The dim backdrop, flickering candlelight, and draped hood. Though his full face could not be seen, Carl perfectly matched Yuan's imagined image of Death God Karl.
After Carl spoke, the command center fell completely silent. Yuan had not expected that a casual remark would actually bait Carl out.
"Hiss!" Yuan's expression remained calm, but inwardly, he drew a sharp breath.
"D-d-d!" The guards behind Bruis kept trembling, irritating Yuan slightly.
"Quiet!" Yuan snapped mercilessly at those behind him, drawing Carl's gaze as well.
"Taotie? Heh heh, Taotie." Just the slightest change in tone brought immense pressure upon Bruis and the other two.
"My God Carl!" Bruis's voice turned hoarse. He did not know how to face this supreme god, the god who had led the Taotie Civilization for tens of thousands of years.
"Oh? Am I still your god?" A faint glimmer passed through Carl's eyes as she listened to Bruis's cry.
"Of course. You have always been the supreme and unrivaled god of the Taotie Civilization, my God, Your Excellency Carl."
His tone was unwaveringly resolute, and Bruis's words seemed to make Carl's gaze less cold.
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I... I... we are..." Bruis stammered, not knowing what to say to Carl.
"Tsk tsk, a god whose reputation resounds far and wide really is this oppressive. Bruis, have you forgotten what I said? You have no secrets before a god. There is nothing shameful about having aspirations. What is shameful is not even daring to admit them yourself."
"Heh heh, you are right." Carl greatly appreciated Yuan's performance. "You are a qualified scholar. Perhaps you will also become an outstanding god."
"We want to advance too!" Bruis let out a deep sigh. His eyes were still filled with fear, but there was no way back now. Rather than die trembling in fear, he would rather face death with a bang.
"For 2,700 years, you led us through every stage from a primitive civilization to an Astral Civilization. We revered you, served you, and created death for you. We have lived this way for tens of thousands of years.
We want to advance too. We want to witness the sights of God-making civilizations too. That is why today happened."
Under the horrified gazes of the Taotie soldiers behind him, Bruis straightened his back. His eyes no longer concealed the ambition in his heart, nor his yearning for God-making civilizations.
"We do not seek godhood, but we crave strength. We pursue power. We pursue death. You chose this, my God. You carved it into our genes, yet tightly restricted us."
"Tools should look like tools. Out-of-control tools should either be discarded or destroyed." Carl's gaze was icy at that moment, and a terrifying aura spread through everyone's hearts.
Yuan watched the scene before him indifferently. If Carl wanted to kill them, she would have done so long ago. Why wait until now? What did this great god not know? Why was she babbling on to them like this?
Stalling for time? Yuan could not help mocking himself at the thought. Why would she need to stall for time against them? Could she not just summon a star and blow them up?
Stalling for time? Stalling for time? Yuan's heart skipped violently as he recalled the mural detected by the probe.
Under a clear blue sky, God's creation spun at high speed, and disaster descended. Those words repeated themselves several times in Yuan's mind. Suddenly, he seemed to understand something.
Yuan's expression changed drastically. Both hands slammed heavily onto the table. His immense strength directly blasted the command console apart, and the earth-shaking explosion stunned everyone.
Carl, who had originally looked stern and cold, blinked several times and curiously looked around, seemingly wondering where the explosion had come from.
"Thud! Clink-clank!" A small device slipped from Bruis's hand and lightly chimed by their ears.
Carl's expression changed. She abruptly turned to look behind her. The battleship's main cannon was emitting wisps of green smoke, and the ruins had been blasted into fragments by the main cannon.
The three-ring structure within the hourglass cone had gone from spinning at high speed to a complete standstill.
"What are you doing?" Carl asked, enunciating every word.
"Hey, at a time like this, you are still asking what I am doing? Death God Karl, what have you been stalling for time for?" Yuan's tone was utterly unconcerned.
"You know what I intend to do?"
"Not at all." Yuan spread his hands, looking helplessly at the astonished Death God before him.
"But I know you definitely do not want things to go well for me right now. Whether it is a well-intentioned test or a malicious probe, I want neither. So, since this place is useless anyway, I might as well blow it up."
Good grief, truly good grief. Carl was so angry that she laughed. Did he really not worry about how things would end if he angered her? Or did he simply not want the benefits anymore? Then who had that money-grubber act been for earlier?
"You're testing me again!" Anger appeared in Carl's voice for the first time.
"Ah, yes, Death God. Please forgive me. I am simply too weak. When I become a God King someday, I will definitely be completely honest with you."
Seeing Yuan's innocent expression, Carl was angered into laughter once more. Completely honest? More likely he would come bearing her head.
"How did you know?" That was right, another test from Yuan. He was testing what state the projection before him was actually in.
Was it a god's avatar, a simple logic program, or some kind of virus? Most importantly, could she access the Dark Dimension? Could she perform another terrifying Great Worm Bridge operation?
The previous appearance of the Jade Wall had not dispelled Yuan's doubts. Perhaps the Jade Wall had already been programmed with its contents, which was why it could suddenly appear and float at Carl's beckoning.
That was why he had handed the interface over to Bruis. Under the pretext of moving supplies, Bruis had severed many information connections aboard the battleship and converted the main cannon to manual mode.
When Yuan realized Carl was stalling for time, he remembered the so-called divine might depicted in the mural. Whether it was a weapon or a test, Yuan wanted neither.
Even if he blew up the wrong thing and lost valuable data, he did not care. Scholars might be greedy for knowledge, but staying alive meant being able to covet more. No matter how things turned out, taking a gamble would not make things worse, so why not?
That was how the scene before them came to be. The facts proved that Yuan had gambled correctly. The Carl before him lacked the ability to control the Dark Dimension, or perhaps she was too far away, or perhaps she was constrained by something.
That was right, Carl did not want to make a big commotion. Under Holy Kaisha's suppression, she did not want to expose too much at this juncture.
What was more, the changes in the Great Worm Bridge had already drawn the Angel Civilization's attention. At that moment, even Death God Karl had to praise Yuan for choosing his timing so well.
Carl clapped her hands, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.
"Yuan, you are truly impressive. You have learned all the knowledge of the Taotie Civilization. In a sense, I can be considered your teacher as well. Today, I will teach you a lesson."
"Of course. It is my honor. Please enlighten me."
"A weak person's test will always remain only a test. It shatters at the slightest touch. Look, it has awakened."
With that, a pillar of light shot into the sky above the ruins.
"Roar!"
Before you continue