Free Web NovelChapter 495: Chapter 488: Proxy
In an instant, the surroundings changed. Gray mist billowed out, consuming everything, as if he had been plunged back into that original nightmare.
’When...?’
Zhang Dongwei narrowed his eyes. The transition from reality to nightmare had been utterly seamless. It was as if his opponent had forcibly transformed the natural environment into a nightmare in a single moment.
This was a peculiar state where consciousness and reality overlapped. Here, illusory consciousness and tangible matter were bound together so tightly.
’What in the world happened to that guy?’
An intense sense of danger flooded Zhang Dongwei’s mind. He whipped his head around, his gaze falling on Hui Ming, whom he had just knocked aside.
At this moment, the once neat and crisp suit he wore was in tatters, leaving him looking rather disheveled.
Hui Ming slowly rose from the ground, his eyes glinting with a light completely different from before.
Detached, cold, serene—like polar ice that would never melt.
It seemed as if another person was living within that shell.
"We haven’t met in a thousand years, Zhang Dongwei."
"Hui Ming" spoke slowly, his voice a hazy, ethereal sound that was impossible to pin to a specific gender.
"It’s you?!"
The moment he heard that voice, Zhang Dongwei jolted. His muscles contracted sharply, his expression turning one of extreme vigilance.
It was a voice he would never forget.
A thousand years ago, just as his life was nearing its end, this very voice, demonic and insidious, had whispered in his ear. It told him that the secret to becoming Immortal was hidden in the distant Kunlun Mountain Range, tempting him until he finally fell.
Everything he had endured stemmed from the being before him—the ultimate culprit.
This was what Hui Ming meant by being "special."
Compared to the other Seven Mo Luo, he was the strongest not only due to his exceptional abilities and strength, but more importantly, because he was Doctor Nightmare’s "Deputy."
Doctor Nightmare possessed an exceptionally potent and unique ability. By extending the Nightmare Space through an omnipresent conscious magnetic field, he could project his will and Power to any corner of the world.
Though for some particular reason his true body could not leave the Starry Sky Country, that didn’t mean he couldn’t interfere in a real battle.
As a Descendant of Doctor Nightmare’s Bloodline, Hui Ming could, at a certain cost, become a "coordinate" capable of channeling Doctor Nightmare’s power.
Right now, Doctor Nightmare was conversing with Zhang Dongwei from thousands of miles away.
"I already gave you a chance. I thought you would come to your senses on your own, but it seems that’s impossible now. A true pity."
Doctor Nightmare sighed softly.
"You’ve come. Perfect. It’s time to settle this thousand-year debt of Cause and Effect!"
Zhang Dongwei’s expression turned grim. With a terrifying burst of supersonic speed, he shot forward, charging straight at Doctor Nightmare.
"You still don’t understand."
Doctor Nightmare said softly. Facing the charging Zhang Dongwei, he didn’t even lift an arm.
But in the next instant—
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Countless iron chains, condensed from the gray mist, shot out from all directions. At an unimaginable speed, they pierced through Zhang Dongwei’s body at key points.
SCHLICK! SCHLICK!
At that moment, Zhang Dongwei’s body, so Solid that not even a missile could destroy it, was riddled with holes by the piercing gray-mist chains. Blood instantly erupted from the wounds.
Brought to an abrupt halt by the horrific injuries, Zhang Dongwei’s charge ended as he collapsed to one knee. He felt his entire body bound by chains, unable to move a muscle.
A trace of shock and incomprehension appeared in his eyes.
’How is this possible...? My body... how could it be harmed so easily? And he never even made physical contact.’
’From start to finish, there were only those chains...’
’But those chains are merely condensed from a magnetic field. How can they inflict this much damage without wielding any physical force?’
’Could it be that his Magnetic Field Ability has actually reached the point of Transforming Illusion into Reality?!’
’Impossible. That would completely violate this planet’s system of rules. If he could truly do that, he could have already reshaped the natural environment at will using his Spirit and magnetic fields. The entire Earth would have a different face by now. No one could defeat such an existence.’
Carefully sensing the condition of his body, Zhang Dongwei seemed to understand something.
The chains were, in fact, composed entirely of a magnetic field; they possessed no physical influence whatsoever. His body was injured for one reason alone: his opponent’s magnetic field had made his flesh unable to distinguish reality from illusion.
The Dream Realm is a wondrous thing. Within it, a living being experiences sensations identical to those in reality: hearing, sight, taste, pain...
The pain experienced in some dreams can even linger on the physical body at the moment of waking.
However, living organisms possess an innate ability to distinguish illusion from reality and protect themselves. Damage sustained in a dream will be ignored by the body’s instinctive defense mechanisms. In fact, if a person suffers damage beyond their limit in a dream, their body’s defenses will automatically pull their consciousness out of the Dream Realm and back to reality.
This is why nightmares startle you awake.
But in Doctor Nightmare’s Nightmare Space—a place nearly fused with reality—the body’s self-preservation instinct fails.
In other words, this is a nightmare from which one cannot awaken.
For any living being, all attacks from Doctor Nightmare’s consciousness and magnetic field inside this Nightmare Space are nearly as effective as physical attacks—and in some ways, even more terrifying.
When your consciousness accepts the concept of being "injured" by his attack, your body’s protective mechanisms fail. Under the influence of your own will, the magnetic field of the cells in the corresponding area causes them to necrotize. The cellular tissue structure then disintegrates on its own.
Once, someone conducted a similar experiment.
A death row inmate was locked in a room, unable to see, and restrained to a chair. He was told he would be executed by exsanguination. Then, carefully avoiding any major arteries, his executioners nicked his wrist and began to simulate the sound of dripping blood.
Logically, a healthy person’s body would have clotted the wound, which was not life-threatening. But when the experimenters opened the room half a day later, they found the prisoner dead, his wound completely healed.
When you "believe" you are dead, your body cannot continue to live.
Even without his full strength, and despite being thousands of miles away, as an Ancestral Level existence, Doctor Nightmare’s abilities were still beyond imagination.
"It seems you’ve begun to understand. Stop struggling. Otherwise, you might actually die."
Doctor Nightmare slowly approached. However, using such an ability was not without a cost—both for himself and for Hui Ming’s body.
Blood slowly trickled from his seven facial orifices, yet his gaze remained utterly unchanged.
With a light tap of his finger, the illusory, gray-mist chains piercing Zhang Dongwei’s body contracted sharply.
SLAM!!
Zhang Dongwei’s massive body was slammed to the ground, completely bound. Even knowing it was all an illusion, he simply could not move his body.
It was just like a Nightmare: his mind was awake, but his body refused to move.
