After entering the nightmare state, Wen Wen felt out of place.
It was an uncomfortable sensation, like a fish out of water, a strange weakness occupying his body. However, this discomfort only lasted a moment before disappearing, as Wen Wen possessed more than just the nightmare constitution.
Yet, what he had just experienced was likely what Meng Lan was currently enduring.
Keeping her in such an environment for an extended period might cause her harm, leading to a continuous decline in strength, or even death.
Having finally captured a nightmare, Wen Wen couldn't let Meng Lan perish like this. After a moment of thought, he relayed a command to Huo Zu.
From now on, a jailer was to be assigned daily to sleep in Meng Lan's room, to provide nourishment and allow Meng Lan to rest and feed.
As long as the nightmare harbored no malicious intent, feeding once would only result in a few days of shock. With the number of jailers within the containment facility, it was easy to sustain Meng Lan.
Subsequently, Wen Wen emerged from the facility and checked the sky. It was already past midnight.
He had spent a considerable amount of time within the dream, yet in reality, not much time had passed. The temporal flow within dreams was significantly slower than in the real world.
The reason he emerged was to test the nightmare's abilities.
Wen Wen captured the nightmare to leverage its power, allowing him to infiltrate the victims' dreams and identify the mastermind behind the sleeping incidents.
This mastermind was likely a Cataclysm-level powerhouse, so Wen Wen needed to familiarize himself with his abilities beforehand.
He scouted the vicinity and casually selected a plump man who was sleeping most soundly. Standing by his bed, Wen Wen entered his dream.
The sensation of entering a dream was peculiar, akin to squeezing into a confined, warm, and soft space. After advancing a distance, it suddenly opened up.
This fat man's dream was a school, where a sports meet was underway. The fat man was participating in various events and excelled in each one.
"Dreams can directly reflect a person's thoughts and desires. This fat man likely always wished to participate in the school sports meet, but due to his physical condition, he couldn't engage in anything."
Wen Wen found a corner and began testing the nightmare's abilities. First, he could sense some dreams connected to this fat man; it would only take him two seconds to traverse to another dream.
Secondly, through this fat man, he could enter deeper dreams. Wen Wen could access profound dreams, subconscious dreams, and even more profound levels of dreaming.
However, the deeper the dream, the more eerie and sinister it appeared, with danger lurking everywhere.
As a nightmare, Wen Wen could torment the fat man, feed on his fear to gain strength, and arbitrarily manipulate the dream, achieving various illogical effects.
Furthermore, during combat, nightmares did not need to adhere to certain rules of the real world.
They could burn people with water, knock people unconscious with blade edges, their attacks would not be blocked, and they could grow two hearts…
The feeling was marvelous. Wen Wen spent over an hour before finally becoming accustomed to the sensations of being a nightmare.
Once fully acclimated, Wen Wen intended to leave the dream. However, upon turning, he noticed that the fat man was no longer dreaming of the sports meet but was instead immersed in a rather intriguing competition.
There was a woman with an icy demeanor, and a sign in front of her read: 'A Bride Chooses Her Husband by Wit.'
The rule was that whoever could fill the room with a single item would become the beauty's husband.
It was likely that this beauty was the fat man's dream lover. As for her expression… she probably always wore that expression towards the fat man in reality.
Wen Wen offered a few seconds of silent sympathy for the fat man, then his face revealed a mischievous expression.
Competing with the fat man for the beauty were a few minor characters, including a fitness coach, a business elite, and a handsome middle-aged man. They were likely the fat man's rivals.
The fitness coach tried to fill the room with sandbags, but after moving less than half, he collapsed from exhaustion. The business elite used roses, but as there were gaps between the flowers, he failed. The handsome uncle used 'love' to fill the room, but in reality, it was nothing, so he also failed.
Wen Wen shook his head, "Even in a dream, you should make your opponents a little stronger, you idiot…"
Finally, the fat man stepped up, with a confident smile. He covered the room's windows with cloth, then turned on the room's lights, filling it with light.
According to the simple narrative of this dream, the fat man was supposed to win the beauty's hand next.
Indeed, the fat man had already opened his arms and was walking towards the frosty beauty.
However, at this moment, Wen Wen stepped forward, "Wait, I haven't competed yet!"
The fat man was taken aback. He didn't perceive anything amiss, only a sense of confusion, unable to recall when he had acquired such a rival.
Wen Wen said to the beauty, "I will fill this room with art."
He walked into the room, took out ten gas canisters, and opened them all, filling the room with the pungent smell of gas. Sudan Novel Network.
The other NPCs didn't notice anything unusual, but the fat man was sweating profusely. He didn't realize he was dreaming and was therefore extremely frightened.
Red smoke floated out from the fat man's body and entered Wen Wen's mouth.
Wen Wen smacked his lips, "The taste is alright. No wonder those nightmares are like starving ghosts. Still, I prefer the delicacies of the real world."
He took out a match and said menacingly to the fat man, "Art is explosion!"
He struck the match, igniting all the gas in the room. With a mighty explosion, the house was blasted into the sky, all the NPCs torn to shreds. The fat man felt a piercing pain and then suddenly woke up.
He sat up in bed, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and then let out a sigh of relief.
"It was just a dream. It scared me to death."
This was the normal reaction of someone who had been attacked by a nightmare. For the next two days, he would be listless, but he wouldn't remember exactly what happened in the dream, only that it was terrifying.
The fat man wanted to drink some water to calm his nerves. He turned his head and saw Wen Wen sitting by his bedside, his face contorted into a ferocious smile, the exact same expression as when he struck the match!
"Ah… ah… Aba aba." The fat man rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.
Wen Wen scratched his head. The scope of the previous dream was too small. The gas bomb had collapsed the entire dream, causing Wen Wen to be ejected from it, which was why he happened to startle this fat man.
He reached for his toes, rummaged in his spatial ring, and took out a wad of cash, placing it on the fat man's desk.
Then, he found a piece of paper and wrote on it: "I startled you. This is compensation. Also, if you have someone you fancy, pursue her. You only fantasized about winning the beauty's hand, and now she's being taken by someone else."