After nightfall, Roland finally drove everyone back to Six Mile Pavilion—the district where the book first entered the dream world.
Like the tube-shaped apartment complex, it was an old street with a long history. However, compared to the former, it was more commercially oriented. There were many convenience stores, small restaurants, KTVs, and internet cafes on both sides of the street, all of which were small in scale. The main customers were nearby office workers and students.
Although the environment looked a bit dirty and chaotic, it was actually more suitable for the book to hide its identity.
The entrance and exit of the docking point were right next to the street. From the outside, it was no different from an ordinary iron gate. As for whether this gate was originally there or appeared after the book entered the dream world, Roland didn't know. However, this location was obviously extremely important, and he was already considering whether to acquire the shops on both sides through the association and the Three Leaves Group.
After all, the book's consciousness domain could only carry one God's Punishment Witch, and there would still be some danger if multiple Fallen Evils were targeting it. As the key figure in passing on knowledge, obviously no risks could be taken. If a dozen or so combat witches could be stationed around the docking point, the safety would undoubtedly be higher.
Taking advantage of the sparse flow of people, Roland conducted the final round of testing on the mutual influence between the two consciousness domains.
When the dream world stopped running, no matter where the book was, it would be excluded from the dream and returned to the small archive.
This was also the biggest difference between it and the God's Punishment Witches.
Although the latter's consciousness would return to their bodies, their position in the dream world would be fixed at the moment of departure. This was why Roland asked them to concentrate their entry and exit as much as possible in the Rose Cafe or the adjacent warehouse—otherwise, when personnel changed, someone might disappear out of thin air.
The book's problem was obviously more serious.
At least in an emergency, the God's Punishment Witches could maintain a "seamless connection" with Roland by entering and exiting together, but the book could not do this. This also meant that every time it entered the dream, it had to start from the archive, and when it exited the dream, it had to end in the archive.
However, considering that as long as the book was taught how to use a mobile phone, it would be possible to ensure that both parties were in the correct position before waking up, and that Faldi's magic insects were always monitoring this area, it wasn't a difficult problem to solve.
This rule also applied in reverse.
When the book actively left its consciousness domain, the God's Punishment Witches and Roland in the domain would be forcibly ejected. The former would return to their real bodies, and the latter would appear at the iron gate. The feeling was not good, like riding a roller coaster.
And the last point was quite unexpected for Roland.
After the book left the consciousness realm first, the iron gate still existed, but behind it was neither a wall nor the small gray room, but a void of red.
That was the symbol of erosion.
According to Garcia, erosion rifts were not something that could be seen everywhere. Places where they existed were generally guarded by association staff. In other words, this piece of erosion should have been brought by the archive.
Sure enough, the relationship between consciousness domains was not simply one of containment and accommodation. Roland realized that they were all part of the consciousness realm, occupying the power from the source of magic. The most appropriate interpretation was probably that one rose and the other fell. This was also in line with Lan's statement—as long as the dream world devoured more cores, he would have the opportunity to invade the realm of the gods.
Another question arose.
If the consciousness domains of other high-level devils entered the range of his Key's Light Pillar, what changes would occur in the dream world?
Could they also appear in this city like the book?
……
The next day, Roland received the latest news from the front line.
Two sheets of paper were folded separately in the envelope. One was written to him by Wendy, who first briefly described the witches' recent situation, and then focused on Nana Wawa. Payne.
The little girl who had been following the Witches' Alliance all the way had finally ushered in her adulthood.
And like Anna, Lucia, and others, her magic also condensed at the moment of her adulthood. According to the federation's classification, she could be considered a veritable high-level witch.
The specific ability content was not elaborated in the letter, perhaps because everyone was too busy, or perhaps Nana Wawa's magic was too precious to be spent on testing... However, Roland didn't care about this moment. To him, the most important thing was that Nana Wawa had safely crossed this threshold.
And the other sheet of paper was much thicker.
It contained both the First Army's report and the plan submitted by the General Staff—this was also a major drawback of the existing information transmission channels. In order to save transportation resources, the front line would often wait until the matters that needed to be reported had accumulated to a certain extent before sending them back to Neverwinter City. Therefore, even though it was the same letter, some content would differ in time by several days or half a month.
When he flipped to the end, Roland's brows suddenly furrowed.
"What happened?" Nightingale, who was guarding beside him, asked.
"The devils have launched a full-scale attack on the First Army's position." He said in a deep voice, "—Just a week ago!"
……
Wolfheart, Windhowl Keep.
The shrill alarm sounded again over the city.
This was the third time since sunrise today.
"Damn monsters, don't they know fatigue?" Judah spat heavily on the ground, took out a paper bag from his arms, and poured it for a long time but couldn't pour anything out.
"Here." A hand suddenly stretched out from beside him, "Is this what you're looking for?"
Judah turned his head and found that the speaker was Fara, and what the other party handed over was a small white pill.
"You... don't you need this?" He hesitated and picked up the pill.
"I'm not as fragile as you, it's just a day or two without sleep," Fara replied expressionlessly, "Besides, I hate these things, who knows what it's made of! I advise you to eat less of it."
"Maybe you're right," Judah sighed and threw the pill into his mouth, "But at least it can keep me alive for the time being."
As the medicine dissolved on his tongue, an extremely bitter taste quickly filled his mouth. At the same time, the bone-chilling cold, the dizzying drowsiness, and the fatigue all seemed to be swept away, and even his stiff fingers and limbs became flexible. He felt that he had become the sharp hunter again, instead of a exhausted prey waiting to be slaughtered.
This is the feeling—
Judah picked up his spear and steadily placed it on the firing position.
These medicines were distributed to every soldier as supplies half a month ago. Their official name is Delaying Agent, but everyone prefers to call them Infallible Pills. As long as you take one, you can completely shield the pain of the body, until it bursts out after several hours.
Although some sand people were quite resistant to this drug at first, and even associated it with the legendary Berserk Pills, such voices soon disappeared. The reason is that the First Army does not force the use of Delaying Agents, and also noted the characteristics of its sequelae on the packaging bag, requiring that it not be taken continuously—this practice is completely different from those rumors Judah heard about the Third Princess.
In addition to the Sand People troops, those Northerners also received Delaying Agents, even the officers were no exception, which dispelled most people's doubts. Some people even said that the medicine could have been made fragrant and sweet, but it was added with a bitter taste to prevent someone from eating it as a snack.
And when the devils launched a frenzied attack, this white pill immediately won the trust of all the soldiers—facing the enemy's attacks from morning to night, Judah couldn't imagine how he could have endured dozens of hours in such high-intensity combat with almost no rest without Delaying Agents.
As an experienced hunter, he naturally understood how big the difference was between entering the battle in good condition and fighting continuously with fatigue.
As long as it doesn't kill him immediately, he can accept even the most serious sequelae.