"Nightmares consume a lot of mental energy, and these ordinary creatures can't absorb energy to recover; they can only rely on natural rest. So, to have repeated nightmares without dying, they need an interval of ten days."
Ten days was the conclusion Gus reached after observing the minds of the million humans who entered the dream. One day less and their minds would start to break, raising the risk of death—something that clashed with the master's desire for recurring nightmares.
"Ten days… not long, not short." Jiang Yan folded his arms, face expressionless.
At the current pace, about ten billion people should remain on Blue Star by then.
More than ten billion people could generate over two hundred million emotional points every ten days—about six hundred million a month.
'I'll break even in just over a year; that's better than wiping them all out, and I can keep harvesting forever.' Jiang Yan ran the numbers in his head.
Over on his side, creatures like the Lord of the Mist that could reach other worlds were already appearing; Jiang Yan believed that, with patience, invading other worlds to seize intelligent life was only a matter of time.
"Gus, head to these cities next—" Jiang Yan began ordering Gus to the already-conquered cities for another round of emotional harvesting.
"After planting the seeds of nightmare, come back. I'll give you a soul crystal to power you up." Jiang Yan looked at Gus.
Gus's huge eye blinked. "Got it!"
Gus turned and flew toward the next city, leaving Jiang Yan alone in the sky.
'Next: resume the offensive.' Jiang Yan's star seal began relaying orders to those below.
The Monster Association's strength was ballooning; ruling Blue Star was only a matter of time.
With a flap of his wings Jiang Yan flew toward the cavern.
The moment he stepped back inside, he saw the Lord of the Mist standing beside the white fog.
"Master!" The Lord of the the Mist greeted Jiang Yan respectfully.
After using the soul crystal, the Lord of the Mist had merely grown a few metres; nothing else had changed.
Seeing this, Jiang Yan sank his consciousness into his mind to inspect the upgrade.
Exotic Mist: spawns one main mist in the current world and two sub-mists in random, biologically-different worlds. Main and sub-mists share internal space; mist lasts one year!
The Lord of the Mist's most important ability had been enhanced: two mists meant simultaneous deployment in two separate worlds, raising the odds of finding intelligent life, while duration had jumped from one month to a full year—plenty of time to wait for creatures to enter.
"Good boost. Keep exploring until you find intelligent life. If a sub-mist finds nothing within a month, shut it down and start a new one." Jiang Yan gave the order and stopped paying attention.
He now lived right in the cavern, waiting for the pearl of the abyss to fill and be summoned.
"Yes!" The Lord of the Mist answered respectfully and stepped into the white fog.
Smack! Jiang Yan walked to the nearby sofa, kicked Black Gold—who lay there picking his nose—off it, and sat down.
"Tea, master!" Black Gold sprang up, hastily poured a cup of hot tea from the side table, and, all smiles, held the steaming cup before Jiang Yan with both hands.
Jiang Yan took the tea and started watching television.
Time flew; only three days later Jiang Yan stood again in the middle of the cavern.
The pearl of the abyss was once more at full charge.
pearl of the abyss: 495,360,000 / 495,360,000
"Negative emotional value full. Summon?"
'Summon!'
Buzz! At Jiang Yan's thought, a mass of purple-black mist appeared in front of him.
The mist rapidly expanded before Jiang Yan.