Su Yi listened quietly to Qian Haonan's account, filled with respect for the leader who had stood guard alone for thousands of years.
He also felt a deep sadness over what had happened to the Soulless Alliance.
They had arrived from another world with an entire planet and conquered time itself, along with every knowledge-based Transcendent Faction.
An alliance so formidable it had shaken the ages had simply passed into history.
The vast majority of its remaining members had become Nightmare's lackeys.
The only survivor who had held to his principles had spent thousands of years keeping watch alone in a bunker.
Qian Haonan looked at Su Yi, seemingly reading his thoughts in his eyes.
Then he grinned. "I'm not telling you this to make you pity me."
"You don't need to dwell on it, and you certainly don't need to treat me with excessive respect."
"I've looked forward to your arrival for years."
"And now you've far exceeded my expectations."
"My thousands of years of waiting weren't in vain. My faith in the future was justified!"
After hearing that, Su Yi understood at once. What this steadfast guardian needed was neither respect nor gratitude, but hope for the road ahead.
Thinking back over their conversation, Su Yi also realized who the third Deity hidden in the Starflame Corridor was.
"No wonder the Eternal Fire has barely made its presence felt all these years."
He had dealt with the Eternal Fire's followers, the Everfire Brotherhood, on Rhode Star.
Those Eternal Flame Elves had seemed remarkably well-behaved, with no desire to stir up trouble.
Throughout it all, the Eternal Fire had made no attempt to use them to contact him.
Afterward, they had barely made their presence felt either.
Su Yi had only learned from the Players' reports that they had