176: Chapter 176 [Light Feather Parrot Man] Harvey and the Black [Dream Gate] of the [Land of the Dead]

In the [Dream Divine Cult] church at the foot of the Alps, bathed in the soft morning light, the silver cross on the spire refracted a holy halo, dispelling the haze and bloodiness remaining from the battle in the Amazon Rainforest. Inside the church hall, the Parrot Person Harvey had been kneeling before the statue, praying, his wings tightly clutching the silver cross necklace on his chest.

When Guang Yue pushed open the church doors, the five members of the [Order of Judgment Knights] and four blue-red figures walked into the church hall.

"Harvey!" Following his fourth brother's call, Harvey turned around tremblingly. Seeing the four familiar figures, he hurriedly stood up and ran staggeringly toward his four Parrot Person kin. Harvey's excited tears gushed from his red-rimmed eyes, and he opened his wings to tightly hug the four companions, his wings trembling uncontrollably.

"Fourth Brother! Cousin!" Harvey rubbed his forehead fiercely against his fourth brother's and cousin's foreheads, tears sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto their still-scarred wings. The five Parrot People hugged tightly, their wings intertwined, and the long-suppressed crying finally broke through their throats—from being captured by poachers, to being hunted by the [Hunter Squad], and then to surviving a desperate situation, all the fear and despair along the way turned into tears of reunion at this moment.

Sheng Lei, Chi Yan, and the others stood quietly to the side, their silver-white armor reflecting the warm morning light, the colorful halo in the center of the silver crosses on their chests flowing, their eyes full of tenderness and relief. Guang Yu raised her hand, sprinkling the holy water from the Holy Grail held by the [Dream Spirit] [Little Angel] onto the five hugging Parrot People. The overflowing faint holy water halo and the rainbow halo refracted by the morning light added more happiness and healing to this warm and moving scene. Under the drive of the [Talent] [Powerful Healing], the holy water quietly smoothed over the unhealed wounds on the Parrot People's wings and the residual tension and fear in their spirits.

"My God's people, welcome home. I am Baluga Angela, the High Priestess of the [Dream Divine Cult]." A gentle yet majestic voice came from behind the statue. High Priestess Baluga walked out slowly, wearing a white holy robe embroidered with a silver cross, her body surrounded by faint [Dream Power]. The [Dream Spirit] [Holy Angel] followed behind her, her pure white wings constantly scattering white light spots, sacred and inviolable. She held four small silver cross necklaces in her hands, which took on a warm luster under the morning light.

Baluga walked up to the five Parrot People, personally picked up the necklaces, and put them on the chests of the four Parrot Person [Host]s, excluding Harvey, one by one. The warm silver-white cross pressed against their chests, and instantly a warm current flowed through the four Parrot People's bodies, dispelling the last trace of unease. "The silver cross is the symbol of the [Dream Divine Cult] believers, and it is also a medium for storing and activating [Stigmata]. From now on, the Divine Cult is your sanctuary!" Her voice was soft, yet carried unquestionable power.

The fourth brother touched the cross on his chest and looked up at Baluga, his eyes full of gratitude and firmness: "Thank you! High Priestess! Thank you to everyone in the [Order of Judgment Knights]! If it weren't for you, we might never have been able to reunite!"

Baluga shook her head gently, her eyes sweeping over the five: "Protecting all [Dream System] [Host]s is the mission of the [Dream Divine Cult]. But human greed is endless, and the [Real World] still holds dangers for you [Non-Human Host]s. Why not come with me to the [Dream World] station—the [Dream Temple]? There, you have my God's protection, which will allow you to live with peace of mind. Of course, you can also go explore the [Dream World] to seek your own path to becoming stronger. As for your tribe, don't worry, my God's believers have already established an anti-poaching organization in the [Amazon Rainforest] to protect the ecological environment there from human interference."

The five Parrot People looked at each other, their eyes full of excitement and gratitude. Harvey nodded first: "We are willing to follow the [Dream Divine Cult]! High Priestess, we are willing to go to the [Dream Temple]!" The other four also echoed, having experienced life-and-death disasters, they had long understood the importance of strength and protection.

Just after Harvey finished speaking, a white cocoon of light wrapped around his entire body. The white energy light spots scattered by the [Holy Angel] in the air were drawn by a force into the cocoon, and the energy reaction of the cocoon increased bit by bit. Amidst everyone's surprised, expectant, or curious gazes, the cocoon dissipated, and a clear cry echoed in the church. At this time, Harvey's wing feathers had changed from red and blue to pure white, his sharp claws faintly gleaming with cold light, and his eyes, which should have been sharp, were at a loss due to the sudden change.

The [Dream System] prompt appeared in front of Harvey.

[Congratulations to the Host for completing evolution, Parrot Person (Rank E) → Light Feather Parrot Person (Rank D)]

"I evolved?" Harvey asked himself inexplicably. With the flapping of his wings, a white ball of light slowly condensed in front of him.

Under Guang Yue's guidance, Harvey opened the [dream system panel] and showed it to everyone.

[dream system panel] [Host] Harvey [Team] Dream Divine Cult [Comprehensive Rating] Rank D [Dream Power Reserve] 500 points [dream coins] 0 [dream permission rank] LV1 [Personal Data] Body: Rank D (Includes physical related abilities such as strength, agility, defense, endurance, vitality, etc.) Spirit: Rank D (Includes spirit related abilities such as intelligence, perception, energy value, energy control, etc.) [Race] Light Feather Parrot Person (Rank D) [Light Element Affinity] Ability to control light elements [Status] Stigmata: Activated to gain special strengthening effects (Source: Baluga Angela)

The other four Parrot People saw Harvey's change and happily chirped loudly with Harvey. The cheerful sound completely dispelled the haze in the hearts of the five Parrot People.

Baluga showed a gentle smile and raised her hand gently. A [Dream Gate] emitting holy white light slowly appeared in front of the statue, and the outline of the temple shrouded in clouds and mist could be vaguely seen behind the door. "Let's go, step through this door, and you will start a new life." She stepped forward first, the [Order of Judgment Knights] members including Sheng Lei followed closely behind, and the five Parrot People followed closely behind the team, their wings flapping gently, carrying longing for the future, and walked into the white light together. The [Dream Gate] slowly disappeared, and the church returned to tranquility again, leaving only the faint holy aura and white light spots in the air.

At the same time, the [Land of the Dead] located deep underground in the [Dream World]. This is a space shrouded in gray-black mist. In countless vacuum zones without black mist stand huge gray-black cities. The towering city walls resist the black mist surrounding the cities and the [Black Mist Beasts] trying to enter the city. On the inner side of the city walls, countless black [Dream Gate]s are constantly generated and dissipated at the foot of the wall, like beating black stars, emitting a strange aura.

One of the countless black [Dream Gate]s, which were like stars living and dying on the inner side of the wall of the fourth-ranked city in the [Land of the Dead]—[Death Language City]—suddenly stabilized. Amidst the flickering black light, the Capturer's figure stumbled out. The charred scars all over his body had not completely disappeared, and his eyes were empty and confused. The last memory in his mind was the [thunder giant blade] with blue-white thunder that Sheng Lei used to split his body, as well as the sky full of rain and scorched earth. "I... didn't die?" He muttered to himself, raising his hand to touch his chest. There were no wounds there, but a pain that went deep into the bone marrow remained.

Just as the Capturer fell into confusion, two figures jogged along the city wall and arrived in front of him. On the left was a young man in black, thin, with a lazy sense of fatigue on his face, holding a black notebook in his right hand; on the right was a young girl in a white dress, with smooth and soft black hair reaching her waist, bright eyes, holding an exquisite white camera in her left hand, looking full of vitality. The two seemed to have expected his appearance, looking at him with a smile.

The Capturer became vigilant instantly, subconsciously wanting to raise his hand to summon the [Binding Ring], but found that the [Dream Power] in his body had disappeared, and even the connection with the [Dream Spirit] [Binding Ring] had disappeared. "Who are you?! What is this place?!" He asked in a deep voice, his tone carrying residual ferocity, but it was hard to hide the confusion in his eyes.

The young man in black sighed helplessly and took out a palm-sized black notebook from his crossbody bag, with the words [Observer's Notebook (Sub-body)] printed on the cover in gold. He lowered his head and opened the notebook, his voice listless: "According to the [Observer's Notebook (Sub-body)] record, the deceased is a [Host] of the [Dream System], the name registered in the [Dream System] is Capturer, [Hunter Squad] leader, Rank B [Talent] [Silent Imprisonment], [Dream Spirit] [Binding Ring], the deceased's life, through the observation of the [Observer's Notebook (Main-body)], is classified as a [chaos side] [Host]."

The young man in black closed the notebook, looked up at the Capturer, and explained in a plain tone: "This is the [Land of the Dead] deep underground in the [Dream World]. The Souls of all intelligent beings who die in the [Real World] will be drawn here and have their bodies reshaped under special rules. But for a [Host] like you who is classified as [chaos side], to survive in this [Death Language City], you need to pay high [dream coins] regularly, otherwise your memories will slowly disappear, and finally you will become a wandering Soul without consciousness and dissipate."

"Death! I died!!! [dream coins]? What wandering Soul?" The Capturer frowned, his brain in chaos. The shock of death and the strange environment made it hard for him to accept.

The girl in the white dress on the side saw this, and immediately raised the white camera in her hand, gently pressing the shutter at the Capturer. With a "click", a card with the Capturer's photo and basic information popped out from the side of the camera. The girl reached out to catch it and bounced to the Capturer. "Don't be confused! You have already died in the [Real World], you are now an official [Dead], oh, as long as you work hard to earn [dream coins] you can live forever in this [Land of the Dead]'s fourth-ranked city—[Death Language City]!"

The girl in the white dress stuffed the card into the Capturer's hand and urged: "This is an identity certificate made with the [Recorder Camera (Sub-body)]. Although all your information has been synchronized and uploaded to the [Recorder Camera (Main-body)], you must keep it well, after all, it's quite troublesome if you lose it! If you don't understand anything, you can go to the [Dead Consultation Office] in the city, and someone there will answer you~"

After the girl in the white dress finished speaking, she turned her head and stared at the young man in black with watery eyes, full of expectation. The young man in black first shook his head helplessly, then nodded in resignation, then straightened his back, and cooperated with the girl to strike a slightly stiff chuunibyou pose.

[Land of the Dead] Fourth City [Death Language City], ranked ninety-ninth [Black and White Peerless]—Bai Duoduo!" The girl in the white dress raised her chin, her voice crisp and loud, with a bit of chuunibyou enthusiasm.

The young man in black rolled his eyes, his tone still lazy, but he still cooperated and spoke: "Hei Mo."

After speaking, the two didn't care about the Capturer's confused expression, turned around and ran towards the other side of the city wall. The black notebook in Hei Mo's hand flipped gently, and a new black [Dream Gate] coordinate was flashing on it, obviously rushing to the next destination.

The Capturer stood in place, looking at the identity certificate in his hand, then at the backs of the two as they walked away, and then looked up at this [Death Language City] full of unknowns. The confusion in his eyes was gradually replaced by a desire to survive. He clenched the identity certificate in his hand, took a deep breath, and walked slowly into the city—no matter what place this was, he had to live, even if it was as a [Dead].