Chapter 382: Chapter 44: The Twin Gods’ Submission, Early Imperial Reform (Part 2)

The twins exchanged a look, then turned to Lince with serious expressions.

"Revelations of fate always come at a price."

"Besides, I’m sure Your Excellency knows why we made this choice."

"However, please believe us, Your Excellency. Our desire as siblings to join your faction is truly sincere."

"After all, while we may not be geniuses, we aren’t foolish either. We have already weighed the pros and cons."

What more could Lince say to that?

Indeed, anyone who wasn’t a fool would know that since the Star Empire had intervened, their willingness no longer mattered.

So, it was better to surrender proactively than to let things end on a sour note, or even disastrously.

This was undoubtedly the wisest course of action.

In fact, Lince had a feeling.

The two siblings hadn’t told him the whole story.

’The power of fate is so mysterious.’

Not to mention distant examples, even a minor deity of the Insect People had once used a sliver of Foreknowledge Power to find the coordinates of Blue Star.

Therefore, Lince had reason to suspect that these two saw an even greater opportunity in the Star Empire.

Otherwise, given the usual arrogance of most deities, they would likely resist an otherworldly civilization to the bitter end, even knowing they couldn’t win.

But no matter what these two were plotting, it didn’t matter.

Because the impending rules invasion of the True Game could shatter any plots that were unfavorable to the Star Empire.

So, since they chose to submit, it didn’t matter whether they were just seeking shelter under a big tree or had other motives.

Lince was absolutely confident on this point.

Not to mention, the Star Empire now also had the Giant Serpent God Kukudar.

Thus, after what seemed like a long moment of scrutinizing the two, Lince finally spoke.

"Since you two siblings have such resolve."

"Then I will grant your request."

"As for what comes next... I imagine that as deities of fate, you already know what I will do to your world first, don’t you?"

Hearing this, the Twin Gods showed no emotion. They simply bowed calmly and said:

"We do, Your esteemed Majesty."

"Next, we siblings will cooperate fully to hand over the authority of the world’s Mana Will."

Lince looked at the two of them and finally nodded.

"Good!"

"In that case, let’s proceed."

——————

「Above the Star Sea.」

When the host of deities saw Lince cross through Space with the Giant Serpent God Kukudar, following the Twin Gods to the Square World, their feelings were complicated, to say the least.

"So, what was the point of us all mobilizing this time?"

"Was it just to gaze upon the Dragon God? Or the Mighty Power of that Giant Serpent God?"

A Minotaur Deity said with a sigh.

"This is already pretty good."

"Getting a reward without any risk... the more of these, the better." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"It’s better than fighting to the death and wasting a ton of Divine Power," one deity said, happy to reap the rewards without working for them.

"That might be true."

"But compared to the Dragon God and that Giant Serpent God, what are we?"

"Can we even be called deities at this point?"

"We’ve become just like those mortal grunts on the battlefield."

"Honestly, I’m feeling a bit disheartened."

"The Black Flame crisis, the dignity of deities... in the Dragon God’s eyes, we’re barely stronger than mortal children. It makes me wonder what we’re even striving for."

One deity, whose pride had been deeply wounded, seemed to be losing their composure.

"What are we striving for?"

"Doesn’t long life count? Doesn’t living an easier life than mortals count?"

"Alright, stop overthinking it."

"We’ve already gained so much by becoming deities."

"As for whether it’s necessary to keep striving, different deities make different choices. It all depends on what kind of deity you want to be."

"Put it this way: among the mortal Divine Favored, there’s no shortage of people who just ’lie flat’."

"But what’s the reason mortals are able to lie flat?"

"It’s because they have the protection of the Dragon God, of us, and of the Star Empire."

"Without that protection, lying flat would be nothing but a fantasy!"

"And this ’lying flat’ comes at a price. After all, when crisis and war strike..."

It had to be said, the deities getting sidelined again had dealt a major blow to their morale.

After all, the same thing had happened during the battle for the Crimson World.

Once, twice, every single time... It was inevitable that they would begin to doubt their own worth.

Deities, after all, had their pride.

Forcing them to be mere extras and do nothing significant every time would definitely cause problems.

As deities, they weren’t afraid of working for someone.

But they feared being unable to accomplish anything, ending up like mere lackeys.

Regarding this matter, the Seven Gods, who were also Players, noticed this immediately.

But even knowing, there was nothing they could do.

After all, this situation had developed too suddenly.

’Who could have predicted the plot would go this way!’

Thus, the Seven Gods gathered and quickly began a discussion.

"This can’t go on."

"The Crimson World was one time, the Square World is another. The deities have accomplished nothing and have become more like dead weight."

"It’s not that we shouldn’t be happy about the lack of casualties."

"But this is crushing the deities’ motivation! It’s making them feel defeated and complacent."

"It’s one thing for mortals to be like this, but if the deities are too, I dread to think what the future of the Empire will look like."

"The Chief’s presence is too overwhelming!"

"It’s not that the Chief is bad, but if he does this every time, the future development of our civilization will be severely affected."

"I think we should suggest that the Chief try to let go a little," Insomnia and Rain said seriously.

"Let go? How do we let go?"

"Are you suggesting we have the Chief watch as deities and countless mortals die in battle?"

"And only then, when there’s no other choice, he steps in?"

"Is there really any point in doing that?" Not the Tea Monarch objected.

"There is! And it’s extremely meaningful!"

"For a civilization to develop, it needs the impetus of external factors, even threats."

"Besides, if the Chief steps in every single time, what does that make us? Toddlers constantly protected in their swaddling clothes by their parents?"

"This can’t go on!"

"What’s more, the Chief is a deity himself! How can he act like a babysitter every time?"

"You’ve all seen plenty of movies and TV shows, right? You know how the main character always shows up at the end?"

"From now on, unless it’s absolutely necessary, I believe we cannot let the Chief intervene so easily!"

"Unless there is truly a threat to the Empire’s survival, we must harden our hearts in future wars against other civilizations!"

"Enjoying everything without effort! Mortals might think it’s great! But a lack of a sense of crisis, and a culture of hedonism, will only send the entire civilization into decline!"

"Therefore, to put it bluntly..."

"If there’s no suffering, we create suffering! Even if we have to force it on them, we must make the mortals of the Star Empire know the cruelty of reality!"

"As for the deities, with the Divine Kingdoms and the Mana Will as a safety net, they won’t die so easily."

"Besides, for a deity, dying a few times isn’t necessarily a bad thing."

"In short, we just need to teach everyone one principle: no matter what it is, you have to fight for it yourself!"

"This ’lie flat-ism’ must be completely stamped out!"

"For example, through restrictions on welfare, promotion channels, and even certain aspects of daily life. In short, we must get all the mortals and deities in the Empire moving!" Logical Genius declared solemnly.

"Damn, Logic, you’re ruthless!"

"Are we really doing this?" Little Ordinary Person asked seriously.

"We do. We have to!"

"We must mobilize the entire Empire’s initiative!"

"We even need to make it clear to all citizens of the Empire that the Empire will relentlessly open new civilization battlefronts!"

"If you don’t want to die, then you’d better work hard to improve yourselves!"

"Otherwise, if you die on the battlefield, you’ll have no one to blame but yourselves!"

"The Empire doesn’t support freeloaders!"

At that moment, even Brother Cheng Takes Off grew unusually serious.

In short, after witnessing the deities’ emotional feedback, the Seven Gods had recognized a worrying trend.

Therefore, they now planned to implement a harsh new imperial policy.

It was foreseeable that soon, everyone in the Star Empire, from mortals to deities, would have their hands full.