Chapter 83 The Art of Murder in Dreams

"Ugh—!"

A chorus of retching sounds shattered the tranquility of the morning canteen.

Three thousand recruits, who should have been wolfing down their food, were now staring at the sumptuous braised pork and white steamed buns before them. Each of them was pale, looking like living dead who had just crawled out of a morgue.

"I'm not eating meat... Take it away! Take it away quickly!"

A burly man looked at the braised pork in his bowl, suddenly trembling violently, tears and snot streaming down his face. "This is my leg... This is the meat from my thigh! Wuwuwu..."

The others were no better off. Some held their chopsticks with hands shaking like they had Parkinson's, some stared blankly with muttering mouths, and others crawled directly under the tables, shivering.

The entire canteen was filled with a thick "mental hospital" atmosphere.

In the very center of the canteen, at an exclusive luxury dining table, Jiang Chen was holding a huge braised pork knuckle in his left hand and a cup of hot soy milk in his right, eating with such relish that his mouth was glistening with oil.

"Tsk, today's pork knuckle is braised perfectly—tender, glutinous, and falling off the bone."

Jiang Chen took a big bite and looked at the recruits around him who seemed to have lost their souls, tapping the table with some dissatisfaction.

"Why are you all just staring? Eat! If you don't eat your fill, where will you get the strength to continue sleeping tonight?"

Hearing the words "continue sleeping tonight," the three thousand people in the hall shuddered in unison.

That kind of fear was carved into their bone marrow.

"Devil... You are a devil!"

Lei Bao, who had led the provocation yesterday, was now cowering in the corner, his eyes filled with despair as he looked at Jiang Chen. "You call that sleeping? That's the eighteen layers of Hell!"

No one knew what had happened last night.

To the outside world, they had simply slept quietly.

But in their dreams...

The man wearing spongebob pajamas had transformed into a Grim Reaper wielding a scythe.

Dream Layer One: Beast Tide Siege. Everyone was torn to pieces a hundred times.

Dream Layer Two: Survival. To grab a single bun, comrades turned against each other and slaughtered one another.

Dream Layer Three...

The most terrifying thing was that in the dream, the pain was real! The fear of death was real!

Every time their throats were bitten through, every time they were disemboweled by sharp claws, that sense of despair was magnified infinitely. And when you thought you were finally free, that man would snap his fingers, resurrect you, and say with a smile:

"The posture was wrong just now, let's do it again."

【Ding! Group mental trauma index detected: 80%.】

【System Evaluation: The psychological quality of this batch of leeks is too poor, it is recommended to increase the dosage.】

【Current collected "Fear Value": Enough to redeem "Dream Acceleration Card" x10.】

Jiang Chen swallowed the meat in his mouth, wiped his hands, and revealed his iconic lazy smile.

"Can't handle this already? Young people nowadays have such poor psychological endurance."

He stood up, his gaze sweeping across the hall.

The recruits who were still wailing fell silent instantly, instinctively straightening their backs. This was a conditioned reflex formed after being killed countless times in their dreams—as long as he stood up, it meant new torture was about to begin.

"Tell me, what did you learn last night?" Jiang Chen asked indifferently.

"To survive!"

Lei Bao stood up abruptly and shouted, his voice hoarse, "Only by surviving do you have the right to eat meat!"

"Yes! To survive!"

"Slaughter those beasts!"

The roar of three thousand people converged into a torrent, making the glass in the canteen buzz.

The fierce intensity in their eyes was no longer the blind bravado of yesterday's newborn calves, but a cold, resilient indifference born from having seen life and death.

Overnight, they had been reborn.

"Not bad."

Jiang Chen nodded with satisfaction and sat back down to continue gnawing on the pork knuckle. "Seems like that sleep wasn't in vain. We continue tonight. I don't have any other requirements, just don't die too quickly in the dream; it's very embarrassing."

"Thump."

Little Fatty Chen knelt down directly.

He hugged Jiang Chen's thigh, crying with snot and tears: "Brother Chen! Dear brother! Can you please change the script for me? Everyone else is fighting monsters, why did I turn into a roasted suckling pig in the dream?!"

"Wuwuwu... Do you know what it feels like to be surrounded by a group of orcs sprinkling cumin on you? They were even discussing which part to eat first... It's too hard for me!"

Jiang Chen: "..."

He touched his nose with some embarrassment.

"Ahem, that might be the System... Ahem, it was my operational error, the channels got crossed. I'll change your role tonight, how about you become... a fish on the chopping board?"

Little Fatty Chen: "..."

I want to go home and find my mother.

...

Night fell.

The wind in the Northern Territory grew even more biting.

On the fortress walls, searchlights pierced the darkness like swords, scanning the distant wilderness back and forth.

According to custom, tonight was the recruits' first night watch.

If it were before, these green recruits would definitely have been scared weak in the knees. But having experienced last night's "Dream Training," the three thousand people standing on the walls now had eyes glowing with a green light, eager to jump down and find some Demonic Beasts to practice on.

"Stay sharp, everyone!"

Lei Heng patrolled the walls with his hands behind his back. Looking at this group of reborn soldiers, he was overjoyed.

He secretly glanced at Jiang Chen, who was wrapped in a coat nearby, sitting on a recliner with his eyes closed to rest, and the awe in his eyes grew deeper.

"This kid... is simply a Divine Artifact for training soldiers. If he could be kept in the Northern Territory, why worry about the Beast Race not being wiped out?"

Jiang Chen was not sleeping.

He was using the perspective of the [Nightmare Clone] to monitor the movement within a fifty-kilometer radius.

"Strange..."

Jiang Chen muttered in his heart, "Why is it so quiet? There isn't even a mouse?"

According to common sense, on such a windy and snowy night, the Beast Race would definitely send scouts to harass them. But tonight, it was eerily quiet.

Just then.

【Ding! High-energy life forms detected approaching rapidly!】

【Quantity: 5000+.】

【Type: Beast Race Elite Vanguard—Shadow Blade Leopard Cavalry!】

【Distance: 10 kilometers... 8 kilometers...】

The System's urgent alarm sounded in his mind.

Jiang Chen opened his eyes abruptly.

"Stop spacing out!"

He threw off his blanket and jumped up from the recliner. His voice was not loud, but it exploded directly in everyone's mind through his Mental Energy.

"Attention everyone! Prepare for dinner!"

"What? Dinner?"

Little Fatty Chen wiped his drool subconsciously, "Brother Chen, didn't we just have dinner?"

"I meant... let the blades in your hands have dinner!"

Jiang Chen's eyes turned cold as he pointed to the pitch-black night sky ahead.

"They're here."

Before his voice faded.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Countless pitch-black arrows, like invitations from the Grim Reaper, tore through the darkness!

Those were the Beast Race's unique "Demon-Breaking Black Arrows," specifically designed to break a Martial Artist's True Qi shield!

"Enemy attack!!!"

Lei Heng's roar instantly resounded through the fortress.

"Activate the defensive array! Flares! Light it up for me!"

Bang! Bang!

Several flares rose into the sky, illuminating the area in front of the fortress as if it were daylight.

The next second, everyone gasped.

In the snow under the fortress walls, black figures had crawled all over, dense and numerous, without anyone knowing when they had arrived.

Those were Beast Race cavalry riding giant black leopards! They wore black leather armor and held scimitars, like ghosts merged with the night, and were less than five hundred meters from the fortress walls!

"Shadow Blade Leopard Cavalry! It's the Beast Race's ace unit!"

Lei Heng's expression changed drastically, "How did they sneak in? Why didn't the radar react?!"

"Because they are dreaming."

Jiang Chen said indifferently.

He was no longer in his lazy state. He stood on the battlements, his clothes rustling, and purple light swirled in his pupils.

"Dream Domain, open."

Following his whisper.

An invisible ripple centered on him instantly covered the entire battlefield.

The charging Beast Race cavalry suddenly felt their eyelids become incomparably heavy.

"What's going on... so sleepy..."

"Damn it! This is the Human Race's Demonic Technique!"

The Beast Race centurion at the forefront roared, biting his tongue to try and stay awake.

But it was useless.

In the Domain of Jiang Chen, a Grandmaster-level Mental Energy master, unless your Mental Energy is stronger than his, otherwise...

Dragons must coil, and tigers must crouch!

"Everyone, listen to my command!"

Jiang Chen's voice was as cold as ice, "Don't open your eyes. Now, close your eyes and recall last night's dream."

"Treat these things in front of you as the monsters from the dream."

"Kill!"

Three thousand recruits hesitated for a moment.

Close eyes? Now?

But out of instinctive obedience to that "Devil Instructor," they closed their eyes subconsciously.

In an instant.

That familiar, hair-raising feeling returned.

In their perception, the world before them had changed. It was no longer a cold battlefield, but that dream Hell filled with blood and slaughter!

And charging at them were no longer the terrifying Shadow Blade Leopard Cavalry, but...

Walking points!

They were the enemies who had killed them a hundred times yesterday!

"Kill!!"

Lei Bao was the first to roar. With his eyes closed, he leaped directly off the ten-plus-meter-high fortress wall!

"They're crazy! They're all crazy!"

Lei Heng tried to stop them, but it was too late.

Three thousand recruits jumped off the wall like dumplings, rushing into the herd like a pack of hungry wolves.

"Squish!"

The battle blade in Lei Bao's hand split a black leopard's skull with extreme precision. He didn't even look, turning his hand for another strike, slicing the rider on its back in two.

"Awesome! This feeling is exactly the same as in the dream!"

Lei Bao laughed wildly.

The others were the same.

In the "Sleepwalking State," their fear disappeared, their pain was blocked, and only pure murderous instinct remained.

Moreover, under the guidance of Jiang Chen's Mental Energy, it was as if they were running with a full-map hack.

Where the enemies were, where the weaknesses were, it was crystal clear in their minds!

The surprise attack, which should have been a one-sided slaughter, instantly turned into... a one-sided counter-slaughter.

The Beast Race cavalry were stunned.

Are these humans crazy? Fighting with their eyes closed? And every strike is fatal?

"Retreat! Retreat quickly! There's something strange here!"

The Beast Race centurion looked at his companions falling one after another and finally collapsed.

But just as he turned the leopard's head to flee.

A lazy voice rang in his ear.

"Since you're already here, don't leave."

"It just so happens... my pillow is missing a few skins for a cover."

Jiang Chen stood on the wall, reaching out into the void and grabbing at the centurion.

【Nightmare · Ghost Hand!】

A large purple hand appeared out of thin air, crushing the centurion, who was at the Peak of the Viscera Refining Realm, into a pulp.

"Done for the day."

Jiang Chen clapped his hands and yawned.

"Remember to peel the skin cleanly; I want to make a nine-piece set."