Greedy Truth!

"I want you to submit to me."

"."

The atmosphere of the pure white space froze instantly upon Imu's words.

The 'Truth' stood there, seemingly petrified.

It seemed completely unable to believe what it was hearing, and after a moment, it said emotionlessly, "I thought you were a wise and calm person, but I didn't expect you to be another arrogant and conceited fellow."

Imu didn't get angry after hearing this, but looked at the other person with some confusion.

"Is the knowledge of a New World —no, if we include the knowledge of countless other worlds in the future, that's practically infinite cosmic knowledge—not enough to make you submit?"

"I see, it seems you've misunderstood something."

Upon hearing Imu's words, 'Truth' immediately realized he had misunderstood as well, and grinned, saying, "I ask you, do those universes and knowledge belong to you?"

"No."

Imu denied it thoughtfully, then said, "But wasn't it because I agreed to go through the Star Gate that you were able to enter this world and access that knowledge?"

"So all I need to pay is a price equivalent to 'passing through the Star Gate,' because only the Star Gate belongs to you, and things that don't belong to you can't be exchanged for me."

"Truth" answered calmly.

"And the mere value of 'passing through the Star Gate's is far from enough to make me submit to you. I am, after all, a universal Truth, the entirety of the universe, the oneness of the universe."

"If that's the case, then I refuse to allow you to pass through the Star Gate."

Imu didn't argue further; clearly, the other party wasn't going to back down on this matter. He then said, "But I can exchange something of equal value with you— Otherworld knowledge you don't know!"

'Truth,' who had initially intended to say something after hearing Imu's first statement, fell silent upon hearing the next one.

A long time.

It uttered two words: cunning!

Imu meant that he wouldn't make a one-off deal with it.

Instead of letting it freely absorb the unknown knowledge of the Otherworld after paying its 'ticket', it is allowed to carry that knowledge with it and exchange it with itself time and time again.

This approach is incredibly inefficient when it comes to obtaining 'Truth'.

However, for Imu and the World Government, they can maximize the value of 'Truth' and keep the initiative completely in their own hands.

When to exchange and what to exchange are basically all decided by themselves, while 'Truth' can only passively wait and accept.

Such 'inequality' is something 'Truth' would naturally want to reject.

But it worried that if it spoke too definitively, Imu would cut off any possibility of trading with it.

Although most people probably wouldn't do that.

But based on our interactions so far, Imu's thought process is clearly Taiyi from the Alchemists we've met before.

"Hehe, this is just one of the exchange methods I've offered you."

Imu paid no attention to the cunning assessment made by 'Truth', as he considered cunning to be a positive term.

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, 'Truth' was greatly encouraged and quickly asked, "What else?"

It failed to notice that the entire conversation was being dominated by Imu, or perhaps it simply didn't care and was only focused on achieving its own goals.

"I can agree to let you enter another world through the Star Gate, and then absorb the knowledge of those worlds as you wish, but you must exchange it for several promises that you must keep."

Imu voiced his somewhat hesitant thoughts.

"What promise?"

'Truth' became curious.

Imu said calmly, "For the first Star Gate, I need your promise not to do anything in any form or manner that harms or hinders me, the World Government, or the Sea Star."

Truth remained silent once again.

"You're really bold... cautious to an absurd degree. But didn't you say you didn't trust me? So, can you trust my promises?"

"I don't really believe it," Imu nodded.

"However, it seems that making you make this promise doesn't cost me anything. If it's false, then nothing has changed, and everything remains the same."

"But if it's true, then wouldn't I have ample security?"

"As for the knowledge you obtained, just as you said before, it never belonged to me and I couldn't control it, so what's there to regret?"

There was one last thing he didn't say.

That is to say, this Giant World is not the Sea Star World, so it's not a big deal to let 'Truth' in.

Moreover, he has been living here for more than two years, and it won't be long before he meets the conditions for 'Star Fate' and brings it completely under his control.

Looking at it again, 'Truth' cannot take away its 'Star Map' and 'Star Gate'; it can only discuss it with itself.

This shows that it is helpless against the 'Star Map'.

Once 'Star Fate' covers the Giant World, it's uncertain who will ultimately be in charge.

Therefore, he believed that this transaction would not result in a loss, and both parties would achieve their goals.

"All right."

Even 'Truth' had to admit that this was indeed a way to lower Imu's guard and achieve a win-win situation.

"You mentioned the first Star Gate before. For the subsequent Star Gate, shouldn't I need to make some kind of commitment?"

"That's right."

Imu nodded again and smiled, "When you need to enter the second Star Gate, I hope you'll promise to fight for me with all your might at any time!"

"Hehehe, it seems you haven't given up on making me submit to you."

The word 'Truth' was used in a mocking tone.

"It's not about surrendering, it's about finding a guardian for myself."

Imu shook his head in denial this time.

"After all, we will definitely encounter beings like you in the future. But if we haven't grown up by then, and they aren't as reasonable as you, it will be a catastrophe."

'Truth' also thought it made sense; Imu's idea was correct.

"Alright."

"However, I must remind you that I'm not very good at fighting. If that day ever comes, I'll do my best." It emphasized the words "do my best."

"Can."

Imu was already very satisfied, which made his smile even brighter; to him, this was more important than gaining any knowledge.

"Alright, you can make your first promise now, please."

A few minutes later.

In the pure white space, only 'Truth' and the enormous stone gate remained. It looked at the spot where Imu had stood and chuckled softly.

"Nerona Imu, the ruler of the Sea Star World Government, is quite an interesting fellow."

It is in a very good mood right now.

After all, they were about to gain new knowledge within a new universe, and there would be even more universes and knowledge waiting for them in the future—how could they not be happy?

Whether Imu made a profit or a loss is unknown.

But it's definitely a huge profit!

However, this only made it more curious about the 'Star Gate' that Imu possessed, and its own 'Power of Truth' was completely ineffective against it.

Yes.

It had actually made a tentative move against Imu long ago, but it was silently blocked by the 'Star Map'.

Outside.

Imu, who had reappeared beside the azure lake, looked solemnly at the latest notification that had just appeared on the 'Star Map'.

[Information communication has been detected between the planet you named 'Sea Star World' and other star sectors. It has been confirmed that the communication terminal originates from the star sector where you named 'Teigu World'. Would you like to isolate it?]

"I see. This 'Truth' can not only connect with me through alchemy, but also with the Alchemists within the Sea Star."

Imu thought to himself.

The reason why the Star Map didn't give any warning when 'Truth' pulled him into the pure white space might be because this Giant World hadn't yet been covered by 'Star Fate'.

If it is not covered, it cannot provide the 'isolation' function.

The reason why 'Truth' is secretly contacting the Alchemists inside the Sea Star is because...

They probably wanted to obtain some special knowledge about the Sea Star World in advance by instructing one of the Alchemists, but they didn't expect that the 'Star Fate' function would detect it.

"This 'Truth' is truly greedy for knowledge; having just allowed it into this Giant World, it's secretly reaching out to other worlds."

Imu sneered, and at the same time gave his decision directly to 'Star Map'.

Sea Star was his stronghold; how could he tolerate being infiltrated and spied on at will?

"Isolation!"

A huge thank you to wszwb for the 5000 Qidian Coin reward! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement!