When Gabriel woke up again, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
"You're awake. Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
Gabriel was drawn by the voice and saw it was the "God" who had chosen to stand by in the church.
It seemed he had saved her.
Gabriel turned her gaze back to the ceiling, her mood still lingering in the dream, unable to calm down for a long time.
Dane knew she had experienced an overly intense shock. That nightmare was still too stimulating for this holy virgin's body. It was already difficult for her to maintain a relatively intact mental state.
He placed his finger on Gabriel's forehead, and a subtle trace of Dream Power lit up like a White light, permeating into her mind.
Gabriel fell asleep again. She had a beautiful dream.
The dream was bizarre, illogical, and even time was ambiguous.
At first, she dreamed of herself becoming the revered Archangel again. She stood beside the Lord, the closest one to Him.
"You've done very well, Gabriel."
The Lord said this, and then Gabriel felt a hand pass over her head.
She had never felt such a sensation before. The Lord seemed different from before; He was willing to speak to her and praised her.
Gabriel had never felt happier than at this moment. She was filled with awe and trepidation.
Happiness was a right only humans could possess; she was an Angel!
At this thought, she suddenly felt a little dazed, as if she had forgotten something.
"What's wrong? Gabriel, you don't seem very clear-headed?"
The Lord spoke to her again. Gabriel lowered her head, not daring to look directly at the Lord's light.
Then she heard the Lord seem to chuckle, "Lift your head, Gabriel. As My right hand, you need not bow to anyone."
"Not even Me."
That strange feeling grew stronger. She always felt the Lord's voice was overly gentle.
Out of curiosity, Gabriel did something she would never have done before.
She looked up, directly at the true face of God.
With that one glance, her heart instantly crumbled.
It is said that God's appearance varies from person to person; He reflects the most perfect image in people's hearts.
Gabriel had guessed countless times what she would see, but she had never been as alarmed as she was now.
Because that face was Dane Davis.
In the Real World, Gabriel suddenly opened her eyes. Her breathing was rapid, as if she had had a nightmare.
She looked around in a panic and found an unfamiliar woman sitting by her bed.
"Hello, are you alright?"
June Moone leaned closer worriedly, gently wiping the sweat from her forehead with a towel.
Gabriel looked at her blankly: "Who are you?"
Then she glanced around: "And where is this place?"
June obediently put down the towel and replied, "This is the Rock of Eternity. Don't worry, you are very safe here."
Rock of Eternity?
Gabriel's panicked mood immediately calmed down, and her intelligence returned to its peak.
As an Angel, she possessed a sufficiently rich body of knowledge. The Rock of Eternity, she remembered, was the lair of Shazam, the magic Guardian.
Then the identity of the pagan god who appeared in that church that night was already obvious.
Just at the right moment, Dane, who had just returned from Oa with a package, saw the awakened Gabriel as soon as he entered the door.
"You're awake?"
Gabriel looked at him gravely and whispered, "You are Shazam."
Dane smiled at her: "Do you want my autograph?"
These words instantly reminded Gabriel of her current identity as a mortal, and her face immediately fell.
"I don't!"
Dane raised an eyebrow, "Gabriel, I at least saved you, didn't I? How do you plan to repay me?"
Gabriel simply lay back, limbs spread out: "I'm just a mortal now. Take whatever you want."
Hey, hey, saying things like that can easily lead to misunderstandings.
June's cheeks flushed, and she whispered, "I'm leaving."
Then she quietly left the room.
When only the two of them were in the room, Gabriel suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
The recent dream seemed vivid in her mind. She subtly curled up her body.
Fortunately, Dane was not a man driven by lust; he was here to conduct business.
"Gabriel, after this incident, you should understand that with your current abilities, it's impossible to rectify the church organizations in this World."
Gabriel thought of her recent experiences and couldn't help but clutch the blanket tighter.
"But we can make a deal. Although you have lost your Angelic power and are forbidden to use magic, I can still give you the strength to fight against the church."
Gabriel looked at her strangely. These words sounded so much like the devil's rhetoric, luring mortals into a trap.
"However, I'm sure you understand that I am not a follower of God, so the help I offer you is not free."
Gabriel fell into contemplation. In fact, making a deal with Shazam didn't disgust her, and it seemed she didn't have a better option right now.
Her allies in the Real World were too few. Lucifer was a scoundrel; he was probably somewhere laughing at her misfortune right now.
Angelis was just a city spirit; her power was not specialized in combat, and its reach couldn't extend beyond the city limits.
Looking around now, it seemed only Shazam in front of her could offer help.
As for giving up? That was absolutely impossible!
She believed these corrupt church members were a test from the Lord, and she must find all the "enemies of God" among them and purify them!
So she raised her head: "What do you want from me?"
Dane's lips curved upwards. Without speaking, he turned his palm over, and a piece of parchment instantly appeared in his hand.
This was a magic contract.
The contract flew over by itself, as if carried by a breeze, and landed in Gabriel's hand.
Gabriel had some understanding of magic contracts, so she didn't miss a single corner of the parchment. But after reading it, she was quite surprised.
The terms on it didn't seem as outrageous as she had imagined. So, after checking it again carefully, she bit her finger and signed her name.
The pain from her fingertips made her frown; as an Angel, when had she ever endured such hardship?
With a pained expression, she finished signing her name, and when she withdrew her hand, it was already bright red.
Dane kindly cast a spell on her, healing the wound.
Then, he satisfactorily put away the contract.
Because of God's punishment, Gabriel not only had her wings and divine power taken by Lucifer, but she was also forbidden from using magic herself.
However, not being able to use magic doesn't mean she can't use magical equipment. Dane could completely use Eternity-N material to tailor a full body armor for her, just as shiny as a Saint Seiya's.
This way, even if she herself still had no power, she could transform into "Hawkman" and crush the corrupt organizations of the church with her equipment, no problem.
And since she would be using his equipment, naturally, the logistical work would be inseparable from Umbrella.
Don't be fooled; it's just a cooperation contract. If he really wants you to do something, can you refuse?
However, for now, Gabriel's value still lies in her knowledge.
The history of the Real World must be different from the Bible, and he hoped to find some clues from it, for example, about Lucifer.
From the moment the contract was signed, Gabriel was already considered Dane's employee, but Gabriel, lacking understanding of human society, didn't grasp the intricacies of the arrangement.
Dane opened a room in the Rock of Eternity and let Gabriel move in. From then on, the Rock of Eternity welcomed its third woman.
Early the next morning, Dane got out of Joan's bed. He gently moved Joan's arm and put on a new pair of pants.
Starting today, it was time to get down to business.
Of Dream Lord Morpheus's three artifacts, the dream sand was known to be in Constantine's or his ex-girlfriend Rachel's hands, and the dream helmet was in the hands of the hell demon Choronzon.
The dream stone, in the original work, should have been held by the Justice League at this time, but Dane knew very well that it wasn't.
However, he had some guesses about the whereabouts of the dream stone.
He knew that in 1984, a "Wishing Stone" incident had occurred, and at that time, Diana identified the Wishing Stone as a creation of the God of Lies.
But Dane had reason to suspect that this was also a lie told by the God of Lies.
The Wishing Stone itself was actually the dream stone. The dream stone has the powerful ability to turn dreams into reality, and it is also the most powerful of the three artifacts.
Most importantly, the story of "The Dream Lord" explicitly emphasized one point: if you ask for something from a dream, you must pay a corresponding price.
This is highly consistent with the way and conditions under which the Wishing Stone fulfills wishes.
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