A special dream? A special character? Exploration level?
Hearing Laplace's words, Angor felt that this was more like a "dungeon". There was an exploration mode?
According to the information he saw in the tablet, the dungeon would be cleared as long as the exploration rate was 100%.
Wait … Laplace also received a message that said he would leave the special dream after the execution.
In other words, as long as they killed the special character, they would be able to leave this instance dungeon … in other words, the so-called special dreamscape?
And the special character was none other than the masked man who was about to be executed by Laplace.
The logic was simple enough.
It was similar to the "game dungeons" recorded in the tablet.
However, Laplace should be able to understand the message as well. If he could leave after killing the masked man, why did Laplace do it at the last moment?
"This authority is getting more interesting. It can show the exploration level. I think it's turning the entire trial space into data. It's like the Endless Corridor in Floating Mech City." Angor commented on Laplace's information and asked, "Speaking of which, if I told you the information, you can leave as soon as you're done. Why did you suddenly stop?"
Laplace didn't answer right away. Instead, he asked another question, "First, I noticed that this place is called a 'special dream'. You didn't seem surprised at all."
"Like I said, I can influence other authorities to a certain extent. When the new authority was born, I already had a general idea of what it was made of."
Laplace immediately responded, "In other words, you know what this Authority is? Are you lying to me? "
"I'm not lying. I'm just saying that I know what the new authority is, but I don't know what it is. How about this? I'll tell you what I know. "
Angor considered for a moment before he told Laplace what he learned from the new authority.
There were only three key words that could be distilled from the information: Dream Realm, Mirror World, and Mystery Realm.
"According to my speculation, this is a Mystery Realm that has the characteristics of both the Dream Realm and the Mirror World. And you just said that the information you received referred to this trial space as a 'special dreamland'. In fact, it's not much different from the special mystic realm I thought of. That's why I didn't pay attention to it. "
Laplace believed Angor's explanation. If Angor didn't want to explain, Laplace would just keep quiet like before. Now that the explanation was reasonable, Laplace believed it.
Angor considered for a moment. "By the way, you heard what I learned about the new authority. I don't know what it is yet, but since it's here, I need to give it a name. "
Laplace scowled and doubtfully asked the void of space: "You gave this Authority a name?"
"Of course."
Laplace remained silent for a moment. "What's your name?"
"Wonderland," said Angor.
Laplace was expecting to hear something like "Dream Crystal". Instead, Angor came up with something that sounded pretty good. And it seemed to fit his dream perfectly.
"Are you sure you came up with this?"
Angor was speechless.
Laplace tilted his head and said, "I don't mean anything else. I just think that the name sounds good. "Wonderland, Wonderland, Wonderland … Too bad this place is nothing like a wonderland."
Laplace said, "Didn't you just ask me why I didn't continue to execute it? The reason is simple. Do you still remember the last row of information in the information I received? "
Angor considered. "Unexplored areas will change after you leave?"
Laplace nodded. "Yes. According to the information I got, I'm currently at 65%. Even if I kill the masked man, I won't be able to reach 100%. There are some unexplored areas here, such as the second and third floors. Maybe there's something hidden there. I hope I can reach 100% before leaving. "
"You're going to reach 100%? Are you … obsessive-compulsive? "Angor muttered.
"What's obsessive-compulsive disorder? Never mind. I don't think it's anything good. I just don't want to leave any mistakes behind. "
Angor didn't say anything. But he didn't deny it.
Still, 100% wasn't a bad idea. It meant that he would clear the dungeon completely. Angor wanted to know what would happen if he cleared a "single player dungeon". Would it disappear? Or would it become a public dungeon?
With that in mind, Angor decided to help Laplace come up with a plan.
"You said you didn't explore the second and third floors?" Angor asked.
"Yes. Why?" Laplace nodded.
Angor considered for a moment. "Because my vision is similar to the one in the box. I observed the entire box before I locked on to your location. From what I saw, there's nothing strange about the second and third floors. "
"Nothing strange?" Laplace was confused. "Then why did the information say that unexplored areas will change after you leave? Is there a hidden snow area in this dream? "
"I don't think so."
"No hidden snow area? That's strange …"
Angor didn't know what was going on. He only observed the box for a short time and didn't know much about it.
Laplace didn't expect Angor to give her an answer. She considered for a moment and tossed a scale to the masked man on the ground.
Laplace decided to continue searching for a way to reach 100% progress. Therefore, he couldn't kill the masked man yet, but he couldn't let him escape either. He threw a scale just in case.
After making sure everything was correct, Laplace went to the fireplace and picked up a picture frame on the ground.
The masked man showed up when she was about to look at the picture frame, so she didn't see what was inside.
Laplace raised an eyebrow when she looked at the picture frame.
"Is this … a family portrait?" Angor asked, "But I think half of it was burned. I can't see the faces of the two people on the right."
Due to the burn marks on the picture frame, Laplace couldn't see the details, but she could still see the general picture.
There were two men and two women in the picture frame.
In the center of the picture was a man and a woman. The woman's face was burned away, and half of the man's face was burned away. However, she could still see that the man was a middle-aged man with a mustache.
There was a young girl leaning against the woman. Her face had also been burned, so it was impossible to see who she was.
Next to the man was an old man in a tuxedo with wrinkles on his face. He looked old but still looked energetic. Judging from his appearance, he should be a butler.
"I think they're all women. Did someone do it on purpose?" Angor asked.
Laplace shook his head. "I didn't burn the two women on purpose. When I found the frame, it was in the fireplace. If I didn't take it out in time, it wouldn't have been just a part of the paper. "
In other words, it wasn't a coincidence that the faces of the two women were burned away. It was just bad luck. The fire started from the top left corner of the picture frame, and the two women on the left were "disfigured" first.
"So, did you find anything?"
Laplace considered and pointed at the man on the right who looked more like a family leader. "I saw a lot of pictures of this man on my way here. They all showed him when he was fat. I don't think he's that fat in this picture. "
"What's so special about him?" Angor didn't understand why Laplace would care about this.
Laplace said, "I didn't recognize him because he was too fat. But now, I'm sure I've seen him before. "
Laplace lowered his voice and said, "I saw several heads on the door frame of the rose garden outside. He's one of them."
Hearing Laplace's words, Angor glanced at the Rose Garden.
Previously, he had seen the heads that Laplace had trampled on. Now, according to Laplace's description, he really found the head of the "family" in the portrait among the heads that were rolling on the ground.
"I saw it. There's not only this man on the road of heads outside. His butler is there too. However, other than this man and the housekeeper, there are also three women … "
Laplace said, "Of the three women, two of them should be the matriarch and her daughter."
When Laplace said this, he pointed at the two women whose faces had been burned in the frame.
"Where's the last one?" Angor asked.
Laplace shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe we can find more clues on the second and third floors."
Angor said he didn't find anything strange on the second and third floors, but that was from Angor's point of view.
Laplace had a feeling that something was wrong on her way here. Besides, the masked man's identity had not been revealed yet.
Therefore, she guessed that these mysteries might be on the second or third floor.
After Laplace made his decision, he left the main hall and headed to the second floor.
While pushing open the doors of the rooms, Laplace asked, "Is there any room on the second floor with a portrait? Also, are there any blood stains on the second floor? Are there any hidden rooms? "
Angor glanced at the list and quickly answered the first two questions.
"Hidden rooms? None on the second floor. None on the third floor. But there's an attic between the third floor and the top floor. There's a ladder there, and it's not a hidden room. "
Following Angor's instructions, Laplace quickly checked several rooms with portraits and bloodstains.
Along the way, Laplace paused and hesitated. But he didn't say anything.
After checking the second floor, Laplace moved on to the third floor.
There were only a few rooms on the third floor, so Laplace didn't ask Angor for help.
In the end, Laplace looked at the ladder that led to the attic.
…
In the cramped attic, there was only a bed, a tattered table, and some unimportant decorations.
Angor didn't think there was anything worth mentioning.
However, Laplace was very attentive to this attic. He stayed here for a long time and searched everything in the attic almost inch-by-inch.
Angor felt that Laplace was overreacting.
To Angor's surprise, Laplace actually found something useful.
Bloody clothes, a lot of bandages, and a homemade walking stick.
Judging from the size of the clothes and the length of the walking stick, the person who used to live in the attic wasn't an adult. It should be a child, less than 1.6 meters tall.
While Angor was still wondering who the child was, Laplace found a small piece of paper hidden in the tip of the walking stick.
Angor was surprised. Why did it feel like a game of treasure hunting?
He thought there was nothing wrong with the attic, but Laplace found so many hidden items and even some secret notes. Angor felt like he had been slapped in the face when he said the second and third floors were safe.
There were no words on the paper. Instead, it was a childish drawing made of charcoal.
There were no people in the drawing. Instead, there were small squares, one of which had a red star on it.
"Is this the legendary treasure map?" Angor studied the drawing carefully. "Is this the legendary treasure map?"
He saw Laplace taking out an iron box from behind a brick on the wall.
What the hell is this? Angor's jaw dropped. What the hell is this?
Laplace explained leisurely, "This is the treasure in the treasure map you mentioned."
"How did you find it?" Angor was puzzled.
"It's obviously a child's drawing. The only place a child can hide is where he can see it. It's better to hide it in one's own room. So, the treasure must be hidden in one's room. "
"The squares on the picture should be the bricks on the wall. So, the treasure must be behind the bricks. I didn't count the bricks. I just sensed which one I could get through. That's where the treasure is. "
"Judging from the results, my guess is correct."
Laplace was about to open the box.
"Why do I feel like we're in a decryption quest instead of a battle quest?" Angor asked.
Laplace: "Huh? What did you say? "
"Nothing. I'm just thinking that I should add a warning to your ears. [Ding! Congratulations, you found a new item: Hidden Box. Exploration progress + 5%]
"It'll be useful if you can tell me how I'm doing in real time. Too bad there's no such thing. "
Angor thought to himself. Just because there isn't one now doesn't mean there won't be one in the future.
If he could confirm that Wonderland existed in the same way as a dungeon, he would be able to get a notification about it, whether it was a puzzle, a battle, or a secret room.
Of course, Angor had to learn Wonderland through the Tree of Authority first. It was better to think about it for now.
On the other side, Laplace opened the box.
There weren't many things inside. Most of them were small trinkets such as a brooch, a piece of cloth, and a lock of precious hair. Judging from the details, they all belonged to a woman.
Apart from these trinkets, there was only a velvet cloth at the bottom of the box.
"This cloth is usually used by nobles," Angor said in a small voice.
Laplace removed the cloth and said, "Unfortunately, no one in this family is a noble."
When the cloth was removed, both Laplace and Angor saw a thin portrait hidden under the cloth.
The portrait wasn't big, but it was delicate. There were many people drawn on the small paper.
When he saw the people in the painting, Laplace said softly, "It seems that I have to take back what I just said. This family should have nobles. Or maybe they're related to nobles? "
Most of the people in the picture were from nobles.
However, they were all unfamiliar faces.
The only two familiar faces were a man and a woman.
The man was a thin young man wearing a butler's uniform. He had a mustache. The woman was wearing a head maid's uniform. She stood at the side. She looked very beautiful, but there was a hint of harshness in her eyes.
This man and woman were the madams of this house.
Laplace didn't expect that the owner of this house, who always pursued a noble lifestyle, was actually a butler of a noble family.
The owner's wife was the head maid of another noble family.
But what did it mean to know their real identities?
While Laplace was deep in thought, his eyes suddenly swept across a woman in the middle of the photo.
She must be a noble lady. She was holding a beautiful bouquet of roses in her hand. She had long, silky hair, a light blue dress, and a shiny gemstone brooch.
After careful comparison, the items on her body and the small trinkets in the box just happened to match. The cloth in the box came from the light blue dress she was wearing. The brooch in the box was missing a gem, but the outline could still be matched. Only the hair was missing. He couldn't be completely sure, but the first two matched, so the hair was basically the same.
In other words, the item in the box came from the noble lady.
But the one living here was definitely not the noble lady. If he wasn't mistaken, it should be a child.
The words of a child … Laplace's gaze moved down from the noble lady to the swaddling cloth in her arms.
Could it be that the child living here was actually the baby in the lady's hand?
Laplace looked at the portrait and thought about all the things he had encountered since he entered this space. He had a vague guess in his heart.
However, he still needed some evidence to support it.
After thinking for a while, Laplace left the attic and came to a main room on the third floor.
This was the study of the owner of the house. There were a lot of books here. Unfortunately, she couldn't understand them, so she just skimmed through them.
But this time, Laplace flipped through the books seriously.
"Can you read these words?" He asked as he flipped through the book.
"No." Angor gave a negative answer. "No. But they're not what you think."
"Not words?" Laplace was surprised. "What do you mean?"
"Have you forgotten where we are?"
Laplace: "… A special dream."
"I don't care if it's special or not. We're still in a dream. And dreams have a special characteristic, they are formed based on the dreamer's cognition. "
Laplace said, "You're saying that if the dreamer is illiterate, then the words here are actually words in his imagination and not real words."
"Something like that. For example, if a person who doesn't know anything about mathematics dreams about it, he or she will only see some confusing symbols in his or her dream."
Laplace said, "I understand what you mean, but according to what you said, the dreamer of this dream is not Milord."
Adults were usually literate, especially those who used to be butlers and head maids in noble families. If they couldn't even read basic characters, they wouldn't be qualified for their jobs.
"You think so too, don't you?" Angor didn't answer.
Laplace didn't refute this time. She already had a feeling that Angor was right.
The dreamer of this special dream was probably a child.
However, even if she confirmed that the dreammaker was a child, she still needed evidence to support her speculation.
Laplace kept reading in silence. Since the words here were meaningless, she didn't need to read them. She only needed to look at the pictures.
A moment later, Laplace found a picture in one of the books on the table.
The words under the picture were almost negligible, but the content of the picture was clear enough.
A noble's manor was on fire.
There was another picture on the next page.
A man and a woman were carrying a boy about six or seven years old from the manor. In front of the crowd, the man and woman held the boy and cried. The man seemed to be swearing an oath.
On the next page, there was another picture.
Near the rose garden of the burning manor, a new house had been built. And this house looked exactly the same as the one they were in right now.
…
When he saw this, Laplace exhaled a long breath.
She already knew the story here.
To put it bluntly, a noble's manor caught fire, and the only survivor was taken in by the so-called butler and head maid. Unfortunately, the butler and head maid were ungrateful bastards. Not only did they not respect the only descendant of the noble, they even took everything from him, including the manor and the treasures in the castle. Judging from the layout of the house, the butler was already prepared to take over the place and become a new noble.
If Laplace wasn't mistaken, the descendant of the noble was the child who lived in the attic.
His clothes were stained with blood, and he had bandages all year round to prevent his wounds from getting infected. He also had a self-made walking stick, which meant that his leg was broken.
This was the story of a turtledove taking over a magpie's nest.
After knowing the story, Laplace could basically confirm that the dream creator of this dream was related to the child in the attic. In fact, the dream creator was the child in the attic.
The reason why she said that was because only the child in the attic would hate and even hate everyone here. They had taken everything from the child in the name of taking care of him. And in this special dream, most of the people he hated were dead.
Therefore, the child in the attic should have a deep connection with the dream creator.
Either his friend stood up for him in the dream, or he was the dreamer himself, imagining a powerful masked man in his dream to punish and kill all the people he hated and hated.
This was also why there were balloons made of the heads of those "villains" on the door of the rose garden. In the eyes of the child, they all deserved to die and belonged to the list of people who must die.
However, even after knowing the background story of this special dream and some of the truth, there were still some questions that needed to be solved.
For example, there were three women and two men in the human head balloons on the gate of the Rose Garden. The identities of the two women and the two men had been confirmed. They were the master, mistress, housekeeper, and daughter of this big house. But who was the only extra woman?
The second question was also related to the balloons on the door of the rose garden. Since there was a daughter's head on the door, who was the fat girl that the masked man was after? Or was the daughter so evil that the dream creator wanted to kill her twice?
Lastly, there was one more question, which was also the most important one. Would solving the mystery of the story affect the exploration progress?
Angor was also concerned about the last question. He suggested, "How about you go back to the main hall and 'prepare to execute' the masked man again and see if the exploration progress has changed?"
However, Laplace did not follow Angor's suggestion. He just closed his eyes. A second later, Laplace opened his eyes and shook his head. "No change. The exploration progress is still 65%."
Angor was a little surprised. "How did you —" How did you know?
Laplace said, "Don't forget that I left a scale on him. I can activate the scale with a single thought. The execution information will automatically appear, and it's still 65%. "
This was why Laplace was so sure that the exploration progress did not change.
Angor continued, "If it's a puzzle-type quest — I mean, a trial space — solving the puzzles should increase the exploration progress. But there's no change in the exploration progress. Either the masked man made a mistake, or this isn't a decryption trial space. There are other things we need to do to increase the exploration progress. "
"Personally, I'm leaning toward the latter. Maybe there are other things we need to do to increase the exploration progress."
Angor's reason was simple. If this was a puzzle-type quest, Laplace's exploration progress would only become stagnant if he misinterpreted all the puzzles and deviated from the truth.
Of course, this was not the case.
Laplace's analysis was logical, and the evidence she found, including the illustrations in the book, all supported her theory.
Even if her theory was wrong, it could not be completely wrong.
Therefore, the exploration progress had nothing to do with solving the puzzles.
"Then what should I do to increase the exploration progress?" "Does this mean I have to convince the dream creator behind the masked man to let go of his hatred in order to increase the exploration rate?"
Laplace said indifferently, "According to what you said, this special dream is a dream that involves morality?"
Angor chuckled. "I'm just saying."
When he said this, he subconsciously thought of the puzzle-solving games he saw on his hologram tablet. What he said was similar to the puzzle-solving ideas in such games. The protagonists had to "sublimate" their minds in order to show the correctness of the game.
However, he also felt that something was not right. The special dream was called a dungeon, but it was not a game after all.
The real exploration method probably wouldn't go to such a template that required moral correctness.
Angor could not think of a way to increase the exploration progress, so he looked at Laplace. "What do you think?"
"Maybe we should start with the masked man," Laplace said. "After all, he's the only living creature in this dream."
"The rose outside counts as a living creature, right?"
Laplace did not care about Angor's comment. She knew that Mary Rose was a living creature, but she referred to it as an intelligent one. The masked man was the only intelligent creature in this place.
Laplace turned around and prepared to leave the study to check on the masked man in the main hall.
When Laplace reached the door, she heard Angor complaining again, "Even if the rose doesn't count as a living creature, the girl outside counts as one, right?"
Laplace said, "I know her. She's dead."
"No. From what I can see, she's not dead. She's just buried in the rose garden as fertilizer for the roses."
Laplace paused and asked in a surprised tone, "You mean … she's not dead?"
Angor looked at the rose garden again and said with certainty, "She's not dead. Her heartbeat and breathing are still there."
"She's not dead?" Laplace frowned. "If she's not dead, maybe the exploration progress is on her."
With that in mind, Laplace dashed downstairs and ran out of the house through the back door. She ran to the place where the girl was buried.
Angor was right. She was still alive! The girl's body had been dragged into the ground from the neck down to become fertilizer for Mary Rose. Her head was still exposed. With Laplace's eyesight, he could clearly see her breathing and the rhythmic pulsing of the blood vessels on her neck.
However, although she was still alive, her previous fat body had disappeared. She had been nourished by the Big Mary Rose, and now she had become thin and bony. She looked like she was at risk of dying at any moment.
Laplace approached the girl and tried to wake her up.
However, the girl had already fallen into a deep coma, and her brain had been damaged. With Laplace's current means, there was no way he could wake her up from her coma.
Laplace considered for a moment. "If you can't wake her up, I'll kill her for you."
When Laplace said "kill her for you", he was not referring to Angor. He was referring to the real owner of this dream, the Dream Creator.
If the Dream Creator hated this woman so much that he kept ordering the masked men to kill her, Laplace would fulfill his wish.
With that in mind, Laplace slowly lifted his foot.
"Is there an execution prompt?" Angor's voice echoed in Laplace's ears.
"No." Laplace shook her head.
Since there was no prompt, the quest would not end even if Laplace killed the girl.
However, Laplace knew that the only way to leave this place was to kill the masked men.
Therefore, Laplace stomped on the young lady's head without hesitation.
The foot, which had transformed into a hoof and was covered with bulging muscles and scales, was so powerful that it directly crushed the girl's head. The ground was covered in red and white matter that splattered everywhere.
Laplace was also splashed by some of the filth, but she did not care. She just stood there and stared blankly.
It took a while for Laplace to come back to her senses.
The first thing she said when she came back to her senses was good news.
"After killing the girl, I tried to execute the masked men from afar. My exploration rate increased!"
"How much now?"
Laplace pondered for a moment and said softly.
“99%。”
(End of Chapter)
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