Mr. Pantalone has no crazy plans today.

He has basically done everything he could. If there is anything that is not within his plans or control, then he intends to proceed as planned.

Ultimately, he had done everything he could, despite the heavy workload.

However, after going through all that trouble, he still planned to relax a bit. That was to go back and put aside the official duties that were giving him a headache, lie in bed and sleep like a dead fish without thinking about anything.

Upon returning to his mansion, Pantalone, without even considering his subordinates' thoughts, readily dumped these arduous tasks onto his civil servants, leaving them speechless with frustration.

Of course, given Pantalone's status as the de facto controller of the Northern Bank and a key economic and political figure during the winter, he shouldn't have such a heavy workload.

The reason his workload suddenly surged was mainly due to the operation of those money-burning projects. Each of them required the allocation of a large amount of funds, so it was impossible to just hand them over to his subordinates.

If someone is overly responsible and unsure whether their subordinates can handle the situation, then a surge in workload is perfectly normal and reasonable.

After a busy day, Mr. Pan planned to lie down on the bed and not think about anything, and just sleep until he was completely asleep. Just when he thought he could fall asleep quickly...

Lying in bed feeling physically and mentally exhausted, he found that he couldn't fall asleep at all.

Perhaps it was because the weather in the north was too cool, but even lying in bed he still felt clear-headed, his mind filled with work, work, and more work.

This made Pantalone rub his temples, trying to relieve his throbbing head.

He probably overestimated his sleep quality... Perhaps he should ask his subordinates to get him some traditional Liyue remedies for treating headaches caused by cold and try them out.

He should probably pay more attention to rest and work-life balance in the future; he doesn't want to die young from overwork.

He sighed, wishing there was something that could improve his sleep quality. After rummaging around on himself for a moment, he found something.

"This is……?"

Pantalone showed a slight look of surprise upon seeing the item.

That was a replica of the Void Terminal that Dottore had given him, or it could be called the 'Void Dream Terminal'.

Before he returned, Dotole had given him more than one of these items, so he took an extra pair, but that's not the point.

The key point is that after seeing this thing, Pantalone couldn't help but recall that when Dotole gave it to him, he had told him that this thing had given him the ability to 'dream'.

Although the ability to 'dream' may seem trivial, since even that "doctor" mentioned it, it's clear that 'dreaming' is not so simple.

He seemed to have vaguely heard somewhere that even the gods had an incredibly close relationship with 'dreams,' which might mean that 'dreaming' itself is not simple.

After thinking about it carefully for a while, he felt his head start to hurt again and chose to give up thinking.

Forget it... this isn't something he should worry about; he just needs to focus on what's in front of him.

Compared to those more complex things, he was more concerned about the 'dreaming' ability of this replica's 'Void Dream Terminal' itself. Since it was 'dreaming,' the prerequisite was necessarily falling asleep.

If his guess is true, then perhaps this thing can help him have a good dream.

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, Pantalone pondered for a moment, then put the item on her body, gently closed her eyes, and murmured softly to herself.

"I hope... I can have a good dream."

After he closed his eyes, drowsiness and darkness washed over him like a tide.

Soon, all of this consumed his will.

……

Was it a dream?

Pantalone squinted slightly, feeling the silver flakes falling from the sky. The snowflakes landed on his forehead, bringing him a slight chill.

What comes into view is a vast white world covered by solid ice and heavy snow. In that pure white world, one can even feel that one might be swallowed up by this pure white world at any moment.

What came into his view was a high wall forged from ice and snow, a wall that stretched beyond the limits of his vision, forming an unparalleled chasm that separated the icy world outside the city.

The majestic, solid ice enveloped the entire ice and snow city, seemingly isolating everything inside and outside the world.

The city, forged from solid ice, and its high walls covered with thick white snow, are magnificent creations that seem impossible for humankind to have made.

The palace, formed by ice and snow, was incomparably magnificent, covering the entirety of the pure white world.

The scene was so realistic that it even gave Pantalone a sense of disorientation. If he hadn't been absolutely certain that he had been in his own mansion not long ago, this incredibly realistic feeling would have made him wonder if he was still in reality.

Although the scenery before my eyes was remarkably similar to the winter capital of the snow country, its magnificence was far beyond that; it was an ice and snow city that could not have been created by human hands.

If this were in real life, he would surely marvel at the magnificence of it all.

But if all of this were in a dream, it would seem to make perfect sense.

This made him, who had been somewhat skeptical, realize that he was in a dream after seeing the scene before him.

In other words, was this his own dream?

Looking at this pure white world of Pantalone, he couldn't help but feel puzzled. In his understanding, 'dream' was undoubtedly an interpretation and expression of the inner self and mind, but the scene before him made him somewhat doubtful.

"Is this really what I feel inside...?"

Even if he considers himself to have a strong sense of belonging to Zhidong, surely he doesn't dream of a snow-covered city covered in ice and snow?

But he only assumed it was due to the dream terminal that the "Doctor" gave him, and did not think about the deeper reasons.

"Forget it, since it's just a dream, don't think about it too much. Putting work down and relaxing is the most important thing, isn't it?"

He smiled and said to himself.

They then turned their attention to the snow-covered city, intending to explore this world thoroughly.