I created a safe zone in the nightmare world.

Shi An stepped out of the azure spatial portal and returned to reality.

He rubbed his still slightly sore arm.

Using cursed items has no side effects, but even after swinging the sword hundreds of times, he was still exhausted like a dog.

"But the gains were also enormous."

"Now, I have mastered four spells—Infinite Corridor, Instant Sword, Phantom Step, and Shadow Catcher."

These are all just beginner levels.

However, after practicing Phantom Step and Shadow Catcher over a hundred times, Shi An is not far from reaching the proficient level where he can freely use them in battle.

These two techniques were also the main spells he practiced, solely for self-preservation.

Especially that auxiliary spell.

He himself had not received professional combat training, and under the same conditions, his reaction speed and combat skills were far inferior to those of the elites of large organizations.

Shi An secretly observed Xuan Jian using the Instant Sword Technique.

Even though he was prepared, his mind and eyes still couldn't react in time.

Only when one is caught up in speculation can one respond with ease.

"But on the other hand, as long as my reaction speed is fast enough, I can completely impersonate a real strong person. Even if I have no combat experience whatsoever."

"Hmm, once my spellcasting reaches the proficient level, I can bring out Little Blood for some sparring."

Possessing three spells, two cursed artifacts, and a strange creature, Shi An hummed a little tune as he went out, intending to have a meal at the roast meat shop on the next street.

The streets have been rather deserted lately.

Shi An took out his phone and swiped it. A message popped up saying that a certain vicious gang was still roaming around Baijiang City, and residents were advised to avoid going to remote places.

"Actually, this is a strange influence."

"It seems that nightmares invading reality are indeed becoming more and more common, and the Countermeasures Bureau may not be able to handle them all."

Moreover, many of these strange creatures possess unique skills.

For example, the Blood Handprint's form is usually invisible, and the Hades Robe can change size.

Neither of them are particularly adept at hiding their elusive nature.

Shi An frequently looks through the Countermeasures Bureau's documents.

A Mirror is hidden inside the mirror, and it will only appear when the person looking in the mirror meets the hunting rules;

There is a shadowy creature that disguises itself as a person's shadow and gradually devours the original shadow.

By the time these strange occurrences are discovered, disaster has often already taken place.

Before that, even if a Refinement Stage expert came to investigate personally, it would be difficult to find anything wrong.

"Your roast goose and poached chicken combo."

Dinner was served quickly.

Shi An fiddled with the things he was doing, while constantly scrolling through news on his phone.

"A fire broke out at a Lanzhou noodle shop on XX Road, resulting in three deaths and two injuries."

"The small park is currently undergoing maintenance and is temporarily closed to the public."

Anping Senior High School will be closed for three days due to the flu.

Shi An compared the news information with some secrets he knew.

He heard that the countermeasures bureau was trying to find a way to get rid of the nightmare.

"Is simply conquering the Nightmare difficulty enough?"

"Or perhaps, my safe zone is still too small. If it were to grow ten or even dozens of times larger, it could influence the entire city's situation."

On average, he can conquer one or two nightmares a day in the safe zone.

And this number is still rising.

But thinking about it carefully, the countermeasures bureau shouldn't be so overwhelmed that they can't even handle a few nightmares a day.

His safe zone currently has limited influence.

After all, it had only been going on for about ten days.

Even though it has only been developing for about ten days, and even though the safe zone is still a very loose organization, it is now gradually beginning to have the ability to influence the situation.

Shian already has a plan for the next stage of development.

After dinner, he took a walk and headed home.

As soon as she got home, she drew the curtains and opened the door to the safe zone, stepping back into the store.

Shi An checked the situation in the safe zone.

The training room was surprisingly not full.

Now, Fa Gui works in the sales area, while temporary worker Xiao K has gone to the training room.

Xuanjian and Xixue did not return to reality.

They all carried Dream Pearls, but they weren't in the shop at the moment. Instead, they had received a mission and were exploring some kind of nightmare world.

Shi An closed her eyes.

He could vaguely sense the location of the members.

One is inside the store.

One is in a place far away from the two nightmares.

One has already gone to four or five nightmare locations.

Xuanjian is a solo player in a group.

Xi Xue was paired with Tao Zi.

They were all assigned the 'map drawing' task.

It's not just them.

There aren't many missions on the mission platform in the safe zone, but there are a few long-term missions.

One of them is drawing nightmare maps.

It provides access to nightmare zones and nightmare passages that are not currently recorded in the safe zone, offering not only dream dust rewards but also contribution points that everyone currently desires.

These contribution points are the only way to obtain membership.

Even members can accumulate contribution points to upgrade their membership level in the future.

Shi An had another idea.

"Xuan Jian, Xi Xue, Jiang Peng and others are, after all, people from the mortal world. Even if they wear the Dreamfall Pearl, their time in the Nightmare World is limited."

"Then why don't I go and recruit some lost souls?"

He didn't realize it before.

It has now been discovered that the permanent employee, Fa Gui, is indeed very useful.

If he could have two more permanent employees, he would have a much better staff.

His safe zone is extremely attractive to those who have fallen into dreams, and even more so to those who are already lost and destined never to return to reality!

"Not only that, but each of the lost individuals has their own unique skills, and they are basically all masters among masters."

"The problem now is, where do we find the lost?"

Shi An could only hint at it to his own group of dreamers.

However, the Dreamers in his safe zone are currently exploring various dream realms, and with the aid of the Witchcraft Eye, the possibility of them discovering the traces of the Lost Ones is not so low.

If you just try to survive in nightmares, you might have a dozen or even dozens of nightmares and still not encounter one.

……

A nightmare somewhere.

Two elites from the Countermeasures Bureau are cautiously exploring.

This is the third nightmare they have encountered during this dream-falling exploration.

Three nightmares were pretty much their limit. After investigating the situation in this dream realm, the two planned to seal away the Dream-Drowning Beads they carried. They had been trapped in the dream for several hours; once the influence of the artifacts was removed, they would be able to return to the real world soon.

"Based on the current exploration results, this nightmare is also within the range of nightmares we need to conquer."

"Be careful, the first two nightmares were a bit strange, they felt a bit illogical, I hope it's just my imagination."

These two were certainly not ordinary Dream Fallers; both were masters of the Control stage.

Only at this level do they become the backbone of the team tackling the nightmare.

They are also part of the "strategy team" within the grand strategy, and are currently carrying out preliminary investigation tasks.

However, if you walk along the river often, it's easy to get your shoes wet.

As an ominous premonition arose in their hearts, they saw a butcher wielding a huge cleaver appear mysteriously not far away.

Blood seeped from the cleaver.

The butcher grinned maliciously.

He walked step by step, his eyes revealing more than just the instinct to hunt.

He seemed to disregard the rules of the hunt, his speed increasing rapidly, and a stench of blood filled the air.

"Run! Run! Run!"

"What's going on here? This is so weird! It doesn't make any sense!"

"Perhaps our journey through three nightmare worlds has triggered some kind of deadly threat?"

They were all at the Control stage and had tools at their disposal. However, when a strange entity was unrestrained, even those at the Control stage were just slightly stronger ants.

Within seconds, the two were driven to a dead end.

They have already put the Dream Pearl into a sealed box, but when they can escape the nightmare is not up to them.

At the same time, the Xuan Sword passed through the Nightmare Passage and arrived at this dream realm.

Unfortunately, he found himself in a bizarre situation between two men in black trench coats and the butcher.

The distance between them and the butcher was less than ten meters!

"Brother, run!"

"It's too late!"

A foul stench filled the air.

Just a few days ago, Xuanjian would never have even considered confronting the strange creature head-on.

But today, right now, as the butcher's figure draws ever closer, a desire for battle wells up within him.

Try out the sword!