"Stimulants, upper drugs, euphoria potions, spirit converters, genius concoctions... Since long ago, alchemists have been searching for a way to reconcile themselves with this garbage reality that offers no user experience to speak of."
"Generally speaking, though, even if a sorcerer is willing to swallow their grievances, reality will only push its luck and double down. The medicinal miracles they developed either had sky-high thresholds, usable only by the sorcerers themselves, or carried intense toxicity that even medical sorcerers couldn't cure, frying the user's brain."
"So, does there exist an alchemical potion that is non-toxic, can be mass-produced, and benefits everyone?"
"Actually, yes." Annan spread her hands. "The special pheromone extracted from mermaid fish-mint is an absolutely safe euphoric compound. It has zero toxicity and zero physiological addiction, and no matter how large the dose, it produces no side effects. Consequently, various preparations derived from mermaid fish-mint rapidly spread throughout Gospel, such as the cat grass smoke in your hand, Mr. Harvey."
"How could such a convenient creation exist?" Igola asked, frowning. "In the Blood Moon Country, there's no such miraculous plant that seems plucked right out of a fantasy—"
The Purple Moth smiled. "Naturally it wouldn't exist there, because it was cultivated under the guidance of the Book of Gospel. It's a native species unique to the Gospel Country."
The trio froze. The Book of Gospel?
Upon reflection, that was only natural—as an artifact capable of answering any question, how could the Book of Gospel not be applied to scientific research? Especially in experimental science, its guidance would yield twice the results with half the effort.
Before every experiment, the Book of Gospel could eliminate all hidden dangers. Upon hitting a bottleneck, one had only to open the Book of Gospel to learn the next step. When an unknown component was discovered, asking the Book of Gospel would reveal its purpose... Compared to sorcery factions, basic science was the greatest beneficiary of the Book of Gospel. For over a millennium, basic science in the Gospel Country likely hadn't stalled for a single day!
Yet this raised another question...
Igola asked, brow furrowed, "Does the Book of Gospel not stop the production of euphoria drugs?"
"Because it isn't as severe as you think," Annan said flatly. "In truth, the highest grade of euphoria potion ordinary people can buy is the cat grass smoke in Harvey's hand. Even then, cat grass smoke contains a special additive that induces nausea in the smoker; even the strongest beastman can smoke at most one pack a day, far from enough to raise their threshold."
"Most euphoria drugs are sold exclusively to corporate enterprises. Take 'Rosemary,' paired with central air conditioning, which effectively boosts the work efficiency of an entire company's staff; or 'Fourteen Spice,' tailored specifically for the dining industry to give patrons a better dining experience..."
"Nothing possesses only harm without benefit, not to mention that euphoria potions were originally the 'holy blood' pursued by alchemists. How could sorcerers abandon them? As long as they are used with planning and moderation, euphoria potions bring benefits without harm to society. Furthermore..."
"You also have the Book of Gospel," Yaxiu said. "With the Book of Gospel helping regulate it, the harm of euphoria potions can be reduced virtually to zero."
"It is so for euphoria potions, and so for the Beauty Mist," Annan said. "Processed Beauty Mist can nourish the city, but sorcerers naturally considered whether the city might engorge itself to death. Guided by the Book of Gospel and their own exploration, Fanmula's sorcerers found a perfect path: the family reincarnation dreamscape system."
The Purple Moth looked at the Swindler. "Mr. Bogin, as a mind sorcerer, you should know that certain miracles can directly siphon a target's positive emotions, right?"
"Siphoning positive emotions and amplifying negative ones is a fairly common assassination method for mind sorcerers," Igola said. "If the target happens to run into a major setback, one can even drive them to suicide."
"Thank you for the explanation." Annan gave a slight nod. "In the world of sorcerers, positive emotions can be regarded as a resource. One could even say that someone stripped of this resource will quickly collapse mentally."
"However, an excess of resources will drown a person. The present situation in Fanmula is that everyone possesses a surplus of emotional resources, so the solution is obvious."
"To... harvest positive emotions?" Igola asked, full of doubt. "Leaving aside what method you use to harvest them, stirring emotion requires reaching deep into the soul. You can't possibly sneak into other people's minds like I do, can you? It would require all the citizens of the city to willingly bare their souls, like leaving their doors wide open at night for all to see what's inside... That carries a far greater risk than walking around stark naked!"
"Between strangers, of course it's impossible."
Leaning against the wall, Annan said leisurely, "What if they are family?"
"A mother with her son, a daughter with her grandson, a sister with her nephew, a brother with his niece... With blood ties as the bond and the family as the fortress, everyone gladly blends into the collective, surrendering their joy and lowering their thresholds."
"Bloodline identity is truly an intriguing concept. When it grows powerful enough, personal will is genuinely suppressed to the extreme."
"It started as a whimsical concept, but through centuries of deep development and the contributions of countless sorcerers, they wove the joyful feelings of innumerable clansmen into layer upon layer of dreamscapes, ultimately forging an indescribable bloodline miracle."
"When clansmen close their eyes, they can submerge into the dreamscape at any time—a wondrous world woven from countless joyful emotions."
"When you desire peace and quiet, the dreamscape carves out a private world just for you. When you wish to share and confide, a clansman longing to listen will cross your path. When you seek answers, wise clansmen await beneath the trees. When you crave a whirlwind romance, perhaps the next person you meet will strike sparks of love with you."
"And all your actions consume your positive emotions. Once your emotions are spent, you naturally exit the dreamscape and return to reality."
"In the process of spending your emotions, you gradually develop a devout faith in this merchant. You mistakenly believe your happiness stems from your family, that your delight arises from love. All your fond memories become branded with 'love and family.' You surrender your diminutive self and entrust your spirit to the great family."
"The chronic ailment brought by the Beauty Mist quickly disappears, because you now have a far more terrifying cancer: family love."
"Wait!" Yaxiu exclaimed in surprise. "Doesn't this reincarnation dreamscape sound just like—"
"A lot like the Void Realm, right?" Annan said with a smile. "I'm not finished yet. In the mind faction, according to stored information capacity from smallest to largest, there are 'thoughts,' 'wills,' and 'emotions.'"
"A thought is merely a brief fragment of memory, while a will is a cluster of memories with a strong directed purpose composed of multiple thoughts. As for emotions, they are the incidental byproducts of collisions between will and memory."
"Even if the positive emotions here are the lowest-grade feelings catalyzed by the Beauty Mist, they still hold considerable information. When people willingly merge into a dreamscape woven from such moods, what do you think happens?"
"Past memory fragments get absorbed and digested by the living..." Harvey shook his head. "Disgusting."
Annan nodded. "Yes. In the dreamscape, if you are lucky enough—or unfortunate enough—you may resonate with other memory fragments, absorbing the knowledge and emotions within. As for digestion... hmph, it's hard to say who digests whom."
"A pure-blooded political animal like Qinna isn't a twisted creature reality alone could shape. I suspect she inherited the foulest essence of more than a dozen past Sennheiser family heads, which is why she exudes the stale, sour stench of a moldy elf from her hair to her fingernails."
Beauty Mist, the family reincarnation dreamscape system... Yaxiu and the others felt as if they'd been slapped, their minds nearly overloaded by the deluge of information.
Wasn't this an exaggerated setting suitable for the main stage of an entire new volume? Wasn't it a bit excessive to make a secondary stage like Fanmula so bizarre?
And setting aside the Beauty Mist, creating a family reincarnation dreamscape just to overcome it... sounded like inventing a matter converter to turn shit into beef chow fun just for a bite of shit.
After all, the family reincarnation dreamscape was vastly more important than the Beauty Mist. It was tantamount to creating a miniature Void Realm dedicated to passing down knowledge. If the dreamscape continued to expand and absorbed enough emotional sustenance, it might genuinely become an exclusive family Void Realm—
"Actually, it isn't as wonderful as the young miss describes," Banjie spoke up. "While things like 'knowledge reincarnation' do occur, they don't happen even once a year. The overwhelming majority view the reincarnation dreamscape merely as a leisure and recreation venue, blowing off excess joy in the process."
The young steward explained, "The greatest strength of the family reincarnation dreamscape lies not in reincarnation, but in family. All clansmen who join the same dreamscape, even if they have never met, see their blood bonds and subconscious impressions steadily deepen, ultimately forging an almost instinctual bloodline affinity."
"You must have wondered why everyone on the street was staring at us earlier. It's because aside from us, everyone else belonged to the 'same family.' When they look at one another, they feel an innate warmth. Even without knowing names, they recognize each other as kin with whom they can be entirely candid."
Yaxiu and the others understood at once—their stroll down the street earlier was equivalent to barging into someone else's intimate family banquet to relieve themselves. It would be a wonder if people hadn't stared.
"In other words," summarized Igola, who was responsible for 'the clever lifting up the less clever,' "the Beauty Mist grants the entire city's populace unending joy, giving it the highest work efficiency, resident satisfaction, and public safety in Gospel."
"Yet to prevent this joy from destroying the citizens' minds, sorcerers created the family reincarnation dreamscape, allowing citizens to pour their surplus joy into the dreamscape. After growing for hundreds of years, the dreamscape and sorcerer families have thoroughly taken over the city of Fanmula."
"Almost everyone living here must buy into this operating system, and outsiders are precisely identified by the locals."
"The Beauty Mist catalyzed happy citizens; the Beauty Mist spawned colossal families; the Beauty Mist caused Fanmula to isolate itself from the Gospel Country."
"Very well summarized," Annan said. "Practically nothing missed."
The Swindler fell silent for a moment. "...So why on earth did we come to tour this man-eating hellhole?"
"Wait." Yaxiu raised a hand. "Aren't you going to discuss why the reincarnation dreamscape resembles the Void Realm so closely? Could the Void Realm be—"
"Sorcerers suggested long ago that the Void Realm is a magnificent dreamscape woven by all living beings. It's practically common knowledge, though no one has ever verified it." Igola waved him off dismissively. "The adults are talking. Children, keep quiet!"
Lisi reached out and clamped her hand over her father's mouth, and Yaxiu tapped his daughter on the head.
"For outsiders, Fanmula is indeed quite dangerous," Banjie said. "However, the young miss is no outsider."
Everyone turned to look at Annan. The corner of Annan's mouth twitched, as though she had swallowed a cockroach. After a brief silence, she admitted in an utterly begrudging tone, "I lived in Fanmula for a while when I was little."
Chapter 294