Chapter 873 Return to the Manor <TOC> Chapter 875 Research into Lucid Dreaming
Next page password is bold portion: 8lf4distAb-
Translator: SumTLMan
The Demeter was far too valuable. Upon hearing the proposition, Leon immediately dismissed the idea of planting the Demeter in the mansion’s grounds.
“I don’t believe our Pat Manor possesses the capability to protect this Demeter. Currently, with both you and Lady Eureka present, perhaps there won’t be an issue. But you both will inevitably depart one day. Maybe, in the future, I might leave too,” Leon explained, “Hence, leaving such a precious Demeter at the manor could potentially lead to disaster.”
In other words, the very preciousness of the gem could cause its downfall.
Leon’s words were not without merit. After some thought, Angel proposed, “Then while I’m at the manor, we can temporarily keep it here. Once I leave, I can either take it with me or set up an illusion mechanism nearby. We can decide what to do when the time comes.”
In the end, Angel planted the Demeter.
However, once the Demeter took root deep within the earth, the only way to remove it would be to sever the trunk and roots, just as the Ashen Time Merchant Group had done. This would severely harm the Demeter.
Therefore, although Angel planted the Demeter, he did not plant it directly into the earth.
Instead, he crafted a piece of Cloud Soil. The Phantom Island could float in mid-air due to this Cloud Soil, a product formed from a special material reacting with “Cloud Mist.”
Crafting Cloud Soil was not difficult. By following the appropriate ingredient ratios and methodically crafting it, even non-alchemists could create it.
By noon of that day, Angel had crafted a prototype of the Cloud Soil.
The prototype was just a bowl. Angel flew outside of Grud Town and sought out a fertile piece of earth to fill the bowl.
Soon, this five-meter-squared miniaturized Cloud Island was floating above the manor. Angel set up an illusion around the Cloud Island so that it resembled a mist during the day and was automatically concealed at night, preventing ordinary people from discovering it.
Next came the planting of the Demeter.
Originally, the Demeter was weeping sorrowfully, but as soon as it touched the soil, it’s incredibly beautiful face finally broke into a smile.
Even its slightly grey feathers, now nourished by the fertile earth, became immaculate. Paired with the smile, it genuinely looked like the “Goddess of Spring.”
Leon watched this scene, completely flabbergasted. This fantastical and stunning plant completely overturned his understanding and imagination.
However, an even more astonishing scene unfolded the next second.
Once the Demeter regained its smile, the stump began to sprout new buds. Along with the appearance of these buds, a rejuvenating aura of nature started to gently radiate outwards.
Currently, the area covered by the Demeter’s natural aura wasn’t large, but it happened to encompass the core position of the manor.
Leon had personally witnessed the Milk Fruit Tree that Angel initially brought back. It was expanding at a pace discernible to the naked eye. The flowers surrounding the tree became even more radiant and alluring.
Moreover, in the tea plantation, where the Kulakuka tribe resided, their miniature fruit trees and crops started to sprout and bear fruit under the aura of the Demeter. Within a short period, the landscape of the Kulakuka tribal land had transformed significantly.
Additionally, Leon could distinctly feel that his breath became smoother, and even the surrounding temperature seemed to be more comfortable.
“The Demeter is currently in the stage of recovery. In a short time, its stump will regrow into a large tree, and its natural aura can cover the entire Grud Town, including the mountains and fields. You don’t have to worry about the food problem for the refugees. As long as they don’t slack off, they won’t starve,” Angel told Leon, who was still in a daze.
“Is this just the most elementary transformation?” Looking at the changes before his eyes, Leon sighed deeply, “If it weren’t for the fear of being coveted, I really wish it could stay in the manor forever…”
Shaking his head, Leon rode the airship with Angel and flew down from the Micro-Island.
“I used to think that the Wizarding World might be fascinating, but I never had a concept until today when I saw the Demeter,” Leon said with emotion, “I now somewhat look forward to embarking on the wizard’s journey as soon as possible.”
Currently, only Angel, Leon, and Eureka knew about the appearance of the Demeter. However, the changes in the entire manor were observable to all. Although the servants were puzzled, they generally guessed that it was due to some extraordinary means. After all, this development was beneficial for the manor, and everyone was pleased to see it. In fact, that evening, a grand banquet was organized for the Kulakuka tribespeople.
However, when the manor was filled with lively music and dance, Angel quietly left Grud Town.
Half an hour later, under the cover of night, he arrived in Watford.
This city, which he had yearned for in his childhood, was now peaceful, at least there were no longer scenes of starving people outside the city. The situation within the city was relatively stable, and even though it was late at night, many shops still had their lights on.
Angel didn’t stop in the bustling city area but went directly to a remote western district where there was a prison known as Black Sand. This was the largest prison in all of Watford.
This prison housed a large number of criminals, mainly those sentenced to death. Angel came here intending to use these convicts to provide data for his experiments.
As for how to save Jon, Angel had no other methods for the time being. Therefore, he decided to make Freud’s suggestion as the research direction.
If successful, this could serve as a contingency, even if Jon’s body couldn’t be saved, as long as a shred of mental spark survived, transforming into a resident of the Dream Realm, that would still be a satisfactory choice.
However, Freud’s proposal is but a conjecture. The specifics would still need to be tested one by one by Angel.
First and foremost, what he needed to experiment with was: if one dies in their sleep, could the world of dreams truly preserve the perfect memory, consciousness, and logical thinking?
In essence, this was an experiment using living humans as subjects, and Angel, naturally, couldn’t possibly use innocent mortals as samples. After much thought, he arrived at the prison housing death row inmates. Although Angel himself held no opinion on others choosing between good and evil, given the choice between the two, he was less fond of those who chose evil.
Regarding this experiment, even if Freud said it had been confirmed, it still concerned Jon and Angel couldn’t help but remain vigilant, still needing experimental data for verification.
Moreover, there are several types of dreams, light sleep, deep sleep, lucid dreams… Different dream situations would have different responses.
For instance, many people in reality dream without realizing they are in a dream, and their dream scenarios are chaotic and bizarre, devoid of logic. If such a person’s physical body were to perish, even if they transformed into a creature of the Dream Realm, could they return to the fluent logical thinking they possessed in reality?
Angel harbored his doubts.
Nevertheless, before conducting such an experiment, Angel first needed to confirm: if the physical body dies during a dream, does the dream still exist?
After infiltrating the Black Sand Prison, Angel set up a misty illusion in the area confining the serious offenders at the bottom of the prison, and thus began his experiment.
He chose a death row inmate, opened the Dream Bridge, and entered their dream.
The inmate was having a nightmare, ceaselessly being chased and hunted by a group of female ghosts, each of them clamoring for him to pay with his life. Among these female ghosts, there were even children less than ten years old, completely naked and full of filth.
“Just as expected, a deserving wretch,” Angel muttered inwardly.
Since Angel was in a dream state, to kill someone, he would need to employ other methods or collaborate with others.
Angel chose to use illusion magic to control another serious offender in the prison to be the executioner.
However, the first experiment ended in failure.
Because when the death row inmate died, the intense physical pain woke him up instantly. Once he woke, the dream naturally couldn’t continue.
Angel contemplated for a moment: it seems even in killing, the method must be changed, at the very least, the subject shouldn’t feel any pain.
Before the second experiment, Angel used the Nightmare Illusion Spell to block a prisoner’s sense of pain, and only then did he proceed with the experiment.
This experiment proved to be quite successful, the convict died imperceptibly. In his dream, he was still engaged in all kinds of joyous activities, blissfully unaware that his physical body had already perished.
However, the Dream Bridge too, devoid of a host due to the convict’s demise, vanished not long after.
Once Angel exited his dream, the Dream Bridge also disappeared in tandem.
Confronting the corpse of the convict, he was no longer able to access the Dream Bridge, implying… whatever transpires within this person’s dream, he will forever remain oblivious.
After all, the world of dreams is so vast, and the dreams each person dreams are distinct, independent from the Dream Realm. Every person’s dream is akin to the numerous subsidiary worlds within the Wizarding World; without finding an entrance, one would remain wholly unaware of the myriad of such worlds existing within the Wizarding World.
Seeking this particular convict within the colossal world of dreams is essentially an impossibility.
As for how to address the issue of pinpointing a landing point within the Dream Realm, and how to guide the landing, that would be the focus of the next phase of experimentation. At present, Angel need not concern himself with this, albeit he still feels a tinge of impatience.
In the following time, Angel continued his tests.
He required a plethora of experimental subjects, which needed to encompass various types of dreams. Moreover, the cognitive logic that different individuals retained within their dreams was also a critical aspect to record.
During this recording period, a few minor incidents occurred.
Angel discovered that seven of the convicts were unjustly accused and had become scapegoats. For these innocent individuals, Angel did not lay a finger on them. Instead, upon his departure, he marked these individuals’ information on the jailer’s penal code.
Not long after Angel departed from the Black Sand Prison, the entire prison was thrown into chaos. However, the subsequent events were no longer of any concern to Angel.
This night, the data he gathered was relatively ample. The only regrettable aspect was that all the dreamers found it extremely challenging to maintain a complete consciousness within their dreams, implying that none of them were experiencing lucid dreams.
As a result, he was unable to ascertain one thing: if one were to have a lucid dream, could the integrity of consciousness be preserved within the dream upon the physical body’s death?
Only if this could be confirmed, could it be validated whether Jon could survive within the Dream Realm.
After all, only with a complete consciousness, emotions, and cognitive logic can one be considered a human being.
Otherwise, even if one were to exist within the Dream Realm, this “Jon” would not be the Jon they knew.
Chapter 873 Return to the Manor <TOC> Chapter 875 Research into Lucid Dreaming