A man among dragons, building a mysterious ancient church.

Chapter 63 The Dream Thief's Clock-in and Out
In the living room of the Genji Heavy Industries building, Erii, who had just finished a gathering, was very cheerful: "Xu Lie, is this... the Old Church?"

"Everyone seemed really funny, and nobody was afraid of me."

This is one of the main reasons why Erii likes the Old Church the most.

When Erii was in the Hebi-hachi family, the others respectfully addressed her as the head of the Uesugi family, but in reality, they were terrified.

It was as if the person standing in front of them was not a beautiful girl, but a Tyrannosaurus Rex monster that could tear their bodies apart and devour them at any moment.

Even the heads of the Snake Clan were no exception. The head of the Fuuma Clan, the head of the Sakurai Clan, and others all felt genuine fear upon seeing Erii.

Erii can easily detect the fear and dread emanating from others.

Of all the Genji Heavy Industries, only Genji Chisei wasn't so afraid of Erii, but he still felt a bit wary of her from time to time.

Erii actually dislikes the feeling of being feared by others.

She didn't want to be a little monster at all; she just wanted to live like a normal girl and experience the gentle world.

The old church was completely different from the Snake Clan. When they gathered together for a meeting, no one was afraid of Erii and even warmly welcomed her, which greatly increased Erii's goodwill towards the church.

"I'm glad you don't mind." Xu Lie was also there, using Erii's residence as a checkpoint for commuting to and from get off work.

After advancing to Sequence 5, Dream Thief, Xu Lie had to enter and exit Genji Heavy Industries every day due to the requirements of the role-playing method.

He steals thoughts and ideas from everyone he sees, working from morning till night, stealing from top to bottom, just like a working person going to and from get off work on time, in order to digest the Dream Thief's Magic Potion.

Xu Lie still carried more than twenty Time Worms in his soul. He didn't need to make any corresponding thoughts or actions; the Time Worms would bear the consequences. His theft was utterly unbridled.

Genji Heavy Industries gathered most of the hybrids from the Snake Clan. Each hybrid, when their thoughts and ideas were stolen, could provide Xu Lie with a tiny, insignificant amount of digestion progress.

Many small efforts can make a big difference, but digestion is still very slow.

As a result, the workers at Genji Heavy Industries have been in a daze for the past few days.

They all felt that something was wrong with them, either because they suddenly became absent-minded at work, or because their minds went blank for a while during meetings, and they would stare blankly in front of dozens of people, suddenly forgetting what they were supposed to say or what they were supposed to do.

At first, Tachibana Masamune took it very seriously, thinking it was another trick by a mysterious third party that had launched a direct attack on the headquarters of the Snake-Headed Eight Families!

In a panic, he ordered the elites of the five families to take many people to the hospital for professional testing, and also asked alchemy experts to check, but they found nothing wrong.

Both modern medicine and ancient alchemy suggest that it's normal for working people to occasionally feel dazed; it's all due to working overtime.

Excessive work can easily lead to mental fatigue and symptoms of mental confusion in workers. Even mixed-race people with excellent physical condition cannot withstand mental exhaustion.

The experts advised that the employees should take a good rest and they would recover quickly.

When he saw this conclusion, Tachibana Masamune's expression was even uglier than the ugly orange peel.

While helping Erii digest the potions, Xu Lie could also occasionally teach her about mysticism and alchemy, helping her to digest the apprentice potions more quickly.

Because they were worried that Erii might not be used to attending a meeting at the Fortress for the first time, they came early and gave her a lot of instructions.

Erii obediently knelt on the ground, quickly shaking her head from side to side to indicate that she could not possibly dislike the Old Church: "It's just, it's a bit of a pity."

"I also want to participate in everyone's transactions, but I haven't contributed any points to buy anything yet, and I don't know what I should sell. Xu Lie, do you think they would like anime or games?"

Three transactions took place during the gathering, and Erii was very envious and wanted to join in.

“That’s easy.” Xu Lie helped Erii recall her identity as the head of one of the three upper families: “At the gathering.”

"What everyone wants most is nothing more than precious dragon blood materials. Erii, your Snake Clan has collected many good things over the years." "With your status, you can take whatever you want, and no one will object."

“Occasionally, someone might want to obtain Deadpool's corpse or something, and you can provide that; Genji Heavy Industries has plenty of those.”

"?" Erii tilted her head in surprise, looking incredibly cute: "Why are there so many Deadpools in my house?"

Still not convinced, "Shushu" sniffed her nose, but couldn't smell any Deadpool scent.

Xu Lie replied patiently and gently, "It seems Erii doesn't know her own home very well, but that's alright, let's go on an adventure together today?"

"Use the apprentice's door-opening ability to thoroughly explore Genji Heavy Industries."

As they talked, she gently reached out and returned the stolen Word of Judgment to Erii.

Even after advancing to Sequence 5 Dream Thief, Xu Lie still does not intend to personally use the Word of Judgment.

The higher the serial number of a Word of Power, the greater the burden it will place on the user.

After advancing to the fourth rank and possessing an incomplete mythical state, Xu Lie's true form dared to abuse Judgment, but for now, it's better to rely on Erii.

Erii was overjoyed to hear that she could go out with Xu Lie, even if it was just to stroll around inside Genji Heavy Industries.

Sensing the return of judgment, Erii knew she couldn't speak easily anymore, and took out her pen and paper again: 'Wait a moment.'

After confirming that Xu Lie had finished reading, Erii ran barefoot back to her room.

She's becoming more and more like an ordinary girl, and she's gradually developing the idea that she should change her clothes when going out.

A short while later, instead of Erii arriving after changing her clothes, she received a call from Makoto Aso.

Xu Lie roughly understood what Aso really wanted to ask. His left eyelid twitched, and after confirming that he wasn't being eavesdropped, he answered the call with peace of mind.

As expected, the first thing I heard when I answered the phone was Asou Makoto's deliberately lowered voice: "Mr. Xu, Mr. Xu, what's going on?"

"Why is Mr. God's Error present at today's gathering?"

Just from her tone, one could sense boundless curiosity and doubt. Asou was very concerned about this matter because she suspected that Xu Lie might be...

If the god you pray to every day suddenly sits at the same table with you for a meeting, anyone would take it seriously.

Since Xu Lie had brought Aso Shin to the meeting, he had no intention of hiding it from her, after all, she was the only bishop under his command: "Do you still remember the tenets of our church?"

“Of course I remember.” These days, Aso Makoto is becoming more and more like a real bishop, readily reciting the church’s tenets: “We must restore our former glory, fight against dragons, and protect the world.”

"At the same time, we must follow the past and step into the endless starry sky in the future."

Although Aso couldn't see it, Xu Lie still nodded: "Very good. So, Aso, have you thought about how exactly you should do it to restore the glory of the past?"

"How can humanity follow in the footsteps of the past and set foot in the stars?"

Aso Makoto was silent for a few seconds, seemingly having already figured out the answer, but the answer was too shocking.

The ancients were beings far more powerful than Nidhogg the Black King; how could ordinary people possibly recreate their glory?
unless……

Under Xu Lie's expectant gaze, Aso Shin uttered incredulously, "Become... a god?"

(End of this chapter)