Roland's emotions surged along with the words. He had wanted to scold her for risking her life, but seeing her relaxed smile, the words caught in his throat, and he didn't know what to say.
In the end, he could only pat her back. "Don't be so reckless next time."
Nightingale nodded first, then shook her head, her voice lowered so that only he could hear. "I'm not like Anna, who can turn those drawings into reality… All I can do for you is this." She paused for a moment before continuing, "But please rest assured, staying... by your side is the most important thing, and I won't easily put myself in danger."
The directness of her words caused her cheeks to flush slightly, and although she became ambiguous halfway through, Roland still heard it – the word "you."
After speaking, probably having exhausted all her courage, Nightingale darted out of his arms and disappeared into the mist.
It was hard to imagine that this woman, who clearly mustered her courage to say those words, could wield a firearm and explosives, and engage in a one-on-one duel with terrifying monsters in the ruins.
He couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion in his heart.
"Please continue to let me be in charge of your protection work in the future."
Nightingale's voice came from behind him. When she mentioned this, her tone immediately became much calmer, and for some reason, Roland felt a long-lost sense of peace.
Next were the usual hugs from the other witches.
However, what made him slightly uncomfortable was the gaze of the Taquila survivors.
Unlike the alliance members who were filled with laughter and cheers, they maintained basic order after landing, carrying black boxes across the pier under the leadership of a few people. But as they passed by Roland, their gazes were almost fixed on him, filled with a burning emotion, and the desire and eagerness made him shiver uncontrollably.
Roland knew the reason, of course. Pasha and the others had already told the God's Punishment Witches at the Snow Mountain front lines about the Dream World. The purpose of their return was not only to bring back some looted results, but also to transport the soul instrument to the Great Snow Mountain to complete the transfer of occupying the Devouring Worm.
The problem was, if it were all women's fiery eyes, he wouldn't care so much, but most of these God's Punishment Witches had male appearances – after all, the source of the bodies limited their choices, and possessing male God's Punishment Warriors was also a helpless move, but for Roland, the feeling was very different.
Even knowing that their souls were still female, being stared at by a group of tall and strong "men" would still instinctively make him feel repulsed, and if that gaze also carried an uncontrollable desire, the feeling was even worse.
Finally, after the welcome ended, Roland returned to the castle, and Nightingale appeared at his desk again, swinging her long legs.
"The thing about those empty shells being able to enter the Dream World... is it true?"
It seemed that the news had not only reached the Taquila survivors, but also the other witches.
"I was also very surprised at first," Roland shrugged. "As long as they lose consciousness within the range of the light pillar, they will appear in the Dream World – that light pillar is more of a transmission channel than a connection with the gods."
Nightingale pursed her lips and didn't answer, but her eyes became brighter and brighter, and her feet also rested on his knees. Obviously, in the absence of outsiders, she was much bolder.
"No way!" Roland immediately rejected. "I know what you're thinking, transforming yourself into a God's Punishment Witch and then entering the Dream World? I won't agree to that."
Unlike Anna, Nightingale was clearly prone to impulsiveness, which he had already learned, so after realizing her idea, he immediately stopped her. If he left her alone, she might really do it.
"But I..."
"There's no 'buts'," Roland said without hesitation. "Entering the Dream World is not the same as merging into my consciousness, nor does it mean you can exist forever. It's just a replica of a strange world, and it's still being eroded by unknown forces. Maybe one day it will cease to exist. And even if
I dream every day, it's only for one short night, what about the rest of the time? Are you planning to live with a body that will never feel anything?"
Nightingale lowered her head and remained silent for a while. "I just heard that they can go to places that only you have seen, and I feel it's too unfair."
Roland was amused by her indignant tone. "The price they paid is unimaginable. The days without feeling are even more terrible than an invisible cage. Even the Dream World is just a slight compensation. You don't need to envy them. And what about the 'staying... by your side is the most important thing' that you said?" He imitated her tone and said, "I don't want a God's Punishment Warrior with a full beard standing by my side all day."
Nightingale immediately turned her head away embarrassedly. "I, I know! I didn't say I had to possess an empty shell, you said it all yourself."
Roland smiled. "Want a cup of Chaos Drink?"
She immediately turned her head back. "Yes!"
Well, she's really easy to understand.
He took out a bag of fragrant dried fish from the drawer and placed it on the table, and then opened a bottle of new sky-blue flavored drink and filled a glass for Nightingale. "Thank you this time. I heard from Agatha that if you hadn't seriously injured that monster, everyone might have been in danger."
Nightingale drank the drink in one gulp, exhaled a long breath, picked up a piece of dried fish, and rubbed her nose. "What's there to thank? You're too polite."
"This isn't being polite," Roland shook his head. "If the Witch Union's exploration team had been wiped out, it would have been an irreparable loss to Neverwinter. So what you did is as important as what Anna did, just with different strengths. Understand?"
After hearing these words, Nightingale couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth, but as if she didn't want him to see through her little thoughts, she quickly used the action of chewing the dried fish to cover up her joyful expression. "Uh... right, you said before that the Dream World is being eroded by unknown forces, what's going on? Will you be in danger?"
Facing such a stiff way of changing the subject, Roland smiled inwardly, and without exposing her, he followed her question and continued, "It's a long story, but one thing is certain, no matter what the world becomes in the end, it won't affect the real me – as long as I don't want to dream, the light pillar won't appear."
As for the unknown forces, Garcia said that the Martial Artists Association would organize new members to understand the true nature of the world sooner or later. No matter what she was referring to, he had to see it to know.
Compared to the erosion, Roland was more concerned about the Arcane Textbook that suddenly had new content.