In the dense shrubbery, a claw glimmering with metallic luster stretched out. A bird, completely black with bright orange-red feathers on its tail, strolled leisurely. But behind an immensely thick trunk, a shadow flashed by, silently approaching, opening its bloodthirsty maw and lunging forward.
A sharp, piercing scream echoed through the endless green jungle. Small animals scattered in all directions. Sharp pincers pierced the bird's belly, splashing blood everywhere. In the morning sunlight, the elongated shadows looked particularly horrifying. The thin, sharp legs embedded into the soil. The little insects walking around the roots dared only to tread lightly past. And further down, there lay another world.
In a nest near the tree roots, lay two furry creatures cuddled together. Guarding the entrance, with its ears perked and fur standing on end, was a white cat with gray eyes, while curled up slightly behind was a tabby cat with blue eyes.
How did things end up like this? Shiller twitched his ears and let out a deep sigh.
Everything has to start with the plan to go deep into the stars. But actually, there was no real plan. Because whether it was the Nameless or Nyarlathotep, they had both clearly told Shiller that the depths of the stars were not a place where intelligent creatures could enter.
If everything is just Asathos' dream, and Asathos does not even exist in the real world, there could naturally be no way to enter his dream. The Outer Gods can enter because they are part of the dream. But how could humans or other intelligent beings be part of the dream which is the source of the Cthulhu Mythos?
Not only is it untouchable, but the depths of the stars are also unobservable. Anyone who takes a glimpse will go mad. What they can see now as the so-called depths of the stars are nothing but the embassy, and even so, only the exterior shell of the building. But even this can deal a fatal blow to humanity's spirit, let alone the true home of the Outer Gods.
However, Shiller had a reason he had to go there. Even though Main Universe Iron Man also decided on his own to carry out this plan, and in fact, a big part of the plan was designed by himself, the sudden retreat of the Outer Gods to the depths of the stars was actually related to Anatoli's sudden return.
If Anatoli did not return, Nya would not have led the Outer Gods of this cosmos in a withdrawal, nor would she take Iron Man back to their homeland, and Iron Man would not have been trapped. Even if it was to clean up after Anatoli's mess, Shiller had to figure out a way to get Iron Man back.
As for whether Iron Man wants to continue being an Outer God or return to his original form after coming back, that's none of Shiller's concerns. However, humans must first be rescued.
The one they rescued now is actually somewhat similar to Brand, considered as a projection of the Outer God. However, the relationship between the real body and the projection is very complex. There is no way they can communicate in real-time, and they cannot even be considered the same entity. It can only be said that the projection can bring back some messages from the depths of the stars, equivalent to a one-time messenger. But without rescuing the real body, it still won't work.
Determined to go, Shiller naturally came up with many ideas and consulted many friends. But everyone from both sides of the cosmos who had contact with the Cthulhu Mythos had no good ideas and were advising him not to go.
Humans cannot survive in the pure chaotic sea. The result of insisting on jumping in is to have one's self shredded by the endless vast consciousness and become part of them, thereby no longer existing, which is tantamount to suicide.
But also, because they saved a projection, Shiller came to know that Iron Man had not given up. Although he had already entered Asathos' dream, equivalent to sinking into the depths of the Sea of Chaos, he still persisted, at least retaining a sliver of consciousness. This means he's still alive, so he must be rescued.
Accompanying Little Superman to play games wasn't because Shiller wasn't anxious to save Iron Man, but because there was no way. So far, neither he nor anyone else had thought of a good way to pull Iron Man out. It's really too difficult.
Even for a Legendary Investigator, at most one can take on a giant octopus. Compared to the Outer Gods, the Old Day Dominators appear almost comely. If only Iron Man had gone to Laiye, Shiller wouldn't be so troubled.
Ultimately, Shiller really ran out of options; he decided to gather all Reed Richards from the Multiverse together. Since ordinary methods didn't work, they had to employ some tactics.
Well known is Reed Richards' proficiency in opening channels. No matter where the start is, or the end is, or how the path should have been traversed, and whether or not it's permitted, his way of opening a passage is always the same, which is to blast through, clearing the way forward.
Upon hearing the news, Nyarlathotep was scared out of its wits.
It is well known, in the setting of the Cthulhu Mythos, all things are just a dream of Asathos. When he awakens, the world will be destroyed, and everything, whether the Outer Gods or humans, will return to nothingness, including Nyarlathotep.
When hearing Shiller's preparation to have Reed blast through, Nyarlathotep had but one thought—Am I going to die too?
Whether to blow it open or not is another matter, but if you wake him up with a blast, won't everyone in his dream be doomed?
Theoretically, it's not that easy to wake him. Reed might not even be able to find Asathos's location. However, you can't gamble on this because so far, no one has tried to use external force to influence a dream, so whether it can be influenced remains unknown.
It's possible that he sleeps very deeply, and even if a shell hits his face, there's no reaction. But it's also possible that he doesn't care about the turmoil in his dream, but as soon as there's external interference, he awakens at the slightest touch. Nyarlathotep definitely doesn't want to gamble his life on the quality of Asathos's sleep.
However, Shiller, this madman, seems determined to go in, and Nyarlathotep is out of options, so in the end, he helped Shiller come up with a plan.
Since the entire world there is a dream, we can only try to use the Dream Power of this cosmos to ensure the safety of the infiltrators.
This plan sounds like a fairy tale, and the biggest problem is how the two dreams can be connected. However, according to Nyarlathotep, since the Outer God can send projections here and establish embassies, it proves that there isn't a complete disconnect between the two sides, so getting across isn't difficult. Nyarlathotep can even bring people back at any time. The hard part is surviving.
It's like people and fish becoming friends; humans can't bring fish onto land, and fish can't take humans underwater. Neither can survive in the other's environment. So surviving is harder than getting there.
Nyarlathotep proposed that they could find a way to create a channel, reverse-transmitting Dream Power to create a small bubble in the Sea of Chaos, which acts like a safety zone. They could control this little bubble to move through the ocean, slowly approaching Iron Man's location, and find a way to bring out his consciousness.
Thinking carefully, the plan is feasible because both sides are actually dreams, and dreams have commonalities. Even if it's a dream made by Asathos, it still follows certain logic, or it wouldn't manifest a complete mythical system.
In fact, when Shiller first saw this setting, he thought Asathos might be an Order Creature, because the content of his dreams is logical and not complete chaos. Since it has specific mythical creatures set, it surely leans towards the order side.
Since both are order-side dreams, maybe the power can be reverse-transmitted. Anyway, it is a relatively feasible method discovered through research. But there's another problem: where to get the Dream Power?
The Kingdom of Dreams does have Dream Power, but the biggest issue is that this power cannot leave the Kingdom of Dreams. Things in dreams can only exist in dreams; otherwise, the real world would have long been invaded by the monsters from dreams. This is the universe's underlying code, which cannot be changed.
The power in the Kingdom of Dreams cannot be transmitted outward, let alone to another dream system. Shiller and Jack researched for a long time but couldn't find a way, so they were stuck again.
Eventually, Shiller directly approached the dream god, who is now retired, Morpheus. Morpheus initially advised him against it, but seeing Shiller start to gather Reed to prepare for another attempt, he had no choice but to help Shiller think of a solution, which was to find the Thousand Cats Dream.
The Thousand Cats Dream is actually quite a special existence. Many might not understand what kind of power it actually is. In reality, it also has a connection with the Collective Unconscious.
In the story of the Thousand Cats Dream, the Siamese Cat learned that the world was originally ruled by cats, only it was because a thousand people dreamed the same dream that formed the Thousand People's Dream, rewriting the reality of the world.
It essentially means that the human race seized the Collective Unconscious, redistributing all the cosmos's knowledge and information, thus transforming the world from cat dominion to human dominion. This is also linked with the previous cognitive information theory. When the information recognized by humans exceeds that of cats, naturally, the human race rules the world.
The Thousand Cats Dream is this cat trying to find a thousand cats to dream together, to reclaim the Collective Unconscious, redistribute the cognitive information, thereby reshaping the cosmos. In the comics, the Thousand Cats Dream did achieve this. The Sleep Demon once rebooted the entire multiverse using the Thousand Cats Dream, even reshaping God.
Of course, this is a setting from the Sleep Demon series, and whether it can be taken as the main setting remains controversial. However, at its peak, with the Sleep Demon working alongside the Thousand Cats Dream, they could indeed surpass most characters. Unfortunately, even at its peak, the Sleep Demon couldn't completely manipulate the Thousand People's Dream, which is now the Collective Unconscious, or else there might be even greater manifestations.
Whether it's the Thousand Cats Dream or the Thousand People's Dream, they're not using the power of the Kingdom of Dreams but the power of the Collective Unconscious. As the most special origin power in the entire cosmos, this power is naturally immensely strong. If it can be transmitted to the depths of the Stars, it might indeed create a safe zone.