Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2901: Chapter 2902: Snatching the Prize

”Failed?” Laplace asked curiously as Angel stood still for a long time.

Angel hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

Laplace didn’t understand what Angel meant: What does shaking his head signify? Did he not fail, or does he simply not want to answer?

Angel explained softly, ”I’m not sure if it counts as a failure. I didn’t feel like Sweet Dream was pulled into the Crystal Origin of Dreams... but it seems something else was drawn in.”

Something else? What was it? Laplace looked at Angel, puzzled.

Angel didn’t know how to explain at this point, so he gestured for Laplace to wait a moment. Then, Angel closed his eyes and immersed his thoughts into the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

When his thoughts quieted down again, Angel confirmed that his sensation was indeed correct.

Something had indeed been pulled in along with the Dream Conch into the Crystal Origin of Dreams. Moreover, Angel felt that the Ability Tree shook slightly because of it.

Was it because a mysterious object had entered?

So, could it really be a mysterious object? Or perhaps a part of one? Was he not entirely unsuccessful this time?

Angel quickly activated the ”Gatekeeper” authority to determine the location of the ”object” that had just entered the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

As he had previously set, it was in an out-of-the-way corner.

—Before Angel decided to pull in Sweet Dream, he had already set it to be placed in a distant area. To prevent Sweet Dream from scattering, he specifically arranged a dome of constraint energy nearby.

At this moment, the ”Gatekeeper” confirmed that the object was still at the coordinates he had set.

Angel felt inexplicably excited. Although he could confirm that Sweet Dream hadn’t been pulled into the Crystal Origin of Dreams, it didn’t dampen his excitement.

In fact, his level of excitement was even higher than if the entire Sweet Dream had been drawn into the Crystal Origin of Dreams.

The reason was simple.

Even if Sweet Dream had been pulled into the Crystal Origin of Dreams, it would merely confirm Angel’s hypothesis: Mysterious objects with the same attributes could enter the Wilderness of Dreams and its related territories.

But the current situation was different.

The object that entered wasn’t Sweet Dream but possibly a part of it! Does this mean a part of Sweet Dream had been segmented into the Wilderness of Dreams?

Further, could it mean that the essence of Sweet Dream had been deconstructed into parts?

If this were true, it would be a significant milestone for Angel, who aspires to pursue the mysterious realm!

Just the thought of this made Angel’s excitement soar.

However, all of that excitement turned to shock when Angel set his eyes on the target coordinates.

—What is this pillow?

Yes, it’s a pillow. To be precise, it’s a heart-shaped pink sleep pillow.

The sleep pillow was larger than usual, and if a Rabbit Girl curled up on it, she could fit perfectly without a trace showing.

But, regardless of the size, why was this sleep pillow here?!

Wasn’t he supposed to pull in Sweet Dream?

How did a pillow get pulled in from Sweet Dream?

Wasn’t Sweet Dream formless? Or could it be that everyone misunderstood and that Sweet Dream does have a form, but it’s not in the Mirror World or the Material Realm, but in the higher-dimensional world? And its form is just a heart-shaped pillow?

This possibility isn’t out of the question, just like the Eye of the Sky that Angel carried. It seemed nothing special, but in a higher dimension, it was a colossal presence. Angel had confirmed this when learning about the Gate of Void.

So, could this mysterious object be the same, appearing formless externally but having a form in a higher dimension?

Moreover, a heart-shaped pillow corresponding to Sweet Dream is quite fitting.

Just as Angel was indulging in these thoughts, he noticed that the heart-shaped pillow suddenly emitted a rainbow-like radiance.

Moreover, the glow was so clear and pure, akin to crystal...

Crystal? Angel paused as if realizing something.

He quickly directed his consciousness toward the heart-shaped pillow. As his awareness touched the pillow, Angel sensed a familiar aura...

It was the aura of authority.

Furthermore, it was the only authority confirmed so far in the Crystal Origin of Dreams: Wonderland of Dreams!

”If it were Wonderland of Dreams, then this heart-shaped pillow might be...” Just as Angel was thinking this, he saw the rainbow-glowing heart-shaped pillow slowly turn translucent and seemed about to vanish the next second.

Upon seeing this familiar ”translucent” scene, Angel finally understood.

All the earnest speculation about higher-dimensional forms was entirely wrong.

This wasn’t the form of Sweet Dream at all, but a crystal creation manifested by the authority of Wonderland of Dreams!

However, Angel was sure that the ”thing” the Dream Conch pulled out from Sweet Dream was indeed inside this crystal creation.

In other words—

”Did I just get intercepted by Wonderland of Dreams?!”

If it was intercepted by Wonderland of Dreams, wouldn’t the initial tremor he sensed from the Ability Tree be caused by Wonderland of Dreams?

With such doubts, Angel rechecked the Ability Tree and, through the information records, he confirmed without a doubt.

A few seconds ago, Wonderland of Dreams did indeed unleash its full power, shaking the Ability Tree.

And it wasn’t just the Ability Tree that trembled, but also Angel, who was currently full of complaints.

Does such authority exist? I just sent something in, and you’re already intercepting?

If you were going to intercept, why didn’t you do it when I sent the shedding scales before? ——Oh, right, the authority of Wonderland of Dreams hadn’t emerged when I sent those scales.

Then, what about the Magic Rune Scroll? Why didn’t you intercept the Magic Rune Scroll when I placed the protective dome here not long ago? Why only intercept the mysterious object’s contents?

Angel was now on the verge of tears.

I originally thought there would be a significant discovery, a major research breakthrough, but it turned directly into a crystal creation that looks like a Love Heart Pillow.

Moreover, this pillow was waving goodbye to Angel.

Angel’s consciousness couldn’t retain the pillow at all, and he could only watch it slowly disappear under his gaze.

Witnessing the whole scene, Angel felt completely out of sorts.

Although he could lock onto the position of the Love Heart Pillow again through the Gatekeeper, it would be useless even if he did. According to previous experiences in Helen’s Dream, in order to extract ”power” from the crystal creation, or to retrieve the ”Mysterious Object” from it, one must explore an instance.

Moreover, the exploration degree needs to meet certain conditions; otherwise, it would be pointless to enter.

Angel had previously claimed to be a master of exploration and decoding, but that was self-proclaimed! Besides, he boasted to Laplace only because of the God’s View he had back then.

But if he were to venture into a Special Dreamland himself, his exploration degree might not necessarily surpass Laplace’s.

At this moment, Angel somewhat understood why Laplace was so concerned about achieving a 100% exploration degree; it was because he now also had to aim for a 100% exploration degree for the Love Heart Pillow...

...

Angel, in a daze, exited the perspective of the Crystal Origin of Dreams and returned to reality, first hearing Laplace’s concerned voice.

”So, was it a failure or a success?”

Angel replied somewhat listlessly, ”As for the Sweet Dream, it shouldn’t have been drawn into the Crystal Origin of Dreams, so it can’t be considered a success. However, based on my investigation, something was indeed pulled into the Crystal Origin of Dreams by the Dream Conch from the Sweet Dream, but I don’t know what it is yet.”

Though Laplace was puzzled by Angel’s sudden despondency, she refrained from asking directly and inquired indirectly: ”Didn’t you go to the Crystal Origin of Dreams earlier? Didn’t you see what the Dream Conch took in?”

Angel sighed: ”I went, but I honestly didn’t see what was drawn in. As for the reason...”

Angel pondered for a moment and decided to speak up.

Although being preempted by Wonderland of Dreams was a bit embarrassing, it was factual. Besides, Angel worried that if Wonderland of Dreams could intercept the ’unknown object’ from the Sweet Dream, it might also intercept other items. For instance, the silver-scaled robe and staff that Laplace hoped Angel would help bring in for Glaipnir.

If those, too, were intercepted by Wonderland of Dreams and made into a crystal creation instance, it would be best to inform Laplace in advance.

Thus, Angel did not hide the reason and explained it.

A few minutes later, after hearing Angel’s explanation, Laplace and her temporal bodies were momentarily stunned. They hadn’t expected there to be an interception scenario.

Angel: ”Anyway, this is the current situation, and the outcome isn’t too bad; there’s still a chance to find out from that Love Heart Pillow what the Dream Conch drew from the Sweet Dream. However, there are two prerequisites: first, finding the Love Heart Pillow, and then figuring out how to achieve a 100% exploration degree in the Special Dreamland it created.”

Angel didn’t mention that he could locate the Love Heart Pillow through the Gatekeeper’s authority; instead, he lamented, ”It’s relatively easy to satisfy one condition, but meeting both is currently impossible. We can only wait for an opportunity in the future.”

Angel subconsciously implied: I’m good at decoding; it’s just that I can’t find the Love Heart Pillow’s location. It’ll depend on whether we can discover it in the future.

But in truth, Angel knew very well that with God’s View, he could boast; without it, he was just an ordinary player.

Therefore, what he needed now was not to find the Love Heart Pillow’s location, but to wait for someone adept at puzzles to accompany him in exploring it in the future.

Angel had already targeted a few individuals: Dororo, Sanders, Tree Spirit, Ironclad Granny...

If possible, Angel hoped these people would join him; otherwise, any exploration degree less than 0.001% meant wasted effort.

Angel’s rhetoric wasn’t detected by others because what he said was indeed true; it was just that he deliberately omitted which condition could be met. The others didn’t pay much attention to such details either.

Next, Angel said: ”Although my objective was intercepted by the Crystal Origin of Dreams authority, it can now be confirmed that, as it currently stands, it doesn’t impact the functioning of the Crystal Origin of Dreams. So, it should be fine for you to enter now.”

”However, before you enter, I need to test whether ’Wonderland of Dreams’ will intercept again.”

As Angel spoke, his gaze shifted to the silver-scaled robe and Tooth Bone Staff on Glaipnir, as well as the carrot-shaped satchel on the Rabbit Girl.

Understanding Angel’s intention, Glaipnir stepped forward and planted the Tooth Bone Staff on the ground: ”You can try now.”

Angel nodded to Glaipnir, took out the Dream Conch, and began operating it on the Tooth Bone Staff.

The aura of the Mysterious Object quickly enveloped the Tooth Bone Staff.

Almost instantly, Angel felt the Tooth Bone Staff enter the Gatekeeper’s jurisdiction.

Angel thought for a moment and placed the Tooth Bone Staff near a safe zone.

As the Tooth Bone Staff landed in the safe zone, Angel’s thoughts fixated on the light point on the Ability Tree representing Wonderland of Dreams, curious if this Tooth Bone Staff would trigger movement in the Wonderland of Dreams.

Just as Angel entertained this thought, he sensed the power light point representing Wonderland of Dreams begin to tremble slightly.

At the same time, a swirling power of authority appeared above the Tooth Bone Staff.

”Here it comes!” Angel promptly reacted: ”It’s really planning to intercept again!”

Without hesitation, Angel wielded the Ability Tree, temporarily locking down the current authority of Wonderland of Dreams with upper authority permissions.

Though locked, the power of authority above the Tooth Bone Staff didn’t disappear; it merely paused its advance.

Angel knew that to fundamentally solve the ”intercept everything it sees” issue with Wonderland of Dreams, he needed to address the problem at its root.

That root was the authority of ”Wonderland of Dreams” itself.

Previously, Angel had been concerned about information overload from the authority information of ”Wonderland of Dreams” and hadn’t studied it thoroughly. But now, he had no choice but to delve into the authority itself, at least initially figuring out how to stop Wonderland of Dreams from intercepting.

With that in mind, Angel immersed his thoughts into the light point on the Ability Tree representing Wonderland of Dreams.

Thinking ”how to limit Wonderland of Dreams,” Angel carefully opened the light point.

In an instant, a torrent of information surged into his mind.

Within less than two seconds, Angel felt dizzy and immediately halted the flow of information.

Even so, Angel took a whole five minutes leaning against the tree to regain his composure, and even then, his expression retained a hint of fatigue.

”You look like you’ve been drinking, reciting poetry, and spending a whole night hungover. Are you okay?” Luigi, standing closest to him, asked with concern.

It’s only you who would be drinking and reciting poetry, Angel muttered internally, while shaking his head to Luigi: ”It’s nothing, just let me rest a bit.”

Afterward, Angel ignored the others’ perceptions, closed his eyes, and delved into the realm of thought.

He had received a lot of information this time and needed time to process it.