Chapter 765: The Sky Has Cleared Up
Lin Sanjiu's heart went pit-a-pat when she heard a clicking noise from the two white barrels. She hastily asked, "Hold on a second! What do you mean by the ultimate form?"
"I suggest you drop the thought. There is no way you can save yourself this time."
Standing in the center of the pile of rubble, Mayor Orlean glanced at her through the corner of his eyes, his cheeks high and ruddy. Just as Lin Sanjiu thought he wasn't going to go on anymore, Mayor Orlean opened his mouth, a triumphant smile flashing on his face. "You know what? I guess you are right. Perhaps I should leave you a bit more time to spend with your arms and legs intact. After all, I am the benevolent Mayor Orlean."
Ironically enough, Lin Sanjiu and Yu Yuan were the only ones he could really talk to in Peanut Town. His plan was about to succeed, and it would be too sad if there was no one for him to share his victorious moment with.
"Perhaps for you, this is merely a pocket dimension inside of a dream." He licked his teeth and his voice shook, "But let me tell you something—you are too naive. You can't see the whole picture. When our dreams crashed together, it became the foundation for something that was bigger and greater."
"Foundation for what?" Lin Sanjiu quickly followed up with another question when Mayor Orlean was taking a break from talking. "You feed those citizens as if they are pigs. What can you gain from that?"
Mayor Orlean did not answer her question immediately. He had to take a few breathers before he could speak again. "Although those citizens have no hearts, they could be used as an energy supply for the black mountain. I can't explain the whole thing more specifically to you, but the fatter they become, the more energy they could provide to the black mountain."
Mayor Orlean turned entirely to Lin Sanjiu, grinning wide like a Cheshire Cat.
"When they do their daily reports, the black mountain absorbs the energy through their foreheads. Since they were pretty thin and malnourished in the beginning, the energy absorbed was far too less. However, things have changed now. Do you have any idea how hard I worked and how many orders I had to give to get what I have today? The energy I receive is growing exponentially everyday. I don't think you guys can understand what it's like to have such a vast amount of energy in your hands."
His gulped heavily, his cheeks turning fiery red.
"Then?" Lin Sanjiu pressed on.
While she diverted Mayor Orlean's attention, Yu Yuan silently inched himself back and reached out for the rubble underneath him.
"Then? After I've gathered up all the energy, the next step is to allot a very, very small portion of the energy to create everything they need to stay alive." Mayor Orlean paused for a second before continuing. "I guess you've seen it already. I can materialize whatever is in my mind. However, the function of the energy is not only used to feed some hoofed mammals."
Since Yu Yuan had lost his left arm, he could only rely on his stomach muscles to nudge himself sideways. As Lin Sanjiu continued to keep Mayor Orlean distracted, he successfully moved away from the rubble.
Lin Sanjiu did not look at Yu Yuan, as Mayor Orlean was looking at her right now. In order to buy Yu Yuan more time, she kept asking more questions to Mayor Orlean, "Besides that, what can it do?"
"The energy is shared amongst the black mountain and me. The more energy, the bigger the black mountain becomes and the stronger I will be," Mayor Orlean said, champing his fleshy lips.
There was a manic light in his eyes, and Lin Sanjiu did not have a good feeling about it. "Very soon, this town will become me and the black mountain's personal power supply. By then, nothing will get in our way of connecting to more people's dreams. Can you see it now? My storyline is to conquer everybody's dream and become the king of the Reverie Libretto!"
By degrees, his voice was gaining strength. And by the time he shouted out the last word of his sentence, it became so loud that it sprang off the ceiling and spread over the corridor like a large gong being struck. It was also at this moment that he aimed the white barrel in his hand at Yu Yuan. A black bullet shot out of the barrel and shattered the piece of rubble that flew at him into smithereens.
Lin Sanjiu did not take cover but instead threw herself into the blast. Just as she crouched down and rummaged for her rifle, Mayor Orlean's angry shout pierced through the air, "Did you really think that I wouldn't see what you did there?"
His cheeks were livid, his lips quivering. "Let me tell you, I am not white gloves. I am the real supreme will of—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Sanjiu got her rifle. She pulled it out and cocked it. However, she did not get a chance to pull the trigger, as she saw that Mayor Orlean had aimed his weapon at her. Even though she did not know what kind of weapon it was, the power it displayed earlier on was enough to make her shudder. She made a quick decision and threw herself on the floor. At the same time, a gunshot rang out and black shadow flew towards her.
A sharp squeal tore through the air above her and lodged into the wall behind her, destroying it in the process and raising up a massive dust cloud. Lin Sanjiu knew that she had to keep moving right now, and as she rolled across the floor, another bullet came and shot right through the floor, yet again giving rise to another storm of dust. She really wondered what kind of weapon it was, as a single one of its bullets was all it took to tear down the entire corridor.
The dust that floated about blocked her line of sight. Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes, but she could only barely make out the outline of Mayor Orlean. He did not make any move and just stood there with his weapon raised.
"Are you mad?" Lin Sanjiu shouted while she reloaded her rifle. "What can you possibly achieve by becoming the king? This is just a dream. You can't stay in your dream forever! Your body in the real world will not be able to hold out that long!"
The dust drifted around her and dyed everything in her vision yellow. She could barely see through anything. Before she could say the next thing in her mind, her sixth sense kicked in. She leaped back, and the second her feet left the floor, a bullet skewered through the veil of dust and rammed into her previous hiding spot.
Her lungs were filled with dust. She fought back the urge to cough and leaned her back against the wall. Utilizing the few moments she had, she began to take stock of the situation. It seemed to her that something was holding the mayor back, for he had not been aiming at her just now. Otherwise, with his destructive weapon, there was no way she could come out unscathed.
"Maybe not now, but who can say that for sure in the future?"
Mayor Orlean let out a boisterous burst of laughter, and Lin Sanjiu could hear the madness in his voice. "Once I'm able to absorb energy straight from a posthuman to feed myself, then not only will those heartless dummies out there be mine, but even you posthumans will also become my property!"
Lin Sanjiu now hid behind the wall of an office. She angled her rifle up, but she could not see her target due to the dust. Besides, Mayor Orlean was talking so loudly that there were many echoes ricocheting about in the corridor to the point that she could not locate his exact location.
"Eventually, all posthumans who'll enter the Reverie Libretto will become my possessions, my energy, my power supply. The black mountain has always told me that once I become the king of the Reverie Libretto, I could even gain the ability to walk between the dream world and reality. I can drag all of the twelve worlds into my dream and make them mine!"
Perhaps his words were too stunning, for neither of them moved.
"This is by far the greatest ambition ever achieved in the Reverie Libretto, and I will get a reward that none of you could ever imagine… No, no… at that time, only I could give out rewards!"
As Mayor Orlean shouted out his delusional dream, the dust storm began lifting. Seeing her chance, Lin Sanjiu raised her rifle again. However, before she could aim at Mayor Orlean, she caught a movement from the dust not far away. A tall figure sprang up from the floor and charged straight at the standing human figure not far away.
"Yu Yuan!" She tried to warn Yu Yuan, but it was too late. A spark rose in the dust, and accompanied by a loud bang, a bullet sprayed out of the white barrel. It hit the tall figure squarely, destroying half of his leg and sending him flying back.
Biting her lips, Lin Sanjiu forced herself not to look at Yu Yuan. She took aim in the direction where the spark rose and pulled the trigger.
No sooner had Mayor Orlean let out a pained growl than she heard a clunk as if something had fallen to the floor. Her eyes lit up and she shot a few more times in that direction before shrinking back behind the wall. Then, a black warhead grazed past the door of the office and smashed into the stairs at the end of the corridor.
"Do you…" Mayor Orlean said in an angry, huffing voice, "Do you really think that you can stop me with a gun?"
Then, she heard Yu Yuan's weak laugh.
"Can't stop you with a gun? Didn't we just hit you in the chest?"
It seemed to Lin Sanjiu that she did not manage to hit him in his left chest. 'I should've shot a little bit towards the right,' she chided herself inwardly.
"This kind of injury is nothing to me."
She heard Mayor Orlean laugh again. Yu Yuan was severely injured, so he could not participate in the battle anymore. She had to—
Before she could finish her thought, she felt the floor shake.
Just when Lin Sanjiu began to suspect that her mind was playing a trick on her, the second quake came and shattered her suspicion. The light that filtered through the cracks in the wall dimmed down. It was as if something outside had blotted out the sun.
"The black mountain is here!" By the time she realized what was happening, Yu Yuan's desperate voice wafted into her ears, "Kill him!"
The world outside had completely dimmed. Half of the town hall was screaming under the pressure of the black mountain. Countless bricks and metal bars cascaded down on them like rain. Knowing that she had to act fast, Lin Sanjiu threw herself down and rolled along the floor.
The black mountain had crushed the wall and the window. The town hall was on the verge of destruction as it let out its final moaning scream. The second she showed herself, a quick succession of black warheads sprayed on her.
Lowering her body to avoid the deadly shots, Lin Sanjiu responded by showering all her bullets on Mayor Orlean.
She wished that she could exchange locations with Yu Yuan right now. She had finished firing all her bullets, yet she did not know if she hit her target or not.
She narrowed her eyes to see through the thick veil of dust. When she saw the still standing Mayor Orlean, her heart clenched and began to fall to the pit of her stomach. The black mountain had consumed everything under its shadow; its body was opening up as if it wanted to devour the entire town hall along with the people inside of it. Suddenly, just as Lin Sanjiu thought they were doomed, Mayor Orlean dropped to the floor like a marionette that had its string cut.
A loud thud traveled into their ears clearly. Then, the sky above them began to clear up.