Long-term salvation

The entire research institute was now in chaos. Rhodes took a few steps and turned the corner of the corridor, only to find himself walking along a wall with a constantly shifting black shadow beneath his feet. The shadow suddenly burst out and transformed into several arms, as if trying to pull him in!

"Grab my hand and let's get away from these things!"

Red Pepper transformed into a flower fairy with elf wings. She flew over Rhodes' head and grabbed his outstretched hand, causing him to become as small as a sparrow like her.

Shadows surged beneath them like thousands of long snakes of varying thicknesses, then set off huge waves that rolled towards them.

"Whose dream is this?! The idea is a bit too dark!"

"Is it any use saying so much now?" Red Pepper looked around anxiously, and then caught a glimpse of a researcher leaning against the wall. Most of the researcher's body had been swallowed by the shadows, with only his head and part of his arms remaining outside, a satisfied smile on his face.

An idea came to Red Pepper's mind. He carried Rhodes back and forth between the shadow's arms and bumped into the researcher's head.

A series of flashes, like flashbulbs, flashed past, and the two were immediately thrust into the researcher's dream world. The sudden weightlessness caused them to tumble awkwardly. But if they looked down, they could see a vibrant city, its skyscrapers constructed from millions of Pocky sticks and playing cards. Looking closer, they could see a noisy stream of traffic made of various beer cans.

This hobby is a bit too straightforward... Rhode, who was almost blinded by the strong wind, turned his head to look at Red Pepper and saw that she was already wearing Japanese Sun Wukong clothes and standing on the somersault cloud, and shouted to him:

"This is a dream! Use your imagination!"

imagine?

Rhode raised his eyebrows slightly. He turned back and the shadow of a tall machine slowly emerged:

"I will attack in Gundam form!"

"Wait a moment! Change to a smaller one!"

"...Tsk."

Under Red Pepper's death gaze, Rhodes curled his lips, and the shadows around him disappeared immediately. Thicker heavy armor covered his whole body, and even his head was covered by a helmet.

The next second, Rhodes opened his claws flashing with thunder, activated his jet pack, and flew across the sky like a bat or an angel of death.

Chapter 113: Crossing the Nightmare (3K)

"If what you said is correct, then we can also find those shadows in this researcher's dream world!"

Red Pepper glanced at the terrifying human skin decorations on Rhodes' armor and felt that his mental state was no different from those of the murderers. After taking a closer look at the city below, she shouted again:

"Go to the deepest part of the dream. We need to escape from there... Wait! What is that?!"

Rhodes looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it seemed to be raining in a corner of the clouds not far away, but it was definitely not the rain in the real world - countless strange dream creations were leaking out from the holes in the clouds, crashing to the ground, and knocking down the buildings made of food and playing cards. The beer cans were also shaken crookedly by the "flood", crashing into each other, or flying into the sky like in an action movie.

After dodging a few cans of beer, Rhodes spun in mid-air, pointed at the hole in the clouds, and shouted:

"We're going upstream!"

"Can you be sure?"

"I'm not sure, but look at those dream creations, mixed with dark shadows—they're definitely not just fragments of one person's dreams," Rhodes said as the jetpack's engine gradually increased its power, its tail flame becoming brighter and more dazzling. "The dark shadows are rushing in like a flood, engulfing all dreams in its path. So, we can only follow the flow, find the source, and destroy it!"

"Let me tell you in advance, I don't know how to fight!"

"Then what do you think the lightning claws on my hands are used for?" Rhodes asked back unhappily.

The two flew over a ruined city, and came to the edge of a hole in the clouds, going upwards against the falling dream fragments and strange creatures. The moment they passed through the clouds, they saw a barren and dry land gradually expanding in front of them!

After adjusting the engine nozzle, Rhodes landed on the ground with some difficulty. He stood firm, and his chest was immediately filled with anger and disgust.

Everywhere I looked was a sea of ​​white: human faces nailed to wooden boards, neatly arranged one after another, like sheets of paper spread out to dry in the scorching sun! Countless faces swayed in the fishy wind, and there was almost no end in sight.

Unlike Red Pepper who had already started to bend over and retch, the jet pack engine behind Rhodes suddenly fired, and the huge impact force pushed him forward. The heavy armor smashed everything in the way, revealing the figure of [Face Peeler] hidden in the sea of ​​face.

[Face Peeler], a serial killer who had once met Rhodes, had completely transformed into a monster in the dream world. Its fingers had turned into ten sharp skinning knives, and it was still doing its job - peeling the skin off the body of an unknown girl - but the high-pitched engine roar immediately woke it up from its joy.

Countless faces were blown up by the strong wind, turning it into a strange and terrifying storm, but the sharp claws flashing with thunder tore them apart in the next moment, and another thunder pierced straight through the throat of the unprepared [Face Peeler]!

Twisting his claws, he slashed down at the despicable monster's body. He stepped on the broken chest and said expressionlessly:

"It seems you haven't learned your lesson, [Peeling Noodle]."

"You... guwu..." [Peeling Noodle]'s throat gradually regenerated, its eyes bulging outwards, as if in great pain. "I... how could... how could I feel pain... this has nothing to do with what we agreed on..."

"Where is John Walker, or Hayaseura Takuhiko? And tell me the location of Inui Seijiro as well."

Rhodes didn't waste any more words - right now, this idiot was only peeling people's faces in dreams, but if the dream world fully expanded or merged more deeply with the real world, the harm in the dream would definitely appear on people!

"I don't know! They're like 'gods' who lean over and drop us off at our favorite place! They call it grace!"

[Face Peeling] wept bitterly, just like when Rhode first met him... Even in his dreams, he was a piece of trash who only dared to attack the weak. When faced with Rhode's hideous appearance, fear immediately rose in his heart, making him even weaker.

"Stand in the sky and speak like God or Buddha!"

Heaven? That actually fits the arrogance of those two people... One wants to be the ruler of the world, and the other claims to be doing it for "justice," but actually wants to live forever.

Rhode looked up and saw dark, gloomy clouds gathering, shadows darting in and out of them, forming circular rings. In the densest area of ​​the rings, a hole appeared in the clouds, revealing a "rain" falling from within, just like in his previous dream. The rain was even darker than the previous one, and the darkness and shadows stained it like mold.

It looks like we need to continue to move upwards.

With this in mind, Rhodes crushed Face Peeler's chest, causing it to howl in agony. He then bent down, cut off its head, and inserted it onto the spikes that had appeared from behind its armor. This was truly a dream world, as the eyeballs on the deformed skull were still moving, and the long-lasting pain would torment this scum until it was all over.

Back at the landing spot, Rhode saw Chili Pepper still bent over and retching. Hearing footsteps, she stood up, barely glanced at him, and retched a few more times. If this happened in the real world, she would probably have vomited her stomach out.

"Do you still want to develop DC mini now?" Rhodes asked with a smile.

"I...we'll make sure it's used correctly," Red Pepper said uncomfortably, raising herself up. "What do we do now?"

"Keep going up."

"Upward?" Red Pepper exhaled slowly, and dressed as Sun Wukong, she summoned the Somersault Cloud again, her face showing a rare hint of anger. "I heard a little bit of what you said just now. Are you saying that all this was caused by the chairman and Director Hayaseura?"

"It's obvious, but they're probably not the only ones... Are you ready? Okay, we're going to keep going up and see more terrifying scenery. It's a world created by the most terrifying negative emotions deep in the human heart."

"What the hell is this... Let's go, we have to face it eventually."

Hearing her words, Rhode said nothing more, but just let out a hearty laugh, then started the jet engine and rushed straight into the sky! Looking at the bright light in the distance, Red Pepper sighed, and without looking at the sea of ​​human skins in front of him, he drove the Somersault Cloud to catch up.

Passing through the holes in the clouds, again and again - each time passing through the clouds, the new dream world will be darker, and the number of those dark shadows will be greater.

It’s more like “diving” than “going up”.

Every dream world since [Flaying the Mask] has been a horrific nightmare woven by serial killers. They serve as the thugs and watchdogs of the masterminds behind the scenes, specifically designed to block and oppress the ignorant intruders who come here. In return, the dreamers in the real world will become toys for these scum—countless, reusable, and desirable toys.

As Rhode felt the pressure on him grow heavier, he found himself rushing into a city that was constantly exploding. People screamed and ran away from the collapsed high-rise buildings caused by the explosions. Some were engulfed by the flames of new explosions while running, and even their bodies would explode in the next second!

Across the sky and earth, only the glow of explosions existed, briefly, repeatedly illuminating the entire dream world. Amidst countless screams, a gloomy-faced man in a white shirt stood on the roof of the tallest building, laughing heartily, seemingly enjoying it all, reveling in this hellish scene.

Fuyukawa Koji, the "Pyrotechnician," is a serial killer who uses explosions to murder large numbers of victims. His apparent purpose is to expose the hypocrisy of the world, but in reality, he simply enjoys the hellish scenes of explosions and the screams and pain of innocent people.

As he was laughing, the [Pyrotechnician] suddenly heard some heavy, even deliberate footsteps. He turned around and saw a tall and ferocious warrior standing in front of him.

The black and blue armor was decorated with lightning and skull patterns, but none of this could compare to the heads stuck on the spikes behind the warriors - there were more than one, and the faces of these heads were people he had seen before, they were all serial killers.

"Run... idiot... run..."

One of the heads opened its eyes wide and said in pain.

By the time the [Pyrotechnician] realized what he should do, his chest had already been pierced by a punch, and he staggered backwards - but a big hand immediately grabbed the [Pyrotechnician's] head and shook it vigorously, as if shaking off the dirt on the candy.

Along with a strange sound like cloth being torn, a new, living head appeared behind the ferocious warrior.

"Hmph... why another one? Can't you just beat them to death?" Red Pepper's face grew increasingly grim, not only from the heavy pressure from the surrounding space, but also from the mental pressure from her companions. After calming down, she looked at Rhodes, who was about to continue upwards, and said unhappily, "After this is over, you need to come to our institute to have your mental health checked out."

"That's unnecessary, Ms. Chiba Atsuko. I know I'm a psychopath."

"…Please end this quickly. I can't stand it anymore."

"It will end." Rhodes raised his head and saw the deepest dark hole in the distant clouds. "That is the last layer of the dream world."

Up, keep going up.

[You are in the shallow level of the confused dungeon]

Dive down, keep diving down.

[You are in the middle level, the Fallen City... You are in the shallow level, the Lost Dungeon]

[You are in the shallow level of the confused dungeon]

The sunken city? Although the system's hint of a new depth in the other world only appeared for a moment, Rhode really didn't want to experience it firsthand—at least not now.

Chapter 114: Facing the Nightmare (3K)

Through the final hole in the clouds.

Rhode and Red Pepper suddenly stumbled into a long corridor. Soft, bright light shone down, revealing four pots of evergreen ornamental plants neatly arranged. Their slender green leaves were dotted with water droplets, making them look as if they had just been watered. Beyond the glass windows lay the brightly lit city, and the faint sound of horns could be heard.

This is the corridor of the research institute. Chiba Atsuko walks through here every day when she goes to work. She is very familiar with it.

"Are we back in the real world?"

Red Pepper said in a daze, but the next second, she denied her idea:

Still wearing heavy armor, Rhodes was stretching his fingers backward, trying to pluck the half-exposed vocal cords under the heads - he was teaching the human heads behind him to sing hymns, and was angry because they sang poorly.

Glancing at the ferocious warrior, Red Pepper turned her head, trying to expel this extremely mentally polluting scene from her mind. Perhaps because of the strange scene, she felt a headache, as if a needle was shaking in her brain with the movement of her body.

"I think we should go to the chairman's office first," Rhodes said suddenly. He raised his hand, and the heads behind him immediately stopped singing, their faces wrinkled in pain. "In fairy tales, the big devil always likes to stay in his own castle."

"Fairy tales don't have people's heads stuck on spikes... Never mind, let's just move forward. I remember going through the corridor and taking the elevator up. The chairman's office is next to the rooftop garden."

As soon as he finished speaking, the corridor in front of them suddenly stretched and twisted, like a towel being wrung out. However, this strange phenomenon did not last long. After just a few breaths, the corridor returned to normal and an elevator appeared before them.

The elevator door slowly opened, revealing a spacious, bright, and spotless interior.

Rod stepped into the elevator and gestured "please" to Red Pepper. The girl sighed, and the Monkey King decoration on her body disappeared, returning to her original jeans and T-shirt.

The elevator doors closed and began to rise. Silence fell over them as they watched the elevator climb. It quickly passed 99, but it continued to climb. The numbers stopped jumping, and instead became a crackling sound of electricity. But after crossing a certain threshold, the sound faded away without a trace.

Finally, there was only a "beep" sound, and the elevator arrived, and the door slowly slid open to the side:

"Welcome, the chairman has been waiting for a long time."

A man said this, wearing a dazzlingly white lab coat on his thin body, but the changes in the dream had obviously changed him as well - the man's head was bulging unnaturally, as if someone had forcibly stuffed a bigger brain into it, and the eyes engraved on his distorted face were dim, but when his eyes swept over the red pepper, they were filled with undisguised greed and desire.

The man's name is "Morio Koyamauchi". He is a researcher in the research institute and an assistant to Atsuko Chiba. He regards the chairman Seijiro Inui as his teacher. He likes Atsuko, but is jealous of Tokita for being able to create DCmini.

After noticing Red Pepper's surprised expression, he pulled an ugly smile from the corner of his mouth:

"With the teacher's help, I can now stand on the same level as you, Atsuko... I am also a genius now!"

The man emphasized the last word. He opened his hands, breathed in ecstasy, and then pointed out the window and persuaded the two:

"See? We're at the highest point in the city! Those mortal pigs down there can't even reach us, can't even look up at us... Do you understand? Atsuko, this is how I used to look up to you and Tokita. You're geniuses! The invention of DCmini is enough to earn you a Nobel Prize!"

"But now, now it's different," Koyamauchi Morio's expression softened, but with that huge head, it looked strange no matter how you looked at it, "I am one of you, even more evolved than you! Come, join the teacher's plan and become a new human, no, become a 'god'!"

After hearing what the man said, Rhode reached back and found that there were no more spikes in his backpack. He turned his head to look at the red pepper next to him and asked:

"Do you have anything else to say?"

"Stop sticking your head on spikes," Red Pepper said calmly, covering her eyes.

"Alright," Rhodes muttered, reaching out to grab the man's head and dragging him towards the window.

"Wait! Let me go! I'm giving you this kind advice!"

Koyamauchi Morio struggled hard, transforming into a griffin and escaping Rhode's grasp. The monster, which could never exist in the real world, roared deafeningly, its foul saliva splattering onto Rhode's armor. The griffin's eagle-like face collapsed inward, revealing a man's distorted face, a hysterical, hideous expression.

"I'm going to take you—"

"enough!"

A stern reprimand quieted Oyamauchi Morio. Fear and a hint of disgust appeared on his face, and he returned to his human form.

Across the corridor, the door to the chairman's office slowly opened, and bright light poured out. If seen from the outside, it looked like the sacred place that fanatical believers longed for their whole lives.

Ignoring Morio Koyamauchi, Rhodes and Red Hot Chili walked in and immediately saw an old man with healthy legs standing in front of a wide and bright floor-to-ceiling window.

The world outside the window is divided into distinct day and night. On one side, the sky is blue with floating clouds, while on the other side, the city is brightly lit and noisy. Only the occasional black shadow that flashes like a snake indicates that something is wrong here.

As if taking in the world he had created, Inui Seijiro turned around and faced the person who came before him. Although he was slightly startled by the sight of Rhode in his ferocious armor, he didn't seem to care about the head stuck on the spikes of Rhode's backpack. Instead, he spoke calmly and seriously:

"Welcome to my world."

"The dream world is not 'your' world, Chairman, and were you the one who caused all these events?"

Red Pepper frowned and spoke, but before she finished her words, her decorations and face returned to those of Chiba Atsuko - just because the old man raised a finger, reality appeared in the dream.