Watching the two of them, everyone, including Himeko, started to laugh.
"Alright, I was just kidding. I made this coffee, you two should try it," March 7th said to them.
Hearing that it wasn't Himeko's coffee but March 7th's, Derick and Misha both breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it wasn't made by Himeko, even if March 7th's coffee was a bit bad, at least it wouldn't be life-threatening.
Derick and Misha took the coffee and had a taste.
"So? How's the coffee I made?" March 7th asked Derick and Misha with a look of anticipation.
"It's alright. Pretty good," Misha said with a smile.
Though he didn't quite mean it.
Derick, standing beside him, had the same expression.
March 7th's coffee, while not a Destruction-level entity like Himeko's, was about the quality of a one-Credit cup of instant coffee from the street.
March 7th didn't notice anything unusual about Derick and Misha's reactions. Hearing them say that, she puffed out her chest happily.
She wore an expression that said, "This girl is the best in the world."
Seeing March 7th's smug look, Derick and the others had no intention of exposing her.
Misha then remembered something and quickly said, "Right, although I'm back to normal now, there are still things I haven't said. Everyone, follow me somewhere, and I'll tell you a few things."
He had originally planned to give his last words, and while that was no longer necessary, there were still some things he needed to tell the Astral Express crew.
"Alright, Mr. Mikhail," Himeko agreed with a nod.
Hearing this, Misha scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. "Um, Ms. Himeko, please don't call me Mikhail in the future. Just Misha is fine. Let's leave Mikhail in the past."
"Alright, Misha." Himeko immediately changed how she addressed him.
Just as Misha and the others were about to leave, Derick spoke up. "I'm a little tired from reconstructing Misha's body just now. I plan to rest here for a bit."
Derick already knew what Misha was going to tell Himeko and the others. Going along would just be hearing it again. Derick felt there wasn't much point to it, so he'd rather rest up and prepare for the coming battle with Sunday.
This was another case of the small devouring the large; Derick had to be fully prepared.
At the same time, the reaction in Derick's right eye told him that within the Great Crater, the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection were also nervously preparing to act. Derick also needed to control his Fifth Clone to observe what these Memokeepers were planning.
No, not just the Fifth Clone. Derick felt something unusual with his Second Clone as well; something was happening over there. Derick needed to carefully observe what was going on in both places.
"I'll stay here with Derick."
Since Derick wasn't going, Castorice naturally had no intention of going with the Astral Express crew. She planned to stay here and accompany Derick.
"Alright then, you two rest here for now."
Himeko and the others left with Misha, while Derick and Castorice found a bar in the Reverie Reef.
They ordered two non-alcoholic drinks and started chatting with the locals about the culture and customs of the Reverie Reef.
It was quite an eye-opening experience.
Derick was still young, after all. Although he had a great deal of combat experience, he was still lacking in life experience. Traveling more and learning more would be of immense help to him.
And while chatting, Derick didn't forget to shift his perspective to check on the situation with his clones.
At this moment, he was very close to his Fifth Clone. This sense of proximity allowed him to clearly feel the clone's exact location and the energy fluctuations around it.
...
The Fifth Clone continued its stakeout.
During this time, because of Sparkle and the Memokeepers' presence, Derick couldn't use his Fifth Clone to absorb a large amount of Memoria, lest they discover it. He could only absorb a tiny bit when the Memoria flowed over.
This was quite frustrating for Derick's Fifth Clone.
He quietly observed the Memokeepers' movements.
When Sunday's Dream of Oneness arrived, the Memokeepers, who were already prepared, were completely unaffected.
Even the Memokeepers' 'captive,' Sparkle, was not affected by this Dream of Oneness.
Sparkle sat up in bed, looked at the changes in the surroundings, and asked the Memokeepers with great 'interest,'
"Hey, hey, hey, what have you all done? What's with this huge spectacle?"
"This wasn't our doing," a Memokeeper answered Sparkle's question honestly. "This was all Sunday's work. He wants to pull everyone in Penacony into the dreamscape and become their savior."
"That guy really knows how to make a scene," Sparkle commented, looking at the view.
Hearing Sparkle say this, the Memokeepers added, "If it weren't for the vast scope of the Dream of Oneness and the massive amount of Memoria it mobilizes, we wouldn't be able to use it to interfere with Derick's memories."
Since she hadn't fallen into the dreamscape, Sparkle could watch everyone in Penacony as they did.
Her power was such that observing others, even from within the Hollow, was very easy.
Sparkle even felt a little regretful that she hadn't brought some melon seeds with her while pretending to be a captive. Watching and enjoying a scene like this would have been really interesting.
Especially when she saw that Derick and the Astral Express crew had also fallen into the dreamscape, the mischievous look on her face grew even more excited.
"Hmph, hmph, aren't you so strong usually? Now you've fallen into the Dream of Oneness too. Who knows, you might even have your memories plucked by those Memokeepers. When that happens, only the great Lady Sparkle can save you. But of course, it's only natural to modify your memories a little after saving you."
Sparkle rubbed her little feet smugly,
clearly looking like she was up to no good.
The Memokeepers nearby didn't care what Sparkle was doing and continued to build a device that utilized the dreamscape.
Derick knew full well that Sparkle had other plans, so he paid a little more attention to her.
As for the Memokeepers, they were using Memoria to construct something that resembled a ritual formation.
"Are they planning to use this formation to influence the Memoria? Even if the Memokeepers of the Garden of Recollection understand Memoria better than Sunday, this is still Sunday's home turf, Penacony. Can their plan possibly succeed?"
Derick wondered to himself as he watched the Memokeepers' actions.
And this doubt wasn't unique to Derick. Sparkle, who was rubbing her feet, saw what the Memokeepers were doing and said curiously,
"Hey, are you really planning to interfere with Sunday using just this formation and your own energy? You're underestimating him."
Perhaps because they felt Sparkle was completely under their control and had nothing else to do besides observe, the Memokeepers actually explained it to her. "With only this, we certainly couldn't do it. What we're going to do is, at the right moment, help certain people break free from the dreamscape. When they break free and start fighting Sunday, that will be our time to act."
"You'll just end up shooting yourselves in the foot," Sparkle said to the Memokeeper with a pout.
"Don't worry, that won't happen." The Memokeepers were very confident about this.
It would be weirder if it didn't!
Hearing what the Memokeepers said, Derick and Sparkle both thought to themselves in unison.
The Memokeepers continued to arrange the formation for mobilizing Memoria. Derick watched for a while and got the sense they weren't going to do anything else, so he temporarily turned his attention away.
His gaze shifted to the other—clones.
"As for what's happening with the Second Clone, I have a rough idea," Derick thought.
...
Adjusting his vision, Derick's right eye's perspective appeared at the location of his Second Clone.
The lowest level of Herta's laboratory, Ruan Mei's exclusive lab.
Derick looked up and saw the giant Swarm King: Skaracabaz floating in mid-air.
At that moment, the Swarm King: Skaracabaz was vibrating its wings, poised to attack at any moment.
Ruan Mei stood below, smiling as she looked at the Swarm King: Skaracabaz. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Derick's Second Clone beside her, watched it stand up, and said with a grin,
"Little one, you woke up just in time. Come, get ready to devour this thing."
This was perfect, of course!
The more he could devour, the more confidence Derick would have for the upcoming battle.
The moment Ruan Mei finished speaking, her restraints on the Swarm King: Skaracabaz were released. The Swarm King: Skaracabaz spread its wings and lunged at Ruan Mei.
Facing the lunging Swarm King: Skaracabaz, Ruan Mei was unperturbed. She gently plucked her instrument, and with a burst of sound, the Swarm King: Skaracabaz let out a piercing shriek and was instantly immobilized.
As the creator of this creature, how could Ruan Mei not have a contingency plan?
Then, Ruan Mei plucked the instrument a few more times. As the sound waves spread, the entire Swarm King: Skaracabaz began to shatter and break apart.
After it fell apart, a pile of the Swarm King: Skaracabaz's remains fell to the ground.
Looking at these remains, a warm and friendly smile appeared on Ruan Mei's face. Ruan Mei turned to Derick's Second Clone and beckoned,
"Come, little one, come and eat these."
A bewildering sky, a mutilated corpse, a beautiful smiling woman, and a giant monster several meters tall.
No matter how you looked at it, this scene was straight out of a horror movie.
Derick complained internally.
But he didn't hesitate. He controlled his Second Clone to move towards the remains of the Swarm King: Skaracabaz that Ruan Mei had just created. It opened its mouth and began to devour the remains in huge gulps.
Although it hadn't lived for long, the energy contained within the Swarm King: Skaracabaz was genuinely at the Emanator level. As Derick's Second Clone devoured it, the benefits it gained were naturally immense.
"I wonder if the little one can reach the Emanator level directly after this."
Ruan Mei thought to herself.
Ruan Mei looked at Derick's Second Clone with anticipation, wanting to see just how much power it could gain.
But her hopes were likely to be dashed.
The energy gained by Derick's clones was shared with the main body. The energy remaining for the Second Clone would not be enough to support it reaching the Emanator level.
Derick's Second Clone finished devouring the Swarm King: Skaracabaz's corpse and began to digest it.
"Digestion will take some time, about a day by my calculations. That's perfect, the battle with Sunday is also in about a day, so there's still time."
Derick calculated the digestion time in his head.
...
With the situations of the Second and Fifth Clones more or less settled, Derick briefly checked his other clones and saw that there were no problems with them.
Since there were no issues, he stopped paying attention to them and continued to discuss the local culture and customs of the Reverie Reef with Castorice and the other people there.
Hearing that the people here were all struggling on the poverty line, Castorice felt a pang of pity and couldn't help but look at Derick.
And Derick, after a glance at the crowd, immediately said,
"After the Charmony Glee is over, I'll definitely find a way to get some jobs for you all."
He remembered that he had quite a few shops, businesses, and land on the Yaoqing Xianzhou. Arranging some help for the people of the Reverie Reef would be easy.
Some of the people in the Reverie Reef knew Derick's identity. Hearing him say this, they all showed expressions of pleasant surprise and began to thank him profusely.
The sound of their gratitude was so loud that the newly arrived members of the Astral Express were startled by it.
"What's happening?" March 7th asked, confused.
Welt pushed up his glasses beside her.
A beer hall, a crowd of people cheering... it brought back some unusual memories for him.
It wasn't until Derick and Castorice came over and explained what had happened to Welt that Welt Yang finally relaxed.
He thought for a moment that the people of the Reverie Reef were about to attack Penacony.
And hearing that Derick was going to help the people of the Reverie Reef, he said with approval,
"You've done well. The people of the Reverie Reef will probably be grateful to you forever."
The Astral Express had a certain prestige in the universe, but when it came to actually arranging careers and jobs, it took someone like Derick to get it done.
Derick gave an embarrassed laugh, then quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, Welt, how did your discussion go? Any new developments?"
Welt Yang nodded.
"Yes. After hearing what Misha had to say, I have a few ideas. But they'll require some verification."
Derick knew that Welt was now suspicious of Sunday and the others.
"Do you need me to go with you?" Derick asked Welt Yang.
Welt Yang shook his head.
"Not yet. You all should go back to the Golden Hour and wait for my news. It's more convenient for me to investigate alone. Just be ready to assist me at any time."
______
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