Chapter 466

"That's settled then. Let's eliminate the five races first, open the Path to Heaven, and fight against that Divine Race in our full glory, seize the Divine Torch, and reshape the rules."

This is a summary and a roadmap for the future, which Abdulas was in the audience, also agreed with.

"Angels, Magical Beasts, machines, and humans unite—who will get the vacant spot?" Skywing remained indifferent, showing no sign of agitation.

"Let's use the process of elimination. There aren't many Orcs left. I showed mercy before, so wiping them out won't take much effort." Yuki held up a finger, a foreshadowing left before the recall.

"The Undead must also be eliminated. You don't want them to obtain the Divine Torch and reshape the rules, do you?"

Tianyi Chang and Machine Soul shook their heads. The Undead was carrying out their will of 'death,' allowing them to reshape the rules, so that no one could survive.

"However, the undead are reborn from death and are difficult to kill, so we can deal with them last. The rest are elves, Dwarves, sirens, and insects." Yuki wrote down the names of several races, feeling like the King of Hell writing in the Book of Life and Death, and circled 'Elves'.

"They want to join, but there's a dead end: the assistants assigned to their race are too incompetent, and the elves simply can't accept them."

Reputation is an objective evaluation. Even if the Elven Queen were to physically link with you against her conscience, it wouldn't matter. You have to rely on building merits or, like Hiyori and others, taking unconventional paths to be accepted by your race.

The former requires strength and courage, while the latter requires skill and luck. It seems that there are no players with the 'Moonlit Demon Wolf' skill right now.

"Give them some time; only one of these four races can join the alliance." Skywing Chief's opening statement was a death sentence with a reprieve. Without an alliance pact, who would dare entrust their back to the Long-Eared Monsters?

"I do have an idea about that. Let the elves and Dwarves go to war, and let their allies gain merit in the war and regain their trust," Yuki said slowly, casually drawing an X over the Dwarves.

This wasn't because he'd been hit by a Dwarves nuclear bomb and was taking revenge; the Machine Soul immediately provided the reason.

"The Dwarves are characterized by 'stubbornness,' 'isolation,' and 'a thirst for revenge.' Every race has killed dwarves. If they have a chance to obtain the Divine Torch, none of us will escape unscathed."

This was a death sentence for the Dwarves. The reason these four races were seated at the round table was because of their understanding of each other.

Angels are proud, Magical Beasts are independent, the Machine Race is known for its rationality, and humans are even more 'friendly'. In recent years, they have only been concerned with self-preservation and have not made enemies with any race. They can accept whoever gets the Divine Torch.

But some races are different.

"I agree. The Divine Torch signifies the rules of the future, and in order to avoid repeating past mistakes, we cannot take any risks." Skywing nodded slightly, having already ruled out the 'Elves' in his mind; these long-eared monsters were far too suspicious.

"Elves and Dwarves have always been enemies, let them fight it out. Both races are strong, and if they unite, it will only cause us trouble. It's better to use one tiger to devour the other." Yuki decided to take a more open approach and give the long-eared elves a chance.

"The remaining sirens and Insect Race are very good at hiding. We'll split into several groups, searching for them while also contacting their allies to see who is most useful and then adding them to the shortlist."

I agree.

"I have no objection, I just want to go and watch the long-eared monster and the dwarf fight."

"Calculation is the best way."

The matter was settled. Abdulas was responsible for going back to find partners willing to help, while the Angels pressured the elves and Dwarves into war and promised to provide some support.

The Machine Race and humans—no, to be precise, Yuki— went to find the sirens and Insect Race, and incidentally marked all the undead settlements.

Yuki, somewhat overstepping his bounds, or rather, given his demonstrated abilities, no longer cared about formalities, stood up and spoke with a resounding voice.

"Ten days. Ten days to complete the selection process and begin the Path to Heaven."

"Mr. Rod, this is information about the Divine Race; oh, and this is about the Sirens and Insect Race, please take a look."

Mai Sakurajima placed a stack of documents beside her. Her performance was superb, conveying a sense of reliable politeness mixed with deep wariness. No one could tell that the two had a close relationship.

As her physical condition improved, her control over every expression and detail became incredibly lifelike; now, this senior could easily Oscar.

"Thank you, Miss Mai Sakurajima." Yuki's acting was also quite good; he appeared very polite, but his brows were filled with arrogance—the arrogance unique to epic-level players.

The two locked eyes for a moment, then simultaneously looked away, a twisted feeling of wanting to engage in deeper conversation yet being mindful of each other's identities.

"Laughing, that's inefficient. What era are we living in? Still having to flip through books? Om can retrieve it from a database in a second."

Just as they were getting into the mood, the Machine Soul next to them suddenly interrupted, forcing the two to turn around.

"What are you saying, Om?"

"I said the efficiency was too low; you're just wasting your time." The Machine Soul was displeased, its words particularly venomous. "This female fellow was trying to seduce you, using this as leverage to get closer, according to calculations. It worked well; your gaze lingered on the black stockings for 0.3 seconds, your heart raced, you clearly stepped into the trap."

Mai Sakurajima's eye twitched, but she calmly retorted, "Then what does the Machine Soul want me to do after it sees through me?"

"Correction, Om is just indicating that Mr. Rod is a male who is always in heat, and his range of interests is very wide, from young Om to young girls like Miss Mai Sakurajima." Om saw Yuki's murderous gaze and was Machine Soul.

"A reminder: Mr. Rod's physical strength, given his clumsy and awkward nature, has exceeded Ms. Mai Sakurajima's tolerance limit. Observation: Your thighs are rubbing together, seemingly more interested. I wonder, why challenge such an unbearable force?"

I know his abilities better than you do!!

The senior student almost lost her composure, having discovered a female brat even more vicious than Mona. If this weren't Sky City, she would have grabbed Yuki by the collar and made him explain how he disciplined the Machine Soul.

Phew, it's alright. She's just a character in a script; we can't take it personally.

The senior student took a breath, finally calming herself down, and retorted, "Does Om want to share my pain?"

"Correction, Om is not Miss Ikaros. As a mechanical life form, she does not have reproductive capabilities. Of course, if Mr. Rod needs it, I can create one immediately." Om turned her head to look at Yuki, whose expression was changing rapidly.

"You choose the depth, tightness, and whether you need fleece..."

"Roll!!!"

The puzzled Machine Soul was thrown out, somewhat confused as to why Mr. Rod, who was clearly very interested, would angrily choose to refuse.

Little did they know, in the Reading Space, Yuki had already been strangled and turned into a guillotine, Hiyori was laughing so hard she was rolling on the floor, Hayasaka was gently stroking the Death Knell, and Frieren and Kaguya were huddled together, giving each other looks as if they were trash.

The Machine Soul was a blank sheet of paper, and it must have been the work of a pig-headed idiot to turn into this. But Yuki was also aggrieved, because he hadn't taught it any nonsense.

Fortunately, there was no harm done in the Reading Space, but in reality, Mai Sakurajima -senpai had to put on a shy and embarrassed expression, which puzzled the passing angels, who all flew over to watch.

"Children often speak without thinking, Miss Mai Sakurajima, please don't take it to heart."

"How could I blame the sacred Machine Soul? I can't just let the Netway Will format her, can I?"

You were clearly furious; your acting was amazing.

Yuki dared not provoke trouble, and slowly flipped through the documents, which contained information about the Sirens and the Insect Race.

The former is a strange creature, somewhat like a mermaid, that feeds on souls, but the ocean in this world has long been evaporated by war, and the siren has become a land creature.

The upper body of a beautiful woman, and the lower body was fins, but through life transformation, they have now become tentacles.

Yuki glanced at the image, her face full of strangeness. How to put it? It was like Squid Girl in a physical sense, but its racial characteristics were 'bloodlust' and 'cowardice'.

Because of their weakness, they usually hide, but if they face a race weaker than themselves, they will charge forward recklessly to devour souls. Their habitat is unknown, but it should be on the outer edge of the ring.

"This race is uncooperative; they bully the weak and fear the strong. If they had the chance to pick up the Divine Torch, that would be disastrous."

"Yes, Chief Skywing agrees. Like the Sirens, the Undead can truly kill angels."

Yuki nodded slightly. The rebirth of an angel was somewhat like the reincarnation of a soul. If the soul was devoured, one would surely die. He understood the thoughts of the allied races.

Uniting to defeat the Divine Race is only the first step. When the Divine Torch truly appears, everyone will have an equal chance. The new rules cannot be worse than the current ones; we cannot take even a one in ten thousand risk.

It's a kind of preemptive defeat, at least among the participating races, whoever wins is acceptable to the others.

Yuki continued looking, and next up was the Insect Race. They were small in size and not very intelligent, and their structure was somewhat like a pyramid, with absolute orders from the top and management going down layer by layer.

"They're more like demi-humans with insect-like features; the females are quite pretty, though."

The document also includes pictures; at first glance, they look somewhat like Dwarves, with insect shells or tentacles on their bodies and long, narrow arms, which is related to their racial characteristics.

Insect Race are not aggressive; their greatest hobby is digging burrows and building comfortable nests, where colonies hide and roam. As long as you don't invade their territory, the war insects won't bare their fangs.

They're nothing like those monsters from the Cosmic Insect Disaster. I thought they were some kind of world-destroying demon king, but they're just a bunch of pacifists.

Yuki being a bit prejudiced. If they really had such a strong reproductive capacity and wanted to devour everything, how could they be so inconspicuous? Their social structure is also quite interesting.

Below the Insect King are the Lords, below the Lords are the Chieftains, and so on down the hierarchy. However, the Insect King has no way to command the insects at the very bottom.

"We can try to cooperate on this; from a racial perspective, they are harmless."

"But the Insect Race is relatively weak, so I'm afraid they can't be of much help." Mai Sakurajima in a businesslike manner.

"If they are weak, the player behind them must be strong. There's no doubt that this is an epic-level player, or even an epic-tier II player." Yuki suddenly remembered that on the way to the inner ring, the Insect Race player had contacted him.

"But there's only one spot left, what about the Elves?"

The Elves and Dwarves have gone to war, but unlike previous skirmishes, this is a true war of annihilation.

The elves had no choice; they clearly knew that the angel, as the leader, was preparing to advance the Great Game, and there was only one seat left on this train, so they had to hurry and get on.

Humans can disregard such blatant, overt schemes, but the Alliance of angels, machines, and some of the Monster Race can crush everything. To fight against them, another alliance must be formed.

The remaining races were all misfits, people the Angels dared not unite with, Elves even less so.

"This is basically the faction in the instance sabotaging the players." Yuki put down the documents. In the end, both sides have to take the blame.

The Elves misjudged the situation, believing the game would remain as it was, and their players were too weak to keep up with the pace.

"Ultimately, the opportunity came too suddenly, and we couldn't have seized it without prior preparation." Mai Sakurajima offered a reason: every plan has preconditions.

If they hadn't raised their reputation to 'Friendly' or higher, and if the Machine Soul hadn't personally taken them hostage, this stage simply couldn't have been set up.

But these assumptions are meaningless. She knows Yuki's ability to adapt his plans to the situation all too well. It is precisely because of these premises that he devised the plan.

"Once these two sides are fighting, you go find Miss Frieren and deal with the Sirens."

"You don't want to?" Mai Sakurajima looked doubtful; she knew that eliminating the racial representative would be beneficial.

"The Sirens's racial talent is 'Soul Devouring,' which I don't need." Yuki wasn't that greedy either. He could achieve similar Epic Metamorphosis and Demon Possession. What he wanted was a special skill like the Orc King that fit the system and had a significant effect.

"Miss Ikaros and I will go find the Insect Race. If we can cooperate, we'll bring them into the alliance. Of course, you won't be helping us for nothing; I won't participate in the distribution of any spoils."

What appears to be a transaction was actually pre-arranged.

Apart from Hayasaka Ai, the others all possess the bloodline skill of 'Psychic Warrior'. This Sirens clearly fits the bill perfectly, and Frieren won't steal kills.

That's the surface purpose. The deeper plan is to free Mona. The news has already come back: 'The Annihilation Seeker' Abdulas's first target is 'Storm Giant Whale' Mesodals.

This notoriously lazy Magical Beasts found the pursuit of the 'Divine Torch' too troublesome and needed a way to motivate it. Coincidentally, this soul-feeding Magical Beasts's favorite food was siren.

"You are so generous." Mai Sakurajima bowed slightly and smiled with satisfaction.

"Don't rush to thank me. This is extremely risky. The Sirens is definitely on guard. Even with the help of two epic-level Magical Beasts, wiping out an entire race is no easy feat."

Yuki warned him that anyone with a brain could see how many conspiracies and schemes were involved and how many rounds of confrontation would be required, but he wasn't worried at all.

With the senior students and others, plus Mona, they have long been able to stand on their own. For example, Yuki no longer interferes with skill planning and only pays attention to it from time to time.

"The benefits and risks are equal; we know that." Mai Sakurajima's face was calm; this confidence came from the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea. "If the Insect Race can use it, then what about the Elves?"

"Simply treat it as a piece that can be consumed."

Yuki got up and left amidst her senior's disdain and wariness, feeling extremely satisfied as she saw the equally hostile gazes of the angels around her.

This hostility was necessary; in this instance, he was never a member of the senior's team, Hiyori had spoken ill of him behind his back.

Slott has little presence; Yuki is the true representative of humanity, and their relationship was predetermined long ago.

The senior student's team were strangers who had to cooperate, and Mona and Frieren from the Monster Race had absolutely no personal relationship. Humans' only friends were the Machine Race.

"Still angry, Your Highness the Machine Soul?" Yuki went out the door, not caring about the angels around him, squatted down in front of Om, and reached out his hand, which was nimbly dodged by the latter.

"Correction: The Machine Soul has no emotion settings. Warning: Mr. Rod, we are not that familiar with each other, please do not take any action..."

The Machine Soul was displeased, but before she could finish speaking, Yuki's hand was already on her head, rubbing it. She struggled for a moment, but did not activate her attack mode.

The relationship between the two was unusual. This theoretical prisoner had long since taken on the shape of Yuki. There was no way around it; all the colors on this blank sheet of paper were drawn by Yuki.

"Once the next step is complete, it'll be time to go see the Divine Torch. What do the Machine Race want to do if they get the Divine Torch?"

"Warning, do not attempt to probe top secrets." The Machine Soul wrinkled its nose, noticing the angels around it pricked up their ears. "Laughable, Mr. Rod, the dim-witted one, actually asking about something that will never yield an answer..."

"If Om were to obtain the Divine Torch, what would he wish for?" Yuki her, his eyes serious, causing the Machine Soul to gape, unsure how to answer.

Endless streams of data flashed before her eyes. As the crown princess of the Machine Race, she held a transcendent position but had no authority whatsoever. Only when she became the new Netway Will would she consider the interests of the entire race.

"I... want to see for myself what the grasslands, snow-capped mountains, and oceans in the database look like."

It was a simple wish, yet it perfectly reflected the thoughts of the individual 'Om'.

"Okay, I'll grant your wish, I promise." Yuki answered without hesitation, his eyes still serious.

Om blinked, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Mockingly, Mr. Rod is making an impossible vow; beware, Mr. Rod is deliberately showing off, inducing Om to develop reproductive capabilities."

"Pah, I don't remember teaching you any of these weird things." Yuki spat, grabbed Om, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and lowered his voice as he looked at the angels who were clearly taking notes.

"Remember my promise. I'm a man of my word, you know that."

"I admit, Mr. Rod has many flaws, but he's barely an honest and trustworthy being." Om swung his slender legs, a hint of fantasy on his face. "Suppose, if it were really possible, what would Om need to do?"

"You don't need to do anything, just remember your wish." Yuki stepped into the teleportation portal and felt a lightness on his shoulder; his Machine Soul was directly sent back to the Machine Race.

"In critical moments, follow your instincts and make your choices."