TTAETSC Chapter 36.4 - Dreamland

She had short, shoulder-length hair and was wearing a long white dress that accentuated her graceful figure. In the solemn and cheerless base of the sentinel tower, she stood out as an exceptionally beautiful sight.

Almost all the sentinels were watching her, whether consciously or unconsciously.

There was no way around it; the number of women was very low right now, especially in this kind of militarized sentinel tower, where women were even fewer.

After confirming that there might be players inside, the little octopus immediately extended his mental tentacles quietly to sense Wei Jing's emotional changes.

Sure enough, after seeing that woman, Wei Jing's emotions showed a strong fluctuation. Although he maintained a dull expression on the surface, emotional fluctuations couldn't deceive people.

—They definitely knew each other!

The little octopus immediately confirmed this.

So he stretched his neck again, eager to see what the woman looked like. However, she had her back toward them. The little octopus ran from the left shoulder to the right, almost breaking his neck, but still couldn't catch a clear view of the woman's face.

Although Yuan Ye was looking down, most of his attention was on the little octopus on his shoulder.

The little guy had been particularly active since the woman got out of the bus, even trying to find ways to see the woman's face.

It seemed like his little jellyfish was especially interested in women.

First, it was Chen Xinyue, and now this woman in a white dress.

Yuan Ye looked down from above with drooping eyes, his gaze slightly cold as he also stared at the woman in the white dress.

At that moment, the woman, who was being ardently stared at by numerous eyes, seemed to finally notice. She raised her hand and gently brushed the stray hair on her cheek behind her ear, then turned her head to look upward.

Her gaze was straight and direct, looking directly at the floor where they were located.

The little octopus finally saw the woman's appearance clearly. She had almond-shaped eyes, a delicate nose, and a sweet face. At that moment, with the sunset's glow and the gentle evening breeze, the white long skirt floated softly, giving the scene a sense of first love atmosphere from a visual perspective.

But now the little octopus's perspective was extremely keen. He noticed that the woman didn't look at Wei Jing, whom she presumably knew, but instead looked straight at Yuan Ye.

[Friendly reminder: A range enchantment skill has been detected. Since the caster's mental power is lower than 50% of the player's mental power, the immunity effect is triggered.]

[Immune.]

The little octopus was shocked: "...?!!"

Another skill!

And it's even a range enchantment skill?!

He immediately turned his head to look at Yuan Ye, only to see a moment of confusion on his usually cold and indifferent handsome face. Then, the coldness between the young man's eyebrows dissipated, his gaze gradually softened, and there was even a hint of evasion.

"?!!"

Yuan Ye was affected?!

The little octopus immediately turned his head to look at the other people beside him. The leading sentinel and Jon were both staring in rapture, with very obvious blushes on their cheeks.

Captain Chen, on the contrary, was not affected as much; perhaps because she was the same sex as the woman, her gaze just softened slightly.

The little octopus was so anxious that his tentacles fidgeted. Ignoring Captain Chen and Jon for now, the key point was that Yuan Ye was actually affected?!

After hesitating for a moment, he finally took the risk of being discovered and quietly reached out a mental tentacle toward Yuan Ye.

Just then, Yuan Ye suddenly turned his head and averted his gaze, his tone slightly unnatural.

"No need to send dinner."

"...Ah?"

The sentinel, belatedly coming to his senses, felt a bit embarrassed as he touched his flushed face.

"A-all right."

Before he could finish responding, Yuan Ye had entered the room and slammed the door with a bang.

The sudden turn of events forced the little octopus to retract his mental tentacle, but he had been nervously observing Yuan Ye's expression.

Fortunately, after a brief moment of strangeness just now, Yuan Ye seemed to have returned to normal. He surveyed every corner of the room and made little adjustments according to his preferences.

During the process, Yuan Ye even took a can of food from the suitcase and gave it to the little octopus to eat.

In any case, everything seemed quite normal.

The little octopus barely breathed a sigh of relief. However, before the sigh was fully released, it was once again held back.

Yuan Ye had placed a basin of clean water on the table outside, while he himself took clean clothes and went into the bathroom.

"When you're done eating, clean up yourself."

Before going in, the young man specifically gave an instruction.

The little octopus looked at the basin of water beside him, then glanced at the bathroom door that Yuan Ye had already closed.

"...?!!"

Yuan Ye actually didn't take him to bathe together today!

They used to bathe together in the same bathroom before!

Not normal!

This was definitely not normal!

Alarm bells suddenly erupted in the little octopus's heart.

He quickly jumped off the table and ran to the bathroom door.

But then the sound of rushing water could be heard from inside, indicating that Yuan Ye was already showering, and he couldn't just slip in through the crack in the door again like last time.

"Enchantment..."

In a sense, wasn't this just like brainwashing?!

It was unknown what other conspiracy those guys might have. Perhaps this enchantment skill was just another part of their plan?

The more the little octopus thought about it, the more he felt terrified by this conspiracy. Then, he could only crouch at the door, tying his tentacles one by one into a knot to calm himself down and analyze the situation rationally.

Meanwhile, Yuan Ye was standing under the showerhead, taking a cold shower. Although the sentinel tower did have a hot water supply, Yuan Ye preferred to shower with cold water all year round because it helped him stay rational and stabilize his emotions.

He closed his eyes and let the cold water flow over his forehead, eyes, and brows, and then down his neck. However, this cold water apparently couldn't cool down his burning brain.

Yuan Ye couldn't help but recall the woman he had just seen wearing a white dress.

It was very strange.

When the woman turned around, her appearance actually changed in that instant.

Yuan Ye saw her turn into a man.

A man... with pink hair and blue eyes.

The man had a handsome and refined face. In the glow of the setting sun, his smile was particularly gentle, like the shimmering blue sea.

But Yuan Ye had never seen that person before.

He didn't understand why he would have such a hallucination.

The young man breathed rapidly, subconsciously covering his chest. The previous wound had healed, leaving behind faintly pink regenerated skin that was slightly more sensitive than before.

At that moment, Yuan Ye felt his own heart pounding, with each beat quite heavy, so heavy that he could feel the faint impact on the palm of his hand.

Shaaa—

He turned the water on to the maximum.

The resounding sound of the shower water masked the rapid breathing and heartbeat.

Forty minutes later, Yuan Ye came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. As he used a towel to dry his hair with his left hand, he opened the door with his right hand and caught sight of a little jellyfish crouching on the ground.

To be precise, it was a little jellyfish that had tied its tentacles into a knot and was trying hard to untangle them.

The little octopus, caught in an embarrassing situation, froze instantly.

"..."

Yuan Ye was silent for a few seconds, then the corners of his lips couldn't help but twitch.

But just a few moments later, he managed to straighten his mouth. He then squatted down and pinched the little jellyfish with his fingers, making a "guji, guji" sound.

"Get a little bigger. I'll help you untie it."

Otherwise, the tentacles were too thin, making it difficult to untie.

Eh?

The little octopus was slightly stunned, but still obediently grew much larger, about the size of a basketball. The tentacles, originally as small as a child's little finger, now had the widest part as thick as three adult fingers.

Yuan Ye reached out his hand with two layers of gloves separating the contact. He patiently helped the little guy untie the knotted tentacles. Perhaps after experiencing such a long period of adaptation, Yuan Ye was able to accept this level of contact.

During the process of untying the tentacles, the little octopus quietly observed Yuan Ye.

He noticed that today the other person took twice the usual time to shower. Not only that, but there was also a slight redness on the corners of his eyes, cheeks, and lips.

Not normal!

This was definitely not normal!

However, the little octopus hadn't tried extending out his mental tentacles while the target was awake to see if they would be detected, so he did not dare to act rashly.

So then he could only refrain from taking action and quietly observe the situation as it developed.

At least, Yuan Ye's current mental state was still considered normal.

The little octopus always maintained a ready-to-battle posture. However, at that moment, Yuan Ye, holding the tentacles of the little jellyfish, suddenly felt that this color seemed familiar.

It looked a bit like... the hair color of the man he saw in his hallucination.

That person's hair also seemed to be this kind of pink color.

Yuan Ye stared blankly and suddenly caught a glimpse of the little jellyfish's moist blue eyes in the corner of his eye.

"Blue eyes..."

He suddenly lowered his head, leaning closer to look at the little jellyfish's eyes. There seemed to be a hint of confusion, yet also a sense of bewilderment in Yuan Ye's eyes.

"It seemed..."

The color of that person's eyes also seemed to be similar to the little jellyfish's...

The little octopus didn't understand what was wrong with Yuan Ye, but the sudden closeness and inexplicable seriousness made him feel a bit unused to it all of a sudden.

No way. Could Yuan Ye have remembered something?

His vest won't fall right away, will it?!

The little octopus felt nervous. His heart was pounding wildly.

However, at the next moment, Yuan Ye suddenly stood up.

"I'm going to sleep."

After saying that, he went straight to bed, pulled the quilt open, lay down, and curled up into a ball.

The whole action was done in one go.

Eh?

The little octopus left behind was extremely confused.

He looked at the sky that had just darkened outside, then at Yuan Ye, who was already curled up in bed, ready to sleep.

Wasn't it a bit too early at that time?

The little octopus scratched his head.

But it's good to sleep. When Yuan Ye falls asleep, he can try to use his mental tentacles to see the situation. Maybe he can remove the effect of that enchantment skill.

The little octopus felt this plan was simply perfect!

So he immediately ran to the window, closed it to block out the outside noise, and then happily helped Yuan Ye pull the curtains closed, creating an immersive sleeping atmosphere.

Sleep, sleep, sleep~

The little octopus shrank back to its original size, jumped, and crouched onto the head of the bed. He extended his mental tentacles, not entering Yuan Ye's brain, but gently sticking to the outside, conveying a sense of calmness and drowsiness.

He thought for a moment and even transmitted a melody of a soft hum that he used to lull his younger brothers and sisters to sleep.

As time passed second by second, Yuan Ye's breathing also became steady and long, his brows relaxed, and his sleeping face peaceful.

To ensure safety, the little octopus waited for a while, even until midnight. Then he carefully extended more mental tentacles, silently entering Yuan Ye's mind.

Crash—

This time, Ye Yunfan did not see the empty, snow-white space, but a bright and soft blue.

It was the blue of the ocean.

Eh?

Why did it suddenly change to this color?

Ye Yunfan was somewhat surprised. As he continued to delve deeper, his perspective suddenly shifted.

He felt like he had fallen into the sea. He looked up and saw a pink sky.

Every cloud was in the shape of a heart.

Ye Yunfan: "???"

Is this Yuan Ye's dream?

How could it be such a strange dream?

"Who are you?"

Without warning, Ye Yunfan heard Yuan Ye's voice. He was startled and suddenly turned around, only to find that those beautiful heterochromatic eyes were surprisingly close.

Perhaps this is one of those nonsensical dreams, so even underwater, Yuan Ye can speak naturally.

"Who are you?"

He asked again.

"I..."

Ye Yunfan was stunned when he heard his own voice. Suddenly, he looked down and realized that he was actually human.

He had never expected such a situation to occur, and for a moment, he didn't know how to respond.

But at that time, Yuan Ye suddenly leaned in too close to a somewhat overly intimate distance.

Ye Yunfan's Adam's apple slid down, his heart beating a little faster. He heard Yuan Ye speak.

"I don't remember you."

Those beautiful heterochromatic eyes gazed at him intensely, his voice calm yet quietly scorching.

"But I think... I kind of like you."

Ye Yunfan was dumbfounded.

"...Eh?"

His mind went blank because the next second, Yuan Ye suddenly raised his head and kissed him.

"Hmm."