NOVEL NEXT Chapter 127: Sylvan and Lucas
Is Safe Zone 9527 the future of Dolren City?
But then why did Ethan clearly appear at the abandoned factory in the real world, yet in the scenes he saw using [Ice Calamity Intel], he wasn't there?
Why?
Frowning, Ethan muttered to himself, "Maybe it's not the future, but a parallel timeline… or a parallel world?"
"Was I missing then because I was doing something else?"
Ethan took a deep breath. He felt that figuring out why he wasn't in those scenes was very important.
Also, if Safe Zone 9527 really is the future of Dolren City, then how far in the future is it?
If that's true, wouldn't people like [Plague Ghost] Jade, [Head-Cutter], and [Grinning Ghost] show up in the real world and also become NPCs in Dawnfall Online?
The more Ethan thought about it, the more he felt Safe Zone 9527 wasn't Dolren City's future. He didn't have enough information, so he couldn't judge it clearly.
That old saying is true: the more you know, the more you realize how little you understand.
Compared to normal players, Ethan has [Ten-Thousandfold Intelligence Reward], which lets him get far more intel than others.
But even so, his mind was still full of questions.
He felt that if he could figure out why he wasn't in the [Ice Calamity Intel] scenes, he might learn the truth about his past—and about those dreams that keep bothering him.
Ethan took another deep breath and started thinking about how to use this [Ice Calamity Intel].
He had to get the [Calamity Aura] in Dawnfall Online, no matter what.
That meant he had to find a way to destroy three "Siphoners." Of course, that did not include the "Siphoner" in the ice valley near the Ice City settlement.
Ethan had signed a [Low-level Soul Contract Scroll] with Ford, the Deputy City Lord of the Ice City settlement.
He didn't want to suffer the punishment for breaking a [Low-level Soul Contract Scroll].
Both players and the NPCs of the Ice City settlement were tools he could use.
Maybe he could even get some unexpected gains from them.
...
Dolren City, inside a luxury villa somewhere downtown.
Bright lights lit up the darkness around the villa.
Snowflakes fell softly against the windows, and before long the clear glass turned hazy.
Emma curled up on the sofa, hugging a pillow, staring blankly at the deep night outside the villa.
She had already told the servants to turn on every light in the house, but even so, the darkness outside didn't change at all.
When Emma closed her eyes, she could remember everything that happened today.
The moment when her younger brother Lucas almost died made her body tremble without thinking.
Just then, Lucas pushed the door open, shook the snow off his coat, and walked into the living room.
Emma quickly set the pillow aside. Her face turned calm and natural as she asked softly:
"How did it go?"
Lucas didn't notice anything strange about her. In his mind, ever since their parents passed away, his sister had always been strong.
He answered slowly, "It's done. I've talked to Sylvan. He'll be here soon with security, and they'll lock down the whole area."
After what happened today, Lucas also felt uneasy.
If Ethan hadn't stepped in front of him, he would probably be lying in a cold coffin right now.
So after leaving Ethan's hospital room, Lucas suggested to Emma that they bring in some security to make sure nothing dangerous happens again.
Even though he knew that normal security guards wouldn't stand a chance against that kind of supernatural power.
At first, Lucas didn't expect Sylvan to come in person. He reached out to Sylvan—who owns several security companies—and hinted at what he needed.
But Sylvan said he would come himself, and that there were some things Lucas might not be able to accept, which he wanted to talk about.
After a short wait, the sharp sound of brakes cut through the night outside the villa.
Sylvan jumped down from a heavy off-road vehicle and rushed into the villa through the wind and snow.
As soon as he stepped into the living room, he saw Lucas's sister, Emma.
Sylvan paused, then quickly greeted Emma. "Ms. Emma, you're still up? It's already very late."
Emma gave a small nod. She said, "Sorry to trouble you later. With you here, Lucas and I can feel much safer."
Sylvan was about to thump his chest and promise that with him around, nothing could go wrong. But he remembered the strange hallucination he'd run into while helping [Windchaser] before. He slowly lowered his hand, forced a small smile, and said, "I'll do my best."
After Emma left, Sylvan finally relaxed. He plopped down on the sofa next to Lucas and said:
"What exactly happened today? You sounded really panicked on the phone, like someone was chasing you."
Lucas knew Sylvan was joking to help him calm down, but he wasn't in the mood.
He took a deep breath and said:
"You'd never guess what I ran into today."
Sylvan froze, thought of his own eerie hallucination, and blurted out, "What, were you abducted by aliens with superpowers?"
Lucas shook his head. "Not aliens—kidnappers with powers!"
"It's real! Not a hallucination. I'm not losing my mind!"
Lucas worried Sylvan wouldn't believe him, but to his surprise, Sylvan nodded and said:
"I've got something to tell you too. [Windchaser] asked me to pick up a black briefcase for him and warned there might be danger."
"I thought he meant a shootout or gunfire."
"But later I realized the danger was an unexplainable hallucination. I clearly picked up the black briefcase and walked away, but my men told me I was actually standing in the same spot the whole time, holding nothing."
When he finished, fear showed plainly on Sylvan's face. He'd rather face gang members with knives or guns than deal with something that strange.
What is [Windchaser's] real identity?
Sylvan was full of questions. For the first time, the real world felt strange to him, and it made him uneasy and scared.
After hearing Sylvan's story, Lucas took a deep breath and told him everything that had happened today.
He wasn't worried that Sylvan would leak it. To anyone else, this kind of thing was impossible anyway.
Monsters, people who can control metal and freeze space—those only appear in sci‑fi or superhero movies.
You only believe it's real after you see it or go through it yourself.
Sylvan and Lucas fell silent, each lost in thought.
After a while, Lucas said quietly, "When Ethan saw my SOS, he said he would tell someone to come save me."
"But I still don't know if he called those mysterious men in black, or those people wearing mirror masks."
Sylvan hesitated. "Why not ask Ethan next time you log into Dawnfall Online?"
Lucas shook his head. He felt this wasn't something you should ask about. They'd only be qualified to know when [Windchaser] chose to tell them.
It's normal to feel fear and panic when facing things like this.
But what matters is whether, after the fear, you can see clearly that the chance to touch the real world is right in front of you.
Sylvan and Lucas looked at each other and saw the same hunger in each other's eyes.
They weren't dumb. They knew money, power, guns, gangs—those are all just forms of power.
And now, a chance at a greater power was right in front of them: [Windchaser].
Compared to true supernatural power, money and status started to feel a bit laughable.
As Emma's younger brother, Lucas never lacked money. But today, money—his and Emma's—was completely useless.
So close.
He almost died.
Lucas took a deep breath, trying to forget the fear when death closed in.
Sylvan stood up slowly, patted Lucas on the shoulder, and said, "Go get some rest. I still need to set up some surveillance and arrange the team."
"Tomorrow morning, we'll log into Dawnfall Online and see if Ethan has anything planned for us."
"Oh, and that Ethan you said could kill the monster guard—if there's time, introduce me."
With that, Sylvan walked out.
Lucas stayed in the living room for a while, then went up to the second floor to rest.
As he passed Emma's room, he suddenly shivered and glanced at the window, confused.
He muttered, "Strange. The windows aren't even open. Why do I suddenly feel so cold?"
"Maybe I've been too run-down lately?"