Ironclad Group Chat: Red and Black Lists Engraved with Heroic Epics

[Xi Lian: This is really not a happy thing.]

[Gallach: That's right, exactly. The old man is nominally the father of Pinocchio, and to outsiders he's been elevated to a god-like status, but in reality, it's a case of ostensible praise masking devaluation. He's become a "harmless idol," and has long been nailed to the pillar of shame within the family.]

[Robin: How could this be? It's so cruel...]

The robin covered its beak with its hand and cried out in surprise.

Since her debut, she has been committed to carrying on the spirit of her predecessors, so she has taken great care of cities like Asdna that have suffered from war and poverty. She even left a scar on her neck for this, which has become a symbol of her imperfection.

Pinocogniz's techniques made her recovery so easy, but she had never imagined it would be so, and even felt a sense of joy after recovering from her serious illness. She understood the sense of honor that her predecessors had taken as badges of honor from their scars!

But now...

The side she found herself on was completely opposite to the side she had always revered.

What kind of satirical poem is this?!

[Qingque: Why am I so unlucky! Is this... is this like walking into a trap?]

[Fu Xuan: It's alright, keep going. I predict this trip will be uneventful and without any major incidents.]

[Qingque: My Lord, are you sure you don't have other sparrows in the Imperial Astrology Bureau, and that's why you want to get rid of me?]

[Fireworks: Tsk tsk tsk, it's getting dark in Dabosi!]

[Yao Guang: What exactly happened back then? Logically speaking, they were close comrades-in-arms in their rebellion against the company; they shouldn't have ended up like this, with no regard for each other.]

In the light screen, Gallagher succinctly stated: "The story begins a long time ago. After the Clockmakers liberated the border prison, they were at a loss as to how to build Pinocone from scratch, and they were beset by endless internal and external troubles. At this time, someone set their sights on the Star Core."

"This star core originally fell into Asdna during the war. At that time, thanks to the pleas of the Nameless One, people gave up the idea of ​​getting involved with this power. But there have always been people with ulterior motives lurking in the shadows."

He looked at one of the three stone tablets: "The turning point came after Tiernan's sacrifice. The deaths of his two nameless companions forced the Clockmaker to go to the front lines of pioneering. And this journey gave his rivals an opportunity."

"By the time the family representative from the Montor system answered the call of the Clockmaker, the star core had already been activated and infiltrated into the primal synesthetic dream."

[March 7th: It sounds like the family is innocent, doesn't it?]

[Danheng: Listen on, March.]

Himeko raised an eyebrow, sensing a conspiracy: "I suspect your family happens to possess the knowledge of sealing star cores?"

"More than that," Gallagher said dismissively. "They understand the star core far better than ordinary people, quickly helped Mikhail quell the internal strife, and then joined the construction of Pinocone under the name of [Harmony]."

"That was the third century known as the 'Age of Dreams,' when the 'Watchmakers,' kept in the dark, extended an invitation to the entire universe, igniting a craze known as the Land of Dreams."

At this point, anyone could see through the trickery involved.

[March 7th: This...you just jerked me, right? Isn't this all a setup orchestrated by the family? First, they colluded with the bad guys to activate the star core, and then they came out pretending to be the good guys. I could see right through them!]

[Star: March, don't do this.]

[Jing Yuan: There's a 90% chance this is a deception orchestrated from both inside and outside. When it comes to such tactics, the family is no less adept than Huanlong.]

"So how did they become enemies later?" March 7 scratched his head. Isn't this a good thing?

Gallagher gave her a deep look.

[March 7th: Um... As everyone knows, I've already figured it out. I was just pretending to be clueless to keep the conversation flowing.]

[Danheng: March, stop talking, we all understand.]

[Long Night Moon: Don't worry, they all believe in you.]

"Remember that analogy of 'reclaiming land from the sea'? The truth is that the star core was never sealed; it just exists in a different form in the dream."

"Think carefully about the price of building and maintaining such a massive 'dream'."

"It is life, little girl. Magnificent dreams are built upon the death of the spirit. The poison called 'pleasure' flows through dreams, making people drown in it, their minds slowly flowing toward the same destination, ultimately becoming the placenta of dreams."

Gallagher gazed at the dazzling lights of Pinocchio, a burning rage simmering within him.

But thinking of those dreamers who knew nothing about this and were still living in a drunken stupor, he felt extremely sad. He reluctantly turned his head, but his gaze fell on the cold stone tablet of his "old friend".

A silent rage suddenly ignited in my brain.

"Confusion, laziness, cowardice... these weaknesses that are ubiquitous in human nature were amplified and nurtured by the family, turning Pinocchio into another kind of prison, far more indestructible than the one before!"

[Qingque: This, this is the true inner logic behind the operation of the Pinocchio dream?]

The star core devours the evil in humanity, and the family uses extravagance and debauchery to make people addicted, thereby causing the star core to release more energy. This cycle repeats itself, achieving endless prosperity.

The price to pay is that immigrants drawn in by the dream will become slaves to pleasure here.

Pinocchio seems to offer countless opportunities, but another statistic also shows that, despite the allure of various amusement facilities, only a few can ultimately stay true to themselves.

Qingque's face turned deathly pale.

Given my personality, if I actually got a yearly pass to some kind of dream hotel and spent a year or two lying there, I might really become a sickly sparrow and then have no interest in doing anything worthwhile.

[Qingque: Thank goodness... thank goodness I'm just a tourist, I won't be staying for more than a few days.]

[Star: Good grief, what's this called again? Systematic cannibalism, but why does it sound more like something a company would do? A consumerist trap? Oh, and it seems to be combined with low-level sensory pleasure.]

[Gold Sand: Cough, friend, that's a bit too much.]

[Fireworks: Is this what they mean by harmony? You can really see a lot of signs of fate in it.]

[March 7th: Seriously, airing these things has already shaken Pinocchio's foundation, hasn't it? Who would dare come here now?]

[Star: Perfect timing! The time has come to restore the legacy of our predecessors, the Nameless Ones!]

[Yao Guang: It might be a bit difficult. The number of people going there might decrease slightly, but it definitely won't exceed 20%.]

[March 7th: Even in this state? Why are so many people still willing to go?]

[Scott: Hahaha, don't get it? Whether or not there's a star core, the dream is this star's core competitive advantage! The star core is bad, but it won't kill people directly. Some are skeptical, thinking they can resist temptation, while many more have heard: What? Pleasant decadence? Great! They wouldn't be here otherwise! Hahaha, we make our money off these kinds of guys!]