Chapter 697: Kolobo

Lu Mi snapped out of his thoughts, glanced at Ludwig, whose emotions had stabilized, and said to Lu Jianuo, who was shrinking further into the corner of the bed:

"We're returning to Trier tomorrow. I'll get you a real psychologist."

This decision wasn't made to help Lu Jianuo—it had already been on the schedule. "007" was supposed to have sent feedback by dawn, and now Lu Mi, Fu Lan Ka, and the others would discuss how to handle "The Man in the Mirror," Moran Avini.

Moreover, Lu Mi planned to use this opportunity to find a safe place, draw out the power of Therimipolos, and gain the "Hunter of Fates"'s blessing.

His greatest gain from this "Dream Festival" was the substantial digestion of the "Harvester" elixir.

He had always known the Southern Continent was rife with conflict and combat opportunities, ideal for digesting the "Harvester" elixir—but he hadn't expected that within less than two weeks of his promotion, the elixir's digestion progress had skyrocketed like a mercury column in a thermometer after touching a living armpit.

"Harvesting" Father Cali, "harvesting" the dream projection of "Siso," and eliminating nearly twenty Cizhe equivalent to Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 had made Lu Mi deeply feel the fragility of life—it was like straw beneath a scythe, falling endlessly, swept away by the wind.

Also, after embodying the first four Sequences, Lu Mi felt the "Hunter" path had a pronounced tendency to bring calamity—and the "Harvester" was no exception.

With this embodiment, he believed the "Harvester"'s calamitous nature manifested more in delivering destruction.

At the same time, the destruction of enemies had granted Lu Mi abundant gains.

In a flash of thought, he distilled his first "Harvester" embodiment rule:

"Harvesting means causing the target's destruction, and your own harvest."

"Another three or four similar harvests, and I won't need to understand or practice any other embodiment rules to fully digest the 'Harvester' elixir—but such good fortune won't always come…" Lu Mi sighed silently.

It required gathering over ten Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 extraordinary individuals with clear flaws he could suppress, and no other interference.

Each condition was hard to meet—let alone all at once:

First, whether through elixirs or blessings, humans gained unique flaws based on their path and Sequence; they couldn't all be like the Gravekeepers in the "Dream Festival," dragged down by dream projections into explosive emotional and desire bombs—even if the Cizhe were deeply influenced by the Xieshen and had varying degrees of mental issues, it didn't guarantee extreme emotional or desire outbursts; some might merely have distorted personalities;

Second, Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 extraordinary individuals weren't abundant, especially the latter—they were the backbone of major factions; even those without factions could form their own teams, like pirate generals dominating regions—how easily could one gather ten or twenty of them?

Third, even if a major event satisfied the first two conditions, the common flaws of those extraordinary individuals might not be suppressible by Lu Mi or his magical items;

Finally, during combat, Sequence 5 extraordinary individuals, as the backbone of major factions, might attract the attention of corresponding Demigods.

A mystical event like the "Dream Festival"—with so many restrictions and natural flaws, yet perfectly suited to Lu Mi—might have occurred only once in nearly a thousand years across both continents.

Sigh… Lu Mi couldn't help but sigh again.

At this moment, Lu Jianuo, ecstatic at the news they'd return to Trier at dawn, hurriedly replied:

"Yes, yes!"

Once back in Trier, with the boss having more trusted companions, he wouldn't need to take care of Ludwig anymore!

Lu Mi thought for a moment, gazing at the curtain stained with crimson moonlight, and asked Lu Jianuo as if casually:

"Have you saved enough to buy the 'Harvesting Priest' elixir formula and its materials?"

Lu Jianuo paused, then said:

"No, I'm still short even for the elixir formula."

His current "savings" mostly came from Lu Mi—he had about fifteen thousand Fering, and he knew the normal price for a Sequence 7 elixir formula ranged from sixteen to twenty thousand Fering.

Lu Mi nodded thoughtfully:

"I'll keep an eye out for the 'Harvesting Priest' elixir formula and materials. If you're short on money, I'll cover it—consider it your share of the spoils from this expedition."

Lu Jianuo froze, then felt his eyes grow warm, his vision slightly blurred:

I didn't choose wrong!

My future truly lies beside the boss!

He asked, slightly uneasy:

"But this was a dream adventure—can the gains be brought into the real world?"

Lu Mi didn't answer with words; he simply pulled out the golden mask of "Siso" from "The Traveler's Satchel."

So it's really possible… some special items can? Lu Jianuo instantly relaxed.

Lu Mi turned to look at Ludwig, who seemed to have received his favorite toy, and nodded slightly:

"You can go back to sleep."

Ludwig, wearing a blue sleep cap, blinked and reached for his stomach.

Gurgling, gurgling—his intestines churned violently.

Lu Mi gave a self-deprecating smile and pulled out the portion of food Ludwig had eaten in the dream—almond and pistachio cream layer cake, liqueur chocolates, éclairs, and more.

Once Ludwig began "quietly" eating, Lu Mi returned to the room, summoned a ball of blazing white fire, spread out a sheet of paper, picked up his pen, and began writing a letter to the "Magician" lady.

This had higher priority than any other task.

As he wrote, Lu Mi remembered something:

I killed all the elders of the Gravekeepers—can the primitive tribe still launch an attack and purge the dead?

Or are some still alive in the real world, waiting to ambush Tizamo Village by dragging other dead bodies down with them?

Or will the dead depart through other means—like the fire that struck the Tewanako family?

…………

Tizamo Village, Police Headquarters, third floor.

Camu jolted awake, instinctively glancing at the opposite temporary bed—blankets overturned, Kolobo gone.

Am I still dreaming? Still in the "Dream Festival"? Camu carefully rolled over and sat up, hearing a "tik-tik-tik" sound near the door.

In the darkness, through the crimson moonlight seeping through the curtains, he saw Kolobo crouched there, curled up, trembling violently.

"What's wrong?" Camu whispered softly.

Kolobo trembled as he answered:

"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

The sky is falling? Camu chuckled. He looked at Kolobo:

"Could you have misinterpreted your premonition?"

How could the sky fall?

…………

Outside Tizamo Village, at the edge of the primal jungle.

Meslo, his face painted white with oil, slowly walked into the jungle.

The feeling of knowing death was inevitable yet unavoidable was terrible.

He regretted betraying the "Spiritual Sect," but he had no choice—he'd barely arrived in Tizamo Village when Tewanako secretly controlled him, turning him into a fallen watcher monitoring Cali and the village.

Later, though he learned Tewanako was dead, Tewanako's dream projection appeared in his dreams, telling him the matter wasn't over.

Meslo walked forward step by step, wanting to return to the jungle, become nourishment for some great tree, like his ancestors.

As he walked, he saw nearly twenty men emerge from the nearby barracks.

They seemed to have noticed something odd and were preparing to patrol the surroundings.

At that moment, Meslo felt the night suddenly brighten.

He instinctively looked up—and saw a massive, blazing rock plummeting from the sky, trailing a crimson flame.

In an instant, the burning rock filled Meslo's entire field of vision.

It struck the ground between the jungle's edge and the barracks.

BOOM!

The meteor's shockwave and flying dust rapidly filled the area, rising into the air, spreading, obscuring the crimson moon and the starlight.

BOOM!

Entire Tizamo Village shook as if struck by a violent earthquake—buildings swayed violently, windows shattered.

Several unstable houses collapsed quickly, burying their occupants.

Camu barely stabilized himself; once the buildings steadied, he rushed to the shattered window and looked outside.

He saw the "sky" was dark gray, so low it seemed within reach.

The sky really has fallen… Camu suddenly had that thought.

…………

Buriu Inn, second-floor suite.

Lu Mi held his letter and pen, amused as he watched the dust rising outside, feeling the distant "impact."

"That's direct…" he sincerely remarked.

A meteor just fell from the sky!

And judging from the current situation, most of the dead had likely been purged in this "disaster."

Lu Mi turned his body, glancing at the open door caused by the building's shaking, and saw Ludwig still focused on eating.

Not a single piece of food had fallen to the floor.

After sending Lu Jianuo out to aid the injured, Lu Mi returned to the room and continued writing.

When finished, he immediately set up the ritual and summoned the "Doll" messenger.

The "Doll" messenger had just stepped out of the swelling candle flame when she suddenly shrank back.

She slowly glanced left, then sharply right, confirmed there was no threat, tiptoed forward, and carefully approached Lu Mi's letter.

Lu Mi had never seen the "Doll" messenger behave like this—he watched, puzzled and amused, as she stole the folded letter like a thief, waved at him, and quickly retreated into the candle flame.

Lu Mi chuckled, shook his head, and stopped thinking about the "Doll" messenger's behavior.

At least it seemed harmless—and he still had many things to do.

Lu Mi stepped out of the bedroom, walked down the corridor, reached the first floor, grabbed the innkeeper who had woken up to check the situation, and asked directly:

"Which room is the lady who arrived tonight and her companion staying in?"

(End of Chapter)