Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

Chapter 261 Walter: Send!

Back to the present, Walter and Mei are walking in the Audi shopping mall.

"Even after such a horrific tragedy, this beautiful dream continues to operate smoothly."

Looking at the bustling scene of people coming and going at the Audi shopping center, Walter made this remark.

"Apart from the Tongxie family, it's hard to imagine any other force in the universe that could maintain such a massive structure."

"The family itself is a huge and perfect building, like... a living statue. Each family member sees himself as a piece of the divine body, faithfully performing his or her duties under His command, around the one core and the common ideal. He dedicates himself and is in turn nourished by Him."

"A very interesting analogy, perhaps this is the reason why Pinocchio's dream has endured."

"But the human body has its time, and so does the divine body."

"This doesn't sound like a comment from a sea patrolmen."

"Simply pointing out the facts, Mr. Walter certainly understands the situation better than I do. The dream is crumbling, but not because of any particular star god, faction, or visitor."

Its collapse was a certain human inevitability, a fact the family was unwilling to acknowledge, yet which inadvertently became a catalyst… When people allow their spirits to indulge in a dream without cost, without pain, only comfort and pleasure, they draw ever closer to necrosis. No matter what kind of world they believe they live in, death is an unchangeable end.

Furthermore, this necrosis spreads and proliferates; the mutation of one puzzle piece can eventually cause the entire building to shake, break apart, and collapse.

"In the end, the beautiful dream that people build for freedom will turn into a cage that imprisons themselves. But these words are not your style. Can you tell me where you heard these words, Mei?"

Welt turned to look at Mei, and Mei turned back to look at Welt. In the end, the two of them couldn't help but burst out laughing at the same time.

"I didn't expect Mr. Walter to see through it."

"To be honest, your acting skills at the beginning really fooled me, to the point that I actually thought you were your counterpart. It was only during our time together that I discovered some details related to you, which confirmed that it really was you."

"for example?"

"For example, when you give a speech, you still subconsciously look to the lower right of your field of vision. This is a habit you developed when you first became a teacher."

After all, you weren't used to attending classes without books back then. Before each class, you would always put your summarized slides on the right side of your desk so you could glance at them whenever you forgot something.

"anything else?"

"You have a habit of walking a step behind others because Kiana and Bronya were always bickering on the road back in St. Freya Academy. If you didn't give them some space, they would unconsciously affect you. Also, being behind them allowed you to experience the hardships of daily life. Of course, there are many other details. Do you need me to point them out to you one by one?"

"Haha, no need," Mei laughed. "Should I say this, he truly lives up to his reputation as Mr. Walter?"

"So you came here to support Kiana and the others?"

“No, that’s not it.” Mei shook her head and denied it. “I was sent here by Him during Kiana and the others’ second mission. Someone else came to support us this time.”

"Who is it that came this time?" Walter asked curiously.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Qiao has already been handed over to Dr. Einstein and Coralie for care by Dr. Tesla, and he is now a student under Dr. Einstein," Mei replied, seemingly unrelated to the question.

"?"

Walter first looked at Mei with a puzzled expression, then he understood the deeper meaning in Mei's words.

As everyone knows, the "Little Joe" that Mei mentioned is actually Joefly Joyce Young, whose true identity is the young clone of the first Herrscher of Reason, Welt Joyce.

He was found shortly after the Great Collapse in Cocolia's secret research facility and was adopted by Walter and Tesla.

With his talent, he was certainly more than qualified to be Einstein's student, but he shouldn't have been limited to being Einstein's student. After all, his adoptive mother, Frederica Nikola Tesla, was also a scientist of equal renown to Einstein. Given Tesla's level of care for Joe, she certainly wouldn't have only had her friend Einstein as Joe's mentor.

Well, actually, she doesn't usually care about Xiao Qiao much; on the contrary, she often needs Xiao Qiao's care.

But at the very least, she would be Joe's second mentor, unless something happened to prevent Tesla from continuing to teach Joe, which is why she entrusted him to Einstein and Coralie for care. Could it be...?

At this moment, Walter fell silent, because he thought of a possibility, and only this possibility could explain why Tesla would specifically entrust Joe to Einstein's care.

The thought of this possibility sent chills down Walter's spine, filling him with fear and helplessness.

"Mei, you don't mean she's the one who came to support Kiana this time, do you?"

Mei didn't say anything, but looked at Walter with sympathy.

His eyes seemed to say, "Mr. Walter, may you have good luck."

In this way, Walter was able to confirm who had been teleported here.

“Of course it’s not just her, there are also those from the previous civilization who came this time,” Mei said. “They should be working on something together right now and can’t spare the time. During this time, Mr. Riwalt, you still have time to think about how to face her later.”

Wattel let out a slow sigh of relief and said, "I understand. I'll explain it to her properly when the time comes. But when that time comes, Mei, I hope you can take Hoshi and the others away from her. You know her temper. I don't want those two kids to go astray."

Going astray? Just the two of them?

Mei looked at Welt with a twitching at the corner of her mouth, her silent rebuttal leaving Welt momentarily speechless.

After all, Xing's words and actions are sometimes too unusual, and March 7 next to her is not much better. No matter what Xing does, she can give the most accurate criticism.

Now it seems that the only difference between March 7th and the Star is that March 7th has a sense of shame that the Star lacks. Walter looked up at the sky, and the turbulent emotions in his heart could not calm him down for a long time.

After calming down, Walter began to ask Mei about the source of the information.

"In fact, just as you guessed, Mr. Walter, the Miss Huangquan who called herself the Sea Patrol Knight is indeed my counterpart. What I said was all told to me by her about her experiences in Pinocene."

“So that’s how it is.” Walter pushed up his slightly drooping glasses and said, “Then where is Miss Huang Quan now? And why are you telling me all this on her behalf?”

"Is Walter ready? Ready to know the whole truth?"

Welt turned to look at Mei, who had already changed back into the armor she wore as the Herrscher of Origin.

Now that Welt has seen through Mei's true identity, she no longer needs to hide anything from him.

"Do you know the truth about all of this?"

"Ah."

Mei nodded, then walked forward and looked up at the night sky during the Golden Hour. As the most bustling time of midnight, the night sky during the Golden Hour was naturally bustling and beautiful.

"So what is the truth behind all of this?"

"Let me be blunt, Mr. Walter. Everything you've experienced so far was just a dream, a dream that was manipulated."

"?"

"What are you talking about? Aren't we in a dream right now?"

“No, I think Mr. Walter knows what I mean, but you just don’t want to admit it right now. After all, his power is capable of doing anything in this dream world that he controls, including manipulating a person’s consciousness.”

"So what exactly happened?"

"The Dream of Taiyi".

Mei spoke slowly, and then, with Mei's explanation, Welt understood what the Dream of Taiichi was and what the truth was.

"To put it simply, Mr. Walter, in reality, your Star Train just went to Pinocchio as you did in the dream, and you encountered the same things at the front desk as in the dream. Everything is developing exactly as it is now, and you are forced to participate in the investigation of this series of murders. In the process of the investigation, you gradually learn the truth about the whole incident."

In the end, you fought against the mastermind behind everything, but unfortunately you failed, and you were all trapped in a dream called the Dream of Taiyi.

The so-called "Dream of the One" is actually the result of the mastermind orchestrating several Amber Ages in Pinocene. Through the power of the stellar core, the lingering memories of Asterna were infiltrated into the material world, causing dreams and reality to merge. Finally, through the power of harmony, the desires of all beings in Pinocene were unified, causing the entire Asterna system to truly fall into the Dream of the One. Ultimately, the will of countless people in the Asterna system was used to make oneself indestructible.

"By the time we arrived, it was already too late. The Dream of Taiyi had already formed, and outsiders with weak wills would instantly fall into it, becoming nourishment for its consolidation. If it weren't for Kiana's protection, we probably would have unknowingly fallen into their trap as well."

"In other words, the real culprit behind all this is someone from within the family? After all, only a family that organizes the Harmonious Music Festival has the ability to use the power of Harmonious Music."

"Yes, the real culprit behind this is indeed a member of the family. However, when we came in, due to Kiana's bet with him, or rather, His mission, we could only tell you the truth in this indirect way."

"So that's how it is. Then what about this series of murders? Were they also orchestrated by the family?"

"This wasn't the family's doing. That Memory Realm Memento isn't actually some kind of evil beast; rather, it's... a mode of transportation?"

"What's going on?"

"As for the specifics, I think we should meet up with Kiana and the others first."

"That makes sense. There's no rush. So, what should we do next?"

"Heading to Chaolu Mansion."

"Is this also something I originally experienced?"

“Yes.” Mei nodded. “In the past, Mr. Walter first conducted an investigation at the Golden Hour and eventually revealed some of his past experiences. It was because of this that Mr. Walter completely lowered his guard against Miss Yomi. After that, you went to the Asahi Mansion to investigate because you believed that the family might be hiding extremely important information.”

"I see. Now that you mention it, my guess was indeed correct. Could you tell me what your plan is?"

“Okay.” Mei began to explain, “As I just said, because of His mission and the bet with the mastermind, we can’t act casually. Kiana can’t act directly until the outcome is decided. So we devised the following plan.”

First, we will actively interfere with your dreams by entering the Dream of Taiyi to shake your consciousness, thus giving you a chance to awaken. Meanwhile, Miss Huangquan will accumulate power during this period, cooperating with Dr. Tesla and his team's research to completely shatter the Dream of Taiyi from within.

"So what role does our Star Train play in all of this?"

"The protagonist, without a doubt. The success of our plan depends on whether you people on the Starry Sky Train can realize the truth of the matter. Now Walter has realized that we are still missing Himeko, March 7, Hoshi, and Danheng."

"Wait? Danheng? Shouldn't he be inside the train? Why is he also trapped in the dream of Taiyi?"

Mei asked with a smile, "Mr. Walter, do you think Danheng is the kind of coward who would abandon his companions and run away alone?"

"So, Danheng got off the train later because he noticed something was wrong? How did he notice it?"

"This is probably because Danheng encountered a real sea patrol knight."

"A real sea patrol knight? That makes sense. With Miss Huang Quan's completely undisguised manner, she would definitely attract the sea patrol knight herself. I've already seen this in the group chat. And I remember her purpose was to return the belongings of a certain knight?"

"Yes, speaking of which, that late Sea Ranger was also connected to the Star Train."

"Connected to the Star Train? Could it be that the wandering knight was once the Nameless One?"

"Yes, his name is Tiernan. He is also one of the three people that Mr. Walter and you were asked by the train conductor to find."

"Tirnan, Mikhail, and Lazarina—these three disembarked at Pinocchio, which was then a prison planet, and were never heard from again. It's unbelievable that so many years later, one of them became a member of the Sea Patrol, and has already passed away..."

"Do you need me to tell you the story of Tirnan?"

"You know about this too?"

"I don't know much, after all, it was Miss Huang Quan who met Tirnan. I also learned his story from Miss Huang Quan, so I can't guarantee it's completely true."

"Okay, consider it a reply to Pam. You can also tell us the story of that Miss Huang Quan. She was so mysterious in the group chat before, not saying anything. To be honest, I was quite... curious."

"Let's talk as we walk."

So the two of them went to the Morning Dew Mansion together, ready to embark on their second experience.