Overturned Tower

The howling darkness rushed towards us, carrying gusts of cold wind.

And when Russell opened his eyes again, he saw the "dream".

He is not some majestic god-king, nor is he a treacherous demon.

It was an endless, dreamlike sunset.

Dim yellow, orange red, blood red, purple, dark blue. They flow slowly like a veil, permeating this boundless world. Like some kind of living creature, like some kind of wonder. If formed into a ball, it could easily fill the Pacific Ocean. If spread out flat, it would be more than enough to cover the entire earth.

"Fantasy Dream" did not make any attack on Russell. Instead, it seemed to be very happy and wrapped it around him gently. The touch was like a hot hair dryer hitting the body from a distance, or like a mother's hair passing over the body.

As the essence of the twilight species, Russell understood the essence of the other party the moment he came into contact with "Dream".

——"Dream" is not an individual, but a special species.

In fact, Russell had vaguely touched upon the nature of fantasy dreams as early as when he first came to Zhongxiang to learn magic!

These countless "dreams" have the same essence as the sources of magic obtained from the dream world!

Just like the flames from the "source of rage", the fire of anger tamed by Russell and Strangulation formed a red river of lava in the dream world.

These extremely tiny special spiritual beings are like some kind of conscious special particles. A life that has been radiated by them will gradually acquire a "self" as long as they remain in the body. And as more and more are retained in each person's body, "personal will" becomes clear... and then they will separate from the group and become "selfish".

On the contrary, I completely understood the opposite from the very beginning——

It's not that the dream world reflects the human subconscious at any time, but because "dreams" travel between different individual consciousnesses, and the traces they leave behind weave a public dreamland that allows all humans to "network"!

Different emotions are just different proportions of particles changing. When people's thinking changes, the different "dream particles" absorbed change, and the traces left behind will of course also change... When reflected in the macroscopic world, it means that the area of ​​the dream world has changed.

"...Isn't this completely unsealed from the very beginning?"

——That’s right.

The idea of ​​"sacrifice a planet to seal the dream" itself is also "sacrifice the few to achieve the majority." Being able to have this idea and implement this plan shows that the ancient civilization that sealed the dream on this planet is still working on it. Influenced by fantasy.

Russell also understood why.

Because dreams cannot and cannot be completely sealed - if these "particles" completely dissipate, then humans and other animals will lose the concept of "self". That means the destruction of civilization.

But once the concentration of fantasy dreams rises, it will bring about complete destruction. The completely destroyed civilization hatched more "dreams", which is exactly how the dream reproduces itself.

This is a kind of spiritual plague that incubates and cultivates civilization with one's own hands, and ultimately feeds on civilization to strengthen itself.

——Civilized herdsmen.

This "dream" that blocks out the sky and the sun is the remains of countless civilizations. But Russell knew that they would be enough to easily create hundreds of civilizations as brilliant as the Earth on a planet without intelligent creatures.

Russell was just immersed in it, and his appearance immediately melted and turned into a thick white colloid——

For any intelligent life, it is a poison strong enough to completely decompose it. Any individual with "private thoughts" and "private desires" cannot resist the invasion of fantasy dreams.

Because Russell was not completely connected to the collective subconscious, the gaps were penetrated by dreams and his will was easily severed. It's like a child reaching out persistently to grab something he likes, while the mother gently but firmly spreads the fingers apart one by one and says: "Be good, we don't buy this."

Russell's outer shell seemed to have been corroded by strong acid, regressing back to Russell's original appearance.

It's not Russell who has a desert cat spirit relative and is worshiped as a hero.

But the frail young man on earth. The young man with black short ear-length hair, his appearance was more delicate and his figure was slimmer now, and he looked a bit silent and autistic. That's not even the way he looked when he traveled through time, but the way he looked when he was in school.

It was his most original and vulnerable posture before he put on any mask. But at the same time, it is also his essence that as a dusk species, he cannot be corrupted by dreams.

After losing the protection of his shell, a great fear overwhelmed him, like the polar cold wind, completely freezing his consciousness. And the warm feelings from his "common race" were like warm water, making him dependent. He slowly fell asleep in the warm water.

But even so, Russell's essence is still at work.

In the boundless glow, the center of Russell's chest was like a morning star, blooming with dazzling brilliance.

He greedily absorbed everything around him instinctively, and Huanmeng didn't resist at all.

Like a vortex, it continuously sucks in the surrounding dreams.

And as he sucked, the sum of the emotions of every individual in the world was gradually reflected in his heart. Jealousy, anger, resentment, sadness, despair, greed, arrogance, laziness... Hundreds of millions of negative emotions, accompanied by whispers that sounded in everyone's heart from time to time, poured into Russell's mind.

——But at the same time.

Tolerance, courage, gentleness, wisdom, hope, laughter...

Although it is much thinner in comparison, positive emotions that still exist at the same time are also flowing in with this medium.

That's what this planet is all about.

Suffering is better than happiness, sadness is better than joy. But even so, the latter still exists and has never been completely eradicated.

Russell instinctively and slowly sucked in everything from the entire civilization. Like a baby sucking its mother's milk.

This is not unacceptable to Dreams - it makes no difference to them whether it is stored dispersedly in a civilization or concentrated in an individual. The two World Destroyers are caught in this slow and anxious tug-of-war, which looks so gentle but is actually extremely dangerous.

As for the outside world, more than two months have passed like this.

Fortunately, Russell swallowed the "promotion" so that Happy Island would not completely lose hope.

After the deer head statue also turned into the light in people's hearts and spread the future throughout the world, the world did not change suddenly in an instant.

The world is still in complete darkness.

And people are still in confusion and fear, and no one has started to implement the plan of the deer head statue.

But as the corporate order collapsed, people gradually formed a new order.

The Fuji Society members who had been questioned in the past finally stood up at this time and began to maintain a new order under the eternal night.

In times like these, people just need a leader. Anyone can.

Fuji Society became their most trustworthy answer.

Then came the "heroes" of each island. In addition to the famous heroes, there are many unsung heroes. Those who once helped others and were trusted by others have now become candles one after another.

And finally——

In early December, the air islands came to an agreement.

——First rescue Happy Island, and then conserve energy.

The other six empty islands moved slowly, sandwiching the Happy Island. With it moving slowly, it finally landed safely on land.

Trees die, but dead wood can also fuel a fire.

The sun goes out and the sky collapses...

But there seemed to be hope they could survive.

That's the only possible, only remaining plan - it's a long shot, but it does exist!

This is the only way to do it anyway, so why not give it a try!

Many people left the floating island for the first time and went to the ground to collect as many resources as possible before the arrival of eternal winter. Those people on the ground also arrived on the empty island for the first time after "the sun fell and heaven fell."

They belong to the same civilization.

They were once separated but now reunited again in the face of the disaster of annihilation. The people on the ground share their experiences of living on the ground, and the people on the Sky Islands share their technologies that are so advanced that they look like miracles. People from all directions gradually gathered and gathered again in this huge cloud city that had fallen to the ground.

This would have never happened two months ago.

The islands despise each other and hold each other with meaningless hatred. Not to mention the completely different civilizations in heaven and earth.

But now, under the common disaster of annihilation and the same plan goal, they have abandoned all their previous prejudices and chosen to cooperate for the first time.

Only then did they suddenly realize...

It turns out that there is no hatred between them.

In the face of the first desire to "live", their positions are the same. Everyone is [human].

Perhaps it was because Russell was constantly absorbing the fantasy that the restlessness and hatred in people's hearts faded, and it was possible to reach cooperation.

Perhaps it was precisely because people reached a consensus in the face of crisis and put aside their hatred that Russell could successfully absorb the fantasy without being completely overwhelmed by negative emotions.

In short, in the second month after eternal night falls.

The temperature has dropped to more than 20 degrees below zero.

Maybe it's because of the cold, or maybe it's because of fatigue.

When Delphinium reached the thirty-fourth week of her pregnancy, she began to have labor pains.

It was premature - but thankfully some of the technology has now been restored to Happy Island. Preterm labor at thirty-four weeks can still be delivered safely.

Delphinium has begun giving birth under the care of Bing Shui, Dai Lan and Xia.

And Russell still hasn't returned.

Outside the operating room, there was a dense crowd of people standing. People gathered under the dim candlelight.

Delphinium's parents were standing outside, her father holding her mother's hand tightly, silent but nervous.

In addition, the Inferior, Lothar, Bad Sun, Strangler, Xiaoya, Zhan, Cerberus, Ringo... there are many more people that Russell doesn't know, or are just familiar with.

They are not gathered here because of Russell and Delphinium's identities.

But because the delphinium has really helped many people in the two months since the eternal night fell, the adults and children who sincerely pray are safe and sound.

Dodgson, who was waiting outside, took out a somewhat worn and dirty handkerchief and kept wiping his sweat. He is no longer a director and Happy Island no longer has a company. He became someone people respected simply as "Therapist" Dodgson.

Even though Russell and Delphinium were not his children, he looked extremely nervous.

Finally, with a loud cry from the baby and the faint laughter of the girls inside, the silence outside the operating room was broken.

People's faces showed relaxed expressions, revealing smiles that were rare after the eternal night fell.

Not even just because of the delphinium.

It's because people have realized that under this eternal night, every newborn baby born successfully is precious; every mother deserves everyone's protection.

Because this means that civilization is still continuing.

Humanity is still moving forward.

At the same time the baby's cry sounded.

Russell, who had been sleeping for who knows how long, suddenly felt a tremor in his heart, thinking deeply, and suddenly opened his eyes.

After the rainbow color was absorbed, the world turned into pure white, and the moment he opened his eyes, it was painted with color again——

Everything around him became like Russell's house.

He stood at the door and suddenly looked back.

I saw the TV behind me was on, and Delphinium was lying on the sofa in the living room lazily eating snacks. Delphinium's mother and Bad Day cook together in the kitchen, reminiscing about their shared childhood. Delphinium's father was watching the news, with untouched beer on the table.

Even my uncle was sitting on the sofa on one side, with a cup of hot cocoa in front of him. Alice was holding his ears next to him and scolding him. Paradise Bird sat affectionately in his father's arms on the other side, and Hua Mingshu rarely shed tears.

In Russell's bedroom, the sounds of Bluebird and Morgan talking and laughing were heard.

Next to Bing Shui stood a girl with antlers that Russell had never seen before, while the bad guy and his girlfriend were hiding in the corner and whispering. Hangsha and Xiaoya were sitting at the dining table. Strawberry cake was smeared on the face of the serious white lion, and he was still cutting the cake attentively.

Everything is so beautiful.

Lively and bustling. Like a dream.

Russell's face had a blank expression, as if he hadn't woken up yet. He subconsciously wanted to push the door open, but when he pulled the handle, the door seemed to be locked.

"--dad!"

At this moment, Russell felt someone tugging on his trouser leg.

He looked down and found that it was a little girl about five or six years old, with long white hair, cat ears, and pupils as clear as emeralds.

"dad!"

She shouted again childishly: "We are all here, where are you going?"

Russell was in a daze for a moment and opened his mouth.

He actually didn't say anything. The incomparable real sense of living in this world is gradually regained, like a frozen person soaking in hot water.

"Anna."

Delphinium on the sofa suddenly said lazily: "Come here quickly... don't disturb your father."

Delphinium hugged the little girl who ran over cheering and did not look back at Russell.

Instead, he held her in his arms affectionately and lazily, trimmed her hair, kissed her, and said softly with a smile: "He... is going to save the world."

"……yes."

Russell relaxed and raised the corners of his mouth slightly. He showed an open smile, and the color in his eyes gradually returned.

Tears slowly flowed from the corners of his eyes. But they were not tears of sadness.

Russell's tone was gentler than ever before, and for the first time it took on a mature tone that did not belong to a teenager: "Dad is going to save the world.

"——Let you all take a look at this beautiful blue sky."

After Russell said that, he turned around and pushed the door open.

This time he opened the door with ease.

It's as if the door was never locked.

Six thousand words plus four thousand words of updates, totaling more than ten thousand words!

I actually finished writing more than half of the previous chapter yesterday, but I thought it would be best to post these two chapters together, so I posted them together today!