Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Parasites in Paradise

"Lady Dream entered another world three thousand years ago and never appeared again?"

After a brief silence, Ren questioned again. "So how did you obtain the source power cultivation method?"

"We actually suspect the god came back that day but didn’t see us." After another pause, the black-robed figure spoke again. "Anyway, the last time we saw the god was that day."

Could it be that Lady Dream actually returned to this world that day, then went directly to the God of War for help, leading to everything that happened afterward?

Or maybe Lady Dream never actually came back, staying in the other world the whole time, while something from that world came here and taught these people the source power cultivation method?

Of course, there was also the possibility that Lady Dream rushed back once and went back to the other side.

There seemed to be lots of possibilities.

The authority issue wasn’t hard to explain. Maybe her departure was judged as death by this world, or maybe Spirit Realm authority was just her subordinate deity’s authority.

After all, Ren didn’t currently have the power to create a Spirit Realm world of the same level.

As things kept getting uncovered, more and more questions appeared in his mind.

"You’ve lived for three thousand years?"

At this point, Book seemed unable to hold back. Looking at them with some surprise: "If I’m not mistaken, you should also be human, right? Humans, even legendary magicians, can’t possibly live this long, right? Even if there are ways to extend lifespan, the cost is huge. It’s almost impossible to keep it up. Is it because you cultivated that so-called source power?"

Book was rarely this reliable, directly hitting the key point, asking another question Ren also wanted answered.

The other side obviously didn’t expect a magical creature like Book would speak up at this moment. After a brief silence, he finally spoke. "Actually, all the legendary magicians in our Tulip Kingdom are people whose lifespans are almost exhausted, with no hope of extending their lives."

"The reason we’re willing to come to the Tulip Kingdom is because the god will let us live. Here, we have endless lifespans. But as the price, we can’t leave here..."

"If we’re not on the island at midnight each night, we’ll definitely die."

He revealed the Tulip Kingdom’s biggest secret.

Basically laying out everyone’s lifeline.

Immediately drawing angry looks from the people around him.

But facing an existence like Ren, they seemed to only have this one path.

They were all people who didn’t want to die. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be here.

Pretty ironic when you think about it. Because they didn’t want to die, they came here, and then to stay alive, they had to fight monsters that crossed over from the portal.

This trapped them in a vicious cycle, where fighting seemed to be the only path.

The most cowardly people having to do the toughest things—Lady Dream, pretty interesting!

"If you all can never die, doesn’t that mean the Tulip Kingdom has way more legendary-level magicians than the outside rumors suggest?"

Book asked again.

"No, we haven’t accepted anyone new in the past three thousand years. We don’t dare gamble. A few days ago, a legendary magician came by and we killed him directly."

The black-robed figure said almost without hesitation. "Currently, the Tulip Kingdom has just over seventy legendary-level powerhouses total. Thirty-four of them are legendary magicians, the rest are legendary knights, rogues, and other professions... no clerics."

"No dream clerics either?"

Book was skeptical.

Lady Dream’s territory with no dream clerics—was that even possible?

If not, then there was only one possibility—Lady Dream really had died three thousand years ago.

They were just parasites trying to take over the nest.

"Lady Dream never had clerics. She only had a group of dream weavers. Dream weavers don’t have the concept of legendary. They’re still working now."

The black-robed figure paused, obviously not expecting them to ask this question. But he quickly realized that probably most people who didn’t know the situation would have this doubt.

That was just their common sense.

But not for outsiders.

Thinking of this, the black-robed figure added: "Dream weavers aren’t actually human but a strange creature. They can walk between illusion and reality. We don’t even know if they count as intelligent beings or some special life form."

"We don’t even know if they were created by the god or always existed."

"But we can confirm that dream weavers are still acting according to the god’s rules. Every day they go to various corners of the continent to weave dreams, then extract some dream energy and return it to the Tulip Kingdom. This dream energy becomes the energy maintaining the kingdom’s stability."

Ren suddenly understood.

I see.

Looking at it this way, the principle was similar to the super virtual divine realm he wanted to create—also extracting a certain amount of brain power from each person to maintain it.

Maybe the energy they extracted was even identical.

This also explained why, even though Lady Dream had been missing for three thousand years, this Tulip Kingdom could still exist so stably.

Everything had an explanation.

The puzzle suddenly became much more complete.

But this also made him intensely interested in the dream weavers’ existence.

Could he take these dream weavers for his own use, or create similar life forms?

The interrogation continued.

More and more information came under Ren’s control.

"What should we do with these people?"

After confirming no more information could be extracted, the Goddess of Magic’s cool voice came through, making the black-robed figures’ faces stiffen. But there was nothing they could do except wait for judgment.

"Erase their recent memories and let them continue patrolling. If there really is an external invasion, they’re contributing to this world."

Ren didn’t hesitate, directly stating his thoughts.

Then, under these people’s grateful gazes, he erased their memories, sending them back to where they’d appeared, as if nothing had happened. Just a moment of distraction, and so much time had passed.

Ren and the others continued deeper.

Even though they’d confirmed these guys weren’t lying, they still wouldn’t just believe one side of the story.

Many things still needed them to go deeper and verify.

Maybe they didn’t know the real truth?

Just like how they could easily erase part of these people’s memories.

Facing absolute strength, even legendary figures were ultimately like ants, at others’ mercy.

Continuing along the path deeper.

Maybe because they’d already gotten a lot of information, their speed noticeably increased.

Soon, a strange clock tower appeared in their view.

This was a clock tower hanging upside down in the sky, bound with chains all over as if worried it would fly away, surrounded by clouds and mist, making it hard to see clearly.