Chapter 1566 Alley Song <TOC> Chapter 1568 Monster in the Mist
Translator: SumTLMan
Angel’s sudden outburst caused everyone to stop in their tracks, turning their heads with puzzled looks.
At that moment, Freud stepped forward and pointed at the man who had caught Angel’s eye, saying, “You stay. Everyone else, leave.”
Once the others had left, only a man of roughly thirty years of age remained in the room, aside from Angel and his associates.
The man looked rather unremarkable but emanated an aura of astuteness and competence.
He seemed unaware of what had piqued their interest, his expression revealing obvious unease.
“What have you discovered, Lord?” Freud asked Angel in a low voice. Sanders also looked over curiously, assessing the man and finding nothing particularly unique about him.
Angel shook his head, “I haven’t discovered anything specific, but he does look somewhat familiar.”
After scrutinizing the man for a moment, Freud seemed to recall something: “I remember now. He’s the one who boldly obstructed your path when you last visited Azure Tower.”
Upon hearing this, Angel also remembered. During his previous visit to Azure Tower, a minor incident had occurred. A staff member had suddenly stopped him, kneeling on the ground and muttering, “You are the master of the New World, right? I beg for your forgiveness…”
Since it was just a minor incident, Angel had not given it much thought. But now, upon comparison, he realized that the man who had blocked his way back then was indeed the man standing before them.
Freud continued, “Because of his strong work capabilities, I disciplined him and later reassigned him to a new position as an investigator for the Abnormal Affairs Team.”
“His name is Lietz, and the report today was submitted by him…” Freud trailed off mid-sentence, a hint of confusion clouding his eyes.
“What’s the matter?” Angel inquired, noticing Freud’s sudden silence.
At this moment, a memory flashed through Freud’s mind; it was the scene shortly after he had used the Scroll of Luck.
At that time, he was still wondering if the Scroll of Luck had failed to take effect. He then noticed that both Angel and Sanders were staring intently at the —Abnormal Affairs Team Investigation Report— on the table. Lowering his gaze, Freud realized that his sleeve had grazed the report, causing the pages to flip.
Eventually, the report landed on a page about an unusual event——titled —Alley Song—.
Freud remembered that the first thing he noticed wasn’t the content of —Alley Song—, but rather a line of very inconspicuous text — the name of the person who submitted that particular report.
In an almost murmured tone, Freud whispered to himself: “What first caught my eye was not the content of the report, but the name… Yes, it’s the name — the name is the key!”
Lifting his head, Freud stared directly at the man before him and raised his voice: “The name I noticed was his: Lietz.”
Freud’s statement was terse, leaving Lietz confused. However, Angel and Sanders understood what he was trying to convey——
It was very likely that the ripple effect triggered by using the Scroll of Luck was not about the report itself, but about the person who submitted it: Lietz!
Could it mean that Lietz was somehow connected to the stray power?
Although Angel understood Freud’s point, careful observation did not reveal anything special about Lietz. No matter how you looked at it, Lietz seemed like an ordinary person.
Moreover, Lietz had always lived in Initial Heart City, where his social circle overlapped with others. How could he have come into contact with this stray power?
Angel was somewhat puzzled.
Freud himself couldn’t articulate clearly: “I don’t know, but when I realized that the first thing I noticed was Lietz’s name, I had a feeling. The report is not the focus — the focus is him.”
Freud had a hunch that perhaps the scattered Dream Power was related to Lietz.
However, he found this intuition laughable himself. How could Lietz possibly come into contact with such dispersed Dream Power?
Just when Freud was feeling his thoughts muddled, Sanders suddenly suggested, “Is it possible that the Scroll of Luck wasn’t actually referring to Lietz, but because Lietz was the only option at that moment? Could it be that someone around Lietz had encountered this stray Dream Power, leading the Scroll of Luck to flag his name for your attention?”
Freud pondered for a moment, “When you put it like that, it does seem plausible. But who around Lietz could possibly be exposed to this dissipated Dream Power?”
Originally, Freud planned to question Lietz further, but at that moment Angel suddenly interjected, “It’s highly likely that it’s his brother.”
Freud was taken aback but quickly nodded in agreement, “Indeed, it could very well be his brother!”
Sanders looked puzzled at Freud and Angel. “Who is this brother of Lietz?”
Angel offered Sanders a simple explanation.
Initially, Lietz had stopped Angel to plead for his brother’s forgiveness.
While Lietz herself had no bad record and was both diligent and talented — a good catch in general — his brother was not so decent. He had a chauvinistic view toward women and was particularly unhappy about Marilyn, a woman, becoming the ruler of Initial Heart City. He had been spreading distasteful rumors about her.
Marilyn could have ignored Lietz’s comments, but being a newly appointed ruler, she had heard many dissenting voices. However, none were as brazen as Lietz’s brother. To nip any future troubles in the bud, Marilyn decided to make an example out of him — thus, he became the proverbial “chicken killed to scare the monkeys.”
Consequently, Marilyn asked Freud to mete out punishment to Lietz’s brother.
After consideration, Freud agreed.
However, upon catching wind of this, the cowardly fellow fled before Marilyn could apprehend him.
Ventured beyond the city walls, and has yet to return.
Freud suggested whether they should bring Lietz’s brother back. Angel, upon hearing this story, didn’t agree.
Outside Initial Heart City lies an endless wilderness. Even if you escape there, you won’t find freedom. In Angel’s view, it’s the land beyond the city that is the real prison.
Beyond the city lies nothing but a monotonous landscape and endless loneliness day after day. This type of exile is a terrifying punishment in itself.
Upon hearing this, Sanders understood both Angel’s and Freud’s points. Lietz’s brother, exiled in the boundless wilderness, may indeed come into contact with stray powers, even more so than Lietz in Initial Heart City.
The eyes of Sanders and Freud turned towards Angel. Since it’s possible that Lietz’s brother may encounter stray powers, naturally, the next step is to find him. And currently, the only person who can locate him in that vast wasteland is Angel.
“I’ll go find him,” Angel quickly nodded. Now that there’s a clue, he won’t let it slip away.
Just as Angel was preparing to enter the godly perspective through the aura of the Nightmare Plane, Lietz, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, “Noble lords, are you looking for my brother?”
Freud nodded.
Treading carefully, Lietz said, “My brother may be somewhat fanatical in his speech, but he has never truly harmed anyone or committed any evil deeds. If you find him, could you forgive him? Or could I take his punishment in his place?”
Angel glanced at Lietz without responding, choosing instead to enter the godly perspective. Utilizing the power of the Wilderness of Dreams, he began to search for traces of Lietz’s brother in the boundless wilds.
Freud responded impassively, “Never committed any evil deeds? Words alone can wound, and at times, they can be more painful than physical abuse. So, asking for forgiveness with such a plea is out of the question.”
Certainly, if Lietz’s younger brother could genuinely help them pinpoint the stray Dream Power, there might be an opportunity for leniency. At that time, the matter would be weighed according to a balance of merits and demerits; since the faults would inevitably outweigh the contributions, an appropriate punishment would be meted out to Lietz’s younger brother in the end.
Lietz wanted to say something more, but Freud waved him away, gesturing for him to leave for now.
Roughly an hour later, Angel opened his eyes. Under the watchful gaze of Freud and Sanders, Angel’s brows furrowed tightly, and after a lengthy pause, he said, “I’ve located him, but something about the situation feels odd.”
“Odd?” Freud and Sanders were puzzled by Angel’s vague statement.
“It’s hard to describe the situation there. I’ll take you both to see for yourselves,” Angel offered.
As the words hung in the air, the trio exchanged glances and simultaneously exited the Wilderness of Dreams. When they re-entered, Angel altered the settings of the Gate of Dreams, placing Freud and Sanders’ entry point kilometers away from Initial Heart City, in a remote wilderness.
Upon reentering the Wilderness of Dreams, Freud found he was no longer in Azure Tower. Instead, he stood amid an endless expanse of open land. A cursory glance revealed an infinite wilderness with nothing else in sight.
“Is this where Lietz’s younger brother is?” Freud looked around curiously, searching for the young man.
However, Freud didn’t spot Lietz’s younger brother. Instead, his attention was drawn to a swathe of black mist.
Appearing at the edge of his vision, the black mist was constantly roiling, as if some creature within it was stirring.
The area covered by the dark mist was roughly a square kilometer — not particularly large, but the edges of the mist were ceaselessly churning, slowly but surely spreading outward.
At this moment, Sanders and Angel appeared one after the other beside Freud.
“What’s the situation with that black mist?” Freud inquired.
Angel pondered for a moment: “I’m not entirely sure what the black mist is specifically, but I have a feeling it might be some manifestation of dispersed Dream Power.”
The black mist is related to dispersed Dream Power? Both Sanders and Freud were somewhat surprised. Dream Power is an abstract conceptual law, and the black mist clearly isn’t Dream Power itself, but it could very well be a product born under the Laws of Dream Power!
But what kind of Dream Power would create this black mist? And what is the purpose of this black mist? These were questions that weighed heavily on their minds.
“Where is Lietz’s younger brother now?”
Angel pointed to the distant black mist: “He’s in there.”
Chapter 1566 Alley Song <TOC> Chapter 1568 Monster in the Mist