Chapter 258: Chapter 257: Reunion in a Dream

"Did I wake you?"

A somewhat mature female voice came from behind.

Not Elorie?

Chen Xuan instinctively became alert, turned around using his powers, and was surprised to see that it was Liuli who had spoken. She was still dressed in her tight tank top and short skirt, but her white gauze hat and long knife were set aside. Her lips were slightly parted, her cheeks flushed with a hint of redness, and she looked at Chen Xuan with a smile, her eyes seemingly sparkling with water.

The look of affection in her eyes stunned Chen Xuan.

"Hic~" Liuli covered her mouth.

Hiccup?

His gaze shifted to the table beside her – it was littered with a dozen cans of beer and two bottles of dark pure malt beer, all of which were already empty.

Alright... it wasn’t affection in her eyes; it was alcohol!

The room was undoubtedly Elorie’s place, matching the target Chen Xuan had set before falling asleep. Judging by the scene, the Dream Maker had recreated it quite faithfully – the cramped space, the stuffed toys on the bed all identical to those in his memory. Unexpectedly, even N21 had been reproduced.

But there was no sign of Elorie.

Chen Xuan suddenly felt tense. Could it be because she was unconscious, so she couldn’t appear in the dream either?

"Do you know where Elorie went?" he asked Liuli, who was clearly drunk.

"That little girl went to the supermarket. Didn’t she say she was going to buy groceries and personally cook a meal to welcome you?"

"Is that so..." Chen Xuan blinked, surprised that his dream had such a setup.

It seemed that the Dream Maker emphasized logic, providing causes and effects even in unusual scenes.

"Then I’ll wait for her."

"Okay," Liuli replied and then complained flirtatiously, "How much longer are you going to leave me here? My stability has its limits."

The words seemed threatening, but her tone was so gentle, like an older sister’s complaint.

Chen Xuan suddenly remembered the matter of stability.

"What’s the level now?"

"That’s a measurement for you humans, how should I know." Liuli huffed, "I only know I’ve been here a long time. Staying in the Holy Temple Treasure Vault isn’t much different. If I can’t be of use soon, I might just lose control."

Chen Xuan twitched his lips. This was a rule he heard from her – mystical objects need to be used regularly when not in a dormant state. And N21 appeared as a swordsman, meant for killing, which normal people couldn’t handle. "Don’t worry, I’ll take your needs into account."

It felt strange... soothing a mystical object in a dream.

"There are actually other ways to make me feel stable..." Liuli murmured dreamily.

"What ways?"

She put down the beer can, swayed to the small bed, "Come here, I’ll tell you."

Curious, Chen Xuan walked over, only to be grabbed by the arm and pressed down!

Then Liuli climbed onto the bed, lying prone on him, her long, silver hair cascading down and brushing his face.

Chen Xuan was completely dumbfounded.

This isn’t right in a dream, is it?

In reality, Liuli always had a gentle smile, but wasn’t she supposed to be calm and only interested in fighting? Especially those clear eyes of hers, like icy mirrors, could make people instinctively back away.

Yet now, she looked the same, but everything about her felt different.

"What... are you doing?"

Chen Xuan tried to move, but she pinned his hands beside his head.

This position was too domineering; he felt the roles should be reversed.

"Aren’t you asking me for a way..." She lowered her body and bit his ear lightly, causing every hair on Chen Xuan’s body to stand up. "Though I’m not human, I have everything humans do... so doing relaxing things can also make me feel stable."

After that, Liuli moved her lips down his neck, stopping at his collar, and then bit the zipper, pulling it downward.

Wait... you can’t show anything below the neck!

Just then, the door swung open!

"I’m back—Ahhh!"

A scream rang out.

The two of them turned to see Elorie standing shocked at the door, the plastic bag in her hand dropping to the ground with a thunk.

"What are you two doing!?"

From Angel’s wandering eyes, it was clear she was asking knowingly.

But Elorie didn’t stay stunned for long. She quickly ran over and pulled Liuli away, "Have you been drinking again? I told you not to get drunk!"

"I’m not drunk, how am I drunk?" Liuli muttered reluctantly, "It’s just a few beers..."

"Sorry, hope we didn’t scare you." Elorie said apologetically. "She isn’t like this usually... only when she’s drunk does she act so differently."

"What a pity..."

"What?" she blinked.

"No, nothing," Chen Xuan coughed, oh... this is clearly a dream. No matter what happens in a dream, once you wake up, they’ll disappear, and only I will remember what happened. "Since when did she like drinking?"

"I don’t know... I got her a phone so she could order what she likes to eat, and she started buying alcohol frequently after that," Elorie sighed helplessly. "Liuli’s fine in every other aspect; she just tends to overdo it with drinking."

"I didn’t," Liuli defended herself, "I know exactly what I’m doing, it’s all for your good. If I lose control in the city center, the consequences would be disastrous."

Their relationship... it’s like they’re sisters.

Chen Xuan suddenly became curious, "How long have you two been living together?"

"Manager, you don’t really care about me, do you?" even Elorie sounded slightly reproachful this time. "You brought her from the Holy Temple Treasure Vault to me, don’t you remember when that was?"

"7 months and 25 days." Liuli replied with a smile, "You’ve only visited twice during that time, hic..."

More than half a year?

But in reality, their trip to the Holy Temple Treasure Vault was early January, not more than half a month ago. As for the other side... Chen Xuan remembered Angel mentioning that the Holy Temple Treasure Vault fell on June 1st, so seven months later... He looked towards the calendar on the desk and found it was indeed January 26th.

Wait, January 26th? Doesn’t that align with Jiang City’s time?

Is this a coincidence?

"It’s been so long..." Chen Xuan murmured.

In reality, even though Elorie changed the post-apocalyptic outcome, she wasn’t at ease. Instead, she decided to stay in the future to explore the vital factors causing the change. Yet in the dream, she returned to her cozy little home and lived with Liuli for over half a year.

It’s like watching an "if" storyline.

You have to understand that he hadn’t decided on this entire setup. He merely imagined the environment in which he would meet Elorie, and the Dream Maker had unexpectedly crafted a complete backstory.

"So you didn’t go to the future after all... That’s good." Chen Xuan started to say but suddenly stopped. No, according to Lin Qing, he should try to convey that they’re working to save her. But how do you bring this up with a healthy Elorie?

"Huh? Manager, did you lose your memory?" Elorie picked up the plastic bag from the ground and began selecting the ingredients inside. "Of course I’ve been to the future, you invited me to go with you."

Chen Xuan was slightly startled.

"You’ve only visited here twice during this period."

Liuli’s words resurfaced in his mind.

"The last time was... June?"

"Of course. Since we thwarted the Demon’s plan, we had to witness whether it was effective, right? And I got injured that time; it was thanks to you, Manager, that I got out of it."

Chen Xuan felt his heart pounding.

So it’s this...

The Dream Maker had actually tapped into Elorie’s memories and recreated them in the dream!