Chapter 515

Wanli Fengdao and others, crammed into the marginal fighter jets, had originally worried that the battlefield's expanse was too vast and empty to find the "safe zone" the Skeleton Knight had mentioned.

Only when they drew near did they realize they'd overthought it.

Upon the undulating wasteland, a vibrant mist loomed—nearly a kilometer high, stretching countless kilometers to either side, like a wall blocking their path.

Gazing directly at the colored mist, all of them suddenly received a piece of information in their minds.

This place is called the 【Land of Sweet Dreams】, a special zone of the battlefield, where any form of mutual harm is forbidden, causing all visitors to fall into deep sleep and be woven personalized, exquisite illusions.

High-level transcenders each carry tools or skills to resist illusions, brainwashing, and mental control, so it was certain this information originated directly from the battlefield.

The Fungus King and his group leapt without hesitation from the submarine and sprinted toward the colored mist—they'd been assigned a mission to survive 48 hours and protect the Ice Pick from damage; a nap would do no harm and would conveniently help them kill time.

However.

Clang!

The seemingly gauze-thin mist revealed solid, tangible properties, blocking the advance of the otherworldly players.

A premonition settled upon every player's heart: the Land of Sweet Dreams could only be opened by native intelligent species of the battlefield.

"Let me handle it."

Li Cheng descended from the sky, clutching the Gray Rain brand pulse-shock micro-aircraft, rolled forward on the ground to dissipate momentum, then flipped open a metallic NFC card stamped with a stormcloud pattern and swiped it lightly against his wristwatch.

Whether in its pre-evolved form, the 【Holographic Bone Corridor】, or its evolved form, the 【Thermal Death Corridor】—both could alter their shape according to the user's intent.

Previously it was an armguard; now it was a wristwatch design.

As for the NFC card—well, it had no practical function; it was purely for moments when things weren't urgent, to swipe idly and produce a "sssh-kakka" sound effect, making one seem stylish.

The wristwatch glowed faintly, and a chaotic stormcloud emerged from within.

The entropy-devouring cloud, shaped like a cloud, is a Level-3 hazardous species of the battlefield; its passive skill absorbs information entropy in all forms from the surrounding environment.

Manifesting macroscopically, this means ink fades rapidly from books, hard drives erase stored data spontaneously, and human memories decay until dementia and death.

Unfortunately, the entropy-devouring cloud's absorption of information entropy is a passive ability, impossible to control precisely.

Otherwise, Gray Rain would've long since used this thing to batch-delete all her wrong answers on exams (like "main=6") and achieve a customized perfect score.

"Holy shit, entropy-devouring cloud!"

Bai Ma Mu Bei, well-traveled and knowledgeable, recognized the cloud's type, suddenly remembered something, and hastily pulled a stack of brand-new books from his backpack slot, holding them before his head to counter the entropy effect and reduce damage to his brain.

Wanli Fengdao's expression shifted several times; silently, he took out a long-preserved solid-state hard drive and held it before his forehead.

Lei Yesi remained calm, pulling from his backpack slot a thick stack of Harrisco Group's quarterly financial reports, shielding himself with them.

Claudia was unlucky—her only information-entropy-rich items were a few magic tomes compiled by seniors of the Monutong Alliance. But these books were expensive; each cost thousands of game currency, and damaging any would hurt deeply.

Seeing her agonize, Tombstone-sister stepped in generously and handed her a book.

"Thank you!"

Claudia exhaled in relief, looked at the book—and found it was *The Death and Life of Great American Cities*, on urban planning.

She looked up again: Bai Ma Mu Bei's head was topped with *The Wealth of Nations*, *Urban Science*, *The New Urban Crisis*, and other politically economic texts.

This…

Player backpack slots are limited; unless one possesses a massive storage device like Master Pi Fu's, who would carry so many idle books?

Moreover, the books looked conspicuously brand-new.

As if sensing Claudia's inner confusion, Bai Ma Mu Bei spoke with slight embarrassment: "Uh, quite a few Romanian compatriots have always wanted to push me into politics, to film campaign ads for my hometown council seat, so I bought these books to pretend to read them on camera, appearing erudite and profound."

"Actually, I've only read the title page."

That's honestly refreshing.

Bought a ton, pretending to be smart.

On the other side, blocked by the colored mist, the Fungus King and his group saw this and promptly pulled out newspapers, wrapping them around their heads.

Before the newspaper text was swiftly devoured by the entropy-devouring cloud, Li Cheng stole a glance—the headline read: *"Curfew Lifted in Bolan City, Serial Murder Suspect Appointed by the System Has Been Captured."*

*"Defense of Coldwind City Continues; Our Forces Repel the 20th Wave of Infernal Legion Assaults."*

Clearly, the world the Fungus King and his group came from was far from optimistic.

A thought flashed through Li Cheng's mind; he used his intent to guide the entropy-devouring cloud into the colored mist.

Hoo—

The mist parted, revealing a narrow path suitable for walking; the same non-verbal information surfaced directly in everyone's minds.

The entropy-devouring cloud's life force is too weak; using it to open the Land of Sweet Dreams permits only three non-native lifeforms to enter alongside it, once.

All players' expressions changed simultaneously—three slots, not even enough for human players, let alone the otherworldly ones like the Fungus King.

"Five-minute deadline reached."

Wanli Fengdao took a deep breath; once the Skeleton Knight stopped intervening, it meant—

Boom!!

Before the mechanical python appeared, a blinding beam thirty meters in diameter swept across from an extreme distance; everyone instantly executed tactical evasion, diving beneath the slope of the hill.

The hilltop, composed of rock and having withstood millions of years of wind and sand erosion, was hit by the plasma stream and instantly melted and collapsed; countless semi-glassified stones, carried by rolling heatwaves, tumbled down.

With no Immortality Field active now, if struck by that beam, you wouldn't even need to go to the hospital—just order a wreath instead.

After entering the colored mist, the beam vanished like a cow sinking into the sea, offering no feedback.

Lei Yesi shouted at the top of his lungs: "We must decide now! We must choose three people to enter the mist."

Three missions. Three teams. Three slots.

The simplest solution: one person from the Fungus King's side, one from Li Cheng's side, plus Wanli Fengdao—each carrying their mission item into the Land of Sweet Dreams.

All other players abandon their missions and return to the real world.

Then, whether the three drag out the time until the Alpha Python departs on its own, or exit the Land of Sweet Dreams from the other side of the mist, they can continue their missions.

Or… disregard chivalry, charge in now, and seize all three slots outright.

Players' thoughts churned wildly; in a flash of lightning, the astronaut—who had lain motionless like a vegetable throughout the entire match—slowly stood up.

Under the stunned gazes of Lei Yesi and the others, the astronaut staggered forward and pressed his palm against the surface of the colored mist.

The next instant, a sudden change occurred — the colored smoke churned and surged violently, swallowing everyone present whole.