Jon chose to follow this path in his dream even though he knew it was the beginning of his misery?
Or was he trying to make a change at the last moment?
Angor chose to keep observing. Next, he saw Jon carrying the plant incubators and walking past several heavily-guarded checkpoints before reaching a large research hall.
“Doctor Jon. Please change to your hazard suit.” A hologram figure suddenly appeared next to the entrance.
Jon followed through the required procedures without saying a word like any dedicated researcher would. Although this only added to Angor’s suspicion.
“Is he planning to go over the terrible experience again? Or...”
Jon slowly walked through the final checkpoint and headed to a thick glass box located at the center of the hall. The Alien Eye was right inside the box. The same artifact that Angor had been keeping closely.
Jon readied several devices. He then asked the other researchers to activate a radiation emitter and placed the incubators near the Alien Eye one by one.
Angor also noticed that Jon no longer looked fearful upon arriving here as if he was determined to witness the disaster for a second time.
While handling the last test subject, which was the Morning Dew, Jon’s action halted very briefly. But Angor still saw it.
This had told him that Jon wasn’t as confident about this as he appeared to be.
When the Morning Dew was in place, Jon showed a thumbs-up to a researcher nearby, who activated the radiation device again, which was aimed at the Alien Eye.
Everything seemed normal. Jon smoothly recorded what he observed from the Morning Dew.
Angor felt relieved all of a sudden. He believed that Jon removed the adversity from the dream and would go down a more peaceful path.
But at the same time, he was sad. Without the Alien Eye incident, Jon would never come to the wizarding world and be his teacher.
He thought the dream would finally reach a good ending and that he would have no problem accepting it. Earth was Jon’s true home and where his family had always been, after all.
At the end of the research, Jon waited until the radiation came to a stop and retrieved the Morning Dew. It was the only plant among all five that didn’t suffer from obvious damage.
The deactivated emitter suddenly lit up again as it began releasing heavy radiation into the hall. Usually, this wouldn’t cause too much trouble since the radiation only had a limited effect on the Alien Eye, and most of it would slowly die down in the room.
However, the case became unexpectedly complicated when the Alien Eye began glowing brightly as it absorbed more radiation than ever.
In the next second, the space around Jon wavered and crumbled. A swirling black hole appeared right above where Jon was sitting.
Jon didn’t seem surprised at all. He simply turned around to look at the researcher who was handling the emitter’s switch, who looked as astonished as everyone else upon seeing the abnormality.
This man was surprised because he never intended to cause such a giant hazard. He re-activated the emitter at the wrong time because he only planned to murder Jon.
Angor suddenly heard Jon mumbling in a small voice, “My friend, should I blame you for this or not? You opened up a brand world to me...”
There was no resentment contained in Jon’s emotion. Only regret and... disappointment.
Angor didn’t remember Jon mentioning anything about being set up. And instead of killing Jon, the murderer caused something unpredictable by sending Jon to another world.
After falling into complete darkness, two glowing figures showed up beside Jon and held his hands.
Harvey and Muey.
It seemed Jon chose to alter his dream after all.
“Where are we going, Dad?” Muey’s innocent voice echoed in the dark, while Harvey gently leaned on Jon’s shoulder.
“Did you enjoy your stay in America? I once mentioned taking you to my student, didn’t I? We’re heading to him now.” Jon smiled at his daughter.
“Who is he, Dad?”
Jon looked up as he said, “A playful little imp he is... I should tell you, don’t get fooled by his good looks. He’s one hell of a troublemaker, but don’t be mean to him either. He’ll become your best friend as long as you know how to get along.
“Just like you two, he’s as good as my family now. Be nice to each other, okay?”
Once again, the dream shattered and reformed into another sight. They were now standing in the stilt house again. Not the one at Jon’s home, but the house at Padt Manor.
When they heard someone knocking on the room’s door, Jon looked toward the door with a gentle smile.
“Can I come in, Teacher? I’ll take it as a yes if you don’t say anything!”
The door was pushed open, revealing the head of a young boy behind.
“Here, meet Angor, my favorite little student,” Jon said in a small voice, which soon turned into a whisper.
“If only this is all real...”
...
Angor left the dream and took several deep breaths, hoping to get rid of the pain in his eyes.
“What are you doing?”
Angor jerked his head around and saw Eureka standing right next to him, who was examining the pyramid-shaped ant nest in her hand.
“A Dream Weaver... We don’t find these things often.” She briefly peeked into the nest and tossed it back into the coffin. “You were inside Jon’s dream, weren’t you? What did you see?”
Angor slowly stood up and bowed to her.
Of course he didn’t wish to answer that question, but he couldn’t oppose her either.
“I met with Jon again, which was always my dream. I almost cried out of joy.”
“You almost cried, huh?” Eureka showed a look of disbelief. “Such an impressive bond.”
“It’s the truth, ma’am. Won’t you feel thrilled if you are to reunite with your long-lost family?”
Eureka’s expression turned darker as Angor’s words reminded her of something she didn’t want to think about.
“Humph. Come with me, I have something to say.”
Without a choice, Angor obediently followed her out of the ice chamber.
While at the entrance, he gave Jon’s ice coffin another determined look. Never once did he feel so ready to achieve something ever since he lost his parents.
He wanted to save Jon, as he always planned to. But he had found another purpose now. He wanted to see Jon’s home universe. The brand new world with unlimited marvels.
He put a hand on his chest and felt his pendant, where the Alien Eye was safely kept.
...
Eureka always knew about the Dream Weaver brought by Angor. She never gave it much thought because the insect had no use other than giving Jon a good dream.
But she had never expected that Angor would actually study Dream Walk and enter Jon’s dream.
She wasn’t interested in the dream of a mortal, but she was VERY interested in finding out Angor’s secrets now.
Soon, they arrived at Jon’s old stilt house where Eureka was staying temporarily.