When Mu Guang saw this scene, he thought it was really stupid that this woman would agree to such a condition.

Then he saw the face of the so-called leader of the Sprouts, which looked exactly like Ye Nianzhen.

Seeing this scene, he suddenly felt a pricking sensation in his mind, as if some long-sealed memory was about to break through the soil, making him feel very uncomfortable.

The subsequent course of events is quite predictable: the leader of the Sprouts, who looks exactly like Ye Nianzhen and even shares the same name, walks right into the trap and is captured by the man in the dream's main perspective and taken back to the Eastern Base.

Back at the Eastern Base, the bespectacled man wasn't particularly surprised to see Ye Nianzhen. He seemed to have figured out the character of this budding leader and was certain she would come, which was why he devised this plan.

He adjusted his glasses, a mocking smile playing on his lips: "Heh, I knew you'd come. Now that you're here, you should know what's coming, right? This isn't some lounge you can just come and go as you please."

Mu Guang thought they would kill the woman, or at least torture her, but to his surprise, the bespectacled man simply led the leader of the Sprouts to a dimly lit basement filled with strange instruments. The instruments' gauges flashed with faint lights of various colors, like the breathing of some sleeping monster.

Then the bespectacled man asked the Sprout leader to lie down in one of the machines, which contained a strange solution that slowly covered the Sprout leader's body until his head was completely submerged in the solution.

Not long after entering the solution, the leader of the budding creatures fell into a coma. However, through the semi-transparent solution, one could see her eyeballs trembling rapidly beneath her eyelids, clearly indicating that she was trapped in some kind of unsettling dream.

The woman looked so much like Ye Nianzhen. Mu Guang felt uneasy watching this scene. Although he had always disliked Ye Nianzhen, his feelings didn't lie. He seemed to actually not want Ye Nianzhen to encounter anything bad.

This is when he heard the man from the main perspective speak. He said, "What a stupid woman. Since the end of the world, there are still such naive and foolish people. I'm actually a little moved, haha."

As he spoke, he pretended to wipe the corner of his eye with his hand, but of course he didn't wipe anything off.

Then he asked the bespectacled man, "Su Mo, is it okay now? When can I go inside your illusion-creating device to play?"

As he spoke, he walked over and poked a man who was already connected to the main interface of the instrument by all sorts of messy lines. The man looked emaciated, his eyes rolled back, and his skin was bluish-gray, almost like he was dead. However, his body was rising and falling slightly, indicating that he was still alive. His whole body was also immersed in that liquid, which should theoretically provide the basic nutrients needed by the human body. For some reason, the man was so thin. Perhaps the lines connected to him were absorbing some kind of energy from his body.

He poked the man, then felt disgusted by the nutrient solution on his hands, shook them off, and secretly rubbed them on the man's jacket.

Mu Guang: "..."

This guy is really asking for a beating.

The bespectacled man glanced at it indifferently, casually took off the clothes and threw them on the ground, then said, "Not yet. Don't make that face. I didn't mean to mess with you, but there are still too few real individuals in this illusion to support its operation. Once I invite a few more guests to join us, we can officially open this illusion. At that time, you can join in and do whatever you want."

The bespectacled man gave a sinister smile that sent chills down the spines of those who saw him.

The man in the first-person perspective shrugged and said, "Okay, but who are the guests you mentioned? Do you want me to bring them over for you?" He was really anxious, bored, and wanted to try something else exciting; he was tired of killing.

The bespectacled man thought for a moment, then said, "Recently, a few people in our base seem to be less on our side. This won't do, don't you think?"

Upon hearing this, the man in the first-person perspective seemed to suddenly realize something: "I know who you're talking about. Don't worry, leave it to me!"

The bespectacled man patted him on the shoulder: "We still need to be careful, but don't worry, if you encounter any danger, I'll take action. Let's keep each other on the right track, Mu Guang."

Upon hearing this, Mu Guang, who was outside the dream, was somewhat stunned.

Using the reflection from the instrument's casing in his dream, he happened to see a face exactly like his own now. The only difference was that this face looked a few years older than his, and its expression was colder. Although it was smiling, the smile didn't reach its eyes, giving people a strange sense of disconnect.

Mu Guang thought to himself that if he were to become a complete villain, he would indeed look like the one in the reflection.

So, what exactly is all of this?

Was it truly a dream, or a hallucination deliberately created for him? Or...?

reality?

He didn't pay much attention to the developments at this stage, but when he saw some key events, he would suddenly come to his senses.

For example, he saw many familiar faces. The first one was a man who looked exactly like Mingyuan, but he looked very thin and his demeanor was not as cheerful as Mingyuan in his memory. He looked like he was used to being bullied and didn't seem to have any special abilities. He was probably very weak in combat.

He was captured and easily put into the machine.

The second one is Luo Shui. This Luo Shui looks a few years older than the Luo Shui he knows, but still has a youthful appearance. His hair has grown quite a bit, with bangs covering his eyes and the rest of his hair tied in a low ponytail. His expression has a faint gloomy look.

He is a very strong superhuman. Mu Guang is a beastman and doesn't know much about the levels of human superhumans, but he judges that Luo Shui's level should be the highest level of human superhumans, which is level 5.

He appeared to have been drugged when he was captured, and he had some injuries on his body. He stared fiercely at the man with glasses, as if he wanted to tear a piece of flesh off his body.

But he was still unable to resist and was put into the machine's sleep pod.

The third one was actually Qin Qiu...?

This incredibly powerful beastman, even in human form, was the strongest ability user and henchman. Yet, Qin Qiu before him had empty eyes, as if he had forgotten all memories of himself and others. He was just a mindless puppet who blindly obeyed someone's orders. Now that he was no longer needed, he was casually discarded in the recycling center to be exploited for his remaining value.