Chapter 1547: Chapter 1547
Gazing at the people trapped in the collective dreamscape, Jenkins knew he couldn't just stand by. If he did, the Perfume Appreciation Committee would once again channel their spiritual energy to free the Sin Nightmare, and he had absolutely no desire to face that monster for a third time.
He was no expert on dreams or spiritual energy. Even knowing that the tobacco was causing mutations in its users' minds and souls, he had no idea where to even begin to fix the problem.
So he relaxed his mind, letting himself sink into the vast, newly formed dreamscape. Inside, he watched as people moved about unconsciously, performing all sorts of actions.
He held out his right hand, palm up, and the translucent Crystal Apple materialized once more. This apple had not only deepened his understanding of the dream world but had also prevented him from being at an immediate disadvantage in the battle that had just ended. Follow current novᴇls on novel⦿fire.net
In essence, however, the apple was still the Sweet Dream Crystal. Even tainted by the power of the God of Lies, its fundamental nature remained unchanged. After a moment's hesitation, Jenkins gently tossed the apple into the air. Guided by his spiritual energy, it didn't fall but instead ascended even higher.
Jenkins watched it ascend, and once it reached a sufficient height, the beautiful apple split in two. It then dissolved into a crystalline powder that drifted down across the entire collective dreamscape.
The essence of sweet dreams permeated the world. Flowers and lush grass began to sprout across the once desolate and grotesque landscape, changing the very theme of the dream. Even though it was a coalition of countless individual dreams, the power of the Sweet Dream Crystal was potent enough to infect each one. United, these pleasant dreams would form an even vaster, more stable dreamscape.
The fundamental natures of sweet dreams and the Sin Nightmare were clearly in conflict. In a collective dreamscape built from pleasant dreams, the Sin Nightmare would be unable to harness the vast spiritual energy, even if it was present. This meant the Perfume Appreciation Committee could no longer summon the monster's power.
This, however, didn't solve the underlying issue with the tobacco. The harm it inflicted on its smokers remained, and they would continue to be linked through their dreams. Summoning the Sin Nightmare was only one of the committee's objectives; even with the collective dreamscape transformed into a pleasant one, they might still achieve their other goals.
That was Jenkins's thought as he woke up. He slowly sat up in bed and glanced out the window. Having spent some time in the dream world, he had just missed the lunar eclipse.
His right hand, resting on the bed, brushed against the silver block, which was still slightly warm. As he went to pick it up, the weight felt off. He glanced down and saw his sleeping cat, Chocolate, with her two small paws clutching the edge of the metal.
"Mischievous even in your sleep."
He chuckled and stroked Chocolate's head. The sleeping cat let out a faint, sleepy murmur and released her grip on the block.
Jenkins picked up the Godhead Metal Block and examined it, marveling at the fact that he had finally taken another crucial step forward. He now knew the path to godhood, and he could almost see the end of the road.
The accumulation of godhead required mastery over one's divine domain; absorbing faith was just the least efficient method. A true god's power did not depend on mortals, but Jenkins, still bound to the material world, couldn't manage that yet. At the very least, he now understood the entire process of how godhead was formed. Even if the recent coincidence could never be replicated, he had succeeded once. That breakthrough—from zero to one—was infinitely harder than going from one to two, or two to three.
Clearly, if he could achieve godhood before the final days arrived, the ultimate cataclysm wouldn't be a problem at all. And even if he couldn't, taking a step back, as long as he had enough godhead on hand when the final moment came, he was confident he could face whatever unknown challenges awaited.
"When I think about it that way," he mused, "there's really no need to be so anxious."
He placed the metal block on the bedside table, temporarily banishing the distracting thoughts from his mind. Lying back down, Jenkins quickly drifted off to sleep again.
Jenkins learned about the eclipse the next day, a Friday, from Miss Capet. The young blonde woman, having a free day, had come to keep him company in his hospital room as usual. She looked tired, claiming the strange celestial phenomenon from the night before had kept her up. It was only then that Jenkins learned about the events in the sky; he'd assumed the struggle within the dream world would have gone completely unnoticed.
"You didn't know, Jenkins? The dramatic shift in the night sky, the intense colors like an oil painting... you could see it from every corner of Bel Diran."
Miss Capet asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Yes, I saw it," he mumbled, taking a bite of an apple. He couldn't understand how a cat constructed purely from a dream could have such a profound impact on the real world.
"What was that cat? Being so powerful, I imagine it must be well-known," he inquired.
"I don't know either, but rumor has it that last night's incident was caused by a battle between a follower of the God of Lies and some dream monster. They say the follower borrowed their god's power to finally destroy it. I suspect that terrifying cat must be directly connected to the God of Lies."
Miss Capet shared what she had heard.
Jenkins frowned at her words. He had constructed that cat based on memories from his own dreams. It should have been nothing more than an illusion, utterly incapable of causing a celestial event on the scale of a lunar eclipse.
This could only mean one thing: a third party had exploited last night's battle. The cat he frequently encountered in his dreams was a real entity. If he hadn't entered the collective dreamscape, he might have encountered it again in his own dreams. That must be why, when he constructed the illusion, the real black cat had hijacked the phantom body he'd created.
He had no memory of ever encountering such a strange black cat in the waking world, which led him to believe its motives were far from simple. He'd first dreamt of it last year. For it to patiently lurk in his dreams for six months... whatever its goal was, it had to be something extraordinary.
The thought of one enemy not yet fully vanquished while another, with unknown intentions, had just appeared, made Jenkins's head ache. He resolved to visit the church library when he had the chance. At the very least, he had to figure out the identity of this black cat.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, he peeked at his own cat, only to find Chocolate perched by his pillow, licking her paws while gazing at the half-eaten apple on the bedside table, swallowing audibly. He inwardly chided himself for being paranoid. His cat was innocent.
"It's appeared in my dreams so many times, which already put me on guard," he thought. "But I never expected it to reveal itself ... and it seems like it helped me last night. So, is it really an enemy or not?"
His headache intensified.