"Who is he?!"
Gustavo's sudden appearance caused both sides, who were locked in fierce combat, to stop simultaneously, as heavy, oppressive gazes rained down upon them.
However, Gustavo remained unfazed by these intimidating gazes. He chuckled, tossing the Orange Man, Eliduo, in his hand, and said, "Seeing how fiercely you two are fighting, it's all for this woman, isn't it?"
"Which faction do you belong to, and which super-civilization or peak civilization are you under? How dare you interfere in the affairs of our two intermediate civilizations? Aren't you afraid of implicating your own race?"
Octavian the World-Scorching One's eyes narrowed, and he spoke, his words summarizing in just two words—"Discussion."
First, we need to ascertain the identity of this mysterious person who suddenly appeared, so as not to provoke the wrong person. After all, being able to snatch a hostage from the battlefield where eight True God were fighting fiercely, not to mention anything else, his strength alone is unfathomable.
Although there is a difference in combat strength between the Thousand-Eyed Race and the Water Mirror Race, it is not insurmountable. Once this mysterious person leans towards one side, the outcome of the battle will be completely decided.
For the weaker party, the Thousand-Eyed Race, the addition of new variables is more beneficial, because no matter what, the outcome won't get worse.
That is why Octavian the World-Burning, who had been unusually irritable during the battle, regained his composure and rationality when facing Gustavo. Although his tone was questioning, it was not aggressive.
"You don't need to know who I am. The key question is, what price are you prepared to pay to redeem this woman?" Gustavo said with a smile, scanning the two groups of people with his eyes.
The Thousand-Eyed Race and the Water Mirror Race looked at each other, neither speaking for a moment, the atmosphere somewhat tense.
Seeing this, Gustavo continued, "How about this? I'll make an offer, and whoever delivers the item to me first will own the woman. How about that? Isn't that fair?"
"Hmph, why should we let you manipulate us? Hand over the person now, or you won't leave the Planet Illinois!" A Lower God of the Water Mirror Race spoke angrily, gripping the divine artifact in his hand as he spoke.
Gustavo smiled, raised the orange man in his hand, and visible waves of energy, like flowing water, emanated from his palm, enveloping Eliduo.
"Is it enough that I can kill this woman anytime?!"
"This is... Divine Law power capable of directly annihilating existence. Could this guy be someone who specializes in cultivating spatial rules in the direction of ' Spatial Strangulation '?" After seeing the fluctuations emerging from Gustavo's hand, Silver Mirror Abyss Nervado's body rippled violently with silver light, indicating that his emotions had been stirred.
The other True God present were also startled upon hearing this, and looked at Gustavo with suspicion, secretly guessing his identity.
"If I'm not mistaken, this woman is only valuable to you if she's alive. Otherwise, you wouldn't be fighting so fiercely over her. Since that's the case, I, who control her life force, can certainly set a price. Whether you pay or not is up to you."
After a cold laugh, Gustavo held up three fingers and said, "Alright, now I'll state my conditions. My requirements aren't high: three Lower Divine Artifact, any quality is fine. Now... let the bidding begin!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gustavo looked at the two groups with a smile, standing casually in the dimensional turbulence. The spatial ripples fell on him like a gentle breeze in warm spring, posing no threat whatsoever.
Meanwhile, following Gustavo's offer, the Thousand-Eyed Race and the Water Mirror Race began to gather and talk.
On the Thousand-Eyed Race's side, the World-Burning Octavian transmitted his voice, "I only have two Lower Divine Artifact. If any of you give me one more, the clan will naturally compensate me when we return!"
"Huh? Are we really going to give it to him? This guy is just blackmailing us."
"Yes, who knows if he'll actually give her to us after he gets the artifact? Besides, we're at a disadvantage right now and have to fight the Water Mirror Race. If we don't have the artifact's help, even if we get Eliduo, we won't be able to protect her."
The three Lower God of the Thousand-Eyed Race, including Theseus the Strange Light Bearer, had their eyes gleaming as they bargained, unwilling to hand over their divine artifacts to Gustavo. As a race of evil alignment, greed and cunning were part of their nature, habits ingrained in their very bones.
Upon hearing the report, Scorching World Octavian was enraged. He was about to utter a few curses when he noticed some movement coming from the Water Mirror Race.
"These are three Lower Divine Artifact. Please hand them over!" Nervado of the Silver Mirror Abyss said, transferring the three Lower Divine Artifact to Gustavo through "Phase Mirror Light".
At this crucial moment, the Water Mirror Race united even more, demonstrating their commitment to the greater good. With Nervado's order, the three Lower Divine Artifact were gathered and handed over to Gustavo.
Seeing this, the Thousand-Eyed Race stopped haggling and all turned their gazes toward Gustavo, a hint of regret flashing in their eyes.
But soon, the Thousand-Eyed Race was shocked, and the Water Mirror Race was stunned for a moment before becoming enraged and attacking in a fit of rage.
After obtaining the three Lower Divine Artifact, Gustavo, without saying a word, threw the hostage in his hands to the Thousand-Eyed Race, and even used his superb spatial teleportation ability, so that the Water Mirror Race did not have time to intercept him.
Before either side could react, Orange Person Eliduo had already been captured by Strange Light Bearer Theseus, who was staring blankly at the hostage in his hands, still not having realized what was happening.
"Bastard, a disgrace to the True God! You are unworthy to be called a god; even the Demons of the Abyss have more credibility than you..."
The True God of the Water Mirror Race roared furiously, unleashing a variety of powerful attacks.
Gustavo calmly dodged the attacks while picking his ear, raising an eyebrow and smiling, "As expected of the Good and Lawful alignment, you can't even swear properly. Should I teach you?"
"What is this, Your Excellency...?"
Octavian the World- Octavian scratched his head, looking puzzled, and looked up at Gustavo with a hesitant tone.
"We've given you the man, do you want him or not? Give us an answer!" Gustavo replied.
"Of course I will. It seems you are a friend of my Thousand-Eyed Race. Your previous words were probably just a joke, a way of teasing the Water Mirror Race, right?" Octavian laughed heartily, adding an extra layer of identity to Gustavo as he spoke.
Gustavo didn't reply, but smiled meaningfully. From his perspective, as Octavian the World-Burning agreed to take people, a thick and hidden causal thread wrapped around the bodies of several Thousand-Eyed Race True God.
Everything has a cause before it has an effect.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Gifts from the Fate and Cause and Effect systems, in particular, should not be accepted lightly, otherwise the consequences will be severe.
However, it was clear that none of the Thousand-Eyed Race realized the seriousness of easily accepting Gustavo's offer of hostages. This was not surprising, as Gustavo had not revealed even the slightest trace of his mysterious aura throughout the entire ordeal.
The reason it could Concealment so deeply was thanks to the ability of the First Demon, Garnacross, "Existence Erasure," which, combined with Gustavo's "Controller" talent, allowed it to temporarily erase its own causal and Fate aura, as if it had never existed.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to hide it from the two Middle God.
It was precisely because Octavian failed to detect Gustavo's mysterious aura that he lowered his guard, allowing him and his companions to be ambushed silently.
In particular, with the addition of the previous Strange Light Bearer threads, Theseus has been able to further influence the mind of Gustavo the Shadow, although it still doesn't achieve the same effect as controlling a puppet, it has made great progress and is able to perform more operations.