Chapter 2939: Thirteen Minus One (End of Book)

He finally seemed to know what the endless architectural fragments actually represented.

The groans he could hear with his own ears clearly proved the Old Doctor right—Serana was indeed waking up, and certain barriers were even breaking down.

As for how his zero inspiration could be bypassed to let him observe Serana's movements, Fu Qian didn't think it was impossible—

For instance, his inspiration might still be zero, but Serana had simply become visible without needing inspiration.

It was yet another proof that the current order of the dream was collapsing.

At that moment, however, Fu Qian wasn't paying much attention to the protagonist of this ritual. Instead, his focus was largely on the IV tube that had ultimately gone unused.

Even though "you can find anything by the sea," a medical kit this complete was still hard to explain away so simply.

And after their recent exchange, despite the Old Doctor's lack of professionalism, his intent to heal the sick and save lives was genuine.

Considering the nature of the sea of mind, could these items be a manifestation of that intent?

Had the Old Doctor found this equipment by the sea simply because he wanted to?

Following that logic, what were the omnipresent architectural fragments that had piled up to form the garden's foundation a manifestation of? Faith.

Looking back along the way, whether in the Furnace or the Bottom Layer of the Dream, those fragments all displayed distinct religious elements. Drawing an analogy to the medical equipment in front of him, could they represent shattered faith?

As for why there were so many of them—had the Old Doctor's faith collapsed that severely?

Not necessarily the Old Doctor's, but there was still Annalise.

As someone who had likely been personally backstabbed by the very object of her faith, plunging into almost eternal damnation, it was perfectly normal for her resentment to pile up a bit over the millennia, right?

In short, just like the flowers beneath their feet and the moon overhead, all of these elements were here for a reason.

Based on the Blood Nova, they were a manifested convergence of concepts related to Annalise and even the moon.

But if that was the case, whose resentment were the ones in the Furnace?

Surely it couldn't be that through some unknown, bizarre connection, Annalise's resentment had transmitted over there too?

Under such a premise, the Old Doctor's abrupt appearance here suddenly felt far more mysterious—it truly seemed as if his existence was tied to the survival of the dream.

As Fu Qian watched, the Old Doctor proceeded to personally prove what he had just said.

In the span of a single breath, the silent, head-bowed man began to dissipate just like the other items, his body rapidly growing hazy.

"Ugh... Ah—"

Excellency Serana's groans echoed in his ears. She sounded increasingly lucid, and a distinct outline even began to faintly materialize.

Whether she had reached Tier 2 was hard to say, but she at least hadn't perished in a medical malpractice incident.

It seemed it was just about time.

Finally withdrawing his gaze, Fu Qian looked up at the massive bright moon one last time, just as he had when he first arrived here.

To his surprise, even the latter was scattering specks of light like fireflies.

Coupled with its overall brightness increasing slightly, at a glance it looked as though the moonlight were burning.

Normally speaking, once this lunar fire incinerated the dream before his eyes, he should wake up next—wait, what was that?

Just as all things withered and everything moved toward collapse, Fu Qian noted an unexpected movement beside Serana's shadow.

The already crude ground was actually bulging upward into a lump, and it was continuously growing larger.

...

This scene was seemingly familiar.

It was more efficient than Serana's appearance, but he could still tell the lump was struggling to bulge upward, giving Fu Qian a profound sense of familiarity. Clatter—

In the very next moment, that sense of familiarity was validated.

After rapidly swelling to almost half the height of a person, the lump burst open from the inside, revealing a clustered mass of figures.

With massive heads and bizarrely proportioned bodies, they were none other than a group of small, fleshless skeletons.

That's right. They were the little messengers that had once delivered gifts to him on behalf of the Red Moon.

Tiny and seemingly devoid of any combat power, they nevertheless appeared quite adept at running errands.

As for why they had rushed here at this moment—was the Red Moon doing its best to report that it was safe?

As its exclusive messengers, Fu Qian tended to interpret their every action as the will of the Red Moon.

Therefore, this sudden change could entirely lead to some promising conjectures.

For instance, the Red Moon's danger had been completely resolved, and it was using this method to inform him and remind him not to worry too much.

Secondly, the fact that these messengers could trek all the way here to appear in the Bottom Layer of the Dream like this—did it imply that the Red Moon already had a certain degree of control over this place?

If so, his earlier analogy seemed to be confirmed: Annalise was just like Master Yuhun. Her scheming had backfired, causing her to give away all her assets... Furthermore, there was another very important reason for this judgment—although the little messengers were still gesticulating wildly, their upraised palms were completely empty.

Coming empty-handed meant they weren't here to deliver items, so they had to be here to deliver a message, right?

At least in Fu Qian's eyes, this line of reasoning was flawless.

But while he felt relieved for the Red Moon, there still seemed to be one small problem—weren't there a few too many messengers?

Even though they clearly struggled to appear, there were far more of them than before.

A full twelve of them.

...

It wasn't a good omen.

Counting the little messengers, Fu Qian sighed inwardly at that moment.

He wasn't being needlessly pessimistic; mainly, this number was just truly bizarre.

Since he believed the messengers were here to deliver a message, he naturally couldn't overlook a single detail.

The abnormality in their numbers clearly defied common sense.

And the reason he considered this number special was very simple—exactly one day had passed since the end of the Demon Mountain Mission.

And during that mission, he had obtained the number thirteen.

So, did the Warehouse's hint at the time truly mean he only had thirteen days left? The final day was impending?

It was arguably the worst possible scenario.

Had the Red Moon sensed something as well, gritting its teeth to expend extra effort to remind him through this method—creating a literal countdown?

At that moment, as Fu Qian watched the lunar fire that seemed on the verge of burning out, it felt incredibly fitting for the occasion—especially when, in the very next moment, the lunar fire shattered with a boom.

...

"You're awake?"

As the world before his eyes finished shifting, Chief Yuan's cordial greeting rang in his ears.

This line was truly fitting.

'Did I really make it back?' Recalling his conversation with the Old Doctor during his first mission, Fu Qian sat up straight.

Gazing at a peculiarly styled figure on the high platform ahead, and observing the significantly extended Health Bar under his Vision Radar, he gave a slight nod.

"The surgery was a success."