Infinite Nightmares

"Hey, are you okay? Don’t you die on me."

Zhang Wenda poked the drone head, his heart in his throat. He only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the man’s right hand slowly begin to lift.

"Don’t move! Don’t move! The more you move, the more you’ll bleed!"

However, Zhang Wenda’s words didn’t stop the drone-headed man. He struggled to push his bleeding body back upright. "I can’t! I still have something important to do!"

With that, the drone-headed man raised his flashlight—now almost completely soaked in blood—and shot a beam of light directly at the concrete building Zhang Wenda had come from.

He then shoved Zhang Wenda aside and, staggering, stepped onto the beam of light, walking along it. He was heading in the same direction Zhang Wenda had gone to get the moon.

Zhang Wenda stood frozen, speechless. But seeing the man’s condition, he ultimately followed. "Alright, alright, what could possibly be more important than your life?"

"You don’t understand! You... don’t understand..." The drone head’s voice grew weaker and weaker as he scraped his way forward, half his body leaning against the wall.

"You have no idea what’s at stake. It’s too dangerous. Its energy is enough to create an entirely new Thought Wave! It will tear families apart and cost countless lives!"

With that last sentence, his body slumped sideways, smearing a long streak of blood across the wall. But even then, he kept trying to drag himself forward.

Watching the bloody trail forming on the ground, Zhang Wenda glanced hesitantly at the enamel jar. ’Should I keep it, or give it back to him?’

’He saved my life, but I’ve already returned the favor.’

"So many people... have died... because of it... Because of it..." The drone head raised a hand high in the air, his eyes filled with desperation.

Seeing this, Zhang Wenda sighed. ’I guess I really am my grandpa’s grandson. He was an idiot, and so am I.’

Just as the drone-headed man was about to say something else, a jar containing the moon was placed in his hand.

"This is it, right? Stop crawling. I found it. And remember, I’m giving this to you, so you have to give me a fair trade in Blue Cores." Zhang Wenda said this as if every word was tearing his heart out, as if he’d just lost a billion dollars.

The drone head stared at the silvery moon glowing in his hand. A wave of relief washed over him, and his head lolled to the side as he passed out.

"Hey! Hey! Don’t you die on me! What the hell! I gave it back to you, so how can you die now!"

Who knows how much time passed. When the drone-headed man woke again, it was to a searing pain. He saw an old man in old-fashioned canvas shoes dumping a handful of powder directly onto his wound. The pain made him convulse.

"Sir, are you sure this will work? How come you treat every wound the exact same way?" Zhang Wenda asked from the side, frowning slightly.

"Hmph, you want to do it then?" Wang Daniu said, holding the gauze out to Zhang Wenda.

"Never mind, never mind. You do it, please."

Wang Daniu seemed unable to stand the sight of the drone-headed man, looking him up and down with disdain as he administered the treatment.

"What the heck is that thing on his head? And what is he wearing? What’s that thing he’s holding? Sigh, I really don’t get young people these days."

The drone-headed man shifted his gaze from the old man to Zhang Wenda, a complicated look in his eyes. "You already had the sun. Why give it back to me?"

"I’m not that nice. The moment you said it could get a lot of people killed, I knew it was a hot potato. Holding onto it is a good way to get yourself killed." Zhang Wenda picked up the nearby Black Cat and started stroking it.

The drone-headed man looked at Zhang Wenda, then seriously patted his own left shoulder. "Thank you," he said with immense gratitude. "On behalf of the Third Line, I thank you! You’ve done us a great service!"

"Don’t thank me yet. I’m not as high-minded as my grandfather. You were out cold before, so you probably didn’t hear me. I’ll say it again: this wasn’t a gift. You have to give me a sufficient quantity of Blue Cores."

’Whether I sell them or use them for something else, I have to get enough Blue Cores to deal with the rules affecting me.’

However, upon hearing this, the drone-headed man shook his head decisively. "No. You’re not a member of the Third Line. I can’t give you Blue Cores."

Seeing Zhang Wenda’s face fall, he quickly added, "However, you were a huge help on this mission. You even saved my life. If you ever run into trouble, I will do everything in my power to help you."

Zhang Wenda considered the man’s impressive abilities and nodded reluctantly. "Sigh, alright then."

"HISS!" Zhang Wenda pulled back his hand, which now had two bloody puncture wounds, and smacked Song Jianguo on the head. He then turned his gaze to the drone-headed man and fell into thought.

’There was another reason for saving the drone-headed man,’ he thought. ’I know almost nothing about this strange world. This guy looks like he’s well-informed; I can gather some intel from him.’

"Since we’re friends now, can you tell me your name?"

"Classified."

"You—"

"You can call me 2826," the drone-headed man relented, though just barely.

"Fine, fine. I have a few questions for you. That’s not too much to ask, is it?" Zhang Wenda asked.

This time, the man didn’t refuse. His answer was direct. "Go ahead."

"So what is the sun?" Zhang Wenda asked the question he was most curious about.

"Classified."

"Can you teach me how to use this flashlight? The way that lets you shoot a beam of light you can walk on."

"Classified."

"Then what’s a Thought Wave?"

"Classified."

"You motherf—"

"Oh, wait. That one’s not classified. But it’s something your teachers should have covered. You’re an adult—have you really not learned about this?"

"So what if I didn’t even graduate elementary school?" Zhang Wenda shot back, completely unabashed.

Hearing this, Wang Daniu turned his head to look at Zhang Wenda and couldn’t help but feel a sense of kinship with the kid. He hadn’t graduated from elementary school either.

Hearing this, 2826 began his explanation. "A Thought Wave is a very special kind of man-made conceptual entity. You can’t see or touch one, but they definitely exist, and they can alter the environment."

The man’s words made Zhang Wenda scratch his head. "Uh... go on."

"When enough people with a shared perception exist within the same Thought Wave, that internal environment solidifies. It will attract others who share that perception and, at the same time, repel those who don’t."

Seeing Zhang Wenda’s furrowed brow, he held up a finger. "Take Thought Wave One, for example. Basically, any child who hasn’t grown out of a student’s mindset exists within that Thought Wave."

Zhang Wenda thought back on all the strange things he had experienced since arriving in this world. "That’s not right. I’ve seen adults in Thought Wave One too."

"A Thought Wave isn’t a spatial concept; it’s a cognitive one. Beings from different Thought Waves can exist in the same physical space. As long as there are enough people who share a perception, you can even have several Thought Waves squeezed into the same location, coexisting."

"Wait a second." Zhang Wenda realized something. "So you’re saying there isn’t just a kids’ world and an adults’ world, but other worlds based on different perceptions, too?"

"Yes. Many, many, many."