Segala sesuatu terjadi begitu cepat. Lex selalu mengira pemisahan dari mereka yang dua ini akan terlihat jauh-jauh lagi, misalnya hingga akhir tenggat waktu mereka. Meskipun Lex sudah berusaha agar tidak terlalu terikat, dan tidak pernah benar-benar membantu mereka dalam kesulitan, dia tetap harus akui bahwa dia masih agak terikat.
Mereka berdua memang bodoh, pada dasarnya. Meskipun telah hidup begitu lama, melintasi sekian rintangan yang tak terbayangkan, dan mencapai seberapa hebat pun, meski dari latar belakang yang sederhana — pada akhirnya, mereka tetap hanya anak-anak kecil yang kini sedikit lebih kuat saja.
Tentu saja, kehidupan sudah memaksakan mereka agak bijak melalui pengalaman, namun kebanyakan dari mereka tetap hanyalah dua anak kecil yang saling mencinta tanpa henti. Jika bukan karena Lex sudah terbiasa dengan leluhan kelakar memalukan dan gesty tontonan afeksi mereka yang berlebihan, dia mungkin akan kehilangan akal.
Lex menggelengkan kepalanya sambil tersenyum, lalu senyum itu pelan-pelan pudar tertutup. Dia akan merindukan mereka, tapi memang terbaik mereka kini jalan sendiri dan menemukan arah merek sendiri. Terlalu lama sudah mereka dipengaruhi olehnya dan tenggat waktu yang selalu menekan. Kini, mereka bisa akhirnya melambat dan menikmati hidup.
Dia yakin, jika tekanan dari tenggat waktu yang selalu mendesak ini tidak ada, mereka sudah kawin dan punya anak-anak sekarang. Tanpa dorongan darinya supaya mereka terus menguat, siapa tahu mereka pun bisa mempertimbangkan hal-hal seperti itu.
Setelah terpikirkan itu, pikirannya melayang ke Gilded Hollow itu sendiri.
Pertama kali dia ini mendengar soal itu adalah dari Ventura sendiri. Semua orang sedang mengungkapkan rahasia masing-masing, dan tak ingin ketinggalan, Ventura pun mengungkapkan bahwa Gilded Hollow akan segera terbuka.
Yang membuat Lex ingin tahu sekarang itu apakah Ventura tahu bahwa Gilded Hollow akan terbuka melalui tangannya, atau apakah ini takdir yang tidak bisa dielakkan. Sejak cincin itu milik keturunan Karev, siapa tahu takdir akan memaksa Karev — atau mungkin Pearl — untuk membawa cincin ke alam Joro.
Peristiwa tertentu mungkin akan memaksa mereka membawa cincin ke lokasi ini. Apa pun yang terjadi, hanya butuh waktu sedikit lebih hingga terjadi. Jadi, apakah ini semua bagian dari rencana Ventura, atau sekadar sesuatu yang dia ramalkan? Atau Lex hanyalah korban tak sadar dari rekayasa takdir?
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini tidak bisa ia jawab sekarang, sehingga ia memilih untuk memikirkan hal lain. Misalnya, apakah selama ini ia memang selalu membawa Gilded Hollow bersamanya, atau apakah cincin hanyalah representasi dari apa sebenarnya alam itu? Entah bagaimana, sebuah alam raya sekalipun seharusnya tak mungkin muat di dalam sebuah cincin, kan?
Dulu Ballom sendiri pernah mengklaim tidak ada yang benar-benar tahu apa itu Gilded Hollow sebenarnya. Yang semua diketahui hanyalah bahwa pintu masuk ke Gilded Hollow akan muncul secara acak di seluruh alam semesta, di setiap single realm — baik mayor maupun minor.
Gilded Hollow dikabarkan dipenuhi dengan tak terhitung harta karun, kekayaan, dan sumber daya. Hanya ada satu syarat: semua harta karun dan sumber daya itu harus dimanfaatkan di dalam Hollow. Jika dikeluarkan, mereka akan menghilang — persis seperti sumber daya dari cincin.
Di samping itu, sumber daya yang ditemui di dalam sepadan dengan tingkat kultivasi si pembuka, termasuk Dao Lord!
Dan menurut catatan, tidak ada seorang pun di dalam alam yang pernah bertemu dengan orang lain dari luar. Banyak yang berasumsi bahwa ukuran alam itu sangatlah luas. Lex lebih condong berpikir bahwa alam itu disengaja memisahkan orang-orang.
Yang lebih penting, Gilded Hollow juga memiliki bahaya. Namun, mengatakan hal itu mungkin akan membuat orang meremehkan bahaya di dalamnya. Terakhir kali Hollow terbuka, hampir 40% dari semua Dao Lord yang masuk telah tewas.
Pada saat itu, Ballom juga menyampaikan bahwa ia pun merasa mencurigakan dengan timing munculnya Hollow. Sudah lama ia tidak muncul, tiba-tiba kembali muncul di saat ketidakstabilan yang begitu tinggi seperti sekarang itu seperti mengajak masalah. Namun tetap, ini terbuka untuk semua orang. Bahkan Dao Lord pun tertarik, karena mereka juga butuh sumber daya.
Meskipun Lex tidak bisa bayangkan apa yang Dao Lord butuhkan atau lakukan dengan sumber daya itu, tapi jelas mereka butuh. Inilah sebabnya mereka memilih untuk memasuki Gilded Hollow. Adapun apa yang terjadi dengan alam semesta saat mereka pergi... tak seorang pun tahu.
Berbicara tentang hal-hal yang tidak diketahui siapa pun, durasi apapun Hollow akan terbuka ialah misteri total. Namun Lex sudah melakukan riset dan menemukan teori paling umum. Durasi keberadaan Hollow tidak punya hubungan dengan waktu. Justru, ia akan bertahan selama yang dibutuhkan hingga sejumlah sumber daya dari dalamnya selesai dipetik.
Aneh, tapi Lex tidak mengeluh. Justru ia dengan senang hati menantikan agar teleportasi selesai, supaya ia bisa mulai memetik sumber daya. Satu-satunya hal yang masih mengganggu adalah mengapa koin itu memiliki aura mirip dengan Origin realm’s Axis Eternum dan apa hubungannya dengan Hollow.
Di tengahnya proses teleportasi dan menggoda pikirannya, pintu-pintu di seluruh alam semesta akhirnya menutup. Pintu-pintu itu telah terbuka selama total delapan menit di setiap realm, sesuai dengan aliran waktu masing-masing.
Baik itu terlalu lama maupun terlalu singkat — ini seluruhnya tergantung perspektif.
Di dalam hati Dream realm, ada sebuah benteng yang terlihat seperti keluar langsung dari... ya, mimpi seseorang. Benteng itu tak bisa dicapai dengan cara-cara biasa, dan dipenuhi dengan Sandmen yang sedang sibuk mengerjakan urusan masing-masing. Benteng itu belum lama ini ramai dikunjungi.
Di dalam lapisan terdalam benteng, seekor figur tertentu sedang menyaksikan secara langsung pertarungan antara Wu Kong dan Erlang, yang masih berlanjut. Keduanya telah mengalami luka serius, dan untuk pertama kalinya, Erlang sebenarnya menyesali memilihbertarung melawan Wu Kong, sebab kera itu benar-benar sudah gila!
Everything happened so fast. Lex had always thought that his separation from the two would be something he’d see a long way coming, for example the end of their deadline. Although Lex had done his best to remain detached, and had not actively helped them out during their struggles, he had to admit that he was still somewhat attached.
The two of them were idiots, basically. Despite living such long lives, overcoming such impossible odds, and achieving such great things, considering where they started out from, they were still just kids who had a bit of strength now.
Sure, life had forced some wisdom down their throats due to all their experiences, but for the most part they were just two kids who were hopelessly in love with each other. If Lex hadn’t grown immune to the cringe one liners, and their mad displays of affection for one another, he might have gone crazy.
Lex shook his head as the grin on his face slowly faded. He would miss them, but it was for the best that they live their own life now and find their own direction. For too long had they been influenced by him and his deadlines. Now they could finally slow down and enjoy life.
He was certain that if the pressure from his deadlines hadn’t always kept them on their toes, they would have been married with kids by now. Without him urging them on to gain more strength, maybe they could consider such things.
As he moved his thoughts away from the young couple, Lex could not help but think about the Gilded Hollow itself.
The first time he heard about it was through Ventura himself. Everyone had been revealing some secrets, and not wanting to be left out, Ventura revealed that the Gilded Hollow would be opening soon.
What Lex wondered now was whether Ventura knew that it would open through Lex’s hands, or if it was some kind of inevitability. Since the ring belonged to Karev’s descendants, maybe destiny would have forced Karev, or maybe Pearl, to bring the ring to Joro realm.
Certain events might have forced them to bring the ring to this location. All that would have happened was that it would have taken a bit longer than it did now. So was this all a part of Ventura’s plan, or was it something he had foreseen? Or was Lex just an unwitting victim of destiny’s design?
These were questions he could not answer for now, which is why he thought about other things. For example, had he been carrying the Gilded Hollow all this time, or was the ring simply a representation of what the realm actually was? After all, an entire realm shouldn’t have been able to fit inside a single ring, right?
He recalled that Ballom himself had claimed that no one actually knew what the Gilded Hollow really was. All anyone knew about it was that the entrances to the Gilded Hollow would randomly appear all across the universe, inside every single realm, whether they were Major or minor.
The Gilded Hollow was supposedly filled with countless treasures, wealth and resources. The only catch was that all the treasures and resources needed to be utilized within the Hollow, for if they were brought out, they would disappear - just like the resources from the ring.
Furthermore, the resources encountered inside correspond to the cultivation level of whoever entered, including Dao Lords!
Oh, and as far as records went, no one inside the realm had ever met anyone else from the outside. Many took that to assume that the size of the realm was unbelievably vast. Lex just felt like the realm might be purposefully segregating people.
More important, however, was that the Gilded Hollow also had dangers. Yet saying such a statement might cause others to underestimate the dangers of the Hollow. The last time the Hollow was open, nearly 40% of all Dao Lords who entered had died.
At the time, Ballom had also mentioned that he too found the timing of the Hollow’s appearance to be suspicious. It had been gone for so long, but to reappear now during so much instability was just asking for trouble. Yet it was an open conspiracy. Even Dao Lords would fall for it, because they too needed resources.
Although Lex couldn’t imagine what Dao Lords needed or did with those resources, they still clearly needed them, which is why they would opt to enter the Gilded Hollow. As for what would happen to the universe while they were gone... no one knew.
Speaking of things no one knew, the duration for which the Hollow would be open was a total mystery. Lex had, however, done some research and learned of the most common theory. The duration of the Hollow’s presence had nothing to do with time. Instead, it would last as long as it needed to until a certain number of resources from it had been harvested.
Strange, but he wasn’t complaining. Instead, Lex just happily looked forward to the teleportation ending so he could begin harvesting. The only thing that still bothered him was why the coin had the aura similar to the Origin realms Axis Eternum and what that had to do with the Hollow.
While Lex was still undergoing teleportation and wondering about such things, the doors to the Hollow all across the universe finally closed. The doors had been open for a total of eight minutes in each realm, respective to their own flow of time.
It was neither long nor short, and depended entirely on one’s perspective.
Deep within the Dream realm, there was a large castle that looked like it had come right out of... well, someone’s dreams. The castle could not be reached through ordinary means, and was swarming with Sandmen who were going about their business. The castle had not seen so much activity in Ages.
Within the depths of the castle, a particular figure was watching a live screening of the fight between Wu Kong and Erlang, which was still ongoing. Both of them had sustained serious injuries, and for the first time, Erlang was actually regretting picking a fight with Wu Kong for the monkey had gone completely crazy!
"Dream Master, there has been a report," a Sandman said as he entered the room and glanced towards the fight.
"Yes?" responded a feminine voice - one that would have surprised Lex if he heard it.
"The Gilded Hollow appeared ahead of schedule, but that has actually worked in our favor. Our projections indicate that nearly 12,000 Dao Lords, or an approximate 31% of all Dao Lords in existence, have entered the Hollow.
"That is far more than the 12% we had originally expected. That’s because the doors opened in the middle of a number of battlefields, prompting many Dao Lords to prioritise the Hollow over the wars. As a result, there has already been a massive shift in the defense of countless realms."
The Dream Master paused, and then smiled.
"The bait is in place. Prepare the armies. Once everything is over, history will remember this as the Age of Dreams."
The Sandman merely nodded and headed out. The Dream Master looked towards Wu Kong once more, and continued to watch the show unfold.
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