The sea lapped against his cheeks, and when Hoffa woke up again, he found himself lying on a wide stretch of sand. In front of him was a wide ocean as far as the eye could see, and the beach was surrounded by a thick fog and an unusually distorted daylight that it was impossible to see anything.

But he was used to it.

"Little monster, is that you?"

Hoffa sat on the edge of the sea of dreams and muttered.

"It's me. ”

An indifferent voice sounded in my ears.

Hoffa turned his head to see a strange little monster floating silently in his ears, with a vague black smoke head, a white spot of light in the middle of the head, and a constantly shaking tentacle beneath him—the god of nightmares, the young son of Leviathan.

"Why don't you become the same as you just looked, it's quite eye-catching. ”

The little monster replied, "Fifty years, no one remembers me anymore." Now I can only parasitize on the consciousness of other creatures, and I can survive. ”

"Where did you find a beautiful woman, can't you be like that in your dreams?" said Hoffa, laughing, "You really don't look like a human being." ”

"Finding a beautiful female to be my host is just because it is convenient to move in human society, and you can get a lot of convenience, but that doesn't make sense for our next actions. ”

"Hmph..... All of them made me think so high. Hoffa pouted, "I'll give you back fifty years after me." ”

"I can't do it, I'm just a young child, I can't withstand the tearing of time, but I still keep my promise. Found you in the world fifty years later. ”

"I'll help you get back to health, and you help me live. ”

"Not bad. ”

"But I don't need you to live well. ”

"It's too early to say that, follow me. After calmly speaking, the little monster floated in the air, left the beach, and drifted all the way into the mist.

Hoffa got up and followed the little monster and asked, "Are you going to take me to the Nightmare World, I won't be afraid of any nightmares now." ”

"This time it's not your nightmare. The little monster said calmly: "It's a nightmare in this world." ”

With that, the fog gradually dissipated, and another strange world appeared in front of Hoffa.

Steel fortresses towered above the ground, and the sky was filled with billowing black smoke, as if there was no day in this world. Several massive airships hovered in the sky, and the main tone of all colors was black. Big Ben in the distance is entwined with countless steels, and the streets are steel pipes that lead to the distance, they are intertwined with each other, cold and rough, like the thick blood vessels of primitive creatures, all over the body.

"What a place this is. ”

"London fifty years ago, the world after you left. ”

The little monster said.

What was London ..... fifty years ago?

Hoffa walked slowly down the strange, narrow street, deserted, deserted, the rusted steel pipes without any sign of state, nor of any power, and he would not have recognized this as England if it were not for the building in the distance that could barely be made out of Big Ben.

"Germany won?" asked Hoffa.

"No, nobody wins, everyone loses. ”

The little monster said lightly.

At this time, Hoffa saw a figure walking in the distance, a scavenger. He carried a broom, dragged a large suitcase, rustled through the streets, he wore a black poncho, his body was thin, and what was even stranger was that he had a strange cage on his head, which was an arm's length, firmly embedded above his neck, and sealed with iron locks.

The scavenger just like that, little by little, the machine swept over from a distance, and when he slowly swept past Hoffa, Hoffa noticed that the guy was sweeping the floor, and his eyes were closed.

"Hey..... Hey...... you?"

Hoffa walked over to the scavenger and wanted to touch him.

But the palm of his hand went straight through his body.

"You can't wake him up, it's just a memory of mine. The little monster said.

"How did he dress up like this. Watching the scavenger's back go farther and farther away, he asked in confusion.

"He's sleepwalking. ”

The little monster said lightly.

"Sleepwalking!?" Hoffa didn't react.

.......

The little monster didn't answer, it circled, and the streets of London in front of it smeared like ink paintings soaked in a deep pool, and pipes, scavengers, metal Big Ben, disappeared without a trace.

Then, the dense black recombined, and the color turned into a crimson as if it were stained with blood. When the ink was reassembled.

This time, Hoffa finds himself standing on the iron frame of a huge factory building.

Underneath him, there were steel assembly lines, and on the assembly lines, neatly cut off pieces of meat, the sonorous sound of the machine crashing echoed in his ears.

The machine squirmed and the mechanical arm rotated, grabbing all kinds of pieces of meat on the assembly line and throwing them into a giant scarlet mixer.

The pieces of meat are squeezed into minced meat and fall from the machine. And then it was transported away by the assembly line, the icy world of downright dieselpunk.

In the distance, rows and rows of people with their heads on their cages came out of the workshop, all men, with their eyes closed, holding some food raw materials in their hands, dead deer, dead cows, dead pigs, dead sheep.

The men holding the corpses, all wearing metal cages on their heads and with their eyes closed, like ants, put the dead animals on the assembly line, which were slaughtered into pieces of meat by the machine, and then passed through the assembly line all the way to the crimson blender.

"It's a food factory in Berlin. "Little monsters floated in Hofa's ears," such factories are everywhere, and they are responsible for providing food to the living. ”

"These people...... Sleepwalking?"

Hoffa looked at the men working on the assembly line, and it was unbelievable that people could work with their eyes closed.

"Everyone. The little monster said calmly.

At this time, on the side of the assembly line, two big men with their heads in a cage walked out with their eyes closed, and they threw a thin and old human body onto the assembly line. The cold machine on the assembly line dismembered the corpse in the blink of an eye and brought in a blender.

This scene made Hofa's stomach sour, he bent down and covered his mouth in shock: "People eat the same?"

"Ethics no longer exists. The little monster said calmly.

......

Before Hoffa could express his opinion, the terrifying flesh factory turned into blood-red smoke, dissipating little by little.

Then, the smoke combined again, and this time, the little monster took him to a canteen of tens of thousands of square meters, with hundreds of windows and thousands of neatly arranged tables and chairs in the canteen.

In the restaurant, countless people wearing cages lined up with their eyes closed. Each of them carried a metal tray in their hands, slowly moving forward like an ant colony.

Behind the window, a chef dressed in black, wearing a metal cage and with his eyes closed, multiply the food separately on each person's trailer.

The food is boiled vegetables and processed proteins, and there are even hairs and teeth in the protein, which does not look appetizing, but only makes people sick to their stomachs.

But no one saw it.

Hoffa walked between the tables and chairs, and the more he walked, the more frightened he became, the men with cages on their heads sat on their chairs, mechanically picking food out of their plates, stuffing it into their mouths through the gaps in their heads, and there was no sound of speech in the dining room of tens of thousands of people. There is only the sound of clanging knives and forks, which makes people's scalps tingle and creepy.

Eat quietly.

Little Monster: "This is the world that Sylby Spencer created with me, and in this world, no one is immune to dreams. They sleepwalk, work, reproduce, and live in the real world. ”

"Do you keep all of humanity in captivity?"

"It's understandable. ”

"Yours..... Silby ....."

Hoffa looked at the cage-wearing crowd in the restaurant, who were eating silently, and suddenly wanted to laugh for some reason, there was no crime, no violence, everyone was equal. Isn't this a legendary utopia?

But his lips twitched a few times, and he couldn't laugh at all.

It's horrible.

"Didn't anyone resist?" he asked tremblingly, "There are so many people and so many wizards in the world, and not one of them resists him?"

"They're resisting. The little monster's calm voice had a rare hint of sarcasm. "But not in this world, do you want to go and see their dreams?"

"Their dreams?"

"That's right, the dreams of people in captivity fifty years ago. ”

"Take me there. Hoffa muttered, his brain was about to shut down when he saw such a cold and terrifying world, he thought he knew his old rival, but now it seemed that he didn't know anything about Sylbie.

The little monster flew up to a silent sleepwalker and flew in a circle above his head.

Then, Hofa's eyes went dark, and his consciousness fell into a fall.

When he woke up again, the dining room was gone, the crowd was gone, and the monotonous smoke regrouped again, this time for much longer than Hoffa had expected, and eventually, the smoke diverged into a variety of colors, gradually forming colorful flowers that fell from the sky.

Under the flowers, a huge stone sculpture of Sirby is built against the mountain, thousands of meters high, and it maintains a smiling gesture of holding flowers, like a Buddha.

Milky white water poured down from his fingers, and in the grass at his feet, countless men and women ran for joy, naked, each as handsome as an angel. Milk flows through the mountains and rivers, colorful fruits grow on the meadows, and rainbows hang down from the sky.

Some people lie on the mountain as high as money and drink, some people hold their lovers under the tree, some people sit at a table more than ten meters long, overeating, but they can't eat all those exquisite foods.

Everything is indescribably beautiful.

The happiest kingdom of heaven is nothing more than that.

The warm breeze blew through Hoffa's head, and he stood on the grass, his eyes wide, after experiencing the cold and cruelty just now, and looking at the wonderful present, his psychological complexity can be imagined.

Little monster: "This is the real world in their eyes, most people have long been unable to distinguish the difference between dreams and reality, if everyone thinks that this kind of life is real, what is the need to resist?"

"Hee-hee-hee-hee-haha......"

With a cheerful laugh, several little angel-like girls ran past Hoffa, chasing a happy boy behind them.

It was dark in front of my eyes, and the wonderful dream like a classical oil painting disappeared.

......

......

Hofa, who had just woken up from a big dream, sat in a chair.

Cold sweat had already soaked his back at some point, and he returned from his dream to reality, surrounded by scattered instruments and unconscious band members.

The thousands of people in the theater who watched his performance all fell to the ground at this moment, unconscious and asleep. It was at this moment that Hoffa really saw the people who came to the theater to see his performances, whether they were destitute homeless people, drug addicts, unemployed vagrants, or rebellious punk teenagers......

"Whew. ”

He let out a long sigh.

Da Da Da ......

Behind the quiet stage, the footsteps of the god of nightmares were heard.

The blonde woman walked around from behind Hoffa and said calmly and indifferently, "Who would have believed that this cold and rough world was real if it wasn't forced to do so?" ”

"Isn't that what you want?" said Hoffa softly, "If everyone believes in you and lives in a dream, then it will not be just around the corner for you to regain your ancient physique." ”

"You're wrong, I'm the god of nightmares, not the god of dreams. The blonde woman said coldly, "Sylby Spencer is using me and blaspheming me. He will pay for it. ”

"Then you make him pay, let him have nightmares. ”

"I can't do it. The God of Nightmares said.

"Why?"

"He can withstand all nightmares and stay awake forever, so I can't do anything about him. ”

"It's really Sylby, God can't help you. Hoffa was half self-deprecating and half talking to himself: "However, your god of nightmares can't kill a cursed fellow, he can't use any magic, you can just destroy him." ”

"Do you have any misunderstanding about the gods? "We are the embodiment of the laws of the world, representing the rules, and absolutely obeying the laws, I am a nightmare, and I cannot interfere with reality in the rules."

Even if you want to kill Sylby and get free, you have to support another human to kill him, and you will never do it yourself. Just as the Grim Reaper will never take the initiative to stretch out his scythe in front of mortals, it can only be people who kill. ”

"So you want me to go back fifty years too?"

"Not bad. ”

"You're still really outspoken about your goals. Hoffa covered his face.

The blonde woman stared at him, all the while seeing his scalp tingling.

Hoffa looked up, "I don't want to be a tool for anyone, including you, the god of nightmares, the youngest son of Leviathan. ”

The blonde woman said slowly, "You have no choice. ”

"I have a choice. Hoffa clenched his fists.

"I'm sorry, I know what you're thinking, but your existence in the real world isn't as secure as you think. The woman turned her back to him, "The existence of this world is based on your defeat of Sylby Spencer, but the longer you stay in this world, the more unreal this result becomes.

The sooner you spend more time in this world than a certain threshold, the faster it will be replaced by the nightmare world created by Sylby Spencer.

At that time, all the people around you will be sleepwalkers. At that time, even if you wanted to go back, it would be useless, and that is what he meant by banishing you fifty years later. ”