Divine Authority and Royal Authority

In a remote, quiet, empty field, Gobil stood waiting.

Before long, he saw his younger brother running toward him with a smile on his face.

"Brother, what did you want to see me about?"

Still immersed in the divine response, Habil did not notice anything amiss. Excitedly, he said, "Later, let's tell Father and Mother about the divine response. They'll definitely be happy!"

Rather than feeling happy upon hearing this, Gobil became even more aware that his position was about to be lost.

He roared jealously, "Why? Why did the god choose your offering?!"

"What's wrong, Brother?" Habil looked utterly bewildered.

Even someone as slow-witted as him sensed that something was wrong now.

Seeing his innocent-faced younger brother only made Gobil angrier.

Unable to hold himself back, he threw a heavy punch at his brother's face.

"Ah!"

Habil cried out miserably and fell straight to the ground.

Gobil pinned him down and began raining punches on him.

Cries of agony rang out continuously, mixed with Habil's mournful pleas for mercy to his brother.

Consumed by anger and jealousy, Gobil did not hear a word. Then, in his rage and jealousy, he spotted a Stone on the ground, picked it up, and smashed it toward his brother's head.

Bang!

After a dull thud, the wailing stopped. Habil lay on the ground with his head split open and blood streaming out, gradually falling silent.

Only then did Gobil realize what he had done. He anxiously shook his brother, and when he found that Habil truly did not respond, he scrambled to his feet in fright.

"What have I done..."

"I killed my brother?"

Overwhelmed by fear, he instinctively staggered back several steps.

"No, no, I didn't mean to..."

Gobil fell into a daze, muttering to himself as if begging for forgiveness.

Yet in his fear, he failed to notice that although killing his brother terrified him, there was a deeply buried trace of delight in his heart.

Or rather, when he chose this remote place, he had already vaguely harbored wicked thoughts. He simply had not expected them to truly come to pass.

Dark Clouds pressed low overhead, and the sky was gloomy.

Rumble!

Thunder boomed, and a dazzling flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Gobil looked up at the sky.

The constantly flashing lightning seemed like the god's wrath, condemning his actions.

"No, no, this isn't my fault! God, I didn't want to kill him!"

Clutching his head, he screamed.

As he screamed, he fled from the place in terror, leaving only Habil behind as his body slowly turned cold.

Su Qi, who had arrived not long before and witnessed everything, was no longer expressionless. He let out a faint sigh.

Amid the rumbling thunder, torrential rain poured down.

At the same time, a notification sounded.

Gobil had killed Habil. This was the first murder, the beginning of evil, and the first struggle between Royal Authority and Divine Authority.

Su Qi, who had been frowning, could not help but pause in surprise.

The first part was nothing unusual, but what did Royal Authority and Divine Authority mean?

After pondering it for a while, he thought of something.

The sacrificial acts of Gobil and Habil earlier should have been the embryonic forms of Divine Authority and Royal Authority.

One believed that he did not care about offerings and that there was no need to waste too many resources on sacrifices; they should instead be used for development.

The other believed that he was everything, that every good thing that happened was due to his protection, and that the best things should be offered to him in sacrifice in the hope of gaining his recognition.

Su Qi remembered that in some places, very few artifacts related to worshipping gods had been unearthed. The people there believed in nature and their own strength, rarely relying on gods.

Their systems generally centered on royal power and military power, with divine power as a supplement.

Rather than consuming supplies and manpower as offerings to gods, they used them for production and development.

Other places were the opposite...

After figuring out some things, Su Qi shook his head slightly and looked at the dead Habil, considering how this matter should be handled.

After some thought, he decided to leave the matter to Adan.

Adan was hiding in the house with his wife, sheltering from the rain. As he watched the gloomy sky, he felt uneasy for some reason.

Just then, he felt as if he had entered a radiance, becoming incomparably close to the lofty god.

"It's the god!"

Before he could rejoice or show a delighted smile, a series of images appeared.

Habil lay on the ground while Gobil, his face twisted viciously, raised the Stone in his hand high and smashed it down mercilessly...

Habil was dead...

"Habil!" Adan cried out in grief.

Beside him, Hawa looked at him worriedly.

Adan did not doubt the truth of it in the slightest. Furious and shocked, he rushed out into the rain.

Before long, he found Gobil at home.

"Where did your brother go?" he asked directly.

Gobil had already done something terrible. Faced with his father's sudden intrusion and questioning, he immediately panicked.

His face pale, he said frantically, "I'm not his keeper. How would I know where he went?"

"Your brother was bleeding everywhere. He was wailing, accusing you of killing him!" Adan said sorrowfully.

"No, no! I didn't!"

Gobil panicked completely. Under the stunned gazes of Hawa, who had followed Adan there, and his wife in the house, he backed away repeatedly, his face filled with terror.

Adan said woodenly, "The god let me know everything."

Gobil panicked completely and stumbled backward, knocking over many things along the way.

"The god... the god knows..."

"Hehe, of course... How could an all-knowing god not know..."

Gobil laughed bitterly, his expression collapsing.

It was not only because his father and the others knew, but because the god knew as well...

He collapsed onto the ground and wept in despair. "I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to, no..."

He felt regret.

Adan's face remained blank.

Hawa and Gobil's wife covered their mouths, their faces full of disbelief.

Rumble. Lightning flashed at the horizon.

Adan stared blankly at the sky.

The thunder in his ears became increasingly deafening, as if the god were raging. The wind and rain outside grew fiercer, as if the god were grieving as well.

Before long, the entire tribe was shocked.

Gobil had actually been driven out of the tribe!

He was expelled with his wife and some followers...

Adan stood atop a hill, watching Gobil, who had been expelled from the tribe, lead his people northward. His face was filled with sorrow.

Su Qi floated in the air nearby and sighed softly.

Suddenly, the scene before his eyes blurred, and everything changed rapidly.

Time passed swiftly. Soon, more than three hundred years had gone by.

Adan's tribe grew increasingly prosperous, but in contrast, his life was nearing its end.

Watching the world change in an instant before him, Su Qi had more or less grown used to it.

Yet the final notification made him pause in surprise.

Turning in midair, he began searching for Adan.

Before long, he found the person he was looking for inside a wooden house packed tightly and surrounded by a sea of people.

Inside the spacious wooden house.

Adan, with a head full of white hair and a face covered in wrinkles, so old that he was barely recognizable, lay dying on a wooden bed.

Sitting beside the bed was Hawa, equally old, with tears glistening in her eyes.

From inside the house to outside it, their descendants stood everywhere. Every face was filled with sorrow, and crying could be heard all around.

Adan lay on the bed, dying and close to death, yet his eyes were filled with wisdom.