Dream Travel

Chapter 377 Assimilation in a Foreign Land
"What is he doing?!" Luxembla roared angrily.

After discovering the 'loophole' in the Demon Maze, Bai Mu didn't try to be clever and run away. Instead, he returned to the vicinity of the Otherworld and continued to make contact with it!

boom--

A gunshot rang out, and a desert lizard was blown to pieces. The gunman adjusted his headscarf and let out a slight breath.

I looked at the white screen from a distance through the scope.

He looked surprised when he saw Bai Mu touch the alien world with his hand.

Then realizing something, they quickly began searching for other suspicious animals.

Don't doubt the sniper's eyesight; he's a sniper in the Demon Hunter Squad, and the selection process is even more rigorous.

Taking action against those suspicious desert animals also stems from the Witcher's experience.

Demons possess many abilities, and there is no shortage of demons skilled at controlling animals.

The devil has done this kind of thing many times before: using small animals for surveillance.

Therefore, while on guard, he made a point of observing his surroundings and actually found some animals behaving strangely. He was not stingy with his bullets when it came to these small animals that were behaving strangely.

After putting away his weapon, the sniper reported the situation via communicator.

"Contact with another realm?" Robert was startled upon hearing this and immediately said, "Send someone to find out what's going on!"

Their camp was very close to the alien land, and they had no choice but to approach it, as the alien land was their last resort.

At least when an insurmountable demon appears, the Otherworld allows them to decide how they die.

"I'll go try it."

"It was a survivor whose body was wrapped in bandages and who had suffered extensive Dream Erosion damage," said one of the survivors.

He resolutely walked to the edge of the alien land, stretched out his hand, and the bandage wrapped around his arm began to bleed and turn black. He did not immediately withdraw his hand, but waited silently for a while.

After he withdrew his hand, the medical staff next to him immediately treated his injury: "Let me check, I will try my best to save your arm."

"It's okay now, I can't feel any pain anymore," the injured man said calmly.

"Of course you can't feel the pain, your arm has been alienated."

"Huh?" The wounded soldier, who had been looking solemn, was slightly taken aback.

The medical staff quickly treated the wound on his arm, removing a small lump from the bloody and mangled arm.

"Does it look familiar?"

"It's too small to be seen." The injured man shook his head, and the medical staff put the object aside and explained.

"This is the skin of a demon, though not fully transformed, it comes from your arm."

After a moment of silence, the injured man stared at his arm, which he felt nothing for a while.

"Should we just chop it up?"

"Why are you so agitated? Maybe this is an opportunity." The medical staff glanced at the seemingly extreme wounded man: "The injuries caused by Dream Erosion are difficult to heal, but Alienation seems to have eliminated some of the Dream Erosion damage."

"Then I'll try again?"

"We'll have to ask the chief about that." Robert arrived while the medical staff continued their examination and inquired about the current situation.

After learning the details from the medical staff, his expression became serious.

The good news is that they seem to have more options left; the bad news is that this newly emerged "I Love You, My Exotic Land" is just too stable!

In normal alien realms, the dream erosion is so intense that any creature that comes into contact with it will be eroded by the dream erosion the moment it touches it.

Dreamwalkers can temporarily survive by adapting to dream erosion, but over time, the accumulated damage is still severe.

Some extreme individuals even consider becoming Dreamwalkers by contacting other realms, but this behavior is more dangerous than directly using Dream Erosion Crystals.

At least when trying to become a Dreamwalker using Dream Erosion Crystals, one can control the amount of Dream Erosion, ensuring that the process never seriously endangers one's life.

But encountering other lands is different.

Is manually injecting snake venom and controlling the dosage to try to induce the body to produce antibodies the same as being directly bitten by a fully venomous snake?

The alien realm before them was too stable. Although there was still damage from Dream Erosion, the damage was very low, and it even caused those who came into contact with Dream Erosion to undergo 'alienation'.

This means that the dream erosion in this alien land has become more benign.

Alienation refers to the mutation caused by the dream erosion of another realm. Another realm is an extreme yet normal environment that forcibly assimilates foreign things that enter.

Just like this alien realm now, if the damage from the Dream Erosion wasn't so great, then any foreign things that entered would undergo similar mutations due to assimilation by the alien realm.

What's in hell? Demons!
Therefore, wounded soldiers affected by Dream Erosion will most likely be transformed into demons after their arms come into contact with the alien realm.

"Oh no..." Robert rubbed his forehead in pain.

The demons failed to achieve their goals, but a relatively stable alien realm posed a greater threat than the demon factory.

The demon factory also needs a 'mother', and this alien realm that can alienate creatures is the potential to transform demons in large quantities.

The transformed demon is very likely to be a being close to the original demon.

They will have more potential than normal demons. As for what the transformed individuals will think... what can they possibly think? They'll have power; what they think is just a matter of a single thought, isn't it?

"Let me try again."

“…Okay.” Robert nodded solemnly.

The injured woman didn't hesitate; after all, she couldn't feel anything in her arm anymore, and the damage from Dream Erosion hadn't affected her.

His arm, under the influence of the alien dream erosion, became a bloody mess, with dark-colored skin emerging from the bloody flesh, and his arm also became abnormally thick.

"It seems like nothing's wrong?"

"Can you feel anything in your arm?"

The wounded man glanced at a strong demon hunter beside him, who was holding a large sword infused with hell metal and whose arm muscles were bulging. He was ready to dislocate the man's arm if things went wrong.

The injured man shook his head with a serious expression: "I don't feel anything, but it's strange that my arm can still move."

Although the edge of the alien world made it difficult for him to see his arm clearly, he could still make out its general outline at such close range.

His arm moved whenever he wanted.

It was the lack of a certain feeling that gave him a subtle, indescribable sensation.

"Then let's pull it out first."

The injured man nodded and, following the medical staff's advice, pulled his arm out. The demonized arm emitted blue smoke upon touching the normal environment.

The swollen arm began to shrink, appearing shriveled compared to its previous strength, but still within the range of a muscular arm compared to an average person. Apart from the slightly off color, it didn't seem to have changed much.

"Is this considered demonization?"

"Not entirely." The medical staff examined him carefully. He had dissected demons in Hell and could tell that the wounded man's arm was different from a demon's arm.

This transformation was not complete; it merely acquired demonic characteristics, existing somewhere between a demon and a human. In particular, after the arm was detached from the alien realm and some of the Dream Erosion evaporated, the demonized arm became even further removed from the demonic realm.

However, the injured person still had no feeling in his arm. He could move it, but he couldn't feel anything, like touch.

It's like an abnormal mechanical arm.

"Use holy water," the medical staff said to the demon hunter beside them.

The other party immediately took out a small bottle of holy water. A drop of holy water fell onto the alien arm, and a faint blue smoke rose up. However, the reaction produced by the holy water was not as violent as when it came into contact with a demon.

However, this stimulation caused a new change in the arm. To the injured man's astonishment, his arm moved on its own and grabbed the medical staff's wrist at an extremely fast speed.

The medical staff were no pushovers either. The moment their wrists were grabbed, they immediately twisted their arms in the direction of the foreign arm's force to avoid injuring their arms, while preparing to use joint locks to control the erratic arm.

click-

"Huh!?" The medical staff, who felt like their bones were about to be crushed, paused for a moment.

The wounded soldier frantically tried to let go, but it was no use.

The demon hunter on the side reacted quickly, slashing down with his greatsword at the wounded man's alien-looking arm.

The hand that was about to crush the medical staff member's arm was released, and the arm nimbly dodged, avoiding the large knife that was about to strike.

The missed broadsword struck the ground, where it was firmly held down by the alien arm.

"Stop right there!!"

The wounded man roared with bloodshot eyes, his arm, which had been firmly gripping the broadsword, trembled slightly, and he slowly loosened his grip.

Seeing that the arm had calmed down, the demon hunter holding the knife grinned slightly: "This arm is really strong. I won't miss next time."

"Don't even think about cutting it." The medical staff came over again; the skin and flesh on his arm were torn, and the bones were injured.

But he didn't care; he was more concerned about the condition of the wounded.

"Our original final choice may not have been a good one either. This is, after all, a foreign land, and the resulting alienation will not bring us any opportunities."

The wounded soldier only had one arm transformed into something else, and that arm started to go out of control. If a person were to enter that otherworldly realm and be influenced by it, they would undergo changes.

What would happen to this person? They would still be able to think and retain a sense of self, but their body would no longer be their own.

"Are you still able to use your arm normally?"

"It seems like I can... but I still lack the corresponding feeling." The injured man frowned slightly and grabbed a small object next to him with his arm.

The pain is gone, and I can use my arm, but it feels terrible, as if it doesn't belong to me.

The small object he grabbed deformed and broke as his arms closed, and then he said, "I can't control my strength at will."

Without tactile feedback, even if he can grasp something, he can't estimate how much force he's using.

"But I think this is pretty good! It allows my other arm to become alien as well, so I can fight monsters when they appear."

Medical staff warned him: "This is dangerous. The more alien parts you have, the less control you may have over your body!"

"Then let me die in battle next. I'm just a burden now."

(End of this chapter)