Chapter 168 : Meeting Again in the If World
This small island had lush vegetation. Being in the tropics, it was green year-round.
Passing through the outermost mist area and wading through seawater, Jiang Lai landed on this unnamed island. Looking around, the ground was covered with unknown colorful small flowers.
Just in case, Jiang Lai used spatial techniques to create a thin protective layer around himself while spreading out his cursed energy to explore along this seemingly ordinary path.
This small island had no large wild animals, only small creatures that occasionally scurried past.
Jiang Lai walked steadily, using his [Existence] perception to capture his good friend Gojo Satoru's familiar cursed energy in the air, heading in that direction.
Passing through leafy thickets and pushing aside overlapping flower vines, a flat area appeared before him.
On soft, clean grass, various small flowers clustered around a familiar sleeping figure: it was Gojo Satoru.
Jiang Lai recognized him at first glance.
Gojo Satoru wore handsome, casual leisure clothes, his eyepatch loosely askew on his face, revealing those closed eyes.
His hands were crossed behind his head, looking like he was casually taking a nap in daily life, or like he was pretending to sleep as a prank, waiting to startle whoever approached.
Though at some distance, Jiang Lai could see the slight, regular rise and fall of his chest. His breathing was very steady.
The automatic version of Limitless was active, rippling with cursed energy so subtle it was almost undetectable. If Jiang Lai's [Existence] senses hadn't been greatly enhanced, he wouldn't have captured Gojo Satoru's Limitless cursed energy.
After all, Gojo Satoru, now the strongest, could achieve nearly zero cursed energy consumption with Limitless.
"......" Jiang Lai didn't rashly approach. He was silent for a moment, his gaze flowing over the surroundings.
This was probably the center-north position of the small island. There were no special landmarks around, nor any other cursed energy auras. The [Crossroads] tower was hidden in an unknown location.
Jiang Lai sensed no danger, his sixth sense in his mind very calm.
His gaze fell again on Gojo Satoru in the low flower clusters.
"......Satoru?" Jiang Lai tentatively called out.
"......"
No answer, no other response.
A breeze passed, carrying light herbal scents that spread around.
Sunlight filtering through forest leaves warmly fell on the white-haired man's profile on the grass, the half-bright, half-dark daylight rippling, further highlighting those sharp, three-dimensional features. His pure white, fine eyelashes showed no movement.
Jiang Lai paused for a moment, then walked forward several steps.
Staying in place was meaningless, and his prior cursed energy exploration had yielded nothing. He had come to find Gojo Satoru anyway. Even if he might face danger, he had to try approaching.
His good friend sleeping in the small flower clusters looked like he had taken the Sleeping Beauty script... Gojo Satoru's looks certainly could carry it.
Jiang Lai thought whimsically as he walked steadily: one step, two steps, three steps, arriving in front of the other.
The surrounding scenery remained incredibly peaceful, with no abnormalities occurring.
This situation left Jiang Lai somewhat at a loss. He had originally thought the [Crossroads] tower would pull him in simultaneously when he approached, making it convenient for him to drag someone out in the dream if-world.
But now it seemed nothing was happening. How should he awaken Gojo Satoru?
Jiang Lai's thoughts flowed as he quietly pondered.
Perhaps he needed to find a way to enter the dream as well.
If referencing "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," a white rabbit holding a pocket watch should jump out now, leading Jiang Lai to leap into the cave that opened the magical world.
But there was no white rabbit now.
Jiang Lai chose to sit down beside Gojo Satoru next to the tree, simply arranging his dark blue kimono and settling into a comfortable position.
He opened the thin ancient book halfway and casually placed it over his face, blocking the glaring sunlight.
Since there were no complex special effects, he'd go with the simplest principle: entering dreams through sleep.
This wasn't Jiang Lai's desperate measure but a conclusion reached after observation.
He could see the casualness in Gojo Satoru's posture. The other had probably sensed that the [Crossroads] tower required dream contact, so he chose a comfortable position to fall asleep.
Gojo Satoru probably hadn't expected to get trapped inside, like Zhuangzi's dawn dream of being a butterfly, unable to distinguish reality from dream.
Jiang Lai wasn't worried about getting lost himself, because he clearly knew where he truly belonged: in another third dimension world outside this world.
And the real protagonist Phone-kun was still on him. He then optimistically thought. The omnipotent Phone-kun wouldn't let a dutiful phone holder get lost.
Jiang Lai, leaning against the tree, slowly emptied his thoughts, breathing in the light natural and book page scents in the air, gradually sinking into distant dreams.
……
Gradually, noisy sounds reached his ears: electronic broadcasts mixed with real human voices in chaotic clamor.
Jiang Lai opened his eyes, and everything before him flooded his vision.
This was a bustling commercial street with high-rise buildings and various shops, beautiful decorations and inflated dolls swaying in the wind.
Usually, such commercial urban areas were crowded with people, but now it was another kind of absurd emptiness.
The ground was messy like the aftermath of a stampede, and quite a few people were still running past Jiang Lai in panic.
Jiang Lai rubbed his temples with some headache, quickly absorbing this information and analyzing the current situation.
The book in his hand had tactile sensation, and slight pressure would cause pain. The scene before him was incredibly real. If Jiang Lai hadn't already known this was all a dream, he would have taken it as reality.
Jiang Lai held the book with one hand, first looking down to flip through his phone's detailed memo.
To handle various situations, his phone memo recorded matters large and small by priority levels.
Some were simple records to remind himself not to forget important matters. Others were detailed descriptions without fear of trouble, for situations like this: confirming his memory's completeness.
Jiang Lai's original material for turning his Detective Conan experiences into novels in the jujutsu world came from his memos. He just edited and revised based on the memos before publishing.
He'd been busy lately but still updated his novels. Publishing chapters while organizing memos killed two birds with one stone, so he took time out daily.
After quickly browsing the memo's outline content, Jiang Lai organized his memories, confirming they remained complete, then focused his attention on the world before him.
......This should be the crossroads naturally constructed in Gojo Satoru's mind. Jiang Lai thought. The setting is modern.
His gaze fell ahead.
The commercial street's large electronic screen was broadcasting news, naming this commercial street and informing crowds that there would be terrorist attacks nearby, asking the public to follow guidance and evacuate quickly.
Terrorist attacks? No wonder the street ahead looked like a stampede scene, so messy. Jiang Lai thought. Probably due to emergency evacuation.
Speaking of this, he remembered that both the original work and the new series' first playthrough's Night Parade of a Hundred Demons were predicted terrorist attacks, but the scene before him seemed like summer, which didn't match the Night Parade timing.
He didn't know what the situation was... Did this news's terrorist attacks refer to dangerous elements in ordinary society, or certain activities in the jujutsu world?
The serious voice of the news broadcast mixed in this area, with command personnel using megaphones to organize crowds not far away.
Jiang Lai's gaze moved away and back. He didn't follow the crowd's evacuation but slightly stepped aside, discreetly avoiding those evacuation personnel's sight, walking into the commercial street from a side alley entrance.
No matter what, better go see first. Jiang Lai thought. To break barriers or find exits, he had to dive deep into various major events.
After all, danger usually coexisted with opportunity.
He cut through the side road onto another main road, walking along the commercial street's path.
The sky was cloudless with bright daylight shining on the earth.
This road had no pedestrians, but shops hadn't had time to close. The breeze stirred wind chimes at shop entrances, creating crisp sounds.
Jiang Lai's gaze unconsciously followed where the wind chime sounds came from, and just then, he glimpsed a tall figure behind a glass window.
The person was in a dessert shop with a pretty red-pink main colored sign with cute little cake patterns that made one's appetite surge. The open shop door carried sweet pastry scents.
The tall, white-haired man sat inside this dessert shop. He wore casual clothes, sitting at a high stool by the window with crossed legs, eating a fruit cupcake with a small fork, his posture lazy and casual like a big cat.
Jiang Lai's eyes widened slightly as he instinctively blurted out: "......Satoru?!"
He hadn't expected to encounter him so quickly, meeting at a small dessert shop on one side of this empty, deserted street!
Though separated by glass, Gojo Satoru in the shop seemed to have heard Jiang Lai's voice. In fact, as Six Eyes, he had probably noticed someone approaching long ago.
Gojo Satoru wore his familiar black eyepatch, which covered half his face, making it impossible to see his specific expression. He placed one hand on the wooden table inside the shop, raising his head slightly as if making eye contact with Jiang Lai.
After two or three seconds, Gojo Satoru waved at Jiang Lai from inside the shop, his lips curving slightly upward.
This gesture made it somewhat difficult to tell whether he was casually greeting someone or saying hello to a friend.
Jiang Lai wasn't sure what the other's memory was like now.
Additionally, he didn't quite understand why the other would be calmly sitting in a dessert shop during such chaotic times.
But given his personality, he was indeed the type who would calmly finish his cake even if terrorist attacks came.
However, Jiang Lai always felt something wasn't quite right.
Was it because of the previous mass evacuation and noisy news? Or because of Gojo Satoru's current not-very-distinct casual attitude?
Jiang Lai paused in place for a moment, then raised his eyes slightly, holding the book in his hand as he walked through the dessert shop's open front door.
No matter what, he should make contact first.
He first needed to determine whether Gojo Satoru was just passing by, specifically came to handle the terrorist attacks reported in the news, or if it was another more incredible possibility.