Do what you can, don't do what you can't.
Demons eat humans, and humans can eat demons. In fact, in terms of cruelty, humans rank above demons.
Roy received a notification from his panel, looked out at the night sky, and exhaled softly. On this night, he left the Demon Slayer World without stopping and returned directly to the Hunter World.
This battle, whether fast or slow, most of the time was spent on the journey.
Roy immersed his consciousness and returned to the Sea of Cognition once again. This time, instead of rushing to "awaken," he stepped to the dream pathway that led to "reality," stood there for a moment, lost in thought...
What is a dream pathway, and what is a dream? What exactly is the "Broad Dream Gate" learned from Nightmare... Roy traversed between the Hunter and Demon Slayer worlds many times, but never seriously considered this question.
When he accepted the Nightmare's Blood Demon Art... [The Whisper of Forced Sleep Hypnosis], allowing himself to be hypnotized by Nightmare and enter his dream world, Roy suddenly realized... people's dreams are interconnected, like bubbles floating in the "human," or even in the "wise-being" demon, like the "collective" unconscious ocean of a fierce fox family!
In other words... be it "dream" or "visualization object," or the panel obtained through rebirth and transmigration, they are all based on his cognition, manifesting as [products] from the "collective" unconscious ocean.
Because individuals differ, the anchored "visualization objects" differ, leading to the formation of various [Nen abilities]. Because... the unconscious ocean belongs to nature, it can be exploited by [gods], who steal the authority of nature to draw the energy of others from the "collective" unconscious ocean, adding it to themselves...
At this thought, Roy faintly sensed that he seemed to have touched upon the truth of [dreams]...
Since the unconscious ocean is interconnected, then perhaps, it can also be freely navigated.
"Hiss..." Snoring sounded at three thirty in the morning on Kukuroo Mountain...
At this moment, in the Zoldyck family, whether in the castle, or the steward's villa on the mountainside, or the security post at the entrance, people of different statuses and identities were asleep, including even the Demon Beast Mikai in the depths of the mountains...
Roy realized something, being in a dream, attempting to use a dream to bridge dreams... his eyes immediately revealed a gray "Nen membrane," fixing his gaze on the dream pathway... a colorful dream pathway suddenly appeared, diverging, with several new paths leading to unknown places...
Roy quietly watched this scene, remained silent for a moment, then stepped toward one of the paths.
Amidst the blurry surroundings, he arrived at a "Unconscious Domain" and saw a big dog, licking a person incessantly... Roy approached, immediately recognizing the dog as Mikai, who was dreaming about today's reckless intruders into the Zoldyck family, those blinded by greed and ended up being eaten by it while attempting to kidnap the Zoldyck, in exchange for a huge bounty...
So, this was Mikai's dream... Roy, like an observer, stood outside its Unconscious Domain, quietly watched for a while, then turned away, soon choosing another dream pathway and walking in....
In a new "Unconscious Domain," before Roy could get closer, he heard the sound of a whip and saw a chubby kid, swinging a whip, continuously flogging a boy tied up like a dumpling and hung up.
The boy was wailing and pleading for mercy: "Milluki... please stop, don't hit anymore... I'm not your brother, you're the real brother..."
Roy swiftly stepped forward and peeked. The one crying and wailing was Illumi... No, it should be Illumi as imagined by Milluki... Understanding dawned that this guy was indulging in his fantasies...
Roy was amused yet helpless, noticing Milluki grinning from ear to ear, his face twisted in a smug grin. He quietly withdrew and chose another dream pathway to walk into... this time, he discovered something surprising....
The third person's "Unconscious Domain" was not an expanse of whiteness but presented a hue of "loving red," with "ambiguous" air pervading. Curious, he went in for a look, and Roy was immediately stunned, then...
He left Illumi's dream frantically and hastily decided that come morning, he would definitely emulate Milluki and hang him under the willow tree for a good thrashing!
Giving light only to see it shine!
The young man shook his head, forcibly shaking off that unbearable scene, and simply chose the fourth dream pathway and went in. This time, he saw Wutong... then, the fifth path, Kurajing... the sixth path, Haseki Dorou, he saw him pinning Wutong to the ground and beating him... the seventh path Zebro... then, Tsubone... Luke...
Each dream pathway appeared before him,
Roy gradually realized...
He was navigating this small "collective" unconscious ocean through "dream bridging," still limited by the geographical relationship in "reality," centered around the Zoldyck castle, with a clear "region distance" limitation!
In other words... [dream bridging] is not infinitely extendable and must also adhere to the "law of equivalent exchange."
With a bit of understanding, Roy walked to the crossroads again, suddenly noticing that only three pathways remained unexplored. He thought for a moment and then stepped toward the right one, nearing it, suddenly finding a light ahead, with someone lying on a tiger-skin sofa under the light, engrossed in reading a book...
It was Father Silva.
"Rustle....." The pages turned, revealing the cover page, titled "How to Cultivate Intimacy with Your Child"...
Silva's silver hair dispersed like a waterfall on the sofa, his serious expression under the soft lamp light, surprisingly showing a hint of affection... Momentarily, it gave Roy an illusion....
He didn't seem like the usually silent, detached father, who wore the "No Entry for Strangers" expression on his face all day. For a moment, Roy was stunned....
'So, this is a dream....' the young man slowly said after a moment,
Then, watching for a while at the entrance of the pathway, he planned to turn and leave... unexpectedly,
"Son."
A soft call, chasing after the departing silhouette of the young man, lingered in his ears.
Roy halted abruptly, turning quickly.
Under the light, Silva closed the book, smiled, and gently opened his arms toward him: "Come here, come to dad."
Roy: "..."
His thoughts exploded!
Just like a server forcibly filled with billions of pieces of information in an instant, directly overloading, unable to process the current situation, manifesting externally as... his self stupidly staring at Silva, brain directly crashed!
'What did he just call me?'
'Wait, he's actually smiling?'
'He's standing up...'
'He's walking over...'
'He....'
'Beep——'
Silva reached Roy, wrapped him in a hug, stroked his head, and said....