Chapter 111 Never stop learning

Lewis dodged the last two paper generals who were trying to catch up with him. The two paper generals who managed to catch up were pounced on by the army ants before they could even swing their swords again. They could only watch as Lewis disappeared into the distance.

The success of this raid was due to the evenly matched strength of Fabre and Pu Songling, Lewis's perfect timing, and perhaps a little bit of luck, but Lewis did indeed escape the battlefield.

"call……"

Lewis breathed a sigh of relief after hiding in a building and making sure he wouldn't be found anytime soon. He then plopped down on the ground and took out his pocket watch.

"Now it's my turn to step up my game."

After shifting his position on the ground to make sure he wouldn't be jostled out of the dream, Lewis stared at the constantly spinning second hand and activated his supernatural ability.

As the drowsiness of "dream wandering" gradually emerged, Lewis slowly deepened into the dream without any interference. He could no longer see the pocket watch in his hand, and some absurd scenes gradually appeared.

A teapot and chairs suspended in mid-air, a bizarre alarm clock with a human-like figure, enormous and broken chess pieces, and playing cards and books scattered all over the floor...

That was Lewis's dream, a scene he was already very familiar with.

But before those absurd scenes familiar to Lewis could solidify before his eyes, dozens of heavily painted, hunched, and emaciated figures suddenly appeared from his blind spot and rushed forward.

These "people" are completely different from Lewis's dream. If Lewis's dream is a broken toy house, then these figures rushing up are like freehand ink splashes, completely different in every aspect.

These figures, like street thugs who had been waiting for someone all morning and were getting impatient, or a group of high school students who hadn't eaten breakfast and whose teacher was going overtime for the last class at noon, pounced on Lewis like wolves with ferocious faces. As if afraid of being a step too slow, they kept pushing and shoving forward, and in the blink of an eye, they completely surrounded Lewis.

Lewis: ?

The group of people who rushed towards Lewis had a clear purpose. Some threw punches, some kicked, and several others grabbed chess pieces, chairs, and bricks from the surrounding area and attacked Lewis. It was a chaotic beating, just like a street brawl.

Lewis also noticed that several of them, unable to squeeze in, simply stood on the periphery and threw things like alarm clocks and teapots at Lewis, not caring whether they hit Lewis or their companions.

The remaining few, who hadn't even managed to grab the alarm clock and teapot, simply stood there chattering away—in Lewis's experience, these were probably cursing. Since they couldn't get close enough, they were trying to mentally attack their opponents.

Surrounded and beaten, and not fully in a dream, Lewis was powerless to fight back. He could only be pinned to the ground and beaten in a daze, before being kicked back to reality by someone in a daze.

In reality, Lewis, who had just woken up, jumped up from the ground with a start and subconsciously patted himself off.

There were no wounds or bruises.

Lewis, who was certain he felt no pain whatsoever, rubbed his temples—he was also full of energy and showed no signs of injury whatsoever.

Clearly, although Lewis was punched in the sleep and kicked awake, the experience left him with no lasting effects.

But he woke up.

Lewis: The whole person cracked open.

—Fabre, who was having a heated argument with Pu Songling, was surprised to see Lewis, who had finally managed to leave, run back from a distance and look at the composed Pu Songling with a resentful expression.

"What...what is that?"

“【The Sleepless Ones】.” Pu Songling answered Lewis’s question kindly, ““The strange ones who are irritable due to chronic insomnia and who are useless except for constantly disturbing people’s sleep in their dreams. However, I sent more to increase the effect, so there may be some other variations.”

Lewis: It wasn't just a little change; those bastards beat me out of there.

In any case, it's clear that he has a bad temper.

After being kicked out the first time, Lewis tried to enter the dream several more times. But each time, before he could even enter the dream, he was surrounded and beaten by a group of "sleepless people," and then someone would knock him out of the dream with a blunt object.

The last time, Lewis didn't even fight back; he just stood there and cursed at those dozens of strange men. The good news is that those strange men didn't actually hit him that time. But the bad news is that Lewis felt he hadn't won the argument…

Moreover, Lewis was ultimately jolted out of his dream by a teapot flying towards him, leaving him even more frustrated.

The "sleepless person" is basically harmless. Although it can disturb people's sleep, it is only effective if the sleeping person is dreaming. If the person is so tired that they fall into a deep sleep and have no dreams all night, the "sleepless person" can do nothing about it. From all aspects, it is useless.

But why is attribute counterplay considered such a magical thing? The mighty "Mad Knight" Lewis was completely countered by this seemingly useless thing.

Fabre didn't know exactly what had happened, but he could at least tell that Lewis's ability had malfunctioned, meaning that Plan A had failed.

But that doesn't matter, they have backup plans.

After realizing there was no shortcut, Fabre decisively took out several more cans of army ants and scattered them on the battlefield.

The number of army ants doubled, and the two sides, which were originally evenly matched, suddenly became an overwhelming force. The strange creatures, which could have relied on their numbers to fight back, were now being forced to retreat in the face of twice their number of enemies.

Fabre didn't relax; instead, he continued to watch the unhurried Pu Songling with a furrowed brow—he was certain Pu Songling still had some trump cards up his sleeve. However, he couldn't be sure what those cards were, or to what extent they could be used.

Is it hopeless, a stalemate, or a direct reversal?

Under Fabre's tense gaze, Pu Songling, who was in dire straits, suddenly adopted a particularly strange stance and pointed in their direction. The "painted skin" covering his body suddenly revealed shadows and lines reminiscent of Hong Kong comics.

"It seems you think I'm in dire straits?"

"Huh?" Fabre was a little confused. "No, if you have any trump cards, just use them. Why ask such a strange question all of a sudden..."

Pu Songling paused for a moment in an eerie silence, then continued speaking as if no one else was around: "I also know that the strange phenomena that the paper can transform into have their limits. The more one participates in the battle, the more one will realize how weak and powerless these paper-based strange phenomena are!"

"Huh...huh?" Fabre was bewildered, as was Lewis beside him. Neither of them had any idea what Pu Songling meant by this sudden outburst: "So?"

"The effect of 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' is to bring the stories to life, while the pages are merely the medium! Although the pages dictate that the summoned monsters can only be paper-based, that's not a necessary condition!"

Pu Songling's Hong Kong comic book style became more and more obvious. With Fabre looking bewildered, Pu Songling once again struck a rather strange pose.

"Paper is the most convenient, quickest, and cheapest option, but now is the time to unleash the power that can change everything—the power of money!"

Fabre and Lewis looked bewildered: "Huh?"

Pu Songling suddenly swung one hand out from behind his back, and at the same time threw an unidentified object out like a dart.

"【Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: The Bone General】—Special Edition with Copperplate Engraving!"

The copper coin, inscribed with characters in regular script, that Pu Songling threw out gleamed in the sunlight.

The copper plate began to deform in mid-air, first expanding and then producing a metallic friction sound like machinery in operation.

Finally, a massive metal object, gleaming with the luster of pure copper, crashed to the ground. Judging by its silhouette alone, it was indeed no different from the "Bone General" summoned by Pu Songling earlier. However, just by its color and weight, one could sense the completely different combat power of the two.

Although Pu Songling doesn't have facial features at this moment, you can still feel his uncontrollable joy just by looking at the lines on his face.

"Moreover, thanks to the Industrial Revolution, these simple sculpted crafts can be made with just a second-hand metal engraving machine, so..."

A dark green paper giant, carrying a cardboard box, walked unsteadily, seemingly due to a loss of balance, until he reached Pu Songling's side.

“I prepared a whole box of engraved stories.”

opposite:……

A moment later, Fabre and Lewis said to the insects: "Are you sore losers?!"

Even if an insect's carapace is enhanced by "Insect Tales," it can't compare to metal. Besides, these bronze "bone generals" are larger than giant mantises just by their size. Such a large piece of bronze could probably kill a large number of giant army ants just by smashing them, let alone consciously attacking them.

Conversely, it's not impossible for insects to take down a giant copper coin, but they would probably have to rely on sheer numbers.

The situation reversed in an instant, but Fabre and Lewis remained in shock, unable to recover.

While still bewildered by the sight of his opponent, Lewis nudged Fabre with his elbow: "He just gave such a long commentary, why didn't you take the opportunity to attack him?"

“I don’t know…” Fabre’s face was full of confusion: “Maybe I was just too scared to speak…”