Land

[The matters of the territory have been completely handled, it is time to explore the extraordinary and the immortal!]

[Green Banyan Snowy Month, it's been 43 days since I moved in the dream, yet I have not seen any continent, and I am starting to waver...]

[Day 46, using all the mysterious energy just for moving is too wasteful. Perhaps I should re-plan, dividing the daily dream energy into three parts: one for moving, one for strengthening, and one as a reserve?]

[Day 50 of the action, during the night in the dream world, I witnessed a terrifying scene. On the crimson moon, it seemed that something horrifying was born. I saw the swaying shadows of trees, each branch was hung with distorted flesh sacrifices... At the same time, I heard world-level murmurs... It is inferred that another existence similar to the 'Black Sun' has appeared.]

[Called by father to attend the winter festival of the territory. From observation, he seems quite satisfied with the title of Count of Green Forest?]

[Green Banyan Silent Month, spring is approaching, but it makes little difference to me. Everything in the territory is calm, I am still immersed in the dream...]

Finishing the last note in his hand, Alan yawned, changed into his pajamas, lay on the large bed, and entered a dream.

Recently, rumors about the Lord suffering from narcolepsy have been escalating in Blackstone Manor, but Alan did not take it seriously.

If possible, he would love to spend all day in that different world.

Dream world.

A consciousness moved swiftly across the sea surface.

For Alan, this experience of an ever-closer perspective was no longer new.

What he truly worried about were those strange phenomena appearing one after another.

"Including the previous strange phenomena and broadcasts, there are roughly five terrifying existences that have descended on this world... They all come with world-wide broadcasts, or rather, calls and pollution?"

Alan couldn't even be sure if they could discover him.

At this moment, he felt a lot more worried.

He gathered his thoughts and divided today's dream energy into three parts: one for strengthening himself, one for traveling, and one for reserve.

Originally, Alan thought everything would be the same as before, passing in boredom.

But today, the situation was slightly different.

In front of him, a black line suddenly leaped up from the horizon.

Alan was stunned, almost in disbelief, or thinking he was hallucinating.

But after waiting for a moment, the black line still remained!

"It's land!"

Alan's consciousness was about to boil: "Finally... I have seen land!"

He couldn't wait to move forward. The black line continued to expand, forming a coastline, gradually revealing more contours.

What lay ahead was not a continent, just a small island.

On the island, pale woods seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation, resembling hands reaching for the sky.

In the shadows, there were strange creatures moving.

"It seems... The creatures on the land have also been affected and polluted by the crimson sun?"

Alan pondered, circled the island, and found it was not large, only about a few dozen square kilometers.

However, the encouragement it brought was extraordinary.

At least, this was the first piece of land he had encountered.

"Perhaps... The true continental shelf is not far away..."

Although he encouraged himself, Alan only discovered the real continent after moving forward for more than twenty days.

An endless coastline with unknown depth.

"Finally... Finally landed!"

Alan felt a sense of emotion in his heart. After sixteen years at sea, he finally set foot on real continental land!

Not far away, he even saw a port.

Behind the port, a large number of buildings, cobblestone roads, and towers... together comprised a city!

"Today must be my lucky day!"

Alan landed at the port, seeing stranded sailing ships, some still bearing traces of a fight, dried blood all around.

The dock was equally in disarray... there was even a large ship broken in half, stranded not far away, as if... directly split in two by some deep-sea monster...

"Have the ocean monsters landed at the port?"

Alan Sothos felt heavy.

If he hadn't changed the sun, this might have still been a bustling port, not left in ruins.

He followed the cobblestone road into the city.

Many human corpses were casually discarded by the roadside, already weathered into white bones, with gnaw marks on them.

"It seems, not only the ocean, but everything on the continent has also been polluted?"

Alan murmured, his senses suddenly triggered, looking ahead.

At a corner, a silent figure stood like a stone statue.

Suddenly!

The figure began to move, stepping towards Alan.

Tap, tap!

The clawed feet hit the stones, making a crisp sound, leaving filthy bloodstains.

As the figure approached, Alan's heart felt like it was hammered.

He saw...

A fully keratinized humanoid monster with skinless face, staring at him with bulging eyes. One arm had completely mutated into an octopus-like tentacle.

Step by step...

The monster got closer, then... passed through Alan's body...

"Even bizarre creatures can't touch me?"

Alan looked at the streets on both sides. Some shops had strange symbols, probably the writing of this strange world, but he couldn't recognize any of them.

'Though I might learn quickly with [Total Recall], I still need someone to teach me...' 

Alan suddenly felt a bone-chilling fear: "Could it be... all intelligent beings in this world have gone mad?"

At this moment, the monster turned direction, rushing straight into a building.

Its big, mutated bat-like ears kept twitching, seemingly listening for something.

"No, no, it didn't sense me, it sensed other prey?"

Alan suddenly thought of something, quickly passing through the walls into the building.

It looked like a bakery, with many shelves knocked over, a dried corpse hanging in the air, swaying with the breeze.

Alan looked around through the walls but found nothing.

The monster stood on the floor, motionless.

Suddenly... Alan thought of something, drilling into the floor.

Under the floor, there was a hidden passage!

Inside the passage, a brown-haired boy in a shirt and jeans, with a face covered in dirt, was holding the mouth of a girl, wriggling like two worms in the tunnel.

The girl's hand was still tightly clutching a piece of black bread...

(End of the chapter)