"Yo-heave-ho!"
"Yo-heave-ho!"
The Taotie each operated machinery, carrying out repairs according to the procedures, positions, and precision specified by the systems in their tactical visors.
"Hey, sir. Do you think the scanning system got it wrong? Why does it feel a little crooked to me?"
Bruis, who heard that, shot him an irritated glare.
"Your Excellency could get your gender wrong before the Supercomputer could be wrong. Don't use that brain of yours—the kind that would make even a dung beetle cry—to question the Supercomputer. Keep spouting nonsense, and I'll send you mining too!"
"Hehe, exactly. This guy barely slept last night. Who knows what he was doing?"
"Hahahaha, probably researching the feasibility of studying live VR Simulation Rooms in the central system database."
"Move it, hurry up. There's only this little bit left. Get a move on, or the commander will catch you. He's been mining so much lately that his face has gone black. Watch out, or you'll be in for it."
Having witnessed Yuan's abilities and learned that they could now leave this planet, the Taotie, who had long been stifled by their circumstances, threw themselves into their work.
Even if we can't become gods in the future, this experience alone should be enough to make us badass super soldiers, right?
The Taotie happily thought to themselves. They had heard from the instructors that powerful super soldiers could live for tens of thousands of years.
Whenever they thought of that, they all felt that life was becoming more and more promising.
Without anyone noticing, Yuan's status and prestige rose rapidly. Even Cole failed to realize it, feeling only that everything was perfectly natural.
In less than a month, with the Supercomputer's support, they quickly completed the repairs to the warship.
Although roughly half its systems and sectors were still offline, it no longer affected the warship's normal flight safety.
"Where is Your Excellency?" Cole asked.
"On the hill behind us. Since we're about to leave, he's probably saying goodbye."
"Divine River Bodies are always so indecisive. Even after becoming gods, they're still the same." The latter remark was almost inaudible, but Bruis beside him heard every word.
"Commander, don't you think a god like that is the one worth following?"
"What do you mean?"
"Since we've found a new god, and a merciful, generous one at that, why shouldn't we support him?"
Bruis's blunt words made Cole's expression change drastically. He pointed at Bruis and shouted angrily.
"Bruis! Your thinking is dangerous. Put away that idiotic idea. We're finally about to climb out of one pit of fire, and you want us to jump into another?"
"What pit of fire? Where is this pit of fire?" Bruis unexpectedly showed his sharp edge, refusing to yield in the slightest before Cole's rebuke.
"You! How dare you!" Cole stared at Bruis in disbelief, trembling with rage as if he were looking at a stranger.
"Look around, Commander. Times have changed. Look at these Taotie. They have names, flesh and blood, emotions.
They're no longer blindly chasing that damned death and damned mechanical modification. Living like neither men nor ghosts. Oh, no, that's wrong. We stopped being men long ago! We're ghosts—evil ghosts with engine oil flowing through our bodies."
"This is what we've pursued for hundreds of years! The future of Taotie Civilization rests on my shoulders. Mine, not yours!" Cole roared, his eyes bloodshot as though he wanted to tear Bruis apart alive.
"Did Your Excellency's words from a year ago still not wake you up? Or have you been running from the truth all along?
We're merely an Astral Civilization, an Astral Civilization whose genes and civilization have been locked down. What capability did King Taohuo have? What technology did he possess that could so easily evade the Academy's technological blockade and the Great Clock's brainwashing?
Heh, a pursuit of hundreds of years? Was it truly our pursuit, or merely the king's self-delusion?
Who did he think he was? The King of Demons or the King of Angels?"
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
"Completely side with Your Excellency. We had no choice before, but now a new hope has appeared. Respected Commander Cole, we all want a bright future."
"You don't want freedom anymore?" Cole's voice had returned to calm, as though he had been persuaded and no longer felt anything.
"What freedom is there? Even the Demon Queen was hunted down by angels. Compared to freedom, we would rather see hope."
"That day, you nearly cut off our hope. Commander Cole, wake up.
The so-called plan of hundreds of years may have been a joke, but the result was good, wasn't it?"
"You were pretending to be stupid that day." Bruis's sudden toughness made Cole feel as though he had been a complete clown before.
"Whether I was pretending or not doesn't matter. What matters is that they can all have a bright future, isn't it?
Taotie Civilization is already gone. It was gone from the day Death God Karl chose it."
"You bastard, you're courting death!" Bruis's words made Cole, who had seemed to calm down, explode in an instant.
"Whoosh!" A faint light lit up on the right arm of his armor as Cole's fist shot toward Bruis's face with a thunderous blast.
Bruis had long guessed that Cole might lose control, so he was not surprised. But he had not intended to fight back. He merely flipped open the tactical visor over his head, using it to block Cole's fist.
The sound of air tearing apart echoed through the silent warship. Bruis was knocked down by a single punch, and the immense force smashed a huge dent into the ultra-alloy wall.
"I don't have Your Excellency's ability to force you to calm down. I can only let you vent and blow off some steam. So, are you calm now?" Bruis's voice dripped with mockery.
"Bruis, you really are looking to die."
"Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang!" Amid a burst of clashing metal, numerous Taotie entered Cole's field of vision.
"Commander, what are you two doing? Sparring?"
"What are you all doing here?" The glow on Cole's armor faded, and the rage on his face eased.
He did not want to expose their thoughts in front of so many people. That would not be a good thing.
"Hey, we heard an explosion coming from here. We thought something had gone wrong with the warship, so we brought our equipment."
As he spoke, one of them raised a molecular repair gun in his hand, while another lifted the huge ore he was carrying.
Seeing Bruis lying on the ground, the others seemed to sense the subtle tension between the two. They exchanged looks, then began making a racket.
"You fucking idiot, is waste engine oil flowing through your body? You're not even wearing armor—what makes you think you can repair anything?"
"Bullshit, I'm just a miner. Why would I know how to fix things? Is the visor on your head useless? Do you use it to watch porn or something?"
For a moment, the previously tense compartment filled with cheer.
Bruis saw through their intentions and raised a hand to stop their well-meaning act.
"Enough. All of you, get back to work. Hurry up and calibrate the warship. We're leaving once Your Excellency returns."
"Yes, Commander."
As the crowd withdrew, Cole's face was filled with sarcasm.
"So this is what you chose, Commander?"
"You know this isn't what I want. Do you see it, Commander Cole? This is the closest we have ever been to hope. Everyone wants change. What about you? Are you still going to break it?" Bruis slowly rose from the floor.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Cole breathed heavily, desperately suppressing the anger in his heart. With the tense atmosphere broken, he had no desire to strike again.
"I will no longer interfere with you, but remember this: I will not give up the God-Slaying Spear. It is our final safeguard."
With that, he turned to leave.
"You have always been so wise." Bruis softly said behind him, then followed him toward the command hall.
"Whoa, that was exciting. The fight scene was a little too short, though. Not thrilling enough. Without that armor, Bruis's brains would have been knocked out by that punch."
Yuan had been saying his final goodbyes to his grandmother when Qiming's voice interrupted his thoughts.
Then the image of Cole and Bruis arguing began playing on his tactical visor.
"Ha, this universe really is full of clever people. Are they truly going to side with me, or are they testing me?"
A foxlike smile curled across Yuan's lips.
"Don't make any stupid choices, or I'll beat you to death."
Before you continue