Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 772 Sentinel
...

It turns out that the underground world really exists.

The underground world buried beneath the sea.

...

The long-skirted figure completed the sacrificial ceremony before the ground collapsed.

The ancient altar opened a passage to the underground world for Milo and the others—which was actually a bottomless, almost vertical well.

It goes straight down, piercing through the entire continent of Mu, leading to that mysterious and ancient underground world.

...

Milo and Yan had once climbed another infamous underground world, the Pans Canyon, which consisted of many filthy places such as the ancient giant city and the Xin Tomb complex. It was filled with ghouls, demons and other creatures that could not be seen in the light, and was considered the largest garbage dump in the Dreamland.

Therefore, their impression of the "underworld" remained that of "countless gray-white skeletons piled up into a giant penis"—decaying, filthy, absurd, and blasphemous...

No one had ever told them that the underground world was not the same as a junkyard or a pile of forgotten tombstones.

It turns out there is such a dreamlike and captivating underground world.

...

"bright?"

Having already prepared themselves for a pitch-black world, Milo and his group were greeted by a breathtaking scene upon emerging from the cave: azure light filling the entire "sky."

This is underground, so there shouldn't be a sky, but the view from above, outlined by the abundant light, is more beautiful than the sky that can be seen on the surface of the Dreamland.

To be precise, it was more like the aurora borealis.

Hazy and dreamlike.

And the "ground" is just like the earth's surface in our minds, with not only plains, hills and mountains, but also deep ravines that extend downwards.

Beyond this vast area illuminated by the azure aurora, in all directions beyond the horizon, there lie distant, dark, and unknown regions.

...

The long-skirted shadow told Milo that this place was called "Zato".

"Wait, Kunyang Underground World?"

Milo suddenly realized what was going on.

Suddenly, the face of a deceased person, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, and all the memories they shared flashed into his mind.

Grasso seems to have been gone for a long time.

But Milo clearly remembered the series of disjointed and fragmented childhood experiences she mentioned during those restless nights.

Furthermore, there are scattered records of the Kunyang people in some ancient books.

Little did he know that the Kunyang Underground World, which had disappeared into the annals of history, was located beneath the South Wind Sea of ​​the Dreamland.

The "Sato" mentioned by the long-skirted shadow is the richest and largest central city in this Kunyang underground empire.

...

The concepts of "illusion" and "dream" in the Dreamland are perfectly interpreted in Sato's work.

A world buried in the seabed, yet it is home to vegetation more abundant than that on the surface, which has evolved into mountains and rivers, and nurtured an ancient and great civilization.

The azure aurora that enveloped the scene resembled a magical kingdom sealed inside a crystal ball, appearing utterly unreal.

Just gazing at the ancient city of Sato in the distance, Yan and the others were completely mesmerized.

Upon arriving here, all the compasses left by the cats were no longer functional, and the nautical charts were rendered useless. The only useful item was the telescope, which Yan and Xiao Yan were vying to use.

……

The main road leading to the main city of Zato is just ahead.

And the path indicated by the shadow of the long dress is precisely in this direction.

Milo didn't know much about the Kunyang people; he didn't even know if Grasso's talent for invisibility was a common trait among the Kunyang people.

However, the ancient and mysterious city in front of us did not show any obvious hostility.

At least the only gate on the main road was open.

...

"and many more…"

As he passed through the enormous archway, Milo suddenly realized something.

He glanced back and found that the surroundings were still quiet and harmonious, yet there seemed to be some subtle changes compared to before…

The sculpture on one side of the archway, shaped like a guardian beast, quickly answered Milo's question.

As the dust adhering to its outer shell fell off, the beast-faced sentinel sculpture "came to life".

It took a few steps forward, seemingly still somewhat dazed and confused, before glancing at the heavy sword and shield in its hands—no, it looked at its own body.

Then, Milo smelled a strong scent of fear and madness spreading from the sentinel.

It gives the impression that it had been asleep for a long time, and upon waking, discovered that its body had undergone a strange transformation. It's as if it wasn't the sculpted sentinel before it fell asleep, and the terror it felt was similar to Milo's first experience of being lost and suddenly finding himself playing the role of the deceased "Karl," seeing his entire body covered in mushrooms.

...

Soon, fear and madness transformed into an indiscriminate desire for destruction.

As luck would have it, Milo and his group were nearby.

"What did you do to me?...What did you do!!!!"

The sentry roared out a sound that was actually the language of human civilization!

Then, it clumsily dragged its heavy boulder body and charged toward Milo and the others.

...

However, without Milo or Yan even lifting a finger, and before the rays in Xiao Yan's eyes could even burst forth, Freya had already moved faster than anyone else, disarming the Sentinel in a few swift movements and easily throwing him to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw. The Sentinel tried to struggle, but it was clear that having just awakened, it hadn't fully mastered the power of this body and was being firmly suppressed by Freya.

...

The long dress cast a shadow that remained silently watching from one side of the archway from beginning to end.

She didn't explain anything to Milo.

But it's not necessary.

Milo stopped Freya, reached out and pulled a clump of black matter from the sentinel's forehead, taking away the fear that was currently occupying its soul.

Soon, the frenzied sentry calmed down.

Its scarlet eyes gradually turned into a peaceful azure blue, just like the aurora borealis above everyone's heads.

...

"Did I...did I fall asleep again...?"

The sentry seemed to remember many things at that moment.

It no longer felt fear for its own body, nor did it have the indiscriminate desire to attack that it once had.

It slowly got up, picked up its stone sword and shield in a disheveled manner, and dragged its heavy steps back to the archway, where it collapsed and sat down.

...

"I'm...sorry...my masters, I forget some things every time I fall into a deep sleep..."

Please forgive my cowardly soul…

"Please forgive me..."

"I will keep my oath, I will always protect Zatho..."

Please don't blame me...

...

The sentry lowered his head and muttered to himself, as if begging for forgiveness, but more like he was engaging in some kind of humble self-comfort.

But Milo noticed a detail: after the Sentinel regained consciousness, it no longer used the language of human civilization, but rather the common language of the Dreamlands surface…

"Where are you from?" Milo asked in a human language.

The sentry might initially be wondering why its masters would ask such a question.

It took me a full twenty seconds to react.

It suddenly raised its head to look at Milo and his group of four, observed them for another ten seconds, and then exclaimed in surprise:

"You are not the Kunyang people!?"

...

From an external perspective, Kunyang people are indeed no different from humans.

It's understandable that the sentry's first reaction upon waking was to apologize and beg for forgiveness from his "masters".

"Humans...why are there humans here...? This is impossible...impossible...I must still be dreaming, this is a dream..."

The sentry was once again gripped by self-doubt.

In the end, it became so convinced that the four humans in front of it were characters it had imagined in its dream.

Even so, it still did not calm down.

"It's a dream..."

"Even in dreams!"

"Even dreams aren't safe!!"

"You should leave quickly... Sato is no longer the city it used to be..."

“Those Kunyang people…”

"Please escape quickly... It's been countless years since a living person has appeared in my dreams... Thank you..."

"Thank you for letting me know... that my thinking ability has not been completely taken away by them..."

"But leave quickly before you are discovered!"

"Please hide and protect yourselves!"

"They've all gone mad... driven insane by this heavenly world...turned into weary, nihilistic worms...abandoned technology, philosophy, and all art, indulging in sensual pleasures, even ending their own lives in pursuit of thrills...If they catch you...no, you mustn't be caught by them, please don't be caught...even if you exist only on the level of thought..."

"Run away quickly."

"Get out of here!"

"Believe me, otherwise they will further plunder my thinking ability."

"They can even imprison souls!"

It's true...

"Don't be deceived by their hypocrisy."

"Please believe me, I came from a dream. I come from a Spanish country, a faraway world! But they can even imprison the soul of those who enter my dreams. I can never go back, sob... I can never go back..."

"Why didn't death force me back to my original world...why..."

"Why must even my mind be destroyed... They don't need any gatekeepers at all..."

...

……

The sentry's last few words finally moved Milo slightly.

(End of this chapter)