Inside the pavilion atop the twin-bodied elephant, the scene had changed. Only the God Hall's Director and his female subordinate remained seated, while the others had vanished.
"Boss, why didn't you send
earlier? I should've been the most suitable to pin down Ye Zhongming."
The woman wasn't strikingly beautiful, but her fair skin and large, lively eyes gave her an ethereal quality.
The Director gazed into the distance, seemingly unhurried.
"Our God Hall has been silent for too long. It's ti the world rembered us."
Confusion filled the woman's eyes. She didn't understand her boss's aning.
"So things are better left unknown for now. Knowing might only bring despair."
Accustod to her boss's cryptic ways, the woman didn't press further. She finally understood why the Director—once obsessed with research—had recently shifted focus to personal power, frantically studying professions and skills, splurging on equipnt and scrolls, even occasionally purchasing battle beasts despite the God Hall's self-sufficiency.
Perhaps this unspeakable matter had driven his choices.
"Ah Xiu."
The Director suddenly called her na.
She looked up.
"If you were to take my place one day, could you handle it?"
"?!"
The question shocked her. Never had she considered this possibility.
"I couldn't!" Flustered, she waved her hands. "Boss, you'll always lead the God Hall!"
The Director smiled. His mask suddenly animated, expressions flickering across its surface. Ah Xiu gasped—she hadn't known the mask could do that. The series of surprises left her dazed.
"Hypothetically." The Director pressed for an answer.
"If... if soone must succeed you, among your guards, I'm neither the strongest nor command the most forces. I lack technical knowledge—just an ordinary evolved. I'm the least qualified. Brother Tong Lu has the highest Soul Bond compatibility, formidable with Nether Tiger. Or Brother Silver—he understands technology and is powerful himself, having absorbed the most genes without rejection. Once fully assimilated, he'd be our mightiest warrior. Actually, Brother Cheng Ou fits best—steady, mature, a rare perfect blend of defensive and support professions. With him, battles can't be lost. He's well-liked, even friends with Dr. Ziche—they drink together often."
She counted on her fingers.
"Dr. Ziche could too, though he seems uninterested in leading, content with research as long as it's funded. A true mad scientist."
The Director chuckled and motioned her closer. She knelt beside his chair as he rested a hand on her head.
"They all seem more suitable than you, yet each has fatal flaws." His gaze swept over the advancing army.
"Dr. Ziche aside—he simply doesn't want the position. Silver might beco our greatest warrior, but rember, Ah Xiu, I'm a scientist too. Both Dr. Ziche and I believe our technology, while perhaps the world's best currently, is far from perfect. Silver... can't break free from the Wheel's technological constraints. Maybe none of us ever will."
Ah Xiu gasped, staring at her boss. The God Hall’s most promising technology—rejected by its creator?
"Not surprising. All science builds upon foundational knowledge. Why have we—Cloud Peak, top foreign labs—achieved such leaps post-apocalypse? Because Earth's science had already accumulated to a certain level. Add unlimited test subjects and zero ethical constraints, and here we are."
"But compared to the Wheel's technology, ours is still primitive. We haven't surpassed it—at best, we've glimpsed the path. Silver is, at most, a prototype."
Ah Xiu fell silent, her mind reeling.
She still didn't understand why her boss was telling her this. Was sothing happening to the God Hall? To him?
The imdiate crisis was Ye Zhongming's sudden appearance. Could this operation fail?
She didn't deny the King of Cloud Peak's strength, but against the combined might of three factions, countless eight-star evolved and level-eight battle beasts—even with three heads and six arms, he couldn't win.
Forced to deploy his forces in unfavorable terrain, he'd face crushing defeat. Cloud Peak might even be wiped from the region.
She couldn't fathom her boss's apparent fear.
Unperturbed by her expression, the Director continued, "Tong Lu is too reckless and glory-seeking. The first to engage Ye Zhongming should've been us veterans—like in gas, not seeking solo kills, just stalling for reinforcents."
"But in this world, neither Wen Yan, the Great Chairman, nor I wanted to be first. Why? Too dangerous! None wanted to face the King of Cloud Peak at full strength, all preferring to follow and reap benefits, even at the cost of underlings. When soone had to go, we were going to draw lots—until Tong Lu volunteered. What does that tell you? He wanted to prove he could match Ye Zhongming, maybe even dread of killing him for fa. Such n make decent officers but terrible commanders—they'll get everyone killed."
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