"Here's the gist of it."
Shiroyasha picked up the teacup in front of her, downed its contents in one gulp, and slammed it onto the table with a loud thud.
She wanted to cry. Because of her small act of covering something up for Aslan, her two superiors had made such a decision.
She only lied a little, hid the truth a bit, was it really necessary to go that far?
However, the only good news worth celebrating now was that, thanks to Shiroyasha's little rebellion, she had at least managed to dissuade the two goddesses from intervening and investigating Aslan's secrets.
Shiroyasha's instincts told her that Aslan was definitely hiding something from her. The trouble he caused was certainly not as simple as creating a Last Trial of Mankind or bringing out the Mother of the Evil God.
Of course, what she meant here was that Aslan knew the trouble he caused wasn't tied to his essence.
At the very least, Shiroyasha's instincts as an Origin Star kept warning her not to let Aslan be exposed under her superiors' scrutiny.
Plus, Aslan had no malicious intent toward her, and hiding something from her was likely for her own good, so she decided to pretend she knew nothing.
At least she had successfully concealed what Aslan truly wanted to hide.
"I, your big sister, am completely broke, not a single coin left."
After pouring herself another cup of tea, Shiroyasha sipped it slowly, speaking in a resigned tone.
"So, Boss, you came to me to ask for pocket money?"
Aslan looked at her with slight confusion. He thought it was a big deal, but it was just this.
Hearing those words, the expression on Shiroyasha's face grew even more embarrassed.
"Pocket money… might not be enough."
Shiroyasha lowered her head, like a child who had done something wrong, fidgeting with her fingers.
After all, asking for money from her little brother still made her feel a bit ashamed.
If it were that monkey or Indra, she'd just take it. But in front of Aslan, she couldn't bring herself to do it.
Boss, what's the deal with snatching stuff from your little brother?
She still wanted to be a respectable boss.
Unfortunately, the current situation didn't allow for it.
"Boss, I recall Kurousagi gave you a pretty high limit, didn't she?"
After all, Shiroyasha was Aslan's Main God, so Kurousagi wouldn't dare treat Shiroyasha poorly.
And for someone of Shiroyasha's status, if she was willing to spend your money, it meant you were the one benefiting.
"What's it to you? Do you have to make me say 'please fund me'?"
Seeing Aslan's teasing, half-smiling look, Shiroyasha said with a hint of irritation.
"Not impossible."
Aslan nodded in agreement while stroking his chin. He really wanted to see her say "please fund me" in person.
He just hadn't expected that, after only two months, his relationship with Shiroyasha had shifted like this.
From him having to beg Shiroyasha at the start, now he was the one funding her.
"Come on, Boss, say 'please fund me,' and I'll give you a Gift Card~"
As he spoke, Aslan pulled out his Gift Card and waved it in front of Shiroyasha.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a bit of regret. He seemed to have gotten too cocky.
(Damn… I'm done for. My idea of challenging the hierarchy just got exposed.)
The Thousand Eyes Gift Card, besides identifying and storing gifts, also served as an ID and savings card, much like a bank card.
It could only be used at Thousand Eyes, though.
Of course, since Thousand Eyes was the largest commercial community in Little Garden, with branches at nearly every outer gate, plus the universal usability of Thousand Eyes gold coins, it was quite a practical function.
And Aslan's card could access nearly all of Planeswalker's cash flow. Of course, since creating storage cards cost Aslan very little, and Planeswalker currently only sold one type of gift, it was a poor community in everything but money.
Almost every day, tens of thousands of Thousand Eyes gold coins came in.
As Aslan quietly closed his eyes, bracing for Shiroyasha's angry scolding…
Somehow, Shiroyasha actually showed a pitiful expression, tugged at the hem of Aslan's clothes, and said, "Please fund me."
Then the air fell completely silent. Aslan widened his eyes in shock, staring at her in disbelief.
(No, Boss, are you serious?)
As for Shiroyasha, she completely froze.
What had she just done? How could she have said something like that? She had truly demeaned herself to ask for funding.
Then Aslan and Shiroyasha locked eyes, staring wide-eyed at each other.
In the end, Shiroyasha couldn't take it anymore. She snatched the Gift Card from Aslan's hand and stuffed it into her pocket as if nothing had happened.
"You didn't hear anything just now, got it?"
Shiroyasha narrowed her eyes, warning Aslan. If he didn't get the hint, she wouldn't mind finding a new little brother.
"Boss, what did you just say?"
Aslan acted as if he'd lost all memory of the moment, looking around in confusion as if nothing had happened.
"Nothing."
Shiroyasha saw his expression and pursed her lips. In her memory, only Canaria could act as naturally as Aslan.
"By the way, Boss, has the Gift Game for No Name's flag started yet?"
After messing around, Aslan also asked about serious matters. He had to admit that Ouroboros was indeed skilled at blocking information.
Neither from Umbrella Corporation nor here had Aslan found any information about the flag.
No wonder they could hide in Little Garden for so long.
"No news yet."
Shiroyasha sighed.
"Thousand Eyes has sent out its entire Demon Eye force to search where the clue was found, and Laplace has been divining with all its power."
"Still no news, just like before. But seeing the movements of the Heavenly Forces, they might have caught the snake's tail, so it won't be long."
"It's fair to say Ouroboros has the ability to hide under the gods' noses for so long."
"But it'll be soon. Though they won't be able to destroy Ouroboros, cutting off their claws is easy."
Thousand Eyes, Little Garden's largest information merchant, and the Heavenly Forces, Little Garden's designated armed organization, working together—who could withstand that?
Unless the snake had already infiltrated the Heavenly Forces and Thousand Eyes.
While this was almost certain, no one knew how deep the snake's infiltration went.
The alliance between Thousand Eyes and the Heavenly Forces was merely to provide an explanation to Little Garden's gods.
After all, Ouroboros had destroyed the last hope of overcoming the Last Trial of Mankind—Arcadia.
Of course, that wasn't the only issue.
Shiroyasha seemed to have gotten information from Indra that the real reason the gods decided to crush Ouroboros was that Ouroboros genuinely wanted to destroy Little Garden.
Shiroyasha wasn't surprised, as Aslan had already told her about the impending destruction of Little Garden.
Now, she was just confirming the culprit.
But this was something the gods absolutely couldn't tolerate. Why should they, living comfortably in Little Garden, watch it be destroyed?
They really wanted to blow up Little Garden? Where did these extreme terrorists come from?
Even those working with Ouroboros couldn't stand it. They only saw Ouroboros as a tool to make money, but who knew Ouroboros was this extreme?
Then Ouroboros suffered. At the very least, it was a heavy blow. In recent days, who knew how many branches and divisions had been destroyed by the Heavenly Forces?
Of course, this wasn't without help from internal traitors.
After all, this wasn't like the original novel, where Absolute Evil Azhi Dahaka was released, and his Spirit Status expanded to its peak.
If it wasn't overcome soon, Little Garden would truly be destroyed.
That was a natural disaster, an unavoidable factor. Because of a natural disaster, Little Garden would fall. To survive, they left early and prepared to build a new Little Garden.
This was different from the concept of an organization seeing Little Garden's profit distribution as unfair, deciding to blow it up, and then building a new Little Garden that suited their interests.
The former was an unavoidable factor, still tolerable. After all, compared to survival, losing a comfortable life was no big deal.
But the latter? No, I'm living comfortably, and for your interests, I have to give up my comfortable life? My home has to be destroyed?
After all, most Pantheons in Little Garden were small to medium-sized, only able to scrape by with leftovers. They were already comfortable in this Little Garden, and now they had to move?
And after moving, they couldn't guarantee their previous standard of living.
They definitely wouldn't agree. As for the large Pantheons, the beneficiaries, there was no need to say more.
They would fight to the death to stop it. This created the spectacular scene of all of Little Garden uniting to catch the snake.
Unless Ouroboros gave a proper explanation, this grand spectacle might continue.
Listening to Shiroyasha gleefully explain Little Garden's situation, Aslan only then realized what he had done.
He could only say that the advantage of information asymmetry was truly useful.
Aslan had only leaked news of the savior Kalki's birth to Athena.
Then the entire situation in Little Garden turned out like this. Just one piece of information nearly killed Ouroboros?
This was too spectacular.
At this moment, Aslan had the expression of someone standing at a great height. But he still knew his place.
Namely, the advantage of information asymmetry like this could only explode once.
This was the last help the original plot could give him.
After this, Aslan would have to find ways to cause trouble on his own, which was a bit regrettable.
But now, Aslan had a bold idea.
"Boss, what do you think—"
"Shut up, I don't dare listen to your grand plans."
Shiroyasha covered Aslan's mouth. She now had a clear sense of his ability to cause trouble.
He was like a master bomber, with the physique of an expert troublemaker.
She initially thought it was just a joke, but after understanding the situation, Shiroyasha realized it was indeed all Aslan's doing.
Telling Athena about Kalki's birth and guiding her to deduce that someone wanted to destroy Little Garden.
Plus, Little Garden was indeed entering its final days, which further reinforced this news.
Then the gods and Buddhas panicked, leading to the spectacular scene now.
This wasn't just talk anymore—someone had actually done it.
No wonder Kasukabe Koumei suddenly lost her human identity; it was all Ouroboros's doing.
Ouroboros wanted to destroy Little Garden, so they made Koumei lose her human identity.
So they sent people to destroy Arcadia, killing or exiling its cadres.
All of this was Ouroboros's work!
As for what Ouroboros actually wanted to do? What was their goal? Did it matter?
Hiding behind the scenes for years, they must have been planning something terrifying.
And they had almost succeeded.
If Canaria hadn't found a clue and desperately passed the news to Athena, they might still be in the dark.