The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 580 Subordinate Gods

Mary nodded emphatically. Having personally experienced the power of the gods, it was hard for her not to believe.

"Mr. Peace, please help us, along with the eternal light behind you, to restore our great dream and end this disaster."

Wu Chang said:

"Since I have come here with the glory of my Lord, it is to bring peace to this place."

"Relax, there's still time. Come back to Jacques University with me first. Professor Eugene and Niels are waiting for you."

go back.

Mary felt a little unfamiliar with those two words.

Only ten days have passed since the great dream spiraled out of control, but for her, it has felt like more than a decade.

She had thought she would do everything in her power to hold on until Professor Eugene and Nils found a way, and after witnessing their victory, she would die in some unknown corner, so that no one else would see her.

She never imagined that one day she could go back, back to humanity.

She lowered her head, concealing her expression, and said again:

"Thank you."

On the way back, without Mary's ability to hide spaces, you can find your way back without any quest guidance.

Despite his murderous intent and strong desire to be the driver, Wu Chang refused, citing time constraints, and then took the driver's seat himself.

At first, Mary and Auriel were quite puzzled, wondering what was so special about fighting for a driver's seat. After the Light of Collapse, Jacques City came to a standstill, and there were unclaimed vehicles everywhere on the roadside. Not to mention one vehicle per person, even ten vehicles per person would be more than enough.

When Wu Chang floored the accelerator and felt the car instantly transform into a rocket, Mary and Auriel finally understood why.

The one-and-a-half-hour drive took Wu Chang less than fifteen minutes. During that time, whether it was a U-turn or a right-angle turn, whether he was driving through the main road ravaged by the flesh monster and filled with abandoned vehicles, or through a narrow alley with only two lanes, he never let go of the accelerator for even a moment.

To say it's risking one's life is an understatement; it's practically suicide.

When the car stopped in front of Yake University, Wu Chang got out of the car looking refreshed, while the other three were already slumped in their seats, their souls still following behind them, unable to catch up for a moment.

He led the three pale-faced men straight to the Sky Tower Laboratory, where Eugene and Niels were both present, discussing how to repair the Great Dream.

Text is more abstract than images. It can better stimulate people's thoughts and has greater plasticity and imaginative space, but it is far less intuitive than images that can be seen with the naked eye.

With Nils's abilities alone, it would be difficult to create a concrete, grand dream world that could accommodate all the modified beings.

So if possible, they want Peace to go find Mary and try to awaken her consciousness, so the three of them can work together again.

If that doesn't work, they will turn to the Light of Eternity, hoping to borrow divine power to support a grand dream.

Upon seeing Heping enter, the two men were delighted and were about to say something when they saw the person following behind Heping. They froze, thinking they were hallucinating.

Niels said:
"Mary?"

"you are not……"

As another core member of the Great Dream, he knew very well why he hadn't turned into a flesh monster. He also learned about Mary's situation afterward through information from the outsiders.

Seeing Mary suddenly appear before him, he was momentarily stunned and couldn't quite process what had happened.

Mary smiled and walked towards the two of them, saying:
"Thanks to the divine power of His Majesty the Light of Peace and Eternity, I was rescued from the great dream that was out of control."

"I thought we would never meet again, but I never expected that the gods had not abandoned this world and had given me another chance."

Eugene and Nils looked at Wu Chang with awe in their eyes. Their previous discussion was only about the most ideal situation and they did not really place all their hopes on the gods.

Unexpectedly, the Light of Eternal Purity could actually achieve what they had in mind, and the results were even better than they had imagined.

Wu Chang briefly recounted what had happened to Mary to the two of them.

Eugene was particularly nervous about the fact that, according to Mary, the uncontrolled grand dream was spontaneously forming its true core.

But with the help of the gods, Mary returned to normal while retaining the influence of the Great Dream, which relieved him.

Although as a friend and comrade-in-arms he hoped Mary would be safe, he had to admit that his rationality as a scientist made him immediately feel worried after his joy at seeing Mary.

There is concern that if both core elements break away from the Great Dream, the Great Dream will spiral out of control and become irreversible.

According to Mary's calculations, under her full control, the dream monster would take twelve to fifteen days to take shape.

This is good news; although time is tight, it's not like there's no chance.

Eugene is 50% confident that he can complete the plan to restore the Great Dream within fifteen days.

However, Wu Chang brought more good news than that. He took out the experimental parameters from the eighth layer that Auriel had taken and handed them to Eugene.

The specific experimental parameters for the eighth layer are related to maintaining the psychological abilities of all participants and ensuring the stability of the City of Souls; these are the data Eugene needs most.

He had previously entrusted He Ping to return to the eighth floor of the Central Research Institute in an attempt to retrieve data to speed up the research process. Now, not only has he obtained all the necessary data, but he has also received help from Director Auriel, increasing his chances of success from 50% to 80%.

Professor Eugene's face was filled with joy, and Wu Chang's expression was the same.

Because in his eyes, the notification that the faction's main questline had been completed was flashing continuously.

With his elimination of Mason and his assistance in moving Eugene's laboratory into Jacques University, his faction's main missions 1 and 2—finding a powerful laboratory and collecting the experimental equipment needed for Eugene's research—are completed simultaneously.

He has now brought Mary and Auriel back intact, and completed faction main quest 3 – find the Howler and help Professor Eugene communicate with him; and faction main quest 4 – escort Professor Eugene to the eighth floor of the Central Research Institute, or find Director Auriel.

After completing all the prerequisite tasks, the last faction main quest popped up in front of him.

"Faction Main Quest 5: Help Professor Eugene repair the Great Dream."

Upon receiving the data from the eighth layer, Professor Eugene immediately began his research. Logically, given the time constraints, Mary and Auriel should have stayed behind to help.

But when he heard the two say that they wanted to visit the Church of Eternal Light beforehand to witness a miracle, Professor Eugene did not hesitate and immediately agreed to their plan.

Science alone can no longer save Jacques; theology is needed to overcome the disaster.

With Eugene moving his laboratory into Jacques University, the two major camps of the self-help group and the civil rights party have effectively merged, and Wu Changzheng is preparing to transfer the Tree of Miracles to Jacques University.

Seeing that the two wanted to visit the Yongguang Church, he offered to give them a ride.

These words immediately startled the two of them.

Mary, possessing a divine body, could barely hold on, while Auriel, having just recovered from a serious illness, had only regained half of her physical and mental strength. Fearing she would die in Wu Chang's carriage, she refused to go along no matter what.

In order to avoid getting into Wu Chang's unlicensed taxi, Mary even revealed her divine form and used her power to teleport Auriel and Wu Chang directly to the factory where the self-rescue team was located.

Wu Chang sensed Mary's abilities and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

As a lord of spatial magic, he is very sensitive to spatial power. Although Mary uses spatial power, she does not drive it.

This kind of large-scale teleportation that doesn't tear through space reminded him of the divine kingdoms on Earth.

Back then, when the divine kingdom on earth covered Wanghai City, Eileen, as the ruler of the divine kingdom, could bring him to any area of ​​the divine kingdom even without understanding the origin of space.

From this perspective, the Great Dream not only found a shortcut to construct a divine body, but also a shortcut to build a divine kingdom.

Looking at Mary beside him, he couldn't help but think that it was fortunate that he was the one who was clearing the dungeon. If the painter had entered the dungeon, it would have caused him a lot of trouble later on.

While Wu Chang was contemplating the potential of the Great Dream, Mary looked up at the enormous Tree of Miracles that had grown out of the factory and enveloped the entire facility.

The moment she saw the tree, she felt a shock to her soul.

She had always thought that the City of Souls she had described was lacking something. As a place to protect souls, it lacked a soul; as a great dream, it was not that great.

The moment she saw the Tree of Miracles, she suddenly understood that the souls the City of Souls lacked were the Tree of Miracles before her, which represented faith in the Light of Eternity.

The moment Mary was awestruck by the Tree of Miracles and truly embraced the Light of Eternal Purity through its medium, the Tree of Miracles began to grow wildly. In the blink of an eye, the Tree of Miracles, which had grown from tens of meters tall, reached a thousand meters in height, its enormous canopy stretching out like a giant curtain, enveloping most of Jacques City and encompassing Jacques University.

Wu Chang clicked his tongue. It seemed he wouldn't need to move the Tree of Miracles now.

Mary had already witnessed the miracle, but as a former member of the self-help group, she still went into the factory to see her old friends.

Upon entering the factory, on the way to the workshop that serves as the Church of Eternal Light, Auriel sees Dylan.

Wu Chang withdrew the evil power from Dylan, and Dylan's illness was already 80% cured. Nourished by the Tree of Miracles and supplemented by the Tongue of God, not only did his illness disappear, but the hidden injuries he sustained while protecting the survivors also recovered to a large extent.

When they met again, Dylan was in even better spirits than when Wu Chang first met him.

When Dylan and Auriel met, they immediately embraced and asked each other what had happened during that time.

Upon learning that both sides had escaped danger thanks to the miracle of the Light of Eternity, their faith became even more devout.

Listening to their conversation, Wu Chang felt a little guilty, and under the pretext of giving them private space, he led Mary to continue to the church.

The phantom of the Tree of Miracles grew to over a thousand meters, enough to shelter most of the city of Jacques, but its physical form still grew inside the workshop.

Mary gazed at the Tree of Miracles, unable to suppress the surge of inspiration, and subconsciously switched into her divine form, asking Wu Chang:
"Can I draw it?"

Wu Chang gestured with his hand, indicating "please," and said:
"of course."

Mary returned to her room, took out her easel and brushes, and began to paint the Tree of Miracles.

After acquiring a divine body, her physical body transcended the concept of flesh and blood. Not only was her bio-network dissolution disease cured without medication, but her bio-network could also be used without restriction, and its effects were greatly enhanced.

Inspired by the bio-network, she paints at an extremely fast speed, each stroke precise, requiring no corrections or erasures, accurately conveying her thoughts onto the canvas without any discrepancies.

In just ten minutes, she had already painted a miraculous tree on the canvas. If it were considered as a simple painting, it would undoubtedly be excellent and could win all sorts of awards.

But compared to the real Tree of Miracles before us, it ultimately lacked a certain divine charm.

What she painted was merely a painting; it could not support the city of souls in her mind like a real tree of miracles.

Perhaps the reason why miracles are miracles is that they are powers that only gods can wield.

If I pray to the Light of Eternity, asking her to lend me her power so that I may have the strength to support my grand dream, will she grant my wish?

She stared blankly at the miraculous tree before her, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, at Jacques University, Eileen, who was helping a seriously ill person recover, suddenly stopped what she was doing and quickly went to Wu Chang's office.

When Wu used the dream-based beacon to rescue Mary, he had already informed Eileen through mental communication. Eileen knew of Mary's existence and, after confirming that no one had been listening in on the room, she said directly:
“The girl named Mary is trying to communicate with me through the Tree of Miracles. She is very devout. The Tree of Miracles tells me that I can grant her some divinity and take her as a subordinate god. Should I do this?”

Wu Chang asked:

"how do you want to do it?"

Eileen said;

"She wants to use my power to save Jacques City, and I want to help her."

"But I'm not sure what the impact would be on me if I shared my power with her."

“You’ve just entered the Realm of Reason and haven’t yet established yourself. I’m afraid that because of my choices, I won’t be able to provide you with enough support when you need me the most.”

Wu Chang looked troubled. He wasn't worried about ordinary players in the Realm of Reason; he could handle it even without Eileen.

But he was somewhat unsure about the Guangming Society.

Putting aside the fact that the Light Society has a weirdo like Loki who specializes in deceiving people with high spirituality, the mere mention of Huanxi is enough to give him a headache.

Even when Huanxi suppressed his strength to the level that the middle layer could contain, he could still withstand his power with his true divinity. He was unsure how strong Huanxi would be in his complete state.

If Huanxi discovers his whereabouts and calls upon Mercury and the others to block the door, even with Eileen's help, they might not be able to gain the upper hand. If he relies solely on himself, his only option will likely be to run away.

Unable to make up his mind, he immediately shook the raven over and threw the question to it.

This kind of question was no challenge for Raven. She only thought for a moment before telling the two what it meant to be subordinate to God.

Subordinate gods are vassals of powerful deities, and such existences are not uncommon.

Eileen's divine form is an angel, which is the most common subordinate divine race.

Normally, only powerful mid-level gods and high-level gods are qualified to recruit subordinate gods, because the threshold for obtaining subordinate gods is a stable divine kingdom.

There are usually three types of subordinate gods. The first type is one that is completely created by a powerful god, and whose power originates entirely from a superior god.

Such subordinate gods usually do not have independent life; their existence is in the hands of the superior gods.

For example, the divine mechs created by He Yun, in a sense, are divine mechs with the power of lower gods, which are subordinate gods of He Yun, only their mode of existence is rather special.

The second scenario is a simple dependency relationship.

Weak gods need protection and become subordinates of higher-ranking gods by signing divine contracts.

The Sea God in the Silent Route is a typical example.

The third scenario is that a powerful being in a domain knows they cannot obtain divinity and is willing to offer absolute devotion in exchange for divinity bestowed by a higher deity.

A superior deity can part of its own divinity and bestow it upon subordinate gods, enabling them to acquire a divinity of the same origin as itself.

This behavior does not fundamentally harm the superior deity, but separating divinity involves the origin and requires complete restoration before a new subordinate deity can be obtained.

Eileen is now facing the third scenario.

Generally speaking, powerful beings at the Origin level who are capable will only be willing to become subordinate gods if they are certain that they cannot break through to the next level when they are nearing the end of their lives.

Such subordinate gods are mostly peripheral figures, only capable of maintaining the order of God's kingdom, and hardly fit for important tasks.

But Mary's situation was different. She was truly devout to the Light of Eternity, and her true intention was not to become a god herself, but to construct a perfect and grand dream, hoping to use the Tree of Miracles as support, which led to her request.

Raven's advice to Eileen's doubts was to agree to her request.

Unlike other minor, subordinate gods, Mary possesses a great dream and a divine body, making her extremely promising and with a bright future.

With proper training, their potential could very well reach that of a high-ranking god.

Even great evil gods like Lyman and Christine cannot find subordinate gods with the status of higher gods. Unless Wu Chang masters the method of mass-producing divine bodies in the future, there will be no chance to do so again.

When Wu Chang learned that developing a subservient relationship with God would not have much impact on Eileen, he was immediately relieved and let Eileen make her own choice.

Without hesitation, Eileen immediately agreed to Mary's request and lent her power to her.

Meanwhile, inside the Church of Eternal Light, Mary, gazing at the Tree of Miracles with a troubled expression, suddenly shuddered as she heard a faint, almost imperceptible response.

She couldn't hear the specifics of the response, but she understood its meaning.

The Light of Eternal Purity granted her request.

The next moment, she had a burst of inspiration and found a way to successfully draw the Tree of Miracles.

She began revising the original painting, and the revision process took much longer than the initial painting itself.

An hour later, she stopped and looked at the canvas in front of her with satisfaction.

A colossal golden tree, capable of supporting the heavens and the earth, grew out of the white city, supporting the heavens and the earth and sheltering the white city within.

As the golden giant tree appeared on the canvas, it also appeared in the white city on the chest of Mary's body.

Unlike in the painting, a divine golden fruit is growing on the giant golden tree inside Mary's body.

(End of this chapter)