Chapter 444: Dreams (1/2)

Hot hot flames and darkness. Billy didn’t like it. Billy tried to get away, but it kept following wherever he went. But suddenly the hot darkness was gone, and Billy saw he was on the mountain again.

“You were having a nightmare,” the statue said.

“Billy told you, Billy won’t listen to you, Statue-man!” Billy snorted with disdain as he glared at the twenty-meter statue. “Trying to trick Billy that Billy is not human!”

The statue-man loudly groaned in response. Did he finally realize that Billy was too smart to be tricked?

“Remember, I only told you that you have Titanic blood due to your ancestry? It has simply awoken in you, pushing your mundane human bloodline aside,” statue-man said, using a soft voice like a woman. ”You are a descendant of mine, remember how I awakened your bloodline transformation?”

“Keep trying to trick Billy with big words,” Billy muttered as he started to turn over rocks and rip up bushes.

“…What are you doing now?” the statue finally said after some silence.

“Billy is looking for a way out. You think you can trap Billy here? Billy is a genius, Alien-man said so himself. Billy will find the door,” Billy muttered as he started digging a hole.

“Look- Listen. I am not trapping you, remember? I simply created this world so that I can guide you in your dreams. Isn’t it working? Aren’t you stronger after waking up?” the voice said with a sigh.

“Stupid statue, everyone feels better after a good night’s sleep. Mama always says so,” Billy snorted as shot another despising glare at the huge Statue looking like a human.

The statue was a bit annoying, even if it looked almost as handsome as Billy himself. Statue-man had big muscles like Billy, and he held a really big hammer that looked good for thwonkin’.

But Statue-man was always trying to trick Billy, so Billy had tried to break it. But the stone was very hard, even Billy couldn't thwonk it to make it go quiet. Billy did manage to drag it away once, but the next night it was right back. But Billy would one day find a way to thwonk it for good.

The trouble was that Billy always forgot about this stupid mountain and Statue-man when waking up. Statue-man said that it was to protect him from enemy forces, but Billy believed that it was just so that Thea wouldn't help Billy figure out a way to thwonk him. Thea was almost as smart as Billy, and she had a lot of books.

Billy bet that at least one book could tell him how to make a statue shut up, mama always said that books had all kinds of smart things written down.

“Lord, help this child,” Statue-man groaned.

“Billy is an adult,” Billy muttered in response.

“Never mind,” the statue sighed. “What happened to you? You have pretty serious wounds. I can only help so much through this dreamscape.”

“Are you peeping at billy? Mama said that peeping toms get no dessert,” Billy said with a scowl.

”We are connected through our bloodline, I can tell without peeping,” Statue-man said.

Billy hesitated for a bit, but he eventually decided to tell Statue-man what happened. Statue-man was a bit stupid and a liar, but he had helped Billy a few times with getting better at thwonkin'.

“Bad guys are attacking Billy’s friend’s town while he is away. Billy came to help. Their boats had a lot of fire,” Billy muttered before his face lit up with glee. “But Billy thwonked one of their boats and now the zombies and lizardmen are fish poop.”

“Good! A real man is true to his brethren, and ruthless to his enemies,” Statue-man roared. ”But your enemies are pretty strong. Why don't you draw the Array I imparted to you and I'll-”

”Billy won't fall for your tricks!” Billy cut off Statue-man ”Billy knows that Statue-Man wants to use the drawing to escape Billy's dreams!”

“Ai, this child’s bloodline might actually be too pure for his own good. The other Emperors would laugh if they heard how hard it was to get a disciple.”

“What did you find out?” Adriel asked as he gazed down at the ocean waves.

“It was Thea Marshall and Thwonkin’ Billy,” the ghost answered with a hollow voice. “They managed to sink one of the advance vessels before being forced to retreat by the Bishop. They were both wounded in the conflict and will likely not be able to fight for a week or two.”

Adriel nodded with satisfaction. Those two weren't a real threat to his plans, but they had been a constant annoyance for a few months now, like two flies who refused to go away. It was good to hear that they finally had been brought to justice, and he knew that Krisko would perform a rite of thanks to the Founders upon hearing the news.

Besides, it was good news for another reason. Neither the Super-Brother-Man nor the two incursion leaders who chose to join his banner had participated in any of the raids that tried to impede their progress. The human champion was truly held up somehow, perhaps even sent off-world by the Ruthless Heavens.

If they hadn't captured a couple of the living to gain access to their Ladder, Adriel would have thought that the man was wounded after enduring the tribulation. But he was clearly still at level 75, proving he hadn't taken that step just yet.

“Our soldiers?” Adriel asked.

“Less than 5% survived from the vessel,” the scout reported. “There are extremely bloodthirsty beasts in the waters, some of them seem to be controlled by the powerful contracted cephalopod.”

“What about the arrays on the ship?” Adriel asked, cutting to the heart of the matter.

“We managed to recover them,” the ghost nodded.

“Good,” Adriel sighed with relief.

Losing a few hundred Revenants born on a world with such abundant Origin Dao was regrettable. These were among the first to awaken, and they would no doubt have become strong subordinates. But the mission could still be considered a win as long as they managed to plant the arrays.