My Name Is Yuan! A Lucky Scholar!

"You will be a generous god."

Yuan neither confirmed nor denied Cole's remark. He did not even know what state he was in now, but he understood that he was not yet a technological god of the known universe—or rather, not a complete one.

Seeing Yuan remain silent, Cole took a deep breath and began explaining the Taotie Civilization's current situation.

Tens of thousands of years ago, the Taotie Civilization had been an extremely primitive Beastman Civilization. As losers of the Form War, they had not even qualified to participate and had been restricted to cowering on a tiny planet.

Until that day, when Carl's arrival shattered that situation. Having inherited part of the legacy of the Divine River Civilization and the Super Seminary, Carl brought the Taotie an opportunity to evolve.

Like a packaged service, Carl had provided the Taotie with a complete one-stop solution. She gave them technology far beyond their civilization's level, even granting them some God-Slaying Weapons.

But fate's gifts had always come with a marked price. The Taotie Civilization had advanced too smoothly and too quickly. Carl had even preached to the Taotie through a series of methods, completely cutting off their path forward and sealing their potential forever.

Cole and the others could not understand many of those methods. What they did not know was that from the moment the Void Doctrine had been implanted, the Taotie Civilization had become synonymous with death.

They brought death to others while walking toward death themselves.

"So you mean that she preached in name, but actually used some unknown technological method to brainwash you?"

"That's right. The knowledge of God-making civilizations is beyond my understanding. Perhaps, without realizing it, I had already ceased to be myself." Cole looked at the soldiers behind him, his expression extremely complicated.

Yuan seemed to have grown tired of sitting and shifted his posture, lightly tapping his fingers on the table.

"Forgive me for being blunt, but if the Taotie have already been brainwashed by Carl, how did you develop the thought of rebellion? Does Carl's technology have a flaw?"

Cole shook his head, denying Yuan's question.

"I don't know. I don't understand. We only know that our branch of the Taotie is different from the current Taotie Civilization. Too much time has passed, and we have very little information.

"According to our speculation, we should be backup genetic prototypes left behind by some ancestor, which later began reproducing. To keep the secret, every mechanical shell was implanted with a Cognitive Filter. This was a modification ritual personally supervised by King Shihu—the liquid metal flowing beneath our armor was the camouflage layer used to cover our original genes.

"Likewise, to conceal ourselves, we fought even harder than the other Taotie, remaining active on the front lines of war and never daring to enter the central region of the Styx Galaxy. Only the king went to the academy, but he never participated and knew nothing of our actions."

"There are no secrets!"

"What?"

Yuan's abrupt words interrupted Cole's account. He removed his faceplate, rubbed his brow, and said,

"There have never been any secrets. You only thought you had concealed yourselves well because Carl simply did not care.

"Or rather, she found it entertaining!"

"Entertaining?" Cole opened his mouth, seemingly unsure what to think.

"This little village was so desolate. When I was young, there were hardly any children my age around, so I was terribly bored."

Yuan's sudden change of topic left the Taotie beside him bewildered, unable to understand what he was trying to say.

"Do you know what I liked to do when I was bored? Watch ants!"

"I would place a few grains of rice beside them. When an ant saw the food, it would circle around several times. Once it realized there was no danger nearby or figured out how much food there was, it would return to its nest and call more ants.

"When they were about to enter the nest, I would pour a bowl of water over them and feel very happy. Destroying hope, giving others despair. That sounds a little harsh, but when it came to something we had never cared about, that was simply entertainment."

As he spoke, Yuan looked at the terrified Cole, a faint smile on his face.

"To Carl, you were never a secret. Perhaps she merely wanted to wipe you all out in one sweep, or perhaps she was simply looking for amusement."

"No, that's impossible. Impossible!" At that moment, Cole completely lost control of his emotions.

Bang! "You're lying to me! You must be lying to me!" Cole slammed both hands heavily onto the table, producing a tremendous sound.

His eyes were bloodshot, and the way he looked at Yuan was as crazed as a wild beast. The Taotie soldiers behind him did not dare step forward and could only exchange uneasy looks.

"What? You're no longer calling me Your Excellency? Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. There really is truth to that."

"If everything is fake, why should I keep pretending? You're only fit to smell the farts of my god, Carl!" Cole's eyes brimmed with violence. Yuan's words had destroyed the conviction he had clung to for centuries.

"Look, you're still invoking your god's name even now. So yes, you really need to calm down."

With that, blue light flared in Yuan's eyes as he sat in his chair. With a wave of his right hand, a small wormhole appeared above Cole's head, its other end connected to the river where Yuan usually drew water.

A huge volume of river water poured from the wormhole, like a small waterfall enveloping Cole.

"Freeze." Yuan slowly spoke the two words.

"Screech! Screech!" The evaporation of Dark Energy rapidly carried away a massive amount of heat. Soon, an ice sculpture appeared, and Yuan casually closed the wormhole above Cole's head.

"I had wanted to make you experience free-falling through a wormhole, but it seemed to get stuck. Fortunately, I can easily manipulate water with such a simple composition. My body must still be missing something."

Looking at the ice sculpture before him, Yuan muttered to himself.

"Y-Your Excellency, the commander..."

The soldiers beside him watched the out-of-control scene, unsure what to do. They could only push one another back and forth.

In the end, the medical officer could not withstand everyone's shoving and was helplessly pushed to the front.

The warship's weapon systems had already been paralyzed, and its energy was nearly exhausted. Facing Yuan as he was now, they did not know what attitude they should take.

"Don't worry. I drink from this river often. It's very clean. Look at how clear this ice is!"

"Uh, I mean the commander..."

"That matters even less. It's only ordinary ice. By releasing Dark Energy, it took away the surrounding heat. Ice formed this way is very brittle. He'll break free soon enough."

Yuan shook his head, deeply dissatisfied with his earlier control of the Dark Dimension. He felt he should have been able to do more, and do it more smoothly.

Activating the wormhole had merely triggered a very small portion of the energy patterns in the Gene Chain. Freezing Cole had only evaporated the Dark Energy mixed into the wormhole.

"What am I missing? I wanted Cole to pass through the wormhole, yet he got stuck and could not move. But the river water could pass through. There must be something missing?"

Bang!

Just as Yuan lowered his head in thought, Cole broke free from the ice. The ice covering his body shattered, though fortunately, his gaze seemed to have regained its calm.

"Calmed down?" Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at the somewhat embarrassed Cole.

"Mm."

"Are all you Taotie as stubborn as you?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"Why do you care whether she's doing it for amusement? She's a god, and the god who led your Taotie to develop. By the rules of your Beastman Civilization, doesn't the biggest fist determine the truth?

"What? You took the benefits, and now you want to deny the debt?"

"No. They were controlled, constantly waging war and creating death to please my god, Carl. Those who create death will inevitably be devoured by death. I cannot stand by and watch our civilization head toward destruction."

"Didn't Carl leave it unspoken?" Yuan gave him a meaningful look.

"????"

"Hasn't Carl always ignored your existence? As long as she does not lay it bare, there is still a chance for everything." As he spoke, Yuan extended his right hand, the faintest blue light glowing in the depths of his eyes, his face full of smiles.

"My name is Yuan, a scholar fortunate enough to walk the path of knowledge. I need companions."

Hearing this, the previously impassioned Cole suddenly seemed like a child who had finally been acknowledged.

"S-Sorry, Your Excellency. Do we... do we still have a chance?"

Yuan said nothing, merely smiling at him.

Cole viciously wiped his right hand, revealing the same unrestrained smile on his face as he stammered,

"Y-Your Excellency, my name is Cole, senior commander of the Taotie Civilization. It is an honor to walk alongside you!"

Time stood still here, and a new sacred chapter of the known universe began!

(I ask for the support of all passing readers. Even tossing in a little support when you have time would be appreciated. I ask for everything! Thank you for being here!)