216. Aoz Era, Boiling Anticipation
"Five thousand years ago, [Secret Society] Gaia broke through Haynes, killed Leozi, and devoured the still-infant Morpheedria—it was in baby form. I remember, every member of Mechanical Society remembers that shocking scene."
"Gaia… ate Morpheedria? The [Domination] primary deity was just a baby?"
Li Aozi's pupils narrowed, surprise gripping his heart.
——In his previous life, [Mechanical Society] never revealed such critical information, not even right before dying.
[It's the recognition filter—Qiqiao Network has always been censoring information about 'Gaia' and 'Secret Society'!]
Qiqiao Network must have known about Gaia from the start, right?
From the very beginning, they knew [Secret Society] were the ones who killed Morpheedria and destroyed the extragalactic universe of the [Domination] primary deity.
If not for the breach provided by Leoz's name… he'd never have learned this.
"Well, of course you didn't know. You're just a cheap imposter."
Coulomb Torque shrugged:
"The extragalactic timeline and the Star Abyss don't align, creating chaotic history. You ignorant Star Abyss folks have been so well protected you never realized the truth, did you?!"
Li Aozi paused. Coulomb Torque seized the opportunity to keep talking:
"Judging by your look of shock—no harm in telling you."
"You Star Abyss dwellers speak of six main deities, but each primary deity was born at a different point in time."
"Destruction, Craft, and Eerie emerged first. They confronted the Three Destroyers head-on but weren't at their strongest—one by one, they were overwhelmed and defeated."
"Next came Redemption and Plunder as Star Abyss deities—by then, the prototype of our [Society] (the 'civilization mimic') already existed. But nobody paid much mind to it."
"Around that time, Morpheedria still wasn't complete! It bore the will and power of the Abyss, but the extragalactic environment couldn't support it fully maturing yet. It had to develop from infancy, gradually accumulating strength. Once Morpheedria reached its final form, it would have been the scariest Star Abyss deity, wielding dominance over all existence—capable of sweeping away any Destroyer and [Society]."
"No one would oppose it; no one would dare disregard Morpheedria. If it finished evolving, it would be the absolute master of the Six-Layered Star Abyss!"
Coulomb Torque suddenly spoke with pride:
"Until [Secret Society] Gaia appeared in [Domination Will] Morpheedria's universe!"
"Gaia—it was the first [Society] in Morpheedria's universe, and the strongest of them all! It led our [Societies] in rising up against Star Abyss's rule!"
"You dwellers of the Abyss know far too little. You think Leozi slaying 84 [Societies] is such a big deal? No, no, no! You're just too weak—any single one of you can't handle [Society] alone."
"Outside the Abyss, heh, they're much stronger than you. I can name off the top of my head a bunch of divine warriors who've fought [Society] one-on-one: Gio the Rogue Gull, Whistlewing•Winged Ice, Nite•Swordlord, Yake, Yuwen Haotuo, Cangya Huangwei… so many, so many. And these are warriors under the Destruction deity. We've got tens of thousands of them in our memory banks. Without them weakening Leviathan Dal, you in the Abyss would be kowtowing before the Dragon King!"
"You wonder why so many path-tier seats are vacant, or why so many belong to Destruction? Because Destruction is a main deity strong enough to fight the Destroyers. You think that's some minor character? It's because it's too powerful that the path left so many seats behind!"
"Those ascendants who follow the path… we've fought your lofty gods at their source, while you can't even reach godhood."
Coulomb Torque sneered:
"Without a narrative-level civilization, you're as fragile as a screw."
"By Morpheedria's cosmic measure: Leozi fought Gaia for a billion years, only to be ultimately slain by Gaia."
"Gaia will keep evolving—[Societies] evolve—but you've reached your limit! You pride yourselves on ascending the path to Omega-tier—that's as far as you go. We're only getting started!"
As Coulomb Torque spoke, numerous fresh components integrated into his body armor, thickening his plating while granting even greater agility.
"There's no way you're Leozi reborn. The real Leozi fell under Gaia's claws. If he was an enemy capable of challenging Gaia, you really think Gaia would let him go!?"
He mocked:
"Leozi doesn't scare me at all. You'd better think hard about who you're dealing with!"
A fierce Zeta-tier aura radiated from Coulomb Torque. A tide of mechanical units kept pouring in, surrounding the exoskeletal soldiers.
"See? Whatever you do, reality's set in stone! Whether you call yourself Leoz or Li Aozi, you're just a phony showoff—"
"That's the ninth time."
Li Aozi calmly raised his blade.
By now, his mana had recovered to about forty percent.
Coulomb Torque paused, logic engine stalling for a fraction of a second:
"You ignorant carbon-based—"
"I killed you nine times."
"You still don't get it? Fine—keep fooling others, but don't trick yourself. You can't be Leozi reborn; you're just some mortal who lucked into a few Authorities. Behind me stands Mother Mashgegang!"
"I killed you nine times."
"Enough! No matter what you say, you can't beat me. I can lose infinite times—you can only die once! You stand for the Crystal Tower civilization—fine, you love your homeland. But does your homeland love you back? Once you truly know these mages, you'll see their ideas deserve the misery they suffer. They deserve to be consumed!"
"But your [Society] is behind you, right? Knowing a civilization is trash and feeding it to your mother—what a dutiful child."
Li Aozi retorted:
"For a councilor, you sure speak like some whiner spurned by society."
"Mind your own business, pink crystal."
Coulomb Torque's mood faltered, giving a cold snort:
"Your civilization is meaningless. Only in [Society] will you find respect and learn how to live. That's why our devouring isn't mere 'consumption'—it's your liberation!"
"Your pride's impressive. Betrayal is honorable, is it? Guess that's like your wife cheating on you: 'She's not betraying me, she's setting me free to enjoy love—I should be grateful!' Right?"
"Stop pestering me, you—!"
"Ah, my mistake. You don't have a wife… or any sense of personal reason, I guess."
"Enough, enough, enough! You worthless carbon scum—I'll crush you! I'll cast your soul into the void forever!"
"On that note—did I mention I've killed you nine times?"
Resting his sword on the back of his hand, Li Aozi said indifferently:
"And now, it's time for the tenth."