[The Astral Express in Reality, Inside The Driver's Cabin]
March stared at the various gauges on the train, feeling a headache coming on. She looked around. At this moment, apart from herself, the only person still awake in the entire driver's cabin was Nero, but Nero did not look like someone who knew how to drive the train either.
Although Nero had never told March his true intentions, now that they had already come to the driver's cabin, her instincts told her that Nero might want to start the train for a little while.
"Um... Nero... Didn't you say you were looking for Pom-Pom? Why did you come here... Pom-Pom is sleeping in the Parlor Car right now..."
March looked at the young man who was seriously examining the train's instruments. Having suddenly sensed that something was wrong, her tone gradually became more alarmed.
"Do you really have to ask? Of course we're here to drive the train. That's the original purpose. As for why we have to find Pom-Pom, other than Pom-Pom, we normally don't even have a chance to come here, right?" Nero said as he reached out by instinct and grabbed one of the levers.
"Besides, Pom-Pom is in Ena's Dream right now and can't answer us anyway, so let's just take it as agreeing. We're saving people, after all. How could our kind and adorable conductor blame us for that~"
"Do we really have to go this far?" March's mouth twitched. "Nero, do you actually know how to operate it?"
"As long as I can get the train moving, it'll be fine. Black Cutter will help stop it later," Nero said.
"Eh?" March was dumbfounded.
Nero continued as though he had not noticed the change in the expression of the person beside him at all.
"Based on the changes Fuli showed just now, I can more or less confirm that the authority of the Beauty is mixed into this Ena's Dream. The way it manifests is actually similar to a Mirror Holder I encountered before."
"Back then, I directly broke through the restrictions with brute force, but that won't work this time. For everyone's physical and mental well-being, let's start by shaking the foundation of Ena's Dream."
"Don't worry. The barrier that's difficult to cross is formed from the authority of the Beauty. That's exactly my specialty. What's more, there's still a barrier built by little Qlipoth around the outside of the train. Charging directly into Ena's Dream won't be a problem."
"Just like when we came out, during the process of sinking from reality into memetic substance, I'll open a path into the dream. As for how to convince Mei and the others, that's up to you."
"Now that you've put it that way, I'm even more worried." March's eyes wandered, and her expression became somewhat hopeless.
She suddenly regretted it a little. She felt like agreeing to this just because she had been called "big sister" had been a terrible deal.
Of course, March was not unwilling to take the risk. It was just that the plan Nero had proposed sounded as unrealistic as a fairy tale.
Anyone would instinctively object after hearing it for the first time. If Dan Heng were here, he would probably reject it immediately.
"Don't worry, don't worry. Then, we're departing."
As Nero spoke, he casually pushed the lever down, and the train began charging toward the Philosophical Embryo floating in space.
"Eh?! Wait, Nero, this is so sudden. I'm not ready yet..."
March was startled. But when she looked up, she saw Nero carrying Black Cutter and jumping out through the train door, then casually closing the door behind him.
"Seriously...?" March stood there blankly, her expression becoming flustered.
Looking out the window, the stars flashed past her eyes. She could visibly feel the train's speed getting faster and faster, while the enormous object known as the "Philosophical Embryo" rapidly approached. Just as Nero had said, the train had charged straight ahead.
Seeing that it was about to collide with the Philosophical Embryo, March squeezed her eyes shut and cried out, "We're doomed!"
Yet the violent impact and shaking she had expected never came. As if passing through a curtain into another world, the train rapidly disappeared into the interior of the Philosophical Embryo.
Black Cutter followed close behind. Of course, she had to faithfully complete the task her little master had given her and help the Astral Express stop when necessary.
———
[Dreamscape Depths, Dawn]
Not long ago, this layer of the dream had been destroyed by the all-quadrant reset event caused by the reflection of the Observer's Eye, which had reappeared because Aha irresponsibly went looking for fun.
The reflection of the Observer's Eye was, in Aha's impression, a reflection of Nero's essence beneath the appearance of the Beauty. The two could trigger a similar "observer effect."
The only difference was that the Observer's Eye did not possess Nero's individual consciousness or thoughts. Or rather, the Observer's Eye was Nero in a state without consciousness.
And the absence of subjective consciousness meant that under the observation of that eye, everything would collapse toward "nonexistence," becoming zero across multiple quadrants, including space and time. This was the all-quadrant reset event.
However, Nero had already witnessed this scene in the illusion of the Sea of Sand within the layers of the dream, and because he disliked this outcome and wished to start over, the reflection of the Observer's Eye had only been a fleeting appearance, and this layer of the dream had therefore begun to roll back.
The current point in time of this layer of the dream was when the resilient ones who had "awakened" from Ena's Dream were discussing how to break through Ena's Dream.
However, because this layer of the dream had once disappeared under the gaze of the Observer's Eye, after the rollback, apart from those who had originally been assigned to this layer of the dream, everyone else had, through the projection of the authority of the Beauty, become numerical reflections equivalent to those in the other dreams.
In other words, this time, there was only one March 7th here.
At this moment, everything here was proceeding as usual. No one possessed the terrifying memories of having disappeared once before, not even the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection...
"It sounds like a very thorough plan, but there's still some... romantic idealism to it." After listening to everyone's plan for breaking through Ena's Dream, Black Swan said with some concern, "Human weaknesses certainly can't be overcome overnight. Can we really make everyone turn from darkness to light?"
"That is indeed the case, Miss Black Swan," Acheron said. "Therefore, the most important part of the plan isn't to make everyone turn from darkness to light, but to make everyone choose to save themselves."
Just as everyone was discussing the matter, the walls of the dream hotel suddenly shattered with a crash. A magnificent spaceship wobbled as it fell from the sky, landing not far away.
Everyone was somewhat stunned by the sudden change. Soon, they heard Nero shout, "Isn't that the Argenti's ship?!"
As Nero's voice fell, the hatch of the ship opened at just the right moment, and three knights walked out.
"Argenti, why can't you ever land properly?" Noe complained.
Argenti, however, revealed an open smile. "The ways of the world are unpredictable. I didn't expect that we would actually be hit by an unknown impact during the journey."
"However, this situation, where we were affected along the way and had no choice but to make an emergency landing, does remind me of the first time I met Nero."
"Back then, I encountered the same thing and had no choice but to make an emergency landing on Jarilo-VI."
"But this time, the power system of the Argenti's ship should not be damaged. After all, this is a dream, and the power-generating furnace made from rift creatures that Nero helped modify isn't that fragile either. What's more, Tiriandes currently has a convenient power source like the Duke of Inferno in his hands."
Standing to the side, Tiriandes' eyes flickered slightly as he observed the situation in the hall. He seemed to pay no attention to what his two companions were thinking and simply said calmly,
"Hm... So many people. Looks like we've returned to that first layer of the dream. And Miss Acheron is right in front of us, so we don't need to waste time looking for her either. Pretty lucky. Thank the Beauty for her blessing."
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