Human Evil Manifests

Sure enough! There was a huge problem here!

The eerie glow in Lin Xian's Serpent Eyes flickered, and even his movements in coordinating with his owner to create Spear Cages were no longer as smooth as before.

During the Age of Gods in Ancient Babylon, this notoriously fierce Heroic King had been capable of tearing true gods apart with his bare hands.

It could be said that more magical beasts and gods had died at his hands than Lin Xian had ever seen, and even the gods themselves had been helpless against him.

A monster standing at the top of the food chain would never let down his guard, even while sleeping in the wilderness. Otherwise, he would have died seven or eight hundred times over on his journey to find the Immortal Herb!

But in the end, a snake he could have crushed to death with a flick of his finger had somehow approached Gilgamesh with ease and stolen the Immortal Herb that could grant him eternal life?

Something was wrong. Very wrong!

Earlier, with life and death hanging in the balance, Lin Xian had had no time to think about anything else. Now that he had calmed down and considered it carefully, the entire matter felt deeply strange.

Besides, there were two more doubts.

First, this herb could grant immortality and primarily worked by restoring the body.

Then why had the Primordial Serpent's soul completely collapsed during the shedding process?

Second, where had a snake that did not even qualify as a magical beast found the nerve to snatch food from the jaws of a freak like Gilgamesh?

And according to the records of "Gilgamesh," the Heroic King had not taken the slightest revenge afterward, while that snake had vanished without a trace.

Given Ancient Babylon's culture of "an eye for an eye," wasn't Gilgamesh's reaction far too mild?

The victim remained calm and silent...

The "criminal," who had taken enormous risks, suffered soul collapse and disappeared...

A word gradually surfaced in Lin Xian's mind—

"Scapegoat"?

If so, all the previous doubts could be perfectly explained.

The reason the snake had been able to approach the sleeping Gilgamesh was that an existence at least on the same level had obscured the Heroic King's senses.

Then, the "criminal," driven by some force, stole the Immortal Herb from the Heroic King's possession.

Finally, the snake's soul had collapsed during its shedding.

That was equivalent to leaving no proof behind. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like the hidden figure had secretly silenced it!

Perhaps for this very reason, King Gilgamesh, upon awakening, had not furiously tried to kill this snake that had taken the blame for him.

Because this wise ruler, now in his middle years, had long understood that someone else had sabotaged his chance at rebirth.

Lin Xian narrowed his eyes as his thoughts raced.

Who had gone to such lengths to prevent Gilgamesh from attaining immortality?

Someone with both motive and ability to commit the crime seemed to be...

Suddenly, the ancient snake drew back its head and neck, cold sweat pouring down inside.

It seemed he had gotten tangled up in something truly terrible.

If things were really as he suspected, then according to the mastermind's plan, this snake meant to take the blame should already have suffered soul collapse and vanished without a trace.

But now, Lin Xian had taken advantage of the opening and become the new master of this body.

Then, once he returned to the surface, if he exposed anything unusual about himself, what followed would likely be ruthless extermination!

After being thrown into the godforsaken Underworld, he had been able to swagger around this place thanks to the protection of the goddess Ereshkigal.

That false sense of security had made him overlook the danger lurking in the darkness.

Now that Lin Xian had regained his sense of crisis, he felt both lingering fear and deep frustration.

Damn! I was obviously innocent! How had I somehow ended up with so many black pots on my head?

Forget it. I was destined to stand on Origin Mother Goddess Tiamat's side and help her return anyway. Sooner or later, I would draw the attention of those lofty beings.

Carrying one black pot was carrying one; carrying a pile of them was still carrying them.

The more debts you had, the less you worried. The more lice you had, the less you itched. Might as well accept it.

With things having reached this point, Lin Xian could only hypnotize himself and find amusement amid his misery.

Just as the ancient snake was lost in thought, his owner, who had been supervising the work, picked up a dark-red spear blank and knocked it against her pet's head, one hand on her hip as she gave a soft huff.

"It'll be dark soon. Stop slacking off and get to work!"

Lin Xian raised his tail and rubbed his struck head, then looked back at the thousands of empty Spear Cages around him, unable to suppress his confusion.

Driven by curiosity, the ancient snake worked while using his spare moments to carve cuneiform marks into a clay tablet he had found.

"Lady Ereshkigal, I can clearly see that there are still plenty of empty spaces in the Spear Cages. Why are you working so hard?"

The goddess, who was curling her fingers to solidify a Spear Cage, paused slightly. After hesitating for a moment and completing the activation of its inscription, she lowered her head and murmured softly.

"Soon, these won't be enough..."

"I must prepare in advance..."

Lin Xian's heart jumped, and the eerie light in his vertical pupils flickered.

Did that mean... Ereshkigal had long known that the kingdoms on the surface would soon suffer a catastrophe?

When the time came, would an immense number of souls flood into the Underworld?

"Enlil, the god of the atmosphere, will unleash a flood to scour the world. The magical beast Humbaba will bring blight that leaves crops barren. The Bull of Heaven Gurra will bring terrible Beast Calamity and drought..."

"Humans... they always suffer so many disasters..."

"The gods..."

Ereshkigal stood by the river of the dead, lightly biting her lower lip. As if she sensed something, she sighed faintly, her voice growing quieter and quieter as though she had some misgivings.

By the end, even the snake that had climbed up her jade-like neck and was peering around could no longer make out what she was saying.

"Do you like humans? Are you worried about them?"

Lin Xian rolled up the clay tablet and held it before Ereshkigal's eyes.

"Of course not! Humans are merely tools created to serve and entertain us. The gods would never care about a tool's feelings!"

Ereshkigal looked embarrassed and hurriedly stiffened her face, flatly denying it as her smooth, jade-like chin tilted up proudly.

Hmph. What an untruthful woman.

Lin Xian flicked his tongue, an amused smile appearing in his vertical pupils.

But after that brief teasing, the ancient snake gradually furrowed his brow.

According to the established history in his memories, someone called Demon God King Goetia would come to cause trouble in the near future.

He would cross the Sea of Imaginary Numbers and stuff a high-purity mass of magical energy known as the "Holy Grail" into the World Bubble before him.

After that, Mother Goddess Tiamat would be awakened and return, destroying Ancient Babylon, the origin era that had given rise to human civilization, thereby erasing the continuation of human order at its roots and restarting Earth.

But what made Lin Xian suspicious was that Demon God King Goetia was certainly powerful, yet in this era, the connection between gods and humans had not yet been completely severed.

Yet until the very end, neither Sky God Anu, Earth God Ea, and Enlil of the Triad of Gods, nor King of Kings Marduk, who had once defeated Tiamat, had ever appeared.

Combined with Ereshkigal's earlier murmurings, it seemed certain forces had been deliberately pushing these layers of crises into being.

What purpose did all the players behind this have, and what roles were each of them playing? Lin Xian had no way of knowing.

But one thing was certain: he would never allow Mother Goddess Tiamat to plunge into this muddy mess without understanding anything.

Because this Origin Goddess, unable to control her own power, would act only on instinct and ultimately become a tool exploited by those behind the scenes.

Moreover, Lin Xian could clearly feel that the goddess abandoned by the world still deeply loved this land and the lives she had given birth to.

He, who had received her favor so deeply, was the best proof!

Just as Lin Xian was deep in thought, a strange rhythm descended from the heavens and pierced straight into the heart of the earth. Then, rings of golden ripples exploded across the dark mountains in the distance of the Underworld.

"What place is that?"

Lin Xian scratched out the words, his expression tense and uneasy.

Ereshkigal's voice was dry, and a heavy shadow fell across her face.

"Gilgamesh's grave for his dearest friend. What is sealed inside is..."

"The Chains of Heaven—Enkidu!"

In an instant, a silver-white chain tipped with an arrow-shaped, razor-sharp spearhead tore through layers of death mist and shot toward the surface.

That dazzling Golden Pillar of Light bored an invisible hole between heaven and earth.

At the same time, Lin Xian's mind buzzed. The anchoring line, one end tightly bound to Goddess Tiamat and the other rooted in his soul, suddenly tightened.

As the ancient snake looked upward, his flower-patterned vertical pupils pierced across countless barriers and faintly saw a sight that made his heart tremble.

The towering figure rising from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers seemed to have received some kind of summons and crushed toward the hole forming in the World Wall, while surging black tides swept away everything!

This time, the trouble was huge!

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