Ermu

Chapter 910: The Confusion of Dreams (Part Two)

"Here you go, two bowls of braised beef noodles!" The boss, beaming, placed the noodles on the table and wiped the surface with a towel—clearly, the visit of a martial artist made him quite proud, after all, Garcia was a star in the tenement building.

"Thanks, add an egg each," Roland said, taking out two pairs of chopsticks.

"You got it!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't invite a woman to have breakfast here," Garcia rolled her eyes. "No wonder you're still single."

This is slander! If it weren't for my sense of responsibility, those God's Punishment Witches would have already—

"Uh, Jie Luo still has to study later, I have to bring breakfast back, if it's too far..."

"I know, so this is the only time," Garcia interrupted him, skillfully breaking apart the disposable chopsticks and stirring the scallions and beef into the noodles, quickly turning the bowl of noodles into an enticing reddish-brown. She cooled the first bite slightly, not chewing slowly, but slurping it directly into her mouth, like endless ribbons, only making a soft "slurp" sound.

Just hearing the sound made Roland's appetite soar.

"What's that about?" he pouted. "Isn't that how you're supposed to eat it? I thought you weren't used to street food."

"That's your misconception," Garcia shrugged. "I've lived here for almost ten years, which shop haven't I eaten at? It's just that a clean and spacious shop is a courtesy to the guest, and I don't like being stared at all the time."

Roland realized that it was true, not only the other customers at the stall, but even passersby would glance in this direction—after all, Garcia's silver-gray hair and well-proportioned figure were quite eye-catching.

"That... was my oversight."

"So hurry up and get to the point," Garcia glared. "Why are you in such a hurry to find me? The Martial Artists Association won't help you do anything illegal."

This guy... why is his expression so wary? He just came back from headquarters yesterday, what illegal things could he do? Besides, is there anything more illegal than a hunting license?

Roland hesitated for a moment. "I want to see your master, can you help me make an appointment?"

"Huh?" She didn't react for a moment.

"Your master... Ms. Lan." He made up a reason on the spot. "I feel very guilty about the last time I missed the appointment and want to apologize to her in person."

Garcia sized him up as if she didn't recognize him, and finally waved her hand. "Oh? Now you know how important it is to get my master's recommendation? But save it, she won't see you again."

"Perhaps Ms. Lan doesn't dislike me as much as you think?"

"Are you still going to say that she kindly told you a lot of things at the New renda meeting?" Garcia said dismissively. "Don't delude yourself, missed opportunities don't come again, and Master will never pay more attention to someone who is not punctual, let alone meet them."

"Let's try calling first," Roland insisted.

"You..." Garcia seemed to realize something. "You don't really want to apologize to her, do you?"

"It would be even better if I could learn some martial arts training methods," he said with a serious face.

She twitched her lips, probably wanting him to completely give up this unrealistic idea, but in the end, she took out her phone.

"Right, what's your master's number?"

"It's useless even if I tell you, it's impossible to call headquarters without the Association's data card," Garcia made a shushing gesture. "Hello, yes, it's me..."

The call lasted less than three minutes before she hung up.

"I knew this would be the result."

"How did it go?"

"Of course she refused! And scolded me along the way," Garcia said unhappily. "Your image in her mind has been completely ruined, and her voice dropped at least one degree when she mentioned you."

How could this be? Roland couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. According to the attitude at the New renda meeting, Lan

Obviously didn't mind his missed appointment, and even seemed to value him a little. He originally thought that her secret words were the usage of training the power of nature to a high level, and it was understandable that Garcia didn't know, but now it seems, could it be that he really misheard at the time?

At first, he didn't insist on knowing the answer to the riddle, and even hesitated to enter the dream world, but now that he has encountered setbacks, he is unwilling to give up pursuing it.

"Alright," Roland took a sip of the soup. "Then when can we go to headquarters again?"

"When you solve an erosion event on your own and become an official martial artist—right now, you're just a beginner."

This condition was unexpectedly simple, Roland thought. But he remained calm on the surface and said, "I will look forward to that day. By the way, do you remember Ms. Lan's opening remarks when we first arrived underground?"

"What's wrong?"

"What did she mean by saying that the Battle of Divine Will is not far from us?"

"Well..." Garcia said somewhat helplessly. "My master really appreciates a book written half a century ago called *The Reason for Existence*, and she also recommended it to me. It makes a guess about the emergence and evolution of the Mind, calling it the choice of the gods—of course, this god is not a personified character, but a rule, or the purpose of the continuation of all things. But these things are too far away and have nothing to do with us. This book only circulates in the Martial Artists Association, so almost no one knows about it."

Hearing this, Roland's heart moved. Undoubtedly, this was another book he had never seen before—which meant that it came from the dream world's self-creation.

"Can I take a look?"

"It's at headquarters. I'll borrow it from the library when I go to report next month." Garcia gave him a strange look. "If I still remember it."

Seeing that she was becoming increasingly suspicious, Roland quickly finished his noodles and left the shop, using an excuse to leave first.

After ending the dream world the next day, he let out a long sigh.

If he didn't come into contact with the Martial Artists Association, everything in the dream seemed normal, but as long as it had something to do with them, strange things would emerge one after another.

Although this exploration was not very smooth, it was not entirely without gain. Moreover, the long-awaited God's Punishment Witches once again gained the experience of consciousness recovery. Seeing their joyful appearance, this trip was not in vain.

Roland was planning to take advantage of this break to open the dream world a few more times and speed up the time progression when Lightning flew into his tent with a swallow-tailed eagle.

"Your Majesty, there's an urgent encrypted letter for you," the little girl muttered. "It's from Neverwinter City."

Directly from the Western Region? This journey is not short, has something happened in Neverwinter City?

To save messenger resources, less urgent messages are sent to the Old King's City by ship, and then forwarded by Tassa and others, such as political reports and so on. The swallow-tailed eagle is the largest and most expensive type of animal messenger, its advantage being that it is at the top of the food chain, making it very safe. The disadvantage is that it takes up a considerable portion of the witch's control quota. Driving a bird of prey like this is about the same as driving three gray eagles and is quite strenuous for Honey.

Roland touched the listless animal messenger and untied the sealed ring from its foot. The moment he flattened the letter, he couldn't help but freeze.

The demons' army had appeared in the Barren Land ahead of schedule?