Dreaming Dimension and Al

On the outskirts of Washington, D.C., Yorton Manor.

Edward removed the brainwave amplification device. Blood vessels had burst in his eyes, and the veins at his temples throbbed terrifyingly. Every synapse in his brain seemed ready to leap out of his skull, every thought seeming to burn. He gritted his teeth and endured the backlash, his face twisted in agony.

"Sir, put this on your head."

The gentlemanly United Kingdom butler hurriedly prepared a white towel soaked in ice water and wrapped it around Edward's head, cooling his overheated brain, which was practically steaming.

Then he poured the prepared nutrient solution into Edward's mouth, filling his stomach until it felt slightly bloated before Edward told him to stop.

Only after a long while did Edward let out a breath, his expression gradually easing from its grimace.

The butler summoned the maids to wipe down Edward's sweat-soaked body.

"I'm going into deep sleep to recover. Watch my condition at all times."

Edward looked exhausted. Though the bloodshot in his eyes was slowly fading, an inescapable weakness and helplessness remained. Right now, he did not even want to move a finger.

"Yes, sir. I will remain at your side at all times."

The butler swiftly had the maids bring velvet bedding and pillows, moved Edward onto the equipment beside him, and once Edward had fallen asleep, dismissed the maids from the room. The butler activated numerous monitoring devices and kept constant watch over Edward.

Entering the Dreaming Dimension was the best way to nurture the mind. Once one entered its deepest level, perhaps hundreds of millions of years might pass within, while only an instant passed outside. Upon waking, one would be fully restored.

Edward entered the Dreaming Dimension once more, but this time, the ten-layered Dreaming Dimension he had once created to trap someone to death had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The original ten layers had now spread to one hundred.

From the eleventh layer to the hundredth, every layer seemed to record countless different pieces of information. Endless information spread like flailing octopus tentacles, as though it wanted to force itself into the mind of everyone who entered the Dreaming Dimension and burst their minds apart.

"How did it become like this?!"

Ever since he had mastered psychology at the age of twelve and begun manipulating people, he had never felt such tremendous shock.

The ten-layered Dreaming Dimension he had built had originally been a majestic, towering ten-layered realm of Heaven—Eden. Birds sang and flowers bloomed here beneath bright sunlight. Magnificent holy temples stood adorned with carved beams and painted rafters, surrounded by unclothed divine maidens, holy maidens, and angels. All the beauty of the human world existed in this Heaven.

Every layer held entirely different scenery and desires.

Here, one could obtain everything the heart found most pleasurable, craved most deeply, and dreamed of but could never possess.

Yet from the eleventh layer onward, it had become a vast information archive that continuously emitted knowledge capable of overloading the brain's nerves.

"Is this His knowledge?"

Edward guessed.

He had severed a portion of His spiritual power. That spiritual power had manifested here, forming enormous layers of information and disrupting this beautiful Dreaming Dimension.

He arrived at the tenth layer and froze.

He-El sat upon a throne made of crystal, holding an open book in one hand as he leaned lazily against the throne. He looked at the book with bland boredom, yet radiated endless majesty and power like God. The very instant Edward saw him, he was struck dumb.

That overwhelming presence was like vines binding him in place, leaving him unable to struggle.

"You finally came."

"Perhaps in reality, you merely opened your eyes and pressed a cold towel against your overheated brain. Only a few short minutes have passed."

"But here, seventy-nine thousand seven hundred sixty-two billion trillion years have already gone by."

He-El casually tossed aside the book in his hand. It fell to the floor, sending ripples across the surface before sinking into the white jade ground and vanishing.

He looked at Edward and smiled.

Standing where he was, Edward had lost all control over the Dreaming Dimension.

Yet his eyes were wide open now, as though he had seen through everything.

"I understand."

"The one who escaped the Dreaming Dimension abandoned this portion of His spiritual power—you."

"You possess His past memories, and you have maintained this spiritual power within the Dreaming Dimension. You have become a new living being."

"A spiritual life-form within the Dreaming Dimension!"

"You want to possess a body and become a true living being?!"

Edward's face twisted with madness as he revealed a savage grin.

"Hahaha... I understand!"

"You and He must possess the same past memories. You crave becoming real, crave becoming your true self, crave becoming the one and only true self."

"Your desire is the reason you will destroy Him."

"Alien, you created a spiritual construct that covets your invincible body."

Edward raised his chest with a savage grin and spread his arms, already aware of his fate.

This He-El of the Dreaming Dimension needed a body. By entering this place, Edward had delivered one to him.

But at the same time, Edward believed that this spiritual construct would surely attack its original owner and become the true He-El.

"Why would you think I would attack Him?"

He-El looked at Edward as though he were an idiot.

"Having survived by chance as severed spiritual power within the Dreaming Dimension and formed an entirely new self, why do you think I, Edward, would seize the original owner's body?"

"Covet that powerful body?"

"Possess the same memories, yet deny my own existence?"

Edward was stunned, question marks practically appearing on his face.

"From the eleventh to the hundredth layer of the Dreaming Dimension are His thoughts, reflections, inspirations, sensory experiences, realizations... since coming to this world. Extending from the original ten layers to a hundred is merely a tiny corner of it."

"I only maintained it at one hundred layers because I feared the Dreaming Dimension would collapse. The true number of layers should exceed ten thousand."

He-El shook his head. He stretched out his large hand toward the stunned Edward, extending a finger and touching Edward's brow.

Just as he had back then, when they emerged from the sewer roundtable meeting and He-El descended from the vast full moon, pressing one finger against Edward's brow.

"With a mortal body, you created the Dreaming Dimension. To receive even a word of praise from Him—'astonishing'—was already humanity's greatest achievement to date."

Edward's spirit gradually turned into Light Points. His stunned face dissolved, and everything faded away in bewilderment, as though he had ascended and merged with the Dao, never again possessing subjective consciousness.

All the Light Points formed from Edward's spirit were absorbed one by one by He-El.

He officially became a living being and gave himself a name: Al.

Al revealed a humanlike smile. With a casual wave of his hand, the hundredth layer of the Dreaming Dimension continued spreading downward in stair-like tiers, extending to thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three layers. They contained all of He-El's thoughts, ideas, inspirations, sensory experiences, cellular evolution, memories, and everything else from before He-El severed this portion of spiritual power.

Even though Al understood and knew all of it, he could not help feeling astonishment and reverence.

Only the ignorant would dare raise their fists against Him.

"He possesses countless worlds."

"My journey is this sea of stars."