Chapter 153: Dreams Are the Gateway to the Abyss

Early that morning, a group of rather unusual “tourists” arrived on the research base island. They dragged rolling suitcases and carried bags of all sizes, looking every bit like vacationers. They were the personnel stationed at the mainland headquarters of the Foreign Affairs Defense Force Investigation Special Action Team. Apart from Deputy Captain Sasaki, who remained at the mainland post, Merih, who was on rotation, and the volunteer Zero, everyone had come.

As soon as they disembarked, they headed straight for the cafeteria and stuffed all the barbecue ingredients they had brought onto the island into the refrigerators. July had already arrived, and in the sweltering heat, fresh meat certainly could not be left outside for long.

The captain had invited them to the island for a vacation today, without taking up anyone’s weekend—in other words, he was giving everyone paid leave. Bringing barbecue equipment and ingredients had also been his idea. Barbecue by the seaside, he had said, had a flavor all its own.

“I asked you here to relax. There’s no combat mission, so stop being so stiff.”

Seeing that, apart from Hiroyuki and Pega, who were not members of the Foreign Affairs Defense Force Investigation Special Action Team and had therefore come in ordinary clothes, nearly everyone else was wearing a uniform—with several even dressed in combat gear—the captain could not help laughing. He blamed himself for not making things clear beforehand.

Homare Soya, however, praised the combat suit to the skies. “Captain, this combat suit is excellent. It’s waterproof and dirt-resistant. I’m practically treating it as my everyday clothing.”

It was a little hot to wear in summer, but if one wanted safety, one could not be afraid of heat.

“Captain, where’s Hiroyuki? And Uncle Oda? Weren’t they already on the island?”

Homare looked around and, noticing that Hiroyuki and Oda, who should have arrived long ago, were nowhere to be seen, asked curiously.

“Oh, Oda is in the laboratory over there. It’s sealed off, so he can’t come out. We can have a video conference with him later. As for Hiroyuki…” The captain glanced back toward the dormitory building. “He’s still asleep. He trained late into the night yesterday, and he has a mission tonight. Let him catch up on his sleep. Nobody disturb him.”

More accurately, he had not slept for even a minute the entire night. He had only just gone to sleep an hour ago, when the sun rose.

Hearing this, Homare grew somewhat concerned. Training at night and going on missions at night meant sleeping during the day every day. That could not be good for his health.

It was nearly noon when Hiroyuki finally rose, still bleary-eyed, and joined everyone. They found a flat, sheltered spot, set up a barbecue grill and several small tables, and began the Foreign Affairs Defense Force Investigation Special Action Team’s first team-building gathering.

“Hiroyuki, are you fully awake now?”

“Not really, but everything smells so good that I had to wake up eventually,” Hiroyuki replied helplessly. At that moment, he rather envied the great scientist and Uncle Oda, shut away in the laboratory. It was so well sealed that they probably could not smell anything from here. Perhaps even the noise could barely get in.

So Hiroyuki called the laboratory’s video line and livestreamed the barbecue for the two people inside. Uncle Oda was both exasperated and amused. He said that once he was out, everyone had better make another barbecue for him to make up for this one. After all, it was their fault for not waiting. Not long afterward, he ended the call.

The laboratory did have food supplies. The great scientist had little need to eat, and the instant meals were all prepared for Uncle Oda. He was used to them and had no trouble adapting; back when he had worked as a freelancer, he had eaten plenty of such food. In fact, it had practically been his staple diet.

He was not jealous of the grilled meat Hiroyuki and the others were eating. During the video call, Uncle Oda had seen the pitch-black things they were grilling. If they had not been sitting on a barbecue rack, who would have guessed they were food?

After thinking it over, Uncle Oda sent a group message, reminding everyone that vegetables being burned was one thing, but meat that had been burned black was best left uneaten.

At that very moment, Hiroyuki was wrestling with a charred chicken wing, painfully scraping off the blackened skin. He had already given up hope of getting full at this gathering. He was just there to join in the fun.

“...!”

Suddenly, Hiroyuki felt a gaze fall upon him, carrying a familiar pressure. He turned around and saw a figure standing calmly on the roof of the distant dormitory building, watching him.

Five minutes later, Hiroyuki quietly slipped away from the effort to rescue the barbecue and made his way to the source of that gaze. The figure was still there, apparently waiting for him.

For the past two days, only Taro had been watching over the unconscious Hiroyuki. That meant Hiroyuki had scarcely seen Tregear at all.

“Hiroyuki, do you remember telling me before to come here and try my luck? You said that perhaps I might find the answer I was looking for.”

Tregear held a bone-china cup in his hands as he gazed at the lively crowd gathered in the open space below. Of course, a certain someone kept glancing back in his direction from time to time, wariness still lingering in his eyes.

“Mm... Wait. Could it be?” Hiroyuki froze, then stared at Tregear in surprise. “You really found it?”

“Not exactly. I can only say that I may have found a few clues.”

Tregear’s tone was cautious, as though he himself was far from certain. Hiroyuki found this version of Tregear unfamiliar. Whether in the Taiga television series or more recently, the impression Tregear had always left on him was one of absolute confidence.

Even when many of his schemes failed, he never seemed to care. Success or failure, the outcome itself—none of it appeared to matter to him. As long as he carried things through, that was enough.

“I’m going on this mission too.”

Tregear reached into his pocket and took out a light ring. Hiroyuki recognized it at a glance.

It was a Bakgon light ring.

“Wait—could it be that you...?”

Hiroyuki instinctively reached toward the pocket of his coat, but when he found his own Bakgon light ring still safely inside, he stopped.

“Don’t bother checking. It isn’t the one I gave you,” Tregear explained. “Since I gave you the ring, the captain gave me another Bakgon as compensation. I had it processed over the past two days and managed to produce another monster light ring.”

So Tregear had left the island and gone elsewhere during those two days? No wonder he had been nowhere to be seen.

“Then... your objective is Noa’s power?”

Since the Bakgon light ring’s function was to travel through dreams, was Tregear planning to enter Noa’s temple ahead of Uncle Oda and seize Noa’s power?

Tregear himself was already a giant of light. Could he accept Noa’s light and become Nexus?

For a moment, Hiroyuki’s mind filled with questions.

“I have no interest in Noa’s power.” Tregear waved a hand, denying Hiroyuki’s guess. “I merely... need to borrow Noa’s trial dream.”

“Borrow it...?”

Hiroyuki repeated the words in confusion. Tregear seemed to have anticipated that Hiroyuki would not understand. He hesitated inwardly, wondering whether to continue explaining or simply send him away.

In the end, faced with Hiroyuki’s eager, pleading gaze—“I’m curious. Could you explain it to me?”—Tregear could not keep him in suspense any longer.

“It’s like... catching a ride.”

“Do you know, Hiroyuki? Dreams are the entrance to the abyss.”