42 Chapter 42: Dream Dimension and A'el

Outside of Washington, D.C., at the Hoggreenway Manor.

Edward removed his Cerebro-like device, his eyes bloodshot and his temples pulsing with visible veins. Each synapse in his brain seemed on the verge of bursting out of his skull. Every thought in his mind appeared to be aflame. He clenched his teeth, enduring the backlash, his face contorted in agony.

"Sir, allow me to apply a cold compress to your head," said the butler, a British gentleman-like figure. He quickly prepared a white towel soaked in ice-cold water and wrapped it around Edward's overheated brain to cool it down.

Then, he administered a pre-prepared nutrient solution into Edward's mouth until he felt slightly bloated, at which point Edward signaled him to stop.

After a long while, Edward let out a sigh, and his facial expression gradually returned to normal from its contorted state.

The butler instructed the maids to come and wipe Edward's body, which was drenched in sweat.

"I need to enter a deep sleep to recover, and you must monitor my condition at all times," Edward said.

He looked exhausted, and even the subsiding bloodshot in his eyes couldn't hide his weakness. At this moment, he didn't even want to move a single finger.

"Of course, sir. I will remain vigilant by your side," the butler assured him.

The butler quickly arranged for the maids to bring velvet blankets and pillows. They moved Edward onto the nearby apparatus, preparing him for sleep. Once Edward was in deep slumber, they ushered the maids out of the room. The butler activated numerous monitoring devices, keeping a close eye on Edward's condition.

Entering the dream dimension was the most ideal way to nurture the soul. Even though it felt like billions of years inside, in the outside world, it was just a moment. Upon waking up, one would be fully refreshed.

Edward once again entered the dream dimension. However, this time, the ten-layered dream dimension he had created for trapping others had unexpectedly expanded to one hundred layers.

From the eleventh layer to the one hundredth, each layer seemed to record an abundance of different information. Countless pieces of information spread out like octopus tentacles, as if they wanted to cram every entrant's mind with knowledge until it burst.

"How did it turn into this?"

Since he achieved mastery in psychology at the age of twelve, he hadn't experienced such a profound shock.

The ten-layered dream dimension he had constructed was originally a magnificent paradise, an Eden standing tall with grandeur. Here, it was like a bird's song, fragrant flowers, and brilliant sunlight. Majestic temples with exquisite carvings and paintings, and ethereal angels and divine maidens without a stitch of clothing, surrounded him. Everything beautiful in the human world existed in this paradise.

In each layer, one could obtain everything the mind desired, every pleasure, every craving, and every unattainable dream.

However, starting from the eleventh layer, it had transformed into a colossal information repository that continuously emitted knowledge capable of overloading the brain's neural networks.

"Is this his knowledge?" Edward speculated.

He had severed a portion of his own psychic power, and that psychic power materialized here, forming a vast information layer that disrupted this beautiful dream dimension.

He reached the tenth layer and was instantly stunned.

H'el was seated on a crystal-made throne, holding an open book with one hand, leaning to the side, his gaze appearing bored as he read the book. He exuded boundless majesty and power, almost god-like. The moment Edward saw him, it left him shocked.

The intense aura felt like vines that bound him in place, rendering him unable to struggle.

"You've finally arrived."

"Perhaps, in reality, you've only opened your eyes and cooled your overheated brain with a cold towel for a few minutes."

"I've spent seventy-nine sextillion years here."

H'el casually tossed the book in his hand aside, and as it fell to the ground, it created ripples and sank into the white jade surface, disappearing from sight.

He looked at Edward with a smile.

Edward, who stood motionless, had lost all control in the dream dimension. However, at this moment, his eyes were wide open, as if he comprehended everything.

"I understand now."

"The version of him who escaped from the dream dimension relinquished a part of your psychic power."

"Having his past memories and maintaining psychic power within this dream dimension, you became a new sentient being."

"Sentient beings within the dream dimension!"

"Are you planning to possess a body and become true sentient beings?"

Edward's face twisted into madness, contorting into a sinister grin.

"Hahaha... I get it!"

"Perhaps both you and him share the same past memories, the desire to become real, to be the one and only true self."

"Your desire is the reason for His destruction."

"Alien, you've created a psychic entity that covets your invincible physical form."

Edward grinned wildly, raising his chest, already aware of his impending fate.

This dream dimension version of H'el needed a physical body, and by coming here, Edward had essentially brought him that body.

However, at the same time, Edward believed that this psychic entity would undoubtedly act against its original host, becoming the true H'el.

"Why do you think I would act against Him?"

H'el looked at Edward with an almost condescending gaze.

"By existing in the dream dimension with severed psychic power, creating a completely new self, why would you think I'd take over the original host's body?"

"Lusting after that powerful physical form?"

"Having the same memories but denying your own existence?"

Edward was bewildered, and his face showed his confusion.

"The eleventh to the one hundredth layers of the dream dimension are His thoughts, contemplations, inspirations, sensations, realizations when He came into this world... Expanding from the tenth layer to the one hundredth is just a small part."

"I maintained it at one hundred layers to prevent the dream dimension from collapsing. The real number of layers should be far more than ten thousand."

H'el shook his head and opened his big hand, pointing his index finger at Edward's forehead, just like that day when they emerged from the sewer roundtable meeting, and H'el descended from the massive moon, pointing at Edward's forehead.

"With a mortal body, you've created a dream dimension and earned His admiration. It's the greatest achievement by a human so far."

Edward's consciousness gradually turned into specks of light, his bewildered face fading away. Everything became vague, as if ascending to a different realm, with no subjective awareness left.

All the specks of Edward's transformed consciousness were absorbed one by one by H'el.

He officially became a sentient being, naming himself: A'el.

A'el revealed a human-like smile, and with a casual wave of his hand, the one hundredth layer of the dream dimension continued to expand downwards, forming a ladder-like structure, extending to thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three layers, containing all of H'el's thoughts, ideas, inspirations, sensations, cellular evolution, memories, and everything before he severed this psychic power.

Even though A'el understood and knew all of this, he couldn't help but feel amazed and awed.

Only the ignorant dare to challenge Him.

"He possesses myriad realms."

"My journey begins in this vast sea of stars."

°°°

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