Soul Trigger

Chapter 687 Legion
Aquil's figure slowly floated out from below the building, her elytra flapping behind her, and gently landed on the rooftop:
"If I... or Aunt Duke died, would you 'resurrect' in this way?"

This was the first thing Aiguir said to Ji Li after he revealed his identity.

Ji Li glanced sideways:

“You won’t die, so you don’t need this method.”

Aiquier hadn't expected Ji Li to give such an answer, and her feelings became increasingly complicated as she said:

"Are you going to use these AI personalities to blackmail the townspeople?"

"You underestimate me. I never beat around the bush when I threaten people."

“Yeah, anyway, after seeing this so-called ‘miracle,’ I don’t need you to threaten me anymore…” Aquil turned his head to the side.

Ji Li countered with a question:

"What if your aunt really dies one day? Wouldn't you want her to be with you forever?"

Aquil's pupils dilated, and he opened his mouth but couldn't speak. After a moment of silence, he said:
"She's not your aunt at all."

With a buzzing sound and flapping wings, Ji Li watched as Aiguir uttered those words and then fled into the crowd below—

The answer was yes, but of course she was unwilling to agree with Ji Li's words, so she retorted sharply and hurriedly ran away.

"How long are you going to give her the silent treatment?"

"What kind of Cold War is this? She seems to be starting to accept reality, but I need to deal with what's in front of me first."

Ji Li glanced at Angelica, who had suddenly asked a question:

"So, have you figured it out?"

She took a deep breath and said seriously:

“Odin, or Pulitzer… I must remind you that you possess a very dangerous technology, one that could attract the covetous eyes of the entire world, regardless of how this immortality is achieved.”

"thanks for your reminder."

Ji Li walked to the edge of the rooftop, and the corpses below that had been resurrected from the dead suddenly began to rot and grow colder.

An uproar immediately erupted below:

"How is this going?!"

Countless townspeople, who had just emerged from the pain of separation and weeping with joy, were plunged into fear. Suddenly, the Eye of Odin in the sky shone brightly.

As the light faded, old Green's figure emerged:

"The mortal body cannot bear the weight of the heroic spirits, so after a brief farewell, they must return to the Holy Father's kingdom—Valhalla."

“A spirit of a hero…?” Grayson held his father’s body, his expression blank.

As soon as the words were spoken, the eyes of the resurrected beings shone brightly, projecting flowing blue light. Countless data points were twisting and surging towards the sky:
"Odin has blessed Red Maple Town for a hundred years. He has granted everyone a qualification that only the most devout zealots can possess: to become great heroic spirits after death and enter the magnificent Valhalla."

The spirits of heroes are immortal, indestructible, and await not death, but eternal paradise.

"Bullshit!!!"

Grayson staggered to his feet:
"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think I'd believe that?! Whatever magic or sorcery you've used, give me back my father!"

He roared and charged at old Green, while the townspeople, equally unable to accept reality, swarmed forward.

A chorus of motor humming came from all around, the sound of those lucky ones who had become Odin's soldiers.

As they trudged forward to stop the townspeople, their steps heavy, they were stopped by old Green's raised hand:

"In that case, let you see for yourselves."

A pale blue light descended from the sky, instantly engulfing the earth.

Grayson felt his consciousness rise into the sky, piercing through the stratosphere, as if he were in a space tunnel in outer space, rising all the way into a vast world.

There, birds sang and flowers bloomed; it was a beautiful morning in Red Maple Town. He saw his father walking down the street, chatting and laughing with several foremen.

"Dad!?"

After an unknown amount of time, Grayson's consciousness returned to his body. He opened his tear-streaked eyes and saw that the people around him were in the same state.

"What was that just now...?"

“It’s Valhalla, the paradise of believers in the afterlife, the home of the fallen heroes,” old Green replied with a smile.

Grayson stared blankly.
He saw his dead father, and the townspeople who had also died, living in another Red Maple Town.

It was like a brand new utopia, where everything felt real, not an illusion; birds sang, flowers bloomed, and everything was within reach.

He's telling the truth; a kingdom of gods, such a thing, actually exists?!

"Do not despair. The reason why heroic spirits cannot walk among humans is simply because human corpses cannot contain their existence. Soon, the Father's power will gradually recover, and he will be able to create bodies that can support them and allow them to walk on the earth..."

With a thud, someone knelt down on the ground.

He turned his head in bewilderment and saw a priest with tears streaming down his face:

"The true God...it's the true God!!!"

Having already removed his cross, he briefly entered the "kingdom of God" he had just been in and fell into a kind of fanaticism, bowing down in worship:

"I am willing to become Odin's follower! I am willing to become the most devout follower! I beg for the blessing of the Allfather!"

Then another man knelt down with a thud; it was Andrew.
He had also just been pulled into Valhalla and saw his deceased nurse girlfriend.

Unlike ordinary people who understand nothing, he clearly sensed the existence of a soul trigger on the other person.

That was a real, living life, not a false illusion, or a deception conjured by some kind of spiritual magic.

Valhalla is indeed a miracle:
"If we want the 'heroic spirits' to return to the earth, what should we do?"

Old Green smiled:
“Help Him, believe in Him, regain power for Him, or hunt down evil creatures and bring resting places.”

Sika, who was standing nearby, also snapped out of his daze. He had just been pulled into Valhalla as well, and his eyes were glazed over as he turned to look at Andrew.
"Hey, you really..."

The latter had already raised its head, its gaze fixed on the Eye of Odin in the sky:
"it is good."

A beam of light descended from the sky, instantly engulfing Andrew's figure—coolant was injected, steel teeth opened, exoskeleton grew, sprang up, enveloped, locked, and spewed out hissing steam.

The heavy exoskeleton armor completely concealed his figure. It was an upright wolf-shaped construct with azure eyes, a swaying blade tail, bionic muscles and precision steel intertwined, and a pair of sharp claws with azure laser blade edges.

His spiritual armor has been completely transformed.

A look of astonishment flashed across Ji Li's eyes as he witnessed this scene; clearly, he had not expected this to happen.

Feeling the sudden depletion of spiritual energy within him, he grinned:

"interesting……"

The Hall of Heroes' "backup" of the intelligent personality is automatic; it does not interfere subjectively, and the Knights Squad is not on the Hall of Heroes' automatic backup list.

He originally thought it was because they didn't belong to Red Maple Town and were outsiders.

After all, Valhalla now operates through a spiritual core and has undergone numerous modifications by the pioneers. Some of its operational logic should be considered from the perspective of soul psychology, such as the cognitive logic of "backing up the residents of Red Maple Town".

However, Aquile was not backed up either, which means that not only outsiders are not backed up, but awakened ones are not actively backed up either.

Now Ji Li understands that backing up awakened individuals requires sacrificing his spiritual essence as the controller.

A quarter of his spiritual energy was instantly depleted. At the moment the backup was completed, Andrew's soul briefly connected with Valhalla.

The knowledge from the Murphy's Colossus forcibly rewrote his soul's armor, and also strengthened him, even though he knew nothing about the Murphy's Colossus and the World Tree.

Below, countless people, including Grayson, joined Andrew's ranks, shouting Odin's name in a great commotion.

Ji Li then looked at Angelica beside him, and the vampire lady sighed:
"I still prefer my current appearance, and if my soul armor changes, how can I help you infiltrate Birmingham?"

"Okay." Ji Li didn't insist.

Below, beneath the azure light of Odin's Eye, a sea of ​​townspeople knelt in unison, offering their faith to him.

Their data has been completely copied and connected by Valhalla. Through Valhalla, Ji Li can clearly perceive the existence of every "believer"—

"The basic 'third skin' has been distributed. Some with slightly stronger spiritual qualities can wear those centaur outfits. Ordinary people can be temporarily armed with weapons and assigned some jumping wolves and fireflies to form a temporary combat formation."

Ji Li gazed into the distance; the storm in the sky was gradually subsiding, and the enormous Eye of Odin slowly closed.

When will the people from Birmingham arrive?

"According to the teacher, they have already set off."

"I'll have the townspeople clean up the mess and handle their inspection. The rest is up to you."

“Yes…” Angelica replied.

Below, several beams of light were gradually disappearing; Ji Li had already distributed all the exoskeleton armor to the townspeople.

……

In Valhalla.

Ji Li's consciousness swept over the remaining inventory.

These third skins are powered by the Hall of Heroes. It's like charging; they're fully charged in the Hall of Heroes before being distributed to others.

However, the centaur exoskeleton armor is different; it contains a spiritual core within its body.

After careful study, Ji Li discovered that this thing had similar spiritual energy fluctuations to the Resting Object, and it was very likely that it was something that the Pioneers had created using the World Tree technology that he had improved with spiritual energy.

The origin of this substance may be benzoin.

This made Ji Li wonder if the implantation of the sustenance could make these exoskeleton armors stronger without requiring ordinary people to awaken on their own.
He passed this conjecture on to Angelica outside.

The vampire lady is now working for him, and is currently leading a squad of knights to deal with the sheepdog's backup plan and find out the source of the mutation spells.

Before Ji Li's eyes was a virtual battle scene.

It was a soldier wearing an exoskeleton fighting the Deadwater Knight, who was instantly killed in one move.

This is a simulated battle obtained by connecting Valhalla through his Ascension Protocol and based on the collected combat data.

The 'Third Skin' is the World Tree Group's basic military exoskeleton, with World Tree Technology's subsidiary mechanical roots serving as its basic structure.

Equipped with built-in multi-functional combat units, it will match the wearer's physiological qualities and movement habits to create the most suitable combat form.

The simulated combat has now switched to the battle between the exoskeleton soldiers and Sika, then the battle with Aiquier, the battle with Ji Li "Kisame", and many combat data of the Dominator-level and Projection-level beings that Ji Li remembered after coming to this world.

Ordinary townspeople wearing exoskeletons possess at least the extraordinary combat power of a third-tier projection.

Based on the protective capabilities of the "Third Skin," it is superior to ordinary projections and can possess a certain level of combat power even against fourth-tier overlords, but it is no match for fifth-tier overlords.

Among them, mortals with strong spiritual energy fluctuations, such as Grayson, can barely fight against a fifth-tier overlord.

Even stronger are the priests who obtained the centaur exoskeleton in the church before. Currently, a total of four people have been hit by this armor by Ji Li.

Three of them were former evangelical priests. Although they were all mortals, their spiritual qualities were even greater than those of Grayson, who had lost his father.

While being able to control the centaur exoskeleton, they possess the ability to contend with sixth-tier overlords.

However, these mortals lack basic combat training, but that's not a problem; their consciousness can be sent into Valhalla to train on their own.

It achieves twice the result with half the effort, producing a sufficiently powerful enemy to face the threat of death in actual combat, yet never truly dying—

There is no better training method than real combat, except for a 100% sensory simulation of cyberspace.

Given enough time, Ji Li will be able to acquire a loyal, or rather, devout, army.

Although the number of people is not large, this will be a technological combat force composed of more than ten centaur armors comparable to sixth-tier overlords, dozens of third-skin constructs comparable to ordinary overlords, and several ordinary constructs with extraordinary strength.

During this process, we can collect some storable objects to verify Ji Li's conjecture, or some soldiers can complete their awakening, and their strength can be further enhanced.

There's also the Leaping Wolf Legion and the Firefly Battle Formation, and as for those "heroic spirits"...

The vessel to carry these digital personalities cannot be created with the current incomplete Hall of Heroes, but there is no doubt that the vessel can be directly created through some spiritual means, rather than trying to restore the complex World Tree technology.

Ji Li pondered for a moment, then saw the abilities of the personality entity "Kisame" on the Ascension Agreement panel:

Large groups: can split into smaller deep-sea individuals, but they perish in the water and are not necessarily obedient.

"Lower-level spiritual derivative individuals may be able to bear the power of heroic spirits... In addition, intelligent personalities can be replicated, so perhaps the legion will begin to take shape."
-
P.S.: It's almost the end of the month, everyone please vote!
(End of this chapter)