The Grand Gift for the Water Chief Sovereign
Vivian smiled. "Lincoln, don't make promises you can't keep. You mean any request?"
Lincoln smiled too, his voice warm with amusement but edged with chill. "Generally speaking, yes. But let me make one thing clear: if anyone thinks they're strong enough to ask for something I can't possibly give, they shouldn't blame me for being ruthless."
"What if the person beating the drum deliberately makes things difficult for us?" a Chief God asked.
Lincoln smiled. "The Chainis Material Plane may not be vast, but it's easy enough to find a few ninth-rank warriors. You can all choose the person who'll beat the drum yourselves."
Vivian smiled. "There's no need to go to all that trouble. He's only a ninth-rank warrior. Even if you gave him all the help in the world, how could he possibly figure out when we're passing the flower?"
Just as the Chief Gods were getting ready, a Divine Sense suddenly swept over them. Several Chief Gods familiar with the presence spoke in unison. "Palhouse? What's he doing here?"
Sure enough, before long, a streak of blue-green light cut across the sky and landed, revealing Palhouse, with his green hair and round face. He smiled at everyone present, several of whom were Chief Gods he knew.
Lincoln and Palhouse exchanged a knowing smile. Lincoln made a point of saying, "Palhouse, weren't you traveling through the Material Planes and planning to return only when the Plane War began?"
Palhouse shook his head and sighed. "The Material Planes these days are practically all battlefields. I can keep the ordinary Deities in line, but every Material Plane I visit is left in ruins. Even after I subdue those Deities, it takes a long time for the scenery to recover. It ruins my