Chapter 66 - 63: Extra Building Slot

Chapter 66: Chapter 63: Extra Building Slot

The Safe Zone camp.

After Mr. Hair Ghost poured them two cups of coffee, neither Jiang Peng nor Researcher Wang felt much like leaving the Safe Zone.

What were some leftover spoils of war outside compared to the fascinating things to study here?

There were many kinds of camps. Most were fixed, or even temporary—they were established by picking a relatively low-risk area within the Nightmare World and building a shelter sufficient to evade and withstand danger.

But some camps were special.

The "RV Camp" Jiang Peng had once seen was one such special, mobile camp.

He also knew of an organization called the Ark Salvation Society, which was dedicated to building a Salvation Ark.

That, too, was a camp.

A camp that could carry countless survivors and traverse the Nightmare World.

The Ark Salvation Society was a neutral organization, though their methods could be rather extreme at times. However, for various reasons, the higher-ups had expectations for the Salvation Ark, so they turned a blind eye to the organization’s activities.

At first, Jiang Peng had thought this was a camp belonging to the Ark Salvation Society.

But a closer look revealed it wasn’t.

’The Ark Salvation Society members are pragmatists, and the Ark they want to build is meant to accommodate thousands, even tens of thousands, of survivors. This Safe Zone is far too small; it’s just a small-scale camp.’

’But for the Safe Zone to be integrated into the local Nightmare, yet seem like a separate, independent space... this technology...’

He couldn’t understand it!

The Ark Salvation Society was the organization with the most advanced camp-construction technology in Baijiang City, surpassing both the Countermeasures Bureau and Baijiang University.

Yet Jiang Peng felt the technology used to build this Safe Zone was in no way inferior to that of the Ark.

His own Baijiang University had a camp as well—a research base located deep within a Nightmare.

He had once used a special item to travel to that camp.

The research base was much larger than this Safe Zone, but he could understand most of the facilities there. The ones here, however, were a complete mystery to him.

Originally, like most other Dream Descenders in the Safe Zone, he had thought the Manager was a Lost Person—a powerful Lost Person.

Someone with a deep foundation and certain technical skills.

Thus, after becoming lost himself, he had built a camp in the Nightmare World to protect himself and offer shelter to others who passed through.

But that was until Jiang Peng heard from the other Dream Descenders that...

’The Safe Zone’s location isn’t just unstable—it randomly appears in different Nightmare Worlds, and it can even connect to several of them simultaneously?’

The first part was one thing; that just made it a mobile camp.

But the latter...

Simultaneously hosting visitors from several different Nightmare Worlds, with Dream Descenders gathering here only to push open a door and return to completely different Nightmares.

What kind of technology was this?

What kind of power was this?

Ordinary Dream Descenders might just find it magical and not think too deeply, but Jiang Peng was a researcher. He understood things that surpassed the knowledge of even many powerful experts in the Second Refining Realm and Third Refinements Realm.

He knew exactly what this implied.

’This Manager might not even be from Baijiang City.’

’It’s true what the Dean said. The Nightmare World is incomparably vast and mysterious; you never know what you might encounter.’

Just like now, when he had encountered an unfathomable, unimaginable existence in a mere Shallow Nightmare.

He no longer wanted to—nor dared to—conduct any research in this Safe Zone.

He couldn’t understand it anyway.

And he didn’t dare to study it carelessly.

But then, an idea suddenly struck Jiang Peng—Mr. Hair Ghost had said that the Manager not only sheltered passing Dream Descenders but also helped them clear Nightmares.

The frequency of clearing Nightmares at this shop was extremely high.

Every one or two days, at least one group of Dream Descenders would manage to clear a Nightmare.

’This is a gold mine of research data!’

’If I could come to the Safe Zone regularly to gather data, collecting the details and outcomes of each team’s expeditions, couldn’t I easily write several papers?’

And these analytical papers shouldn’t be underestimated; camp construction and travel routes often relied on referencing such academic work.

He waited around in the shop until Shi An appeared, then eagerly rushed up to him.

"Manager! Manager! What do I have to do to get a Safe Zone membership?"

...

Shi An had already been thinking of recruiting Jiang Peng, so having him come knocking on his own was perfect.

Jiang Peng could provide information.

The carrot he dangled for Jiang Peng was simple: show him some research results.

If they were satisfactory, he would issue a Member Card.

’Jiang Peng will pay other Dream Descenders for information about Nightmares. This will be the catalyst for establishing a system of intelligence exchange and paid information sharing within the Safe Zone.’

Jiang Peng also promised to share a copy of all the intelligence he compiled and researched within the Safe Zone.

Giving out one Member Card might be a gain for Jiang Peng, but Manager Shi stood to gain even more.

After all, the Member Cards had to be given out to be of any value.

...

Shi An began constructing the trading and information sections of the Safe Zone.

The trading section was mainly to provide Dream Descenders with a consignment function. However, there weren’t enough Dream Descenders in the Safe Zone yet, and most couldn’t reliably reach it, so this feature wasn’t of much use for now.

His main income came from the appraisal function, the three major services of the Alchemy Workshop, and the Purifying Water.

As Dream Descenders continued to clear Nightmares, Shi An was also able to collect a steady stream of extra income.

Shi An needed Dream Dust and Dream Crystal, but it was a moderate need, and his sources of income were steadily growing.

He mused, ’Maybe I can change the "basic shelter fee" to a "buffet fee." I won’t charge for entry-level shelter, only for additional services.’

After all, his only intention was to encourage the Dream Descenders to be more courageous in clearing Nightmares.

After the appearance of the Witchcraft Flying Eye, the risks of clearing Nightmares had indeed dropped significantly, and Dream Descenders were more willing to make an attempt. If something unexpected happened and they were outmatched, the Flying Eye’s early warning still allowed them to retreat to the Safe Zone in time.

「The next day.」

「Daytime.」

Shi An was slacking off at the Countermeasures Bureau, gathering information from time to time.

The paranormal invasions were not isolated incidents. Fortunately, with the Nether Robe, Shi An’s sense of security in the real world had multiplied.

’But it seems it’s not as simple as just a few stray paranormal entities on the loose.’

’Frequent invasions from the Nightmare World, a sharp increase in the rate at which ordinary people become Dream Descenders... all of this only started a year and a half ago. Unfortunately, my clearance level is too low to find out more.’

Shi An vaguely sensed he was onto something, but his train of thought stalled. He was missing a key piece of information, unable to make the breakthrough.

「Evening.」

He holed up in the Alchemy Workshop, briefly studying the abilities of the Nether Robe.

But neither his rental apartment in the real world nor the Safe Zone in the Nightmare World was large enough. They were far too small to let paranormal entities like the Nether Robe or the Blood Hand Seal fully unfurl their power.

Forget them—even when Shi An wanted to test the power of the Curse Objects he had contained, he had to be extremely careful.

He couldn’t practice.

Unless he borrowed the Countermeasures Bureau’s facilities.

But since it involved his core abilities, there was no way Shi An would use someone else’s facilities.

’I really do need to build a Training Ground sooner or later.’

’Take Hair Ghost, for example. Even though it has entered the Refining Stage, it’s still too weak. It doesn’t have the strength to confront a paranormal entity head-on.’

The Blood Hand Seal and the Nether Robe might be powerful.

However, clearing Nightmares still depended mostly on the Dream Descenders.

Shi An felt he couldn’t always rely on ’tricks’ to clear a Nightmare; a direct confrontation to eliminate the paranormal entity was the more reliable approach.

Unfortunately, the Dream Descenders were too weak and lacked power.

...

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

Inside the Safe Zone, Shi An opened his panel.

「Safe Zone」

「Tier: Level 2」

「Upgrade Requirements: Belief Value 310/1000, Dream Crystal 12/20, Dream Descender Visitors 45/100.」

Upgrading the tier couldn’t be rushed.

But without upgrading, he couldn’t get additional construction or recruitment slots.

Shi An had always suspected there was another way to expand his construction capacity, but he just hadn’t found it.

He often only became aware of the Safe Zone’s many functions after they had been triggered.

Until...

DING!

「Notification: You have cleared a small-scale Nightmare. Belief Value +30.」

「Notification: You may choose one of the following three spoils of war as...」

「Notification: You have cleared a total of ten Nightmares. The Safe Zone’s area has expanded. Number of constructible buildings +1.」

「Notification: To expand your building capacity again, you must clear more Nightmares.」