Transparent ripples spread outward as the purple-haired girl slowly sat up in the luxurious dream-entry pool shaped like a giant shell.
Faintly glowing liquid Memoria slid down her skin without leaving the slightest trace of moisture — it hadn't even dampened the ornate performance gown she wore.
The seemingly clear water in the dream-entry pool wasn't ordinary water at all, but a highly concentrated Memoria fluid refined through special processes.
It could guide the mind of whoever submerged into swift slumber, seamlessly linking them to the vast synesthetic dream network of the Asdana Star System.
Robin opened her eyes, a lingering trace of bewilderment still swimming in her irises, as though her soul had only just clawed its way free of some bizarre, absurd dreamscape.
"What an... unbelievable experience..."
The girl murmured softly, cupping a handful of star-lit liquid Memoria in her pale hands and splashing it gently over her face, the way one might wash up in the morning.
The cool touch felt almost electric, gradually pulling her hazy mind back together and grounding her in reality.
"I have to tell my brother about this..."
She rose on long, slender legs and stepped out of the still-warm Memoria pool, her fine skin gleaming with a pearl-like luster under the soft light.
After straightening herself up before the mirror, she left the room with light steps that carried a faint, barely noticeable urgency.
The rulers of Penacony, this city of dreams, were the Family.
Five great lineages, weathered by the long river of time yet still standing, worked together like precision gears to keep the beautiful dream running:
the Oak Family, which held political power; the Alfalfa Family, which managed the economy; the Bloodhound Family, which kept the peace; the Iris Family, which preserved culture; and the Nightingale Family, responsible for construction and upkeep.
The girl's elder brother was the current head of the Oak Family.
"Brother."
Robin found Sunday inside the mansion, going over documents.
"Robin?"
The man looked up — dressed in a white suit trimmed with blue and gold, a halo symbolizing the Halovian floating behind his head, his ears shaped in their signature wing-like curve.
The dignified look in his eyes instantly gave way to tenderness as he gazed fondly at the sister walking in:
"What brings you here? The Charmony Festival is coming up — you should be focused on getting into shape."
Sunday, of course, knew about his sister's voice problem.
He was simply worried about her, hoping she wouldn't put too much pressure on herself — even if she couldn't sing, he had contingencies in place to guarantee the Festival would go smoothly.
"Brother, there's something very important I need to tell you."
Losing one's memories after leaving the crack between reality and dream only applied to first-time visitors — Robin, who had entered the dream through the pool, retained a clear memory of that bizarre episode.
"What is it?"
Sunday immediately set down the documents in his hand, his expression focused.
No matter the circumstances, anything concerning his sister was a serious matter!
Top priority, always!
"I just entered the same unconstructed, primordial dream as a guest visiting the Asdana Star System for the first time."
Robin gathered her thoughts as she spoke.
"Oh?"
Sunday's sharp brows lifted slightly, a trace of surprise in them:
"Weren't you resting in your private Dream Bubble?"
"Yes."
Robin nodded firmly.
"A first-time visitor... entered your private Dream Bubble?"
Sunday's brow twitched faintly.
He knew that first-time visitors could fall into the crack between reality and dream due to Memoria reactions.
That was as normal as altitude sickness — but ending up directly inside a private Dream Bubble was a whole different matter!
To use a vivid, if imperfect, comparison: it was like someone with altitude sickness casually strolling to the top of Mount Everest without a hitch.
Had something gone wrong with the dream?
He'd need to have someone from the Nightingale Family run an emergency inspection.
Just as Sunday's thoughts raced, Robin's expression turned faintly awkward, and she slowly added:
"Actually, that's not even the strange part..."
"Hm?"
Sunday froze.
What did she mean, not even the strange part?
A flaw in the dream was already no small problem, not with Penacony in such a sensitive period.
Was his sister about to say—
"In the crack between reality and dream I met two extremely unusual guests. They..."
Robin began recounting, in detail, all the incredible things that had happened during her encounter with Stelle and Caelus in the dream.
Sunday's expression shifted like he was watching some bizarre drama unfold — from confusion, to seriousness, to grim concern, to outright bafflement and undisguised shock.
Turning into a mouse inside a dream?
It wasn't impossible that a Pathstrider guest might possess unusual abilities of their own — anyone capable of that was most likely of the Path of Remembrance, or a Memokeeper.
Wait!
What did she mean, dragging her straight through spatial barriers from a private Dream Bubble into the crack between reality and dream?
Pulling out a full orchestra's worth of instruments in the middle of a logic-shattered dream fragment?
A single cat carrying an entire orchestral performance?
Excuse me?
What did she mean, dreaming of a real-world scene within the dream?
Could someone please translate that into normal language.
And without any guidance at all, they'd broken through layer after layer of walls and dream barriers and returned to reality on their own?
To Sunday, a family head who understood the mechanics of dreams intimately, that was equivalent to telling someone from Earth that a man had run all the way from North America to East Asia on foot, with no plane, no ship — just his own two legs.
And when he hit an ocean, he'd simply dragged a whole continental plate over to fill it in and pave a road across!
That was just insane!
If the person standing in front of him hadn't been Robin, Sunday would have used the power of Harmony right then to ask her whether she was in her right mind!?
But precisely because it was Robin — the sister he trusted unconditionally — Sunday forced down the storm raging inside him.
He chose to believe her.
Such an outrageous, inconceivable phenomenon couldn't simply be a dream malfunction — it had to be something special about those two guests themselves.
Their very existence was likely a variable far beyond anything Penacony, on the eve of the Charmony Festival, had ever anticipated.
"Are you saying..."
Sunday took a deep breath, his expression graver than she had ever seen it.
"You were able to sing normally while they were playing?"
Any single one of these details mattered more than the fact that a first-time dreamer had entered a private Dream Bubble.
"Yes."
Robin nodded firmly:
"So I was thinking... would it be possible to invite them to perform at the Charmony Festival?"
"...This is no small matter. We'll need to think it through carefully."
Sunday fell silent for a few seconds. "We need to make contact with them first and find out who they really are. Do you know their identities?"
"They should be members of the Astral Express crew."
Robin recalled.
"The Trailblaze faction..."
Something shifted in Sunday's mind. After a moment's thought, he used his high-level authority as head of the Oak Family to run a quick search, then rose from his chair.
"They probably haven't finished checking in yet. Let's go welcome them properly."
The outrageousness of the two guests Robin described was such that, had anyone else told him, Sunday wouldn't have believed a word of it.
The siblings quickly left the mansion and headed straight for the main hall of the The Reverie Hotel.
Along the way, Sunday had already mobilized Family resources through encrypted channels, intending to pinpoint the exact location of the Astral Express crew.
The Family's machinery ran with its usual efficiency, but this time the information came back so fast it even surprised Sunday himself.
He soon found out why.
The lobby of the The Reverie Hotel.
"Holy crap! He — he's actually Ms. Ruan Mei's husband?"
"Unbelievable, unbelievable, this is huge news!"
"No way! I don't believe it! That's Ruan Mei we're talking about!"
"It's really her! I saw it myself! The real, living Ms. Ruan Mei!"
The front desk area was packed shoulder to shoulder, passersby's gasps, doubts, and gossip bubbling over like boiling water.
At the center of the storm, the pair of gray-haired, gold-eyed twins basked under countless gazes — shocked, envious, probing — the corners of their mouths curling into smirks dripping with cocky, dead-cool swagger.
As if silently declaring: That's right, it's me!
[Ding! Quest complete: Strongest Live-in Son-in-Law / Crooked-Mouth Dragon King.]
[Rating: A classic never goes out of style — mindless satisfaction is real satisfaction.]
[Reward: 40 Crystals.]
As his thoughts swept over the System interface in his mind, the curl at the corner of Caelus's mouth kept climbing.
(?√?)σ!
To twist his mouth into just the right crooked smirk, Caelus had put in plenty of private mirror practice.
That's what you call professionalism!
Three seconds on stage, ten years of practice offstage!
At first, Sunday assumed some third-rate film crew was shooting a melodramatic scene for a cheap web drama at the The Reverie Hotel. But as he approached and got a clear look at the figures everyone was staring at — especially the face of the Jiangnan-style woman on the gray-haired young man's arm —
the expression on Sunday's face instantly became just as priceless as that of Aventurine, who stood nearby, frozen stiff.
His face grew every bit as wonderfully complicated as Aventurine's, standing not far away.
That face — was it really Ms. Ruan Mei!?
She and that Nameless of the Astral Express... were actually in that kind of relationship?!
He'd never heard of such a thing!
That enigmatic, aloof titan of life science, married to a Nameless?
This was even stranger than the dream adventure his sister had described.
No, he had to confirm this first.
Pathstriders with shapeshifting abilities weren't unheard of — he himself had recently been dealing with a Masked Fool, someone with deceptive methods who fooled the world behind a mask.
If some Fool had the audacity to impersonate Ruan Mei just to have some fun in Penacony, and the Family ended up treating them as an honored guest...
That would be a massive loss of face.
"Everyone, please, calm down."
Sunday's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a cadence that seemed to smooth over the chaos, instantly quieting the boisterous crowd, which parted on its own to clear a path.
"It's Mr. Sunday, one of the Family's decision-makers, and Miss Robin!"
Only then did the crowd snap out of it, more than half the burning stares instantly shifting to Robin — proof enough of the singing superstar's unrivaled popularity across the Galaxy.
"It's Miss Robin! AWSL!"
"She's my ol'— gack!"
The word "wife" hadn't even left the frenzied fan's mouth before his voice cut off abruptly.
His eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the ground as if every bone had been pulled from his body.
Two Family members in Bloodhound Family uniforms appeared like shadows, swift and silent, and expertly hauled him away as though disposing of some unimportant piece of clutter.
Sunday walked over calmly to stand before Ruan-Caelus, an impeccable smile on his face, and bowed slightly:
"Ms. Ruan Mei has graced Penacony with her presence, and the Family failed to welcome you from afar — that was truly discourteous of us."
"Given the sensitivity of the current period, and to ensure we can offer you the most thorough hospitality and security, might I ask... would you permit me a small identity verification?"
Sunday's words were courteous and deferential.
"How do you intend to verify it?"
Ruan-Caelus's voice was cool and clear as spring water off ice, betraying no hint of emotion.
"You need only answer my question honestly."
Sunday's smile remained gracious, as though he were engaged in nothing more than a leisurely afternoon tea chat.
The moment his voice fell silent, three overlapping tones — a child's, a grown man's, and an old man's — chanted the same incantation into Ruan-Caelus's ears, and countless Family members' condensed, phantom chains coiled silently around her, making her brow furrow ever so slightly.
So this is the power of Harmony?
Ten thousand hearts as one heart, ten thousand voices as one sound... interesting, indeed.
"Go ahead."
Facing the triple voice and the chains of will, Ruan-Caelus nodded calmly.
"Then, may I ask..."
Sunday's expression instantly turned deeply solemn, as if performing a sacred ritual, his golden eyes fixed on the other person:
"[Are you Ms. Ruan Mei]?"
"I am."
Ruan-Caelus's reply was ironclad, the voice cutting clean through the triple-tone interference, perfectly clear: "I am Ruan Mei."
Caelus wasn't lying — Ruan Mei had given him everything of this fragment entirely; that body belonging to Ruan Mei was his, and he was Ruan Mei!
It was an irrefutable fact!
"..."
The faintest, almost imperceptible stiffness crept into the perfect smile on Sunday's face.
In his deep golden eyes, something churned.
No lie detected!
The power of Harmony had clearly confirmed the purest truth!
"Forgive the intrusion, Ms. Ruan Mei. With Penacony on the eve of the Charmony Festival, security is at an unprecedented level, and to prevent scoundrels from borrowing your esteemed name to endanger our guests' safety, the Family had no choice but to take this presumptuous measure."
"Please forgive any offense caused."
The higher one's standing, the more one appreciated just how much weight the word 'Genius' truly carried.
Most powers across the cosmos would extend courtesy to the Astral Express.
That was rooted in the supreme merit of Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze, who laid down the starways for the benefit of all living beings, and in the goodwill accumulated by generations of Nameless wanderers acting with chivalry and warm-hearted virtue.
That kind of respect was a matter of goodwill and esteem.
Every member of the Express crew was, in a sense, a Face Fruit ability user.
But a Genius was different.
Every Genius wielded the power to shape the fate of the Galaxy single-handedly — their wisdom, their creations, a single decision made in an instant, any of it could unleash a tidal wave that swept across the stars.
That was tangible power, not the same thing as goodwill or face.
It demanded the fullest respect!
"I'll vouch for these people. Can they check in now?"
Ruan-Caelus gestured toward the dumbfounded Haxxor Bunny, Little Duck, Seele, and the others.
"Of course. I'm terribly sorry for the poor check-in experience."
"You've all honored Penacony with your presence — as the ones actually running things here, it's our duty to resolve any inconvenience."
"Miss Alley, please resolve the 'system malfunction' as soon as possible — and upgrade everyone's rooms as compensation."
Sunday instructed Alley.
Blaming a system malfunction would soften the impression of rudeness from Ms. Ruan Mei's demand to add more guests to the booking, while also showing outsiders that the Family's attitude toward her was respectful, without groveling.
It wasn't that they were breaking the rules because of a Genius's status — it was simply a system error, and the guest had booked that many rooms from the start.
Sitting in the seat of Family head, this barely even counted as a small trick — just basic operating procedure.
"Thank you."
Ruan-Caelus nodded.
Now this was a true Face Fruit power!
With Ruan Mei's body, aside from remote corners of the Galaxy or facing off against the Antimatter Legion, a single line from Ruan-Caelus — "do me a favor" — could resolve more than half of any problem.
"Hiii~ we meet again~!"
While Sunday was talking with Ruan-Caelus, Stelle popped out and waved at Robin in greeting.
"...Eh? Miss Tom remembers me?"
First-time dreamers were supposed to forget everything that happened in the crack...
But thinking back on the outrageous stunts those two had pulled in the dream, Robin suddenly felt like this wasn't such a big deal after all.
____
Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 20 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉