But for Dane, becoming a God using the dream stone was meaningless.
He was already the God of Death; even if he ascended further, he couldn't surpass Death!
So, does this mean the dream stone is useless? Not really.
After understanding the dream stone's functions and usage limitations, Dane had new ideas.
In reality, scientific experiments often require extremely stringent experimental environments and conditions.
For example, absolute vacuum, absolute zero, or controlled temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees.
Achieving such conditions in the Real World is very difficult; setting aside whether it's possible, the cost would be enormous.
But what if the experimental site could be moved to the Dream Realm?
Using the dream stone, he could create experimental environments that perfectly met the requirements, then complete the research in the Dream Realm.
For instance, in the Dream Realm, one could create things out of thin air. This means that precursor technologies that cannot be manufactured on Earth due to insufficient industrial levels can be directly materialized through imagination in the Dream Realm.
Take chips, for example. Without a suitable lithography machine, you can't produce them.
But he could take the raw materials into the Dream Realm, then use imagination to materialize a lithography machine and make the chips.
This way, he would have finished products when he returned.
Of course, this approach is a bit foolish. If he really wanted to do it, it would be much cooler to mass-produce lithography machines directly in the Dream Realm... Although there are many usage restrictions, the dream stone's ability is still one of Dane's most powerful artifacts; the Scepter even takes a backseat.
As long as he can drag an opponent into the Dream Realm, Dane is God. He can even make the opponent eternally lost in dreams without doing anything.
Then he can return to the Real World and kill the opponent's physical body.
One illusory, one real; a perfect combination.
Nevertheless, a sense of incongruity always lingered in Dane's mind. He always spoke his mind, so he directly questioned Morpheus.
"I feel a bit strange. Is this dream stone... well, how should I put it, its power isn't as strong as I imagined?"
Morpheus nodded and said:
"You're right. In fact, the dream stone's greatest use is as an energy source. Most of the time, its energy is inexhaustible.
Because as long as there is one living being dreaming in the World, they are providing energy to the dream stone."
"But the dream stone's power in the Dream Realm cannot exceed mine. I think you should know why."
Dane could understand. After all, it was a tool he created, with a power of the same origin.
If the creation's power exceeded the creator's, then who would be the Master of the Dream Realm?
Morpheus or the dream stone?
So, clearly, the dream stone's power ceiling could not surpass Morpheus.
The reason the Dream was powerless now was because he had lost all his power and needed time to recover, and Dane had simply taken advantage of the situation.
Just like the humans who imprisoned Morpheus, they were merely opportunistic.
Dane sighed. Although he hadn't achieved instant success, it was still a huge gain. It's good to be content.
Morpheus then spoke again:
"Now that the agreement has been reached, it's time for you to choose. Every Dream needs to manage a portion of the Dream Realm. You can choose which dream you wish to control."
"Anything?" Dane asked, raising an eyebrow.
"As long as it's a concept within dreams, you can choose," Morpheus gave him a definitive answer.
Dane made his choice without hesitation: "I wish to control the dream of inspiration. All the inspiration of all intelligent people in the World will be generated in the dreams I control."
Morpheus pondered, "That concept indeed has no one in charge of it."
Dane smiled slightly. In this way, everyone in the World who gained inspiration in their dreams would be working for him.
It's important to know that "inspiration" covers a wide range, not just artists' creations or scientists' research findings.
Any sudden thought can be considered part of inspiration, which also indirectly allows Dane to learn those abilities.
It is known that many magicians' abilities can be foreseen in dreams; this is precognitive dreaming.
Gods also dream, so deities will also exist in dreams of inspiration.
Dane waited for a long time in the Real World, finding that the Gods Lucifer had mentioned, who wanted to seize hell, never appeared.
So, he could only find a way to take the initiative.
With everything settled, Dane, under Morpheus's displeased gaze, patted his backside and returned to reality.
Morpheus, meanwhile, had to continue his journey. Although he had only recovered a portion of his power, it was enough for him to solve some problems, such as the Dream Vortex... When Dane returned to Gotham, he was greeted not by his reliable teammates or his lovely girlfriends, but by a resentful Lucifer.
"Why are you here?" Dane asked, surprised.
Lucifer almost lost his temper. How could you not know why I'm here?
But he was a man of grace, so he held back in the end.
He saw that Dane was completely unharmed, then walked away with a cold face, not saying a word.
Dane looked up at the darkening sky and thought that the other party must be incredibly bored to wait there for so long just to see him.
He went to a high vantage point to observe Gotham and found that the Justice League members were arresting people everywhere.
They were catching those who took advantage of the chaos, those who harmed themselves because they couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams, and those who went mad because they couldn't tell truth from falsehood.
Everything else was manageable, but how did Hawkgirl get into a fight with Gabriel?
Dane suddenly realized, could it be because of the N-th metal?
He guessed correctly. Let's rewind the time to when he and Morpheus entered the Dream Realm.
When Gabriel was slaughtering fanatics in the Doomsday Cult, these madmen had completely lost their fear of Death.
They firmly believed that there was truly a "Master" protecting them from above, so a group of fanatics charged at Gabriel, shouting "Holy War."
Of course, it's hard to say how many of them harbored ulterior motives because she was beautiful. Anyone willing to risk their life for seventy-two pure virgins probably doesn't need much explanation about their character.
And facing these infidels with defiled eyes, Gabriel showed no mercy. Her heart was colder and harder than the sword in her hand!
She harvested the life of every arrogant fool who came at her, one sword stroke at a time.
This scene was witnessed by Hawkgirl Shayera, who had just arrived.
"Another N-metal user!" Hawkgirl grumbled inwardly.
This was Dane's fault; he had been busy snatching artifacts from Morpheus and had forgotten to tell her about this.
Members of the Justice League do not use N-metal unless absolutely necessary.
Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the Eternal N-metal alloy and the pure N-metal armor she wore, so it was normal for her not to recognize it.
As a result, Hawkgirl still didn't know that Dane actually had a way to synthesize secondary N-metal on his own.
So, when she saw Gabriel wearing full N-metal armor and using it to slaughter "defenseless" civilians, she immediately attacked Gabriel.
As Hawkgirl's warhammer was about to strike Gabriel's head, the battlesuit on Gabriel automatically closed its helmet, opening up like the wings on a Valkyrie's head.
In fact, this armor was designed by Dane, referencing the style of Norse Valkyrie armor, which perfectly highlighted Gabriel's superior figure and allowed for easy movement.
Gabriel, caught off guard, was struck in the head by the warhammer; fortunately, the helmet automatically protected her in time, or else her brains would have been splattered.
She was slammed into the Earth by the blow, creating a deep crater, and when she looked up, she saw that Hawkgirl was still pursuing her.
Is this endless?
Feeling annoyed, she immediately activated the battlesuit's attack program; this was a sci-fi and magic-integrated armor, and Dane had not been perfunctory with her.
On the surface of the N-metal armor, countless tiny nanoparticles suddenly floated up, suspended above Gabriel's helmet, forming a circular band, like an Angel's halo.
Blue light glowed around the band, and magic power surged within it.
Gabriel swung her greatsword, lightning swirling around it, repelling Hawkgirl.
"What is this?" Shayera had never seen N-metal used this way.
But Gabriel had already charged forward, moving as fast as the wind!
Hawkgirl only had time to raise her hammer to block, but the immense force sent her flying again.
"Such great strength!" Shayera clearly felt that the opponent's strength and speed had greatly increased.
And her previous strike on the opponent's helmet had caused no damage at all.
And that lightning… was it magic?
Speed, strength, defense, and magic—are you a female Shazam?
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