Chapter 2652: Chapter 2653: First Impressions Prevail

Hearing the familiar voice, Cicia immediately turned her head to look. She just happened to see Angel stepping down leisurely from the curved staircase on the second floor.

Looking at Angel’s leisurely and nonchalant demeanor, Cicia felt her teeth grinding. Leaving with just a sentence "in a dream," making her run in circles!

She previously thought she could really see a beam of hope in him.

Liar!

Can’t hold it in anymore!

Filled with indignation, Cicia darted forward with swift steps, rushing towards Angel. Taking advantage of Angel not yet reacting, she grabbed his tie, did a quick and agile backspin, preparing to stamp her high heel right on Angel’s face, pinning him to the ground.

Cicia managed to do it, but ultimately, she ended up stepping on Lulu, who wore an aggrieved whimpering expression on the ground.

And Angel, without anyone noticing, had already lifted the curtain and sat beside the old man who called himself Jon.

Cicia couldn’t make out how the position was switched. This body... is too frail.

"Gobble gobble, blubber blubber." Lulu’s aggrieved voice drifted from beneath her feet.

Cicia reluctantly lifted her foot, marching into the small council room concealed by the curtain, glaring fiercely at Angel, before sitting at the far end of the long table, away from Angel.

"Don’t think just because here is the dreamscape you created, you can do whatever you want. I understand the rules of the Dream Realm as well. You cannot kill me here, and I can easily leave this place." Cicia haughtily held her head high, attempting to initially seize the upper hand with words.

Angel leisurely poured a cup of tea for Jon beside him, then looked at Cicia: "I feel that, in the few minutes we’ve been apart, you seem to have filled in a lot of stories on your own, and now you dislike me again?"

Outside, Cicia’s attitude towards Angel had clearly improved, but now, inexplicably, it turned sour again. Angel could only guess that Cicia had made up some non-existent stories in her mind.

"Using the terminology taught by Mentor Jon, you have... a persecution complex." Angel paused, then pointed to Jon beside him: "This here is Mentor Jon, my teacher, who is also a scholar very interested in the transcendent world. Therefore, upon seeing a Gargoyle here, he had the thought of studying it."

Angel didn’t reveal that Jon was his introductory mentor because he had previously mentioned to Cicia that the introductory mentor was someone from another world. Revealing Jon’s identity now would expose many secrets and require a lot of explanation.

However, this was also a coincidence; Angel hadn’t expected Jon to suddenly return to Pat Manor today. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have picked this place for Popota to meet Cicia.

"As you can see, my mentor doesn’t intend to harm this Gargoyle... um, by the way, do you know both of these Gargoyles?"

After Angel finished speaking, Cicia looked at Jon. As a former Prophet Wizard, though she lost the ability to prophesy, sensing a person’s good or evil was no problem. This elder named Jon, although he seemed to be doing something similar to those experimenters, carried no malice, unlike the hypocritical experimenters.

Jon, Cicia could overlook for now. But Angel, she wasn’t prepared to let go.

Though she hadn’t heard the term "persecution complex," she could basically grasp its meaning from its context.

"You say I have a persecution complex, no, I am merely making a reasonable evaluation, and seeking the flaws in this false dreamscape you created." Cicia said coldly.

Watching Cicia’s stubborn look, Angel felt his brow start to throb again.

For newcomers to the Wilderness of Dreams, he most disliked explaining how Wilderness of Dreams worked, as it was cumbersome, and anyone who learned about the Wilderness of Dreams would invariably become curious and keep asking questions.

Therefore, in general, Angel would send these newcomers to Originheart City or New City, to learn and integrate on their own. It’s better to observe it themselves rather than being told.

This approach worked for others, but for Cicia, it clearly wouldn’t. Cicia’s expression already directly conveyed, "It’s all your conspiracy," and if not explained clearly, this conspiracy theory would never end.

However, Angel certainly wouldn’t personally explain such things.

"If you want to know where this place is, or want to understand it, go see Popota. He will tell you everything." Angel put on a profound look, his expression solemn, and his tone carried a sense of "this is destined by fate." But in reality, Angel’s thoughts weren’t so complicated; he simply wanted to shirk the explanation onto Popota.

Besides, Popota is also a Baiyuanian, making communication between them much easier than with himself.

Cicia snorted coldly: "Popota? You still want to deceive me; he’s probably just another fake Baiyuanian you created in the dream?"

Angel rubbed his slightly throbbing temple: "Whether it’s fake, you can judge for yourself after you meet. If you can’t even judge the authenticity, whether it’s real or fake, of your fellow tribesmen, then don’t even think about reviving the Baiyuanian tribe."

Angel’s words were quite emphatic, and Cicia absorbed them.

Indeed, if Angel created them, there must be flaws.

There’s no harm in going to meet him.

However, before that, Cicia still wanted an explanation: "I may go meet your creation. But you need to answer my question first, how do you know about Coco and Lulu? How can you even simulate their behavior patterns?"

"Coco and Lulu?" Angel was puzzled for a moment, then he realized: "You mean the names of these two Gargoyles?"

Cicia: "Yes."

Angel: "Are you quite familiar with these two gargoyles?"

Cicia snorted coldly: "You created them, so is there any point in asking such a question?"

Upon hearing Cicia’s answer, Angel’s face instantly lit up with a smile: "So, you really do know them. That’s great. If you can understand what they’re saying, go ahead and ask them yourself if they were created by me."

"What do you mean?"

Angel: "Exactly as it sounds. The cocoa and Lulu you mentioned were two gargoyles we saw at the second narrow path when we came to the Hanging Jail Stairway. The Black Earl said they were in a deep sleep and would not wake up. Given that, I brought their consciousness here, at least here it’s a Paradise Land where they can live peacefully."

Angel spoke beautifully, but in truth, he did not think much at the time, just casually trying to see if he could bring the sleeping gargoyles into the Wilderness of Dreams to fill the gap in the Monster Atlas of the Wilderness of Dreams.

Unexpectedly, it actually worked. Moreover, the two gargoyles brought casually into the Wilderness of Dreams turned out to know Cicia, and their relationship seemed quite good?

Then this is wonderful.

Popota alone might not be able to persuade Cicia, who already considered the Wilderness of Dreams as "Angel’s conspiracy."

But the two gargoyles familiar to Cicia should make Cicia believe they are real, right?

Of course, if Cicia cannot even determine whether cocoa and Lulu are real or fake, Angel would accept it as a conspiracy here, and they might as well stop cooperating, leaving Cicia in the dark box waiting for "spring to come back to the withered tree."

Cicia looked at Angel doubtfully, then at the two gargoyles next to her.

"You say they were pulled into the dream by you?"

Angel nodded: "Of course, before this, I didn’t even know their names. So, you can ask these two gargoyles yourself, cocoa and Lulu, if they were created virtual beings."

"Your creations can say whatever you want them to say."

Angel suppressed his speechlessness and continued: "Didn’t you hear what I said? I’ll repeat it. Before this, I’ve never seen them. How would I know their relationship with you? Who could tell me?"

"If you can’t even determine whether they’re real or fake, I don’t think you need to meet Popota either."

Previously, Angel thought Cicia was obsessed with conspiracy theories. Now, he feels Cicia’s intelligence might be offline again.

What Angel can do is only: Understand, understand.

After all this time, Cicia still maintaining normal thinking is already good, and her intelligence isn’t completely offline, there are times when it’s online.

Let’s just wait and see.

After Angel’s remarks, Cicia also felt like she had been thinking too much about falsehood. If this place isn’t false and cocoa and Lulu are real, those familiar behavioral patterns they exhibited can be explained.

However, this world clearly emerged by crossing the Dream Bridge, a world within the dream, how could it really exist?

Moreover, Cicia is very clear about the rules of the Dream Realm. Apart from the person in their sleep whom the Dream Witch can bring into the Dream Realm, others, even if they enter the dream, cannot be in the same dream.

The vastness of the Dream Realm is beyond imagination, Cicia has never heard of anyone who can accurately position everyone into the same dream.

Cicia became more and more confused.

But she still followed Angel’s words, took cocoa and Lulu outside, and began a detailed observation and inquiry.

...

After Cicia left, Angel finally breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed his temples, and said with emotion: "It was simply too difficult to deal with."

Jon chuckled lightly: "I actually think it’s quite good she’s like this. If she believed whatever is said, that would be too tragic."

Angel: "Ah, she... It’s hard to explain to a Mentor. Anyway, her intelligence fluctuates, clearly there’s already a paradox - I couldn’t possibly know her relationship with those two gargoyles, let alone simulate the habits of the gargoyles. But even so, she insists on thinking it’s a conspiracy."

Jon looked at Angel’s perplexed appearance, smilingly enjoying a cup of tea: "Although I don’t know what happened, I understood when I first saw this lady that she is filled with vigilance and suspicion towards everything around."

"This makes me certain that you didn’t explain anything to her, you just hastily took her into the Wilderness of Dreams."

"You should know, preconceived notions are very important. Everything here is unfamiliar to her, and she is obviously also a Transcendent, aware of the existence of Dream Power, so it’s strange she doesn’t suspect ’dream creation’."

Jon’s words gave Angel a sense of enlightenment: Yes! He really didn’t make any explanations to Cicia, and before entering the Wilderness of Dreams, even deliberately made a joke:

—Switching from a solemn expression to a frivolous one, and saying "In the dream, oh."

This operation would definitely make Cicia think she was deceived.

If this were the case for other people outside, it wouldn’t matter much, because the question of "whether the Wilderness of Dreams exists" can easily be cross-examined through real-world communication.

But Cicia is different; she’s all alone in the Box.

Endlessly trapped in darkness, with nobody to communicate with except for the Sage who visits every so many years.

If we don’t have her believe in the existence of the Wilderness of Dreams from the start, even if she arrives there later, she might still doubt it... because it’s almost impossible for her to find others to verify it.

Thus, Jon was right; Cicia’s suspicion is normal, and it’s abnormal not to suspect.

Cicia’s intelligence hasn’t dropped, but Angel’s emotional intelligence certainly has... He shouldn’t have presumptuously joked that "Popota is in the dream, oh." This led Cicia’s preconceived notion to be not "the Wilderness of Dreams is real," but rather, "I’ve been deceived."

Fortunately, there’s still room to remedy the situation. The two Gargoyles that Angel casually brought along turned out to be old acquaintances of Cicia, which simplifies matters.

Although those two Gargoyles can no longer return to their real-life bodies, they still remember their past memories, and this could help dispel some of Cicia’s doubts.

Otherwise, Angel would indeed find it challenging to ease Cicia’s wariness.

...

On the other side, observing the change in Angel’s expression, Jon understood that Angel must have done something that further compromised the trust in the Wilderness of Dreams.

After asking around, Jon was astonished by Angel’s "miraculous operation."

Angel awkwardly scratched his head, then, as always, lowered his gaze to accept Jon’s "loving reprimand."

However, after a brief hesitation, Jon didn’t scold Angel as he used to, but instead smiled more brightly.

"Great, you really haven’t changed a bit," Jon remarked nostalgically.

Angel: "Huh? What hasn’t changed?"

Jon’s eyes held a hint of nostalgia as he slowly said, "You looked well-behaved on the surface when you were young, but when you really got mischievous, you were bolder and crazier than your brother."

"But later, you suddenly changed, becoming polite and refined from inside out. It was like you took off your carefree coat and donned adult clothes, becoming solemn and dignified, like a little old man."

"Back then, I thought that the younger version of you had disappeared. Now it seems you’re still the same."

"Still mischievous, still that young boy."

"If you don’t forget your initial heart, you won’t be confused about the road ahead."

Jon’s sentiments also brought Angel back to those memories of that time.

Angel’s sudden transformation into a well-behaved boy actually occurred when Jon’s body grew increasingly frail; though young, he understood Jon’s emaciated body wouldn’t hold out for long.

He always knew that Jon wanted to nurture him into talent, hoping to leave traces of Earth’s civilization even in the Otherworld, to prove that he existed.

Perhaps Earth’s civilization could even influence this backward world.

— At that time, Jon didn’t know that the Old Earth Continent they inhabited was actually just a small island, and the world was vast, even comprising other worlds... Otherwise, Jon wouldn’t have dared make such bold claims.

A young Angel, quite intelligent, understood Jon’s ideals from an early age and realized Jon was grooming him to be the witness of Earth’s civilization.

To live up to Jon’s expectations, Angel restrained his former mischievousness, donned adult clothing, and acted composed, as if he had matured overnight.

But is it truly possible to grow up overnight?

Angel lowered his brows and softly replied: "Jon Mentor, in my heart, is just as before, unchanged."

Jon: "What do you mean? I’m a youth too?"

Angel: "Still love to preach, still enjoy contemplating life. Not even that old, yet relishing in scolding like a schoolmaster."

Jon frowned and glared: "Is this your respect for teachers?!"

Angel pursed his lips, dared not respond.

The air fell silent suddenly.

Yet soon enough, the somber mood was broken by none other than Jon.

Seeing Jon’s solemn expression struggle to hold, he suddenly burst into laughter with a snort.

Angel watched Jon puzzled, wondering what’s suddenly happened?

After laughing for a while, Jon wiped the tears from his eyes produced by laughter and said: "What you said about me loving to preach, like a schoolmaster, Hailey mentioned it as well. But when Hailey said it, I didn’t dare retort."

"Before this, I never thought someday I would hear the same thing and dare retort, dare to scold back. This feels quite nice."

"It’s a pity, it would be even better if it was Hailey instead of you."

Jon explained cheerfully.

And the Hailey he mentioned is Summer Hailey, also Jon’s wife, who didn’t come with him through the crossing.

Even reaching the New City, Jon deeply reminisces and loves his wife, knowing perhaps they might never meet; yet, the only mate Jon acknowledges is Summer Hailey.

Jon spoke with laughter, but Angel knew Jon’s emotions weren’t as cheerful as they seemed.

Just as Jon understood Angel, Angel understood Jon very well. Jon appeared fine outwardly, yet he simply liked maintaining face; alone, he’d probably sigh in solitude.

Angel: "If it was Mentor’s wife, I don’t believe Mentor would dare retort."

Jon: "Don’t underestimate me, I used to be quite authoritative at home."

Angel: "Yes, yes, but Mentor, have you forgotten you once said, when drunk, that your household ranks were: Hailey first, Jonelle second, Shampoo third, and you fourth."

Jonelle is Jon and Summer Hailey’s daughter, Shampoo is a pet cat.

Jon looked shocked: "How do you know? When did I say that?"

Angel: "Perhaps when I was four or five, you lamented after drinking with my father."

Jon: "...You remember things from such a young age?"

Angel: "I didn’t before, but after becoming a Wizard, many memories resurfaced. Mentor drank quite a bit, shared many secrets, and I remember a lot..."

Jon suddenly slammed the table, interrupting Angel.

Seeing Angel look over, Jon coughed twice: "You really don’t need to remember these things, how about we reach a deal to forget them?"

Angel: "A Wizard’s memory is hard to truly forget unless..."

Jon: "Unless what?"

Angel: "Unless you have the Voice of Forgetting. It’s a Mysterious Object, shaped like a dressing mirror. Through it, you can entirely erase memories, never recalling them again."

Jon: "So... do you have it?"

Angel: "I certainly don’t."

"Where is it then?"

Angel stroked his chin, recalling the entries in Culori’s journals: "Seems like it’s in the hands of someone called ’Witch of Broken Heart,’ not sure who she is, definitely not in the Southern Domain Wizard World."

Jon: "..."

Angel: "Rest assured, I promise I won’t disclose anything."

Jon sighed: It’s no problem for others to know; he just doesn’t want Angel to know, as it affects his dignified mentor image too much.

At this moment, the curtain was lifted outside, and Cicia, looking perplexed, walked in.

Seeing Cicia arrive, Jon quickly stood up and said to Angel: "You probably have matters to discuss, so I won’t intrude; I’ll go rest at the hanging attic."

Having said that, Jon promptly got up and left.

Just as he was about to lift the curtain, Angel’s voice suddenly piped up: "I can promise I won’t speak, but if brother becomes an Official Wizard and recalls other matters, if he spills, that’s none of my business."

Jon’s steps abruptly halted.

That’s right, he almost forgot about Lyon!

This fellow is older than Angel and practically watched Lyon grow up since arriving; Lyon certainly knows more of his secrets.

No, he must find a way to ensure Lyon doesn’t mention these things, ideally forget them!

Jon left, frowning and preoccupied.

Angel watched, but lightly curled his lips; he deliberately mentioned it so Jon would worry about these matters, which, compared to occasionally reminiscing about his wife and appearing listless, was far better...

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