Chapter 128: Chapter 122 Gao Ge 1 Chapter 128: Chapter 122 Gao Ge 1 He had to first figure out who his enemies were before he could plan his next moves based on the specific information. This was a strategy Lin Fei had set from the start. Before heading to Coastal City this time, there was another matter he needed to handle.

The Dream Eaters and Awakeners referred to by Shuang’er were actually not recorded in any of the Shueisha’s documents.

The quiet archive room.

“Thank you.” Lin Fei handed the last related document he had to the librarian—a middle-aged man wearing thick glasses.

“No need to thank me, the president’s orders were to fully cooperate with your requests.” The librarian responded politely. He didn’t look down on Lin Fei because of his young age.

“However,” he adjusted his glasses, “what you probably need is records related to Dream abilities, right?”

Lin Fei nodded, “Do you have any suggestions?”

“Actually, Dream ability users have always belonged to the field with the least amount of information. They keep to themselves, completely isolated from the outside world, making it very difficult for outsiders to grasp their true forms. This also results in continuous attacks even if someone manages to fight back against them in the dreamscape. Eventually, no one wanted to deal with them anymore. Now, we basically don’t have any connection with the dreamscape. Naturally, there are specialized personnel responsible for this at higher levels.” The librarian was quite knowledgeable and once he started talking, a lot came out.

“I see,” Lin Fei nodded with a smile, “Is there any more information?”

“That’s all there is,” the man said helplessly, spreading his hands. “After all, there’s too little information about them.”

“Thank you for your help,” Lin Fei stood up, smiling.

“No trouble at all, it’s my duty.” For some reason, the middle-aged librarian inexplicably felt honored by the gratitude of this young man, much younger than himself.

After leaving the place, Lin Fei went straight to the place he rented for Shuang’er.

Among a row of little bungalows on the outer ring road of Ping City, the one furthest in was where Shuang’er lived.

Because it was dark, the place seemed damp, but this was the result of Shuang’er’s strong insistence; originally, Lin Fei planned to rent a better place for her, but Shuang’er always insisted on refusing, and eventually, she ended up here—the place she remembered her parents leaving her behind for the last time.

The old grey walls, the uneven cement slabs, and occasionally in the alleys, you could see elderly men and women burning coals outside to boil water.

Lin Fei walked along the alley, heading straight inside. The children who scurried past him from time to time cast curious glances. Next to the bungalow, sometimes the sounds of conversation and children’s cries could be heard from inside.

This was the poorest corner of Ping City. Without comparison.

Those living here were either itinerant vendors among the migrant population or low-income professions like manual laborers. Naturally, neither the cultural level nor the average standard was very high. If it wasn’t for Shuang’er’s attachment to this place, Lin Fei wouldn’t have rented such an environment for her.

When he reached the furthest bungalow, an unkempt bearded uncle passing by gave Lin Fei a disgusting smile, as if implying he knew something. Lin Fei ignored him, pulled out the keys, and went straight to open the door.

He saw Shuang’er sitting on the sofa watching TV, hugging a little teddy bear.

Click.

The door gently closed. As soon as Lin Fei entered, Shuang’er jumped off the sofa and hurried over, tossing the teddy bear aside.

“Shuang’er is such a good girl.” Lin Fei affectionately pinched the little girl’s right cheek.

“Brother, let me take that for you.” Shuang’er took the scarf Lin Fei had removed.

“Thanks.” Lin Fei would pick up Shuang’er every day and hang around for a while, so they both were very familiar with this routine. This kind of life had been going on for nearly three weeks.

“Shuang’er, I need you to talk to brother about the dream today, okay?” Lin Fei sat on the sofa and set the TV to mute.

“Okay.” Shuang’er nodded in front of Lin Fei. She was wearing a newly bought black lace dress with her favorite black stockings and red leather boots underneath. Her long pigtails were tied with black and white ribbons into large butterfly bows. If it weren’t for the small black patch on her left cheek, she would look like a very pretty little Lolita.

“Let’s start with the composition of the Dreamers,” Lin Fei said, pulling Shuang’er down to sit beside him.

“Alright~~~” The soft and sticky child’s voice made Lin Fei relax a bit. He had been on the verge of a breakthrough in the next Sword Art lately, with each technique of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art becoming increasingly difficult in the later stages. Hence, he was always tense, constantly guiding his True Force in practice every moment. But after Shuang’er came into his life, he could relax a bit at this time each day, which currently seemed no small feat to Lin Fei.

The prolonged intense self-discipline had made him forget what it meant to relax, what comfort felt like. Even though it was solely to avoid repeating the same mistakes from his past life in the attack after college graduation, Lin Fei still felt as though something subconscious was constantly urging him to become insanely strong. There was not a single moment to pause.

“In places you can’t see, there will always be people who put in more effort than you, and even those who never rest, they too will have someone over them. This is the world. If you rest for even a little while, you might always be a little bit behind others. Just because you can’t see, doesn’t mean others will stop and wait for you. The world is that cruel. It doesn’t care how strong you are, but how much stronger you are than the others.” This was the truth Lin Fei had always believed in.

People, in reality, are not much different in their physical makeup, but some are strong, and some are weak, and it all boils down to this. Perhaps there is no one stronger than you around, maybe everyone around you is resting, maybe no one near you is more diligent. But what about beyond your immediate surroundings?

People’s lives are made up of one circle after another, from low to high, or from high to low, and every time you jump out of one circle, there will always be someone stronger than you. There will always be someone weaker than you.

However, failure only has one chance. For Lin Fei, losing meant there were no more opportunities. Losing meant death. As long as there was one person who was stronger than him, then the outcome could very well be irreversible.

This was his biggest concern.

He did not want to die, the world was so vast, and there was so much unknown for him to explore, to learn. So colorful, so diverse.

So, for the potential enemy, the Holy See, Lin Fei had developed a series of plans.

But no matter the plan, both strength and influence were indispensable.

The current issue was that his strength had entered a slow growth phase, which was the right time to focus on developing influence.

Part of Lin Fei’s plan included using Shueisha as a platform to integrate national resources, which was an initial goal. To achieve this, he would have to wait for a high position in Shueisha.

In Lin Fei’s view, this organization seemed rather strange and scattered.

On one hand, there seemed to be a taste of meritocracy; on the other, it also appeared to conform to the gambits of the upper echelons in the style of Hua Nation. Or perhaps, it might be a struggle between two factions and ideologies, with one side prevailing at times and the other at different times. Perhaps this was the fundamental reason for the organization’s erratic style.

But anyway, the merit-based system suited the supporters who were more in line with Lin Fei’s plans.

Sitting on the sofa, Shuang’er began to describe the entire circle of Dreamers in a soft voice.

Even though Shuang’er’s original words were fragmented and mixed with many incorrect words and phrases, Lin Fei still understood all of the content and after reorganizing it… translated into normal language it became…

“We Dreamers divide the world into three kinds of people: ordinary people, Awakeners, and Dream Eaters.” Of course, Shuang’er, who was not even ten years old, did not say it exactly like this. “I am a Dream Eater, at the top of the food chain. The Awakeners, hidden among the ordinary people, are the special ones who can freely manipulate their own dreams. Because Awakeners have much more time than average people, they often appear exceptionally intelligent and excellent. They can enter ordinary people’s dreams at will and can suggest dreams to ordinary people through methods similar to hypnosis, making them unconsciously fulfill their purposes. And we Dream Eaters are high-level Awakeners who specifically prey on Awakeners.”

“The basic system is clear, what about the specific composition?” Lin Fei asked.