"So this is the Spirit Hunter Prison, it's my first time here."
Niya looked around with curiosity.
The entire Spirit Hunter Prison was dimly lit, and occasionally a few Spirit Hunter agents on guard would pass by them, giving them appraising glances.
The Spirit Hunter Prison mainly imprisoned heretics with self-awareness, anomalies, or Spirit Hunter agents who had made grave mistakes.
The prison was divided into four levels. The first two levels were for anomalies or heretics, and the latter two were for disgraced Spirit Hunter agents. Duan Chen planned to start from the first level and search them out one by one.
"Duan Chen… you've finally arrived…"
"Duan Chen… hurry and save me…"
"Hurry and save me, Duan Chen!"
This voice… could it already invade his mind without relying on his dreams?
Was it because he was getting closer to him?
Duan Chen carefully looked into each room. Through the windows, he could see the situation inside the prison cells.
"Heh heh… your mental state doesn't seem too good."
Gallo teased him maliciously.
Duan Chen shot him a glare.
"Say anything through the mental link. Do you want Niya to be imprisoned too? Don't forget this is the Spirit Hunter Prison!"
"Tch, what's so great about the Spirit Hunter Prison? We still managed to sneak in. If you ask me, these Spirit Hunter agents are just freeloaders."
Duan Chen ignored him. Gallo, in his opinion, was a typical anti-social personality, displeased with everything, and only concerned with his evil god.
The first level was quickly finished, without the figure Duan Chen was looking for.
Spirit Hunter Prison, second level.
Compared to the first level, the second level was larger, and there were more Spirit Hunter agents patrolling.
"Duan Chen… here, here!"
"Here!"
The voice had become hysterical.
Duan Chen stopped in front of a door.
He gradually leaned closer to the small window in front of him.
A woman's eyes suddenly appeared in the small window.
As their eyes met, Duan Chen's breath trembled. He took a few steps back, startled.
"Hey? Are you alright?"
A Spirit Hunter agent noticed his condition and stepped forward to inquire.
"Ah… I'm fine. May I ask who is imprisoned inside…"
"A madwoman, seems like an anomaly."
"Duan Chen! Hurry and open the door, Duan Chen!"
"Let me out quickly!"
"Kill her! Let me out!"
"Stop talking!"
Duan Chen punched the door, startling both Niya and the Spirit Hunter agent.
"Sorry… I'll come back another time."
"Are you alright?"
Once in the car, Niya looked at him with concern.
"No…"
Duan Chen put away his scattered thoughts and lit a cigarette.
"Mind if I have a smoke?"
"No."
Gallo chuckled, "Looks like you've been enchanted by that woman."
"Enchanted by what?"
Duan Chen asked impatiently.
"That woman is an anomaly. Did you mistake her for a relative or someone you know?"
"Let me tell you, that's one of the most common tactics of some anomalies."
"I don't need you to remind me."
Duan Chen lost the mood to smoke and threw the cigarette into a small puddle by the roadside.
Gallo laughed even harder.
Niya frowned, "Gallo."
"Alright, alright… I get it."
Gallo did listen to Niya.
That evening, Duan Chen had that dream again.
In the dream, the woman's face was clearer. She was wailing miserably in her cell at the Spirit Hunter Prison, begging Duan Chen to save her.
"Duan Chen… don't you recognize me? I'm your mother!"
Mother?
Duan Chen took two steps back, his eyes filled with disgust.
"How can you, an anomaly, be my mother?!"
"It's true! Duan Chen… it's true!"
As she spoke, the woman covered her face with her hands and began to cry softly.
And this figure actually began to overlap with Duan Chen's memory of his mother.
How was this possible?
Could his mother truly be that anomaly?!
In the following days, Duan Chen's mental state was not good. He was tormented by the dream, losing his appetite and unable to sleep. Worse still, there were no missions for him, preventing him from distracting himself. He could only immerse himself in the agony of the nightmare.
"Xiao Duan, you…"
Qi Qing stared at his face, her brow furrowed deeply.
In just a few days, the Duan Chen before her seemed to have transformed. His face was pale, his lips were dark blue, and his dark circles were too obvious. He had gone from a spirited young man to this state.
Hairen sat quietly beside him, taking a bite of his meal, and said lightly, "He's being haunted by a Nightmare."
"The Nightmare from nightmares?"
Qi Qing was surprised.
"Yes, the only way to break free is for him to do it himself. Others cannot. For the next few days, we… no, you need to prevent him from running around and doing anything unusual. It's easy to get caught."
"Why?"
Hairen swallowed the food in his mouth.
"Because in my experience, those whose minds have been invaded by Nightmares and who haven't defeated them have mostly become madmen."
Qi Qing realized the seriousness of the situation and exchanged glances with Sheng Chen and Niya.
"For the next few days, the three of us will take turns watching Duan Chen."
"Aren't we going to tell Wu Suowei and the others?" Niya seemed very calm.
"It's useless to tell anyone. Only Duan Chen can resolve it himself."
Hairen got up from the table and climbed onto the sofa to watch TV.
"This guy, all he does is eat for free." Qi Qing rolled her eyes.
Duan Chen, however, sat at the table with a blank stare, holding a bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other. He ate like a robot, not picking up any dishes. After eating, he went upstairs and sat idly all day.
"Niya, do you remember the Apostle I mentioned to you before?" Gallo suddenly said.
Niya's eyes flickered, "Number 02?"
"Precisely."
"Didn't she disappear long ago?"
"She disappeared, but she didn't die."
"Number 02's ability is to control Nightmares, and her codename is also Nightmare."
"Are you suspecting that Number 02 is behind this?"
"Heh heh… who knows? She's not the only one in the world who can control Nightmares. It could be someone else, but we should still keep an eye on it."
"Understood."
Duan Chen was indeed deeply trapped in the Nightmare at this moment.
In the dream, he came to the Spirit Hunter Prison again, this time alone, without Niya by his side.
"Oh my, Duan Chen? You're here again?"
"Yes…"
Duan Chen reached out to touch the door.
"Let me out quickly! Quickly!"
"Duan Chen! I'm your mother!"
"Don't you remember me?"
After the Spirit Hunter agent left, Duan Chen placed his hand on the doorknob, hesitating.
Was that person truly his mother?
He would only know if he let her out.