Soul Trigger

Chapter 685 Miracle
Ji Li remembered the prerequisites for becoming a lord:
Once the conditions are met—a territory and the support of the spirits within that territory—a conferment ceremony can be held during the peak dominion stage to become a lord and obtain the special power of the [Word of Power].

The lord's investiture ceremony was conducted with the approval of the Broken White Ring, so what is my current situation?
Ji Li remembered the feeling of the spiritual energy flowing just now and used it again.

Although no effective phenomena occurred, he could clearly feel that he was forming a kind of spiritual connection with the ground beneath his feet, and the inner world curse mark on the back of his hand was becoming increasingly hot.

However, it seems there is still some distance to go before he truly becomes a lord.

Perhaps it's not necessary for everyone in Red Maple Town to believe in you, but rather to gather a cohesive group of human spirits who share a high degree of consensus on the "Odin" faith, and then you'll need a catalyst...

Ji Li's gaze was fixed on the blue data streams flying toward him.

Valhalla, which was modified by the pioneers using spiritual energy, contains some mechanisms and designs that were not yet fully developed by him.

These mechanisms are working well since he took over.

One is the ability to project the Hall of Heroes' image into the reality of Red Maple Town, possessing a vast array of functions beyond the Hall of Heroes' main city's fire defenses.

Deploying mechanical objects and transmitting communications via pheromones are among the methods.

The other is a special protocol that is playing an increasingly important role—

Ji Li opened the intelligent personality warehouse.

Intelligent personality technology plays a crucial role in preserving high-value talent in the world tree by retaining human personality consciousness through data.

However, Michelle, the chief technology officer at the time and the second-in-command on the board, was unable to develop the technology to edit intelligent personalities.

Compared to storage, editing an intelligent personality is equivalent to editing a large amount of memory, completely changing a person's digitized "soul," which is a completely different technological barrier.

The storage warehouse for intelligent personalities is one of the two main functions of Valhalla.

The Pioneers may have used up all the intelligent personalities within them, or they may have been deliberately erased by them, since the Pioneers didn't want to leave these things to anyone.

But a certain agreement within Valhalla is in effect:
The number of intelligent personalities in the data warehouse is increasing, and they are precisely those of the dead townspeople.

After their deaths, their data was received by Valhalla and entered cyberspace.

There, they successfully avoided death and continued to live in the town, as if in a sweet dream.

It's like an immortal "divine kingdom".

At this moment, Ji Li sensed the "faith" that was constantly flowing in, and something seemed to have been stirred.

He raised his head, his spiritual energy surging—

A small storm began to gather high above the town, tearing the sky apart and revealing a giant electronic eye that slowly opened.

Those enormous pupils swirled with etched, azure-blue circuitry, rotating with Ji Li's gaze as he looked down upon the entire town below.

In this new perspective, he saw two figures rapidly returning from outside the town.

……

"Damn it, I didn't expect the problem to escalate this much..."

The scenery around Angelica rushed past them as Angelica and Sika marched at high speed.

Sika gazed at the desolate town center, where the earth had cracked open, emitting a soaring red light that continuously corrupted everything around it.
"So this is the sheepdog's backup plan... Is this guy going to destroy the town even in death to drag us down with him?!"

"No, these malevolent entities and their derivatives aren't particularly powerful, but..."

However, the ecosystem within White Island is entirely dominated by phytoremate, and only one scenario could lead to large-scale anomalies and their derivatives:

Dead Apostles Invade.

“An anomaly of this scale will definitely attract other Red Hunters to take over the Royal Containment Facility. They should arrive within six hours at the latest, and half of that time has already passed…”

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

Killing a sheepdog is perfectly acceptable, after all, this guy deliberately severed ties with the White Isle authorities and the Broken White Ring in order to obtain Odin's legacy.

However, the Red Hunters who arrived later were impartial and enforced the law. They had no way to explain to the Red Hunters that Angelica's team had failed to report Odin's existence in a timely manner.

If we kill them directly... it will definitely cause a major disaster.

"But there's no need to worry. Pulitzer has already been notified, and he seems to be prepared."

"Captain, do you still call him Pulitzer?"

"...So you're going to call him the Father of the Gods?"

Sika looked embarrassed.
Honestly, I can't bring myself to say it; it's a little too embarrassing...

As they were talking, a violent fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from beside them, instantly putting them on alert. This was accompanied by a furious roar:

"The Father of the Gods has granted me vision!!!"

The two men were taken aback:
What the hell?

There was a man standing on the roof, sitting in a wheelchair, who appeared to have been abandoned there due to high-level paraplegia. Opposite him was a hideous creature crawling towards him.

Sika was about to turn away to save the man.

But the beam of light that descended from the sky left the two of them dumbfounded—

As the beam of light faded, the man transformed into an exoskeleton soldier dressed in alien technology. His thick goggles shone brightly, and he charged forward shouting things like "Odin is real" and "I can stand up again," using the laser in his wrist to kill the malevolent creature.

Sika immediately stopped in her tracks:

"What is that?! A knight???"

I fucking saw a disabled person get up and then I killed that evil monster?!

Angelica's pupils were wide open in a daze—

"He turned the townspeople into soldiers..."

She was the only one who had been pulled into the actual spatial bubble of the Hall of Heroes by Ji Li; the other two members of Sika's team had never seen World Tree technology.

With a flick of her soul's trigger, she sensed that the soldier possessed at least the spiritual energy fluctuations of the third level of the extraordinary realm, and the weapon in his hand was even more lethal than that:

"His power can arm the townspeople... a lord?!"

This was the only explanation Angelica could think of for those beams of light and exoskeleton armor.

Just as the two were stunned, Ji Li's voice came from beside them:

"how is the progress?"

Angelica quickly replied:
"The setup is complete and foolproof. However, the anomalies in this town might attract other Red Hunters to take over prematurely..."

"It's okay, you guys go to Yuk High School first... Where's Andrew? Why are there only two of you?"

“Andrew’s girlfriend is in the hospital, and he rushed back to save her.”

Ji Li didn't react in any particular way: "Return immediately."

The two exchanged a glance:
"Can he see us?"

Then they glanced around, and finally looked up in unison, stunned once more—

The enormous azure eye was now looking down on the two of them, its blinding blue light enveloping the red glow of the entire town.

Sika swallowed hard.
"Odin's Eye..."

Angelica, however, was thinking about Ji Li's previous attempt to attack the Saint Martin Museum.

If before he was fighting alone, at most leading the three of them who weren't exactly loyal traitors, the situation is completely different now.

He probably has the power to arm an entire army of awakened beings.

Thinking about the alien-like technology that Odin had shown her before, Angelica felt increasingly anxious.

It seems the real concern isn't Odin, but rather what's happening in Birmingham...

……

By the time the two arrived at Yuk High School, the incident was nearing its end.

The townspeople who had gained power, or rather Odin's soldiers, were maintaining order, and some surviving police officers were pushing the bodies toward the center of the campus, piling them up beneath the White Isle flag.

Amidst the grinding and creaking of footsteps from the exoskeleton, sobs gradually spread throughout the crowd.

"Dad..."

Grayson, the boy with the earring, is the same Jason who was beaten up by Aiguir on Ji Li's first day of school.

He was lying on the ground, his eyes bloodshot. He was wiping away his tears while tidying up the clothes of the fat man's corpse on the ground.

Aquil, dressed as a red ant knight, stood to one side, covered in blood, staring blankly at everything before him.

All of this happened too fast, both for Odin and for this disaster.

She hadn't even recovered from the huge shock of her Pulitzer identity when half the town's population died.

Fortunately, Aunt Duke was rescued by the Green family and brought to the school early on.

Another fully armed exoskeleton soldier stood on the other side.

Compared to the other lucky ones, he was larger and his armor was thicker. When the visor was opened, it revealed the appearance of Jason:
“I’m sorry, Grayson.”

He showed a regretful expression:

"Just a little bit more. If only I could get there faster..."

Grayson shrugged and clenched his teeth:
"Damn it... Jason, didn't you say everything would be safe once we got to the school? Didn't you say... Odin would protect everyone!?"

Her voice snapped Aquile out of his daze, and he frowned:
"That was your father's own choice. What does it have to do with Odin?"

Grayson turned around abruptly, his face fierce:

"you……"

“Your father was willing to lead everyone from the steel plant to evacuate and cover them. He is a hero. Don’t turn his sense of responsibility and awareness into hatred and throw it on others.”

"Fuck you, Aquil! What kind of bullshit hero are you! Look around at how many people have died?! Why should we suffer this undeserved disaster? What did we do wrong?!"

He excitedly stood up, but Jason abruptly restrained him:
"Let me go, you're a bastard too!!! If you say Odin is so capable, then why couldn't he save my dad?"

"Those who have been turned into monsters, tell Odin to turn them back! Tell Odin to resurrect everyone! Isn't the Allfather very powerful?! Tell him to give me back my father!!"

Jason's eyes flashed, and he abruptly forced Grayson to his knees on the ground:

"Watch your words! Do not blaspheme the Father!"

As one of the chosen ones from the very beginning, he is the Iron-Blooded Odin's young general. He understands your grief, but please show some respect when you speak.

However, this small conflict acted as a fuse, suddenly igniting a powder keg.

Grief, curses, jealousy—a host of negative emotions begin to arise in the aftermath of a disaster.

The police station's functions have been completely lost in this catastrophe; the original order has vanished in the disaster and gradually shifted to Odin's soldiers and followers.

The negative emotions that arose transformed into a dense spiritual substance. While it wouldn't corrupt these people's spirits on the spot, it was enough to escalate even the smallest quarrels and impulses.

Immediately, countless people clashed with Odin's soldiers, cursing and grieving for their lost loved ones, and venting their anger at the indifference of the "gods."

Until a gigantic eye opened in the sky, enveloping everyone in a terrifying blue light—

“Odin…”

Grayson, pinned to the ground, stared blankly at the sky, then suddenly gritted his teeth:

"Please... Holy Father! Aren't you God? Didn't you come to save our town? Please resurrect my father! I'll do anything you ask!"

Countless people below also knelt down in unison and began to pray to Odin.

Aquil stared at the scene before him in astonishment, unsure how to react.

Angelica and the others had just arrived at the scene. After quickly approaching Aquile, they patted her on the shoulder.

Using faith to rally people is certainly a good thing, but how should you, who consider yourself a god, act when faced with the prayers of these mortals?

Half the town's population has died. Even if preparations have been made to deal with the White Island authorities, Odin's plan will be doomed if anyone leaves the town and reveals what happened.

Just as Angelica was pondering this, the sky changed color, and a beam of azure light shone on Grayson, or rather, on the corpse of his father beside him.

In his suddenly contracted pupils, the corpse's chest abruptly rose, and its eyes snapped open.

Inside, a waterfall of data was flowing wildly, leaving everyone speechless in astonishment:

“Grayson…?”

It wasn't until that cold hand touched his face that Grayson suddenly reacted and lunged forward:
"Father?! You...you're alive?!"

The entire audience erupted in uproar, and the crowd knelt down in unison.

"Father of the Gods! Please save my sister!"

"Great Odin, my daughter, can you find my daughter?!"

"Odin, if you revive my brother, I will make offerings to you every day!"

Azure eyes swept across, and countless corpses trembled as they opened their eyes.

Angelica stared blankly at the scene before her:
miracle……?
(End of this chapter)