I created a safe zone in the nightmare world.

Chapter 120 The Lost Camp

Night had fallen over Baijiang City, but the safe zone was bustling with activity.

The members have mostly returned to reality, and for the time being, at least today, they will not and cannot fall into the nightmare again so frequently.

However, there were still ordinary prospective members who fell into the dream and brought news from the outside world.

Some people who experience these dreams have limited access to information and have just heard about the disaster.

Some of the dreamers, upon arriving at the safe zone, couldn't help but start chatting with others. They had endless things to say.

The safe zone mission lobby is the best place in the entire Dreamfall Circle to chat, joke around, and exchange information.

none of them!

The so-called gathering of dreamers is incomparable to this place.

"Those VIP members are truly amazing!"

"Indeed, this disaster happened suddenly and affected a wide area. The countermeasures bureau clearly didn't have enough strong personnel. If it weren't for the return of many big shots from our safe zone and their strong intervention, Baijiang would definitely have been in trouble."

"I also want to make a grand entrance like those big shots, saving the people from suffering and becoming a hero for once!"

"Actually, we do have this opportunity, but first we need to obtain a membership, which is the foundation of everything."

Many people have become accustomed to being extras in life, looking up to the geniuses and great figures with their divine presence.

They can only discuss it briefly and chat occasionally.

If you are lucky enough to witness the battles of these big shots in person, it is an invaluable topic of conversation. When you brag to outsiders, it's as if you are a hero on the battlefield.

But it wasn't true after all.

They always seem to be extras, forever extras.

Are they destined to spend their entire lives standing in a corner, gazing at the figures of the big shots under the spotlight?

"No!"

"Without the store manager and the safe zone, we might have lived our lives as unknown people, dying one day in some corner where no one knows us. But now, we are lucky. We have come to the safe zone, and we still have the opportunity to become members."

"Wolf King, Power King, and Locust Tree Man—weren't these powerful members all rising to prominence step by step like this?"

If they can do it, so can we!

Inside the hall, the dreamers became increasingly excited and animated as they spoke.

Some more rational dreamers understand that joining the ranks of the strong is not so simple.

Just like when people go to the training ground for further study, some people make rapid progress in two or three hours, while others only make small gains, and some even give up halfway because they find it too hard and tiring.

The rise of figures like Wolf King is due to a combination of talent, perseverance, and bravery—all three are indispensable.

No matter how many thorns lie ahead, at least they have reached the safe zone, and their path is clear. They have a road to walk on; the rest is up to them to fight for it.

"Let's give it our all!"

"Set a small goal: conquer three nightmares within a week!"

"Rush!"

With the disaster successfully resolved, ordinary dreamers in the safe zone are also full of fighting spirit, eager to challenge one nightmare after another.

However, the senior officials in the countermeasures bureau still looked grave.

Thanks to the efforts of many powerful individuals from the common people, top dream fallers like Long Niu, Bai Yu, and Lu Qing do not need to risk their lives or overuse cursed items.

They are still in peak condition.

However, "this nightmare invasion happened too coincidentally; someone must be behind it all! And this person isn't one of those cult members."

Bai Yu spoke.

Cultists are like cockroaches, impossible to eradicate; they're nothing but stubborn.

Most cult members are simply a group of mentally ill dreamers.

They are destructive, but their capabilities are limited.

The Countermeasures Bureau and the Baijiang Research Institute are far from capable of inducing nightmare invasions, let alone cultists who are like cockroaches.

"But the Ghost Clan can. They are born from nightmares and are inherently connected to them. However, we originally thought that the Ghost Clan was only active near Baijiang City, but now it seems that may not be the case. Perhaps the Ghost Clan has already infiltrated Baijiang City."

He frowned.

Long Niu asked, "The Ghost Clan—aren't powerful ghosts said to have difficulty truly entering Baijiang? Our Baijiang is still within the realm of the mortal world."

Bai Yu said, "Theoretically, that's true, but what if there are cultists leading the way? Before our Baijiang fell and when there weren't many nightmare incidents, there were already cults that believed in nightmares rising up within the Great Xia territory, let alone now."

Lu Qing said, "Captain Xia has been investigating this matter before. With this disaster, Captain Xia may be able to take this opportunity to catch a trace of the Ghost Clan."

The captains and vice-captains discussed it for a while.

After the disaster was resolved today, they did indeed take the opportunity to identify some of the dreamers who had taken advantage of the situation to cause trouble.

There are cult members among them.

They just didn't manage to catch anything big.

Lu Qing suddenly brought up another matter, "The fact that today's disaster was resolved without serious consequences is thanks to the members of the safe zone."

She had noticed the safe zone long ago and had heard about the situation on several occasions.

She had already overestimated the safety zone, but she didn't expect to underestimate the changes it would bring.

In the blink of an eye, so many folk dreamers have been cultivated.

As a high-ranking member of the countermeasures bureau, she couldn't help but wonder if there were problems with her own strategies, which led to the neglect of so many talented individuals from the general public.

If that's the case, then it's their fault.

"Perhaps the bureau needs to invest more resources in the new employee guidance department in order to discover more talent."

She plans to bring it up at the next meeting.

Now, there is something even more urgent.

"It seems that this time, it was a coincidence that a dreamer brought the news to the safe zone, which led the store manager to issue the emergency notice. We can't rely on such coincidences anymore."

"Therefore, I believe our policy bureau should establish a new department—the Security Zone Liaison Group!"

"We need to have our own liaisons within the safe zone to ensure that messages can be delivered to the safe zone anytime, anywhere. Or, if anything major happens within the safe zone, we need to be informed immediately. This is very important."

I agree.

"It's the captain's responsibility," the captain said.

The others also spoke up one after another.

"I second that!"

"I second that!"

"I second that!"

Meanwhile, in an apartment building in Baijiang City.

"Chieftain, we've investigated thoroughly. The reason this nightmare we brought was resolved so quickly is entirely due to an organization called the Safe Zone!"

"That's what the burly man said."

Not far away, the middle-aged man, addressed as the clan leader, stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, swirling a wine glass in his hand, overlooking the night view of the riverbank in the distance.

"Human society is really great."

He turned around. "Safe Zone? Humans aren't that easy to deal with. One failure is to be expected. At least we forced out this reclusive human organization called Safe Zone. It's not a loss. This time it's not a loss."

"But next time, you can't afford to fail again."

"Yes, yes, I understand." The burly man bowed repeatedly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

The clan chief turned around again and gazed at the night view of Baijiang City. He watched the endless stream of cars on the road and the crowds coming and going along the riverbank.

His eyes were filled with infatuation.

"Humans are very important to us, and Baijiang City, this human settlement, has a population of three million. Three million!"

"Xiao Wang, do you understand what three million means to my clan?"

The burly man lowered his head even further and said in a low voice, "I understand. These humans are the resources for our people's growth."

"That's right."

The clan chief said, "As long as we can occupy Baijiang City, turn Baijiang into our clan's lair, and manage it for a period of time, our clan's strength will surely grow explosively. In time, even those great clans and territories deep within the Nightmare will be surpassed by our clan!"

Taking over Baijiang City was a milestone on their clan's path to rise.

As for the safe zone, it will ultimately be just a small obstacle that will be crushed in their rise to power.

Shi An slacked off on the task of saving Baijiang City, pushing the heavy responsibility onto his own members who had already grown up.

The members did a great job, and the store manager was happy to relax, so he pretended to be a newbie and worked with Lao Song and the others to clean up the mess and do the cleanup work.

But he didn't expect that the cleanup work would take two days.

"I'm exhausted!"

They are indeed very busy with the new staff.

This disaster affected a large number of ordinary people. They need to seal the memories of ordinary people, and also select talents from those who are unwilling to seal their memories.

Shi An didn't expect that dealing with the strange creatures wouldn't tire him out, but handling the follow-up work would leave him exhausted.

Even so, he still returned to the safe zone as soon as he got off work.

"The newfound fame of the Safe Zone has brought some benefits; the new Dreamers who see the Safe Zone's storefront are not so much surprised as delighted."

"However, the watchtower has been completed for two and a half days, and yet no top-tier Dreambreakers or extraordinary individuals have arrived. Is this reasonable?"

The time the fire was set doesn't count.

Or perhaps it's only half true.

Apart from Fenhuo, Shi An didn't see any of the other captain-level experts from the Countermeasures Bureau, or the experts from the Extreme Martial Arts Academy and the Wizard's House.

It's as if the watchtower was built in vain.

Of course, it wouldn't be built for nothing; Shi An could roughly guess the reason.

"There are simply too few top experts in Baijiang City. How many Second and Third Refinement Realm experts, and even higher-ranking extraordinary beings, are there in the entire city?"

Shi An didn't know the exact number of people, but he could guess that it wouldn't be many.

There are only twelve captains and vice-captains in the Countermeasures Bureau.

Those who have reached the Refinement stage or above are already far fewer in number.

With a smaller base number, the probability of encountering a safe zone is naturally lower.

"At least, the number of newcomers arriving in the safe zone for the first time is growing faster than before."

"Take your time."

"First, safeguard Baijiang's core territory, and then gradually expand into the depths of the nightmare."

Deep within the nightmare.

Elk camp.

Unlike most campfire camps built by organizations, this place looks like an ordinary village at first glance.

However, upon closer inspection, one can discover that many houses in the village, as well as numerous walls, are inlaid with stones bearing fiery red patterns.

A stone wall was built around the village, with numerous bright red stones mixed in with it.

This is a camp for the lost!

The camp has a long history, dating back to the fall of White River City.

When Baijiang City fell, the entire Baijiang disappeared from the territory of Daxia. The vast majority of Baijiang people still live in the present world, but some unlucky people have fallen directly into a nightmare.

The number is not small.

It could be several thousand or tens of thousands.

In the end, very few survived.

The Elk Camp was built by a group of lost souls who had struggled to survive in hell.

It has been lingering in the depths of this nightmare for over a year now.

They also rescued some lost people one after another, and the total population of the camp remained at around forty.

"But intelligent monsters have their eyes on our camp. We can defend against ordinary monsters with our firestones, but it's very difficult to defend against intelligent monsters! We must find a way to move our camp."

"What do you think of Cold Spring Camp? Can they accept our group? We old guys can skip it."

"Village Chief, Cold Spring Camp refused to let us in, citing limited food supplies. These guys! Cold Spring Camp was in dire straits before, and it was you who came to our aid!"

The girl was indignant, but the old man didn't speak, only shook his head slightly.

The old man knew very well that the situation at Cold Spring Camp was no better.

They can only save themselves.

However, moving and building a new camp is easier said than done.

But how would everyone survive without the protection of a camp?

"Village chief, perhaps we can look for other camps. I believe there must be some other camps in this area."

The girl continued.

The old man was silent for a moment before speaking: "I have met powerful members of the Countermeasures Bureau. I heard that the Countermeasures Bureau has also built several camps deep within Amu, but—"

They didn't know where those camps were located.

The nightmares were vast and chaotic; the maps they drew only showed a small corner around their own camp.

Those who fall into nightmares in Baijiang are often unable to figure out where they are unless they happen to fall into a place with a reference point.

"Not only that—" The old man had another worry.

Cold Spring Camp was at least relatively close to them.

As for the rest, even if they could pinpoint the exact location of the camp, how many of them could actually travel the long distances in the Nightmare World to reach another distant camp?

Their deer camp is actually quite strong; if they were truly weak, they wouldn't have survived this long.

There were several experts at the Third Refinement Realm in their camp, and the village chief himself was an extraordinary being who had undergone a life transformation.

Even so, they still felt like they were walking on thin ice deep within the nightmare.

The village chief could not find a way to get to the other side.

"Camp, camp!"

"In this nightmare world fraught with danger, where can we find refuge?"