Chapter 94

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Chapter 94: Memories in Dreams

Dunn had mentioned that escaped miners had turned the abandoned mine into their base, gradually growing until they became too powerful to ignore. So it seemed quite normal that scenes of mine tunnels would appear in these memories.

But Chaoyang noticed something strange. This place didn’t look abandoned at all. In the distance, he could see rail carts at works, and a little closer, he could clearly see machine engines belching out steam.

Just then, someone walked over and started talking to Jin Keifu.

In memories, faces were often tended to be the most blurred part of the body. Even though this person was only a step away, Chaoyang couldn’t make out his features clearly. Nevertheless, he noticed an identification badge hanging from the person’s chest, which not only bore his name, but also the words ‘Gaotian Mining’.

After this person left, another person approached Jin Keifu. Chaoyang suddenly realised what was happening – they were reporting something to him!

Jin Keifu was neither a slave worker nor a fugitive hiding in the foggy region; he was a employed of the Gaotian Mining Company! Moreover, his position did not appear to be particularly low-ranking!

This unexpected discovery seemed almost unbelievable to Chaoyang—the way the mining company treated him didn’t seem like the way they would treat a manager. Since Jin Keifu was neither a lowly miner nor a Nepheid slave who was captured from the sea, wouldn’t a simple dismissal have sufficed if he had committed any wrongdoing? Why did they treat and torture him like that?

It was a grave violation of Glorious Fortress’s law for one to inflict private punishment by taking justice into one’s own hands against lawful residents.

Moving past this memory cube, Chaoyang continued his journey deeper inside—generally speaking, memories hidden deep down were often too painful to look back on. For Jin Keifu, the change from being a company manager to a prisoner at the mercy of another must have been excruciatingly painful. But at the same time, it could also potentially contain crucial information.

The newly emerging memory once again showed the depths of a mine, but this time the space was much narrower. The surrounding walls seemed to be made of hard rock, and he could see countless dense chisel marks etched into the walls. It was clear that the company gone to considerable lengths to excavate this far.

Further ahead… there was a series of constructed wooden walls set up by people, along with a warning sign:

“Danger! Before entering, calculate the time carefully; maximum allowed Duration: 2 minutes and 30 seconds.”

“Those who exceed the limit by five minutes or longer will be…”

The rest of the text was blacked out.

Wait, what are they digging for? A feeling of unease washed over Chaoyang. Was the Gaotian Mining Company really only focused on production? Earlier, they seemed to be in an open-pit mining area, but now? Why would such narrow mine tunnels need dedicated walls to separate them? And why did they need to calculate the time before entering?

Could they have unearthed a vein of radioactive ore?!

Just then, the wooden door abruptly swung open, and a group of individuals emerged in a single line. Their attire made it easy to tell them apart and divided them into two categories: one group was made up of miners, clad in tattered clothes and looking emaciated, while the other was made up of company supervisors, fully dressed in leather outfits with fur hats, equipped with headlamps and goggles—truly ‘armed’ from head to toe. The latter hurried along, carrying stretchers, while most of the miners lay on those stretchers, looking completely exhausted, as if their bodies had given out during mining.

As soon as the people outside saw the stretchers , the scene descended into temporary chaos. Chaoyang viewpoint shook violently, and two more figures appeared beside him, planning to hold Jin Keifu so tightly that he couldn’t move forward.

Did they get into an argument? As an observer, Chaoyang couldn’t help but wonder.

Chaoyang focused his attention, trying to make sense of this hazy memory fragment. And suddenly it clicked to him. Someone was fervently shouting at him, clearly annoyed with him, while Jin Keifu was also pushing back against them, showing no sign of yielding.

Just then, Jin Keifu accidentally bumped into a group passing behind him, causing one of the stretchers to topple over.

The miner lying on it also tumbled down with a thud.

Jin Keifu seemed to be about to go over and help him up, but as the blanket slipped from the miner’s body, revealing his bare upper torso, the viewpoint abruptly froze!

Chaoyang also gasped sharply for air!

The miner’s body was drenched in sweat, and the skin had turned redder towards his hands. Near his forearm, there were countless short fleshy growths that were covering his skin, resembling transparent buds. In medical terms, these surface growths are commonly known as warts, and are usually caused by viruses. But this man’s ‘warts’ weren’t just numerous but they were long as well. By the time they reached around his palms, these fleshy tendrils had grown to about three or four centimeters in length. Even more bizarrely, strange changes appeared at their tips, making them look like tiny hands rather than mere buds!

Everything else around them seemed blurred…

All that remained clear were those creepy little hands.

Not only were they able to move from side to side, but they also kept trying to reach Jin Keifu, as if they were trying to climb on his shoes!

Immediately, chaos broke out among everyone!

Obviously, not everyone knew what exactly was going on.

Jin Keifu was no exception, he scrambled backward, his eyes barely leaving the ground as everything went pitch dark.

Chaoyang couldn’t resist scratching his hand. Even though he know that in dreams, the concept of having a physical body did not apply.

There was no doubt that the Gaotian Mining had unearthed something extraordinary, but so far no information about it had surfaced. The newspaper office was clueless, the reporters were in the dark, and even the Lord probably hadn’t been informed.

It seemed that Jin Keifu, whom they had rescued, was one of the few eyewitnesses to this event.

Unfortunately, these memories were quite old, indicating that the incident had occurred long ago. As he delved deeper, the darkness became almost impenetrable, and staying any longer in the subconscious sea seemed pointless.

Before surfacing, Chaoyang decided to leave a mark on Jin Keifu’s memory.

It would be difficult for an untrained person to tell which memories were created by dreams and which were artificially implanted ones. Although demonic marks cannot alter conscious of a person, they can guide their subconscious mind—Just like how Chaoyang had tricked Shi Dong into visiting the Divination House in search of answer fatefully meant for him.

After the Dream Walking session ended, Chaoyang noticed that Jin Keifu was wearing a pained expression, and muffled groans could be heard escaping his lips. Even with his eyes firmly closed, he could not escape the nightmare that this memory brought.

“Is it over?” Luo Di poked her head in from the doorway, “I felt his vitality getting a little stronger.”

“That’s because the Dream Walking technique consumes my Wish Power, allowing some of it to integrate into his body.”

Though the leftover amount was minimal, roughly equivalent to just three or four points at most.

“You used this method to sneak a peek at my memories as well?” Luo Di crossed her arms, “As expected, demons really do prefer taking indirect routes rather than straightforward persuasion.”

Your choice of words is quite risky, Angel.

“It’s because some people are really hard to convince, as stubborn as a rock,” Chaoyang shrugged. “…Not saying to you, though.”

“If you hadn’t added that last part, your credibility would have been higher.” Luo Di looked at the man on the hospital bed, “So what did you find out?”

“Quite a lot. You can see for yourself.” Chaoyang shared the relevant memories with her, but unlike when he provided information to players, he didn’t charge extra fees in this case.

After several minutes of trying to comprehend the situation, Luo Di looked astonished and exclaimed, “What is that thing?! Just looking at it… it feels incredibly evil.”

“Indeed, I agree with you,” Chaoyang confirmed her feelings. ” As I’ve said it before too, this isn’t Earth, and many things from this world cannot be judged by common sense of that world. In any case, Jin Keifu’s current predicament is probably related to this matter. He has more than one secret hidden within him. Later on, I’ll try again to get him to open up and talk about them. As for the Gaotian Mining Corporation… it doesn’t concern us much at the moment. If it really poses a threat to Glorious Fortress, the City Guard certainly won’t stand idly by.”

“Why don’t you just implant this memory into the minds of the City Guard Commander or the Lord?”

“That wouldn’t work. Most people would panic at the discovery of unfamiliar memories in their mind and reject them before they even had a chance to consider them, let alone believe them. So Dream Walking can only guide memories, not change them directly.” Chaoyang sighed, “Alas, even a demon’s power has its limits!”