Chapter 264: Where Dreams May Lead (Part 1)_1

It's well-known that many Marvel comic editors share a similar approach— when they don't know how to express an abstract concept, they personify it, bringing it to life in human form within their comics and ascribing it human characteristics.

Conversely, if they are unsure how to motivate an ordinary person to participate in an event, they inject divinity into the character's personality, referred to as "the Savior's enlightenment".

"Human gods" and "Divine humans" are two eternal themes in Marvel comics, and Morpheus, the "Sleep Demon", belongs to the former.

In order to explain his origins, we must start from the Endless Family.

The Endless Family are characters created from abstract concepts personified and given human character traits.

This family consists of seven members, each representing Dream, Death, Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium, and Destruction.

These concepts are intangible in reality, but they have a definite form in the comics, and even have their own responsibilities and personalities.

The Sleep Demon, also known as the dream god, is the Morpheus standing before Shiller right now.

As is commonly known, any conceptual entity is typically formidable. Unlike superheroes, whose strength is assessed based on combat records, these conceptual characters are strong by virtue of their intrinsic attributes.

Morpheus, the Sleep Demon masters all dreams. He was born when the first creature in the cosmos dreamt. He can create dream realities of thousands of cats to replace reality or make people's lives mirror their dreams.

Unlike Marvel, which emphasizes the powerful nature of conceptual entities or their distinct domains of responsibility, DC Comics prefers to emphasize their distinct personalities; for instance, Morpheus, the "Sleep Demon", is the most dedicated member of the Endless Family, barring Destiny.

The comics have mentioned that he is meticulous in performing his duties. Despite his great power, he has never let this power cause chaos. He's rather reclusive, with few friends, and often indulges in philosophical pondering.

Because his domain of responsibility doesn't significantly overlap with other members of the Endless Family, he has always appeared mysterious. He has countless forms, but usually only presents one or two. Most often, he appears as a man with dark blue hair, a cloak made of the night sky, and a pale, thin face.

The person appearing before Shiller fits this description. Of course, it is more likely that everyone who encounters Morpheus, the Sleep Demon, sees him differently, their perception shaping his appearance. Shiller's memory is based on Morpheus's portrayal in the comics, hence the appearance he displays.

The original text mentioned that the first generation Sleep Demon Morpheus was capricious. However, it seems he has surpassed capricious now and appears somewhat infuriated.

He stares at Shiller with blazing eyes and rasps, "Why did you connect your dream to my Kingdom of Dreams, then let a…"

His expression right now is hard to describe. For a character embodying an abstract concept as he does, even one possessing human traits, emotions are typically not so overtly expressed. Especially Morpheus, historically quite introverted, and yet, you can now see disgust, annoyance, befuddlement from being roused, and the wrath of his home being messed up all in his face.

Speaking of the Kingdom of Dreams, each member of the Endless family has a domain where they are almost omniscient and omnipotent. The dream god's domain is called the Kingdom of Dreams—a somewhat fantastical name. Whether the current situation of the Kingdom of Dreams, sullied as it is, still fits this fantastical style isn't quite certain.

"Before you ask me this, I have many questions for you," Shiller said, looking at Morpheus. "I suppose you're prepared to answer these questions?"

"Don't tell me you know nothing about my situation."

"First, get that madman out of my house," Morpheus emphasized. "Do you know what he's done in the Kingdom of Dreams???"

"I can imagine, and I deeply regret it and offer my sympathies."

Morpheus and Shiller stare at each other, neither yielding, but good for them, they're in a dream, and time is the least of worries in dreams.

Perhaps the Joker really did something abominable, or perhaps Morpheus himself is somewhat interested in Shiller. In the end, he was the first to give in. He said, "What do you want to ask?"

"I must tell you first that much of what I know can't be described to humans. The worlds we see are different."

"Of course, of course, I know..." Shiller made a placating gesture with his hand, then invited Morpheus to sit on the couch opposite him.

A globe was spinning on the table behind him, but this time, his head wasn't replaced by the globe; he presented his normal human form.

"Before I ask my questions, I assume you have some doubts of your own—like why I sought you out and how I found you."

Shiller appeared very relaxed, as though not facing a formidable foe, but an old friend. He explained to Morpheus, "You have the power to control all dreams, meaning you can access all of my memories, both from my surface consciousness and the deep. Thus, I don't think I need to elaborate much on my origin."

"In fact, from the moment I first experienced changes in my sleep, I became suspicious. I realized this world was very different from the one I lived in and that all concepts here were controlled by you, concept-based beings, or gods."

"This sounds unbelievable, but it makes my deductions easier, because whenever a problem arises in a certain domain, I can always find the one responsible for it."

"For example, if something always happens during my sleep, who else am I supposed to find if not the Sleep Demon?"

"Of course, I know that the domains you people control are crucial for the cosmos. Therefore, you'd be busy and might not have time to explain some details to me. I can understand that. But it's okay. If you wouldn't come to talk to me, then I can always ring your doorbell..."

The color drained from Morpheus's face. Although he had always looked pale, anyone could see that his expression was unnatural now. He said, "So that's how you knocked? By letting a madman, who was beyond the control of dreams, or rather, who couldn't understand dreams at all, into my home?"

Morpheus's voice had a peculiar melody, somewhat like a singer delivering a recitative. He said, "You don't know what a dangerous thing you've done. That man nearly carved a huge hole in the Kingdom of Dreams. It's lucky I woke in time to stop him. If he had succeeded and the creatures of the Kingdom of Dreams had gotten out..."

Morpheus shook his head, saying, "My work of thousands of years would have reduced to nought, and it might take thousands more years to make up for this accident."

"That was merely an attempt of mine." Shiller didn't shirk responsibility and carried on, "You must understand that I am just an ordinary human. I didn't know how loud of a doorbell I had to ring to awaken you concept-based beings..."

"So you went ahead and rang the loudest one?"

"Yes. When something kept happening in my dreams, I knew whom I was supposed to look for. And what followed was how I could find you."

"I figured, being the dream god, you must have control over everyone's dreams in this world, including mine. The only question was: how exactly did you control people's dreams?"

"I am crystal clear that there's no trace of you in my surface consciousness. I have strong control over my surface consciousness, in which I have built over 330 layers of Thought Palace, generated countless personae as its inhabitants, set up many domains with special rules. My control over it is fine and precise. I am confident that there are no alien beings living here."

"Therefore, I deduced that you must lie in a deeper consciousness."

"However, in order to construct the Thought Palace, I fortified the base of my surface consciousness, which resulted in a rather awkward situation—I couldn't pry it open myself. It's as difficult as asking someone to step on their right foot with their left in the real world."

"So, when I came across a marvelous drug that can affect human dreams, I had the idea. I asked my friend to mix certain liquids to produce a concoction that could connect to human dreams..."

"Then I invited my friends into this consciousness space. With the help of another psychologist, I dug through the base of my surface consciousness, so Jack could leap into my deep consciousness and continue digging..."

"In fact, before you appeared, I was not sure whether it would be your Dreamland where the digging ended. But judging by present circumstances, it appears my guess was correct..."

"Reality and dreams are two sides of the same coin. If the top of my Thought Palace represents 'reality', then the bottom of my deep consciousness should lead to your Dreamland."

"And why I decided to use a doorbell to wake you was that I wanted you to answer for me..."

Shiller looked at Morpheus, saying, "What exactly is going on with this thing that keeps happening in my dreams?"

"Should I not answer, do you intend to keep that annoying doorbell ringing?"

"Don't say that." Shiller waved his hand and said, "Just as you can't control him, neither can I. Although I have engaged him in a minor, insignificant transaction, where he wishes to go and what he wants to do are beyond my control."

"Then let me ask it another way..." Morpheus's tone was accompanied by a certain coldness, or perhaps the anti-social and introverted vibe peculiar to those who resisted communication.

"If I answer your question, you'll be able to get rid of him, right?"

"Exactly."