Jinhsi looked up at Lucian tenderly, "What do you think?"
Lucian's expression turned serious, "You all know I'm never picky!"
"Whether it's steamed buns, fried rice, or champion spicy noodles, I love them all!"
Lumi's heart stirred. Never picky? Then our Yuezhou noodles should be fine too, right?
Jiao-Jiao crossed her arms, saying coldly, "What about me?"
Before Lucian could respond, Chixia gasped, "Lucian, you wouldn't go after a kid like Jiao-Jiao, would you?"
"That's illegal! Don't do something stupid!"
Lucian inwardly grumbled, If Jiao-Jiao's a kid, what are you?
The white cat stepped in, "Lucian, the Somnoire's range is growing. Reclaim one more access, and we can launch the final assault!"
Yinlin, resting her head lazily, said, "Go on, hurry. I'll keep an eye on these women for you."
Chixia was furious at Yinlin's "main wife" attitude.
No matter how you looked at it, Chixia had known Lucian longer. Shouldn't her status be higher?
Just because Yinlin was stronger, could she act so recklessly?
Rolling up her sleeves, she said fiercely, "Hey, today, I, Jinzhou's Blazing Dawn, am going to have a word with you!"
Lumi, temporarily allied with Chixia, put her hands on her hips, "Yeah, yeah, Chixia, I support you mentally!"
Chixia: "…"
Jiao-Jiao shook her head, "Enough. Let's make this quick. It's almost dawn outside."
Lucian nodded slightly. Jinhsi smiled warmly, "We'll all be waiting here for you."
…
Thick fog clouded Lucian's vision, with gates displaying various scenes standing silently around him.
In the center of the mist, a blurry figure stood quietly.
Lucian approached and saw a man in a black uniform, wearing a black sheep mask with horns, waiting for him.
"Lucian, this is our first meeting."
Lucian paused, eyeing the horns on the mask, "Black Sheep turned spirit?"
Black Gatekeeper: "…"
The Lucian described by the Guide wasn't this frivolous…
Lucian looked around, "Where's White Sheep?"
The Black Gatekeeper clicked his tongue, "This concerns Solaris's survival. Don't you care at all?"
Lucian: "If I didn't care, would I be standing here before you?"
Lucian pondered. This must be the Black Gatekeeper the white cat mentioned.
The Black Gatekeeper nodded slightly, "Fair enough."
"But I didn't expect you to come here. I thought it would be the Guide."
Lucian: "The Guide?"
Black Gatekeeper: "Now called Rover."
Lucian fell silent. Rover sure had a lot of identities…
"Still, 'Lucian's wife' sounds better."
The Black Gatekeeper shrugged, "You have too many wives."
He turned, feigning profundity, "Why do you think the Somnoire was created?"
Lucian thought for a moment. Under the Black Gatekeeper's influence, the Somnoire affected reality.
Originally, it was likely a tool for storing dreams…
But storing dreams needed a purpose. Lucian guessed it was to combat The Lament.
After all, Rover's plans over the years, no matter how intricate, all aimed at one goal: fighting The Lament.
Human dreams are full of imagination, endlessly varied.
Among countless dreams, there might be a way, a trigger, or inspiration to counter The Lament—a plausible method…
"To fight The Lament?"
The Black Gatekeeper nodded slightly, "No wonder she trusts you so much."
"I'm just a tool created by 'them,' tasked with deleting useless scraps."
"The Somnoire's space is limited, but dreams are constantly generated."
"For the Somnoire, dreams useless against The Lament are scraps."
"And I'm the executioner appointed by the creators to delete those useless scraps."
"You've been through three dreams. Do you think they had meaning?"
Lucian mused, "Humans dream to forget, but in forgetting, they learn to remember what matters most."
"These dreams may have no bearing on The Lament, but they're deeply meaningful to the dreamers."
The Black Gatekeeper sneered, "Exactly, exactly…"
"That's why countless dreams, countless memories—they need to be preserved, they need a bigger container…"
Lucian picked up, "So you want to use all of Solaris to store dreams?"
The Black Gatekeeper laughed, "Yes. The Somnoire's space is too small for so many memories. They need a bigger container."
"Not to be deleted by an executioner like me…"
"Heh, have you ever deleted someone's beautiful dream or memory?"
As he spoke, an electronic voice sounded, "The Somnoire will delete last week's data. Please leave immediately!"
"The Somnoire will delete last week's data. Please leave immediately!"
Lucian grew thoughtful. So, because the Somnoire's space was limited, it deleted useless data weekly, and the Black Gatekeeper was tired of this task…
The Black Gatekeeper's voice grew agitated, "I've done this for centuries, countless times."
"I'm no different from those dreams in essence—yet I'm destroying them."
Lucian said calmly, "Even if these dreams and memories are deleted in the Somnoire, they remain in people's minds."
The Black Gatekeeper snorted, then said passionately, "You're not the one slaughtering them, so you wouldn't understand!"
"The Guide can't stop me, and neither can you!"
He laughed, "I've captured a special dream as a gift for your intrusion…"
With that, his figure blurred and vanished.
The surroundings shifted, growing dark and damp.
A familiar blood moon hung in the sky, dyeing the water below red.
Looking closely, a graceful red figure stood under the blood moon, holding a Red Spider Lily, gazing at him quietly…
…
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Rover stood in misty rain, looking puzzled at Mt. Firmament across the sea, shrouded in fog.
She was at the shore of Loong's Crossing, the starting point where she and Lucian, led by Changli, had gone to Mt. Firmament.
"Lucian?"
Rover called instinctively, but the surroundings were empty, her voice fading into the fog.
"What's going on?"
Rover narrowed her eyes, sensing something was off.
Then, the sound of high heels echoed. A familiar female voice came from behind, "Are you trapped here by the rain?"