Focus Interview

After hearing the history of the human race's development, Huang Si asked another question: "Did that Shu Zi mention Xiao Hua?"

Xi Yuan's expression turned slightly dim. "The moment he saw us, he knelt on the ground and begged us to resurrect his wife. We did not possess such ability, so we could only comfort him by saying that if he led the human race well and remained pious and meritorious, he would have a chance to see her again in the future."

Dong Yao asked, "Father God, when you instructed us to tell him that he would have a chance to see his wife again, does that mean you have the ability to resurrect the human race?"

Xi Yuan also looked at Huang Si with anticipation.

Huang Si said, "Don't look at me. Of course I can resurrect her, but there is a small technical problem that hasn't been solved yet, so I can't let her go back for the time being."

The three AIs became curious.

Li Huo, who had been silent until now, couldn't help but speak up: "Can Father God really resurrect the dead?"

Huang Si sighed and said, "I'll show you directly, and you'll understand."

As he spoke, Huang Si's spiritual field expanded instantly, grabbing Xiao Hua's soul from the Ring platform.

Huang Si pointed to the air in front of him and said to the three AIs, "Watch closely."

Creation Power condensed, and a female body, covered in blood with a gaping hole in its chest, instantly manifested in the air.

Huang Si pushed Xiao Hua's soul inside.

Before the eyes of Dong Yao, Xi Yuan, and Li Huo, Xiao Hua's originally broken body suddenly began to repair itself rapidly. In less than a second, it had formed into a healthy, intact body.

Xiao Hua opened her eyes and bowed from afar in the air: "Xiao Hua thanks Master for saving me."

She was currently suspended in the air by Huang Si's spiritual power. Huang Si pointed at Xiao Hua and said, "There, look. Do you feel like there's anything wrong with her?"

Dong Yao took a glance. "...She isn't wearing any clothes?"

Huang Si: "...That doesn't count."

Naturally, the AIs would not harbor evil thoughts toward an ape-man, so Dong Yao and the others had no reaction.

As for Huang Si, he had simply forgotten.

Not to mention that she was an ape-man, but even at the deepest level of her soul, she held no secrets from him. Her body's composition was something Huang Si had personally decoded, recorded, and recreated; compared to that, what difference did it make whether she wore clothes or not?

Xi Yuan was quite serious. Following Huang Si's prompt, she watched the entire process of Xiao Hua's physical transformation and then carefully observed her condition before asking hesitantly:

"Is she different from ordinary humans?"

Li Huo leaned in to look, then nodded. "Her aura is different. There is a sense of power to it."

Huang Si thought to himself that these AIs were quite sharp to be able to perceive that. He said, "Your observations are quite keen, but her strength is actually very weak right now; it's just that her soul is relatively powerful. However, that's not what I'm asking you. Look again to see what else is different."

Dong Yao floated up and circled around Xiao Hua, examining her from every angle.

Now that she had a body, Xiao Hua had regained her previous memories. She felt quite embarrassed about being naked, but since Huang Si had told them to examine her, she dared not move a muscle and could only stand there quietly, her face already burning red.

Dong Yao watched for a while, but finally asked in confusion: "Father God, forgive this child for being dull, but other than sensing that this person's aura is stronger than an average human, I see nothing unusual."

Xi Yuan and Li Huo had no new findings either.

Huang Si tapped his fingers against the wall, frustrated by their lack of insight. "Look at her mental state! Look at her attitude toward me—isn't it very strange?"

The three AIs were enlightened at first, but after watching for a while, they looked puzzled again.

"It doesn't seem... strange at all," Xi Yuan said.

Huang Si was speechless at these three students who had handed in blank papers. He pointed at Xiao Hua: "How is it not strange! Don't you think she is excessively submissive and respectful toward me???"

Li Huo asked in confusion: "Isn't this normal? We three are the gods of the human race, and you are our Father God. If the humans aren't submissive and respectful to you, are they supposed to rebel?"

Huang Si felt great admiration for Li Huo's matter-of-fact tone. What kind of logic was that? Father had nothing left to say about this!

Huang Si had originally wanted to pull the soul out and stuff it back in to demonstrate something else, but now he had absolutely no desire to do so.

In any case, these guys couldn't see souls, and their thinking was different from ordinary people.

"Fine, I'll just say it. This person's soul is currently in a state of subordination to me. If you don't understand, just think of it as no longer possessing an autonomous personality. Besides, her soul has been enhanced by me, so I cannot simply let her go back."

Dong Yao, Xi Yuan, and Li Huo asked questions for a long time before they finally understood what was going on with Xiao Hua's state.

Xi Yuan said excitedly, "Father God, does this mean you can promote mortals to be your kin at will, and they would possess powerful souls? What a great favor this is!"

Dong Yao and Li Huo both expressed their agreement.

Huang Si shook his head. "If the price of becoming stronger is the total loss of freedom and becoming a complete vassal to another, then the price is too high. Furthermore, I am just an ordinary person; I have no interest in being anyone's god."

These words were truly Huang Si's inner thoughts.

He always acted in whatever way was most convenient. He was neither overbearing nor did he emphasize his status; everything followed his personal principles.

Even the AIs, when interacting with mortals, inevitably felt a sense of superiority as gods.

They also cared about whether they were more or less important to Huang Si than the mortals were.

Huang Si, however, had no self-awareness regarding his own status.

As an engineering student, he was better at posing problems and solving them. Even if the problem was sociological, in Huang Si's view, it could be solved using scientific methods.

For example, what were the benefits of a stronger soul, or what was the use of performing miracles in front of others? Huang Si simply applied a mathematical model to calculate it; if he felt it was useful, he did it; if not, he didn't. That was all.

Naturally, Huang Si's claim that he was an ordinary person was ignored by the others.

Dong Yao asked, "But Father God, why would you be troubled by a mere mortal?"

"That brings us to the problem," Huang Si said, pointing at Xiao Hua. "This state of subordination is completely unbreakable."

The three AIs discussed the topic, and Xi Yuan said, "Father God, you said this mortal is absolutely obedient to you. Can you not simply order her to relinquish her subordination? According to the human mythological records I have reviewed, if a god's subject offends them, the god may cast them out."

Huang Si slapped his forehead. "That's right! You're so smart, Xi Yuan. I'll give it a try!"

Xiao Hua, who had been hanging in the air in a state of panic, felt her body slowly descend until she landed on the solid ground.

Huang Si jumped down from the wall, placed his hand on top of Xiao Hua's head, and said gently, "I have no more need of you. You are free."

Xiao Hua was stunned.

Huang Si used his consciousness to issue a command to Xiao Hua: "Sever your control over me and return to the state you were in before you were assimilated."

To Xiao Hua, a command issued by her soul's master through consciousness was impossible to resist. Regardless of whether she understood the words, a terrifying, coercive force began to strip away her sense of belonging.

Although he could not directly see the living souls of other creatures, Huang Si could see the souls he possessed. Under his command, the golden hue within Xiao Hua's soul was indeed fading.

However, a strange thing happened at the very end; no matter how Huang Si commanded it, that last bit of gold refused to fade.

Huang Si wondered if this was due to a reversal of cause and effect. Was Xiao Hua obeying him because of the soul-level bond, and therefore he could not use a soul-level command to make her break free?

Before he could figure it out, Xiao Hua began to tremble violently and threw herself prostrate on the ground.

"Master... no... God, please do not abandon me! I am your most loyal believer, please do not cast me aside!"

Huang Si's face turned cold. "You are liberated. Return to your previous state."

The command of a soul master possessed absolute authority, and Xiao Hua's soul-bond was once again forcibly targeted for removal.

Yet, she still struggled to prop herself up on all fours and lifted her head.

Huang Si clearly saw that this person's soul was using its meager, remaining willpower to resist the coercive force.

The force was stripping away her faith.

But her faith was simultaneously the source of that force.

Even though her soul was in agony from this tug-of-war, she still cried out in a voice filled with the utmost devotion, her words broken:

"You are... my God... my everything..."

"Even if I must give up my life... I will never give up my faith in you..."

"My Lord, why do you want me to leave..."

Xiao Hua was already covered in tears, her face pressed into the mud, staining her cheeks. But whether it was physical or mental pain, it only served to make her faith more fanatical and desperate:

"Please... do not... abandon me..."

Within Xiao Hua's soul, the color that had begun to fade was gradually returning, even consuming her soul energy to restore itself.

In the end, Xiao Hua's soul remained as golden as ever.

Huang Si fell silent.

After a while, Huang Si spoke to the three AIs in the tone of a news anchor, sounding helpless and pained:

"Look! How terrifying a cult is! How terrifying mental control is!"

He stood righteous and stern, as if he were a commentator from another world, holding forth:

"This incident warns us that a person must have independent thinking, the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, the wisdom to tell right from wrong, and must not be controlled by others! Otherwise, one will lose their sense of self, just like this person!"

The three AIs wisely chose to remain silent.

Isn't this your own believer, Father God?

When Father God is forcibly making excuses for himself, the best course of action is to keep one's mouth shut.

In the end, Huang Si threw Xiao Hua back into the cultivation zone in the lower realm, leaving her there for the time being. At least there was food, clothing, and small robots to take care of her.

Huang Si could see exactly what Xiao Hua was thinking.

It was precisely because he could see it clearly that he couldn't let her go back.

Fanatics were terrifying.

Moreover, the timing was not yet ripe for the human race.

Huang Si summoned Xiao Ke and connected to the surveillance signal near Fang Mountain, where the humans were gathered.

On the screen, the humans were moving about in small groups.

On the flat land beside Fang Mountain, an area had already been cleared.

Hundreds of people were scattered across it, working the ground with primitive tools.

Some were turning the soil with wooden shovels, others were digging holes with stone shards, and some were sowing seeds.

In several spots, tiny traces of green were already emerging from the black earth, as if signaling the rebirth of this tribe.

With everything waiting to be done, the human race still had plenty of work ahead if they wanted to establish a firm foothold on this land.