You did not miss 10 chapters. The author skipped directly from chapter 290 to chapter 300.
*****
Before exploring, you can choose to talk to Firefly and Old Yang.
Guinaifen never misses these little Easter eggs.
Sometimes they hide some unexpected information.
"Let's talk to Firefly first."
"Maybe we can get to know her better~"
[Why not reveal your true identity?]
"There are two reasons. First, the script—in the future Elio foresaw, the confrontation between Sam and the Astral Express is inevitable. I tried to break free from the prophecy's shackles, but this is as far as I could go."
"Besides that… it's my personal wish. I want to travel with you as Firefly… not as Sam."
[So what exactly is Sam…]
"Do you remember the medical pod I told you about? That's Sam—the Glamoth Iron Cavalry of the Skyfront, the Firefly IV Strategic Thwack Armor (S.A.M.)."
"It's the cradle of my life, the reason I was born into this world, and for a long time, it was the form the world expected me to take…"
…
"The Stellaron Hunters have one girlfriend, one mom, one brother-in-law, and one aunt—there's no way they can be at odds!"
"Oh, Firefly… I don't want to oppose you either, wuwuwuwuwu~~"
"Oppose? I'll just defect!"
"I really like Firefly's line—'the cold medical pod.'"
"I want a medical pod that's this cool and powerful too!"
"The Glamoth Iron Cavalry of the Skyfront… damn! There was an entire squadron of Sams back then?"
"What must it have been like when thousands of Sams fought The Swarm in the past?"
…
[The blade Acheron struck…]
When this topic came up.
Old Yang suddenly looked wide awake.
He sighed, "No wonder Miss Acheron has always been reluctant to draw her blade… It's hard to imagine such terrifying power hidden within that simple scabbard. If it weren't for Aventurine's power originating from Preservation, the entire Dreamscape might have been affected."
"Don't feel burdened by this. Even without the Stellaron inside you, Aventurine would have found another way to achieve his goal. For now, let's trust Miss Acheron. Given her strength, we probably don't need to worry."
Guinaifen nodded.
Her assessment of Acheron's strength rose another level.
"That's enough for now. Let's wrap up the conversation."
"Time to head out and explore the land of exile~"
A dark, narrow alley.
Piles of garbage in the corners.
Flickering light bulbs.
And some jittery tourists lingering around.
Guinaifen couldn't help but feel that something eerie should happen here, otherwise the atmosphere would be wasted!
When they finally boarded the old-fashioned elevator.
As it slowly ascended from the bottom.
It seemed they gradually shook off that gloomy ambiance.
"Unbelievable, outside the family's sight... there's a settlement of such scale in the Dreamscape."
"The atmosphere of this city... is quite different from a sweet dream," Old Yang remarked.
After the elevator doors opened.
What greeted them was a simple yet chilly square.
In the distance stood a faded twin-tower skyscraper.
Guinaifen observed carefully.
It was like scouting the place in advance.
These were all valuable experiences for future travels and visits!
Firefly said, "I was also amazed when I first saw it. The sky here is like... a reflection of the Twelve Dreamscapes."
"What's even stranger is that it's divided into a trade district and a residential area. Though simple, it's quite complete. It seems a considerable number of people live here."
Old Yang planned to take Stelle to the trade district to meet up with Himeko and the others.
Meanwhile, Firefly said she would first try to find Gallagher.
The two groups temporarily parted ways.
A familiar figure appeared on this part of the map.
"The bellboy from The Reverie Hotel, why is he here, and just after Miss Acheron severed the sweet dream?"
"To be safe, it's better to confirm."
Old Yang led Stelle over to check the situation.
Misha was standing by the railing chatting with Clockie.
As the two approached.
Misha turned around in surprise.
He bowed slightly and greeted, "Oh, it's the guests from before, we meet again! And a new friend... I, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Misha, the hotel bellboy."
Old Yang nodded and said, "Hello, Misha, I'm Welt. We met when we entered the dream..."
"Hmm? And who is this beside you..."
Clockie's hands spun around quickly.
"Tick-tock! Old friends and new friends, let's high-five!" he said.
Seeing this, Guinaifen immediately showed an expression of "I knew it!"
She exclaimed, "I told you! Old Yang, who loves big robots, must still have a childlike heart. I knew he could see Clockie too!"
However, Old Yang didn't high-five Clockie as expected.
Instead, he stared at it thoughtfully and said, "Are you... a Memory Zone Meme?"
Misha quickly explained, "No, no. Clockie is my good buddy. Our home is here."
"How did you two guests end up here? This Dreamscape isn't supposed to be open to the public... Could it be Sleepy?"
"You say this is your home?"
"Yes. After finishing my work in the Dreamscape, I return home. It used to be easy to travel back and forth, but ever since free passage became restricted, Sleepy has been the one shuttling people between the two Dreamscapes."
"And who is this Sleepy... Can you describe what it looks like?"
At this point, Guinaifen still hadn't grasped the seriousness of the situation.
She thought Sleepy was probably just a little dog or something Misha kept, so she didn't pay much attention.
She picked up the milk tea on the table and took a sip.
Then, Misha said, "Sleepy is a Memory Zone Meme. It looks quite fierce, with many big eyes. But it's actually very obedient. Gallagher has been taking care of Sleepy."
"Pfft——!!!"
Guinaifen couldn't hold it in!
She sprayed milk tea everywhere!
Even the live stream camera lens got splattered...
"Cough, cough, cough..."
"I couldn't hold it in, folks!!"
"Sorry, sorry!!"
Guinaifen quickly grabbed several tissues.
She wiped the camera lens and the display screen.
Then she went to change her clothes.
The live stream chat was buzzing with activity!
...
"Damn! Little Gui just sprayed me in the face!"
"Damn, I couldn't hold it in either!"
"Sleepy? You call that thing Sleepy?"
"Sleepy's got quite the unique look, huh."
"So it's the shuttle bus for the Dreamscape?"
"Basically a baby bus now?"
"Imagine Misha being carried or ridden by [Death]... what a bizarre image..."
"That's not how it was when I fought him. How come my character fell into Dream Death?"
"Dream Death might be getting teleported to Sleepy's place, and since no one participated in the battle, it was judged as a loss."
"Makes sense!"
...
In the room, March 7th excitedly jumped up from the couch!
She quickly swiped through her phone.
Soon, her eyes lit up!
"Hahahaha..."
"I told you so!"
"I knew there'd be a twist to this!"
"I'm practically a genius!!!"
March 7th pulled up the previous screenshots.
She said gleefully, "This one promised to top up 10 times 648 for me..."
"This one said they'd livestream kowtowing 100 times..."
"I admit I took a gamble, but I won!"
Stelle leaned over and poured cold water on her excitement, "What if these people don't honor their promises?"
"Then I'll speak up with my main account!"
"I'm the big shot [Zhao Camera] from the insider forum!"