Baron Strucker was on tenterhooks.
Richard didn't say anything; he appreciated that Strucker was willing to bend down and communicate with the younger generation on equal terms...
Then he changed the subject. "The library has a copy of the ' The Book of Watu,' which records some mind control Magic and Secret Art."
Shay and Kenneth were overjoyed. "Thank you, boss!"
Seeing this, Baron Strucker secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
As the three prepared to leave, Richard seemed to remember something and said, " Shay, inform your companions that the conversion of the Crimson Believer can begin!"
Shay perked up. "Roger that, boss!"
"Haha... Figo finally got what he wanted!"
After Shay and the other two left, Richard went to the Secret Chamber.
After taking the Eye of Agamotto from the shelf, he teleported away immediately.
Above the Indian Ocean, Richard hovered in the air, looking down at the endless ocean below.
He released a large number of Perception Tentacle, which instantly disappeared into the seabed and quickly probed towards the Earth's core.
Soon, these Perception Tentacle relayed a message: a gigantic humanoid creature slumbered deep underground.
Celestials, Tiamut...
Richard used his Perception Tentacle to continuously transmit his Spiritual Consciousness to him.
[ Tiamut...]
Soon, the giant slumbering underground slowly 'opened' its eyes.
[Who are you?]
A powerful, indistinguishable male voice echoed in Richard's mind.
He responded directly in his mind: [Hello, esteemed member of the Celestials! I am the Acting Sorcerer Supreme of Kamar-Taj, the Earth Guardian Organization. You may call me Richard!]
Tiamut murmured: [The Guardians of Earth... Kamar-Taj... The Sorcerer Supreme... Richard?]
After a moment, as if he had figured out Richard's identity, he asked with a puzzled look, "[ Sorcerer Richard, what brings you here?]"
Richard replied with a smile, "[I did it to protect the Earth, Lord Tiamut!]"
Tiamut paused for a moment, then calmly said, "[The fate of Earth is sealed; it cannot be changed!]"
Richard chuckled and said, "[What if I had a way to change it?]"
Tiamut fell silent again, then calmly explained, "[The birth of the Celestials requires the destruction of a host planet; this is the mechanism of the universe's rotation and a natural law.]"
After listening, Richard couldn't help but shake his head and scoff. "[Cosmic rotation mechanism? Natural law? Do the Celestials ' actions truly comply with the laws of the universe?]"
Tiamut stated definitively. "[Without a doubt, Sorcerer Richard! The Celestials are the maintainers of the balance of life in the universe. We sow life, we harvest life, and we maintain the dynamic balance of life energy in the universe!]"
Richard retorted directly, "[Sowing life? Harvesting life? You're merely creating life by destroying it, like burning down an entire primeval forest to plant new ones and then claiming it's 'ecological balance'..."
Don't you think it's ridiculous?
Despite Richard's taunts, Tiamut remained calm, his demeanor unchanged. "[I understand your Wrath, Sorcerer Richard... but fleeting lives and civilizations are insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe! The Celestials think in millions of years...]"
[ The Celestials ' cosmic-level algorithm comprehensively assesses a civilization's population size, energy level, and development potential...]
He paused for a moment, then continued, "[The future destruction of Earth is a necessary sacrifice; its destruction will create a thousand times more life!]"
[Utterly foolish!] Richard shook his head and laughed contemptuously: [You've reduced civilization to an energy value! But the value of life is unquantifiable. How do you intend to quantify human art, philosophy, emotions, and free will using an energy formula?]
[How would you quantify the East Great Wall of Tokyo, the Pyramids of the United States, the Eiffel Tower of France, the Pyramids of Egypt, and the Berlin Wall of Germany?]
He scoffed, "If the East University, the comedies of Shakespeare, and the symphonies of Beethoven are merely 'energy data,' then your Celestials's cosmological model is truly impoverished!"
Tiamut remained silent again. If it were any other member of the Celestials, they could have directly and forcefully refuted Richard.
But now he was facing Tiamut, Celestials who grew by nourishing the life energy of Earth's prosperity, and he could not go against his conscience and say that Earth had no value.
After a long silence, Tiamut finally spoke dryly, "[Using a time unit of millions of years, the Celestials believe that the destruction of Earth would help suppress the increase of cosmic entropy...]"
Richard said coldly, "[Although you are called the Celestials, you are not true gods...]"
You are just a bunch of prisoners trapped in algorithms!
His words instantly made Tiamut's body tremble, and the entire underwater world trembled as well.
Huge waves suddenly surged up on the surface of the Indian Ocean.
Richard's expression changed slightly, and the Crimson Mana within him instantly burst forth, suppressing the Indian Ocean, which was like a boiling pot.
[Lord Tiamut, please calm your emotions. It is not yet time for your birth!]
Tiamut apologized somberly. "[I'm sorry, Sorcerer Richard, it's my fault!]"
Richard dared not provoke him further and quickly replied, "No, I was wrong, Your Excellency Tiamut..."
His mind raced. Now that Tiamut's innate arrogance Celestials had been significantly diminished, it was time to play the emotional card...
[Your Excellency Tiamut, you grew up on Earth, absorbing its energy, but you also absorbed humanity's dreams, love, and pain... These memories and emotions are also part of your past...]
[Can you really bear to sever ties with the past and become that cold, emotionless Mechanical Life that only calculates data?]
Tiamut hesitated. After all, he was just an unborn Celestials infant, not yet fully programmed by Arishem, and not a cold, lifeless Deity.
Earth... needs to prove its worth...
Richard's spirits lifted, and he inwardly cheered: Excellent! Tiamut has begun to question the Celestials' cosmic-level algorithm!
He pressed on, saying, "[Lord Tiamut, as the maintainers of the balance of life in the universe, the Celestials shouldn't just be calculating cold, hard data.]"
[All life inherently possesses emotions. The Celestials, nurtured within planets teeming with life, are naturally capable of sensing the many emotions of living beings...]
What you should strive to become are compassionate gods, not mechanical executors endlessly cycling between destruction and rebirth!
A god with warmth...
Tiamut murmured longingly to himself.
He longed to become the kind of warm-hearted god Richard described, but at the same time, he began to fear that he might become the cold, calculating god Richard spoke of...