Though these huts built on the prairie didn't resemble tents as Kevin had imagined, they shared the hallmarks of nomadic life: They were constructed with tough wooden planks as the frame, forming a roughly cylindrical structure. The spaces between the planks were filled with flexible straw mats and a fabric so textured it was almost invisible. The roofs were thick straw, topped with heavy stones, and the walls were reinforced with rounded mounds of burnt-hard earth. The overall appearance of the huts was rustic yet sturdy. Each cylindrical hut was less than ten meters in diameter and all looked similar. About a dozen of these huts were scattered sparsely within a fenced area, forming a primitive "village."
Kevin was eager to learn about the human civilization of this dream plane, so he didn't carefully observe anything in the village's open space. Instead, he pushed open the nearest door. With a clanking sound, the door, woven from vines and tough grass... was yanked down by him. "It doesn't look like they left recently..." Kevin stared in astonishment at the rotting doorframe. The door hinged to the frame with ropes, but the once-sturdy ropes had long since rotted away, snapping with a single push. It seemed the wolves' sense of time was truly imperfect; the herders here might have been gone for who knows how long.
"I hope this house doesn't collapse suddenly," Kevin muttered, cautiously entering the herder's hut. The data terminal floated beside him, emitting a steady, dim glow that barely served as a flashlight, allowing Kevin to clearly see everything inside.
As expected, the house was empty. The former owner had departed with a measured and calm demeanor, leaving all the original belongings clean and clear. The hut's floor was bare dirt. Kevin spotted fabric in the corners, its material no longer discernible. It must have been carpeted or matted. Metal hooks could be seen on each of the curved wooden planks, likely used to hang weapons or household tools. In the lower center of the hut, a dark, sunken pit was visible, likely the hearth.
Aside from that, there were no other traces of the past.
Kevin was somewhat disappointed. There didn't seem to be any valuable relics left here, not even a sheepskin.
But the hut's existence did suggest something: human civilization existed in the Dream Plane, and it was likely quite advanced. They possessed metalworking (seemingly the metal hooks left on the walls), building techniques, and the ability to survive in the wolves-infested grasslands. The Dream Plane was definitely not a desolate and bizarre place filled only with wild beasts and monsters. Although Raven 12345 had previously told Kevin this, witnessing it with his own eyes brought home its true significance. "Do you know anything about the dream plane?" Kevin looked at the data terminal dangling beside him. "Hey, stop shaking! Can you steady the light a little?"
"Go back and study the manual carefully! You've never used this device properly! It's a high-tech auxiliary device, not a flashlight, not a brick, not a meteor hammer, and certainly not a pet for you to play with!" The data terminal was seething with resentment, but it still answered Kevin's question. "This device doesn't have much pre-installed information. As a standard device for examiners, it only comes pre-installed with the necessary modules. However, it can retrieve some information from the local cosmic channel... Search completed. Characteristics of the dream plane: authenticity, vastness, linear development, self-consistency, and influence on the real world. Do you need an explanation?"
"Explain it, and I'll listen," Kevin said as he wandered the cabin, searching for any possible clues. "Authenticity: The Dream Plane possesses unequivocal authenticity. It is a real world with valid, operational rules. Although distorted, everything within it has an internal logic. Nothing in this dimension is an illusion. Expansion: For various reasons, research on the Dream Plane has never truly begun. However, judging from a few rough spatial sensing results, the Dream Plane's size is very likely comparable to the real world. Its vastness is worth anticipating. If this Universe Management God decides to embark on a major exploration of the Dream Plane, the Inquisitors will have their hands full. Linear Development: The Dream Plane is a space of development and change. Although it is strange, the things within it do change linearly. Here, history changes and all things evolve. All current situations have linear cause and effect. Therefore, nothing here is inexplicable or without reason. This entry is newly added, and its authenticity remains to be verified. Self-consistency: Everything in the Dream Plane is self-consistent, which is also a manifestation of its authenticity. The influence it has on the real world... This entry is nonsense, and I don't think it needs explanation." Kevin listened, half-forgetting the rest, picking up what he could understand and then, suddenly, his attention was drawn to a flash of light in the corner of the house.
He walked over quickly and found a small, half-buried piece of metal in the dirt.
The moment he saw it, Kevin felt a shiver in his heart, a sense of familiarity spreading from deep within him. When he dug it out, he was truly stunned:
It was a diamond-shaped piece of metal, no bigger than a palm, partially rusted, and made of what appeared to be iron. The most striking feature was the hieroglyphic patterns. Kevin stared at them for a long time, finally confirming that he had seen them before. It was the piece of metal he and Vivian had found while rummaging through the junk in the basement!
"Oh my god..." Kevin muttered to himself in astonishment, "Why would I have this in my house..."
He hadn't finished his words when a strange howl suddenly erupted from outside. "Whoosh!" A series of gusts of wind, rising and falling, suddenly erupted from all directions, as if orchestrated. Then, the house shook and rattled. Kevin looked up in shock, and in that instant, he saw the entire roof blown off!
The straw roof, supported by heavy stones, vanished in an instant, and the bright starlight and moonlight bathed the entire hut. Before Kevin could react, he saw the wall before him violently sway, then be completely uprooted from the ground!
The word "hurricane" flashed through Kevin's mind, but before he could react, he felt his feet lighten, and he was lifted into the sky along with the entire hut!
His enhanced body had given Kevin immense strength and sturdiness, but it didn't allow him to stand still like a pine tree or a mountain. A strange hurricane suddenly swept up from the grassland, instantly carrying the unfortunate child to an unknown height of several meters. Before he knew it, he had already been twisting and turning in the air for over thirty times. Spinning frantically, Kevin kept bumping into various objects swept high into the sky, feeling dizzy and disoriented. But he soon realized that the object he collided with most often wasn't the wind-ripped hut fragments, but a palm-sized chunk of glowing metal. He flew into a rage: "Data terminal! You're here for revenge, aren't you?!"
The data terminal circled and rammed Kevin's head, explaining earnestly: "This machine truly can't control its direction. This hurricane is so terrifying..."
"You're terrifying! You've hit me in the face against the wind four... five times!" Kevin was furious, but he managed to stay focused. "What the hell is going on? How did a tornado suddenly hit us in such a clear day?"
"How did this machine know? The 12345 officer messed with our natural disaster warning function! We switched to a trial version of the extreme weather radar, and the trial period just expired last night. If you have any ideas, write a complaint to the higher-ups!"
"You..." Kevin had barely managed two words of an angry curse when his vision suddenly went dark. A feeling of weightlessness washed over Kevin, followed by a thud. Kevin felt himself fall onto the hard ground. He opened his eyes and saw his familiar bedroom, bright sunlight bathing him.
When he woke up, the awakening time he had set before entering the dream plane had arrived.
Kevin was still reeling from the palpitations of being swept high into the sky by the tornado. Entering the dream plane was indeed a testament to his heart. He gasped for a long time before finally bringing his heartbeat back to normal. Then, he felt something prickling under his butt.
He touched it casually, and a diamond-shaped piece of metal caught his eye.