Almost instantly, the Herta puppet whose cheek was being pinched by Fu Zhu suddenly brandished a massive hammer and swung it down at him, but he caught it with lightning reflexes.
One hand still pinching Herta's cheek, the other blocking the descending hammer, Fu Zhu said with a grin, "See? This is the fastest way to get you to show up."
Herta looked up at Fu Zhu, her smile not reaching her eyes. "You little brat. First, you barge into my office, and now you're spreading rumors about me. Do you have any idea how severe the consequences will be?"
"I need your help, Herta."
Fu Zhu spared a glance at Herta's marker on the minimap.
[Herta (?)]
Clearly, the Herta before him wasn't real, just a fabrication within the dream. But that wasn't a problem.
The effect of this Dream of the Great One was to alter a person's memories and trap them in a dreamscape. Its purpose was undoubtedly to confine its target and prevent their escape. Therefore, any characters fabricated within this dream would have to be as close to the real thing as possible. Otherwise, if the trapped person noticed something was off, they could easily see through the illusion.
So, even if this Herta wasn't the one he knew, she was still the genius from the Genius Society.
"Help you? You little brat, are you kidding me? Or do you want me to help you reincarnate sooner?"
The arm Herta used to hold the hammer tensed, evidently still annoyed by Fu Zhu's earlier comment hitting a sore spot.
Fu Zhu sighed helplessly. He had no choice but to keep his grip on her while quickly explaining his current situation.
"Herta, my name is Fu Zhu. I'm one of the Nameless on the Astral Express. We know each other in reality. Later, when the Astral Express was on its way to Penacony to resolve the Stellaron disaster, we were unexpectedly ambushed by someone. I was thrown into this dream world, where my experiences are the complete opposite of reality. You are also a being fabricated by this dream."
"Do you think I'm as easy to fool as a three-year-old?"
"The brilliant, peerlessly beautiful Lady Herta, do you really think I would try to deceive you with such a clumsy lie?"
Herta's arm, holding the hammer, suddenly stopped straining. She frowned at Fu Zhu and then retracted her weapon. This gave Fu Zhu a chance to breathe a sigh of relief. If things didn't work out with Herta, he would have had to resort to other methods.
"Indeed," Herta stared at Fu Zhu's face, pondering. "It's not that I'm boasting, but no one would dare try to deceive me with such a clumsy story, not even a Fictional Historiographer. Although there's no evidence to prove what you're saying is true, you little brat, your 'daydream' has successfully piqued my curiosity. Go on, how much do you know about your current situation?"
Fu Zhu immediately told Herta everything he had encountered, including his two suspected culprits, The Company and The Family. He also made sure to tell her the name of the BUFF: Dream of the Great One.
After hearing everything, Herta decisively identified the enemy for him. "This is obvious. There's a traitor within The Family."
"Huh? Why?"
Herta rolled her eyes at Fu Zhu with a look of exasperation. "While I don't know what the real me or that Himeko on the Express are thinking, they didn't even tell you that [Harmony] devoured [Order]? The Dream of the Great One... heh, isn't the answer written right on the puzzle's surface?"
Only then did it belatedly dawn on Fu Zhu. This was what he got for not studying history!
If he had known that Harmony had consumed Order, he wouldn't have needed Herta; he could have figured it out himself.
However, hearing Herta complain about the real versions of herself and Himeko, Fu Zhu couldn't help but retort.
"Whether it's the dream you or the real you, do you think someone like you would have the leisure to give me a history lesson?"
Herta froze for a moment, then pouted.
"Indeed. My time is very precious."
"Then I won't disturb you any longer. Now that I know who the mastermind is, I don't have to worry about hitting the wrong person later."
After learning what he needed to know, Fu Zhu couldn't help but start cracking his knuckles. Since it was someone from The Family, it was obviously that guy, Sunday. The man had previously sent Mr. Gopelmu to drive him and Acheron away; there was no reason for him to suddenly turn over a new leaf after failing.
As for how to escape this dream, Fu Zhu had several methods. Whether it was using the unique higher-level narrative perspective of Observer Mode or simply dismantling the bed he had slept in to kill himself and respawn at his original spawn point, he could easily escape the dreamscape constructed by the Dream of the Great One.
Just as Fu Zhu was about to leave, Herta, from behind him, suddenly called out again.
"Hey, you little brat."
Fu Zhu turned back to look at her, confused. Herta crossed her arms and looked away. "One last thing for you. Why does life fall into slumber, and why does it awaken? You should know what to do, right?"
"Of course." Fu Zhu couldn't help but grin. "Since he wants people to indulge in sweet dreams, then I'll just have to bring everyone a nightmare. Thanks, Herta. It turns out you're just as smart in the dream as you are in reality."
"Hmph. If you want to thank someone, go thank the real me. I'm sure she'd be very happy to hear it."
"Of course."
---o---
After bidding farewell to Herta, Fu Zhu immediately switched to Observer Mode. Using its properties as a higher-level narrator, he quickly observed several dreamscapes of varying sizes. Aside from the largest one, there were several smaller dreamscapes nestled around it. The one he had just escaped from was one of them.
Fu Zhu drifted closer out of curiosity and discovered his sworn sister, Xing, inside one of the dreamscapes.
Evidently, that fellow Sunday didn't trust the Astral Express crew and had specially given them each their own personally customized dream.
Fu Zhu immediately plunged into Xing's dreamscape, intending to wake them up one by one before going to give that bastard Sunday a good thrashing.
Upon entering Xing's dream, the surrounding scenery instantly changed. He found himself in a two-bedroom apartment. Xing, wearing an oversized T-shirt, was sitting cross-legged on the sofa playing video games. Without even looking away from the game on the TV screen, she shouted towards the kitchen, "Butler! I want a snack!"
"Right away, my dear sister."
A voice that was extremely familiar to Fu Zhu came from the kitchen. He then saw another "him," dressed in a butler's uniform, walk out of the kitchen with a sweet dessert, a smile on his face. He knelt beside Xing and used a spoon to scoop up a small piece of cake, holding it to her lips.
And this other "him" spoke with an incredibly bubbly tone that was so sweet it could drown a person.
"Sister, come, open wide."
Fu Zhu felt a shiver run down his spine, even in Observer Mode. He then shot a "vicious" glare at Xing.
You've got some nerve, sis! I can't believe your dream is to make me your slave!