Chapter Twenty-Eight: My Captain Is Incredibly Brave

A dull thud resounded.

The third test tube, now utterly drained, slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor.

Su Xiaoyu’s eyes were bloodshot, her whole body trembling uncontrollably. Her dream spirit erupted once again, bracing itself against the surging tide of the expanding nightmare.

Beside her, the police chief watched with admiration. Thanks to Su Xiaoyu’s desperate resistance, the nightmare’s spread had been curbed. Residents from the school district’s surrounding apartment blocks were swiftly and efficiently evacuated, escaping the encroaching reach of the disaster.

In the distance,

One after another, dreamwalkers in black trench coats rushed to the scene. Some arrived on foot, others by bicycle, and still others astride small electric scooters. At the first call for aid, they had all hurried to the site of the calamity.

As the gathered dreamwalkers unleashed their collective spiritual force, the nightmare’s expansion was brought to a halt.

Su Xiaoyu collapsed to the ground, gazing at the now-contained disaster, a glimmer of happiness shining in her eyes. Though she was exhausted,

She was elated,

Her sense of accomplishment filled her spirit.

So this is what it feels like to fight for a dream—

How wonderful.

Suddenly.

All the dreamwalkers felt the pressure vanish. The nightmare they’d been containing shattered like a broken mirror, fragmenting in all directions.

The oppressive aura it had exuded dissolved as well.

“What’s this feeling…?”

“It seems the nightmare has been conquered… but we only just arrived.”

“Weren’t we told this could be a double-layered nightmare, and it might evolve into a high-grade one? How is it already over?”

“Who conquered it? Was it the Wildfire Squad?”

...

Perplexed and bewildered, the black-clad dreamwalkers exchanged glances. They had responded to calls for aid from all over Jiangling City, and upon arrival, the nightmare—rumored to be on the verge of reaching the ominous ninth grade—was already gone...

Relief was quickly followed by a sense of awe.

Nightmares only dissipated when conquered.

Their gazes settled on the members of the Wildfire Squad, still slumbering at the gates of First Girls’ High School.

“Good lord… Has Zhang Changlin gotten this strong?”

“We’ll know if it was him once he wakes up—just check if he shows any signs of battle.”

“If it really was Zhang Changlin, we need to reevaluate Wildfire Squad’s strength. Maybe… they have what it takes to challenge the city’s third gold-ranked team!”

“This could be Wildfire Squad’s best chance at the national Dreamwalker Tournament yet!”

...

Dreamwalkers, after all, are only human—just as prone to gossip as anyone else. With the threat gone, they relaxed and began to chat.

No one was in a rush to leave; since they’d come all this way, they might as well gather some juicy news to bring back.

Wen Ji soon arrived.

He quickly spotted Su Xiaoyu, slumped on the ground, short of breath and drained. Glancing at the shattered remains of three test tubes at her feet, Wen Ji immediately guessed what had transpired.

“How could you be so reckless!”

“If something had happened to you, how would I ever explain it to your grandfather!”

A mix of anger and relief colored Wen Ji’s words.

Su Xiaoyu lifted her head, beaming as she pointed at the dissipating nightmare.

“Wen Ji! I… I held it off!”

Wen Ji folded his arms, his stern demeanor faltering into a wry smile.

This girl...

She was impressive. Consuming three phials of Dream Spirit Spring in succession took no small measure of courage and resolve.

“There was no need to go this far. Not only did you waste three vials of Dream Spirit Spring, but you’ve exhausted yourself to this state… Was it worth it?”

“You’re just an assistant. All you need to do is look after Du Fang.”

Su Xiaoyu, however, tilted her chin, her voice carefree and delighted: “You just don’t understand dreams, Wen Ji!”

Wen Ji: “???”

Back when I was chasing my dreams, you were still an egg that hadn’t even been fertilized!

In the distance.

Exclamations erupted.

“They’re waking up! They’re coming to!”

“Look at Zhang Changlin!”

“Whoa, Zhang Changlin’s face is swollen, his lips are puffed up, his eyes are bruised—he looks brutalized!”

“My god, what kind of fierce battle did he go through?”

“See? Judging by those injuries… it must have been Zhang Changlin—no, Captain Zhang—who conquered the nightmare! The man who commands ‘Sequence—098’!”

“What a Zhang Changlin! What a Wildfire Squad!”

...

The dreamwalkers kept their eyes fixed on Zhang Changlin and his companions, still slumbering at the school gates. When dreamwalkers enter a nightmare, their bodies remain in place, asleep.

Because of the nature of nightmares, wounds suffered within them would manifest physically upon waking.

So when they saw Zhang Changlin’s battered, swollen face, every dreamwalker instantly understood. For Zhang Changlin to come out so bruised, he must have fought with everything he had within the nightmare.

...

...

Du Fang awoke peacefully.

All around him, the campus—now sealed off—lay quiet. Police tape stretched in a grid, fluttering gently in the wind.

He stretched, savoring the afterglow of a wonderful sleep.

His whole body felt refreshed, so comfortable he nearly let out a strange, contented sigh.

Really, this nightmare had been positively delightful.

A passionate schoolgirl in uniform,

A gentle, tender wife guiding him by the hand.

It was like fire and ice—an intoxicating contrast.

Du Fang almost lost himself in the experience, reluctant to leave.

The shouts from nearby snapped him out of the reverie before he could let out that odd sigh.

He caught snippets of admiration, all directed at Zhang Changlin—words tinged with awe and envy.

He paused, listened carefully for a moment, and took a deep breath.

“So Captain Zhang is that powerful? Battling fiercely against a high-grade nightmare’s fiend, coming out battered but ultimately victorious, conquering the disaster!”

“No wonder he’s the captain of a silver-ranked squad, an upper-tier dreamwalker!”

Du Fang was filled with awe and respect.

Joining the Wildfire Squad had been a wise choice indeed.

With someone as stalwart as Captain Zhang leading the way, he felt completely secure.

A smile of genuine happiness spread across Du Fang’s face. Now, bringing Luo Luo along to gain experience from nightmares would be safe and worry-free.

In the distance,

The rest of Wildfire Squad began to rouse.

Chen Xi was the first to awaken, the lingering dread in her eyes slowly fading. She began to reacquaint herself with the feeling of waking from a nightmare, letting her senses adjust to her surroundings.

And when she did, she froze.

All around, a crowd of dreamwalkers with shining eyes were staring at them—

More precisely,

They were all staring at Zhang Changlin’s bruised and swollen face.

Si Nan, Zhao Lu, and Su Jiuming woke up almost simultaneously.

They, too, were taken aback by the sight before them.

“None of them look hurt… So it must have been Captain Zhang who conquered the nightmare single-handedly!”

A bright-eyed young dreamwalker asked eagerly.

Si Nan, Zhao Lu, and Su Jiuming exchanged glances.

Truthfully, they were still a bit dazed and confused.

After all, the nightmare’s sudden collapse had been very strange.

“Could it really have happened as Captain said? Did he truly duel that monstrous hand for three hundred rounds and gravely wound it? Otherwise, how do you explain the nightmare’s end?”

Si Nan muttered, almost unable to believe it.

Is our captain really that formidable?

“Maybe… it really was the captain,” Zhao Lu said uncertainly.

After all, he was the captain.

“Of course, the captain is amazing—absolutely incredible.”

“As mighty and heroic as a horseman on the plains.”

Su Jiuming regarded Zhang Changlin’s battered face, blood trickling from a twisted nostril like a tiny snake.

Was it really the captain who conquered the nightmare?

Or could it be...

He glanced toward Du Fang, who was watching the scene with a bemused look from afar. Su Jiuming’s senses tingled, and a flicker of suspicion crossed his eyes.

Then, turning to the assembled dreamwalkers, he twirled a white rose and flashed a flirtatious smile.

Si Nan and Zhao Lu exchanged glances, then decided to go along with Su Jiuming’s lead.

Si Nan: “Our captain is the bravest. With one blade, he cut down a double-layered nightmare!”

Zhao Lu: “Whatever the case, the nightmare’s defeat is inextricably linked to our captain!”

With the Wildfire Squad’s confirmation,

The crowd of dreamwalkers was instantly electrified, gasping in amazement.

Zhang Changlin of the Wildfire Squad was on the rise!

To conquer a high-grade nightmare single-handedly—

That was the mark of a gold-ranked hero!

Meanwhile,

Zhang Changlin, his face swollen and bruised but grinning from ear to ear,

Awoke at last.