When Sandora sensed the space fluctuation outside, we imdiately dashed out in excitent. Even Lilina, who had been acting cute for half an hour and claiming to be a walking human-shaped bundle of adorableness, stopped fussing over her "size problem." After reaching the doorway, we discovered that the entire village had already gathered outside, just like when the lowa "God" appears each ti, the villagers "spontaneously" congregated to gaze upon the divine glory. Their expressions are now dull, but when the "God" appears, they will surely display a fervent expression triggered by conditioned reflexes and hormone control. The square was silent, but it was foreseeable that at the right mont, these brainwashed people would give their most devout cheers and prayers. As we opened the door and stepped out, all the villagers’ gazes imdiately focused on us. Being watched by hundreds of such lifeless eyes was truly unsettling. Lilina couldn’t help but stick her tongue out and clutched my arm, "Boss, we’ve got an audience."
I silently glanced at this elf girl who had already "grown up," pinched her cheek, and tossed her aside, "Pay attention, you’re no longer one ter and nine—keep rubbing against , and I’ll beat you!"
"I’m doing it on purpose," Lilina showed not a single trace of maidenly reserve, deliberately leaning against and rubbing her chest on my arm, "I’ve been a Loli for two lifetis; can’t I occasionally indulge my girlish heart?"
Feeling the soft warmth on my arm, I rolled my eyes to the sky, silently recalling the multiplication table, while ntally broadcasting photos of Sandora, Qianqian, and Lin Xue, and instantly cald down. This mischievous girl had her height suddenly increase by sixty centiters, and her combat effectiveness skyrocketed. Before, she was re crafty; now, she’s nearly an elf. I’m unsure whether to remind her that there are two eternally short individuals behind her who are about to burst in energy—but before I could speak, a beam of light descending from the sky interrupted our antics.
Accompanied by a deep, musical-like sound, a pale golden light poured down from the cloud tops, simultaneously dispelling the cloudy weather that had been hanging over the village—cloudy weather likely set up by those guys in advance for their "arrival," akin to stage sets—the villagers on the ground puppeted uniformly, looking up at the sky and starting their devout kneeling prayers. Within the radiant golden beam, three figures faintly appeared high in the sky and slowly descended.
In the eyes of the villagers, this scene was sacred and solemn, but we could see much more, thus only finding it hilarious: the beam was manufactured by high-altitude spotlights, and when it activated, those three "Gods" were sweating profusely mid-air adjusting themselves for half a day because Qianqian, for mischief’s sake, broke the spotlight’s focusing prism with a probe. As they descended, relying on anti-gravity devices they carried, Lilina and Qianqian were nearly suffocating from the effort to suppress the urge to break those devices too. As for the sound effects accompanying their descent... those were due to balance resonance generators hung on the ship’s landing gear behind the clouds. Qianqian originally thought of changing the soundtracks to "Above the Moon," but I argued against it—at such a critical mont, it’s best to conserve resources. Although I felt it wouldn’t be bad if a loud, bright "Yao Yao Che Ke Nao" ca from the sky when the three lowa "Gods" were halfway down...
So it becos apparent, the deficiency of lowa’s technology. Though they have partially grasped the Old Empire’s equipnt and so bodily enhancent and transformation thods, they ultimately cannot master those cutting-edge technologies and mystical essences. They do not know how to use mortal minds to comprehend those abstract truths, nor how to flexibly transform the stolen knowledge to suit themselves, thus they can only manage thusly—essentially, they are re mortals coincidentally wielding divine weapons. If one must say, they have progressed from primitives who only know how to press the switch, to junior users who know how to adjust power after pressing the switch.
When these three junior users finally arrived before us, Lilina and I curiously scrutinized them. The welcoming personnel from the "Divine Country" of lowa consisted of three people, one of whom we had t before: the man who appeared in front of Anuza’s big house yesterday. He, like last ti, was enveloped in a boastful glow, dignified and solemn, indeed looking sowhat holy. The other two lowa people were also clad in similarly styled white robes, fully enveloped in the sa indistinct glow, though their light was slightly dimr. These two followed behind the leading man, appearing as attendants.
Sandora and the others were just standing nearby watching, only they were in invisible status, and the three lowa people were completely unaware. anwhile, in front of them were Lilina and I—who they were equally unaware of and perceived as rely two primitive people occasionally breaking free from control. Thus, they smiled in accordance with their "actor role," solemnly and kindly saying, "The two children blessed by God, I am here to take you to the Divine Country, to enjoy eternal happiness."
I pondered for a mont, contemplating what response would be appropriate then, as Sandora wouldn’t be accompanying us next. We couldn’t rely on Her Majesty the Queen’s spiritual interference to continue escorting us. All we could depend on was the illusionary disguise we were wearing. Firstly, in the eyes of lowa people, Anuza and Anu Lili should be seen as "primitive people" breaking free from brainwashing due to unknown reasons. Therefore, their admiration for "Gods" would inevitably be less than others, and their actions wouldn’t possess clockwork precision. Secondly, Anuza siblings in lowa people’s eyes should be unversed thus, even lacking fervent devotion towards Gods doesn’t an they would do more insightful things: such as questioning authority and challenging divine power. So the three lowa people ahead would assu our reactions approximated those of believers also worshipping Gods but not devout and having many little faults as fringe adherents. If we maintain this course of action, before reaching the Divine Country, Lilina and I wouldn’t expose ourselves. Having figured this out, I cleared my throat, displaying a supposedly reasonable solemn expression...
"Is God’s Country far away? Are there any stops along the way? Is there food on the way? Are we flying over there?"
Suddenly, Lilina popped up and chirped a series of questions, leaving utterly bewildered... My plan... My considerations... My farsighted, deeply thought-out strategies... All instantly shattered by this fool...
"?" The three lowa People stared at Lilina, dumbstruck, their solemn expressions montarily crumbling. Perhaps they’ve never seen such a lively native in their lives, but surprisingly, they didn’t react aggressively, rely flashing a dismissive smile—though it was fleeting. The leading lowa person resud their kindly expression and softly said, "Don’t worry, the journey to God’s Country is not boring. Soon, you will enjoy eternal bliss. Co, step onto this light, and let the radiant glory of God take you to that sacred land, children."
Lilina shot a look, grabbed my arm, and followed the three lowa People into the light beam. As the antigravity force field lifted us into the sky, surrounding us ca uniform cheers, as if those numb villagers truly felt heartfelt joy. I looked down and saw Sandora and two one-ter-twos waving with all their might to bid farewell, and Visca was even waving two brightly colored pom-poms; she probably learned that from TV. Qianqian and Miss Lin were making funny faces at , and finally, I read four words from the latter’s lips: "Smooth journey."
The numb yet jubilant crowd all around bidding farewell, the closest people saying goodbye, and the uncertain future of God’s Star... Contemplating this, I couldn’t help but feel a myriad of emotions; why does this scene combination seem so ominous?
"Boss, look," Lilina gently nudged my arm, speaking in the spiritual connection, "Actually, you don’t need to worry about speaking wrongly and raising suspicion; as long as you don’t say anything too outrageous, they really won’t think much. I’ve seen plenty of these fake god heretics with inflated egos and not an ounce of substance in their heads; they’re filled with arrogance and pride about their ’godhood,’ not bothering to seriously consider matters concerning their subjects. They may seem formidable, but once you grasp this weakness, they’re easy to deceive."
I often criticize Lilina, but this ti, I must admit, in certain aspects, the elf girl beside is indeed a genius scamr regarding anything related to gods, whether True Gods or Fake Gods; she understands it all thoroughly.
Thus, we ascended to the clouds in this frustrating light beam and antigravity environnt. As long as Lilina and I quietly stayed to the side, the three lowa People couldn’t even be bothered to turn their gaze towards us until, at last, one of them turned their head, wearing a newly donned kindly smile: "Next, we will be delivered onto the Sacred Ark by God’s power; you don’t need to worry."
I barely nodded before feeling the surrounding space twist, and after a brief dizziness, Lilina and I found ourselves transferred to an unfamiliar place.
I quickly scanned the surroundings, seeing a slightly familiar high-tech style: chambers forged of alloy, flickering azure indicator lights, and oddly shaped chamber equipnt. The items have a distinctive style yet vaguely reveal so Xyrin equipnt architecture; this should be the result of lowa People’s technology being long influenced by the Empire. Clearly, we had been moved to a lowa Ship, and the compartnt Lilina and I were in wasn’t particularly spacious—a passenger cabin. It seems the lowa People aren’t intending to provide any comfort for the slave races they’ve captured, or perhaps they consider this environnt sufficient to make those ’crude’ slave races grateful, amazed, and overwheld. In a way, this is quite the approach.
A very faint humming noise from equipnt running and a "beep beep" sound from so automatic device can be heard in my ears. I’m very familiar with this kind of environnt, but due to the need for disguise, I can’t appear too calm and collected. So I try to muster up my acting skills, planning to play the role of a surprised primitive. However, before I can make a move, Lilina rolls her eyes, froths at the mouth, and collapses to the ground with a thud; just before she fell, I even saw her swiftly pop two calcium tablets into her mouth...
: "..." You overreacted, dummy!!
"What’s wrong with her?!" Even the leading lowa person was stunned. This was definitely the oddest pair he had encountered since taking office, which was quite sympathetic. I shrugged, pretending to be very alard, bent over, and pulled Lilina up: "Maybe it’s dizziness... that last bit was really quite dizzying..."
"Not accustod to teleportation, huh," the lowa "Saint" resud his flawlessly benevolent expression, "Everyone has this reaction the first ti they’re brought by God’s power. Well, you can rest here for a mont. Soon, the Divine Country will arrive. Child, this must be a very enjoyable journey."
After saying this, it seed like he no longer wanted to stay with us, leading his two attendants quickly out of the cabin without adding any more solemn scenes to make the act more believable. One must say, the ending of this act was a bit rushed for the man in front of . Once the cabin doors closed, Lilina swiftly stood up, licking the calcium dust from her lips disdainfully: "Looks like the acting ends here; from this point, the captured slaves are off that ’Divine Governance Golden Age’ stage they’ve set up. Next ti they show up, these three will definitely have a different expression. Damn, they’re really not professional. When this Pope spreads the faith, I’ve never been in such a hurry..."
I silently glanced at Lilina. Her loli form saying these words gives off a cute, mischievous vibe, but now she’s in her girl form, giving the impression of a delinquent girl gone astray since age six...
The lowa starship seems to use the sa level of propulsion as the Empire’s, an infinitely variable vector propulsion coupled with a coordinate-based drive. Thus, this starship doesn’t generate any acceleration or inertia during operation, and we can’t feel whether the ship has set off. So I released the detection device I’d prepared in advance. This thing was given to by Sandora when we set out. It’s only about the size of a thumb and looks like an ordinary probe, but it’s excellent at covert operations and intelligence gathering. This silver-white, spindle-shaped gadget flew out and clung directly to the cabin wall, quickly lding into it as if it had seeped into a sponge. Monts later, the entire starship’s general situation was revealed to us—this was a dium-to-small sized warship with low alert levels, and its central system didn’t have the capability to detect external infiltration.
The spaceship has already left that Constant Star System and is swiftly heading toward the lowa’s Capital Star: the place they’ve proudly nad the Divine Country. It looks like this ship’s sole mission is to return the two rogue slaves. The lowa’s caution and ticulousness in this regard have almost reached an obsessive level: they’re terribly afraid of having a disobedient slave. One must say, this is the psychological problem most likely to arise in traitors: they originated in betrayal themselves, so they’re more afraid of betrayal than anyone else. Traitors will not trust any race under them, because they’re terrified that one day they might face the sa fate as their forr masters.
I monitored the communications in the Starship Command Hall; many lowa soldiers were operating this ship, and those three "Saints" had changed back into ordinary uniforms, sitting in the officer’s seats, chatting away. The leader was speaking: "No matter how many tis you see it, the expressions on those primitives’ faces are always so amusing, huh, they’re so devout towards the Gods."
"Of course, what else can you expect when we’re Gods ourselves?" another person chid in, "So those non-devout mortals must be identified and punished. Speaking of which, it’s said that the failure rate during extraction is slightly higher for non-devout natives compared to devout ones?"
"Don’t ask what you shouldn’t; it’s classified."
"Oh oh, I was just speaking casually. But co to think of it, those two natives really are disgusting, ignorant as bugs, yet they act so brashly before the Gods and talk so much with us—do they really think they have that right?"
"Don’t ntion it, made sick, and that female native was so casually speaking with the Commander... tch. But to be fair, she’s quite pretty; rare among the natives."
"...Be careful, natives are a low-class race, animals. They just happen to look like people, understand?"
"Yes, yes, I know the taboos. But speaking of which, have you heard the rumors? The great Divine Emperor has acquired even greater power; they say that next, all lower deities are to be promoted too!"
"Praise to the True God Barrian! I’ve heard about it too. Maybe I should build myself a temple and then keep tens of thousands more mortals—we all deserve such a standard!"
Next ca a bunch of worthless conversations. These lowa started fantasizing about their divine lives and enthusiastically discussing "raising" more mortals and exchanging tips on "Divine Punishnt" for their mortals. All were nauseating comnts. The more I understood about Sister Bing and their true gods, the more nauseated I felt hearing these people’s words—they treat gods as tools for pleasure and see mortals entirely as inferior beings, not at all considering the relationship between power, responsibility, and obligation. I was annoyed listening, and since there wasn’t much valuable information, I let the probe roam freely, while Lilina and I quietly waited for the ship to arrive.
anwhile, I started pondering two points, which might be the only potentially valuable conversations I overheard:
Sothing extracted from the natives, and Barrian having acquired even more powerful energy. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welco to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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