Chapter 206: Chapter 202: Dream within a Dream
’Something’s wrong!’
’What about that Mr. Shen?’
’What about that detestable bastard who can control the Gray Tide?’
’Wasn’t I... by him...’
As the corner of Yamaguchi Sora’s eye swept over the slopes of Mount Fuji, he suddenly noticed the glint of a silver-gray metallic sheen.
More than half of Mount Fuji was covered by a silver-gray metal substance. It was the Gray Tide from his memory!
’Did I defeat him!?’
As Yamaguchi Sora was thinking this, he heard the head of the Asou Clan, who was kneeling before the Bone Throne, declare in a loud, fawning voice:
"Mr. Yamaguchi, you fought a valiant battle against the Demon and were victorious, paving the way for my god’s descent and granting us a radiant future! On behalf of East Japan... no, on behalf of human civilization, I offer you my most profound respect! You are the god of humanity, the guiding star of civilization, the Savior, you are our everything! Long live Yamaguchi Sora!"
The moment his voice fell, the surrounding crowd of kneelers, led by the five great political families of East Japan, all shouted in unison:
"Long live Yamaguchi Sora!"
"The Star of Humanity!"
"The Eternal Being!"
"Saint of the Master of the Void!"
"Long live! The master of human destiny!"
"The chosen one of the Multiverse!"
"..."
Amidst the cacophony of cheers, although Yamaguchi Sora felt that something was deeply wrong—bizarre, even—he still found it all quite enjoyable.
His life’s pursuit was finally fulfilled. He was about to shed his insignificant human identity, enter the embrace of the Master of the Void, and attain true eternity. What could possibly make him happier than this?
At the same time, from within the black hole in the sky, that formless will was on the verge of fully manifesting in this cosmos. Yamaguchi Sora heard a deep, ethereal voice ring in his mind:
"Yamaguchi, very good. You have performed a great service for the Void. I’m gonna reward you with a couple bottles of hard liquor! Ah, ahem... You shall receive the ultimate glory, attain eternity, become a legend of the Multiverse, and exist forever!"
Yamaguchi Sora’s face showed bewilderment. He felt the Master of the Void’s initial words were rather strange, but he still knelt on the ground and said piously:
"Thank you, my god! My god’s glory will illuminate all worlds, and the Void will devour all! Yamaguchi will forever be your most loyal slave!"
As he spoke, he felt the oppressive force of the Master of the Void’s will, and the confusion on his face deepened.
’Why does the Master of the Void feel different from when his projected will descended before?’
’Although it’s similarly powerful, this will is far from strong enough to be called the hegemon of a cosmos.’
’It’s actually a bit... familiar...’
The silver-gray Gray Tide on the ground was now reflecting light like a mirror, showing Yamaguchi Sora’s shadow.
He looked at his reflection in the shadow. Its eyes were blood-red, its mouth full of sharp teeth. It looked utterly terrifying.
But its overall appearance was that of a child!
’Wait... This isn’t my real shadow!’
’This is a projection of my innermost self!’
Struck by a sudden realization, Yamaguchi Sora stood up and looked at his surroundings. He suddenly felt this place was like a cobbled-together Purgatory, completely lacking any sense of reality.
From what he knew of the Master of the Void, even if it had truly devoured this world, it would never look like this!
And looking at the still-living dignitaries, he found them even more laughable and fake.
’Given my own temperament, why would I ever spare these fawning bootlickers?’
"What is it, Yamaguchi? Why do you not kneel in my presence?" a query came from the will of the Master of the Void in the sky, which now seemed somewhat annoyed.
Hearing this, Yamaguchi completely confirmed his suspicions. His eyes narrowed, and he stared at the black hole’s shadow in the sky and said grimly:
"You are not the Master of the Void... this world hasn’t been conquered by the Master of the Void, and it’s not over... This is just Hypnosis! I want to wake up!"
The moment he spoke, the people who had been worshipping him all revealed terrified expressions. The black hole projection in the sky, representing the Master of the Void, also grew a bit blurry. The will seemed flustered and said:
"Of course I am the Master of the Void! The Void rules all; only in the Void can one find true eternity! How could I possibly be fake!?"
Yamaguchi Sora sneered, his eyes flying wide as he bellowed:
"Break!"
Everything around him suddenly began to shatter like a mirror, revealing white light. The entire world fell to pieces. The kneeling dignitaries vanished, and along with them, the surrounding mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
The black hole projection in mid-air surprisingly developed ripple-like facial features, showing a terrified expression as a voice said:
"He’s about to wake up!"
Yamaguchi Sora’s face was now a ferocious mask. He first closed his eyes, then snapped them wide open, like a wrathful guardian deity, and roared:
"WAKE UP!"
In the next instant, the entire world shattered completely. Streaks of white light flooded everything, and the ruins of Tokyo appeared before Yamaguchi Sora’s eyes!
His consciousness was still inside the corpse tide, looking through tens of thousands of pairs of eyes at the enormous Gray Tide before him.
At this moment, the Gray Tide was flashing with a rhythmic light, accompanied by a strongly rhythmic white noise, like ocean waves and a sea breeze.
’It was Hypnosis!’
Yamaguchi Sora snapped to his senses. Looking around, he saw the Gray Tide continuously devouring the surrounding buildings, seemingly trying to form an encirclement to trap his corpse tide within.
He suddenly recalled what had happened earlier.
The summoning of the Master of the Void had failed, but he had still obtained immense power. He was preparing to infect the entire world with his own strength, only to be stopped by the Gray Tide controlled by that young man. And then...
The next part was a bit hazy. He must have been put under Hypnosis by his opponent, which plunged him into that mental illusion!
Countless faces emerged on the surface of the corpse tide. It laughed, and millions of voices spoke as one in a grim tone:
"A mere parlor trick, and you thought you could use it to hypnotize me? Mr. Shen, you have severely underestimated Yamaguchi!"
As it spoke, the corpse tide had already unleashed a violent electromagnetic pulse, rushing toward the Gray Tide.
At the same time, it extended long limbs, stabbing toward the massive Gray Tide.
This metallic Gray Tide, composed of mechanical clusters, also had a great weakness: it would be rendered completely useless if destroyed by a strong electromagnetic pulse.
’My opponent’s true body must still be nearby. If I destroy all of the Gray Tide, I’ll naturally find that hiding bastard.’
’Even if his main body isn’t here, it’s no matter. My goal was always to infect the entire world, not to get bogged down in a drawn-out battle with some Mr. Shen.’
’Once the whole world is thoroughly infected, I can gather enough power to summon the Master of the Void again. This time, I will definitely succeed!’
Although a thin veil seemed to shroud the depths of his consciousness, making it feel as if there was something hazy he couldn’t quite remember, something he couldn’t see clearly, there was no time to dwell on it now.
Yamaguchi Sora commanded the corpse tide to extend innumerable tentacles and limbs. Carrying a violent electromagnetic pulse, they stabbed into the Gray Tide before him. He then abruptly increased the output, directly forming a powerful energy net that blasted the Gray Tide apart. It broke into clumps of silver-gray metal, which were then utterly annihilated by the surrounding electromagnetic field.
Throughout the Tokyo Epidemic Zone and the surrounding areas, a continuous stream of zombies rushed over, merging into the corpse tide like moths to a flame and swelling its power.
Soon, all of the Gray Tide had been destroyed, leaving only a final, house-sized clump.
All of Tokyo was piled high with black metallic powder and residue, looking like the end of the world.
Yamaguchi Sora commanded a tentacle from the corpse tide to push aside that clump of Gray Tide, revealing a pale-faced Asian youth within.
Without bothering to exchange any words, he directly impaled the youth’s heart with a tentacle, injecting countless viruses into his body.
The youth was stunned for a moment, then began to struggle and roar, rapidly turning into a bloodthirsty zombie.
After casually tearing the zombie to shreds, Yamaguchi Sora chuckled darkly and said:
"So this is Mr. Shen. I thought the human my god regarded so highly would be stronger. He amounts to nothing more than this."
Having finished off Shen Feng, Yamaguchi Sora’s enormous corpse-tide body began to writhe rapidly, heading for the southern defense line.
He was about to destroy all of East Japan, and then the entire world!
Everything was going in the best possible direction.
Before long, the scene his opponent had shown him during the Hypnosis would become reality!
Suddenly, Yamaguchi Sora glanced at the youth’s shredded corpse and vaguely felt that something wasn’t right.
’There was no blood... not a single drop flowed from that body...’
He hastily extended a tentacle, bringing fragments of the corpse before his eyes to inspect them closely.
The eyeball fell out with a single touch. The skin, though it felt realistic, was obviously silicone!
Inside the shredded body, there were no muscles, bones, or internal organs—only a hollow frame made of metal!
"No... This isn’t real... IT ISN’T REAL! HE TRICKED ME... HE DARED TO TRICK ME!" Yamaguchi Sora roared through the corpse tide. He felt as if he were plunging into an endless Abyss as everything before his eyes turned to black.
"Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi..." A voice called by his ear, and it felt like someone was shaking him.
Yamaguchi Sora’s eyes flew open as he shouted, "...tricked me... It’s not real!"
He then realized he was sitting in an office, having apparently fallen asleep with his head on the desk.
Standing before him was his best friend, his childhood companion, the president of the Celestial Divine Biomedical Corporation, Maruyama Mori.
He was in an office at the Celestial Divine Biomedical Corporation.
"Mr. Yamaguchi, what’s wrong?" Maruyama Mori asked with concern. "Did you have a nightmare? What isn’t real?"
Yamaguchi Sora stared at his surroundings for a moment, then let out a long sigh of relief and said:
"Oh, it’s you, Maruyama... I just had a terrible nightmare. I dreamed that everything had changed, that I had failed, and then someone made a complete fool of me..."
Maruyama Mori’s face was filled with concern as he asked:
"Failed at what? Don’t worry too much. Our company may have failed to go public, but that’s not the end of the world. Business is running smoothly now, and the chemical formula you provided has been a great help in developing the life-extension drug. I’m sure it will be a success soon and become our company’s flagship product!"
Maruyama Mori then continued:
"Yamaguchi, if we can really go public successfully, you should disband the Celestial Divine Association. We don’t need to struggle in the darkness to live a good life. As the head of a violent organization, you’re constantly being watched by the government and the police. It’s just too much hardship for you. Besides, our company isn’t as weak as it was in the beginning. Even if those established pharmaceutical giants want to swallow us, they’ll have to think twice about the cost."
Yamaguchi Sora waved his hand with a dark chuckle and said:
"Say no more, Mori. This world isn’t as simple as you think, especially since we’re in East Japan. You walk in the light, and I walk in the darkness. Only by joining hands can we go further. Have you forgotten all the humiliation you suffered when you first returned from overseas? Those old fossils refused to believe in your talent; all they do is cling to convention. It’s a pity we’re being jointly suppressed by the industry and no one will invest in us. But don’t you worry about that. I’ll get the money..."
Maruyama Mori sighed and said, "You need to get some proper rest. Don’t worry, everything will be alright."
With that, Maruyama Mori turned and left.
Yamaguchi sighed, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes, planning to rest a little longer. That dream was just too real. It seemed to be a multi-layered dream, so realistic it was terrifying.
’The entire world seemed to have been destroyed, but... why did he feel a little happy about it?’
Just then, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind:
"The present, the past, the future, existence, nothingness, eternity..."
Immediately after, a string of letters and chemical formulas surfaced in his mind—ineffable and indescribable. It felt like notes from a Demon, filled with power, exuding endless evil and... eternity!