Chapter 20: I Possess Two Seas of the Subconscious

"Do I have two seas?"

"Doesn't that mean I get to choose twice?"

Zhou Mo was not at all surprised by this; his composition was complex, so possessing two seas made perfect sense. Moreover, having never seen what anyone else’s sea of subconscious looked like, he found this current situation to be within the realm of reason.

"So, what am I supposed to do next?"

"Though, it seems I don't really have another choice, do I? Since we are called 'Deep Divers' after all..."

Zhou Mo approached the edge of the sea, looked down at the water where fishy shadows darted about, and jumped in without hesitation. Although he didn't know whose sea of subconscious this was or what kind of people he might see, Zhou Mo was filled with immense anticipation.

The moment he entered the water, he saw several blurred human silhouettes lying hundreds of meters deep. Even though he couldn't see their features clearly, Zhou Mo felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Hmm..."

'Xia An said before that I needed to choose someone. Does that mean I just need to go over and touch one?'

'But the problem is, I don't even know who these people are...'

Zhou Mo was at a loss. How was he supposed to choose? Should he just pick one at random?

Just as Zhou Mo was pondering, he felt a familiar sensation on his scalp. His skull flew off, his brain crawled out, and the nerve tentacles underneath twisted into a propeller, pushing the brain toward the silhouettes.

One meter... five meters... ten meters... fifty meters...

It wasn't until it reached nearly 400 meters that the brain finally stopped, turned back, and waved its eyeballs at Zhou Mo.

Eh?

Zhou Mo followed curiously. It was only then that he realized he didn't seem to need to breathe in this sea of subconscious; he only felt the cold sensation of seawater flowing over his body. As he descended deeper, the water grew colder, and the schools of fish that had previously kept their distance seemed to be gravitating toward him.

Zhou Mo frowned slightly. Although he couldn't see exactly what these fish looked like from his position, their blurred outlines seemed significantly different from ordinary fish.

'This is the collective subconscious, so could those things be subconscious monsters?'

For some reason, however, these fish only circled far away from the human silhouettes, not daring to approach; it seemed there was something there that they feared.

Zhou Mo dove down to the brain’s side. The brain waved an eyeball, pointing to a phantom in front of him, signaling Zhou Mo to move closer. Zhou Mo reached the side of the figure and realized it was a young man dressed in somewhat fashionable attire.

'Is this the one the brain picked for me?'

'He doesn't look particularly special...'

Trusting the brain, Zhou Mo slowly reached out and touched him.

The moment he made contact, Zhou Mo’s body began to emit a glow, and the "schools of fish" in the distance surged toward them like sharks smelling blood! But at that moment, Zhou Mo seemed to have lost consciousness, completely unaware of his surroundings.

Just as the hideous faces of the "fish" drew closer, the brain floated beside Zhou Mo, raised its two eyeballs, and charged at the school of fish. In an instant, the entire sea of subconscious was stirred into a frenzy, and countless subconscious monsters were transformed into specks of starlight under the gaze of the brain's eyeballs.

Zhou Mo, who was busy receiving the experience, remained oblivious to the battle raging beside him.

In his consciousness, Zhou Mo felt as if he were traversing the long river of time. One second he was pressed into a crack in a wall, the next he was leaping over a rooftop dozens of meters high, and then he was rolling onto the grass.

Walls were no longer obstacles blocking his path; explosions erupted all around him, yet he always managed to dodge them with the most elegant and dashing movements. Everything around him seemed to become a tool he could utilize. High altitudes no longer filled him with fear; only by challenging his limits did he feel truly alive.

Zhou Mo slowly opened his eyes, just in time to see the brain landing on his chest, looking exhausted, its eyeballs appearing somewhat shriveled.

Feeling the changes within himself, Zhou Mo touched the brain, intending to place it back into his skull, but the brain hopped up on its own, waved at Zhou Mo, and pointed upward.

"You want me to go to the other sea by myself, and you're going to stay here for a while?"

The brain bobbed up and down, pushing on Zhou Mo’s chest as if urging him on.

Zhou Mo scratched his head. "Alright, I'll go ahead then. Catch up with me soon."

Without overthinking it, Zhou Mo swam upward. It took a long time before he breached the surface, while the brain, after casting one last deep glance at Zhou Mo, continued to dive into the depths of the sea of subconscious, until it entered the lightless zone...

Zhou Mo climbed out of the water, feeling the changes in his body with pleasant surprise.

"I get it! That person was a stunt double!"

"This feeling is really great. I've always wanted to see what it’s like to test my skills..."

Gazing at the towering iceberg, Zhou Mo felt his hands itching. Even though this was only the sea of subconscious, it didn't dampen his mood. He moved with agility, quickly scaling the towering iceberg in just a few steps.

Soon, Zhou Mo reached the connection point between two icebergs. The moment his hand touched the inverted iceberg hanging above, he suddenly lost his sense of gravity and flew upward!

"Wait!"

"What's going on?"

Fortunately, this was the sea of subconscious. Although Zhou Mo rolled down to the foot of the mountain like a tire, his body felt no pain—at most, he was just a little dizzy.

"Hiss..."

"So this is what it feels like to be thrown into a washing machine..."

Zhou Mo shakily stood up. Once his head cleared, he realized he was standing by the shore, and beneath his feet lay the other sea of subconscious.

Compared to the previous sea, this one gave Zhou Mo a sense of intimacy that originated from his very soul. This was the sea that truly belonged to him, whereas the one he had just dove into belonged to his predecessor.

Though he no longer had his brain with him, he had learned the ropes; without hesitation, Zhou Mo jumped in.

This time, however, Zhou Mo’s vision could only penetrate about five meters, though he could see other silhouettes existing in the deeper, darker reaches. Yet, for some reason, his instinct told him that he must absolutely never go where the sunlight could not reach!

"Eh? Is there really only one silhouette?"

Looking at the only figure within his five-meter range, Zhou Mo did not hesitate to reach out and touch it.

Meanwhile, in that other sea of subconscious far above, the brain had been diving for an unknown amount of time, reaching a region devoid of any light. All around were massive subconscious monsters swimming about, and in the central area, a figure floated.

It was a figure wearing a white lab coat.

The brain fell silent beside him for a long time.