Lin Qiye stared at the Block Man in the doorway in shock, his breath hitching instantly.
This Block Man seemed to be the very same mysterious existence that had just confronted Michael in the sky. Now, however, he stood at the entrance of Ward No. 1 of the mental asylum, holding a pixelated camera.
Click! Another shutter sound rang out. The Block Man lowered the camera and waved cheerfully at him.
"Who are you? Why are you here?" Lin Qiye asked tentatively, taking a cautious half-step back.
The Block Man put away the camera, his tone relaxed and natural. "I am the administrator of the Evil God Prison—the owner of that building you see across from the mental asylum. You can call me Ian."
"Evil God Prison?" Lin Qiye frowned, his gaze shifting back and forth between Ian and Nyx. "What is this place?"
Ian walked into the room with light, brisk steps, his blocky body shimmering with a faint light in the dim environment.
"A special space for incarcerating Evil Gods. You tried to get close before but were repelled because you were too weak. You weren't qualified to enter yet."
He stopped in front of Lin Qiye, his square head tilting slightly.
"However..." Ian looked at Lin Qiye meaningfully, his voice suddenly becoming serious, "you have already gained a portion of my approval and obtained some administrator abilities."
"What abilities?" Lin Qiye pressed, his heart racing.
Ian didn't answer directly. Instead, he pointed at Nyx. The Goddess of Night was still clutching her vase, softly humming that strange lullaby.
"Why not try extracting her ability first? You've already made some progress, haven't you?"
Lin Qiye turned to look at the light screen on the wall. The progress bar showed 3%, with a prompt: [Extractable Skill × 1].
"How do I do it?" Lin Qiye asked.
"Concentrate. Imagine yourself drawing power from her," Ian instructed.
Lin Qiye turned back to Nyx and noticed the goddess was staring at the Block Man with curiosity, her eyes filled with a certain "pure stupidity." Clearly, in her current mental state, he wasn't going to get any useful information out of her.
Recalling his previous experience where the dream suddenly collapsed, Lin Qiye decided to extract the ability first just in case. He closed his eyes and focused his mind.
'Extract ability,' Lin Qiye muttered in his heart.
As soon as the thought formed, a magnificent wheel appeared out of thin air before him, labeled with various abilities: Super Fertility, Starry Night Dancer, Darkest Divine Realm, and more.
Lin Qiye swallowed hard, his finger hovering in the air.
"What on earth is Super Fertility?" he whispered.
Ian let out a burst of pixelated laughter. "That is a very powerful ability. You'd have to experience the specifics for yourself."
Lin Qiye shuddered. After hesitating for a moment, he pressed the extraction button. The wheel spun rapidly, lights flashing, until it finally landed on "Starry Night Dancer."
Lin Qiye breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he hadn't pulled "Super Fertility."
Ian seemed amused by his expression and chuckled. "A good choice. It suits you well."
Then, he raised a hand and pointed at Lin Qiye. A stream of data shot from his fingertip, merging directly into Lin Qiye's body.
"Ah!" Lin Qiye cried out, feeling a wave of cool energy flow through his entire body. The sensation was both foreign and wonderful.
Before Lin Qiye could fully process this power, Ian waved his hand again.
"Time to go, kid. We'll chat again next time."
Immediately, the dream world began to warp and collapse. The walls melted, and the floor shattered. Lin Qiye felt a violent pulling sensation as his consciousness was rapidly yanked back to reality.
"Wait! I still have questions!" Lin Qiye reached out in vain, but grasped only nothingness.
Lin Qiye snapped awake. Outside the window, it was still the pitch-black night. He immediately felt the new ability surging within him—Starry Night Dancer.
He leaped out of bed, his movements incredibly light. The power of the starry night pulsed within him; every cell was brimming with vitality.
Lin Qiye walked to the window and pushed it open gently. The night wind brushed against his face. He felt as though he could hear sounds from hundreds of meters away and smell the fragrance of a distant garden.
He tried a light hop, and his body easily leaped onto the windowsill. In the night, his speed, agility, and perception had received a staggering boost, as if he had merged with the darkness itself.
"Is this the power of the Starry Night Dancer?" Lin Qiye whispered, looking at his hands in disbelief.
What shocked him even more was that a translucent data interface suddenly manifested in his mind.
At the top was a miniature, blocky version of himself, flanked by four empty slots. Below were rows of more slots, along with a row of red hearts and a row of chicken drumsticks. On the other side of the panel, several buff effects were currently displayed: Resistance Boost, Strength Boost, Jump Boost, and others.
"A game interface?" Lin Qiye inspected the UI in disbelief.
He tried to control it with his mind and found he could easily open and close it. The panel displayed various stats: health, hunger, experience level—and those little squares were actually an inventory.
"So, this is the ability the Block Man deity gave me?" Lin Qiye murmured to himself. "Was the fact that I didn't get tired earlier related to this too?"
He looked up at the night sky outside the window, dotted with stars. Suddenly, a bold idea came to mind.
Lin Qiye leaped lightly from the window. To an ordinary person, this height would cause serious injury, but he landed as light as a feather, making no sound at all.
"Starry Night Dancer..." Lin Qiye whispered, feeling the power the night bestowed upon him.
He looked up at the silhouettes of distant buildings. The city's night view became exceptionally clear in his eyes, every detail visible.
Lin Qiye took a deep breath and then sprinted forward. His speed was terrifyingly fast, his figure flashing through the night like a shadow. Walls were no longer obstacles; he could climb them with ease. The distance between skyscrapers was no longer far; he could clear them in a single bound. The entire city seemed to have become his playground.
"Is this the power of a god?" Lin Qiye stopped atop a skyscraper, overlooking the entire city.
He opened the game interface to inspect it closely. The UI looked exactly like the interface of a certain pixel game. However, for some reason, he couldn't find any beginner tutorials; everything had to be figured out on his own.
"Ian the Block Man... Evil God Prison... The deities in the asylum..." Lin Qiye pondered this new information. "Why are all these things in my dreams? What does this all mean?"
The night wind ruffled his hair as starlight bathed his body. Lin Qiye felt a sense of freedom and power like never before.
"Whatever the case, I have to figure this out." He clenched his fist. "Since I can enter the mental asylum, I'll explore more rooms next time and learn the secrets of more gods."
Lin Qiye looked up at the moon, Michael's residence. He couldn't help but recall the might of that divine battle in the sky.
"I must also continue to gain power to protect Auntie and my cousin!"
With that, Lin Qiye vaulted off the building, merging once more into the night. The ability of the Starry Night Dancer made him feel like a fish in water within the darkness. He decided to make good use of this night to test the absolute limits of his abilities.