Chapter 149: I’m Gundam!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“What do you think about that Dream Maker?”
Empress Dowager Fu dragged her daughter, Asakawa Hana, to the side and asked something… which froze her for a while.
“What can I think about him…?”
Asakawa Hana replied very indifferently. She hadn’t known Qiu Ren for long. Even considering her feelings for Kichi Gen, she only felt guilty, grateful, and cared just a little bit about him.
So, when Qiu Ren invited her to leave with him, she couldn’t just abandon her fans and the “Blossoming Love” production team and run away with him.
Even “Blossoming Love” didn’t choose to end. The production team kept adding new characters in order to maintain popularity and revenue, which caused a great burden and torture on her.
When Asakawa Hana calmed down and thought about it, the production team had raised her after all, so she hoped to finish her life with the commission she gave to the secret society.
And fans were treasures of every dream consciousness.
Asakawa Hana wouldn’t betray her fans no matter what. Of course… for a reckless Dream Maker like Qiu Ren, she couldn’t do anything about it either.
“I understand your concern. He… actually came from another world of the creators.”
Empress Dowager Fu told her daughter a secret, leaving her astonished.
“So, if you leave with him, it’s enough for you to be accused of treason. You’ll be completely destroyed,” said Empress Dowager Fu.
“Is this… a warning?”
Asakawa Hana had also heard rumors about the other creator world. Some kind of a legend circulated among the dream consciousnesses in this world.
This was a legend like a utopia, the Garden of Eden and the Peach Blossom Spring, which was that there was another world that dream consciousnesses could live in.
In that world, dream consciousnesses and the creators got along in an equal relationship. There would no longer be tragedies of being enslaved or reset.
“Not a warning.” Empress Dowager Fu was straightforward. She did not fear the Lords of Nightmare of the secret society around her…
“If you want to leave, I can help you… The premise is you must give up some of your things.”
“Well…”
Asakawa Hana was once again stunned after hearing her mother. She glanced at the Lords of Nightmares of the secret society at the same time.
This secret was big enough to overthrow the position of Empress Dowager Fu.
However, the Lords of Nightmare of the secret society seemed to have gotten used to this. They weren’t paying attention to the situation on her side at all.
The reaction of these Lords of Nightmare immediately made Asakawa Hana understand that… this wasn’t the first time her mother had done such a thing!
“What are the things I have to give up…?” Asakawa Hana asked.
“I can divide your existence into two.”
Empress Dowager Fu suggested a way that seemed to be the perfect solution for anyone.
“So, you can leave the main body of ‘Blossoming Love’ and just keep the part in the spin-off… If you want to go to the other material world with that Dream Maker, and even if you’re there… I can also guarantee that the spin-off will be broadcasted in the two material worlds at the same time.”
“Mother, the prices you listed… aren’t prices at all.” Asakawa Hana was dumbfounded for a while after hearing that and said, “I can’t think of a reason to refuse.”
Empress Dowager Fu’s method was to completely cut off the connection between Asakawa Hana’s main personality and her several other personalities that were almost like burdens and cancers. She then could be involved in the story of the spin-off wholeheartedly.
This might make the level of her Dream Seed drop drastically, even downgrading to Level B.
However, Asakawa Hana didn’t care about this. What made her more interested was that… if she went to the other material world, the fans she had in this world could still be connected with her. They could continue watching the spin-off of “Blossoming Love.”
“But I have other requests…”
“Other requests…”
“Go save your sister and brothers. You’re not the first child I sent to the other material world in this way. I used to think they could have a better life there, but…”
Empress Dowager Fu said as she looked at Tapir, who was helping Qiu Ren pack his things in the corner.
This was a decision Empress Dowager Fu made after Tapir told her about what had happened to her children in the other material world.
Most of her children landed in the other material world as Nightmare Seeds. As far as Tapir knew, their lives weren’t good. They were all imprisoned deep in cages without hopes of getting out forever.
“That Dream Maker is capable of doing that. I don’t expect you to give your sisters and brothers an excellent environment. It’s already good enough to let them play a role in the spin-off.”
“I’ll try… if I can, but…” Asakawa Hana’s gaze also landed on Qiu Ren far away, who was about to set off. “Will that Dream Maker agree?”
Empress Dowager Fu didn’t answer Asakawa Hana’s question. Instead, she showed a gentle smile on her face. This smile only existed in Asakawa Hana’s memory from a long time ago.
It probably meant, “My daughter, you have to fight for happiness yourself.”
Asakawa Hana soon understood her mother’s intention. She kept squeezing her hair with her hand. After struggling for a while, she let out a long sigh, then strode towards Qiu Ren.
“Can I come with you? The world of Iron Blood…” Asakawa Hana interrupted Tapir and Qiu Ren’s conversation and said.
“Yes, but that world is quite dangerous. Why do you suddenly…”
“I can be… your guide. I visited that world several times a couple years ago. I know a thing or two about the situation in that Dream Dungeon.”
Asakawa Hana didn’t explain herself. She really couldn’t. Qiu Ren didn’t force her either, and he glanced at Tapir next to him.
“Isn’t this… what you wanted?” Tapir said to Qiu Ren in a very plain tone, but Qiu Ren could discern a thousand hidden meanings in it.
However, he had a mission to complete right now. Qiu Ren’s body in the real world was still in the production company of “Blossoming Love.” Who knew when the Dream Hunting Bureau would become impatient and kill him in reality?
It wasn’t a bad thing to have a guide.
“This way, please, Asakawa.”
Qiu Ren opened the portal to “Iron Blood.”
Unlike Blossoming Love, Iron Blood was an official Dream Dungeon opened to the public. The background of this Dream Dungeon was supported by the government without any elements of personal creation inside.
So, Iron Blood and Dynasties were both Dream Dungeons that were completely opened to the public. Ordinary people were only restricted from entering the core areas.
Qiu Ren and Asakawa Hana walked into the portal together… After going through the portal, the scenery in front of their eyes immediately changed.
“Isn’t it… quite flourishing?”
Qiu Ren strolled on this futuristic city street. There were people walking past the street, looking very lively.
The most important thing was that these people weren’t non-player characters simulated by the Dream Dungeon but real visitors from around the world.
They were walking on the streets as the civilians of this world.
This was a very thriving scene for a Dream Dungeon that was fully opened to the public, just like players running everywhere in the main game city in a ma.s.sively multiplayer online role-playing game.
“Look over there.” Asakawa Hana pointed at the end of the street.
There was another reason why this street was so busy: it was a “sacred place,” the place where some famous scenes in the original work of “Iron Blood” took place.
Qiu Ren looked in the direction Asakawa Hana was pointing at and found that a huge number of people wearing the same clothes were yelling the so-called “famous line” at the end of the street.
Qiu Ren could hear a very familiar line… “Chief! What are you doing? Chief! Why are you just watching on the side?”
Good Lord… They must be here to reproduce the scene.
“Do you know that ridiculing the production also has a negative impact… on dream consciousnesses.” Asakawa Hana pointed out the current situation of “Iron Blood.”
“Iron Blood” was originally a Dream Dungeon that relied on multiple emotions from the audiences and fans, including honor, pride, enthusiasm, and feeling of being moved, to survive.
But now, it had become the most shameful production about robot wars.
So, the more flourishing the street was, the more of a painful torture it was for the dream consciousnesses of Iron Blood.
“Is there a celebration ceremony today?”
Even though this was the first time Qiu Ren had come to this Dream Dungeon, he could feel the joy in the air.
Although the dream characters in Iron Blood didn’t welcome the Dream Makers, they wouldn’t stop these travelers from “touring around the sacred place?”
“It’s the new mobile suit and new character release ceremony.” Asakawa Hana said, “It seems that they’re planning to launch new characters to replace the original ones… the dream consciousnesses who aren’t willing to cooperate. This is a very common tactic Dream Makers use. There should be a press conference for the new mobile suits today.”
“I see. By the way… why are you so familiar with the situation in Iron Blood?” Qiu Ren asked out of curiosity.
“…” Asakawa Hana gently bit her lower lip and said, “People who live in pain always like to peek into the lives of others, even though it’ll just make them even more… painful.”
“What you said quite matches the style of the spin-off.”
Qiu Ren was trying to make her smile, but the guns that suddenly appeared behind her and Qiu Ren made her smile freeze right there.
“Don’t make any sound. Follow us.”
A cold voice sounded behind Qiu Ren. Qiu Ren didn’t need to look back to sense that they were the original characters of “Iron Blood.”
Qiu Ren didn’t resist. He followed them all the way to a car, then was sent straight to a small battleship in outer s.p.a.ce using a special aircraft.
They could even go to outer s.p.a.ce. Should Qiu Ren say this was indeed a stage using robot wars as the background?
This was the first time Qiu Ren had been in such a completely weightless environment.
This small battleship seemed pretty clean… When the light was on, Qiu Ren finally saw the characters on the poster of “Iron Blood.”
Garo, the male leading character and the Head of the Order of Karma, and Qing Ming, the male supporting character and the top Gundam Meister of the Order of Karma.
“Are you the swordsmen sent by the Order?”
The Head, Garo… Qiu Ren felt that he had the temperament of a playboy at first glance.
“Swordsmen? I prefer… the t.i.tle of Dream Maker.”
Qiu Ren had already taken off the cuffs on his hands while he spoke.
The moment he was free from the cuffs, Qing Ming, the expressionless male supporting character next to Garo, had already pulled out a pistol and pointed it at him.
“Ming, don’t rush.” Garo stopped the man and reached his hand out to press down the pistol in Qing Ming’s hand. He then said to Qiu Ren, “We don’t welcome Dream Makers here.”
“I think you just don’t welcome Dream Makers from the government, but I have nothing to do with them. I’m even a felon the government wants to hunt down.”
Thin black mist had already billowed out behind Qiu Ren while he spoke, telling people of the Order of Karma that he would never possibly go the same way as the government.
“You got the point. So?”
As the Head and the core of this Dream Dungeon, Garo was getting interested in Qiu Ren.
“Why don’t you raid the new mobile suit launch ceremony down there?”
Qiu Ren projected the grand ceremony being held on Earth right now to the inside of the cabin.
The officials were determined to replace the characters of the Order of Karma who weren’t willing to cooperate.
Planting other dream consciousnesses in a Dream Seed was something that Qiu Ren dared not to think about, but perhaps this could be done with the level of research on Dream Seeds in this world.
So, as the real protagonists of the production “Iron Blood,” they should be feeling a deep crisis due to the launch of new mobile suits this time.
“For what? Most importantly, in what name are we going to raid this ceremony? In what way? And… with what ident.i.ty?” Garo stared into Qiu Ren’s eyes and asked with a smile. “If we go there with our current ident.i.ties, we’ll only create more jokes for those audiences to laugh at, even if we destroy the new mobile suits that are going to replace us. We’ll also be treated as the worst terrorists.”
The three questions Garo asked were the three soul questions for Dream Makers!
What new main line should this production “Iron Blood” use as the core to develop a story? What new ident.i.ties and forces should they use to fight on this stage, so that they wouldn’t be jeered at by the audiences and fans again, so that all the robot war fans around the world would take the production “Iron Blood” seriously?
“How about fighting to eradicate war?”
Once Qiu Ren introduced this concept, Garo, who originally had a mocking look on his face, immediately put up a serious expression.
“Eradicating war… with war?” Garo repeated this extremely contradictory line.
“You’ll become… a force called the Celestial Being that has the mobile suits ‘Gundams,’ which are stronger than the combat power of the whole world! Its purpose is to intervene indiscriminately in the wars of countries with overwhelming military force, finally accomplishing the goal of eradicating war.” After Qiu Ren introduced this idea, Garo showed an extremely interested smile on his face.
“It’s a contradictory idea, but it’s pretty nice… very… very… attractive.” However, after smiling, Garo asked another heart-wrenching question, “But what about behind the story? Dream Maker… What’s the deeper main line behind it?”
The Order of Karma was tricked by the so-called “deeper dreams” of the Dream Makers before. Hence, a good robot war production was turned into a clown performance in a circus because of art.
So, Garo wanted to know the real purpose behind the organization, the Celestial Being.
“To know each other and to promote the evolution of human beings for the upcoming exchanges. Although it’s a bit complicated… I can a.s.sure all of you here that even if many of you can’t possibly live till the end, you’ll die as a warrior.”
“Then, I want to give it a try. Qing Ming, what do you think?” Garo asked the opinion of another core of this Dream Dungeon.
Qing Ming only nodded and didn’t say anything, but this nod had already helped Garo make a decision.
“So, felon Dream Maker, do you have any ideas on the design of the mobile suits?” Garo asked.
“I have a lot, but I can’t make… those mobile suits with the authority I have right now.”
When Qiu Ren spread his hands, he felt that Garo had granted him an extremely high creation authority in this Dream Dungeon.
Perhaps this was also the reason why the Order of Karma could play hide and seek with the government for a long time. Qiu Ren didn’t hesitate either. He started mobilizing a large number of Creation Points to build the first mobile suit of the Celestial Being.
In the maintenance compartment, a blue and white mobile suit stood quietly here.
“Gundam…” Qing Ming finally spoke when he saw this mobile suit.
“Its code is EXIA. I shouldn’t need to teach you… how to control it in detail.”
Before Qiu Ren said anything else, Qing Ming had already hopped into the c.o.c.kpit and started trying this mobile suit.
This small battleship got ready to make its appearance for the first time in this world. EXIA was transported to the ejection bay within a few seconds.
“How is it, Qing Ming? Can you control it?” Garo’s voice came to his ear through the radio.
“Sure.”
As the top Gundam Meister of the Order of Karma in the setting, Qing Ming had already mastered the way of controlling EXIA in less than a minute after he got up there.
“Very well. Then, we’ll start the countdown to the first armed intervention of the Celestial Being… The venue is the UA military exercise test site. The target is to destroy the UA’s new mobile suits, showing the world their true colors. Come on! Let’s eradicate disputes with disputes!”
Qing Ming sat in the c.o.c.kpit and listened to the sound of countdown in his ears, feeling the vibration of the new mobile suit when the countdown went to zero…
“EXIA… Go!”
As light particles ejected from the back of EXIA, it shot out of the compartment in an instant… flying in the vast outer s.p.a.ce!
The blue planet below was reflected on the surface of Qing Ming’s helmet, the Gundam Meister.
“Counting the days, it’s already been more than a year since we showed up in front of the public. Qing Ming, it must have been tough for you. This time, let’s wreak havoc to the fullest as the Celestial Being!”
Qing Ming made an unnoticeable “hm” sound as he listened to the voices on the radio.
The GN particles behind EXIA enveloped the mobile suit. Accompanied by the heatwave generated by the atmospheric friction, EXIA flashed to the UA military exercise test site below.