Not far from Buda City, on a mountain peak, from a dry cave, came a shrill scream. After a dozen seconds, the scream gradually faded until it could no longer be heard.
With a thud, Gustavo retracted the spider silk, and the body that had been hanging in mid-air fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Victor watched Gustavo's actions with curiosity, showing no fear whatsoever. Instead, Earth Dao with great anticipation, "Is this a mental-based Fate Art? Can I learn it?"
"No!" Gustavo replied decisively, bluntly silencing Victor's nascent idea.
"Before you become Saint, you can only cultivate one Fate Art: Thunder Battle Cry. Don't be overly ambitious; be down-to-earth."
"Saint?!"
Victor rolled his eyes, looking helpless. "You overestimate me. How could I possibly reach that Legend level?"
"If I say you can do it, then you can. Besides, I'm not saying I think highly of you; I just believe in myself. Don't be too narcissistic, young man."
Victor: "..."
While arguing, Gustavo finished processing the memories he had obtained from the mind of the deceased Shadow Serpent Clan member, and acquired a great deal of intelligence about the surrounding area, as well as some secret information about the Shadow Serpent Clan.
"As expected, the Shadow Serpent Clan is using the mortals of Buda City as hostages as a means to control the Star God Lineage. The question is, is this an operation solely carried out by their family, or...?"
Gustavo murmured to himself, and in the quiet cave, his voice was clearly heard by Victor beside him.
Victor said somewhat Earth Dao, "It's a pity that our Crawford Family didn't think of this method, otherwise we wouldn't have been wiped out."
Upon hearing this, Gustavo's expression became subtle, a half-smile playing on his lips, "It seems you don't care about the lives of mortals?"
"Huh?" Victor was stunned, seemingly not understanding what Gustavo meant.
mortal?
Why should I care about the lives of ordinary people?
Fate Master and ordinary people are completely different species.
Looking at Victor's expression, Gustavo felt quite puzzled. The class rift between the Fate Master and mortals in the Star God Realm was far more pronounced than in the Astral Realm.
This sense of déjà vu is strikingly similar to the indifferent attitude of the Primordial God before the Second Age of the Astral Realm towards mortals.
In the Star God Realm, once a mortal becomes Fate Master, he will naturally sever all ties with mortals. In fact, most Fate Master do not consider themselves to be the same species as mortals, and see mortals as no different from chickens, ducks, pigs, or dogs.
This value system seems to be innate, not just due to education.
It's as if this viewpoint was forcibly implanted into Fate Master's very being.
Such an unusual scene naturally piqued Gustavo's curiosity, as he felt it might be closely related to the deepest secrets of the Star God Realm.
"Although we don't know why yet, the secrets of the Star God Realm must be very interesting."
Victor's willingness to live and die alongside his inhuman war beast shows that the young man is not an extremely selfish person; on the contrary, he is quite loyal and righteous.
However, this very same loyal and righteous young man remained calm and composed in the face of the heavy casualties suffered by the humans of Buda City. He did not feel disgusted by the Shadow Serpent Clan's practice of taking mortals hostage, but rather felt sorry for them.
Unfortunately, why didn't my family think of this method? If my family could have controlled a large number of mortals and restrained the Star God Lineage, wouldn't we have been able to use the power of the Star God to fight against the invasion of the Shadow Serpent Clan?
In other words, Victor never considered mortals as his own kind.
One can only imagine what the perceptions of mortals would be like of those Fate Master who have lived longer and are more cunning than him!
How intense must the bloodshed hidden beneath the surface of the Star God Realm be?
"Do you think that if your family controls mortals, you can indirectly control the Star God Lineage?"
Gustavo didn't try to correct Victor's view of mortals as insignificant. He didn't care; after all, he was an alien, from another world. What did he care about the lives of the native humans of the Star God Realm?
However, for Victor, a young man whom Gustavo still has some faith in, who is somewhat useful, and who is also scheming, he still needs to be properly taught and his naiveté needs to be washed away as soon as possible.
"Otherwise what? What's the problem?" Victor asked, frowning.
Gustavo looked at him and laughed, "Why do you think the patriarch of the Shadow Serpent Clan only revealed those cages containing the Aberrant Demon at the very last moment when life and death were at stake? And why were those cages specifically made of materials with extremely strong Concealment properties?"
These two questions made Victor lower his head, his fingers curling as he rested his chin on his hand, his expression shifting rapidly. After nearly half a minute, he suddenly realized, "It's because the Shadow Serpent Clan is afraid of being discovered by the Star God Lineage! And then being wiped out by the angry Star Soldier and Star Envoy. But that doesn't stop them from using mortals to threaten the Buda Star Envoy, does it?"
"However, this is a last resort, to be used only as a last resort. Once used, the Buda Star Envoy may be temporarily threatened, but when a higher-level Star God Lineage expert arrives, the entire Shadow Serpent Clan will still be completely wiped out."
"In other words, threatening the Star God Lineage with mortals is tantamount to suicide, but it can buy them time, allowing the forces behind them to confront the Star God Lineage and save them."
"What appears to be a minor conflict involving kidnapping and threats is, in reality, a far cry from a simple kidnapping, a tactic that the Shadow Serpent Clan wouldn't resort to even if they were killed, unless they had a stronger backing. Or rather, they simply lack the capability to use such a method. Did they really think that any small family could deceive the Star God Lineage, who are the local tyrants?"
"A stronger force?" Victor exclaimed in surprise. "Could it be the Blood River Will Cult?"
Gustavo shook his head. "Not only that! Perhaps the Blood Pact Circle Sect was also involved, but because your Crawford Family isn't their direct descendant, they didn't allow you to follow the example of the Shadow Serpent Clan."
Upon hearing this, Victor's heart skipped a beat, and he said with a touch of bitterness, "Yes, if the Blood Pact Circle Sect truly valued the Crawford Family, how could the Shadow Serpent Clan have dared to annihilate us?"
"So, true strength comes from being strong yourself, but you must also be intelligent and keep things confidential."
Gustavo made a pointed remark.
Victor knew exactly what he was talking about. The main reason the Crawford Family was destroyed was because of internal instability and a failure to keep secrets. Otherwise, the Shadow Serpent Clan would not have known about the ancient ruins they possessed.
Giving Victor some time to process this, Gustavo continued, "Besides the secrecy, there's something else your Crawford Family hasn't seen clearly."
"What?"
"Own!"
Victor: "??"
Gustavo didn't explain further. Instead, he jumped onto Victor's shoulder, put his cloak back on, and said, "Let's go. The Shadow Serpent Clan has been wiped out. Now, we need to find a new backer."
"A new backer? Who is it?" Victor stepped forward and asked curiously.
"Molten Fire Great Star Envoy!"