[When Stelle opened her eyes again, she found herself still inside the hotel guest room.]
[The few differences were perhaps the teapot floating on the table, the glaring red light outside the door… and a very eerie-looking oil painting on the sofa.]
[Additionally, she noticed a note on the table. It was advice regarding the Watchmaker: There are impossible things even in dreams. Find them, and you shall have an audience.]
["Over here. Can you see me? Please come this way."]
[Suddenly, Misha's voice came from the oil painting beside her. Stelle reached out and touched the painting following his voice. Sure enough, she easily passed through it and arrived at a dim corridor. Memetic matter floated all around, looking dreamy and unreal.]
[Misha explained that because the Dreamscape Hotel in the dream was under maintenance, they could currently only reach [The Golden Hour] through this corridor. It was one of Penacony's twelve dreamscapes, where everyone could enjoy endless revelry.]
[But time in the dream did not stop; it remained consistent with reality.]
[After Misha finished his introduction, Stelle handed him the note she had picked up in the hotel. He guessed it was trash left behind by the previous guest and that he hadn't cleaned it up properly.]
[Following Misha's guidance, when Stelle passed through the oil painting at the end of the corridor, she suddenly stepped into empty air.]
[Cold air instantly filled her lungs. Before her eyes was Penacony's dizzying full panorama — skyscrapers flashing with gilded light in the night, neon tubes spelling out flowing advertisements, and gilded airships slowly crossing the skyline. Jazz music drifted up from an open-air café into the high sky, mixing with the ringing bells of speeding vehicles on the streets.]
[Her body flipped in the air. She suddenly saw her own falling reflection in a glass curtain wall.]
["Uwaaaaah—"]
[Stelle was flailing desperately trying to struggle, but the next second—]
["Bang!"]
[The ground instantly kicked up rolling clouds of dust. Onlookers gathered with cries of alarm and saw Stelle lying inside with a peaceful expression on her face.]
——
Naruto.
Inside a dark cave, water droplets seeping from the rock walls dripped down, creating hollow echoes.
Uchiha Madara sat cross-legged on a protruding rock, his Rinnegan fixed on the Celestial Screen. The flashing neon of Penacony seemed to ignite long-dormant ambition in his eyes, making his entire body tremble unconsciously.
"Obito, do you see it? This is the true peace we have been seeking." Madara's voice was low, yet carried a faint, almost imperceptible heat. "An eternal paradise without war, without death, without pain. As expected, such a world can only exist in dreams."
Obito leaned against the rock wall. With his mask removed, half of his withered face was exposed. He saw people on the Celestial Screen raising wine glasses and dancing by fountains, and children with fluffy balls on their heads chasing and playing — although he acknowledged Madara's ideals and had been practicing them, only when the ideal world truly appeared before him did he realize how shocking it all was.
"In dreams…" Obito's voice was hoarsely unlike his own. "Can Rin… come back to life?"
The corners of Madara's mouth curved slightly upward. "Of course. In the world of dreams, everyone can obtain the happiness they desire. Here… there will never be Hashirama's false peace."
Thinking of Hashirama's almost childish ideals, Madara couldn't help but laugh. It was a pity Hashirama couldn't see Penacony. Otherwise, would his laughable ideal waver somewhat?
"For now, there are still the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails… That day will come soon."
——
[Stelle rubbed her head and climbed up from the ground. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Robin looking at her with concern: "Stelle! Are you okay?"]
["Is this heaven…"]
["It seems this guest is not yet used to the transition from reality to the dream. Don't worry, this kind of weightlessness is very common among travelers entering the dream for the first time." Sunday looked toward his sister: "Robin, could you help our friend better adapt to this beautiful dream?"]
["Mm, leave it to me."]
[Robin nodded slightly to her brother, then turned her clear green eyes toward Stelle. She smiled, and ripples appeared in her lake-green eyes. A huge vortex then rose from the depths of the pool.]
[Stelle felt her vision dimming and her body beginning to dissolve, merging with the fluid. They resonated, vibrated, and mixed at a calming frequency. Stelle felt her heart beating, leading a concerto.]
["It's okay. Relax, it will pass soon."]
[The melody gradually slowed and weakened, like a lullaby. A seven-colored illusion gently stroked Stelle's head, closing her eyes with soft, loving movements. Stelle unconsciously fell into a deep sleep.]
[When Stelle opened her eyes again, everything she had just experienced was compressed into an instant. Her thoughts could no longer capture it, but her body was full of energy because of that brief slumber — this vitality was simply unprecedented.]
——
Marvel Universe.
"What kind of ability is this? Is it some kind of magic that calms people? Or does this girl have some kind of superpower?"
Tony Stark held his mug and shifted his gaze away from the Celestial Screen: "Friday, extract the footage of the seven-colored light surrounding Stelle just now and do a spectral analysis comparison." He tapped the rim of the cup. "It feels somewhat familiar…"
The holographic screen immediately began spectral analysis. She pulled up a close-up of Robin soothing Stelle along with the audio recording. The seven-colored halo was broken down into seven layers of wave curves. "This frequency band has a 99.6% similarity to the frequency band surrounding the Aeon of [Harmony], Xipe, when He appears in the Simulated Universe."
Tony's coffee cup paused in mid-air: "Wait, you mean Robin is using the power of an Aeon? Could she be an Emanator?"
"Correction, Boss." Friday suddenly pulled up footage of the cosmic locust plague from the Simulated Universe. "Aesons are the concentrated embodiment of Path energy and also its dominators. There is a 44.6% probability that Robin's ability is a manifestation of a [Harmony] Pathstrider's power."
"What about the remaining 55.4%?" Tony asked.
"There is only a 0.16% probability that Robin is an Emanator of [Harmony]. There is a 25.24% probability it may be a special ability of Robin's race, and a 30% probability it comes from the inheritance of the [Harmony] Family."
Tony pondered: "So, what exactly is [Harmony]? Can it be analyzed from previous intelligence?"
"Currently lacking key intelligence, Boss. However, based on Stelle's physical experience just now and the descriptions in the Simulated Universe, we can reach a rather vague conclusion."
"What conclusion?"