Chapter 52 - 49: Safe Zone Tavern

Chapter 52: Chapter 49: Safe Zone Tavern

Countermeasures Bureau. A small meeting.

The meeting was presided over by Yan Xiangtian, the influential deputy director in charge of the Countermeasures Bureau’s operations department. He proposed a plan called "Broken Dream," designed to shatter the Nightmares for good.

"Our usual strategies for purifying Nightmares only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. However, it’s not impossible to completely shatter a Nightmare World."

"First, if a Dream Descender is experiencing an ’initial Nightmare,’ simply clearing it can shatter it completely. That’s because initial Nightmares are the most unstable."

But this method wasn’t feasible.

Who could possibly clear an initial Nightmare?

Even if such a feat had been accomplished, it would be impossible to replicate or widely implement.

"The second method is to use immense power to forcibly tear apart and destroy a small-scale Shallow Nightmare. This method is also extremely difficult to execute."

"The third, and most feasible option, is... to destroy a Nightmare Core."

Director Yan pointed at a map.

The map looked as if it were pieced together from fragments, with one area in the center filled in with deep red and black.

"Destroying the core makes the surrounding Nightmares unstable. If we can clear the outer Nightmare Worlds shortly after crushing the main Nightmare Core, then those Nightmares will truly disappear, never to regenerate."

This was a secret of the Nightmare World!

Some of the less experienced captains and deputy captains present were also hearing this for the first time.

"Why hasn’t the Bureau done this before?"

"It’s understandable. The cost of implementing a plan like this is immense. Not only would there be sacrifices while clearing the Nightmares, but think about how many team-up and guidance-type items we’d have to use just to get our operatives to enter their dreams at the same time and rendezvous."

Many of these items are obtained from the Nightmare World itself, and they are limited in number and difficult to replicate.

Even for a large and well-resourced organization like the Countermeasures Bureau, they wouldn’t resort to such a strategy unless their backs were against the wall.

"Building a camp would also cost a fortune."

Bai Yu, the captain of the Second Squad, spoke up.

He was a seasoned veteran, a powerhouse who had refined three Lifebound Curse Objects and had ventured into countless Nightmare Areas.

He was well aware that the Countermeasures Bureau had, in fact, already built Campfire Camps in the deeper levels of the Nightmare World.

More than one, at that.

Some of the Bureau’s veterans who had become lost in the Nightmares were surviving long-term by relying on those Campfire Camps.

As their time as Dream Descenders grew longer and longer, they could occasionally get resupplied at the camps.

The camps could provide a great deal of support.

The only problem was that they were difficult to build, required massive investment, and a single misstep could lead to their destruction, resulting in catastrophic losses.

However, due to the instability of Shallow Nightmares and the short duration of descensions, neither the Countermeasures Bureau nor any other organization had previously considered building camps in these areas.

Until now.

For this "Broken Dream" strategy, the Dream Descenders would have to proactively extend their time in the Nightmare World, which required a long-term operation.

A logistics camp was therefore indispensable.

Yan Xiangtian said, "Our Countermeasures Bureau has extensive experience building camps; it won’t be difficult. Now, each of your squads will need to assign personnel to jointly execute this ’Broken Dream’ strategy!"

"This strategy will require three types of teams."

"Core Assault Group!"

"Nightmare Guidance Squad!"

"Construction and Logistics Group!"

...

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

During those three days, familiar faces like Xuan Jian, Xi Xue, and Old Yao had yet to descend again. But ever since the Safe Zone was upgraded to Level 2, more and more Dream Descenders had been showing up.

Even during the day, groups of one or two, sometimes two or three, would occasionally stop by the shop.

At night, it was even livelier, with several groups of Dream Descenders sometimes gathering at once.

The Dream Descenders exchanged their experiences developing Curse Objects and traded key pointers on clearing Nightmares.

The unaffiliated Dream Descenders, in particular, wished they could stay in the shop longer.

After all, for a large organization like the Countermeasures Bureau, it was one thing. They had veterans to guide newcomers and plenty of information to reference.

But many of the unaffiliated Dream Descenders were completely fumbling in the dark.

For various unspoken reasons, information about the Nightmares was restricted. Even with the existence of small civilian organizations like Mutual Aid Associations and Self-Help Associations, as well as places like the black market, communication among Dream Descenders was still extremely limited.

Moreover, the lack of trust between Dream Descenders made it difficult for them to simply sit down and talk most of the time.

"But aren’t we all strangers here, too? Even more so than in the real world."

someone said.

A regular customer—one who had arrived two and a half hours early—said, "Heh heh, that’s where you’re wrong. For one, we’re in the Nightmare World. No one wants to get into a fight when surrounded by Nightmares. You could have a hundred lives and it still wouldn’t be enough."

"And for another," the Dream Descender with a cigarette dangling from his lips said, pointing to a sign nearby.

「Safe Zone Code of Conduct」

「1. Do not use Curse Objects within the Safe Zone (exception: for demonstrations, as long as it does not affect others).」

「2. No fighting. No destruction of property.」

「3. No littering. No wasting food.」

...

「9. To be added.」

「Violators: For minor offenses, your fee will be refunded and you will be asked to leave the Safe Zone. For major offenses, you will be fined, immediately ejected from the Safe Zone, and may even be permanently blacklisted.」

"This warning... is it actually effective?"

’Just getting kicked out and blacklisted?’

’Doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.’

The newcomer was unconvinced.

The regular customer glanced at him and chuckled. "You know what happened here not long ago? A Dream Descender used a Curse Object to try and steal something. Unsurprisingly, he was kicked right out of the Safe Zone."

"Was it Mr. Hair Ghost who did it?"

Of course, the newcomer didn’t dare to underestimate the man. Mr. Hair Ghost was said to be a Control Stage master.

However, black markets in the real world often had more than one Control Stage master presiding over them.

But greed is a powerful motivator, and Dream Descenders were people who danced on the edge of a knife. Forget the Control Stage; even with an expert of the Second or Third Refinements Realms standing right in front of them, Dream Descenders would still dare to pull a tooth from a tiger’s mouth if the profit was big enough.

The Control Stage was intimidating, but it was far from enough to deter everyone.

The regular customer smiled and shook his head.

"It wasn’t Mr. Hair Ghost."

He looked toward another spot.

Gazing at the Blood-Colored Clay Sculpture squatting motionlessly on the bar like a mascot, the regular’s voice involuntarily filled with awe.

"Back then, when the Dream Descender had just begun his theft, before any of us even noticed..."

The clay sculpture on the bar opened its eyes!

Blood Hand Seal merely glanced in that direction, its frigid eyes shooting out a tangible, chilling light that made the Dream Descender freeze in place, as if he’d been plunged into an icy abyss.

Then,

"Hmph!"

It snorted. Instead of crushing the ant-like human, it simply gave a light snap of its fingers.

SNAP!

Some kind of authority was triggered.

With a WHOOSH, the Dream Descender vanished, reappearing an instant later just outside the shop door.

At that moment, the Dream Descenders from the same Nightmare Area could still see the man’s shocked, furious, and terrified face outside.

Kicked out of the safe and comfortable Safe Zone, he was thrown back into the perilous killing fields of the Nightmare.

A cold, sinister wind gusted against his face, bringing with it an ominous premonition as pairs of eyes seemed to peer out from the thick fog in the distance.

The Dream Descender was terrified and tried desperately to get back into the shop.

But the shop door was wide open, with only a thin line separating the inside from the out.

Yet that line was like an insurmountable chasm.

One he could never cross in his lifetime.