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

Chapter 420 Soul-Eating Hounds and Surface Anomalies
He Yun drove an empty car around the underground shelter, showing Wu Chang and Eileen the changes within it.

On the underground level where the shelter's residents are concentrated, the most conspicuous building is the Eternal Light Church, which was converted by the Blissful Church.

He Yun introduced the Yongguang sect into the underground shelter. With her and He Yi's support, it didn't take much effort to get all the residents of the underground shelter to convert to the Yongguang sect.

The method is simple: it is to claim that the true God of the Eternal Light Church will not only bring salvation to believers, but also save this dead world and lead believers back to the surface of the earth.

The word "surface" holds a fatal attraction for all those living underground.

Living in the No. 88 underground shelter, thanks to He Yun's transformation of the city, the residents no longer have to worry about survival, and their quality of life is even better than that of the surface dwellers recorded in the records.

But no matter how good life gets, every time people look up and see a giant dome screen above them instead of the real sky, it reminds them that they are just a group of humans struggling to survive in the apocalypse.

The older generation who experienced life on the surface have long since passed away. The residents of the underground shelter today have all lived underground since birth.

Most of them have never been to the surface of the earth or seen the sky, but from birth, they have always heard their parents talk about how wonderful the surface world used to be.

Underground Shelter No. 88 is good; the space is enough for an individual to survive, but it is still too small.

People's yearning for the earth and for freedom is ingrained in their very being.

They wanted to see the legendary majestic mountains, the vast sea, and the boundless sky.

Under the slogan of returning to the surface, everyone became the most devout believer.

As soon as Wu Chang and Eileen entered the underground shelter, they sensed an extremely high concentration of faith. The underground shelter had the fewest people among all the pillars of the divine kingdom, yet the trees of miracles that covered the Church of Eternal Light already had Eternal Light fruits condensing.

Wu Chang recalled that He Yun had said that the underground shelter, which was being built on three underground levels, was intended to purify the surface of the earth.

Purifying the surface requires the power of faith. He Yun took the initiative to introduce the Church of Eternal Light in order to gather the power of faith in the name of Eileen and provide energy for the plan to purify the surface.

He recalled the situation at the time, when He Yun demonstrated the effect of purifying the ground with a small piece of soil from the surface in her laboratory.

If you insert a flower into unpurified soil, the toxins in the soil will cause the flower to wither and turn into a deathly gray color similar to the soil within a few breaths.

When fresh flowers are planted in soil purified by the power of faith, the flowers can survive for fifteen minutes before withering and dying, and the dead flowers are not assimilated by the soil.

Wu Chang was deeply impressed by He Yun's experiment, but at that time his focus was on how He Yun was able to master Schultz's research in a very short time and the extreme toxicity of the soil in the underground shelter plane. He didn't pay much attention to the matter of purifying the surface itself.

In his view, with He Yun's abilities, purifying the surface was only a matter of time.

As it turned out, he was right.

After He Yun showed Wu Chang and Eileen around Yongguang Cathedral, they went straight to the point and descended to the third basement level.

The Underground Shelter dimension may not be as technologically advanced as the Anthem Corporation dimension, but in terms of infrastructure, it is definitely the strongest among all the dimensions Wu Chang has experienced.

The fact that it can excavate a huge space underground that can fit a normal city is enough to demonstrate its value.

When Wu Chang last visited the underground shelter, he only saw a large number of construction vehicles heading to deeper underground for construction. Now, the three underground levels have been completely completed.

More than 60% of the area on the three underground floors is occupied by a huge instrument.

The instrument is nearly fifty meters high, and when viewed from a distance from an empty vehicle, it looks like a giant hourglass.

The instrument consists of two parts, the upper and lower, shaped like symmetrically placed metal pyramids. Energy enters the two metal pyramids and flows along the energy pathway to converge at the top of the pyramid.

At the center of the two opposing pyramid apexes, there is a circular energy center with a diameter of five meters.

On the circular energy center, one can see the shadow of the purification device from last time. However, compared to the small purification device that was only at the demigod level last time, the energy center in front of us has already reached the level of a lower god.

It is evident that He Yun made further progress in his research on Schultz during this period.

He Yun introduced to Wu Chang and Eileen:
"This device is called the 'Surface Purification Generator,' and it's an improvement I made based on the results of previous experiments."

"The machine begins to operate. The two divine condensation spires, one above the other, can condense the power of faith into divine power, transmit it to the energy center, and then the energy center endows it with the characteristics of divine purification."

"Finally, through the entire device, divine power with purifying properties is simultaneously introduced into the Earth's surface and core, purifying the surface while activating the vitality of the entire planet."

The specific techniques were too technical for Wu Chang to understand, but he understood that He Yun could endow divinity with special characteristics.

This alone demonstrates that He Yun's research on divinity has basically caught up with Schultz, or at least reached the same level.

By transferring this technology to mechs, the creation of lower-level god-class mechs will be just around the corner.

As Wu Chang and his two companions got out of the empty car, they saw He Yi and his men guarding the surface purification generator.

He noticed that He Yi and the others' mechs had signs of battle, the signs were very recent, and the damage they had suffered was considerable, enough to break through the defenses of the specialized armor and leave wounds tens of centimeters deep on the mechs.

In the underground shelter dimension, the mechs created by He Yun are already generation-deep compared to normal mechs. In particular, the mech piloted by He Yi possesses divinity, no less than that of the "Peacekeeper". It is hard to imagine what could harm it.

When He Yun arrived at the third basement level in his empty car, He Yi had already noticed their arrival and drove his mech to greet them.

He was very familiar with Wu Chang and raised his hand to greet him, but he didn't know how to start a conversation with Eileen.

Ever since He Yun brought the Eternal Light Sect into the underground shelter, everything he knew changed. He discovered that there was more than one world, and that through the special portal inside the Eternal Light Church, one could actually travel to other worlds.

He and He Yun once entered a world called the Holy Song Company. The lifestyle in that world was vastly different from that of the underground shelter, and it also had a completely different technological development path.

He Yun learned a lot from the world of the Holy Song Company, and it was with the help of that knowledge that he created the surface purification generator.

The woman following He Yun and Wu Chang must have come from another world. Strangely, he had never seen her before, yet he felt a strange sense of familiarity with her.

He Yun introduced to He Yi: "This is Eileen. She also has another name, Eternal Light."

"Eternal Light"—isn't this the divine name of the deity worshipped by the Eternal Light Church?

"Is it that deity?" He Yi asked uncertainly.

He Yun confirmed, "Yes, Eileen is a true deity."

Chi~
He Yi jumped out of the cockpit of his mecha and looked nervously at Eileen.

He was not a pure believer in God; he had scoffed at both the Blissful Church and Mercury's mention of God in the underground sanctuary.

In his view, if there were truly gods, his world wouldn't have become like this.

If the earth falls into a deathly silence, it is the will of the gods, and if he sees the gods, he will definitely punch them twice first.

But the Church of Eternal Light was different. Ever since it entered the underground sanctuary, every time it entered the church, it brought it immense peace of mind and allowed it to completely relax.

Furthermore, the special portals that connect to other worlds, revealing techniques that only gods could perform, made him increasingly convinced that if gods truly existed in the world, they must be in the form of eternal light.

The appearance of the Light of Eternity also answered his previous question: why, if there are gods, would the earth's surface fall into a state of death?

The answer is that the true gods had never visited this land before.

Seeing He Yun's serious expression, which showed no sign of joking, He Yi felt a little uneasy.

Oh no, nobody told him how to pay respects to the gods.

What should he do now? Should he kneel down? Should he kneel on one knee or both knees?
Wu Chang and the others didn't notice He Yi's brainstorming session. While He Yi's mind was in a state of chaos, it was Eileen who took the initiative to greet him. "It's nice to see you. If the underground shelter encounters any difficulties that you can't solve, you can pray to me, and Wu Chang and I will try to find a way to help you."

He Yi ultimately couldn't figure out how to pay homage to the gods, and could only respond in a trembling manner:
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty, Eternal Light."

After the self-introductions were finished, Wu Chang couldn't help but ask:

"The damage to the mech is very fresh. What formidable enemy did you encounter on the surface?"

He Yi shook his head and said, "The enemy did not come from the surface, but appeared here."

Wu Chang frowned and observed his surroundings.

Could it be that the No. 88 underground shelter was built inside the lair of an evil god?
On the second underground level, they unearthed the Stone Tablet of Desire, and on the third underground level, they unearthed other monsters?

He Yi said, "It's hard to explain to you in words, Xiaoyun. Activate the surface purification generator and demonstrate it to him."

He Yun took out the tablet and input the command, and the surface purification generator lit up with a white light.

The power of faith converges towards the two pyramids, and after being refined through each layer of the pyramid, by the time it reaches the top, the power of faith has transformed into divinity.

Just as the divinity entered the energy center, and a purifying aura slowly emerged from the characteristicless divinity, the air on the third underground level began to distort, as if something was appearing out of thin air.

"Be careful, they're coming!" He Yi leaped back into the mecha cockpit, and the mecha instantly started up and went into alert mode.

The anomalies happening before their eyes were clearly not isolated incidents. Before He Yi could give the warning, the other mechs guarding the surface purification generator had already taken out their weapons and were on guard.

A few seconds later, seven or eight transparent monsters appeared in the distorted air.

Each monster is about five meters tall and looks like a giant dog. They have sharp claws and fangs, and their bodies are engulfed in flames. The flames on their bodies do not feel hot, but rather emit a chilling cold.

One of the giant dogs swung its claws at a mech. The mech operator raised its shield to block, but the shield, which was equipped with divine armor, was instantly burned through by the flames. The giant dog's claws then left five scratch marks on the shield.

Wu Chang could see very clearly that the reason why the divine armor could be easily penetrated was that the flames burning on the giant dog's body also contained divinity.

The transparent giant dog was highly aggressive, but its existence was extremely fragile. Taking advantage of the moment when the giant dog struck the shield, He Yi flashed to the giant dog's side, swung his mecha longsword, and killed the transparent giant dog with a single strike.

The transparent giant dogs were heading straight for the surface purification generator. To protect the equipment, He Yi and the others couldn't keep their distance and had to fight them head-on. At the same time, they were worried about accidentally damaging the equipment, so they couldn't take advantage of the mechs' firepower and could only engage in close combat.

While He Yi was dealing with a giant, transparent dog, Wu Chang had already figured out what was happening. He gave Eileen a look, signaling that she could take action.

Eileen slowly floated into the air, stretching out her hands. Countless golden chains emerged from the void, binding the bodies of the remaining transparent giant dogs and rendering them unable to move.

Although the transparent giant dog possesses divinity, the underground sanctuary is Eileen's divine realm. Within her own divine realm, Eileen only needs ordinary light magic to completely imprison targets of the transparent giant dog's caliber.

Immediately afterwards, the cold flames burning on the transparent giant dog's body transformed into pure white, inextinguishable holy fire.

The transparent giant dog howled in agony amidst the undying holy fire, struggled for a moment, and was then melted into pure divinity.

With a wave of her hand, Eileen absorbed the divine power left behind by the transparent giant dog, which offset the divine power she consumed by using the Undying Holy Flame.

He Yi, who was about to pounce on the second transparent giant dog, stopped. Like the other mechs, he looked around blankly, seemingly wondering if the battle was over already.

He sheathed his mecha sword, jumped out of the cockpit, and returned to Wu Chang and the others, looking at Eileen with awe.

It was because the mecha he piloted possessed divinity that he could sense how terrifying the power emanating from Eileen was, especially the white, inextinguishable holy flame, from which he felt an irresistible might.

Previously, he had some doubts about Eileen because of her harmless appearance, but after witnessing the Undying Holy Flame, he was completely convinced and believed that she was definitely a true god.

Wu Changneng could see the shock in He Yi's eyes, and he couldn't help but smile. In the past, he was always the punching bag that He Yi used during sparring sessions, and he was shocked by He Yi's stats. He never thought that He Yi would be shocked one day.

He pointed to the vanished, transparent giant dog and asked, "What happened to those monsters just now?"

He Yun explained on behalf of He Yi:

"They are pure energy entities, without consciousness, and not controlled by anyone. They act entirely on instinct. Their attacks can penetrate ordinary mechs. Only mechs with divine power can barely withstand their attacks."

"If you are injured by them, your consciousness will immediately disappear, and then your body will wither and decompose into grayish-white mud, just like the plants on the ground. That's why we call them Soul-Eating Dogs."

"Ever since the surface purification generator was built, Soul-Eating Hounds have appeared on the third underground level from time to time. Every time the device is activated, they appear in groups, trying to destroy the surface purification generator."

Wu Chang thought He Yun had called him to the underground shelter to witness the moment of purifying the surface, but he didn't expect that there was such a thing. No wonder He Yun asked him to call Eileen as well.

He asked, "Do you have any clue as to why the Soul-Eating Hound appeared? Could it be related to the apocalypse that occurred in this world?"

Mentioning the apocalypse of the past, He Yun narrowed his eyes and slowly recounted:

"In the records of underground shelters, humans migrated underground because of the deterioration of the surface environment and the increase of extreme weather, but there is no mention of the soil being strangely eroded."

"Before purifying the surface, I also thought that the power of the surface soil that caused all plants to die was due to the continuous deterioration of the environment, but the appearance of the Soul-Eating Hound made me start to suspect what had happened on the surface."

“I took out the soil that I had collected from the surface of the underground shelter before, and found that it contained various pollutants that were seriously excessive, but there was no inexplicable power that required divinity to purify it.”

He Yun's tone turned cold as he said this.

"Then I remembered that before my brother and I first managed the underground shelter and closed the doors because of the attackers who were roaming around, we had arranged for an expedition to go to the surface."

"At that time, there were still plants on the ground, and the soil had not turned into the grayish-white color it is today."

Wu Chang understood He Yun's meaning and asked:
"You mean, the soil turning gray and the Soul-Eating Hounds that have appeared now are both related to Mercury?"

He Yun said, "I don't believe that without external intervention, our world would have become what it is today in such a short time."

Underground Shelter No. 88 was previously tricked by Mercury, and the entire underground shelter was trapped in a time loop, with time frozen.

The underground shelter is trapped in a time prison, but the world outside the underground shelter continues to flow through time.

It's not impossible that Mercury did something to the underground shelter during this time.

Wu Chang asked, "In that case, what do you plan to do?"

He Yun looked at Eileen and said:
"I invited Eileen here this time because I wanted to use her power to seal off the space of the underground shelter so that the Soul-Eating Hounds could not enter, and then forcibly activate the surface purification generator."

"Faced with forced surface purification, the thing that caused the surface to turn gray will definitely be unable to resist showing itself."

Faced with He Yun's request, Eileen did not hesitate. She placed her palms in front of her and slowly raised them. As her palms moved, the entire No. 88 underground shelter was enveloped in a layer of golden light.

As the owner of the divine kingdom, Eileen has sealed it off. Without her consent, unless the level and quantity of divine power completely overwhelm her, even if the Soul-Eating Hound possesses divinity, it cannot enter her divine kingdom.

She said, "I've sealed off the underground shelter to make sure they can't get in and bother you."

He Yun said, "Thank you very much."

She took out her tablet and reactivated the surface purification generator.

If the previous activation was merely a test of the device's functionality and a side effect of introducing the Soul-Eating Hound, then this is the official launch of the surface purification generator.

As the two pyramids and the energy center lit up, the entire underground shelter began to tremble, and divine power containing purifying properties rushed straight to the surface.

(End of this chapter)