Zhuang Zhou dreamed he was a butterfly, and the butterfly dreamed it was Zhuang Zhou.
While in Yharnam, Goki was immersed in layer after layer of dreams from beginning to end, with the boundary between reality and illusion being particularly blurry.
But this, instead, gave him a deeper and clearer understanding of dreams and reality.
He could easily fall into a dream and wake himself up at will; this was a small trick he had developed during years of hunting.
When reality outside the dream showed even a slight reaction, he would quickly wake up.
"Kind Hunter, it's time to leave; someone is calling you."
In the Hunter's Dream, Goki, who was dozing on his soft mattress, was gently roused by a soft patting sound.
Although Goki's real-world mental energy would naturally recover in the Hunter's Dream, he still liked to sleep there for a while.
Opening his eyes, Goki saw the Nona Doll sitting quietly on a chair by the bed.
In the past, in the Hunter's Dream, the Nona Doll always stood at the intersection outside the room, waiting for Goki's return, but recently, she seemed to prefer staying by Goki's side.
"Nona Doll, hello, how long have I slept?"
Stretching, Goki sat up and habitually took the Nona Doll's hand.
Her skin was still as white and alluring as porcelain, but when touched, it was no longer just hard and cold, but warm and supple, like a normal girl's.
Goki didn't understand why these changes were happening to the Nona Doll.
However, to him, any unexplained settings could be attributed to the almighty but fragile Great Ones—
It must be a Great One's conspiracy!
"Not long, about three to four hours. I have been waiting for you here, kind Hunter."
The Nona Doll also felt the warmth from Goki's hand and showed a gentle smile.
"If you still wish to invite me to share your bed and hold you while you sleep again, kind Hunter, then please allow me to refuse in advance—Skadi Nona is naive, but I know many things."
Her gaze, like a sharp blade, pierced Goki's chest, making the Old Hunter, who had indeed intended to do just that, awkwardly avert his eyes.
"Don't say that, I just wanted to get closer to you, Nona Doll... It's just a bit unclear, I remember it wasn't like this before."
Rubbing his eyes, Goki sat up from his small bed. The Hunter's Dream that Goki was in truly lived up to the word "dream." Now, when he observed his surroundings, the clarity of the scene in his vision was at most 360P, so blurry it was unbearable.
One must know, in the past, this was 4K ultra-high definition!
However, when applied to the Nona Doll, it had a special kind of hazy beauty, as if it had been deliberately censored.
Ahem.
"The dream is a manifestation of your Soul Power, kind Hunter. This requires you to continue collecting blood echoes, which I will then fuse into your Soul."
Grabbing Goki's hand with her soft hands, the Nona Doll's palms glowed faintly, purifying a few drops of blood-colored radiance into a pale moonlight, which then merged into Goki's body.
"Reclaim your power, and then comprehend the new power of this world, kind Hunter."
Releasing Goki's hand, the Nona Doll looked out the window, past the small patch of bright flower sea, at the Chaos Void enveloped by pale moonlight.
When she first arrived in this world, there was nothing outside the small house, but now, the original land had begun to expand.
"By then, I will be able to become the person you desire, and this dream will gradually expand, even entering reality, and those noble Souls who willingly follow you..."
The Nona Doll did not finish her sentence, seemingly deliberately leaving a cliffhanger. Although the joint structures on her arms were gone, her movements were still somewhat stiff.
"In short, keep up the good work. I will await your success here, and I will also await the day we meet in reality."
A sweet smile played on her lips, and the Nona Doll's words instantly filled Goki with motivation.
Understood, without power, Goki needs more power!
As for whether his dream would "descend" into reality or "corrode" reality, Goki didn't care!
Thinking this, Goki gave the Nona Doll two thumbs up.
"No problem, just you wait! Wait for me, Nona Doll, when I bring you to the real world, I'll put the most beautiful wedding dress on you—no—a Phoenix crown!"
As an Old Hunter, Goki had long marked the Nona Doll as his prey.
Goki will always exclusively support the Nona Doll!
"Alright, alright, that's a very distant matter. Time's up, Hunter, I wish you a particularly smooth hunt tonight."
Her delicate body trembled slightly, and a hint of shyness was mixed in the Nona Doll's tone as she immediately began to usher Goki out.
"Hmm, then, see you tomorrow night?"
Goki then stood up, bowed gracefully to the Nona Doll, and his figure slowly transformed into light, disappearing from the dream.
"Oh, really... strange."
The Nona Doll raised her somewhat stiff arm and stroked her face.
Since leaving Yharnam, that strange feeling had emerged from within her, and it was growing stronger.
—
Goki opened his eyes and found that the light around him had dimmed. Through the rear window of the car, he could still see the stars in the sky.
"Hoo..."
And in front of Goki, the white-haired Little Orca was sound asleep, her moist lips slightly parted, blowing warm air onto Goki's cheek.
At some point, Skadi had turned Goki over and was holding him, who was a size larger than her, like a body pillow.
The two were so close that Goki only needed to slightly turn his eyes to see the deep trench beneath the collar of Skadi's red dress... Goki would always exclusively support Skadi!
—Exclusively supporting one is still exclusive support, and exclusively supporting a whole division is also exclusive support!
However, feeling his arms and legs slowly regenerating, Goki still decided to wake Skadi.
"Skadi, Skadi, wake up."
Although it was already dark outside, generally speaking, Kal'tsit would still continue driving, and at least the lights inside the car wouldn't be turned off.
But now, the entire carriage was pitch black, and the machine was no longer making any sound, clearly having entered a silent state.
"Mmm... yawn."
Stretching a little, the well-rested Little Orca finally opened her red eyes and saw the man so close to her.
"Mmm—Goki, you're awake too?"
However, Skadi merely nodded faintly at Goki, not feeling particularly shy. She had always thought that sleeping with Goki was a perfectly normal thing.
"Is there a situation?"
But then, the strange atmosphere around them also caught Skadi's attention, and she directly reached for the weapon box beside her.
"Yeah, probably. Let's ask Kal'tsit—you're here."
Goki finally broke free from the Orca's heavy, hydraulic-press-like loving embrace.
Turning his head, Goki saw Kal'tsit walking in from the front of the car.
Her eyes reflected a jade green light under the moonlight, Kal'tsit stood with her arms crossed, looking down at Goki lying on her bed, like a proud cat.
"Am I interrupting your alone time, Mr. Goki?"
The exposed black Originium on her shoulder also emitted a faint green glow in the night, indicating its radioactivity.
"No, no, three people are also fine, I mean—is there a situation?"
Injecting his thigh, Goki sat up from the bed, which smelled of Orca and Lynx, and smiled at Kal'tsit, while straightening the bones that Skadi had crushed one by one.
"We have arrived at the border between Iberia and Sargon, but it seems things are not as smooth as we imagined."
Watching Goki's somewhat terrifying recovery speed, Kal'tsit couldn't help but narrow her eyes, but still nodded and threw a black uniform to Skadi.
"Don't wear that eye-catching red dress, Nona Skadi, change your clothes."
Extending her hand, Kal'tsit pointed to a few bright bonfires in the distance.
There, was a small temporary camp constructed from a few dilapidated vehicles and white cloth tents.
"That's the snakehead's camp. Follow me—it's time to give you two new identities."
----------------------------------
I've already posted 30 new chapters on Patreon!
If you like the story and want to reaad more, please visit my patreon. Every support is very meaningful!
[patreon.com/Kazenova223]
Thank you very much!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"