Leoz.
To be honest, in the few days he had been in the Starry Abyss, he had heard this na more tis than in his last lifeti.
"What exactly is this guy’s background?"
Li Aozi couldn’t help but ask,
"I know he is an ancient deity, but aren’t there plenty of them around? Without going too far—[Prival Heavenly Sovereign], [Soul of Plunder], the forr constantly nags in our [Mutants]’ heads, and the latter is still busy responding to capitalists’ prayers."
"He beat up a society."
Liue’s response was brief and to the point.
"As if everyone hasn’t beaten one up." Li Aozi scoffed.
"What if I tell you that Leoz, the God of Reality, the hero of the stars, killed societies?"
"Didn’t narrative-level civilizations also take out two? [Sub-Wolf Society] Wofkind and [Ghost Rational Society] Spirit ssenger Miin." Li Aozi was puzzled. He spread his hands. "If it weren’t for the societies’ ability to escape, narrative-level civilizations wouldn’t even fear these monsters that consu civilizations. Hunt them two by two, eventually, there will be no societies left."
"Ha, this just shows your shallow understanding, little ghost."
Liue did not directly refute but raised a hand to project a series of information and data:
"These are firsthand materials obtained by the Life Commune. See for yourself."
Li Aozi casually picked one and began to read aloud:
"’The 21st fleet of the [Empire of Heralds], commanded by Oga-tier strongman [State Settler] Magnus Bidan, was ambushed by [chanical World Society] Mashigang, severely wounded, forced to retreat to the Starry Abyss for recuperation. The 21st fleet has been annihilated and had to be decommissioned. Mashigang was deed ’too injured to recover peak combat strength, recomnded for reincarnation under the protection of the Philosopher King..."
"[Ruin Fla Society] Satan Jima has attacked the [Obliteration Sanctum] Ireland Cluster four tis in succession. The civilization in that area has been confird to be completely devoured, absorbed into Satan Jima’s virtual fla. Currently, the Ireland Cluster is still engaged in a cruel and secretive war of attrition, with the [Obliteration Sanctum] having lost seventeen Oga-tier diviners, sixty God Embracers, and one Pathway Main God..."
"Even the smaller [Dream dicine Society] Fecundity has created the inhumane ’Tia’el System Silent Ban.’ Its citizens spread dreams and hallucinogens, turning the entire system’s civilizations into a factual Domain of Death. All citizens, from top to bottom, even those at the Oga Tier, have beco completely addicted to Fecundity’s drugs. They haven’t been devoured but have beco puppets—there are many similar cases."
"[Eternal Industry Society] Bodoelton..."
[You have read valuable historical materials, obtaining the state—’Broaden Horizons’]
[Broaden Horizons: You can now learn extraordinary knowledge without spending experience for one natural year.]
These shocking texts, even for Li Aozi, were a first. They directly gave him a specialty, leaving Li Aozi at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
[Echoer] couldn’t learn knowledge at the mont, so adding such a buff was useless to him.
After reading these reports, Li Aozi suddenly understood why narrative-level civilizations were hesitant to engage in decisive battles with [Societies].
"This is unwinnable." Li Aozi said. "[Societies] are a bunch of monsters. Oga-tier strongn or Pathway Main Gods can’t match them one-on-one."
"Leoz could beat them." Liue said calmly. "This is historically recorded. Although Leoz was a god outside the Starry Abyss and relatively recent, archaeological evidence and the testimonies from interrogating ’Society Chairn’ clearly prove that Leoz personally annihilated societies."
"If it’s a small society, then Oga-tier strongn might fight them off."
"Sure, but guess how many societies Leoz killed?"
"Two?" Li Aozi guessed tentatively. Seeing Liue unmoved, he hesitated for a mont before boldly guessing, "Four? At most four, that’s impossible."
"The answer is—42."
Liue took out a fossil photo from spatial ripples:
"This is a photograph taken by the Commune, the skeleton of a large [Society]. Its bones are covered with sword and arcane energy marks—undoubtedly Leoz’s handiwork. That deity was indeed the Savior! There are a total of 42 skeletons, each from a different society."
"So, actually, 42 isn’t precise."
"It should be—at least 42 [Societies]."
Liue’s statent left Li Aozi stunned.
He examined the fossil photo closely. Despite the passage of ti, it still bore the special structure of a [Society], unmistakably authentic at a glance.
The cross-section of a society’s body was too distinctive.
—It was filled with densely packed citizens, soil, stellar marrow, factories, industrial chains, oceans, and cultural bases.
Seen from a distance, it looked as if a bird’s-eye view of cities was cramd into a piece of bone.
This was the essence of a [Society]... a living civilization.
Turning civilization from an abstract concept, an organization, into a personified being.
"Society is a monster that never stops. It uses citizens as cells, agriculture as blood, industry as fuel, cultural nations as neural pathways, faith and religion to transmit signals, the holand as its flesh and bones, territories as its frawork, and the military as its claws and fangs. It is a terrifying composite of life and production, an autonomous living civilization. Such beings stand against the very nature of the universe the mont they are born."
Liue comnted with awe and reverence,
"There’s a saying that deities represent nature and tradition, nurtured by the Starry Abyss to resist external Destroyers. But [Societies] represent pure ’anti-nature.’ The struggle between deities and destroyers is rely resisting invasion—however, the battle between [Societies] and [Deities] is a war between anti-nature and nature."
"Intruders are worse than invaders. Invaders only aim to conquer your land and seize your people, at worst making you a slave of a fallen nation—but intruders seek to completely erase your existence and replace it. Whether you fight or surrender, intruders will betray and annihilate you."
"In past battles, anti-natural [Societies] had always held the upper hand—only Leoz washed away the sha with the blood of [Societies], maintaining the peace of the Starry Abyss with their corpses. How could any other Main God compare to Leoz? They weren’t even qualified to fetch water for his feet."
Liue looked at Li Aozi:
"Do you understand now?"
"I think I understand a bit." Li Aozi pondered his words, then said, "So, you want to recreate Leoz?"
"No, we no longer need Leoz. The era of deities is over."
Liue shook her head.
"The Sovereign System Main God, Morphederia, wasn’t actually strong, but strangely—Leoz, as a proxy, surpassed and outshined the original, slaying so many societies."
"—There must be a reason for such formidable strength." Li Aozi added. "But those are records from the Primordial Era; are you sure they’re reliable?"
"Absolutely reliable. You can’t imagine the imnse power the Commune once held in its pri. Before the Calamity God’s incident, virtually every academic organization in the universe supported us..."
Liue’s initially excited tone suddenly faltered, turning despondent:
"We obtained a vast amount of compelling evidence... For this, the Commune gathered extensive data and ticulously compared and verified them, even at the risk of offending narrative-level civilizations—through cross-referencing data and docunts, we found that there was indeed sothing different about Leoz compared to other Main Gods."
"Let guess." Li Aozi looked at her. "Leoz wielded Supre Arcane Energy?"
"You’re very clever—it’s a sha you were born too late. If you were born seventy years earlier, I would have considered taking you in. With your intelligence, you could at least be a research assistant."
Liue teased Li Aozi, then continued:
"Leoz possessed the highest-grade creative mandate. If we had that kind of power, we could completely eradicate and suppress societies."
"Just with that one arcane energy? If you could do it, what about narrative-level..."
"—Stop mythologizing narrative-level civilizations!" Liue snapped, finally losing patience. "I don’t understand how a mber of so unknown civilization keeps telling , a citizen of a narrative-level civilization, how strong narrative-level civilizations are—do you think I, an insider, know less than you, an outsider?"
Li Aozi was stunned.
"You haven’t given up your nationality... Didn’t the Commune clash with narrative-level civilizations’ armies?"
"Of course, without the benefits of narrative-level status, where would I continue my research? Do you expect to take a job? My precious ti spent on working ans who will carry on my research?"
In the void ripples that stood in for Liue’s head appeared a face that looked like it was saying ’you’re an idiot,’ contempt dripping from her tone:
"Narrative-level civilizations aren’t as legendary as you think... Your perception is sowhat like that of those Mystic Kolon (O, the 15th Greek letter, about level 300) high-ranking officers, blindly confident in narrative-level civilizations."
"Just consider as such." Li Aozi brushed it off. "So, narrative-level civilizations never realized this?"
"They have their own short-sightedness."
"Do they? Why do I feel that’s not the case?"
Li Aozi playfully stroked his chin, only to grasp a handful of spatial ripples. He waved his hand and said,
"Mr. Liue, have you ever considered one thing?"
Liue was surprised: "What do you an?"
"Is it possible that Leoz, even wielding Supre Arcane Energy, couldn’t withstand the relentless onslaught of [Societies]—and died?"
Before Li Aozi could finish, he felt his entire body being pinned to the ground.
The gravity was removed.
Li Aozi pressed on,
"Leoz might have slain many societies... but could it be that narrative-level civilizations have endured the countless years from the Primordial Era to now?"
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