition seemed to give similar hints, so he also lay down flat on the beach.
He discovered that the sky overhead was pitch black, like a sheet of pure black fabric draped across the heavens. Not a single star could be seen.
It was somewhat similar to the scene he'd seen in his hallucination.
"You need to sleep right away too, understand?"
Silas said to Luna.
"Meow."
The cat jumped down from his chest, ran to his neck, curled up, and covered her face with her tail.
"Good girl."
Silas smiled and petted her, then closed his own eyes.
At that moment, a sudden, unexpected thought popped into his head:
If an insomniac ran into something like this, what would they do? They would probably get anxious, fail to fall asleep, grow even more anxious because of that, and in the end let the night swallow them whole.
Of course, as a Beyonder, he had no such worries. Silas used his meditation techniques to settle his mind, and soon drifted into a deep sleep.
---
In a gray, hazy world, Silas suddenly became lucid.
Am I dreaming?
He immediately understood his situation. He felt an inexplicable sense of nostalgia.
The last time he'd experienced this kind of "lucid dream" was back in Tingen, when Captain Dunn had come into his dream to play the Nightmare.
Silas looked around and found himself standing atop a cliff.
Behind the cliff stood continuous black buildings, structured like a monastery.
Below the cliff was an unfathomably deep ravine that extended endlessly in both directions.
And opposite the cliff rose an extraordinarily magnificent mountain peak.
Upon that peak sat a brilliant royal city, composed of towering walls, soaring towers, and countless splendid palaces.
The scale of that city was impossibly grand, completely unsuitable for humans of normal size to inhabit.
It was more like a city designed for giants. The sun hung at an angle on the horizon, bathing this royal city in golden radiance.
This city had an indescribable epic quality, as though it would exist this way for all eternity.
"Heh, never thought I'd see this cursed place again."
Someone let out a mocking laugh.
Silas spun around sharply, shocked to see an unexpected figure.
Medici wore black iron armor splattered with fresh blood, arms crossed, gazing far into the distance at that brilliant royal city.
The corner of His mouth curved into a mocking arc, the scars on His face rotted to the bone, and His red eyes reflected the city's golden radiance.
Though His words carried mockery, a hint of nostalgia still surfaced in the depths of His eyes.
"Why are you here?"
Silas asked coldly.
Did this guy break into my dream?
"Because I dream too." Medici turned His head and looked at Silas.
"Don't assume I intruded. This is a dream shaped collectively by all living beings in these waters."
He seemed to have guessed Silas's thoughts and spoke coldly.
Unlike His usual cold mockery, the "Red Angel" seemed to be in a bad mood right now.
A collective dream?
Silas heard an unusual term.
The dreams of all living beings are connected together.
Anderson had said earlier that if you don't sleep, something terrible will happen. Does that mean this dream is protecting people's minds?
If that's the case, he might be able to encounter the Queen in the dream.
Worth trying.
But first, he needed to get away from that "Red Angel."
Silas carefully took a step backward while observing Medici.
He saw that Medici had no intention of continuing to engage with him, but instead faced the mountain peak once more, quietly gazing at that eternal royal city.
Gone, gone, those glorious days, that deity bathed in sacred light. All that remains is this hollow, illusory city that shows up in people's dreams, pretending to be what it once was.
Silas didn't understand His melancholy. He simply took a cautious step back, putting more distance between himself and Medici on the cliff.
It wasn't until his back pressed against the great doors of the black monastery that he turned around.
The monastery doors appeared to be over ten meters tall, the gates tightly closed and seemingly difficult to push open.
But Silas didn't attempt to push them. Instead, he activated Shepherd, passing through the wall in spirit form.
Aside from Medici, the other lamb souls hadn't left his body, and had come to this place with him as he slept.
Behind the door was a wide plaza. Further back were high towers, covered bridges, and layer upon layer of buildings, impossible to see in their entirety.
Silas passed through the gate and approached the nearby plaza.
The plaza had bonfires burning and torches planted in the ground, presenting a scene of decay.
"Meow~"
Just then, he suddenly heard a familiar sound.
"Luna?"
Silas looked toward the sound and saw a small black cat swiftly running across the plaza toward him, jumping into his arms.
As expected, the dream contains living beings from these waters!
Silas held the cat and moved forward across the plaza.
He soon spotted Anderson, who was using an axe to chop at a section of giant wood, working away with great energy.
So far, all three beings I've encountered have been relatively close to me.
He thought to himself as he walked up to Anderson.
"So this is the dugout canoe you plan to make?"
He asked Anderson.
"Yeah."
Anderson stood up, wearily putting his hands on his hips.
"Doing it alone is just too exhausting, the progress is incredibly slow. If someone could help, it might be much better."
As he spoke, he kept stealing glances at Silas's reaction.
Silas couldn't help but laugh.
"Then work hard."
He decisively refused to help, then continued walking deeper into the monastery.
"I don't recommend you go any deeper."
Anderson tried to dissuade him.
"Among the hunters who explored with me, some went deep into the dream and never came back.
Their bodies in reality turned into terrible monsters, causing us huge problems. Several people died."
There's danger deep in the dream?
I was planning to search for the Queen Mystic.
Silas thought to himself.
Just as he was about to ask Anderson for details, the scenery around him suddenly became blurred.
When it cleared again, he had appeared inside a room.
The feeling of dreaming hadn't dissipated. He must have been transferred.
Silas observed his surroundings warily. On a spiraling staircase descending downward, he saw the Queen Mystic.