Chapter 71: Detonation Is an Art
The silence in the entire Jinling City Sports Stadium lasted a long while.
Reflected on the big screen was a scene of unspeakable carnage—shattered bones, spurting blood, scattered flesh... It all burst outward, like ink splattered by an artist’s flung brush.
Such a shocking image… Since the Dreamwalker Rookie Invitational began, nothing like this had ever occurred—a Dream Fiend exploding alive, as if a bomb had detonated within its body.
If a scene so visceral appeared in a movie, it would be banned from screening for fear of terrifying children. Yet here and now, it was laid bare before every spectator’s eyes.
On the LCD screen, Du Fang’s entire trench coat had turned blood red. A cold, mournful aura spread relentlessly from his body.
But what truly jolted the audience out of their stunned silence was not the gore, but the look on Du Fang’s face—panic-stricken, utterly at a loss—and the single word he uttered:
“Frame-up.”
The villain cries foul first.
Du Fang was genuinely flustered, even a bit bewildered. Events had spiraled far beyond his expectations. Wasn’t this cell supposed to hold a Dream Fiend of unforgivable evil? Wasn’t it supposed to be ferocious, swearing to rip Du Fang to pieces?
And yet, this was all? So fragile? So quick to fake an injury?
But then Du Fang realized—perhaps… it wasn’t faked at all?
After all, who would frame someone by blowing themselves to pieces? No one would be so brainless, nor should such behavior insult the art of feigning injury.
Which meant that Dream Fiend… was caught in the blast of his wife’s “Red Garment State” ability?
Du Fang gasped.
Red Garment State… Is it really this powerful?
He glanced down at his own coat, crimson as fresh blood, fluttering and billowing with excitement even though there was no wind—radiating a jubilant, exultant mood.
The red garment… has a mood of its own?
Du Fang felt even more bewildered, suddenly finding his wife’s ability hard to comprehend.
Nearby, little Luoluo hugged her pink pig plushie, giggling nonstop. Watching Daddy use Mommy’s Red Garment State always felt a bit odd.
“Mommy’s Red Garment State is a domain-type amplification ability. Right now, Daddy is still too weak to wield its full power; its range only covers about a meter around him. But once Daddy’s strength grows…”
Luoluo tilted her head with a cheerful smile.
“When the Red Garment is unleashed, the land runs crimson for a thousand miles!”
...
On the viewing platform.
President Tang Nai of the Dreamwalker Association leaned on his cane, eyes fixed on the scene inside the cell.
He watched the Dream Fiend explode into bloody fragments, his expression unchanged; but when he turned his gaze to Du Fang, a grave look appeared on his wrinkled face, and his posture straightened unconsciously.
As a city-level Dreamwalker, Tang Nai’s eyes were keen.
“A transformation-type special ability?” he murmured softly. “Or perhaps… a domain?”
Tang Nai’s voice was not suppressed, and the senior members of the Jinling Dreamwalker Association nearby all looked startled.
“A domain, you say?”
“President Tang Nai, are you sure it’s a domain?”
“Wait a minute… Isn’t this the youth who was reported as the possessor of the Infinite Dream Spirit? Wasn’t it said he hadn’t awakened any special abilities? How could he possess a domain?”
Many executives spoke up, but upon pulling up Du Fang’s file, they were all dumbfounded.
Tang Nai’s white hair fluttered in the breeze. He closed his eyes briefly to sense the field, then opened them slowly.
A smile appeared on his deeply lined face. “Most likely a transformation-type special ability… However, at the moment it erupted, the Dream Spirit activity around that boy reached a staggering intensity, unleashing terrifying power. Such a surge isn’t something an ordinary physical-type Dreamwalker’s transformation could achieve—it’s reminiscent of Zhang Changlin’s Lionfire State, perhaps even stronger.”
Tang Nai’s analysis went straight to the heart of the matter.
“A transformation-type special ability like this may not be weaker than some of the lesser domains. Still, he’s likely just awakened this power and isn’t adept at controlling it. Such an outburst would drain vast amounts of Dream Spirit—it’s not worth the cost.”
“But once he masters it, this boy… will definitely become an ace among Dreamwalkers!”
Tang Nai’s face broke into a broad smile.
The Yangtze’s waves forever push the old before the new, and Tang Nai naturally hoped the new wave would be ever stronger.
To see a powerful Dreamwalker emerge—it’s a fortune for the whole city, the entire nation, and its people.
“This young man has awakened a special ability. Update his file, add a rating for his special ability—grade it as ‘Exceptional,’” Tang Nai ordered.
Only domain-level special abilities typically receive this grade. Very few special abilities are rated Exceptional because domain-type Dreamwalkers are so rare. According to the world’s strongest Dreamwalker, each mature domain-type Dreamwalker rules over a world.
They are as gods.
“Exceptional grade? President Tang Nai… isn’t that overestimating him? The Infinite Dream Spirit, combined with this transformation-type special ability—doesn’t that seem too bizarre?”
“Isn’t there a possibility this boy has been possessed by a powerful Dream Fiend?”
“President, shouldn’t you personally investigate?”
A senior member in a black suit expressed concern.
Tang Nai tapped his cane, glancing at him coolly. “Setting aside the issue of invading Du Fang’s privacy—have you forgotten the basics? If he had transformed, wouldn’t you be able to tell if he were a Dream Fiend?”
His words silenced the executives.
Indeed, if a Dream Fiend transforms, its identity is laid bare—the strange, violent aura from the Dream Calamity would be impossible to conceal.
Tang Nai shook his head and turned his attention to Du Fang, his red coat billowing in the arena. In his eyes, it was as if a fire burned.
“Infinite Dream Spirit, transformation-type special ability…”
“Perhaps our Jinling City…”
“…may have a shot at producing the national champion!”
The old man leaned on his cane, eyes filled with gratification and hope, murmuring softly.
...
In the audience, Zhang Changlin held a cigarette, half-burned without him noticing.
Si Nan, Zhao Lu, Su Jiuming, and others were all stunned.
The image on the screen landed like a heavy punch on their chests.
“That…that’s Du Fang?”
The red-haired, alternative-styled Si Nan swallowed hard.
Was this the same Du Fang who’d joked and chatted with them so amiably the past few days? Was this a rookie?
The Dream Fiend in the first cell was weak, yes, but still could rival a lower-ranked Dreamwalker. Even Si Nan herself would have a hard time dealing with it.
But Du Fang…
He didn’t even touch it—just obliterated the Dream Fiend outright.
Like a crimson firework, it exploded to pieces.
After her initial shock, Si Nan’s excitement nearly made her want to whip out her oversized gun and fire a few rounds into the sky, just to vent her thrill.
“Captain Zhang, with Brother Du on the team, this is Wildfire’s best chance in years!”
Beside her, Su Jiuming clapped a hand over his mouth, his pink suit-clad body quivering with excitement.
“Oh oh oh! So brutal—I love it!”
To treat Dream Fiends so ruthlessly, to see such bloody carnage—this is the art of explosion! The kind of art that makes the heart race, that draws you in, that you simply can’t resist!
Su Jiuming… absolutely loved it.
“My little Du Du, as expected!”
He acted just like an infatuated schoolgirl.
“Oh oh oh, Brother Du! Brother Du!”
“My Brother Du is invincible!”
The assistant screamed, and behind him, rows of spectators—hundreds at least—rose to their feet, shouting wildly, waving placards with Du Fang’s name, some weeping, some fainting from excitement.
Su Jiuming turned back numbly, feeling his own fangirling utterly outshone.
This was…over the top.
“One hundred for placard-waving, two hundred for crying, four hundred for fainting…”
“The assistant hired a hype crew.”
Zhang Changlin, in his wheelchair, spoke dryly.
“But still, Du Fang… that kid is a bit violent.”
“Maybe last night’s trip to the foot massage parlor was too intense—it awakened the animal inside him?”
Zhang Changlin exhaled smoke, smacking his lips.
He wondered, should every future Wildfire recruit be taken to the foot massage parlor for a bloody baptism, to make it a tradition?
...
Du Fang exchanged a few words with the Dreamwalker referee, whose face and clothes were speckled with blood and gore.
After all, Du Fang was genuinely afraid that killing a Dream Fiend might disqualify him from the Invitational. That prize money, to Du Fang, was like a cooked duck flying off the table.
He’d be heartbroken.
“Don’t worry. These Dream Fiends are all convicted of heinous crimes and sentenced to death. They deserve to die.”
“But if you can avoid killing them, please do. We need to leave some for the other contestants to face,” the referee said calmly, wiping the blood and bits off his face.
“That’s a relief,” Du Fang sighed.
“Please proceed to the next cell to face the next Dream Fiend,” the referee instructed.
Du Fang walked out of the cell spotless, a stark contrast to the blood-soaked referee. To an uninformed onlooker, it would’ve seemed the referee was the one battling the Dream Fiend.
“My wife’s ‘Red Garment State’ is a bit overpowered. I need to learn to control it,” Du Fang mused.
He then stepped into the second cell.
Inside was a frail girl in prison garb, delicate of appearance, her braided hair falling over her shoulders.
She blinked at the handsome Du Fang with a gentle, watery gaze.
The Dream Fiend girl fiddled with her braid as she slowly approached Du Fang.
“Big brother, please be gentle with me,” she said sweetly.
“All right,” Du Fang replied.
“Hee hee, big brother is so nice, I really like you.”
“Wife, Red—”
“Boom!”
Du Fang: “…”
...
Outside the cell, the referee silently removed his sunglasses, calmly wiped them clean, and then swiped blood and flesh from his face.
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