424: Slaves under power

When everyone in the shelter was resting and sleeping, Shen Bei used the river pebble he had previously thrown outside to activate the Instant Shadow Return to Origin Pact.

In the next moment, Shen Bei ignored the obstruction of the house walls, and his figure appeared directly outside the shelter.

The Instant Shadow Return to Origin Pact has this advantage: it ignores any conventional “physical” obstructions and can directly pass through them.

It was just like when Bai Wei suddenly appeared inside the car.

It would not cause damage to any object.

However, Shen Bei's other Martial Skill, Seven Stars Steps, could not do this.

It was easy to hit walls.

But Seven Stars Steps could ignore spatial traps or spatial segmentation.

The Instant Shadow Return to Origin Pact could not do this.

It could be said that all things in the Universe have their imperfections, and the two Martial Skills complemented each other.

After slipping out of the shelter's main hall, Shen Bei used the Hidden Breath Technique to suppress his life magnetic field to the lowest possible level.

He avoided being discovered by the Living Dead, whose roars were constant.

The sky was still like night, but the surroundings were not dark at all, because a colossal full moon hung in the distance, its moonlight spilling across the land.

This full moon was truly too big, twenty to thirty times larger than a normal moon.

It didn't even look like a moon; instead, it resembled a colossal mountain range crouching beyond the horizon, and it seemed as though it could collide with this world at any moment.

Shen Bei shivered; if someone with megalophobia were here, they would probably foam at the mouth on the spot.

Then, Shen Bei moved along the shadows of the street.

First, he went to the town's boundary to see for himself what the so-called “barrier” was all about.

The main hall, which served as the prototype for the shelter, was located near the center of the town, so there was some distance to the town's edge.

For others, it would certainly be rare, or rather, they wouldn't bother to travel through the town to the edge.

After all, there were too many Living Dead and spirits along the way.

With the Hidden Breath Technique, it was convenient for Shen Bei to move around.

Shen Bei also wanted to go through the underground tunnels, but he didn't have a map, which made it easy to get lost, and getting lost in a dream was terrifying enough to imagine.

At Shen Bei's fastest speed under the premise of concealment, it took him nearly an hour to travel from the shelter to the town's boundary.

The scenery now before Shen Bei confirmed his suspicion: there was no such thing as a barrier at all.

Beyond the town, there was only an abyss.

This abyss had no other side; darkness stretched out endlessly.

To give an analogy, this town was like a “small piece” of stone that the Hell catastrophe had dug out from Earth, inexplicably thrown into the vast Universe, and never to return.

Because there were no reference points around, it was unclear whether the town was moving in this boundless darkness or simply suspended.

No wonder they said spirits couldn't freely invade this town, because there were no spirits outside the town.

The spirits in the town now certainly didn't come from outside; they appeared directly in the town.

But this didn't mean they were lying.

Perhaps for those who had been brainwashed, the “barrier” was real, and the “hundred years protected by the barrier” was also real.

Even if they were brought here, they might not be able to see this abyss; instead, they would only see the scenery they believed to be there.

It was as if their perspective on things was completely different from that of the un-brainwashed Shen Bei, or as if they had different solutions to the same math problem.

Such a “dislocation” between the Military in the dream and outsiders was not surprising.

For Shen Bei, who remained constantly awake, those were merely “background settings” that were out of place with the nightmare of the present moment.

Presumably, Sun Wu also knew there was no barrier at all.

But due to his personality, after gaining power within this town, he became immersed in it and didn't want to wake up.

Think back to when Sun Wu returned with Shen Bei and Fu Jian.

The others also showed expressions of trust towards Sun Wu. Just seeing this scene made it clear how crucial Sun Wu's position was here.

This shelter, both in its organization and its physical structure, was built upon the sole efforts of the prophet.

No one could deny that he was the undisputed hero and leader here.

Or perhaps, even if Sun Wu wanted to wake up, he didn't know how to.

All of the above were Shen Bei's conjectures.

But that wasn't the point; the point was: the town was the entirety of this Hell catastrophe nightmare.

In other words: if anyone else accidentally fell into this nightmare, they would only appear inside the town.

“A rather interesting plague-like nightmare…”

Shen Bei took one last look at the town's edge and began to return to the shelter.

After about an hour, he successfully returned.

And just as Shen Bei was about to use the Instant Shadow Return to Origin Pact again to return to his room, he suddenly saw a dark figure outside the wall.

Shen Bei was slightly startled, pulled back his foot, and hid in the shadows.

If it wasn't an Living Dead… the only person active in the entire shelter was probably Sun Wu, right?

Shen Bei leaned against the corner of the wall, secretly peeking out.

Indeed.

That dark figure was indeed Sun Wu.

He was using an iron rod to pry at the stone bricks of the shelter's wall.

Each time he pried, dust and brick fragments flew, and Sun Wu's body was covered in various shades of gray dust and stone fragments.

Soon, Sun Wu pried a hole in the wall large enough for multiple people to pass through.

Shen Bei was filled with confusion.

What trick was this guy playing?

If the Living Dead discovered the hole, wouldn't they just go in through it?

As the leader of the shelter, Sun Wu's intelligence shouldn't be that low, should it?

After Sun Wu finished digging this large hole, he changed into a clean set of clothes, and the dirty clothes were stuffed into a package.

The hole was not repaired, and Sun Wu bowed his head, drill into the hole and disappeared.

“This guy's suspicion is growing.”

Shen Bei was almost certain that Sun Wu was the key to leaving the dream.

Although Shen Bei realized this, the others did not.

Killing Sun Wu now would not make the others realize this was a dream.

If they didn't subconsciously acknowledge it, they probably wouldn't be able to wake up in reality.

Shen Bei didn't have much research in this area, so he could only be cautious.

He wanted to “destroy” and block this hole.

But after thinking about it, due to multiple factors, Shen Bei did not act rashly; instead, he used the Instant Shadow Return to Origin Pact to return directly to his room.

Shen Bei paced back and forth in the room; Sun Wu's behavior was definitely abnormal.

What would happen next was almost within Shen Bei's premonition.

Perhaps, for Shen Bei, this was an opportunity to break the deadlock.

Just then, footsteps came from outside.

“Qi Chuanyu, you're not asleep yet?”

The person speaking outside was Sun Wu, who was speaking through the iron bars on the door.

Shen Bei was momentarily dazed, then realized that Qi Chuanyu was himself, and he was still a little unaccustomed to it.

Shen Bei immediately said with a troubled expression, “I can't sleep.”

“It's usually like this when you change sleeping environments; you'll get used to it.”

“Are you on patrol?” Shen Bei asked.

Sun Wu nodded: “Someone has to stand guard, right? It doesn't matter if I work a little harder.”

“Nothing abnormal, I hope?”

“Don't worry, with me in the shelter, even if Living Dead break in, as long as you follow my plan and listen to my command, no one will die, and you won't lose your home.”

Shen Bei said, “Oh, okay, then I'll listen to your command.”

Sun Wu smiled contentedly: “That's right. Follow me, there's food and drink for everyone. Go to sleep and rest.”

After speaking, Sun Wu lightly hummed a tune and continued his patrol.

Shen Bei sniffed, damn, this Sun Wu was also a “slave who couldn't let go of power”...

Yu Buxiu was truly accurate in his judgment of people.