After throwing this big-headed imp into the nightmare, Dane paid him no mind, not even interested in knowing his name.
Trash like him, who usually only bullied mortals with his authority, was too dirty for Dane to even glance at.
Dane looked at the little girl curled up on the ground and called out to her, "Are you alright? It's all over, child."
Mary timidly raised her head. When she saw Dane's face, she was stunned—it was Shazam!
Then, without another word, she directly threw herself into Dane's arms.
Dane retracted his Scepter and, with a scoop of his arms, pulled her into his embrace.
She looked only eight or nine years old, exquisitely pretty and very cute.
If Dane had arrived a moment later, this little girl would likely have suffered a lifelong trauma.
"It's alright, child, everything is over," he said, lowering his voice as much as possible to comfort her.
Mary sobbed and looked up, her bright, watery eyes fixed on him, "Mr. Shazam, are you here to save me?"
Dane smiled and nodded at her, "That's right, I came specifically to save you."
"You must have heard my cry for help, didn't you?" she suddenly exclaimed excitedly.
Huh? Dane blinked, then, resorting to his traditional skill of fibbing, nodded vigorously.
"That's right. Next time you're in danger, just shout Shazam, and I'll rush to save you in time."
However, he made a three-point agreement with Mary:
"But we've agreed, you can only use this summoning spell when you are truly in danger. You must have heard the story of the boy who cried wolf, right? Don't become that lying child."
Mary nodded like a pecking chick. She extended her pinky finger, "Then let's pinky swear!"
Dane smiled and extended his pinky. This was not just humoring a child, but a genuinely magically binding contract.
After the pinky swear, he prepared to send the little girl out of the Dream World.
Before sending her off, he asked, "What's your name?"
The little girl's voice was clear and sweet, "Mary Bromfield, my name is Mary Bromfield!"
After sending the little girl away, the more Dane thought about it, the more he felt he had heard that name somewhere. Could it be a named character from a comic?
"Mary, Mary…"
He suddenly realized, Mary! Wasn't that Mary Marvel from the Shazam Family?
The one… with the very large… you know.
What a coincidence!
Behind him, Arthur finally came over, his big head looking around Dane as if searching for something.
"What are you looking for?" Dane was also puzzled.
Arthur gestured, making a large circle, "Where's that big-headed thing from earlier?"
He had only seen Dane grab it, and then it was gone. What kind of amazing ability was that?
"He's in the nightmare I wove," Dane explained.
Arthur listened, confused, as if he understood, yet didn't.
He shrugged and said, "So, did you find the person you were looking for?"
Dane nodded and asked him, "Do you want to return to the Real World, or stay here a bit longer?"
Arthur shook his head, "I'll go back. Being this awake doesn't feel like sleeping."
"Alright, but before I send you back, I have something to ask you: Would you like to join the Justice League?"
Arthur pointed at himself in surprise, "Me? Are you sure?"
Dane smiled at him, "That's right. As a sorcerer with the divine power of a Greek god, I can guide you to Master your strength."
"That feeling just now wasn't bad, was it?"
Hearing him say that, Arthur couldn't help but recall the omnipotent feeling of connecting with all marine creatures' minds just now, and he was somewhat moved.
Dane added, "The Justice League has plenty of drinks…"
"I. Am. In," Arthur immediately replied loudly.
To some extent, Arthur was like Thor from the Marvel next door—hearty and a heavy drinker.
He was already secretly working as a superhero, so he didn't hesitate long before agreeing.
This was also because he was still young and full of drive, unlike how difficult he would be a few years later in the movies.
Thinking of this, Dane remembered something. He said to Arthur:
"Arthur, you haven't met your mother, Queen Atlanna, have you?"
Arthur was already used to his persona as someone who seemed to know everything. He shrugged and said nonchalantly:
She's the queen of the Trench, and I'm just an insignificant bastard. We never meet.
It seemed he still didn't know, Dane sighed.
"Arthur, you've misunderstood your mother. She didn't abandon you; she was banished."
Arthur was stunned at first, then instantly became agitated.
He grabbed Dane's arm: "You know something! Please tell me!"
Dane understood his feelings and didn't mind.
"If the information I have is correct, your mother, Queen Atlanna, was stripped of her throne by the Atlantis Council and banished to the Trench territory because she privately married your father and gave birth to you."
"The people of Atlantis all thought she had died, but she actually hadn't. She was trapped in a secret realm and is still living there now."
Arthur let go of his hand, somewhat lost in thought, muttering something unintelligible. But Dane could tell he was very happy, yet also very conflicted.
"Take some time to process this. Once you've calmed down, you can find me at the Hall of Justice."
He reached out and sent the exact address of the Hall of Justice into Arthur's mind: "This is the headquarters of the Justice League, and it's right by the sea."
"I might be a bit busy lately. After I'm done with my current tasks, if you wish, I will accompany you to find your mother."
"Thank you, thank you..." Arthur, having come back to his senses, kept thanking Dane.
Dane just smiled, and the power of the dream flickered in his hand. Arthur was sent out of this dream.
By this time, the big-headed Nightmare, who was only halfway through the torture process, was already covered in blood.
Dane still didn't speak to him. Instead, he reached out and grabbed his soul, kneading it wantonly in his hand, roughly sifting through his memories.
Finally, he found the coordinates of Nightmare Collins' territory.
And from this memory, he confirmed that Collins had indeed left the Nightmare territory and gone to the Real World.
He also discovered Glaub's stock of poor souls in his memories. Dane released those unfortunate people, allowing them to leave this nightmare.
He also learned from the memories about another companion who escaped the dream with him, a guy named "Brute." This guy, like Glaub, was not good news for humans.
If given the chance, perhaps he should absorb that guy too?
He shook his head. Biting off more than he could chew was not wise. Getting the divine artifact was the priority.
However, that guy was very smart. He always hid in different people's dreams, making him hard to find.
Dane temporarily noted this down. There would be plenty of time in the future; he wasn't in a hurry. He would first secure what he could get his hands on.
According to the coordinates provided by Glaub, Dane used the newly acquired "Dream Power" to teleport to the Nightmare territory.
As soon as Dane landed, he was hit by an extremely strong stench.
Whoa, good heavens, this is Cthulhu-esque!
The Nightmare's domain was filled with dismembered bodies and various indescribable, eerie creatures.
Just looking at those creatures for a moment made one feel their sanity plummeting. And when these creatures saw Dane, they twisted and writhed towards him.
You might think "writhing" sounds slow, but in reality, these ghostly things moved incredibly fast, almost like teleportation.
But Dane wasn't afraid of these things. As mentioned before, due to certain reasons, he had already lost the emotion of fear.
So Dane merely frowned, casually unleashing lightning that incinerated all approaching creatures into ash.
But this only drew out more creatures to attack him. Dane simply wrapped lightning around his body, forming an outer layer. No matter what creature came, touching it meant death, and even grazing it meant injury.
A White glow lit up Dane's right hand. He tossed it upwards, and the White light ascended, illuminating a hundred-mile radius of darkness like a giant light bulb.
Grotesque beasts covered every corner of the land. There were tentacles and twisted worms everywhere; there was no place to step.
Since he was already in the same dimensional space as Gabriel, some magic became useful.
Dane lowered his head and chanted a tracking spell, instantly finding her location.
When he arrived at the location indicated by the tracking spell, he found Gabriel curled up on the "ground."
Her luck was already quite good; she hadn't fallen into the worst place.
But this was not a pleasant paradise either, because this land was made of flesh and blood.
Immortal and unrotting people lay naked on the ground, layer upon layer.
Their eyes stared blankly at the sky, twisted and intertwined with the people around them. From their slowly rising and falling chests, it seemed they were still alive, but their spirits had died.
Now, only the thing called "flesh" here pretended to be alive.
And Gabriel, she was on the bodies of these "people," also looking at the sky with dazed eyes.
Suddenly, a faint glimmer seemed to light up in her eyes. She somewhat suspected she was dreaming.
Ah, right. I am already in the World of dreams, so how could I dream again?
Dane slowly descended, coming before Gabriel. The light in her eyes brightened again.
Dane saw that she was fully clothed and her limbs were intact, which made him sigh in relief. Thankfully, he wasn't too late.
He extended his hand to Gabriel: "Let's go, Angel, we're going home."
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